Chapter Fourteen

A Personal Hero

Beneath the ominous clouds, the wind shifted the tree canopies above, hushing the cacophony of insects and birds.

"What is it?" Lucy whispered, surveying for any visible trace of movement beyond the expanse of the forest.

"Footsteps." Natsu replied, "Lots of 'em."

She swallowed. "Bandits?"

"Can't be. They wouldn't try to ambush wizards unless we'd stolen something from them."

She nodded. With Natsu and her keys at hand, they could easily take out a large group of bandits with their magic. Though she'd personally feel better if they were a small group.

He stepped back. "Happy! We're leavin'!" His hand hooked around her upper arm, leading her out of the clearing. She didn't bristle against him.

Then, a twig snapped on her right. Her hand rushed to her key as she spun around. Happy approached them, hoisting his green backpack over one shoulder. "Hey guys, look what I found!" Setting his pack down, he reached inside and held up a handful of doubloons, golden ear studs, and a used nose ring. "These should be more than enough to cover Lucy's rent for this month."

Her heart picked up as a cold front swept her face. "Happy... Where did you get those?"

"I found them lying next to a pile of half-eaten wild berries on the ground. Someone probably forgot about them. Ah well, one man's trash is another man's treasure, amirite?"

(He eventually collected the gold and returned to Natsu and Lucy, not hearing the black hooded figure towering over him from behind.)

"You need to return those right now." She raised her voice.

Happy frowned. "To who?"

"Dammit. They're here." Natsu muttered, glaring down at the shadows beneath the canopies hidden behind dense foliage. He clenched his fists. "We know you're hidin', cowards! Show yourselves!"

Lucy stiffened, and her voice quivered through a forced grin. "Or maybe 'please leave us alone' and 'thank you' would be a more ideal response. Not everything has to be a fight, right?"

Time stood still with only Natsu moving swiftly.

"Get down!" He threw himself over their backs, hands covering their necks and heads. She hit the ground on her chest along with Happy. Her cheek crushed against rough patches of grass as something sliced through the air in multitudes, followed by rapid pelting against wood and dirt.

Lucy picked her head up slightly. A wooden arrow penetrated the soil a few inches from her face, along with an array peppering half of the clearing. Natsu pushed himself up as black hooded figures with leather hiking boots appeared from the canopies, aiming crossbows with purple energy circling the barrels. Another wave of figures surrounded them.

"Lousy shot!" Natsu smashed his fists together, flame bursting and engulfing around him. "Imma show ya how it's really done!" Forming an X with his arms, ropes of spiraling inferno surged from his hands. He raised them over his head. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" He swung forth, waves of flames blazing in a blink of an eye, consuming their enemies in its path. They dissipated into a black smoke along with their clothing.

Lucy gasped. They didn't swing their arms or run around in a panic as she had always witnessed in battle. "They're not real." She said to her teammates and to herself, still in disbelief. She heard more boots landing on branches behind her. She rose to her feet and jumped out of the firing range of arrows.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu breathed fire onto their assailants, incinerating the wave of arrows before they struck Happy. Black smoke rose from their stead.

Suddenly, another wave of figures poured into the vicinity at ground level, equipped in battle axes, swords, lances, and flails. Lucy flashed out her celestial key. "Open! Gate of the Golden Bull!" A circle of wind rushed beside her as Taurus appeared, holding his glinting battle axe.

"Ready for action, Miss Lucy!" The celestial bull mooed.

Lucy pulled out Fleuve d'étoiles from her left hip, unleashing a river of electric blue energy and stars from its black hilt. "Stick it to them!" She slashed through the charging bodies of rising black smoke as Taurus struck the Earth with his axe, erupting a shock wave that threw off the feet of their enemies. They crashed onto the ground from great heights.

Someone grabbed her from behind, pulling her arms back into a tight restraint. "Let me go!" She twisted her body to break free from his grasp. Happy tackled his face, clawing him till he let go. Lucy thrusted her whip and latched around his torso. "Happy, duck!"

He dropped to the ground as Lucy yanked the guy towards her and high-kicked into his face. His body flipped back and landed with a heavy thud. She tossed a brief grin at Happy. "Thanks for the help."

Natsu shielded himself from the range of arrows behind the body of a hooded figure as another charged at him from behind. He high-jumped with a black flip. The enemy impaled the arrow-struck body with a lance. Another figure charged from his right, raising a wooden sword. Natsu grabbed the falling blade with a bare hand, incinerating it into ashes, and full-body kicked into his gut. The body soared and crashed into his ally. Another opponent ran over the collapsed bodies, swinging a flail. Natsu's roundhouse kick hooked behind his kneecap, flipping him onto his back. The spiked ball fell on his face. Spinning around, Natsu heard the hollow clicks of the crossbows in the midst of the noise. Summoning all his might, he slammed his hand down into the ground, shooting a constant stream of liquid inferno. Walls of molten rock erupted around himself and his teammates. Flying arrows dissipated into ashes as lava splashed onto their enemies, burning the trees from the bottom up.

The scent of burnt wood and perspiration filled the air as the forest was decorated in black smoke and magma.

Happy shifted his ears towards something from a distance and flew up for a bird's eye view. "Captain! More enemies are approaching at the port bow!"

Lucy sighed exasperatedly. "Seriously? Whoever's behind all this will just keep sending more our way till we wear ourselves out."

"Then we give 'em what they want as an exchange for some answers." Natsu asserted, glancing at the golden jewelry lying on the ground, and pointed at Happy. "Get Lucy up on that tree."

Lucy blinked. "What?" She gasped as tiny paws wrapped around her torso, and her weight lifted off the ground. Natsu launched himself with flames shooting from his feet and landed on a high branch behind an oak tree as they joined him in a hiding spot. Lucy squeezed herself closer to a tight corner of the trunk.

"If it's too tight for you up there, Miss Lucy, I know a hiding place that's big enough for us to smooch." Taurus winked with a thumbs up.

Disgust prickled at her skin. "Thanks but-" A strong arm hooked around her side and wedged her against Natsu's side.

"She's already taken." He grinned light-heartedly, returning the celestial bull a thumbs up.

Taurus looked at the two in shock, then smirked at Natsu. "Taking my woman, are you? A woman like that doesn't come for free, little salamander."

"If you're askin' me to roast that beef brain of yours, I'll take you up on that later. We're on a mission. So scram." Natsu peered around the tree at the clearing for any signs of their approaching enemies.

Lucy placed her palm over her forehead. She wasn't sure who had embarrassed her more. "Taurus, please go home."

"Anything for you, Miss Lucy." Taurus closed the gate, vanishing into a puff of smoke.

She exhaled slowly through her nose, calming the adrenaline rush still in her nerves. Then, refreshed awareness drew her focus on the warm spot settling on her side, well above her waistline. Beneath his calloused hand, the fabric of her crop top failed to barricade her skin from his heat. She shifted in her position, and her arm brushed against his abs and the black waistcoat barely covering his chest muscles. Sweat glistened on his tanned skin, more so from the summer heat than the fight itself. Natsu usually sweated more in the effort of protecting her from powerful and robust enemies.

A strange feeling churned in her belly. She quickly averted her gaze to his face etched with a one-track focus. He wanted to assess the bandits, unravel the clues to the secret identity of their perpetrator. What was she doing? Checking out his assets in the middle of a battle like someone with a sweat fetish. Maybe that was why she'd avoided looking at him as more than a guy with boyish charm. So she wouldn't get stuck in the friend zone.

Natsu shifted his face slightly, his eyes landing on her. She immediately looked elsewhere. Her cheeks heated up more upon discovering Happy watching her all this time. His mouth curled to one side as slyly as his tail. She shot him a warning glare. He'd better take the hint of not telling Natsu that she was checking him out.

"There they are." Natsu whispered.

A couple of black-hooded figures entered the empty battlefield and stood still, surveying the area closely. When they spread out, one of them approached the golden jewelry and collected it. One figure walked closer to their tree and stopped. For a brief second, Lucy thought he suspected them hiding right above him. The figure bent down and picked up her leather pouch full of golden celestial keys. Lucy covered her mouth, stifling any outburst ready to escape. She racked her brain of how her pouch snapped off of her belt. Then, she remembered. The goon who restrained her must've attempted to steal her golden celestial keys.

As the key thief joined the pack, Lucy gritted her teeth. "That jerk's stealing my keys."

"We'll get your friends back." Natsu assured her with a nod. "And then some."

A/N:

Surprise! I finished this earlier than anticipated. But hey, I can't complain if I'm getting closer to finishing the story.

Thank you guys for those who are following and making this story a favorite! It seems that my first Fairy Tail fanfic is making someone happy :)

I hope to get the next chapter updated in less than two weeks. Please feel free to leave a review of this chapter. What do you like or don't like about this chapter with constructive feedback.