It took them nearly a week to reach the eastern border. Between avoiding settled areas and the weather that took a turn for the worse on the third day, Lucy was still amazed by the sheer speed with which they had traveled. They had spent so much time dodging villages and avoiding guards the times when they had no choice but to enter a village to buy food that she was surprised when Natsu declared that the small, winding river they had passed over was the eastern-most bend of the Erran, and that the giant peaks gleaming with snow that towered up before them were the Teeth. The terrain below had gradually grown rougher and wilder for each day, farms and settlements thinning out until they no longer had to take detours to avoid being seen, only to be completely replaced by dense, dark, evergreen forest.
Lucy was elated and terrified at the same time, stunned by the sheer notion that she had actually escaped her father's clutches.
"It's too early to celebrate" Natsu cautioned one afternoon as they sat huddled beneath a big spruce, sheltered from the rain and the strong wind that had forced them down on the ground among the feet of the mountains. The fair-haired girl had been ranting for a long while on how they had to be safe now, honestly believing that the king's power only reached as far as the border.
"But what can he do?" Lucy protested, peeling wet hair from the brown eyes with an impatient look on her face. "Even the king has no authority outside his own borders, even if they know where we are..."
"He can't do anything officially, no. But this is no-mans-land, Lucy, it'd be easy to send a group of trackers without uniforms or insignias. And if you think he won't send word to Minstral and Boscor..."
"... they would very eager to place the kingdom in their debt" she mumbled, deflating as her good mood evaporated. "Not only would it make them look good, but getting their hands on me would serve as a powerful leverage if negotiations..."
Natsu nodded grimly. Sighing she dropped her gaze to the ground and followed the movement of ants among the brown needles, flicking them away from legs and boots whenever they began to crawl on her.
"Where can we go then? Is any place safe?" The dragon shifted but Lucy didn't look up, disappointment like a dull ache in her chest.
"There are more countries in the world than these" the man said softly. " Galunar is our best option right now. Getting there will take time, but once we're past these mountains our pursuers will have a heck of a time tracking us in the wilderness, and once we're there we can go north or south - anywhere really."
"Are you sure there even are any pursuers?" She felt stubborn, unwilling to admit that the probability was high.
"I for one will assume that there are and that they're right on our heels" the dragon shrugged, a tone of impatience in his tone now. "I'd rather be on my guard than wake up one morning and find that we're surrounded!"
The princess stiffened, unused to being addressed in that tone.
"I'm not stupid Natsu, I know we have to be careful!" she said, her own voice sharp and irate as she straightened up to face him. "I just want proof that we really have a reason for all this paranoia..."
"Proof!? What proof do you think you'll get, wanted posters and a declaration of intent? If the close shave the other day wasn't bad enough for you..!"
Lucy flinched, recalling all too vividly their hurried escape from a small, dirty village two days ago after a guard had appeared in the inn, even though the villagers had insisted that there were no soldiers stationed in the area. It was still unclear whether they had been noticed, but if they had...
"I just..!" She bit her jaws together and turned her back on Natsu, as angry and frustrated as she was reluctant to admit that he was right. When tears suddenly pooled in her eyes she wiped them away with jerky motions, furious with herself for not finding words to defend her point. "I'm tired of being worried all the time" she finally admitted in an explosive sigh, swallowing hard to rid herself of the lump in her throat.
A heavy silence lowered over the forest, interrupted only by the rush of rain and wind and the creak of swaying trees. Every now and then a cascade of droplets shuddered down through the branches, dampening the ground and the travelers that sheltered below. It was still dryer than standing in the open, but being cold and wet certainly didn't improve their mood.
"I don't know what you were expecting" Natsu said quietly, finally moving again where he sat, "but it will get better, truly. Right now it's dangerous and scary, we're chased and don't have much of a plan..."
She could hear him card restless fingers through the messy hair, a frustrated sigh soon following.
"Will he ever stop looking?" It was strange. For so many years she had wished for nothing more than her father's attention, and now that she had it Lucy couldn't wait for him to go back to being disinterested.
"Probably not." The dragon always was more honest than tactful. "Any decent father wouldn't, and a king... I dunno, you tell me."
"He's always been more king than father" the girl muttered. "Even when mother was still alive... No, he won't give up. There's too much at stake for him, he has to keep up the facade and let the people know that no one can steal from the king and get away with it. There's the matter of succession too, since I'm the only child."
Rubbing her arms to stave off the cold the girl grimaced at the numerous memories she had of suitors parading before herself and the king, fighting amongst themselves for the right to wear the crown.
Twigs snapped and creaked as the man behind her moved, inching closer until she felt his warmth against her back. Lucy stiffened when arms suddenly slipped around her and pulled her backwards, his head heavy as Natsu leaned his chin against her hair. She forgot to breathe, sitting motionless while the pulse increased in pace, faster and faster and faster.
"You don't have to bother with things like that anymore" the dragon mumbled as he leaned back against the tree, wings cushioning and shielding from the multitude of twigs that lined the trunk. "I don't see any princesses anywhere, just a wet girl in a forest on the run from the kingdom."
A small smile crept across her lips, trembling and faint but there none the less. He was warm, as hot as a campfire and much gentler but ants must have crawled inside her shirt because wherever he was touching the skin tingled, to the point where she wanted to squirm. Oh he was so kind and thoughtful but did the dragon have any idea what he was doing to her, how much she hated to admit it?
"Good thing she has a friend who knows how the world works" she murmured, hesitantly allowing herself to relax into the warmth of his embrace. Color was creeping along her cheeks but the girl chose to ignore it - she really was grateful for the comforting gesture and didn't want to make a fuss.
"Ain't it!? For being a smart chick she sure get dumb ideas, not to mention being so weird that.. Ow!"
"I'm not weird!" she huffed, cheeks puffed indignantly as she let go of the arm she had just pinched, a bit harder than necessary. "Especially not compared to the guy with pink hair..."
"Takes one to know one! And it ain't pink, more like salmon" he protested, a grin on his face now. Strictly speaking it wasn't that either, more an odd hue of brownish red... but the hair definitely looked pink when the sun shone on it, and Lucy loved making fun of it.
"Ha, so you admit that you're weird!" The young woman let out a triumphant laugh that quickly turned into a high-pitched squeal when Natsu retaliated by digging his fingers into her sides.
The banter went back and forth until Lucy gave up and sank into an exasperated but decidedly more comfortable silence. The body behind her back still shook with silent laughter, though Natsu seemed far too content with winning to press his luck and followed her example.
It was oddly peaceful to just sit there and listen to the rain. So far they hadn't had many chances to simply rest and talk, too busy running or flying or getting much needed rest to talk about anything that wasn't urgent. Come to think of it, this was probably the first time since their first encounter in the palace garden where they weren't in a hurry. While they still had to move on it was impossible as long as the wind kept bending the trees like strands of grass and if the rumble of thunder in the distance was any indicator, it was only going to get worse during the night. Which meant that they had a lot of time to kill, and oh, so many subjects to choose from.
"Natsu..." she nudged curiously after a while. "Do you have family?" It was only one of many questions that had weighed on her over the past week, though possibly one of the more important ones.
"'Course" he replied, sounding lazy and half asleep. "Igneel, my dad..."
"Won't he be worried if you don't go home?" Not only was she causing trouble for everyone in Firoe, but for the dragon as well. Wasn't she keeping him from returning to his kin?
"Nah, I doubt it. He usually goes off for months without telling me why or where, this is just returning the favor." He smirked slightly. "I've a feeling he'll laugh pretty hard when he find out about all this - you'll like him for sure."
The thought of being introduced to a parent, dragon or not, had the girl blushing something fierce. Of course it wouldn't be in the sense that her flexible mind appeared to assume, but none the less... Masking her flustered state with a slight laugh she tried to imagine what Igneel would be like, but the only thing that appeared in her mind was a bigger version of Natsu.
"What about.." She had been about to ask for his mother, but changed her mind at the last second. Her own mother had died years ago but it was still painful to talk about her, and if Natsu didn't bring his own up... maybe the same applied for him. "Where are you from, anyway?"
"Isval, north-west of Galunar." Lucy moved her head so she could look up at him, and found Natsu smiling back. "It's a bit of a detour, going through Minstral would have been much quicker, but we're still heading in the right direction."
"That's good" she breathed, unable to hide her relief. "I'd feel bad if I was dragging you from home and friends..."
"This again?" He rolled his eyes. "Who's dragging who, huh? I've been calling the shots from the beginning..."
"But if it wasn't for..."
A scaly hand over her mouth cut off her protest mid-sentence, making her eyes shoot daggers at the cackling dragon.
"Oh, just shut up, I'm not having this boring discussion again!"
Lucy had to snort at that. Discussion? That had not been a discussion because she hadn't gotten a word in even when he had stopped snarling.
"Fine" she muttered reluctantly after pulling his hand away from her lips, "I get it." She thought for a moment, then glanced up at him through her lashes. "So are we're going to Isval?" The thought made her tingle with excitement. It wasn't a country she had ever heard of - even Galunar had been on the maps she had studied and memorized as a child, since it, while remote, still bordered on Firoe.
"Eventually yeah, sure. After that... who knows? Once the hunt for you calm down we can go wherever you want."
"Really?" Lucy glanced up him. "Anywhere?"
"Anywhere, everywhere."
A bright smile lit up her face just as a lighting flashed across the sky accompanied by a sound like tearing fabric. They both flinched when the sudden crash of thunder made the very ground quake beneath them, the rain intensifying as the wind picked up. The spruce no longer offered much shelter as the swaying tree let down cascade after wet cascade of cold water; Lucy moistened her lips nervously as she looked up, then around, and realized that their tree wasn't the only one that was groaning under the pressure of the wind.
"Natsu, I think we have to move" she said anxiously, a pale hand clutching at the fabric of his sleeve. "If this gets any worse..."
He frowned as he looked around, humming in agreement yet still reluctant. To move about in the open in this weather would be dangerous to say the least. He met the worried gaze of the girl, a muscle working as he clenched his jaw tightly.
"You stay here, I'll go look for a place..."
"No way! Who knows how long that will take, then going back here to get me... No, I'm coming with you."
The logic was impeccable but was only half the reason why she so adamantly refused. Lucy wasn't going to admit it, but she was terrified of being left alone right now. She had always hated thunder and darkness, and with these thick clouds the late afternoon could as well be midnight, the only light came from the lightning that flashed across the sky.
"Fine, fine! But stick close!"
Wasting no time arguing he hoisted them up and ducked out from the shelter with Lucy close on his heels. Gasping she felt the wind nearly lift her off her feet, the chill of the rain a shock against her skin that had been spoiled from the close proximity to the dragon. Within moments she was soaked through and stumbled along half blind, barely able to make out the back of her friend for the rain and the gloom between the trees.
Aside from the foul weather and the accursed thunder that made her jump and flinch every other step, Lucy felt a mad excitement take over as she walked. Finally she was able to use her own two feet to get somewhere, and while the terrain was steep and difficult to navigate with rocks, fallen logs and treacherous roots it felt amazingly good to endure aching legs and shortness of breath. So far Natsu had been doing all the work - flying them away from danger, hunting and cooking whenever they had been stranded without a village nearby, fighting. She was grateful for all of it, of course she was, but the princess hadn't wanted to leave the castle to continue on as a pampered lady.
This time she would pull her own weight. Whenever Natsu turned around to check on her she gave him a wide smile, bright and reassuring, even when her legs began to feel numb and she started to fall behind. Determined to keep up the blonde didn't say anything when his pace increased so much that she almost lost sight of him in the storm, nor did she let out the wince of pain when she stumbled and twisted an ankle with a wrong step. Stubbornly she pressed on with moss and mud splattering high upon her legs, quenching the pangs of fear when the dragon was swallowed up by the darkness and moments went by before she caught sight of movement again.
Just being silly, she scolded herself. Of course he wouldn't leave her behind. Hadn't Natsu said so several times already? 'What was the point of doing all this just to leave before the fun started'...
"You alright?"
The young woman nearly bumped into the pink-haired dragon before she realized he had stopped to wait for her. When had he turned around again? She couldn't remember, hadn't seen it happen. Drenched from head to tow Lucy managed a weak smile and nodded, too out of breath to talk.
"Just a bit further, I saw something up ahead. Might be a cave."
Warm, calloused fingers closed around her wrist and pulled her along up the slope, then off to the left towards a steep cliff that shot from the bedrock like a giant knee. Lucy couldn't understand how he was able to see anything at all in this weather, she could barely make out her own hands. He clearly knew what he was doing though because he led them straight towards a dark crack in the cliff that looked just wide and deep enough to let them through. Struggling to catch her breath Lucy waited outside while Natsu squeezed through, fire licking over his hands as he examined the cave.
"It's bigger than it looks!" she heard him shout, voice warped and muffled by the echo and howling wind. "Come on, it'll have to do."
Too tired to do anything but obey the girl climbed after him, squeezing herself through the narrow entrance only to find the cold stone walls widening around her. By no means large, the crack still offered plenty of space along the ground and narrowed into a point above their heads. It continued further into the mountainside but a jumble of debris blocked any access to it, for which she was very glad. Thoughts of bears and bats and dangerous monsters paraded through her mind and with a shudder she tore the gaze away from the deep darkness, focusing instead on the flickering light of Natsu's flames.
"Better than the tree" she admitted and slumped down on the ground, pushing away loose rocks with hands and feet until nothing was digging into her skin - at least not painfully so.
"Definitely. Good thing you came along, not sure I'd find the way back..." Grinning under her horrified stare he shook his head violently, ruffling through the hair to get rid of the water that kept dripping into the eyes.
"You'd better have" she muttered, grimacing at the sheer amount of water that splattered to the ground as she began squeezing her hair and shirt and dragged off the sopping boots. Several envious glares were shot towards the fire mage who already seemed perfectly dry, his clothes steaming slightly as vapor rose from the cloth. If only she could alter her temperature too, she wouldn't have to shiver from cold as gusts of wind found their way in through the opening and cooled her wet clothes. Lucy sneezed, immediately beginning to worry about catching colds as she rubbed her arms furiously in hopes that the friction might dry her shirt as well as warm her up. It wouldn't surprise her at all, with all the bad luck she was having lately.
"What, want me to dry you off?" Natsu offered with a grin and held out his burning hand. He looked a bit too enthusiastic and the girl eyed him warily for a few moments before shaking her head. She rather preferred her clothes whole and unburned.
"Thanks, but I'm fine. A campfire would be nice though, you think there's room?" The space seemed large enough, but...
"Probably. Hang on, I'll get some wood."
Ducking out into the storm again he disappeared and took the fire with him, leaving Lucy alone in the dark. It probably hadn't been intentional, but she still cursed the dragon up and down the seven seas as time dragged by, her imagination running so wild that when he returned with arms full with branches she was reduced to a quivering mess huddled in a corner of the cave.
"Er.. sorry" he said feebly when she glared at him, clearly unsettled by the angry tears in her eyes. "Didn't know you were... ehm.. I'll light that fire, shall I?"
If she hadn't been so angry the hurried way in which he broke off branches and stacked the wood would probably have made him laugh. It was satisfying however, and when the darkness had been chased away by the bright flames of a small but warming fire Lucy relented and forgave him with a sigh of relief.
"How long will it take to reach Galunar?" she asked as she held her hands out towards the flames, savoring the warmth that made her skin prickle and sting. Natsu had stretched out on the ground beside her, head propped up on one hand while the other played with the fire - he looked more bored than tired.
"Dunno. A week, ten days maybe, depends on the weather. I won't even try to cross the mountains if it's like this." He gave the storm outside a disgusted look.
"Because of the wind?"
"Nah, too hard to see. The passes are narrow, I might fly us into a rock..."
"Ah, yes, better avoid that." Laughing quietly the girl shifted so that the fire could dry the back of her shirt as well and trailed her eyes absently along the cavern walls, fascinated by the dance of light and shadow across the rough surface. "Have you been to Galunar before?"
"Mmh, a few times.
"What's it like there?"
"Rowdy." Lucy glanced at the dragon with a raised brow and saw a slight frown on his face. "It's not a big country and the government isn't very interested in what the people do as long as they pay taxes, so it's become a hangout for fugitives and criminals. There are plenty of shady people about, so we'll have to be careful in more ways than one."
She hummed thoughtfully and twirled a lock of hair around a finger. It didn't sound very reassuring, to say the least, and for people in their position it was downright dangerous.
"It sounds like the perfect place to set up an ambush" she murmured quietly, mostly to herself. "If they know we are going east instead of north... But the relation between the nations isn't good, not at all, and there's no way trackers would get ahead of us. Right?"
Natsu blinked and nodded quickly as she snapped her eyes in his direction.
"Then... Natsu, I just don't see how anyone is going to catch up. Even if they ride their horses to death..."
He considered this for several minutes, then sighed and shook his head. "Maybe I really am paranoid. Just.. let's keep the pace up until we're well over the mountains, at the very least..."
He looked stubborn, but Lucy knew that the grueling pace was taking its toll on him as well. They never had enough to eat, never got enough rest and the constant vigilance had left his face looking more gaunt and tense than when she first met him.
"It would be nice to be able to stop and rest before you're exhausted" she tempted. "Take the time to find proper food, sleep through an entire night..."
The man groaned in longing and awarded her with a baleful glare. "Oh go on, keep reminding me of everything I can't do yet!"
Yet, eh? Her smile rivaled the sunrise in brightness and Natsu sighed in defeat, flopping over to his back - only to grimace as a rock dug into his spine. It clattered off along the ground as he dug it out and threw it aside, grumbling and sulky.
"Alright, fine! But not until we're over the Teeth!"
"Okay! I'm good with that!"
Of course it was okay, she had won. Humming happily Lucy placed another branch on the fire and sighed delightedly as the warmth increased, sparks crackling and rising towards the roof of the cave like tiny fireworks. Moderately dry and warmer than she had been, with company and light with the rumble of the storm outside... really, the only thing Lucy could ask for more would have been food to satisfy the ache in her belly. But since she wasn't the only one who was hungry, even that was bearable. They could growl together.