A/N - The prompt for today was supposed to be "Self-Sacrifice," but nothing that I could think of was working for me. So I looked at my slowly disappearing list of alternatives and went with "Caged"! This turned out almost how I had hoped, so I hope it came through all right.

This is set in the same universe as Former Arrangements, so there are similarities to it.

The Beast of Fairy Tail

By Genavere

"Behold, ladies and gentlemen of Fiore! Feast your eyes upon the Beast of Fairy Tail!" A collective gasp from the crowd brought a pleased smirk to the Circus Master as the large cage behind him was revealed. No part of the cage was left untouched by the flames inside, but the wood and iron held strong by strong protective script magic that sealed in the ire of the locked creature inside.

Seething and billowing flames from his lips paced the one and only Natsu "Salamander" Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer of the aforementioned guild. The only articles of clothing he had left on were the tore pants he had originally been given when they met with the client of the job. Everything from his hair, the flames around him, and his presence gave him the crazed wildness that brought more eyes—and more gold, to the attraction.

"Men, hide your wives, for it is said when he craves a woman, he will go into a rutting frenzy until he can take the ones of his fancy!" The Circus Master walked closer to the cage, cane high in the air in show as Natsu slammed his entire body into the seal. His mouth moved in words, but the only thing the crowd heard were grunts, growls and roars.

Children pressed their faces into their parents' legs, terrified of the savage creature. "Mothers, keep your children close! He has been known to snatch them with only a second notice and the children have never been seen again! Devoured by his insatiable hunger! A child is but a mere snack to tide him over until the next one."

Near the back of the crowd, four hooded figures stood watching the spectacle with ill ease. This had supposed to be a fun job after they had all been cleared to go back on jobs after they had finally finished the century quest in Guiltina. A circus had come into Fiore looking for some wizards to spruce things up a bit, and who better to accommodate than Fairy Tail's strongest team?

It had been fun for the first couple days. Erza had donned her best gear and took out targets—half scaring the crowd and infatuating them with her assets. Gray performed with his Ice Make magic and made it snow inside the tent. Lucy had been tasked with a whip and dance performance that she had found exhilarating, though the lack of clothing her costume ended up having reminded her of the mission in Stella. She had just been happy her scars from their last battle in Guiltina had been covered.

Even Happy and Carla were able to do an aerial performance with Wendy as they flew her around and she used her sky powers to wow the audience. Yet, the one performance that seemed to really captivate the crowd had been Natsu's fire performance. For the mission, he accepted using the title 'Beast of Fairy Tail' as he showed off his strength, ate fire Erza and Lucy sent his way, and nearly burnt down the tent while having a blast.

After the week the mission has been designated for had finished, they all felt some tension had been lifted off their shoulders and they were ready to head back home. Erza and Lucy had handled the task of getting the payment for the mission—thankfully the whole amount plus a bit extra since they had done such a phenomenal job at their performances, and headed back to the inn they had booked through for one more night.

They spoke of leaving later in the morning the next day, and take the rest of the team out for a celebratory meal. Everyone could drink and be merry, though Lucy suggested that if they were to drink that they should do it at the inn. Away from others, and preferably not together, she added to herself. But she had offered to get Erza a whole strawberry cake for her instead, which was quickly accepted.

Gray, Wendy, and the Exceeds were easy to find in their rooms as they gathered everyone. When Lucy went into the room she shared with Natsu, the cold air inside startled her. Even if the windows had been left open, which they had been, his natural body heat would never let a place get this chilled. A quick search of the room revealed he had not taken a shower, or was he laying in wait somewhere to pounce on her. The bed, ceiling, and closet had been checked just for that.

In the hallway, she went to the other rooms and inquired about her missing partner, but none had seen him since his performance earlier. That worried her since he was not one to leave her side that long after everything that happened with Ignia.

"He's probably trying to arrange how he can keep that fire whip they gave him for the last performance," Gray said. It offered a viable reason, but it did nothing to stop the worry.

A hand plopped on the top of her head, jolting her from her thoughts. He offered her a smile and rubbed her head, messing with her hair. "It's Natsu we're talking about. He can take care of himself."

"Yeah, I guess you are right." It still did not sit well with her not knowing where he was. Any thoughts of dinner had been forgotten, and her and Happy sat in their room waiting for him to come back. Both were ready to give him a piece of their minds, too.

Late afternoon turned to dusk. Night fell over the sky and a gorgeous array of stars filled the moonless sky. As a Celestial Wizard, she should have been thrilled to gaze upon those glittery gems far above and find the constellations of her beloved keys. Instead, as the night continued, she found herself digging through Natsu's bag to pull out his cloak and threw it over her shoulders. If he was not coming back to her, then she would go to him.

Outside her room, the rest of the team had already gathered and had been debating waking her. Together, they went into the night to search for their comrade.

One thing they noticed between the week they had been helping the circus to that night had been the increase in guards. Patrols went around in pairs and there were several packs of them. There had been no reason for such means before, and they could think of nothing that happened besides Natsu's disappearance that would warrant such precaution.

Splitting up, they each choose different paths to go, careful of the patrols as they slid under the fabric of tents or moved around cages. Lucy and Happy decided to try a different approach and took off into the sky to get a better view of everything.

From there, they could see just how many guards had been added and where they were over the grounds. One tent in particular caught her attention and she pointed it out.

"Happy, see if you can get us through the opening on the top of that tent," she said, drawing his attention to the location. It was one of the larger tents, but unlike most of them, it had a circular opening on the top and the air around it shimmered.

"Aye, sir!"

They flew down, easily avoiding eyes that never once looked up, and dropped into the tent from above. The only thing inside was a large cage made of wood and iron, but the heat inside suggested something was inside the cage. They landed by the side and snuck around the front, being careful of anyone else inside the tent, and peered between the bars.

Familiar eyes glinted in the dim light and caught her own. Movement came towards her as she tried to reach through the bars, but found a seal barrier there. Larger tan hands pressed into the barrier on the other side.

"Natsu…" She worried her lip and checked him over for any signs of injuries. "What happened to you?" Horror filled her when he talked to her, but only sounds resembling those of animals came out of the cell.

"Lucy!" Happy cried, waving his hands around. "They made Natsu sound like an animal! Not even I sound like that!"

"Quiet down, Happy. We can't alert the guards." She pressed her finger against her lip and looked at the seals that trailed up from where his hands were. Magic like this was not her specialty, but she had worked with Levy for long enough that she figured she could break it. The issue would be how long it would take her.

"Natsu," she caught his eyes. "We can't understand you, but nod if you can understand me."

His mouth moved in a frantic pace as growls and roars answered her back. All she could do was wait for him to finish, crossing her arms under her breasts. Arms waved and made movements to his animal sounds, all the reasons how he got caught and why he was locked in the cage. When she raised an eyes brow at him, mid-rant, his head fell against the seal and gave a defeated nod.

"Now that, that is out of the way, I need to look around the cage and see if I can figure out what kind of script magic this is. Happy, keep a look out for any guards." The first place she moved to was under the cage. It would be the easiest place to hide anything, and would be harder for someone to get to if they were trying to break the seal.

Unfortunately, all she found there had been dirt in uncomfortable places and a case of heat stroke from the temperatures underneath. The next place she looked was each side, checking each bar and the door. Happy lifted her on the top and she felt the heat again there. Walking back and forth over the top, she noticed the area furthest from the door had remained cool, but the closer she got back towards the door, the heat increased.

Again, she looked over the door and the area around it. "This area seems to be a weak point," she said, thinking out loud. "My guess is that they used two different sealing scripts on the cage, one to be able to open and close the door, and the other to keep him inside with his magic. It probably is the reason we can't understand him."

Another thought came to her and she went to the area the door met with the rest of the cage. "Natsu, I need you to talk to me here. Anything you want, just say something."

Through the cracks, she watched his silhouette came closer to her. Heat, not from his magic, crossed her cheeks when she heard him take a breath in. This was not the time to fawn over her partner! Even though she had heard him breath like that against her ear before. His body moving over hers, their hips connected and feeling pleasure none of her romance novels could come close to describing.

A whimper escaped her lips and she pressed her hips together. They had become insatiable since admitting their feelings to each other, and she had hoped to make use of that bed at the inn again instead of a rescue mission.

From the other side of the door, a growl sent shivers of excitement and disappointment through her. The theory she had must not have been correct if all he could do was still make animal sounds.

"Fuck, Luce." Eyes widened and looked up into the cracks to catch his feral glint pinning her. "I can smell you from in here, and I can't do a fuckin' thing about it. This pisses me off!"

Excitement bolted straight down to her core and he growled again. The heat increased significantly around her. A trickle of sweat ran down between her breasts. Her eyes widened further. "That's it!"

When he spoke, his voice could come through the crack, but she could also hear it mixing with the seal to change to animal sounds. It meant her theory was correct and there was a small crack between them. The problem laid with getting that crack to falter.

"Lucy!" Happy flew back to her, gripping her skirt tightly. "Lucy! The sun is rising, and guards are headed this way!"

"I can handle—"

"Lucy, go," Natsu's voice cut her off. The look he gave suggested he knew more about the situation than she did. Since he had been captured, maybe she should take the guards seriously.

Letting out a breath, she nodded. "Natsu, I need you to make the cage as hot as you can. Don't do it while they are around, just when you are alone or they park you somewhere. We will get you out, I promise!" Her fingers pressed against the wood as Happy lifted her up and out of the tent before anyone noticed they had intruders.

It was a stroke of luck they found the rest of the group and had been able to explain everything they found. So when the Circus Master had brought Natsu's cage to an area in the middle of the area, they had all been proud to see the fires burning brightly inside.

Listening to the arrogant man ramble on, Lucy let out a drawn-out groan. "If the kids are never seen again, how would anyone know if they were eaten? Geez, do none of these people know how to build stories?"

"That is the least of our concerns right now," Erza reminded her. "Are you certain that attacking that area will break the seals?"

"Absolutely!" She smiled in pride. "Levy has often talked about the intricacies of combining seals together. To make it work, the person writing it has to interlock the runes in such a way there would be no break in the pattern. Whoever did it on that cage did not do it. That is why you can see the heat shimmering on one side of the cage but not the other."

"What will happen when the seal is broken?" Gray looked around at the families watching as the Circus Master tried to make Natsu do tricks. It might have been a good idea to put the animal sounds over what he was actually saying. None of it would be family appropriate.

"With how much heat Natsu is pumping out, it might explode," Lucy said. There was no other way to put it, and she refused to sugarcoat the situation. "But if he doesn't do that, the plan is bound to fail."

"Then I guess it is time for us to act."

The shortest member stepped forward and threw her cloak over her shoulders, but kept the hood up. Angelic wings opened on each side and she rose up into the air. Around them, winds began to swirl around and send merchandise on shelves flying. Hats flew off heads in the crowd and people began to huddle down and panic.

"You dare to capture one of my people?!" Wendy's voice boomed out over the area. Below her, they all groaned as they listened to her try to lower her pitch to sound more threatening. "We Dragon Slayers do not seek violence, but will act out when threatened! If any of you value your life, flee now, or-or there will be consequences!"

Through the wind, most of the crowd just blinked up at her in confusion. This could be part of the show, though the sand being blown around could have been left out.

"Lucy," Wendy tried to call down in a hush. "I don't think this is working!"

Erza stepped forward, her cloak disappearing as her Heaven's Armor replaced her clothes. "In less than five seconds, there will be a raging fire dragon slayer on the loose! If you do not want to be devoured, I would suggest you all run."

Panic swept the crowd. He was going to be freed!? They scattered in all areas, seeking the best way to get away from the cage and that area before any monster could feast on their flesh. As the crowd sought salvation, Erza walked through them. Her steps slow and meticulous as she noticed the exact areas Lucy had mentioned she needed to strike.

The Circus Master ran every which way in front of the cage, trying to calm people and tell them this was all part of the show. When he saw Erza walking towards him, he pointed at her in anger. "I paid for him fair and square!"

"You gave us the money for the job, and 'an added bonus for a job well done,' if I remember your exact wording," Lucy said, tossing her hood back. "Besides, you can't just buy another human being!"

"Y-you don't understand! He will make me rich! Richer than you can ever know!" He stepped in front of the cage, holding his arms out in front of Erza. A startled, high pitch scream fell from him as he fell forward, startled by Natsu slamming into the seal behind him.

"Give it up, old man, we are taking our friend back." Gray pressed his hands together and a block of ice pushed the cage up so the door was at a better angle.

Flying up, Erza opened her arms and summoned her swords. "Heaven's wheel!"

"No!" A whip of flames snapped out to grab her ankle. Mid-air, a blue and yellow whip coiled around it and Lucy pulled her whip back towards her, initiating a tug-of-war between them.

She smirked at him, "I am the whip master in this battle!"

Unhindered, Erza's swords flew at the crack in the seal. Light gathered around as they buried themselves into the wood and a large explosion shook the circus grounds. Arms wrapped around her as she flew back.

"I got you," Wendy said, flying them both out of the way with the help of the exceeds.

On the ground, Gray set up a Ice Shield to protect himself and Lucy from the debris that flew their way. As the dust and large pieces settled, heat encompassed the entire area.

"I'm free!"

Lucy laughed at Natsu's antics, and the group of them made their way through the destroyed area. The Circus Master laid in a daze off to the side, and most of the tents that had been set up were now torn, blown over, or knocked down. They stood in the epicenter of all that destruction.

"Now this feels like a mission well done," Natsu grinned, throwing an arm over Lucy's shoulders. Neither mentioned the disheveled, sweaty state of the other as they leaned into each other. The lack of sleep of the night before catching up to all of them.

"At least we already got our jewel," Lucy said with shoulders sagged in defeat. Even though it had not been their fault this time, one mission without destroying everything would be nice. "Can we get out of here before he wakes up?"

"That would be wise," Erza nodded. "Let's get our stuff from the inn and head to the train station. We will head back to the guild right away."

"The train station?!" Wendy and Natsu both turned green at the thought, neither wanting to deal with their motion sickness after a night of no sleep.

Lucy could not help but give her partner a sympathetic rub on the back. "Don't worry, you can lay your head on my lap on the train."

Their eyes met, and he gave her a small grin. "Heh, thanks for saving my ass once again, Luce. I'd be long gone if not for you."

She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "The same with you, Natsu. Let's head home."

"Aye!"

A/N - I am over half way done with these prompts, and from there...I am not sure what I will do. Probably start mixing up my days again with writing and crafts. That way I can get some of that stuff done, too, but I have written so many words in this time frame, it makes me imagine that I can actually do this with my own works!

Set a word count goal and go forward! We will have to see what happened come March. This weekend, I do hope to get the next chapter of Former Arrangements done, since I have been ignoring that for these prompts. But hopefully everyone has been enjoying these.

Also, if you were looking for yesterday's prompt, I only had it on tumblr since it was just a dabble of torturing my husband with going to see Titanic in the theaters, lol.

Hope you enjoyed!