S-Class Trials, Day One:
"Hello, there, Dragneel kiddies!" Makarov called as Nashi, Layla, and Igneel raced inside the Guild Hall, their backpacks and sleeping bags slung over their shoulders.
"This'll be fun, Igneel!" Nashi said as she led her little brother by the hand. "It's like a super long sleep over party!"
"Sweep-Sweep parwy!" Igneel cheered, skipping along behind his oldest sister as Layla giggled, walking along beside them.
"You'll take care of our kiddos, right Gramps?" Natsu asked, arms crossed playfully.
"Of course," Makarov waved him off. "You kids go have fun!"
"Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep him in line," Kinana said as she walked up behind him.
"Aye, we will too!" Happy cheered as he, Carla, and Pantherlily landed in front of the Dragneel parents.
"Team Exceed has reported and is ready for duty," Pantherlily nodded, just before a chorus of:
"Uncle Lily!" rang out and he was tackled by the whole litter of kittens.
"Although, we might be busy enough just keeping our little ones out of trouble," Carla sighed.
The doors opened behind them and Elfman, Evergreen, and Lorelle walked in.
"Good grief!" Lucy said, eyes wide. "How much did you guys pack? It's only going to be a week. And we probably won't have much time to rest to be honest."
"Oh, this isn't for us," Evergreen said as she and Elfman set the large, sparkly luggage down. Evergreen knelt to Lorelle's side. "Now don't forget, this suit case has all your play clothes. And this one has your dress-up clothes. And this one has your toys. And this one has all your sleep stuff. And this has all your board games. And this one has your hair burshes and hair ties."
"Good grief!" Natsu muttered. "Each of ours got one back pack with clothes, toiletries, one stuffed animal, and a coloring book with pencils."
"Well, it's not our fault you had more than one child and can't afford the finer things for them," Evergreen scoffed.
"We can too! But I ain't spending a hundred jewel on an outfit they'll only be able to wear for a few months," Natsu shot back. "If that the way our kids are growing."
"Not to mention our crew likes finding new and creative ways to tear holes in every inch of fabric we put on them," Lucy sighed, gazing at the patch she'd recently added to Nashi's shorts.
"That too," Natsu nodded.
"That's what I try to tell her," Efman sighed. "But she insists upon all designer."
"Well, excccuuuussseee me for wanting to make sure our little muchkin has the best money can buy!" Evergreen flipped her hair in disgust. "Now where is my partner? I have to start getting ready!"
"Good luck, Mommy!" Lorelle waved.
"Guess I should start finding mine, too," Elfman sighed, walking off.
"Good luck, Daddy!" Lorelle cheered.
"Ooh, w'at all dat?" Layla asked as she toddled towards Lorelle's luggage.
"Don't touch it! You might get it dirty!" Lorelle snapped, causing Layla to jump back and pucker out her lower lip.
"Layla's not dirty!" Nashi snapped, making her parents swell in pride…
...before she added "Getting dirty is Igneel's thing."
Natsu and Lucy facepalmed.
"Well, she's not wrong," Natsu muttered, glancing at Igneel who, despite getting a bath before leaving the house and having been carried all the way to the Guild Hall, had still managed to get his face covered in dirt.
"He does have a certain talent when it comes to that," Lucy nodded.
"Ah, that's just being a little boy," Gray's voice came as he and the rest of the Fullbuster's walked into the Guild Hall.
"Nashi!" Storm called, running to his friend.
"Storm!" Nashi waved back before storm reached her and gave her a hug.
"A-pfffttttt!" Igneel stuck his tongue out at Meeko and blew a raspberry.
Meeko made of face of disgust and spat back.
"Don't you two start!" Lucy snapped, crossing her arms at her son who frowned back at her.
"Betcha I can read the steps before you can!" Storm challenged Nashi.
"Nuh-uh!" Nashi insisted, taking off, Storm neck-in-neck with her. Igneel giggled and toddled after them, trying his best to keep up.
Juvia set Meeko down, but only to have Bianca wrap her arms around is middle and lift him up.
"Bianca, put him down," Gray said. "He can walk by himself."
Bianca huffed in disappointment, but did as she was told.
Lorelle began unpacking her things, pulling out a doll and brushing her hair.
"Pwetty!" Layla said, drawing nearer to look.
"No! Mine!" Lorelle said, holding the dool to her chest.
Layla puckered her lower lip out again.
"She just lookin'!" Bianca snapped, walking to Bianca's side as she held Meeko's hand and held her other out to Layla. "C'mon Layla. I gots some dolls you can play with."
"Okay," Layla whimpered, taking Bianca's hand and letting the older girl lead her off.
"You don't wanna play with stinky Lorelle anyways," Bianca stated his a nod.
"I'm not stinky!" Lorelle shouted.
"Are too!" Bianca shouted over her shoulder as she led Layla and Meeko away. "And you're mean too!"
"Bianca, be nice," Juvia scolded.
"But she's not nice!" Bianca insisted.
"That doesn't mean you can be mean back," Juvia said. Bianca sighed, but nodded and kept walking.
Juvia let out her own sigh as she watched her daughter. "We've been having some attitude problems with that one lately."
"Well, she gets it honest," Natsu said, shooting a glare towards Gray.
"What are you looking at, charcoal breath?"
"Nothing, brain freeze."
"Honestly, you two can be so childish sometimes," Lucy grumbled.
"Sometimes?" Gajeel's voice asked. Everyone turned to see him and Levy walking in, a twin seated on either of Gajeel's shoulders. "Salamander and Ice boy are always childish, aren't they?"
"Like you've got room to talk?" Gray asked.
"Just sayin'," Gajeel shrugged, causing both of his daughters to giggle. He smiled up at them before bending down and letting them hop off. "Alright, rugrats. Play nice with the other kids and don't start no fights!"
"Looking as you, Sephy," Levy said, turning to Persephone with a motherly warning look.
Persephone sighed. "Yes, Mommy."
"Like I said, no starting fights," Gajeel pointed a warning finger at the twins. Then grinned and leaned closer, setting his hand to the side of his mouth to shiled it from Levy's prying eyes. "But if one of the other kids starts a fight, you two finish it, 'kay?"
"Gajeel!" Levy scolded, whacking him on the back of the head with her bag.
"Te-he!" he chuckled standing to his feet. "Pump that iron, Koree," He held out his fist, covering it in metal scales. Koree did the same to her hand and bumped it against her father's.
"Persephone, screen-five!" Gajeel held his hand above his head. Persephone cast a screen in the shape of a hand and bashed it into her father's palm.
"Atta girls, now go have fun!" Gajeel said with a smile, ruffling their hair before they took off to catch up with Nashi and Storm who now seemed to be playing some sort of game of tag with Charlie and Fin. Cato and Willa had also joined in the game, as the Dreyars had arrived earliest of all, being Guild Masters. Igneel still raced to keep up with them, tripping every now and then, but getting up quickly to rejoin the chase.
"Sephy! Koree!" A small voice called as Milo flew to their side.
"Milo!" Koree cheered, hugging her kitty friend, while Persephone opted to just scratch him behind the ear.
"So, is everyone else here?" Levy asked.
"Not yet, still waiting on the Conell's, Conbolts, and Fernandezes," Lucy answered.
"Not anymore," Erza's voice came from behind them.
They turned to find Erza and Jellal un-strapping the triplets from their carriers. The minute they were free the three two-year-olds tackled Roman, cheering:
"Pig-back ride! Pig-back ride!"
"I can't give you all piggy back rides at once!" Roman shouted as he collapsed to the floor under all the weight, his three siblings giggling in fun at the tumble.
"Minette, Eva, Von, get off your brother," Erza scolded. The trio obeyed just as Maisie landed next to Roman's head, setting a concerned paw to his cheek.
"You okay, Ro-Ro?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm alright," Roman grunted as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"Ah, Roman's tough. He's taken worse stumbles than that, haven't ya?" Natsu said, holding otu a fist for the little boy to bump. Roman grinned, nodded, bumped Natsu's fist, then turned to Erza.
"Can I go play with them, Mommy?" he asked, pointing to the rest of the Birthday Gang.
"Of course, go have fun," Erza smiled and Roman scampered off.
"So, Jellal, what are you doing here?" Gary asked. "Thought Crime Sorciere had a case they were working."
"We do," Jellal nodded. "But we've hit a bit of a snag. Nothinn we can't handle, just awaiting clearance to investiagte from a town's mayor. But I thought I could help keep an eye on the little ones while waiting. Erza told me you're a bit short on available baby-sitters this year."
"Thanks, man. Appreciate it," Natsu grinned.
"Is that everyone?" Laxus called from the stage as the Conbolts and Connells walked in. All present glanced about, nodding when it seemed there was no one missing.
"Alright, then, let's get going!" Laxus called, motioning with his hand towards the back door.
"Say, Laxus?" Lucy asked as all participating in the trials began to file towards the door. "You haven't said where we're going for the trials this year."
"I know," Laxus smiled mischivously as he opened the door for the group.
"Good luck, Mommy!" Nashi called, waving enthusiastically. "I just know you're gonna win!"
"Thanks, sweetie," Lucy smiled as she waved back.
Freed, who was the last of the group, closed the door behind him, leaving Jellal, Kinana, and Makarov alone with 15 children.
"Now, then," Makarov smiled as he stood up, pulling something out of his pocket. He quickly blew it up to reveal it was a ball. "Who'se up for a game of kick ball?"
"Me!" all the children cheered.
"Um, sir, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Kinana asked.
"Oh, come now! They're just kids, what could they possibly hurt?" Makarov asked. "Boys vs. Girls! Get in your teams!"
"But there are more girls than boys!" Storm shouted.
"Oh, well, guess we'll have to fix that," Makarov nodded. "Jellal, get in there!"
"What? I don't remember agreeing to this," Jellal protested.
"Roman? Minette? Eva? Von?" Makarov asked, to which all the Fernandez children rushed up to their father and put on their best pouting faces.
"Pppplllleeeeaaaasssseeee!"
Jellal blinked a few times, then turned and glared at Makarov. "How dare you use my own children against me?"
"Come on, Daddy, it's fun!" Roman cheered, grabbing his father's hand and leading him to the boy's team.
"We still need two more to make it even!" Cato shouted.
"Happy and Pantherlily reporting for duty!" Happy said as he flew down in front of Cato, Saluting, Pantherlilly by his side.
"Alright, now we're even!" Storm cheered.
"Come along children," Carla said as she beckoned her kittens to her side. "Let's cheer them on."
"Yeah, go Daddy!" Charlie shouted.
"No, go girls!" Willa cheered.
"Yes, go ladies!" Carla nodded.
"Yeah!" Maisie called from where she was seated in her mother's lap.
"Traitosr!" Happy playfully snapped, making his mate and daughters laugh.
"Don't worry, we'll cheer for you, Daddy!" Milo called, and arm around Charlie and Fin's shoulders.
"Yeah!" Fin agreed.
"Alright," Makarov called. "Everyone get in your teams! I'll be the pitcher!"
"No fair, they've got three grown-ups on their team!" Lorelle whined once she saw who exactly was on which team.
"It's okay," Koree cheerfully reassured her, patting her on the shoulder. "We've got Nashi!"
Nashi grinned mischivously, looking eerily like her father as she popped her knuckles.
"This isn't going to end well, is it?" Kinana muttered as she helplessly watched on.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Alright, stop!" Laxus held out his arm.
Lucy's brow furrowed in confusion. So far they'd just been walking about aimlessly in the forest behind the Guild Hall.
"I'm gonna need all the candidates and their partners to be blindfolded," Laxus pulled a bundle of blindfolds from his pocket.
"What?" Lucys arched an eyebrow as Laxus tossed one to her.
"I'm not sure I like this," Juvia muttered as she caught her blindfold.
"Me either," Lucy answered, though she still tied hers in place.
She could hear someone walking and stopping in front of her. Probably Laxus making sure her blind fold was in place. She supposed she passed because she couldn't see anything and she could hear him walking on past her.
"Alright, just give us a few minutes to get set up," Laxus finally stated.
Set up for what? Lucy wondered, just as she felt someone grab her hands, and then a bursting rush of wind past her that threatened to tear her skin off. As soon as it had started it stopped. Even with the blindfold on Lucy felt dizzy. Still, she knew exactly what had happened.
"Mest?" she asked, but got no answer. A few seconds later she heard a rushing noise next to her.
"Mest?"
"Lucy?"
"Juvia?"
"What's going on?"
"I've got not idea."
"Don't take your blindfolds off yet!" Laxus ordered from somewhere. Lucy noticed his voice sounded a lot more echoey though. In fact all their voices did. Where were they?
After a few more seconds, they heard Laxus speak again.
"Thanks a million, kid. But I'm afraid you'll have to go back now."
"Don't call me kid," Mest's very distant sounding voice replied.
"Alright, you can take your blind folds off now."
Lucy removed hers and looked about her. All she saw were smooth, round, stone walls reaching up, and up, and up.
"As you can see you've all been dumped into twenty foot tall craters," Laxus explained. Lucy looked and saw, what looked like him standing next to her and Juvia. She could tell it wasn't the real him, though, because he was completely see through. It was a thought projection, and juding by how translucent it was, he likely had one in each crater. She assumed each team was in a different on because she and Juvia were the only ones in this one.
"Your first task is to get out of these craters and make it to base camp. Simple enough, I'm sure you can all do it," Laxus stated with a shrug. "You have until sun down today. Good luck."
"That's it?" Lucy asked. Surely this had to be some kind of trick. These were the S friggin Class Trials. No way it would be that easy.
"Yup, that's it," Laxus answered. "Like I said, should be simple enough. Oh, and by the way-"
"An there it is," Lucy grumbled.
"All of our S-Class wizards are waiting up top for you. They'll be doing everything they can to tray and stop you from reaching camp. Once you get here you're safe and will have completely passed the first task. Until then, though, all bets are off. Can't tell you who's where. I didn't assign them to a particular crater or team. I just told them to keep you from getting to camp. So, you might be lucky and not have one sitting around waiting for you to climb on out. Or...you could have all eight of them. I don't know. I left the details up to them, so choose your next few steps carefully. Good luck! See you when you get here, if you get here."
And with that Laxus' thought projection disappeared.
"Well, we're definately not getting up that way," Lucy declared, pointing up the rock walls as she reached for her keys. "Open, gate of the Maiden, Virgo!"
"At your service, Princess," Virgo said as she appeared.
"Virgo, I need you to dig us a tunnel out of here, but make sure it's long, make the descent up go as slow as you can so we can get as far away from here as possible. And so you can keep us under ground as long as possible. Knowing Natsu he'll be trying to track me by my scent just so he can make sure he's the one to go up against me."
"Right away, Princess," Virgo said as she began to dig.
"Well, this certainly is a clever strategy," Juvia said as she followed along behind Lucy in the tunnel. "And you thought it up so quickly. And can see why Laxus chose you."
"Thanks," Lucy blushed, as she gazed down at the blindfold in her hand. It looked like just a plain, white handkerchief. Still, she put it away in her pocket. This was the S-Class Trials. You never knew what could be a hint or clue to help you succeed.
It felt like they spent an eternity in the tunnel. Lucy knew she had told Virgo to go slow, but this was a little ridiculous. Still, at least they were bound to make it far away from the starting point so their chances of hitting any resistance were slim. Well, slimmer.
After what seemed like an eternity she finally spotted sunlight.
"We're here, Princess," Virgo announced as she bowed at the newly dug entrance of the tunnel.
"Thanks, Virgo," Lucy sighed as she and Juvia climbed out. They seemed to be in some kind of abandoned quarry. There was nothing but rocky cliff faces and gravel piles all around them.
"You can go back now, if you want," Lucy said.
"You sure?" Virgo's eyes narrowed.
"Why?" Lucy asked, suddenyl concerned.
"Duck," Virgo said, grabbing both of the women by the head and forcing them to bend down. Lucy felt a burst of heat from behind her and glanced up to see a fire ball zoom over her head.
"Aw, crap!" she groaned.
"I knew you were going to use, Virgo!" Natsu's voice called from behind her. She whirled about to see her husband sauntering towards her, flames ignited in both palms. "Don't think just because you're my wife it means I'll go easy on you."
Lucy smirked as she pulled out another key. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!"
Loke appeared, already in battle position. "Regulus Light!"
"Fire Dragon, Iron Fist!"
The two men's fists collided, causing a shock wave that sent dust and gravel shooting into the air. Lucy pulled out her whip, popping it so that it wrapped around Natsu's wrist. She gave it a tight tug to pull him off balance. Or, that was the idea. Before she had a chance, he gave to whip a quick tug, pulling her towards him. She leaned back far enough to nearly knock herself off balance as she ducked under his kick. Loke grabbed onto his ankle, giving it a twist that spun Natsu in the air.
"Water slicer!" Juvia shouted, sending two spouts his way. He somer saulted and dodged to attacks, landing to his feet by the end of it.
"Fire Dragon, Roar!"
Juvia dropped down onto her stomach, covering her head with her hands to dodge the attack. Even then the back of her dress got a bit cinged.
With his attention focused on Juvia, he didn't have time to dogde the Lucy kick to the back of his head, knocking him onto his side.
"I thought you said you weren't going to go easy on me?" Lucy teased.
Natsu jumped back to his feet, smiling wickedly as he made a punch for it. She dodged out of the way by side-stepping and turning. It was just enough that his fist didn't come in contact with her face, but not so far that he was fortunate enough not to let his stomach come in contact with her jabbing elbow. His body unwillingly curled up, making it easy for her to pop her fist up into his chin. She reach up wth her other hand to grab him by his hair with the intention of throwing him to the ground. He, however, snapped his hands up, clamping them around her wrist. With one tug he'd thrown her on her back and had his foot against her chest.
"Did I ever tell you how hot you are when you're fighting?" he asked, a smirk on his face.
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Lucy answered, before shouting. "Virgo, now!"
Two chains sailed towards Natsu, wrapping around him, pinning his arms to his torso before pulling him back to his knees.
"I dunno," he shrugged, grinning up at her as she jumped to her feet. "It got me three kids, didn't it?"
Lucy's eyes narrowed as he pulled her whip back out, popping it behind her to make sure there were no knots.
"Hm," Natsu looked down at the chains holding him down, then back to his wife standing over him with a whip. "I know I should probably be concerned right now, but in all honesty I'm kinda turned on."
"I told you flattery will get you nowhere!" Lucy shouted.
"Oh, well. Worth a shot," he shrugged, setting his entire body on fire and bursting the chains into molten, ashy, shards around him with a jerk of his arms, standing back to his feet. He charged towards her again. She barely dogded the attack, feeling a slight burn as he slipped past her.
"Water Cyclone!" Juvia shouted before a tornado of water struck Natsu, extiguishing the flames covering his body and sending him flying a few feet away. He, of course, landed squarely on his feet, but he did rub his side that had recieve the brunt of the attack with a look of discomfort on his face.
Even without her commanding him, Loke took advantage of this new weakness, by striking Natsu in his sore side with a Regulus Light punch.
Lucy told her self to stop feeling bad. These were the S Class trials. This was what she was supposed to be doing! Besides, it was Natsu, he could take it. Still, she couldn't help the slight gnawing at her stomach as she popped her whip, catching it around his anle and giving it a tug to send him face-planting into the ground. She jumped, setting her foot into his back as she grabbed both of his arms and held them up behind him, not enough to seriously hurt him, but enough that he wouldn't try and thrash about to get away.
"Pinned ya!" she shouted, before recoiling with a loud "Ouch!" at the burning sensation that charred her palms.
He used his fire magic to propel him back on his feet, causing his body to pop up like a rake that had been stepped on. The back of his head cracked her in the nose, sending her stumbling a few steps back. She blinked to clear away the stars blinking in her vision, barely having time to dodge a fire kick.
"Water Nebula!"
One minute Natsu was there. The next he was gone, replaced by two spinning pillars of water.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he shouted as he spun around in the jets of water, bouncing against the ground a few times before finally stopping. He quickly jumped back up, unphased.
Lucy suddenly got an idea.
"Juvia, do that again!" she called.
"Water Nebula!" Juvia shouted, conjuring the spell back up again. Lucy pulled out a key and stuck it into the water.
"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"
"How many times do I have to tell you not to creative with how you call me!" Aquarius shouted as she appeared.
"Hey, remember when I went on a year long trek to find your key?" Lucy countered.
"Fine," the spirit grumbled as she raised her urn.
"Oh, crap!" Natsu muttered before he was blasted away by a-
"Torrent!"
"YIKE!" Natsu shouted as he flew about, oh, ten? Fifteen? Twenty feet into the air before bouncing against the ground about six times, finally skiiding to a painful stop agaist the gravelly ground.
"Oof!" he groaned as the full impact of the pain hit him. "That's gonna haunt me tomorrow morning!"
He slowly pushed himself up onto his feet. By the time he stood though, Lucy was long gone, having used her opportunity to escape. Not the tactic he would have used. He would have wanted the fight to continue. But the objective wasn't to necesarrily defeat him, or any of the S-Class wizards. It was to get to the base camp before anyone could take her out. Lucy knew that. Therefore, that was her goal, and she was going to achieve it the simplest way she could, which meant running when she had the chance.
He let out a deep, painful exhale as he leaned against his knees. She probably would have gotten him down eventually anyways. Especially after that last attack! As much as he hated to admit it, that hurt! They'd all gotten a good swing or two in on him, actually: Lucy, Juvia, Loke, Virgo, Aquarius-
Holy smokes, she'd called three spirits at once!
He smiled as she straightened himself back up, taking deep breath through his nose. He could still catch a whiff of her sent, so he guessed that meant he should go after her. He wouldn't be going fast though. Good grief, that hurt! The rest of the S-Class wizards, as far as he knew, were still waiting at the craters. Only he had slipped off, knowing what Lucy's strategy would be. She was pretty much home free at this point. Now if she could just figure out where the base camp was before sundown…
Oh, who was he kidding. Of course she would figure it out! It was Lucy!
He smirked in pride as he walked along. "That's my girl!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Lorelle, I'm sorry, but the rules are rules, honey," Makarov said as he stood over the screaming child. "Cato tagged you, so you're out."
"But he messed up my hair!" Lorelle sobbed, pointing at Cato. "Gramps, put him out because he's mean! Not me!"
"I didn't mean to," Cato said, head hung in shame. "I was just trying to tag you out."
"But I don't wanna be out! I wanna win!" Lorelle flopped dramatically on her back and kicked her legs.
"Oh, good grief! You act like he tried to kill you!" Farrah scolded, arms crossed as she stood on second base. "Besides, the girls are still in the lead."
"Yeah, so why you cryin'?" Nashi asked from where she was waiting at home plate. "Now stop whining so I can have my turn!"
"But I don't wanna be out!" Lorelle lamented.
"I think it might be time for this one to take a time out," Kinana said as she scooped Lorelle up and brought her over to a bench where she could scream out her temper tantrum.
Jellal just shook his head as he watched Lorelle kick her legs and beat her fists in defiance from where he sat with the younger boys He, Igneel, Meeko, and Von were sitting this round out. Cato, Roman, and Storm were guarding the bases. Happy and Pantherlily were both in the out field.
Kinana set Lorelle in a chair, and the child just dramatically dropped to the floor, kicking her legs and beating her fists.
"Good grief," Jellal rolled his eyes. Normally it wouldn't bother him as much. Young children threw temper tantrums. It happened. Heavens knew he'd had to deal with some pretty ugly ones from his four. It was just that this was daily thing for Lorelle. It happened multiple times a day, actually. Any time one little thing didn't go her way…
"Alright, I guess we'll just keep playing without her," Makarov shrugged. "Ready Nashi?"
"Yeah!" she cheered.
"Go long!" Pantherlily shouted, both he and Happy running as far back as they could as Makarov rolled the ball towards Nashi.
Pow! Everyone jumped at the sound as the ball flew into the air, well over everyone's head. Nashi and Farrah both took off running.
"I got it! I got it!" Happy shouted as he flew up and held his arms out for the ball-
-only to have it smash into him and flatten him against the ceiling.
"I don't got it…"
By now Farrah had rounded home plate.
"That's nine points for the girls!" Kinana called.
"C'mon, someone tag Nashi out! One more point and the girls win!" Storm shouted as Nashi rounded first plate and began heading for second.
"On it!" Pantherlily called as he snatched the ball out of the air and threw it towards Nashi. She dropped down, sliding under the ball to second, the ball going over her head and bonking Storm in the face.
"I said tag Nashi, not me!" he shouted.
Nashi stepped on second and then began running towards third.
"I've got it!" Roman shouted, grabbing the ball, and then jumping in front of Nashi to block her. She slipped to one side, setting her hands on Roman's shoulders and cart wheeling over him, touching third and heading to home plate.
"Go, Nashi, go!" Layla squealed, jumping up and down in excitment.
"You've almost got it!" Farrah encouraged.
"We're gonna win! We're gonna win!" Minette and Eva cheered, hugging each other and jumping up and down in place.
"But I wanted to be the one to make us win!" Lorelle cried from where she was still in time-out.
"Cato!" Roman shouted, throwing him the ball.
Cato caught it, and went to tag Nashi with it, but she slid underneath him, between his legs, and right to home plate.
"SAFE!" Makarov shouted.
"That's ten points! The girls win!" Kinana announced.
Squeals and cheers errupted as all of the girls tackled Nashi with hugs and congratulations.
"Aw, man!" Storm lamented, snapping in disappointment.
"We lost?" Roman asked, disappointed.
"And we only got six points for the whole game," Cato crossed his arms.
"Well, what can we say, that girls got a lot of power behind her kicks," Happy muttered as he landed next to the three boy. "I should know…"
"Not to mention she can duck and weave with the best of them," Pantherlily added as he joined his team. "Don't be disappointed boys. You played well. Nashi's just a formidible opponent."
"Yay, Na'sissy!" Igneel clapped from where he was seated in Jellal's lap.
"No, Igneel. You is on our team!" Von protested. "You not supposed to cheer for her!"
Igneel just grinned and pointed at Nashi. "Na'sissy!"
"Pfft!" Meeko spat in disappointment, clearly catching on that whatever was going on, his group lost.
"Pfft!" Igneel spat back.
"Don't you two start," Jellal warned, setting Igneel on one side of him and Meeko on the other. As he turned his back to Igneel to set Meeko down, Igneel slipped off the bench and toddled towards Nashi.
"Na'sissy, yay!" he clapped again as he reached her. Nashi pushed herself out of the dog pile of squealing girls and held her arms out to Igneel.
"Did you see me win, Igneel?" she asked as she picked him up.
"Na'sissy go zoom!" Igneel cheered throwing his arms up in excitement.
"Hey, aren't you on our team?" Storm asked.
"Yeah, why are you so happy?" Roman asked.
Igneel just smiled and patted Nashi on the cheek. "Na'sissy big sissy!"
"Just 'cuz she's your big sister doesn't mean you have to be happy for her," Storm pouted.
"Wow, the baby's a better sport than all of you. So sad," Nashi shook her head in disgust as she bounced Igneel up so she could get a better grip on his waist and keep him from slipping out of her arms.
Layla giggled as she ran to her siblings side. "Roman, Cato, and Storm are big cwy babies, aren't dey?"
"No we're not!" the three boys shouted.
"I think you are," Persephone smirked, hands on her hips.
"It's not our fault Nashi's the best kick ball player!" Koree cheered.
"Yeah!" Layla nodded.
"La-La!" Igneel said as he pointed to Layla, oblivious to the arguement going on around him.
"It's just 'cuz we went easier on her," Storm insisted, arms crossed. "I'm still stronger than her."
"What did you say?" Nashi asked, brow furrowed.
"I said I'm stronger than you!"
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"You're just embarrassed you got beaten by a girl!"
"No I'm not! I am too stronger!"
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Prove it!"
"Fine!" Storm hopped up to a table and slammed his elbow against it. "Arm wrestling!"
Nashi's eyes narrowed. "Hold my brother!" she declared, practically dropping Igneel in Koree's arms, who just stared awkwardly at him.
"Yeah, get 'im Nashi!" Persephone cheered.
"Nas'i gonna win again!" Layla declared, dancing with excitement.
Koree didn't join in the cheering, but instead just stared awkwardly at the toddler boy chewing on his fingers as he sat in her arms.
"Um...hi?" she said.
Igneel smiled, giggled, and booped her on the nose with his slobbery hand.
"Ugh, that's just gross!" Koree lamented as she repositioned Igneel on her hip to wipe her face off.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"So...any idea where we're going?" Juvia asked as she and Lucy continued trekking through the quarry.
"No," Lucy admitted. "Ugh! Everything looks the same! We could be going in circles for all I know."
"Laxus didn't give any clues as to where the camp is, did he?"
"No," Lucy sighed looking about. "Maybe we should try getting up higher," she pointed to one of the rocky cliff faces. "Maybe we can spot it from up there."
"Certainly better than wandering about aimlessly," Juvia nodded as she and Lucy headed for the cliff face.
Lucy wandered along the bottom of it, feeling along the wall until she found a good place to grip on.
"Try and follow along behind me and do exactly as I do," she said to Juvia as she pulled herself up. "Last thing either of us need is a rockslide falling on us."
"Agreed," Juvia nodded, waiting until Lucy got a bit higher before climbing up behind her. Lucy winced as she kept climbing. Granted, the burns on her hands from the fight with Natsu weren't bad. She'd gotten worse handling Nashi's temper tanrrums. Still, they were making the climb harder than it needed to be. That, and since her skin was already damaged it made it easier for it to crack and cut, meaning by the time she reached the top there was a thin coat of blood on her palms. Not letting a little thing like that stop her, though, she wiped her hands off on her shorts and then reched down to help Juvia up.
"Here, gotcha" she said as she pulled her friend up she looked about to see where they were.
"Thank you," Juvia said as she reahed the top and looked behind Lucy, brow furrowing in confusion. "Lemon trees?"
Lucy turned. Sure enough there was a lemon orchard right behind them, the yellow fruits waving lazily in the wind.
"A quarry and a lemon orchard?" she crossed her arms, chewing on the inside of her mouth as she thought.
"That's a bit of an odd mix," Juvia said, cocking her head to one side.
"Yeah...a bit too odd..." Lucy stated.
"What do you mean?" Juvia asked.
"Laxus didn't bring us all the way out here just for the aesthetic," Lucy said. "There's gotta be a reason he chose this spot…"
She pondered for a little while longer, then her eyes brightened as she ran for one of the trees, snatching a lemon off of it and tearing one of the ends away with her teeth.
"Goodness, if you're that hungry we could stop of lunch!" Juvia said.
"No, no, no," Lucy shook her head, grimacing fromt he tartness of the fruit as she pulled her blindfold out. "Not that," she began to squeeze the lemon juice onto her blindfold.
"Um...what are you doing?" Juvia asked.
"Lemon juice and heat can make some invisible inks visible," Lucy explained. "I think there's something on our blindfolds that'll tell us where the base camp is. Why else would he have given these to us? I mean, yeah being blindfolded was a cool touch, but he didn't have to do that. He could have just had Mest brought us there with out eyes open and it would have been the same."
"Yes, I suppose that's true," Juvia nodded.
"Not to mention he didn't give us any clues to where the base camp is in his little speech," Lucy continued as she pulled another lemon off, bit off the end, grimaced at the taste and began squeezing more juice onto the handkerchief. "The trials are hard to pass, true, but not impossible. That tells me that our blindfolds are the key to finding base camp."
Lucy squeezed about three more lemons onto the rag until it was soaked, she then balled it up in her fists and puffed hot breaths of air onto it. After a few more puffs she unfolded it and held it up. Sure enough, on the cloth was a map.
"Look at that!" Juvia cheered. "Oh, Lucy you're a genius!"
"I know," she smiled as she examined the map. "So here are the craters...and this is the orchard…" she pointed at the rather large cluster of trees on the map"...this must be where we fought Natsu, which means we're somewhere around here...which means…" she trailed her finger across the map towards a small creek going through the orchard about a mile from them. Next to the creek was an X
"...the base camp actually isn't that far from here!" Lucy pointed to the spot marked with an X. "What luck!"
"We might be the first ones there!" Juvia said.
"Let's hope," Lucy smiled as she stood up and she and Juvia began walking towards the camp. As they continued along she flipped her handkerchief over, just to check something before the ink became invisible again.
Her hunch was correct. There was writing on the back of her handkerchief. It wasn't complete, though. All the words were cut off in the middle.
That meant whatever this was she'd need other handkerchiefs to read it. She shurgged and stored the blindfold away. At least she had a good idea what the second task was going to involve.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Aw, man!" Cato lamented as Nashi pinned his hand to the table.
"Ha! I beat all of you!" Nashi cheered, pointing to Storm, Roman, and Cato.
"Nashi strong!" Layla cheered as she watched on with wide eyes.
"You bet I am!" Nashi smiled, ruffling Layla's hair.
"Alright," Farrah grinned as she sat down across from Nashi, thinking she saw a flicker of fear in the younger girl's eyes as she held out her hand. "My turn."
"Erm...okay," Nashi said, reaching her hand out.
"Why'd you try to beat her at arm wrestling, Storm?" Bianca asked, a look of disgust on her face. "You can't even beat m-"
"SH!" Storm snapped, slamming a hand over her mouth. He then recoiled a look of disgust on his face. "Did you just lick me!?"
"Yup," Bianca answered, a smug smile on her face.
"Gross, Bianca! Why would you do that!?"
Meeko laughed as he pointed at Storm.
"Oh, what do you want, diaper boy?" Storm asked, annoyed.
"S'orm funny!" Meeko cheered, clapping his hands.
Storm just glowered in annoyance. "You guys stink!"
"Alright," Persephone rang her hands in excitment as Farrah and Nashi locked hands.
"One, two, three, go!"
Slam! In less than a second Farrah had pinned Nashi's arm to the table.
"Whoa!" Storm gasped, eyes wide.
"Hmph," Farrah smirked. "You're strong. But you're not the strongest yet."
"Ow," Nashi cringed as she rubbed the back of her hand.
"Man, your sister's kinda scary," Roman whispered to Cato.
"You don't have to live with her," Cato muttered.
"What?" Farrah asked.
"I said nothing!" Cato shouted a little too quickly.
"Can you take your slobbery brother back now?" Koree asked, holding Igneel, who was now chewing on his foot, out to Nashi.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Laxus tapped his foot to the song he was listening to through his magic headphones as he waited. Geez, once the planning part was done, Guild Master's part of the trials were kinda boring. All he had to do was just wait for them to show up. If they did. It wasn't even noon, so he wasn't worried yet. Surely some of them would make it to the camp. Right? He hadn't made the first task too hard, had he?
Eh, it was the S-Class Trials. They were supposed to be hard.
He went back to humming along to the music when he felt the ground rumble.
Splash! Laxus jumped to his feet, just in case it was an enemy, but smiled when he saw a water wizard helping a celestial wizards out of the creek.
"You alright, Lucy?" Juvia asked.
"Yeah, just didn't expect the bank to be so slippery."
"Well, well, well," Laxus said as he pushed his headphones back and approached Lucy. "Gotta admit, I was kinda expecting Freed to be the first back,. Finding incrypted messages are kind of his thing, but I had you pinned for second."
"Hmph!" Lucy crossed her arms, a playful scowl on her face. "Maybe you should underestimate me so much, Master."
Laxus chuckled. "Guess not. Well, congrats, you've passed the first task."
Lucy squeed slightly as she bounced with excitement.
"Sit back, relax, you've earned it," Laxus said, sitting down and placing his headphones back in place. "I gotta feeling it's going to be a while before someone else shows up."
Lucy nodded, looking about camp for the medical kit so she could patch up her hands. Laxus glanced over, a bit concerned when he saw her sit down with the kit in her hands. He soon found it was nothing serious, though. Still, he couldn't help but let out a loud:
"Ooh! Someone's gonna be on the couch when he gets home!" when he saw the burns, making both Lucy and Juvia laugh.
It actually wasn't too long before Freed and Laki appeared, Freed a bit peeved he hadn't come in first. Wendy and Romeo showed up about an hour after them, gasping for breath and trembling slightly.
"So, who did you run into?" Freed asked.
"Cana," Romeo shuddered. "I am never looking at poker the same way again!"
"She trapped me in a card and taunted Romeo with it!" Wendy shouted.
"I was so scared to use any of my fire," Romeo lamented, eyes a little watery. "I was scared I was going to burn up Wendy!"
"Aw, it's okay honey, I'm here and I'm fine," Wendy assured him.
"So, how'd you get out?" Lucy asked.
"I had to steal the card away from her," Romeo said. "And that was no picnic, let me tell you."
"Just goes to show how strong you've gotten, kid," Laxus said, pulling a bottle out of his pack and passing it to Romeo. "Sit down. Have a drink. Something tells me you need it."
"I'm gonna need more than one," Romeo muttered, making everyone laugh.
Evergreen and Bisca were next, both bragging about they had managed to overpower Levy with their combined gunslinger and fairy bomb attacks.
Azuka and Alzack came next, both panting heavily.
"Uh-oh, who'd you hit?" Laxus asked.
"Gajeel," Azuka said. "When he says no bullet can break those scales of his, he meant it."
"I finally pegged him in the eye with one," Alzack said. "Barely did any damage, of course, but it did stun him long enough for us to run."
"Run is right, you guys look wiped," Romeo said.
"That's one way to put it," Azuka nodded collapsing to the ground.
Lisanna and Bixslow made it just before sunset, all covered in slices and cuts.
"Erza?" everyone asked at once.
"What gave it away?" Bixslow asked. "All our slash wounds or the look of doom and despair in our eyes?"
"How on earth di you guys get away?" Lucy asked.
"Flew," Bixslow. "I spent an hour being carried around like a sack of potatoes by Lisanna in her bird form. It was humiliating!"
"It worked, didn't it?" Lisanna asked just as the sun set. They were the last group to appear.
That means two group are already out, Lucy thought.
As the stars began to come out all of the S-Class wizards began appearing, the first day of the trials officially over and their job done...for now. Natsu and Gray were the first to make it to camp, Natsu smiling like an idiot when he saw Lucy.
"Yeah! I knew you'd make it!" he cheered, bounding up to her and planting a kiss on her lips.
"So Eflman didn't make it?" Evergreen asked, disappointed.
"One word," Natsu said, holding up a finger. "Guildarts."
"Are he and Warren still alive?" Bixslow asked, lifting his helmet to show his eyes wide with concern.
"Oh, yeah," Natsu said. "Elfman's just still nursing his bruised pride, that's all. I'm sure they'll be here soon."
"What about Jet and Droy?" Levy asked as she and Gajeel appeared from the darkness and sat down near the fire sat down near the fire.
"They never stopped arguing long enough to even make it out of the crater," Gray muttered. "I stood there all day waiting on them! Nothing!"
Levy face-palmed. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Hey, Alzack!" Gajeel yelled, pointing at the gun slinger. "I gotta get you back for this eye!" he pointed to the black bruise over his left eye.
"Sorry, man, you really didn't give me much other choice," Alzack said.
"Eh, don'e be," Laxus said. "These are the S-Class trials, you're supposed to beat each other up."
Mirajane, Cana, Guildarts, and Erza came back, toting between them Elfman, Warren, Jet, and Droy.
"Sorry, guys, I'm afraid you're out," Laxus said as he stood up. "You can still hand about and see how the rest of the candidates do, but you're time in the trial is over. For this year anyways. As for the rest of you, get some rest. You're gonna need it."
Everyone began unrolling their sleeping bags and finding a patch od dirt to call bed for the night. As Lucy unfurled hers and his, Natsu noticed the bandages on her hands. His brow furrowed as he set his hand over one of hers, bringing it to his face to examine.
"I didn't burn you that bad, did I?" he asked, concern in his voice.
"Nah," Lucy shook her head as she went back to work setting up the rather large sleeping bag. "Besides, that's not all you. I scraped myself up climbing a cliff."
He took her hands again, bringing them to his lips and brushing a gentle kiss across both her palms.
"Ugh!" a pillow smacked him in the back of the head as Cana shouted. "Stop being cute and go to bed!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Natsu shouted back, though both he and Cana were smiling. Lucy shook her head, climbing into the sleeping bag and closing her eyes. Natsu was quick behind her, slipping in next to her and pulling her against him. The night air was cold, but he was able to keep both of them plently warm.
"You know I wasn't just kidding, right?" he asked.
"What?" Lucy opened one eye, looking up curiously at him.
"When I said I was turned on while we were fighting."
Lucy rolled her eyes, swatting him in the chest. "Just go to sleep, you goof."
"Alright, alright. Just wanted to make sure you knew."
"I know."
"Ugh!" Cana grumbled from a few feet from them. "You keep this up and we'll be able to pour this stuff on pancakes!"