"A camping trip?" Lucy asked, she held the flier that Blue had made. It described where to go, what to bring and what to expect on the trip. "You know I'm not really much of a camping girl…"
Blue smiled widely, "That's because you haven't been camping with us!" She swung her arm around Natsu's neck.
Natsu nodded and grinned, "Thanks to me we had the best campfire and thanks to Blue we had the best campfire food! Speaking of which, please tell me we're doing a garbage can turkey!"
"Of course!" Blue smiled, "That's on day 2 out of 3!"
Lucy furrowed her brows, "I'm sorry, did he just say garbage can turkey?"
Gray appeared wearing only boxers next to Lucy, "Yeah it's pretty cool, it's a clean garbage can that the turkey cooks in. The can has hot coals around it and is like an oven for the turkey. After 6 hours it's completely cooked."
Cana put down her beer and yelled, "Gray your clothes!"
"Again?!" Gray exclaimed and they all laughed as he scrambled to find his pants.
"It sounds fun, okay I'm in!" Lucy exclaimed. "Who else is coming?"
"Well, everyone in the guild is invited." Blue pointed to her flier that she hung up on the wall. "But for sure I know it's us, team shadow gear, Laki-."
"Me." Cana said.
"-Cana, Bisca and Alzack." Blue grinned.
"Well, it does seem like a good break from repairing the guild." Erza nodded and took off her hard hat. "When do we leave?"
After a couple more days of training and preparing for the trip; the guild was all ready to leave. A lot had happened in Fairy Tail during the prepping days, Blue found out later that Loke had run away because he was a celestial spirit and was dying. She heard Lucy had saved him and now he is contracted to her as Leo the Lion, a golden spirit key.
"I can't believe after all this time, Loke was actually Leo." Blue said to Lucy. She was at the blonde's apartment, helping her last minute packing. "A spirit, I never would've guessed; especially since he's such a playboy."
Lucy sweat dropped, "I'm starting to think that all celestial spirits have a dark side like that."
"Oh? Do you know firsthand?" Blue giggled and teased her.
"No way!" Lucy argued. She finished packing and the girls set out.
"I wonder if you can have a relationship with a spirit." Blue noted.
Lucy shook her head, "I don't think I even want to ask."
Blue laughed, "Haha, not me. But all of Loke's fangirls, do you think they'll come after you for Loke?"
"Geez, I hope not." Lucy muttered, "They've given me enough trouble already."
The two chatted all the way to the camp ground. In the forests that surrounded magnolia was the perfect place for a getaway camping trip.
Laki was already there, she had made several small shelters for everyone to stay in using her wood magic. Jet, Droy and Levy were also there.
"Hey Lucy and Blue! Isn't this a great spot?" Levy greeted them, "Laki did a really good job on the shelters too!"
Blue nodded and thanked her. Laki said, "It's no problem, I also brought the raw toast as you requested."
She handed Blue three loaves of bread and Lucy thought, "Raw toast?!"
Natsu and Happy showed up next, followed by Gray, Elfmen and Cana.
"Glad you could make it Elfmen!" Blue exclaimed.
Elfmen smiled and pumped his fist into the air, "Camping is so manly!"
Cana unloaded carts of alcohol, "I got the booze!"
Erza appeared next; she had her usual cart of everything she packed behind her. The red headed girl crossed her arms and spoke to Cana, "We talked about this last time! Supplying minors with alcohol is completely unethical!"
Cana crossed her arms and said, "Well so is destroying every town you fight in."
The two glared at each other. Droy whooped and exclaimed excitably, "Cat fight cat fight!"
Natsu burst from one of the shelters with fire spurting from his mouth, "Did I hear someone say fight!?"
"When did you get here?!" Lucy exclaimed.
Happy floated next to her, "We've been here Lucy, where've you been? Sleeping?"
Lucy reached for Happy's tail and growled, "Get back here you stupid cat!"
Happy teased her from the sky. Natsu and Gray were face to face ready for a fight, as was Droy and Elfmen. Levy stood in between Cana and Erza trying to settle the argument. Jet cheered everyone on as Laki sat and watched the whole thing.
Blue shook her head and then turned her back on her friends. She walked into the shelter she claimed and came back out with a package of hot dogs and buns. She set up a grate over the empty fire pit and turned to Laki.
"Would you?" She asked.
"I would." She smiled and used her magic to create wood underneath the grate. "How about the fire? With Natsu defending his pride, he won't be able to create the flames."
Blue smiled sweetly, "Natsu's here because I like him, not because I need him."
She took a deep breath and summoned lightning to hit the wood. With a zap and a crack the logs lit up with fire. The noise caught the attention of some of the wizards and the smell caught the attention of the rest.
"Food!" Natsu exclaimed.
They gathered around and passed the food between each other. "Potato Salad?"
"Yes please!"
"Could you pass the ketchup?"
"Sure thing, how about the chips?"
"Got 'em, here ya go!"
Blue smiled as the raucous died down and everyone stuffed their faces, "Nothing like a barbecue to bring a family together!"
The evening wore on as the group laughed and drank, the sun was beginning to set and everyone was sitting around the fire when Bisca and Alzack showed up.
"Sorry we're late guys." Alzack sat down, "We got the s'more stuff though!"
Bisca handed out the marshmallows and sticks, "Y'all are gunna need these."
"Thanks guys!" Blue exclaimed and placed her marshmallow in the fire.
"Um what are we doing with this?" Lucy held her graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow with both hands. Her eyebrow was raised in confusion.
"What does it look like?" Natsu asked. "We're making s'mores!"
"Some more of what?" She asked.
The guild looked at her incredulously.
"You're killing me Lucy!" Gray exclaimed, "You've never had a s'more? Watch a master."
Gray demonstrated his perfect marshmallow toasting technique and then placed it on his chocolate layered graham. "Here, you should have the first one."
Everyone watched as Lucy took her first bite of gooey-chocolaty-s'more goodness.
"Mmm! This is so good!" Lucy exclaimed and ate the rest.
They cheered and each made their own s'mores. Except for Natsu who continued to burn his Marshmallows to a char and swallowing them whole, "You're 'perfect marshmallow technique' has nothing on mine Gray!"
"Oh yeah? By the time you're done its not even a marshmallow anymore, how's that perfect?!" Gray exclaimed.
"That's what makes it so perfect, duh!" Natsu grinned and swallowed another fire ball.
It was getting dark and everyone had begin to simmer down. Blue looked around at her friends and family and said, "Does anyone have a scary story to share?"
They all looked towards Lucy who's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "Why're you all looking at me?!"
"Well, you are the writer here." Gray deadpanned.
Levy smiled and said, "I'm sure you've got a scary tale that you're willing to share!"
Jet and Droy started a chant, "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy!" The rest of the guild joined in until the loud blonde conceded.
"Alright alright, I got one but don't blame me if you have nightmares tonight." She winked. "The tale begins in a cemetery. A group of kids wandered into the grave yard to play, ignoring all the 'no trespassing' and 'violators will be sorry' signs. They continued chasing each other and playing tag between the tombstones when one tripped over something sticking out of the ground. It was a young boy, seven years old, fair skinned with sandy blonde hair. He glanced down at what had tripped him and saw nothing there."
"The other boys and girls went to see what was going on and discovered him attempting to stand up again. Back on his feet he explained how something had tripped him. The kids shrugged it off and continued playing, later another child tripped and fell over something as well. The first boy suggested leaving, he felt as though the grave yard was trying to tell them something. Someone was going to get hurt. The other's didn't listen and laughed. They thought he was being cowardly and said so. The boy laughed off his suspicions and continued playing. Later the boy with sandy hair tripped yet again though this time he caught what had tripped him. Boney fingers had reached though the cold Earth and grabbed his pant leg."
"The boy screamed and scrambled away and then explained what he had seen to his friends. His friends ignored him, calling him a coward, but the boy knew what he had seen and wandered home. Later that week the boy's parents notified him that all 5 of his friends have gone missing. The sandy haired boy lied about not seeing them and later went back to the cemetery to where he left them that night. It was daytime and a lot less scary to him but when he reached the spots he and his friends tripped several times it became a lot more terrifying."
Lucy paused for dramatic effect.
"There were 5 distinct patches of loose earth that, had one foot stepped on them; they might as well be buried alive. And before the boy ran away in terror, he swore that he could see a shift in the dirt pile…as if something was trying to break free…"
It was silent for a minute after Lucy finished the tale. Finally Both Gray and Natsu cried, "Boo! Boo!"
"That wasn't scary." Elfmen huffed and crossed his arms.
"C'mon guys, you asked for a story and that's what you got! If you're gunna complain next time don't ask!" Lucy yelled at them.
Levy glanced at Droy then at Lucy, "Hey Lucy, it's not a true story is it?"
Lucy furrowed her brow and shrugged, "I dunno, I just kinda went with the flow."
"As if a lame story like that could be real." Natsu argued and stood up. He slammed his foot onto the ground obnoxiously, "The ground doesn't just bury you alive."
Suddenly Natsu sank right into the Earth and everyone but Levy and Droy screamed.
Natsu spit fire from his position, buried up to his head. Happy accused Lucy of creating a fake story and making it real. Cana, Alzack and Bisca all stood on their chairs while the others still stared at Natsu in shock.
"Get me outta here! No skeleton ghosts are gunna drag me down, I'l roast 'em alive!" Natsu cried from his spot. Happy stopped freaking out to point out his 'living skeleton' mistake.
"Shut up Happy!"
Droy and Levy started to laugh, and ease the tension between the campfire. The black haired mage of shadowgear released his spell and brought Natsu back to the surface. He explained how he had used his plant magic to pull Natsu into the ground, tricking everyone into believing the story was real.
"Droy, you jerk!" Natsu cried, "You better sleep with one eye open tonight, or you'll wake up as breakfast!"
Not long after, the group headed into the shelters for bed. Each shelter could hold up to four people. Team Shadowgear stayed in one with Cana. The second occupied shelter had Bisca, Alzack, Laki and Elfmen. The third was 'fairy tail's strongest team' which included Erza, Natsu, Lucy and Gray.
Blue stayed by herself, she had a lot of the supplies in her shelter but also she discovered after her slumber party with Lucy that when she was sleeping, she made it really difficult for others to sleep. Blue never remembered her nightmares but she often woke up sweat covered and completely panicked. Lucy told Blue that the first time she saw her sleep she thought she was having a heart attack.
"This is already so much fun…" Blue thought. A warm smile graced her lips. "Tomorrow is gunna be even better!"
Succumbing to sleep was easy that night, staying asleep though…
"WHOSE SNORING LIKE THAT!?"