Chapter 5: Hope and Dying Dreams

Hey guys, so my phone glitched with underlining and now random lines are on the page whenever I view the document. They don't mean anything, just ignore them. Now onto the story!

"I can't believe it," Beth mumbles to herself. "Those are the people that kidnapped my parents nine years ago!" Her eyes glimmered with a faint hope. "I might see the again."

"What are you talking about?" Simon asked.

"Beth's from here, but her parents were taken nine years ago," Happy explained. "Her description matches yours on the people that did it." Simon looked surprised at the words.

"Well, now you can get back at them for what they did to you," Natsu said smiling at Beth. She looked at him alarmed.

"I don't want to hurt them," she said. "I do want them to be behind bars, what they're doing is very wrong, but I mainly want to see my parents again. I don't care where that's at, I just want them next to me." She then turned back to Simon. "Do they throw out any bodies?"

"Yes, many have died. But some disappear. I don't know their fate," Simon answered.

"That's good enough for me. They may have escaped."

"Well I suppose we should get some rest," Erza said looking at the window. Lucy turned towards it as well.

"I didn't realize how late it was," she said upon seeing the night sky.

"Alright then, I'll see you in the morning," Simon said. He then rose and left the room. The others followed suit, and entered their rooms.

"Do you think they're alive?" Beth asked as she plopped on the leaves on the floor she summoned.

"I hope so," Lucy answered, laying down on her bed. Erza didn't respond.

In the other room, the boys were having their own conversation.

"How strong do you think that the enemy wizards are?" Natsu asked as he sat on his bed.

"Depends on if they train a lot. If they don't, this'll be a pushover," Gray replied.

"I doubt Mako is weak though," Happy said. Gray and Natsu hummed in agreement.

"Well I'm not going to stay up chatting," Gray said, climbing into bed. "I suggest you do the same." Natsu laid down in response. Soon both rooms were quiet other than the sounds of snores.

The group was ready by mid morning the next day.

"Okay there's the entrance, but no guards," Erza said as they stood behind a rock about five meters from the entrance.

"Lets just go," Beth said excitedly as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Natsu took that as a cue to walk up and check it out.

"All clear," he said and waved the others over. They walked in as silently as they could, but didn't hear anything other than their own footsteps.

"I don't hear anything," Happy said. But right as he said it, the mages heard a shout from the tunnel on their right.

"Sounds like we found them," Gray said.

"Me and Beth will go deeper," Erza said coming up with a plan. "You four free the slaves down that tunnel." They followed without another word.

Erza and Beth didn't have to go much further when they heard another voice. Erza motioned for Beth to stop so they could listen.

"Lord Mako, we just lost two more, but have made excellent progress. We almost have enough for the last shipment."

"Good," another voice, presumably Mako, answered. "Dispose of the bodies and continue."

"Yes, my lord" said the first voice. The duo heard a pair of footsteps disappear down another tunnel.

Erza started moving towards where the voices were and Beth followed. They came upon a barren stone room with a man standing in the middle of the room with his back to them. Unfortunately he turned and, having no place to hide, spotted the Dragon Slayer and S-class wizard. Erza then requipped a sword and charged.

—

Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Happy traveled for a few minutes before they came upon a work area full of slaves digging with pickaxes and slavers supervising. Natsu didn't even make a plan with the others.

"Hey!" Everybody turned to look at him. "Let these people go or you'll be sorry."

The slavers laughed at this. As they did, Gray and Lucy stepped up beside Natsu while Happy was ready to lead people out while the others were fighting. Gray decided to make the first move. He took a stance, and yelled "Ice Make:Lance!" The attack hit the slavers and they went down

"Come on people! Follow me!" Happy yelled while the slavers were down. People dropped what they were doing and followed the exceed out of the mines. A few slavers got up and drew weapons, but Natsu quickly destroyed that plan with a Fire Dragon Roar attack. The slavers fled down another tunnel. Lucy tapped a slave on the shoulder and asked, "Are there more of you?"

"No, we're all they have," he responded. Lucy nodded and thanked him.

Just then an explosion went off.

—

Mako quickly dodged Ezra's attack. He then drew a sword from a scabbard on his left side, and charged at Erza. She raised her sword to block, but Mako wasn't in front of her anymore. He appeared behind her and swung his sword, but Erza rolled out of the way.

"He's using Teleportation Magic!" Beth yelled. She hadn't made a move, allowing her to figure out his style. Unfortunately, her yell drew Mako's attention.

When he disappeared from her sight, Beth ran forwards. Mako appeared behind her and she just missed getting hit. She stopped by Erza and turned around. The two mages went back to back, Erza with her sword at the ready and Beth scanning the area around her. Having no idea where Mako teleported to, she placed both hands flat on the ground and mumbled something.

"Erza, don't move," she said as cracks appeared in the floor around the two mages. Erza glanced at Beth, but followed her instructions. Mako then dropped from above the mages and tried to use the sword and a katana he somehow got to do a spin attack. But Beth heard him before that happened and grabbed his arm. Erza turned around and blocked with her sword as Mako landed. Erza then swept his legs out from under him, and Beth used this as an opportunity to push him forward and onto the cracks outside of their tiny circle.

"Forest Dragon's Gigas Cedar!" Beth said hurriedly, predicting what would happen next. Just as the wood dome closed around the two mages, an explosion went off right next to them where Mako landed. The explosion blasted him to another part of the room where more explosions went off. This continued until all the explosives Beth planted went off. It only lasted about a minute.

When the wood dome around Beth and Erza sunk back into the ground, they were greeted by a room riddled with holes and an unconscious Mako by the door. Beth looked mildly surprised, while Erza looked at the Dragon Slayer with surprise and awe.

"What did you do?" She asked Beth.

Beth kept looking at the damage and replied, "Firecracker Pepper Vines. It's exactly what it sounds like. I used them as land mines here, but I can also use them above ground like explosive whips."

Just then, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy rushed in. They stopped when they saw the room.

"What happened here?" Natsu asked.

"Beth planted pepper land mines and ended the fight," Erza replied.

"They all blew up, so we're not in danger of getting blown up. Did you guys free all the slaves?" Beth asked, starting to get excited.

"Yeah, there was only about twenty," Gray said.

"Mako did say that they were almost done. I guess they didn't find it necessary to replace lost slaves," Erza said. She turned to Beth. "Let's go see if your parents are here." With that, Beth ran out with a smile on her face, the others racing to catch up. Erza went and slung Mako over her shoulder before racing after the others.

They caught up only at the entrance when Beth stopped. She was looking around the people and clutching her pendant.

"Do you see them?" Lucy asked.

"No." She was starting to get worried. She walked up to some slaves that were chatting and tapped one on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but have you seen a man with red hair and pale skin with hazel eyes with a woman with black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes?"

The slaves glanced at each other before they looked at Beth.

"I do remember a couple like that," the first slave said slowly. "They cared for the other slaves more than anything else." Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Happy walked up behind Beth as her face fell.

"They disappeared one night around six months ago. We're pretty sure they died and their bodies were disposed of before any of us noticed."

"We're sorry," a third one said.

Beth stood there motionless. Tears welled up in her eyes. "No" she said as she looked at the ground. Natsu placed a hand on her shoulder as Lucy hugged her. She didn't notice either action. Gray reached over to comfort her, but she turned and ran before he could.

"Beth!" He yelled as she fled deeper into the forest, sobbing and shaking.

Review Replies:

Warmachine375: I have no idea what you're talking about, for half the characters, the last arc I have access to the the Dragon Slayer one, sorry. And I don't have mangas. But the internet is my friend and was very helpful, so: there is a part where she trains later, but she has her own way and this is unique to Forest Dragon Slayers. Also, I have no idea how long I want this story to last, so I'm not sure if it'll go to post time skip. It might if there's enough support. And if she runs into other Dragon Slayers, I'm sure she'll help. And this is Beth's POV, so she doesn't know what the others are thinking.

Well that's it. Hope you're all good. Go get 'em tigers!

-ThinMintE