Iron in the Stars
AN: Story is my idea, but I do not own anything Fairy Tail.
Chapter 22: Scent
"Fuck!" It's been over a week and we still had no idea where Bunny was. I punched the wall in aggression and growled in frustration.
"What the hell!" I looked over at Laxus and then back at the new hole in his office. Oops. I sighed and plopped down on the chair in front of his desk. I knew he understood how I was feeling so I didn't have to explain my actions, but I knew that if I didn't fix it then he would most likely kill me.
"Sorry. I'll get it repaired soon. I just can't figure it out. We couldn't track her scent at all. It was like she was never there. It's been a fuckin' week!" Laxus looked me in the face and I know we mirrored each other. Disheveled hair, unshaven, and haggard as hell. I wasn't going to relax until my mate was in my arms again.
"What I don't get is why they were here in the first place. Clearly Blondie wasn't their target and from what the girls said they intercepted them. The only thing I can think of is that they were here to try and get Sting back. Which makes me think they will try again." I don't think he was actually speaking to me because he had his head on his hands and just stared right at the door. As if I wasn't even there. He was most likely right. I mean we have used a lot of resources to bring Sting out of this trance and haven't considered that he would still be valuable to the enemy.
"We can use him as bait?" Laxus looked at me as if I had three heads.
"Are you fucking crazy?" It wasn't really a question and I shrugged at him, I didn't want Sting to get hurt again, but I also know that these pricks were cocky. They felt as if they could do whatever they wanted. I knew they would eventually come back to try again. "We nearly lost our mates from our mistake last time. This would for sure push them away."
"No, listen. He could be guarded bait. I mean, he is vulnerable in his state, which is why they probably came here as it was. They probably thought that they could just waltz right in here and come capture him like they were going to the market to get dinner." I paused to see if he was still hesitant or listening to me now with jis full attention.
"Go on." Good.
"We can be in separate hidden locations and we can have Freed put up runes. The runes don't have to keep them out, but instead alert us of their presence. We can be ready for them. We can attack them and get my Bunny back." He was silent for a moment thinking over my plan. I knew that he would agree to it, because there was a possibility that they wouldn't even come back. We needed to do something more though.
"The healing sessions are going well, so I don't think he is going to be in his trance for much longer. The girls said that they have been chipping it down more and more each day. However, I don't like this idea. You said it yourself; Sting is vulnerable. I can't just use him as bait. If we consider this then we need to talk to the others. We need full cooperation and agreement across the board. Is that understood?" I nodded my head knowing full well that this was smart. Hell, for all we know they have been here every night trying to get him, but he's been well guarded. They were cocky, sure, but why take the chance and start a large fight? From what the girls said there was three of them and much more of us.
It took a while to get everyone together and after some arguing my plan was in motion. It wasn't the best plan, but it was fool proof. We needed to lure them out. We sent some of the guild members around town to gossip about the loose protection on Sting seeing as nothing has happened recently and had Freed discreetly go out to put up parameter alarms.
It wasn't until a few days later that I felt hopeless. We've done this the last two nights and there was no possible sign of trouble. Perhaps they don't want Sting back. We'd give it a few more nights just to be sure. I was desperate for action. I have so much pent up frustration that I'm just itching for a fight. Everything has set me on edge lately and it would nothing to rile an attack out of me.
"Big brother?" I looked over at Wendy hoping for a good status report. She has been giving me regular updates on Sting's condition. She smiled warmly at me trying to give me any sense of comfort. I had to admit the little squirt definitely made me feel a little better. She made me thing of Lucy's kindness. They were very similar and it was almost as if they could have been siblings. Well, maybe not blood, but they were already siblings by bond.
"Good afternoon squirt, how is Sting? I was going to eat and make my way up there. Is Laxus up there already? We had a long uneventful night again last night." I sighed at our bad luck and just wished for some news that would make me feel a little better.
"Actually, I have news you are going to very happy to hear big brother. We believe Sting is going to wake and have his sound mind again. I'm sorry I can't promise with one hundred percent certainty, but we are relatively sure of it." She smiled as I pushed my plate away and darted out of the booth to make my way to the infirmary. She followed me easily. I opened the doors a little too noisily for the occupants of the room, but I paid their annoyed glances no mind as I walked over to Sting's bed.
"Is it true?" I looked over at Rogue and Yokino with hope in my eyes. They both gave me relieved looks. They were easily as happy as myself with the development. My reasons, of course were a tad bit more selfish. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad the little white freak was fine and all, but I had more important things to worry about. "We should let Natsu know, he'll want to be here too."
"He's on a perimeter walk right now. I'll call him in the office, it will give me a chance to see if there has been any change from last night." I followed him into the office. As soon as the door was closed he pulled out the lacrima. It continued to ring and he didn't answer.
"Tell me that the fucking Flame Brain fell asleep on duty. Try calling Gray instead, he's doing perimeter as well, right?" You could see the anger in Laxus' face for a moment before he started to call Gray.
"Hey, what's up?" Gray looked relieved that we were calling him. He was probably just bored. I've done the perimeter walk and they were rather quiet. Besides, he should have taken Juvia with him. Mavis knows she's somewhere near him anyway. Probably hiding behind a rock or a tree so he doesn't see her.
"Have you heard from Natsu or Happy? I just tried calling him and he didn't answer." Yup, that was an annoyed tone coming from Laxus, which made me smirk a little.
"Do you think something happened to him? Should I make my way over to him?" It was clear that he was concerned for his frienemy.
"I don't think there is anything wrong, but he probably either forgot his lacrima or got distracted by a butterfly or something. You know Natsu. Can you just catch up to him for me and call me when you do? We need to talk to him." Gray nodded in acceptance.
"Is there a problem on your end? How is Sting doing? Any new update?" Damn, just go do what you have to do and stop asking so many damn questions.
"That's what we need to talk to him about. We want him to come her after his walk. We think that Sting is actually going to be able to be himself again today."
"I'll make my way to him now and call you as soon as I get there. Bye." He didn't wait for a response. Good, I didn't want to chit-chat.
"Personally, I've seen nothing and I've sensed less. This is so fucking frustrating." Laxus frowned.
"Yeah, same here. It's like they're taunting us. I can't take it. I just want to kill these assholes already. I don't know what they want to accomplish, but I'll tell you they really made some hard enemies." I grunted in response. That was an understatement.
We sat in silence only for a moment. The Lacrima on the desk lit up and we could see Gray pop up. "Gray."
"Hey guys, get out here." Instead of Gray it was Natsu. "I smelled something strange out here. It was fleeting though. I have no doubt that whatever it is or was is still in the area.
"We will be right there." Laxus hung up and flashed out of the office. Damnit. I hated when he used his lightning magic. I would be the last one there now. I ran out of the guild and realized I picked up to stragglers.
"Natsu found something." Titania and PantherLily didn't respond just followed me. It didn't take us long to get there luckily.
"What did you find?" I looked around and smelled the air to see if it was a scent I was familiar with. I didn't smell anything out of the ordinary though. "Are you sure your nose is working? Could you just be lacking in sleep? I don't smell anything." I growled frustrated.
"No, I'm positive I smelled something different. Let's split up and look." I went off with PantherLily in one direction as everyone else took a different direction. We searched for anything for a couple hours, but found nothing. I was beyond furious as we made our way to the guild. Well, at least Sting was possibly going to be up today.
"Mira, can we get some beers please." I plopped down in my corner while Laxus ordered drinks. I believe Natsu, I do, but the fact that we found nothing was beyond irritating. I felt helpless.
"Sorry guys." Natsu seemed like he failed. I felt bad for him. It wasn't anything he did wrong.
"It's not your fault Natsu." It was Happy that responded.
"He's right Flame Brain. If you caught a scent, we believe you. It's like Laxus said early. It's like they're toying with us." We sat in silence waiting for Wendy and Sherria to look over Sting.
"He's awake!" Wendy ran back to the infirmary as we all got up and ran up the stairs.
"Sting!" It was Natsu who ran over to him. "Damn, you worried all of us!" Sting took a moment to look around him and breathe as the excitement gave him a little anxiety.
"Natsu, where's Lucy? Is she somewhere safe?" Why would he ask for Bunny? I knew he liked to flirt with her a bit, but to ask for her when his mate was present was strange. "Please tell me she's safe!" Shit.
"We don't know where she is, we were hoping you can help us find her. That strange crystal guy kidnapped her." It was Laxus that responded. Sting tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by Rogue.
"Dude, you've been out of it for a while, you need to relax for right now. What is wrong? What do you know?" Rogue had his hand on his shoulder keeping him down. Sting looked at me smelling the air. The fear in his eyes was alerting.
"Gajeel, you've chosen her as your mate?" I nodded once. "We need to get her out of there. I don't know why, but he needs her. No, something about the crystals needs her. It's something that only she can do. I'm sorry, he didn't tell me why but I can tell you that he is trying to gather all the slayers for some sort of war."
I wanted to express my thanks to all of the reviews, follows, and favorites. Next chapter will be a little more….bloody…. I will try to have it posted on Sunday I am trying to come back for weekly updates.