An ear-splitting shriek rocked the forest as the first rays of dawn painted the tent. Lucy and Gajeel both shot up, hair mussed and sleep clouding their eyes as a second scream broke through the early morning air. Lucy could've sworn that the earth below her shook.
"Stay here," Gajeel hissed, leaping to his feet. He was out of the tent door before Lucy even had a chance to argue.
Her sprained and swollen ankle protested as she struggled up. Bracing herself against the walls of the tent, Lucy limped to the opening and gingerly stepped out.
"I don't know what's happening," Gajeel said, his voice panicked as he stared at the spirit. He was standing a good ten feet away from her, flinching every time she spat at him. Lucy watched in horror as the spirit struggled against her binds. But it wasn't the spitting or the snarling that truly worried Lucy. The spirit's eyes were fluctuating between a sky blue and a violent navy. Lucy was about to limp her way to Gajeel when the spirit suddenly stopped. Her eyes stabilised on the sky blue and she flitted her gaze between Lucy and Gajeel, eyes widened in shock.
"I don't think she knows either…" Lucy whispered.
As the words left Lucy's lips, the spirit's eyes snapped back to a dark blue and she resumed her shrieking.
"Keys! Get my keys, Gajeel!" Lucy commanded. Though she was closer to the tent, she knew it would be faster for Gajeel to run in and find them. Rightly enough, mere seconds later, Lucy was summoning multiple spirits.
"Throwing in the kitchen sink, huh?" Gajeel commented as the third spirit, Capricorn, popped into existence.
Lucy merely rolled her eyes before retrieving a silver key. "Grandpa Crux! I need you!" she called.
When the old spirit made his appearance, Lucy began.
"Loke, Virgo, Capricorn, Grandpa Crux, there's something the matt-" Lucy was cut off by a scream that drew everyone's attention.
"What's that about?" Loke drawled.
"That's what I need your help with. I don't know what happened… She was fine yesterday, but today… please help," Lucy begged.
Instantly, the spirits got to work. Which, for Crux, involved snoozing.
Virgo added more chains to the spirit, binding her tightly to the tree, while Capricorn and Loke hunched in front of her, attempting to deduce what was wrong.
"Anything, Crux?" Capricorn asked, noticing when the Cross opened his eyes.
"I have not been able to find any new information. Sorry, Miss Lucy," Crux apologised before vanishing.
"Why is he so fucking useless?" Gajeel growled, staring at the space that once occupied the spirit.
"Can it, Dragon. We know most of what we do because of him," Lucy hissed, glaring at Gajeel. She drew the line at people insulting her spirits.
Gajeel shot her an apologetic look before crossing his arms over his chest and glowering at the nature spirit tied to the tree.
"Miss Lucy, are you sure you want to remain here? Her aura… It's changing rapidly. I am unsure if she is a friend or a foe," Capricorn stated hesitantly.
"Yeah, Princess. I don't know what's happening. She's trying to communicate, but it's broken… I don't understand what's happening to her or what she's trying to tell me…" Loke added.
"Her body is cleansing itself. She is in the last stages of the transformation," Virgo chirped, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The other four looked at her with collective shock and intrigue.
Virgo rolled her eyes. "She's fighting her violent nature, but it's fighting back."
Capricorn nodded in understanding. Then, turning to Lucy, he explained, "Miss Lucy. Remember the Eclipse gate? How you believed that we, the spirits you know, could hear you, despite not being ourselves. You tried talking to us, reasoning with us, but you couldn't. Because what we became took over who we used to be. That process is reversing now. With us, it was instantaneous, but with her," he pointed to the bound spirit, "it is taking time. So what Virgo is trying to say is that whatever made her go rogue doesn't want her going back to normal."
"So what do we do?" Lucy asked, voice still panicked.
"Nothing. Just wait it out. Tomorrow night is the full moon. It should all be over after that," Loke said comfortingly.
Lucy nodded, still unsatisfied. The screaming and thrashing spirit was disconcerting, and it went against Lucy's nature to see the spirit in such strife.
"Miss Lucy, don't fret. It will be fine," Capricorn reassured.
"And we still don't know what made it go rogue, huh?" Gajeel asked. He had been watching Lucy the entire time, and the concern on her face made him wish he could slap the spirit back to normal.
"That we do have some news on, actually!" Loke piped excitedly.
"And you waited till now to tell me?! What the hell, Loke?!" Lucy shrieked, adding to the cacophony the spirit was creating.
"I'm not sure. I didn't want to get your hopes up. This is just a theory," Loke explained quickly before starting. "So, over the past several hundred years, the Woods have been changing. It began with the experiments on the animals here, which led to the perverse monsters that now roam the forest. With the monsters came humans who believed they could defeat the monsters. First with arrows and knives, and then with magic. Slowly, villages began cropping up along the edges of the Woods. And as the number of humans grew, they started growing their villages into the forest, killing monsters that ventured past the tree line, and forcing the spirits further into the depths of the Woods. The Woods have shrunk, and we believe that the spirits in the Woods are not happy. This one may have been particularly angry, and her rage may have caused her to change. Monsters, humans, spirits - they all used to live in harmony. But I think that balance has tipped. And I think it won't be long before tree spirits, and air spirits, and earth spirits, all slowly go rogue as well," Loke finished with an exhale.
"There are more spirits in the forest?!" Gajeel gawked.
"How is that your only takeaway? Nature spirits! We're in nature! C'mon, Gaj," Lucy elbowed him in his side. He quickly caught her and gently pulled her into him, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders. If her spirits were in any way surprised by this gesture, they didn't show it.
"How do we stop that from happening, Loke?" Lucy continued, subtly nestling herself deeper into Gajeel's side.
"I guess tell the villagers to move. At least a few miles south. And plus, we now know what to watch for, so the celestial realm will keep an eye on this place anyway," Loke shrugged.
Lucy nodded in understanding, and Gajeel could practically see the wheels in her head turn.
"One last thing, Loke," she asked, "please ask Gray, Erza, and Natsu to meet us in the village. I suspect we'll need their help in convincing the villagers. They should get to the village by the time we do if they leave tomorrow."
"We don't need-" Gajeel began indignantly before Lucy pressed a finger to his lips.
"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it," she said sincerely, waving goodbye to her spirits.
"If you want to subject your friends to listening to us fuck for hours, then fine by me," Gajeel huffed after the last spirit winked out of existence.
"We agreed that we weren't going to do anything till we were done with the job," Lucy pointed out.
"No. We agreed we weren't going to do anything until we left the Woods. I still fully intend to absolutely ravage you from the second we enter the village all the way up until we walk into the guild," Gajeel growled, pinning Lucy to his chest and dipping his head until their lips were a fraction of an inch apart.
"Oh? And what about after we enter the guild?" Lucy teased, poking her tongue out to flick across Gajeel's lips.
He smirked, thrilled that she was playing along. Her sultry voice had sent every drop of blood in his body straight to his dick, and he pressed himself against her. She gasped before sensuously grinding herself against his body.
"Once we're in the guild, I'm going to find the nearest dark, little corner, and then I'm gonna push you up against the wall and slide my hands-" Gajeel was cut off by a loud, feral shriek from the bound spirit. He pulled away from Lucy to glare witheringly at the spirit.
"Can you let me have a moment with my girl, you bitch? I'm trying to fucking turn her on, so quit your damn screaming!" He yelled at the tied being.
Lucy burst out laughing, ducking her face into Gajeel's chest to hide the blush forming on her cheeks.
His girl… Why does that make me so happy? Lucy thought to herself, giggling.
"Fucking dumb idiot… Ruining everything. Let's just go inside. I'm hungry and I'm frustrated," Gajeel mumbled petulantly, supporting Lucy by the waist as they walked back into the tent.
"Sexually frustrated, or…" Lucy trailed off. She slowly sat down on the sleeping bag and stretched her leg out
"Yes, obviously. Plus, I don't want to fight monsters or spirits," he spat.
"You like fighting, Gaj! This is exciting!" Lucy tried excitedly, hoping to make him feel better.
He looked at Lucy pointedly. "Are you insinuating that I would rather fight a monster than spend a day in bed with you? Naked? Lucy, I like fighting, but I'm not a virgin prude like Natsu who'd give up sex for a brawl," Gajeel said with a roll of his eyes.
"Natsu's no prude. And he certainly isn't a virgin," Lucy muttered.
Gajeel balked. "And why do you know this? Fuck, don't tell me you were a thing. Everyone said you guys were hooking up, but I didn't think Salamander could get a babe like you."
Lucy quickly waved her hands in front of her face. "No, no! We didn't! I've just… Okay. I was going to Natsu's house one day, just to hang out. And before I could knock, I heard things…" Lucy shuddered. "By the sound of whatever was happening inside, either he and Lisanna were fighting, or they were having some of the most wild sex I have ever heard. I mean, I heard things break and windows rattle," Lucy divulged, dropping her voice to a whisper.
Gajeel shuddered. Picturing Natsu having any kind of sex, much less wild sex, made him slightly queasy.
"Okay okay, stop," Gajeel pleaded, holding his hands up. "I'm not horny anymore, we're fine. Can we eat now?" he grumbled.
"At least she's quiet now," Lucy noted, looking at the spirit over her shoulder.
The spirit would still hiss and spit, glaring hatefully at the pair, but her eyes had stopped changing colour so maniacally. They were generally a beautiful sky blue, while only occasionally shifting to a violent inky hue. The screams had died down around the time her eyes started stabilizing.
"For two people who jumped into this ass first and eyes closed, I think we've done a great job. Just one more night, and then we're done," Gajeel patted Lucy's arm appreciatively.
They were sitting in front of a crackling fire, keeping warm as the air chilled around them. Being careful to not jostle her still tender ankle, Lucy pulled herself up onto Gajeel's lap, perching herself sideways across his folded legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder as he tightened his arms around her, gently trailing his fingers up and down her side.
"I'm glad my friends insisted on someone following me. And I'm glad that someone was you," Lucy whispered. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, peppering the skin there with feathery kisses.
"I'm glad it was me too," Gajeel murmured huskily. He crooked a finger under Lucy's chin, coaxing her to face him.
"I didn't see this coming when I first saw you outside my tent," Lucy confessed.
"I did. You're beautiful, I'm amazing, it was meant to be," Gajeel said with a wink.
"Mm, amazingly hot," Lucy purred before stretching her neck to flutter a kiss over his lips. When Gajeel responded by capturing Lucy's bottom lip within his own, the blonde deepened the kiss, allowing her tongue to slip into his mouth. Her hand snaked up his bare torso, along the length of his long neck, and into his thick, jet black hair. Gajeel groaned into her mouth, shuddering lightly when Lucy ran her tongue along his lip. Their mouths collided frantically, hands roving each other's bodies, until the pair were panting desperately. Lucy raked her nails down Gajeel's chest, mewling wantonly as he sucked on her throat. Her hands flitted down to his leather pants, and her nimble fingers began undoing the fastenings.
Suddenly, his hand was on her throat, gently applying pressure as he pushed her face away. Her eyes were blown wide with lust, lips swollen and glistening as she drew in staggered breaths.
"Behave, baby. We have an audience," Gajeel whispered huskily. His gaze flitted to the spirit, now quiet and unmoving.
"I don't care," Lucy gasped, reaching forward once more.
Gajeel tightened his grip on her throat. "Soon," he promised. He let his hand drift from her throat to the neck of her top. In one swift move, he pulled her top down, just far enough to reveal the swell of her breasts. He bent his head and nipped at the soft flesh, leaving a small purple bruise on Lucy's boob. He soothed it with a lick and kiss before kissing a hot trail up her throat until he reached her lips.
"It is taking everything to not have you right here, right now," Gajeel murmured throatily. He buried his nose in Lucy's hair and deeply inhaled before continuing to whisper in her ear. "I want to feel you under me, Bunny girl. I want to know what my name sounds like when you scream it. I want to know what you taste like."
Lucy clenched her legs together, desperate to relieve the ache in her centre.
"Damn it, you irritating fucking Dragon," she hissed. Arousal flooded her and she needed Gajeel between her thighs.
"What did I do?" Gajeel asked, feigning innocence as he ghosted kisses along her neck.
"Stop turning me on. It's not fair," Lucy pouted.
"Does that mean you want me to stop doing this?" Gajeel purred, running a finger up Lucy's thigh, stopping two inches from her very wet centre.
Lucy's eyes rolled back in her head before she quickly rearranged her features into a scowl.
"I'm done with you," she grumbled, pushing herself off Gajeel. She hobbled back to the tent, scowling and muttering insults under her breath as Gajeel watched her retreating figure, chortling as she walked off.
A/N: Sooo I am not thrilled with this chapter. I don't hate it, but also don't love it. Could I have spent a couple more days tweaking it and making it a little better? Sure. But honestly, I am as eager as you guys are to get done with this adventure part, get these two hotties out of the woods, and get on with the romance bit. We got a couple more action chapters coming up, and I hope you liked the spirit lore. I may still expand on it a little more, but we are getting to the romance, I promise! (I swear I won't be sad or judge you if you only skimmed through this chapter. I understand, I am bored of adventure too, I need some lemons up in this fic).
As always, please leave me your gorgeous thoughts! It makes my day/week/month/year