Chapter 36

Kuma P.O.V.

After kicking Natsu I climb the tree with my ribs and resume cracking them open for the sweet marrow until I finish them. Then I push the bones off the branch and lay my head on my paws.

I fall asleep quickly and before I know it, I'm waking up because I hear voices under my branch. My ears swivel and I manage to pick them up more clearly.

"Salamander, didn't you learn your lesson last night?" Just from that statement I figure out that Gajeel is watching on in amusement as Natsu's trying to pull some prank on me.

"Shut the hell up, Metalhead, I don't need her to wake up and see me like this before I finish."

I crack an eye open barely and see Happy very carefully lowering Natsu until he's face to face with me.

Hiding my smirk I open both eyes and smack him across the face with one of my paws causing him to fall off the branch screaming like a little girl.

"Bwahahaha."

I look over at the laughter to see Metal Piercer laid out on his side clutching his stomach, his face turning bright red.

Turning my head to the other side of the branch I see Natsu sitting up and glaring at the iron slayer. "It's not fucking funny, Metalhead."

I snort and leap off the branch so that I land on him, causing him to fall back with an 'oof'

"Kuma, get your heavy ass off of me!" I place my snout in his face and snarl but I stop when footsteps approach.

"Maybe if you stopped acting like a brat and waking her with pranks every morning she wouldn't have to resort to this every time." I roll my eyes at Laxus's word and walk past the lightning rod to where Lily and Carla are dividing up the fish from last night for breakfast.

Carla looks up from dividing up the pieces that Lily's cutting off of the bone and points to a pile on her left. I nod and walking over, snap up the pile while the others come up for their plates.

After the others finish eating they pack up, but before we move out Laxus turns to me. "Kuma, stay with Wendy, and not as a panther."

Even as I roll my eyes at him my jaw starts to change shape, my tail shortens to three inches long, my ears flop down, my legs become skinnier, while the fur around my jaw, feet, and chest turn to a dark brown.

Out of all the domestic canines I can shift to, my favorite is and always will be the rottweiler, just for the simple fact that I'm strong enough to haul a cart and while this form's bite isn't as strong as the pitbull it can still make a grown man cry.

"If you're done showing off, we'll be on our way."

I huff and Metal Piercer and Lily take the lead through the woods back to the dirt road leading to the next town. When we get close enough to the town to smell the smoke coming from the chimneys I fall back until I'm walking next to Wendy.

We enter the town without problem and stop in the town square where Laxus turns to us. "Pick up what you need and be on the other side of town by lunch so we can get moving."

Gajeel and Lily go down one street while Natsu and Happy go the opposite direction. Then Laxus moves away leaving Wendy, Carla and I to walk toward the marketplace.

A scent catches my nose and I turn to see a vendor selling beef jerky by a spice stand, I look back to see Wendy looking at another vendor stand so I bark to catch her attention and she looks back at me.

I walk toward the jerky stand and she gets the idea, walking away from the stall she was looking at to meet me there.

The vendor smiles. "Hello, what can I get for a lovely lady like you today?"

She looks down at me and I jump up resting my paws on the counter as I point with my snout to a small sack of five alarm spicy jerky hanging from the cover.

The vendor frowns and waves his hands at me. "Go on, get your paws off my stall."

Wendy pats my head as I drop down and I glare at her back as she talks to the vendor. "How much for the sack of five alarm jerky?"

He looks up at the sack back at her with a sly smile. "Fifty jewel."

I growl softly and she starts haggling. "Thirty."

"Forty five."

"Thirty."

"Forty five."

"Thirty."

"Forty."

This time I push her leg and she accepts the offer. Then he takes a pole and pulls the bag off the hook while Wendy reaches into her pocket and pulls out the money.

They exchange and as soon as she gets the bag she opens it and hands me a small one to chew on as we walk past more vendors.

About an hour later we hear cheers and share a look of confusion, making our way towards the cheers. When we find the source Wendy pushes her way through the crowd and I follow behind her until she stops mid step, seeing what's going on in the square. I push my head past her knee and my blood runs cold at the sight.

In the middle of the clearing a wolf is locked in a cage surrounded by hunters carrying weapons. But the hunters aren't what worries me.

No, it's the fact that the wolf in the cage is extremely familiar and meeting my gaze with a look so fearful I can tell she won't be able to move.

I whimper drawing Wendy's attention and she kneels beside me. "What's the matter, Kuma?"

How the hell am I supposed to tell her that my best friend is in that cage and they're about to kill her? That is until I hear Carla gasp.

"Wendy, that's Crystal, the shifter that visited the guild months ago." I nod at her exclamation and Wendy turns to look at the cage again.

Her eyes bug and I hear her growl.

"Wendy!"

"Carla!"

"Bear!"

We look over and see the guys making their way through the crowds toward us. They stop next to us and I can see from their expression how grim the situation is.

Gajeel kneels next to me on the other side and speaks low enough for only the other slayers to hear.

"Ain't that your friend?"

I nod and he stands back up. "Laxus, we gotta do this."

Lightning rod grunts and I look to see him staring at me. Finally he nods and looks at Natsu.

"Cover her back, Wendy, you too, Gajeel and I will help keep the hunters at bay. Kuma," He turns back to me. "as soon as she's free, fly her to the forest, we'll be right behind you."

I nod and they step back as I shift again. My grizzly form takes over with ease and causes the crowd around me to scream and back away.

The hunters surrounding the cage point their weapons at me and I take a deep breath as my fire winds around my limbs and gather in my jaws.

I roar at them and they duck to avoid the fire allowing me to move forward and closer to the cage. When I see Wendy run at the hunters on my left and Natsu, grinning, run at the hunters on my right I charge at the cage.

Slamming into it with my shoulder it busts the door and she noses the door open. Once she's free of the cage I shift to my phoenix form and pick her up by her scruff before making my way to the opposite side of town.

An explosion to my right shakes my focus and I look down to see the local rune knights firing at me, at least until a giant cage of metal surrounds them and stops their attacks.

I turn my head and can see the others rising from the crowd, their exceeds having a tight grip on them as they dodge flying weapons from the hunters. A crack of thunder draws my attention and I look to my other side to see Laxus catching up quickly.


Grizzly out for the night.