Hey guys! Just to let you know, Mslead will be dealing with RL for the foreseeable future, so there's a good chance I'll be updating from here on in. Thankfully I've managed to get it down to a science by now, so don't worry too much about delays. I also have a couple of notes for you at the end of the chapter, so please take a glance at those.

As always... THIS FIC UPDATES EVERY THREE DAYS: Post, Break, Break, Post!


CHAPTER 40

Kappa

Kappas are mischievous, legendary creatures, water-type sprites found in Japanese folklore. In medieval Japan, this humanoid creatures were believed to dwell in lakes, rivers and swampy areas. Drownings and child kidnapping were attributed to this creature.


Natsu pushed away thick branches, suddenly stopping and crouching down low when a rustle in the trees sounded nearby.

Lucy nudged up closer to him, even as he pressed a finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet. Happy saluted and whispered out a low 'aye' that went unheard by everyone but him.

The sounds of heavy boots stomping nearby caused them to shrink down to the ground, hiding behind the thick roots of a tree. Natsu held his breath, fangs bared. They were being hunted. Rather, they had been hunted for just over two days now.

It was difficult to evade the low level demons that had been released from Tartaros, especially when Natsu was also trying to locate his brother, but that hadn't stopped them.

It didn't help that from the smells he was picking up, they were getting dangerously close to a human village too. In fact, that was about the last thing they needed.

They waited tensely until the boots stomped off out of range again. But they were sure to be back. And soon. More worrying were those they didn't hear coming a mile off.

"We can't keep this up Natsu." Wendy hissed quietly, worry in her voice, "At this rate they'll have us hemmed in."

"Yeah, I know." Natsu replied just as lowly, "But we don't have a choice if we're gonna find Sting."

"Gemini!" Lucy breathed excitedly, and the other two stared at her in confusion.

Lucy just grinned as she pulled out one of her keys, "You haven't met Gemini yet." She explained in a whisper as she slashed the key through the air, and a pair of twin spirits popped into being next to Lucy.

"Lucy!" One greeted happily, "It's been forever since you called pipi!"

Lucy quickly shushed them and grinned at the pair, "I know." She whispered, "Sorry about that. Listen, we need your help. A bunch of demons are hunting after us. They want to get their hands on Natsu, can you give us a distraction?"

"Absolutely!" The twins replied and scrutinized a skeptical looking Natsu carefully for a moment before sighing and shaking their heads, "We can't change into him." One chimed, "He's too strong." The other agreed, "We're sorry pipi!"

Lucy just grinned, "That's fine. You can change into me. The demons will want me too since I'm who he's bonded to. And they'll think if they see me he can't be far away."

Gemini nodded and quickly morphed into a replica of Lucy, which had Natsu's jaw practically hitting the forest floor.

"Perfect!" Lucy praised in satisfaction, "How long do you think you can keep them distracted?"

"A few hours easy." Gemini replied in Lucy's voice, "But if we go too long we'll risk depleting your magic energy too much."

"That's fine." Lucy replied, "We just need them out of the area so we can find Natsu's brother and get out of here. Don't take any risks you don't have to, and go back through the gate if you get caught okay?"

"Piri Piri!" Gemini responded and set her hands on her hips, "Good luck! And be careful Ms. Lucy!"

With that the spirits rushed off, leaving the four alone again. Natsu grinned fiercely at Lucy and smacked a wet kiss to her cheek.

"That was amazing!" He gushed in an awed whisper, "You're so awesome Lucy, I can't believe you had something like that up your sleeve, what else can your spirits do?"

Lucy just winked and tapped his nose, making her demon go cross eyed at the gesture, "You'll just have to wait and find out!"

"Now lets go, we have to take advantage of every second Gemini gets us!" Lucy tugged his hand.

Natsu nodded back at her, settled Happy on his shoulder and took his sister's hand, "Come on, we've got Sting's scent over here."

-::-

Meanwhile, Sting was doing as his caretaker asked and definitely was not following her into town. He was most certainly not ducking behind trees when she suspiciously turned around, or hiding behind rocks.

In fact, when he happened to end up in town, Sting called it a happy accident. Because what were the chances he would end up in the same place as Yukino?

At least he had the sense to get dressed and look somewhat normal as he followed her into town, covering up his bandages and injuries as he swaggered after her.

The truth was, he was a little worried for Yukino. The way she had described these people made him cautious at best. This was not a good way to feel either. He suspected Yukino had powerful magic of her own, but if these people had hurt her with their ignorance while she was a child...

Well that conditioning was tough to break.

It seemed he was right to worry too.

As soon as Yukino got into the village proper people stopped and stared at her hatefully, whispering words like witch and demon-child behind their hands, but loud enough for Yukino to hear never mind Sting's hearing.

He ground his fangs together, swallowing the urge to growl at them for saying such things about the human who had been kind to him and made him smile.

Didn't they know they had an angel walking among them?

Apparently not.

Yukino ignored it with a poise and grace that confirmed Sting's belief that she should be a Queen among humans. His own mother couldn't have done better.

He drew the line, however, when a couple hatchling brats decided to start following her and throwing rocks at her.

He eeled his way closer, careful not to let himself get seen, and stealthily lobbed small stones at the hatchlings who thought it was fun to torment Yukino.

Their surprised yelps had him smirking in satisfaction as he ducked quickly out of sight again.

Yukino looked behind her suspiciously when the children who had been haunting her mysteriously disappeared. She took a few more steps before slowing down and whipping around. She saw no signs she was being followed but...

"Sting, come on out," She called, "I know you're following me. You just couldn't resist, could you?"

There was nothing for a minute, but slowly, he reluctantly peered his head out from around the corner of a building, giving her the largest puppy eyes she had ever seen.

"Oh don't you look at me like that," Yukino wagged her finger at the dragon who slunk over to her like a scolded dog. If he had a tail, it would be curled between his legs.

"I thought I told you to stay put?" Yukino asked, but couldn't help but smile at him.

Sting's grin spread over his face at the sight of her smile and he rubbed the back of his head, "I've never been real good at following directions Yuki, what can I say?"

"Fine then, since the villagers already think I'm a witch, I guess it won't hurt anything now," Yukino sighed, "I'll just say you're my familiar or something."

Sting gave her a vaguely affronted look, in which Yukino rolled her eyes and flashed him a coy smile, "Kidding!"

"Mostly," She muttered under her breath, causing Sting to snort out a laugh.

This time when she walked, he did it side by side with her, his eyes on the move on every unfriendly face they walked by. Yukino tucked a nervous lock of hair behind her ear, her fingers fidgeting with her basket.

Sting looked at her, and settled a hand over her trembling one, offering her a smile to keep her steady.

"Hey relax. I may be a bit banged up, but I'm not going to let anyone hurt you Yukino, I owe you my life and I'm definitely going to repay that." He vowed.

Yukino gave him a wane smile, but he was happy to see one none the less on her face.

When they made it to the butcher Yukino paused just outside, "Would you mind waiting out here Sting?" She asked shyly, "It's kind of cramped in there."

Sting knew immediately that wasn't the real reason. The real reason probably had more to do with her trying to keep him out of the butcher's face. However, as much as he knew he could handle a fight with a human, especially a non-magical one, it wouldn't do them any good if he caused a scene unless they planned to rob the butcher of his meat.

Which wouldn't bother him any, but Yukino would probably take exception to.

So he nodded agreeably and settled down to lean against the doorframe outside.

He would be able to hear everything that happened in there anyway, so if there really was a problem he would know it immediately.

Yukino smiled at him and patted his arm before heading inside.

He watched the other passerby of the small village with narrow eyes as Yukino greeted the butcher in a trembling voice that made him want to punch something just on principle.

He wasn't given time to contemplate it for long though as no sooner had Yukino settled in to attempt to bargain for some meat then a very familiar pink head of hair came barreling into the center of town.

"Hey! Townspeople!" Natsu bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Have any of you seen my brother Sting?"

Sting gawked a little at his twin as Lucy came up behind him at a more sedate pace and sighed, "Natsu, there are nicer ways of asking that..."

"But this is faster." Natsu replied obliviously, causing Sting to snort as he pushed away from his doorpost.

"Over here Natsu." He called with a smirk, only for his jaw to drop in surprise again when Wendy appeared out from behind Lucy, "Wha-? Wendy?! What are you doing here?"

"Someone decided to stow away." Lucy replied in amusement, ruffling Wendy's hair, "Lucky for her the crate she was in broke and Natsu caught her in time."

"Wendy..." Sting growled at his sister, who shuffled her feet and attempted to give her older brother the most watery eyed look he had ever seen.

Before he could comment on it however, Wendy gasped and rushed over to him, "Oh Sting you're hurt really badly! Let me heal you!"

"Yeah you're real beat up, how'd that happen?" Natsu asked, peering at Sting with squinted eyes.

"He got shot through the wing remember?" Lucy reminded with a dry smile, "You happened to be there. Riding on his back when it happened."

"Yeah but his face wasn't all beat up," Natsu pointed rudely at Sting's forehead. The blond swatted at his hand and growled.

"I fell a couple of hundred feet through the air and landed on my head," Sting growled, "What's your excuse?"

"What was that ya sparkler?" Natsu growled back at his brother, baring his fangs at Sting.

The sight reminded Sting almost at once of their location. It was clear they were beginning to attract attention, and not exactly the kind they wanted.

"Wait, this isn't the spot for this Natsu," He muttered to his brother as he caught sight of the unfriendly looks they were beginning to get.

Natsu seemed to realize this too late, and he subconsciously rubbed at his arms where his tattoos were being magically concealed.

Sting saw the way his brother's eyes darted around for the moment and suspected he had experience with intolerant humans in the past.

This would only make trouble for Yukino if they lingered.

"Sting?" Yukino's voice sounded behind them, and he winced a little. She sounded frightened.

"Uh, Yukino!" He stammered nervously as he turned around to look at her, "This is my brother I was telling you about. Sorry for the scene. He's not very good at subtle."

Yukino smiled at the trio, and despite the way her hands were trembling a little around her empty basket it was clear she was pleased to see them, "It's nice to meet you." She nudged Sting a little, "We should go though. Quickly."

Sting nodded and hastily grabbed hold of Natsu before any more questions could be asked.

"Right. Let's go." He agreed tersely and shot the others a look to not argue at all.

Lucy simply nodded grimly, and tugged at a confused looking Wendy as they quickly vacated the village. Once they were outside, and away from the baleful glares, Lucy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! Is it always like that there?"

"I'm afraid so." Yukino replied softly, "The villagers aren't very fond of magic, people who use it, or anyone different at all really."

"Wow..." Lucy sympathized, "That's got to be rough."

She smiled a little, "I'm Lucy by the way. It's nice to meet you, er... Yukino right?"

"Yes," Yukino smiled and reached her hand out to grasp Lucy's. They shook before Yukino returned her hand to where she was holding her basket.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't able to get any meat," Yukino apologized, frowning at the basket as they began their trek up to her home, "It's going to be oatmeal for a while I'm afraid."

"What? That sucks," Natsu blinked at her before he bent next to Wendy and whispered, "What's oatmeal?"

The little dragon giggled and whispered an answer back while Sting shook his head, "Don't worry about the meat Yukino."

"He's right," Natsu punched his fist into an open palm, causing plumes of fire to burst around his fist.

"We can hunt you what you need Yukino! It shouldn't take long at all," Natsu grinned widely, "I don't even get why my dumb brother didn't think of it himself. He's just really rude I guess." He shot Sting a scandalized look, "What would mother say?"

Wendy giggled again.

"I'll show you dumb and rude," Sting growled at Natsu.

"Natsu..." Lucy sighed, "You do realize Sting's been injured right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Natsu demanded, "I bet I could bring back enough meat to last Yukino all year if I was twice as injured!"

"There's no way you could!" Sting snapped, baring his fangs at Natsu, "And I'm the one who owes her the debt anyway! If anyone is going to bring her meat it's going to be me!"

"Oh yeah?" Natsu grinned wickedly, "Just try and stop me!"

With that he took off running for the forest at top speed with Sting hot on his heels.

"Uh... did they just...?" Yukino trailed off in confusion, not entirely sure what had just happened.

"Go tearing off into the woods so they could brag about who can bring you back the most food?" Lucy sighed, "Yep."

Wendy flashed Yukino a smile, "We should probably head to your house and just wait for them there. They won't be long."

Yukino blinked in surprise, "But doesn't hunting usually take hours or days?"

Wendy laughed a little, "Not if the hunter is a dragon in a contest!" She shrugged, "If you want I can catch you a few rabbits or something while we wait? They'll probably be hungry when they get back."

"Only if you want," Yukino smiled at the young dragoness. Wendy gave Yukino a wide smile before she darted off into the woods after her brothers.

"You seem very used to this," Yukino observed as the resumed their trek back to her home with Happy next to them.

"I've had a little time to adjust to dragons, especially when they get into a scrape." Lucy laughed when they turned the path and ended up at Yukino quaint home.

Yukino and Lucy began to get the stove burning for their meal when Wendy returned with a bushel of rabbits in each hand.

She grinned happily at her catch and ran towards Lucy to sit beside her and begin cleaning them.

Lucy made a face at the sight, but Yukino dove right into it. Wendy seemed to think it was perfectly fine to just bite right into the rabbit, but Yukino gently shooed her away. Then she began to show Lucy the proper way to gut and skin the small animal.

Lucy had seen it a few times on their travels with the demon tribe on Galuna or when Natsu and Gajeel found them food. Usually they dealt with all the gore involved though.

But all that aside, they made quick work of the rabbits and began to cook.

By the time their dragons returned, the meat was hot and ready.

"They're back!" Happy called out, and Wendy rushed to the window, waving at her brothers.

Yukino ventured over, but her jaw nearly hit the ground at the sight.

Natsu was taking the front, completely soaked with his hair plastered down on his head and a massive fish dragging behind him. It was like some kind of sea creature from the lagoon near town.

And behind Natsu, Sting was walking at a slower pace, but was carrying a massive looking boar over his head. It was easily double his size, and she honestly wasn't sure what she was going to do with all this meat.

Lucy laughed a little at the look on Yukino's face, "Don't worry too much. With three dragons here I can guarantee half of it will be gone in a day or two at most."

She shook her head in bemusement as Natsu dropped the fish with a thump, and went over to greet him, "Did you have fun?"

"You bet I did!" Natsu crowed proudly, flames licking over him for a moment as he dried off, "That lake has all kinds of stuff in it! It's great!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and pulled him into a kiss, pleased to see he'd kept up his habit of gutting it at the kill site, "Well, Wendy caught us some rabbits while you two were out. The first of them are done roasting now, but leave the others alone to cook okay?"

Meanwhile, Sting dropped his boar down and gave Yukino a grin, "I don't think you'll run out of good meat for a while."

"Definitely not!" Yukino giggled, "I was expecting you to bring back a deer or something. Not this much."

Sting smirked, "We leave the deer for the fledglings to practice on unless we're especially hungry for venison."

He preened a little at the praise anyway. He liked how impressed she was with his hunting skills. It made him want to purr and curl around her protectively.

The thought brought him up short and he could feel his cheek starting to heat up. What was he even thinking? She was nice, and had saved his life, but seriously... he had not just been thinking about curling up around her!

Oh but he had. And suddenly Sting was a lot more surprised by his earlier thoughts.

He had wanted to bring Yukino with them. And he had been hellaciously determined to beat Natsu and bring back the biggest kill for her.

He damn near swallowed his tongue when he saw how she fended off Natsu's greedy hands and brought him a plate.

"T-thanks," Sting stammered in surprise. Natsu and Lucy gave one another curious looks.

Neither said anything however as they settled down to eat the delightful meal.

"So... do you practice any magic Yukino?" Lucy asked after a few minutes of slightly awkward silence.

"Oh yes!" Yukino exclaimed, happy to have something to talk about, "I'm a celestial wizard." She smiled as she showed Lucy her keys, "These are mostly my sister's keys. I inherited them from her, and taught myself from what she showed me."

Lucy stared at Yukino in slack jawed shock, "You're... Oh my gods!"

Yukino blinked in shock at Lucy's exclamation, "I hope that hasn't upset you."

"Upset?" Lucy spluttered, "No way! Yukino, I've never met another celestial wizard before! I've never even heard of anyone else practicing it!"

Yukino's expression lit up as she realized what Lucy was saying, "Truly? You're a celestial wizard too?" She leaned forward excitedly, "Tell me, what spirits are you contracted with?"

Lucy grinned and pulled her keys out, "I got most of them from my mom." She explained as she laid them out, "She was big on collecting the Zodiac keys, but I've got a few others. Would you like to meet Plu?"

Natsu grinned as he watched the two women talk about their key spirits. As far as he was concerned Lucy's collection was much better, but he was happy she'd found a friend that practiced the same kind of magic she did.

He nodded his head to Sting, who seemed to get the message and walked after him. They slipped out the backdoor and into the garden.

Natsu crouched down besides a grouping of plump looking eggplants and strawberries.

"So, you said Yukino saved you?" Natsu asked his little brother. Sting raised an eyebrow at his twin and slowly knelt next to him.

"Yeah, she did. She was able to summon her spirit to make me light enough to carry home. Then she bandaged me up," Sting replied, wondering why Natsu's expression was turned inward.

He set a hand on the demon's shoulder and Natsu looked up with a grin.

Meeting it with a smile, Sting relaxed and sat down next to his brother.

"What's the matter Natsu?" He asked.

His brother seemed to hesitate. His brows pulling into the center, frowning at something he couldn't see.

"Sting, you've been around Wendy for a while now and she still hasn't healed you," Natsu asked Sting, looking a little sly, "What's the hold up?"

Sting opened his mouth, sensing something was bothering his brother.

"I hadn't thought about it." He admitted after a moment. Which sounded stupid even to his own ears. He knew it was Tartaros that had shot him out of the sky, and with Tartaros you could bet on there being a follow up.

"Well you should." Natsu replied, "And the sooner the better. We've already got demon hunters on our tails, and if it wasn't for Lucy finding a way to draw them off we probably wouldn't have found you yet."

Sting grimaced and nodded, "Sorry Natsu. I'll ask her when we go back inside."

Natsu's pensive look suddenly melted away and he flashed Sting a wicked grin, "Well it's not like I can blame you. I'd be dragging my feet too if it was me and Lucy in there!"

Sting flushed brightly and crossed his arms, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure ya don't." Natsu cackled quietly, "And you have no idea Yukino's queen material either right?"

"Well of course she's queen material!" Sting began hotly only to find himself staring at the broadest, wickedest, grin he'd ever seen. And all of it was directed right at him.

That could, in no way, be good.

One annoying finger jabbed Sting right in a tender spot on his chest, square in the middle of a bruise. Sting snarled angrily, but as most things went with Natsu, it was ignored.

"You like her don't you? " he accused, pressing his face into Sting's.

"That's why you've been dragging your feet to get healed, and why you've been considering stealing her away. Don't deny it either, I see it in your eyes," Natsu grinned.

"You're like a dragon lusting over a princess to steal away," Natsu smirked, "No lying now. Remember, I'm a demon."

"You're a demon alright." Sting muttered as he slapped at Natsu's finger, which only seemed to make that smirk widen, "It's not like she deserves to stay here anyway." He huffed, "She'd be a lot happier someplace where her magic was appreciated."

"That's not a denial!" Natsu cackled, and Sting glared at him.

"Alright fine!" He snarled, "I like her! Are you happy now?"

As soon as those words were out of his mouth there was a soft gasp behind him that stopped his heart. He slowly turned to stare at a stunned looking Yukino, "Uh..."

He barely even noticed Lucy stepping around him to grab Natsu and drag him into the forest. He didn't even care. All of his attention was focused entirely on Yukino.

"Erm..." He tried again with no more success, "I assume you heard all of that?"

Yukino nodded mutely, her eyes still wide with shock that Sting might like her, "Lucy wanted to see what was taking you so long..." She shifted a little, her resolve stiffening, "You really like me?"

Sting blushed, but stepped closer to her, wary of scaring her off, "Yeah. I mean... you're nice, and you don't mind that I'm a dragon... plus you saved me..."

Ugh. Could he sound any stupider? He was usually more articulate than this, but something about this woman left him completely tongue tied and useless.

It didn't help that he could hear his absolute demon of a brother cackling in the distance. He had definitely seen Yukino coming up but had chosen to say nothing.

Sting felt a hot flush crawl over his cheeks, and he lightly caught Yukino's hand in his. It was so much smaller in his grasp, and definitely delicate, even with the rough skin on her fingertips from her hard labor.

"I like you Yukino, and I owe you enough to want you to be happy," Sting continued quietly, "If you come with us, I can't say it'll be easy. But it will never be boring."

This earned him a fluttering smile that painted warm colors on her snowy cheeks. Yukino looked up at him shyly.

"That sounds really fun," She admitted, fingers curling into his hand.

"But I'm not sure I can leave Sting," Yukino bit her bottom lip, "I like you Sting, I really do."

"But I've stayed here for so long because I've always believed my sister would one day return," Yukino whispered in apology.

Sting felt hurt stab through him at her reason for staying. Sorano had been taken by Zeref fanatics working for demons. The odds of anyone surviving that were slim. Least of all a little girl. Surely Yukino realized that?

"Yuki..." He began only to be cut off when she shook her head.

"I know what you're going to say." She said softly, regret clear on her face, "But there's always the chance isn't there? There's always hope."

And that hope was probably all that had kept her going in the face of the town's hatred. Damnit. Why couldn't this be simple? She deserved so much more than this meagre existence as a virtual exile. He wanted to give her that. He could give her that.

"We could help you try to find her instead?" He offered.

He could see the conflict on Yukino's face. The desire to go was plain, and it made him equal parts hurt and angry that she had to think so much about this at all. Surely that was a good solution too right?

This way they would all get what they wanted right?

Except, in the end, she sighed and shook her head, "Where would I look for her?" She asked quietly, "I wouldn't even know where to begin. At least this place will be the one place she'll know to come back to."

Sting felt his heart clench at the sad reasoning. Frustration and hurt curled through him, as he wasn't quite sure what to say.

But he let his own feelings fall aside, and settled for quiet admiration for the strong woman who would willingly put herself in poverty and loneliness for the hope of family. Because really, in her position, what would he do?

His own brother and sister had risked being caught by patrols just to find him. It also didn't take a genius to figure they would never stop until they located him.

He just hoped for Yukino's sake, that her sister was alive and safe. At least to keep her hope alive and burning.

Sting nodded to her, and she took a shy step forward. Swallowing slightly, as Sting realized what she wanted, he held his arms out to her.

She slid into his embrace easily and he curled her small frame to his chest. She smelled nice, like crisp apples and something floral.

Sting inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, taking the moment to enjoy the feel of her in his arms and imagine the possibilities of her coming with him. The 'what ifs' were unwise, but Sting couldn't help but torture himself with the possibilities.

Because Yukino was a special kind of treasure. And even if nothing ever came from their affection, he would have loved the opportunity to try.

"I'm sorry." Yukino whispered into his chest, and he tightened his grip on her.

"It's okay." He breathed, even though it really wasn't. He would let her keep the illusion that everything was alright. It seemed like the least he could do for the woman who had saved him.

They weren't given long to enjoy the moment however, as Lucy came sprinting back from the forest as fast as she could move.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt guys." She panted, "But we've got a serious problem. Loke just told me that Gemini had to pass back through the gate because they were captured! That means the hunters are probably headed straight back in this direction. Natsu says we have to leave now if we're going to have any hope of drawing them away from the villagers."

Sting swore at the news and looked at Yukino apologetically, "I'm sorry Yuki..."

Yukino just nodded and nudged him, "Go. Do what you have to do." She smiled, "Maybe you'll come back to visit one day too."

Lucy glanced between them, clearly confused about why Yukino wasn't going with them, but elected to not say anything as Sting reluctantly let her go. Instead she flashed Yukino a smile, "Thanks again for all your help."

Yukino nodded with a smile as Natsu showed up on the treeline, "C'mon! Let's get moving!"

Sting shot Yukino one last look before he turned with Lucy and jogged into the trees.

When they were gone and out of sight, Yukino took a deep, watery breath. Tears stung at her eyes and she shuffled back into her home.

Time ticked by as she putted around her quiet home. Everything was empty and silent, and even as she sliced off a piece of fish for her to broil and eat, she couldn't help but notice the silence. For a while there, she had company and everything had been a little less lonely. Sting had such a bright, boyish smile and loud personality.

And he wanted to take her away from this sad place. Yukino touched her keys, her expression apologetic even as the tears welled in her eyes.

She should be grateful she even got the time with Sting and his unusual family.

"It's not like I'm really alone," She held her keys up to her chest, sucking in a steadying breath, "You are precious friends too."

There was no response, save for a warming in her palm.

There was a hard knock on the door, and Yukino gasped, quickly wiping her tears. Had they forgotten something so soon?

"Coming!" She called out, walking over to the door and pulling it open, "What did you leave behind-"

The question was stopped in her throat at the sight of a large demon, looking amphibian in nature as he loomed over her. Her eyes flickered to the double hammer shield tattooed onto him.

One of Tartaros' members.

Yukino took a frightened step back, the blood draining from her face.

"Now just who were you expecting little girl?" He sneered. When he smiled, rows of razor sharp teeth grinned at her, and Yukino reached for her keys.

Too fast, the demon had Yukino by the throat, her keys falling to a clatter on the floor. She couldn't even scream.

The demon nodded to a lesser one by his side, "Take her keys and scout on ahead. They couldn't have gotten far."

The demon nodded and slunk by, scooping up her keys and darting out of her house.

Yukino tried to gasp for air, but without her keys the struggle was feeble. His meaty claw gripped her, even as her feet dangled and twitched in the air.

"Where are they?" The demon growled, "Their scents cling to you."

Yukino gripped the massive hand holding her with two hands but remained unsuccessful in her attempt to pry it off. Still, it gave her enough room to shake her head and glare in response.

No matter what, she wouldn't give up her friends. Not the first ones she had in years.

"Brave little worm, aren't you?" The demon rumbled, "Suit yourself."

He threw Yukino to the ground, her head cracking hard against the corner of the table.

And then everything went dark.


And there you are! An extra long chapter! Real quick, a couple bits of housekeeping...

One, we've had a couple of guest type messages from folks asking how we maintain our update schedule, and since I can't reply to those I thought I'd try to explain briefly here. Put simply, the trick is to have a good bumper crop of chapters (about 10-15) already written before you start to post, and to write EVERY chance you get.

Mslead and I treat our writing as a form of stress relief so we work on our stories every time we both are online together. This ensures that we're always adding to our chapter collection and that's what allows us to keep the fast updates even before the story is done. This method might not work for everyone, but there it is all the same. I hope that helps! :)

Two, I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, but please, please, please, don't leave reviews that just say update. I know most of you don't do this, but there's always a few, and it's extremely aggravating to see that and nothing else at all.

It also feels disrespectful. As if you're saying that all the time and care I JUST put into the chapter isn't worth the effort of at least telling me if you liked it or not. Don't do this. If you truly cannot think of anything else to say then just don't leave a review. I promise we won't miss it, and our blood pressure will thank you.

That's it from me! Special thanks and love to our beloved reviewers who DID leave proper reviews! We love you to pieces, and enjoy your well earned Sneak Peek! *kisses*


30 REVIEWS EQUALS A SNEAK PEEK!

The first sign of trouble they had was when there was a loud thump and Wendy cried out in surprise as she was tackled to the ground

"Wendy!" Natsu exclaimed as they spun around to see a large demon sitting on top of her and yanking her hair back, "Looking for something?"

Natsu growled and stepped forward, but the demon promptly started charging something in his hand, "Ah, ah, ah!" He smirked, "We wouldn't want to find out just what kind of damage I might do to that pretty little face would we?"

Natsu stared at his little sister and held his hands up peacefully. An angry vein throbbed at his temple and in his neck, but he made no move to attack.

"Fine then, I won't do anything," Natsu grunted, but a smile slowly drifted over his face, "But I don't speak for her."

Before the demon could realize what Natsu was talking about, Wendy let loose a huge roar of wind magic, shooting both herself and her would-be assailant into the air.