Arslan P.O.V.
The group had to board something called a 'train' for this mission, much to Natsu's displeasure. As soon as they boarded the thing he started looking queasy. They sat down on benches facing each other and with a blow of a whistle, the 'train' was moving. Arslan stared out the window in fascination of the land flying past them, and Daryun was looking around the train in wonder. How could something made out of so much metal move so fast? When Arslan turned his attention back to his companions, he noticed Natsu looking sick.
"Are you okay?" Arslan asked, looking at Natsu in concern. Natsu nodded, struggling to hold a hand up in a thumbs up position. His other hand was held over his mouth to stop him from puking.
"He's fine. He's always like this when it comes to moving vehicles. He's just motion sick." Lucy tells him. Arslan nods.
"Oh, alright." Arslan speaks in understanding. Lucy smiles and pats Natsu's hair as he tried not to get too sick. Arslan looks around at the rest of team Natsu. Erza, Gray, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Daryun. He plucks Happy from the arm rest he was sitting uncomfortably on and put him in his lap.
"You looked uncomfortable." Arslan tells Happy when he gets a questioning look from said exceed. Happy nods and snuggles up to Arslan's chest before falling asleep. Arslan smiles and looks out the window to watch the trees pass by.
At the train's stopping for the third time, everyone got off. They went to find a hotel to put their belongings in before they started hunting down the forest monster. Most of the hotels that they came across were closed because no one wanted to stay in the town while the monster was there. Finally, they found an open hotel. It was somewhat run down with paint peeling off of it and wood chipping, but it would do. Lucy went up and checked them out a couple of rooms and came back with two keys.
"We are all going to be sharing a room because we will hardly be in them, but I have two keys because we will be dividing into two groups. Daryun, Gray, Erza, here is your key. Natsu, Arslan, your with me. Let's drop out stuff off and then search the forest. Nasty will shoot fire into the air if we come across him, Gray I want you to send some of your ice up to alert us if you find him first. Let's go." Lucy declares. The group nods and they follow Lucy to their room and put their stuff down by beds. Arslan walks over to Lucy and Natsu and Daryun goes over to Gray and Erza, but not before hesitating on leaving his prince with people they just met.
Gray notices this and assures Daryun that Arslan will be okay, Natsu and Lucy will protect him with everything they've got. Because, even though they just met, Arslan and Daryun are like family, and Family gets protected. Daryun sighs in relief and stands next to Gray with his spear in his hands.
"Daryun, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so protective over Arslan?" Gray asks. "I mean, I know you are his guard, but I have never met anyone overprotective as you are." Daryun sighs.
"I made a promise to my Uncle to protect Arslan no matter what, to put him in front of any other person or thing. He didn't grow up in a loving family. In fact, the first time he met his parents was when he was around the age of five. Before then he grew up with a nursemaid. Even after then, he still stayed with the nursemaid until he had about eight years. That's when he first started living in the with his parents in the castle. But they still hardly acknowledged him unless they absolutely needed too. So I am taking it upon myself to makeup for all the years of neglect by protecting him. Besides, even if that wasn't the case, he is like a little brother to me. No harm will ever come to him as long as I can help it." Daryun answers.
"Wow. That's… deep." Gray responds, his eyes wide. Daryun chuckles.
"I guess it is. But you wanted an answer." Gray laughs this time.
"I guess I should have expected it." As Gray and Daryun converse, Lucy is busy talking to Arslan, Natsu, and Happy.
"Okay guys, when we go into the forest, we can not separate. If we do, Arslan you need to stay with either me or Natsu because, if we find the monster, you won't be able to send a signal. Understand?" Lucy asks. Arslan nods.
"Alright, I understand. When are we gonna go, though?" Arslan asks. "It would be unwise to wait until nightfall because then it would have a better chance of finding us first." Lucy nods.
"Alright. Then we should head out today to get a headstart. We still have a few hours of daylight left before the sun starts to set." She says. Turning her head to be heard by the others, she talks in a louder voice.
"We should head out now! We can meet up in the room again at sunset." The others nod and the group heads out the door and to the forest.
Arslan, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy go to the East end of the forest while Gray, Daryun, and Erza go to the West end. The dark trees grew even darker the further from the town they went. Arslan was unperturbed by this, though Lucy started getting a little wary. As soon as they felt they were far enough from the town, they entered the forest in search for the monster.
"Alright everyone, be careful. The townspeople that are still there said that the monster is big and green and has horns on his head." Lucy tells them. Arslan nods, his eyes already scanning the forest area. At every noise, he becomes more on guard and ready to fight. Natsu and Happy start chatting away about something random, probably fish, making Lucy grow agitated.
"Stop talking! We're gonna get caught!" She exclaims. Just as she says that, an enraged roar shakes the forest. Arslan jumps at attention with his sword in his hands and cans the area quickly. A shimmer of light makes him jump out of the way of a projectile heading towards him.
"Lucy, Natsu, Happy! Lookos out!" Arslan yells. They look over to where he is looking and Lucy pulls out her keys, waiting. A giant green thing emerges from out of the forest and stands angrily in front of the group. It swings up its arms and gets ready to hit but Lucy and Arslan jump out of the way just in time.
"Natsu! Create a ring of fire around him, see if that stops him!" Lucy commands, grabbing her wip and taking hold of the things shoulder. Natsu nods and cups his hands around his mouth, blowing through them and creating a circle of fire around the thing. It roars in frustration, looking for an exit. As it looked, Arslan readied his sword. The monster turned in a circle and when it couldn't find an exit, it roared again and charged through the fire and huffed when it felt nothing.
"It's not affected by magic…" Lucy remembers. "Dang it." Arslan's grip on his sword hardens and he raises it, running at the monster and slicing an arm off when it turned away from him. It growled in pain, gripping the stub of his shoulder. The arm that was cut off fell limply to the floor in front of Arslan. Noticing that the thing stopped it's charge to willow in pain,they started paying attention to their surroundings. Noticing Arslan suddenly swing around, Natsu and Lucy turned their heads, not noticing anything. They turned their heads back to face the monster and make sure it doesn't get away.
"Highness!" A voice similar to Daryun's cuts through the trees, enraging the monster again.
"Daryun!" Arslan yells back, readying his sword again and looking at the monster. Daryun and his group breaks through the trees and looks at the current situation, from the blood dripping from Arslan's sword to the monster and his missing arm, and then Daryun pulls out his spear and holds it at the ready, aiming at the monster.
The monster flares its nostrils and charges at Arslan, pin-pointing him for the cause of its pain. Arslan raises his sword and glances at Daryun, giving him permission. Daryun nods slightly, being the only one who notices it. As the monster is focused on Arslan, Daryun goes from behind and throws his spear, hitting the monster right where its heart is. Arslan also stabs it in the stomach, causing the monster to collapse on the floor with a howl of agony. Blood spilled from its body, leaking faster when Arslan and Daryun remove their weapons. They look at the monster and then at each other, smiling, knowing that they just did something nobody in their world would believe.