Chapter 3: That Pregnant Woman
"You better pray to God that he doesn't die."
In the blink of an eye, Lucy's vision changed. She was not even sure how it happened. As soon as the horse dropped, the ranger shot off the ground, snatching the rifle away from her. With a cry of surprise, she fell back as he stepped around her, grabbing Levy's gun too.
Natsu shook from the physical need to punch something so he started unloading the guns. It gave him time to think. The little woman was in trouble. Big trouble. No male or female pointed a gun at Happy, much less, shoot him without paying the consequences.
He took an aggressive step toward the woman still on the ground. Her brown eyes staring at him a bit apprehensively. In the back of his mind, he had to give her credit. Most people would be quaking in their boots to see him fully enraged. He didn't remember when his emotions had been this out of control.
A warning shot fired.
Natsu froze. He sensed rather than felt the bullet whizz pass his face.
"Do I have another gun trained on me?" He asked in a low, guttural growl. Slowly, the two women nodded, eyes wide but not in fear. Apparently his tone was not harsh enough to provoke true fear if they had someone hidden, helping them from the sidelines. He scanned the house, noticing an upstairs curtain window that was open. A long metal nose was pointing out of it.
Obviously, his senses were getting dull. He had not even noticed the third gun locked on him.
"Mira's an excellent shot. She only misses when she wants to." Lucy acknowledged with an exasperated frown as she rose. Since falling, she had tried very hard not to make sudden movements. His glassy eyes had almost a crazed look. She decided to use her soft, nonthreatening voice. The one designated for babies and wild animals. Any other tone would probably make him snap.
"Another gun still won't help you." Lucy flinched at the angry words spat in her face as the ranger finished unloading the weapons. His pride was probably hurt on top his anxiety.
He pocketed the smaller piece and slung the larger one behind his neck. "You better pray to God that he doesn't die."
After he uttered the threat, Natsu walked towards Happy, sorrow filling each step.
Loke snarled as the man moved away.
Natsu roared back, "You too tabby! Make one move and your ass will be filled with lead."
The cat stared at his retreating back for two seconds before sashaying to the spot where the ranger's black cowboy hat sat. Natsu turned the instant the animal moved, watching him with narrow eyes. Pouncing on the hat, Loke started chewing, ripping the leather apart while eyeing the man. The two had a silent battle of angry stares before Natsu turned back.
"I'm really sorry to shoot your animal." A small, regretful voice apologized behind him. He didn't even acknowledge the comment.
Lucy's words were truthful. She walked behind him, subconsciously dusting off her skirt. If only she could make him understand that it was an accident. No matter how much dislike she had for humans, she would not have taken it out on an animal. She could already tell she would have to wait for his anger to diffuse before he would listen.
And if that animal died...
Lucy gulped.
The ranger had half a mind to shoot both the cat and the girl. He knelt down to check the horse, unaware of everything around him but his friend. Happy was still breathing. His body shuddered with every breath. Maybe his lung had been hit?
He wasn't angry.
He was scared.
Usually when a horse was hurt, the best course of action was to put it down. There was a good chance that Happy was completely fine, but would not survive. The wound could get infected. Pneumonia might set in his lungs. The blood loss may damage his body.
Natsu started thinking really hard about killing the women if Happy did die.
"If you want, let me help. I tend to all the farm animals. Would you mind?" Natsu tensed when he heard the blonde's words, directly behind him. He knew she had followed him but didn't realize she was so close. He didn't sense Lucy's approach much like how he didn't see the extra gun earlier. He was getting sloppy.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her reach out to his shoulder but stopped before touching him, to which he was grateful.
He also saw that the little bluenette had a knife and was cutting Sting's bonds. The two began to whisper quietly to each other.
"Please let me work on him." Lucy asked as her fist clenched before she lightly brushed his arm. He shook her hand off. Standing, he studied her warily. Her face pleaded with him. She seemed genuine.
Natsu closed his eyes before sighing, "Do what you can."
Guilt-ridden at his defeated tone, Lucy clamped her lips together as she knelt down. She wanted to excuse her actions, blaming him for making her distracted. She even wanted to blame Loke for scaring her. Natsu was a lawman, though. He should realize the circumstances were not normal. Best course of action seemed to be to take responsibility and let him decide what he wanted to hear when he calmed down.
She remembered Laxus's words, Don't draw a gun unless you intend to use it. If for a second you think you can't handle the consequences of using one, than put it away. Wielding a gun means more than shooting someone in defense or hunting an animal. It means you have the power of life and death. So if you fire accidentally or you shoot the wrong target, than you need to be accountable for your actions.
Gently hands ran across the horse's underbelly before she started prodding the bleeding wound. The horse snorted, trying to sit up. Natsu almost broke into a huge grin to see Happy respond. If he could still move around well, than maybe it wasn't very serious.
"Levy, go get your books on Veterinary Medicine. Ask Mirajane for the whisky and get my thick needles with some thread." Lucy explained to Natsu. "Mira's our cook. She's had a weapon trained on you since you arrived. We have to be extra careful lately. Mira doesn't move around much anymore. Normally she watches the house from her room. She has a good vantage point."
The horse whimpered, arched, and swung a leg out nearly kicking the male and female.
"Hey can you help me?" The lady asked quietly directing the question to Natsu who had jumped out of the way.
"What do you need?"
"Can you make sure he doesn't hurt me when I feel. He doesn't know me but he might be calmer with you around. Just talk to him with soft tones and hold him down a bit. I need to see if the bullet went completely through or if it needs to be dug out. Just comfort him and sort of make sure he doesn't jerk when I poke."
Watching some of the red liquid spray out, he said, "Let me take my scarf so you don't get blood on it." Not giving her time to answer, Natsu jerked the cloth from around her shoulders.
Her cheeks stained pink as she muttered, "Oh right, that's yours."
Lucy felt a bit disappointed when the cloth was removed. It was always strangely comforting to her, and she liked its smell. Lucy watched him stuff it into his back waistband. One side dangled longer than the other one. Almost like a tail. She almost laughed at the image, but kept her face straight. "Yea you probably need to take that because its hard to clean." She took off her vest and held it up to the wound.
Natsu raised an eyebrow. A woman who would ruin a perfectly good outfit just to help a stranger's horse? He wasn't going to be impressed, but he could see she was a strange mixture of contradictions.
He still didn't like her.
A woman who would not fulfill a contract after receiving payment was a liar and a thief.
And someone who would hurt Happy was something lower than even that.
Diligently, she worked as Natsu stood over her. His eyes watching every movement like a hawk. One hand kept pressure on her vest while the other reach underneath to feel Happy's other side.
Sting lounged close by, strangely quiet as he watched the scene unfold.
"Give me your hand." Without a by your leave, she grabbed Natsu's hand in hers and led him to sit by her. She made him apply pressure to the vest. Blood oozed out onto his fingers.
Her hands rested on top of his, forcing more pressure, "You can't be gentle. You have to stop the bleeding."
He pushed harder. The two of them together held the wound closed until she was satisfied he was using the appropriate force.
She smiled at him, "I think the shot went clean through without touching any vital organs. I'm not sure though. It might have hit his stomach."
Natsu tried to clamp down on his soaring spirit. They weren't out of the woods yet. He still needed to prepare for the worst.
Raising her voice, Lucy ordered, "Sting, fetch some water from the old pump."
The kid ran away, half stumbling in his haste, just as the front door opened. Levy scampered out carrying an arm load of books and blankets. Following her was a very beautiful and very pregnant white haired lady. Levy handed Lucy a sewing kit, before opening a book on horse anatomy.
Lucy used the back of her arm to wipe the sweat on her forehead.
Over her shoulder, Natsu noticed two black dots appeared on the horizon.
Riders on horseback.
About a mile off? Two miles?
He couldn't judge the distance from such a flat plane of view.
Lucy crouched on her hands and knees to pull Happy's belly up, making cooing sounds as she did. "No baby. Shhh. I knows. It hurts. Yeaaa. I just got to look then I will stop for a bit. I knows. Shhhh. It don't hurt that badly!"
Ignoring the female, Natsu kept track of the two riders. When they were closer, he tensed at the sight of drawn guns. Feeling extra cautious, the pink haired ranger placed a bloody hand on his holster. The familiar barrel against his skin was calming. He was so use to being completely focused in a gunfight, no matter his feelings, that the sensation helped tune down the raging emotions inside of him. A fight might be what he needed to cool off, although he really felt like having a physical brawl.
Both men were fairly big. The white haired man was a giant with dark skin use to seeing the outdoors. The other had blue hair with a strange red tattoo. A tattoo, Natsu had definitely seen before. Usually members of outlaw gangs got them in prison. Both were dirty, dressed in casual cowboy attire. It looked like they had been in the middle of doing hard manual labor because both were sweaty and breathing hard.
Or maybe they were just that nervous.
Natsu must have loosened his grip from his other hand because Happy whined. He glanced down patting the animal's neck with his trigger hand.
"Sorry buddy." Immediately, Natsu regretted the action. The blood on his fingers left streaks on the blue fur. "Sorry for getting you dirtier."
Lucy didn't even stop her work. She just reached over to push on the wound, frowning at him. "Keep the pressure constant. And don't worry Officer Dragneel, those are two of our men. Actually our only two male workers, Elfman Strauss and Jellal Fernandez. The Phantom S Ranch scared all the other people away. They probably heard the gunfire and wanted to check on the ladies of the house."
"Do you have a knife?" Levy asked Natsu. He gave her his hunting one normally hidden in his right boot. Sweat trickled down his face as they forced him away. Levy began to read while Lucy questioned what to do. The white haired chick walked over to the other the group, reaching into the folds of her dress before handing them a bottle of booze. Her attention was not on him so he was not too worried about her, even with the rifle in her hands that looked better place in the savannas of Ishgar.
"This is Mirajane."
Before Natsu could nod his head in greeting, Sting rounded the house.
"Holy Shit! You're about to pop?!" The boy yelled dropping the pail. Lucy was about to get angry at him when he picked the water back up. She sighed when he brought it to her, eyes never leaving Mira.
Turning, he grimaced, "Mira, you could give birth at any moment. What you doing with that rifle?"
She just giggled as she rechambered her gun with a click. "Got a bun in the oven and still packing heat." Sting glanced toward Natsu who just shrugged.
"Need anything else you two?" She asked Lucy and Levy. The girls denied anything more so Mira turned to the men with her arms crossed. "And you should watch your language, boy. I'm a lady."
"Well you use to be a saloon maid so..."
"Sting, is there something you want to say to me?" Mira asked in quiet voice laced with malice.
The blonde man was strangely quiet.
Natsu knocked his hat off and bowed respectfully, "Sorry ma'am. Tension is high at the moment. You have to pardon this young pup."
"I can see the tension. You can practically cut it with a knife. Don't worry. Lucy is finer than any doctor you can find out in these parts. She had medical training back in Fiore when she volunteered during the Ishgardian Civil War. She has had tons of education and farm experience. She can birth a cow in the morning and set a horse's leg before going to bed. Not to mention she can sow a wound better than any surgeon." Cocking her head to the side, Mira stared at the boy she hadn't seen for months, "That doesn't excuse his behavior. I have known him for a long time."
At this point, all attention except Sting's was on the two horses that had finally reached the house. Even Levy and Lucy stopped to watch Jellal and Elfman dismount.
Mira frowned at Sting, who she noticed was now fully glaring at her. "What's your problem?"
"Who knocked you up, Mira?"
"Why your brother, Laxus, of course."
"Mira, you could have done sooo much better than that no good piece of trash."
Her eyes could have frozen a desert. "Don't talk badly about your brother."
"Why? He's a dick. Power goes to his head. He has to control everything around him. Did you know that is why I left?"
"Your brother is a good man."
"Yea, he thinks he is god. Did he even marry you? I don't see a ring on your finger. I bet he just got you pregnant so he could take you away from the saloon. He never like you traveling between here and town by yourself. "
Crack!
Everything stopped at the sound, even Jellal and Elfman.
A red print appeared on Sting's face from Mira's slap. He stepped back as one hundred and ten pounds of righteous fury invaded his space. With tears, she shouted, "You have no right talk about someone who you ran away from! Do you know what happened? No, you don't. You weren't around. You left. So stop talking shit. Do you not see the state of the ranch? Do you not see that there is literally nobody here... but Jellal and my brother. Would Laxus let the ranch sink into these dire straights. No."
Sting paused, gazing hard around him. First, he looked at each person's face. Jellal, Levy, and Elfman were looking everywhere else but at him. Natsu had a blank expression. Lucy held Sting's eyes for a second before he realized how much sadness lay in their normally warm depths. Second, he stared at the house. In a hesitant tone, he finally asked, "Mira, where is Laxus?"
Next chapter: My Brother's Keeper
AN: Just noticed that in both this story and in Stories of the Stars, I had Lucy tending to wounds. Only this time, it was Happy instead of Natsu. I almost didn't make putting this chapter out in time today. Finally decided that this fiction will update every Tuesday.
Did you think Laxus was the father or did you think Sting was going to be? That was just me having some fun, but Sting has been gone for a year so he couldn't have been the father.
Where do you think Laxus is? Or what do you think happened to Laxus?
And for the SHORT STORY... Well I had it written for this chapter (and I have no clue where I saved it). So the Happy story will be continued next chapter.
Thank you to these reviewers. The site works now so I can actually see your comments.
SingingAngel327 - StarCatTibalt - Life_Death_rabidlovingfangirl - Emperor Zeref Dragneel - NaLuFTfanatic - Overdramatic comedian