Chapter 2

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

Story and OCs © Me

The snow crunched beneath his feet as he walked on. He shivered with teeth chattering, his breath coming out in small puffs of fog. He was so cold that it got to the point where he felt like he couldn't even move his fingers.

Natsu was miserable. 4 days now, he had gone without food or water... or fire, for that matter. His magic reserves were running very low. He couldn't even so much as make even a tiny flame with his fingers. If he had even just the lick of a candlelight, that would help.

He didn't even know how this happened. One minute, he was on his way back home from his job, and the next minute, the winds shifted and he found himself completely disoriented. The trail back to Magnolia was covered in several feet of deep snow... and all he could do was aimlessly wander until he found his way back.

He was certain that if he went a certain way, he was bound to find Magnolia sooner or later... but that was 4 days ago. What was supposed to be a hop, skip, and a jump away turned into Natsu getting himself hopelessly lost... and cold.

Without a steady supply of fire, Natsu couldn't maintain his own body temperature, and if he went much longer without it, he'd certainly freeze to death. Even he couldn't last very long in such frigid temperatures if he didn't have a fire burning inside of him. All he could do was hug his own body and rub his hands up and down his arms in a feeble attempt to keep himself warm.

He had to get back. Somehow, he had to find a way to get home... because she was counting on him.

Lucy was counting on him.

It was never meant to go like this. He just wanted to surprise her because he knew how much she would have loved it. Sure, there were times he may have acted indifferent, but she really did mean so much to him... and he knew this meant a lot to her.

He had to get back home so that he could buy it for her. That was the whole point of going on that job!

As Natsu took another step... there was a loud crumbling noise, and before he realized what was happening, the ground suddenly gave out beneath his feet and he found himself tumbling down a cliff. His screams filled the air as he clawed at the air, hoping to grab something in order to break his fall. He did manage to grab onto a branch, but it didn't even last for two seconds before it snapped from his weight... and then, he landed with a crash on the snow below him. He groaned, now overwhelmed with the freezing cold and great pain... mostly from his right ankle.

With a grunt, he managed to roll himself over, onto his back... but it was all he could do. Snow fell around him, burying him completely... and as it began to fall around his face, his eyes began to close. He tried to fight it, tried so hard to stay awake... but it just became too much on him.

Soon... Natsu drifted into a deep... and possibly permanent sleep.

XXX

"Natsu!" Gray called out as he walked through the trees. "Come on, man! Say somethin'! Answer us!"

"Natsu, where are you?!" Erza called. "If you can hear us, let us know you're nearby!"

Once again, they were met with just the howling wind... which was beginning to get even wilder. At that moment, Wendy and Carla landed in front of the Requip Wizard.

"Did you find him, yet?" asked Erza.

"No," Wendy replied while she held a shivering Carla. "And it's getting hard to see with all this snow and wind!"

"I can't keep flying in these conditions," Carla added. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right," Erza reassured. "You did the best you could. We'll just have to keep searching for Natsu on foot."

"But any trail he might have left behind is probably buried in snow, by now," Gray pointed out.

"We can't give up!" Erza exclaimed. "Natsu's depending on us!"

"Look, I know that!" Gray argued. "It's just... Carla's getting cold, the storm's gonna get worse, and we've been out here for hours!"

"Gray," Erza said as she fixed him with a serious stare, "you know as well as I do that Fairy Tail never leaves its members behind!"

"I know that!" Gray countered. "Dammit, don't start preaching to me about what we do! You think I'm not worried about that idiot, either?!" He then turned and walked over to a nearby tree, which he punched in frustration. "This is hard for me, too, you know! I mean... I could never say to his face, but... he's like my brother, okay? We might give each other hell now and then, but that doesn't mean I want anything bad to happen to him, okay?!"

"Gray..." Erza said, causing the Ice Wizard to glance over his shoulder at her while she stared at him with soft, understanding eyes. "It's hard for me not to be worried, either. Everyone expects me to be so strong, but really, I want to panic. I don't know where Natsu is and I don't know if he's even alive at this point... but if we start to think the worst, then the worst really will happen... so all we can do is hope that he's all right and... if someone does find him, they can shoot up a magic signal flare."

"Well, I hope we find him, soon," Wendy said as she looked up at the dark storm clouds up above. "I can't imagine what he's going through, right now... he must be so lost."

"...Carla, you can see the future, right?" asked Gray. "At least tell us that we're gonna find Flamebrain."

"Even I don't know if we'll find him," Carla said, "and even if we did... there's no telling if we'll find him, alive."

Gray sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Great..."

"...All right... we'll look a little bit more," Erza began, "but... we can't be out here for too much longer."

"Okay," Wendy nodded as she followed her fellow teammates... silently praying for the safety of her older brother figure.

XXX

"Natsu~!" Haru cried as she continued to drive the sled that Blue Fang pulled behind him. "Where are you?! Come on, bro, answer me!"

Lucy quietly sat in the back, worrying her bottom lip as she held Happy close to her. They had been out here for nearly 3 hours and still haven't found any sign of Natsu... and the longer they were out here, the bleaker things were looking.

As Blue Fang sniffed the air, he whined in distress as he couldn't catch even the tiniest whiff of Natsu, prompting Haru to sigh as she pet the silver wolf on his head.

"It's okay, Blue Fang," she said. "I mean, the wind is blowing pretty crazy out here. It would be hard for you to catch a scent."

"I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever find him," Happy said.

"Of course, we'll find him!" Haru answered. "We have to! Right, Lucy?"

"...I really hope so," Lucy replied... her eyes threatening to well up as she sniffled.

"Oh, Lucy, please don't cry," Haru said. "If you start crying, your tears are gonna freeze!"

"I can't help it," Lucy said as she wiped her tears away. "I mean... I'm just so worried about Natsu! I can't help thinking that maybe this wouldn't be happening if I had gone with him, but he insisted on going by himself!"

"Aye," Happy agreed. "He didn't even take me."

"It's probably best if he didn't take you," Haru said. "Otherwise, you'd be lost, too."

"Maybe, but at least Natsu wouldn't be all alone!" Lucy argued.

"Lucy... I'm worried, too, you know," Haru said. "Natsu's my brother, for crying out loud! How do you think I feel?"

"I... I'm sorry, Haru," Lucy said.

"I know you are," Haru replied, "and it's gonna be okay... hopefully, we'll find him before it's too late."

"I sure hope so," Happy said. "Christmas won't be the same without Natsu."

"Yeah... I know," Haru agreed as she grabbed at the reins. "Go, Blue Fang!"

With a bark, the wolf soon ran through the snowy forest while pulling the sled along. Lucy sighed as she just sat in the back, just staring off into the distance... but as they passed a clearing, the Celestial Spirit Wizard suddenly sat up straight, eyes going wide open.

She could have sworn she felt something strange... like a voice, telling her these simple words.

"Turn around... turn around! Now!"

"...Turn around," Lucy said as she looked back.

"Wait, what?" Haru asked.

"Turn around!" Lucy urged. "Hurry!"

"W-why?" asked Haru.

"Just do it!" Lucy urged.

"Okay, okay!" Haru answered. "Blue Fang, turn back around, boy!"

Blue Fang soon braked to a stop before he turned and ran back to the clearing... but that was all there was. Nothing but snow.

"Lucy... I don't see anything here," Haru said, but Lucy quickly jumped out of the sled and ran toward a nearby cliff, carrying Happy with her. "W-wait! Lucy!"

"Lucy, what are you doing?" Happy asked as he clung to the insides of Lucy's coat while she looked down over the edge, holding a lantern up so that she could see down below.

Nothing there... just more and more snow... and a broken branch and some rocks.

"Lucy, I don't see anything down there," Haru said as she looked, as well. "Come on, let's go look somewhere else."

"No!" Lucy exclaimed, to the Beast Wizard's surprise. "Look... I know it's weird, but there's something down there!"

"But I don't see anything!" Haru argued. "Lucy, I think the cold is starting to get to you. Maybe I should take you home and-"

Before she could even stop her, Lucy began to climb down the cliff face with Happy, causing Haru to gasp.

"Lucy, be careful!" she called. "The ground doesn't look very stable!"

It didn't take very long for Lucy to reach the bottom, and once she did, she ran over to a particular pile of snow. Then, she dropped down to her knees and start flinging snow behind her.

"Uh... Lucy?" Happy asked. "What are you doing?"

Lucy didn't answer. She just kept digging, more and more. "Keep digging," that voice in her head told her. "Even if your fingers fall off, keep digging!"

And she did keep digging... until suddenly, she gasped as she saw something that made her run colder than even the ice and snow... and even Happy looked horrified at what he saw.

A tuft of spiky pink hair.

"Is... is that what I think it is?!" Happy asked.

"Unless grass is pink..." Lucy murmured before she and the cat started digging away more snow... and once they did, Lucy raised her head up to the sky and screamed at the very top of her voice...

"HE'S HERE! I FOUND NATSU!"

Yay, she found him!

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