After flying multiple miles over marshland, the group finally saw the ground below turn into harder, walkable land. They debated whether or not to drop to the ground and walk. Considering how much longer they still had to go, they decided to give the two cats a break, at least for a few hours.
Gray's legs wobbled as he was placed back onto the earth, and he nearly fell. He really wasn't suited for air travel. Natsu, kindly, didn't mention his blunder— though the laughter dancing in his eyes wasn't as kind.
They started walking, following the direction of a compass Gray had with him. The cats rested on their shoulders, conserving their energy for any potential flying later. After a few minutes, Natsu and Gray heard them sleeping. Natsu reached up to pat Happy's head, who in turn gave a sleepy smile.
"Natsu?" Gray whispered. "I'm curious. Why did Erza and Lucy go on a mission together?"
"Hm? Oh, originally, I was gonna go with them, just a little mission while you were out. But then I got into a fight with Elfman and squashed Erza's cake. She decided I couldn't come with them anymore. Lucy found that one real funny." Answered Natsu, matching Gray's voice level.
"Makes sense, I guess. What was the mission?"
"Dunno, something stupid. No fighting at all! I'm almost glad I didn't go."
"Sometimes there are important things besides fighting and being a damned idiot, flamebrain."
"Yeah, like rescuing you from too much dirt." Natsu's retort hit Gray right in his delicate pride.
"Oh, fuck you!" Said Gray, no longer whispering.
"It's taken you this long to fuck Juvia, I don't think you could f–" Gray's fist slamming into Natsu's face knocked him off balance and stopped his insult from finishing. Happy and Lily woke up, and after taking a moment to realize what was happening, wisely chose to fly up and move a few feet away before they could get caught in the fray. Natsu's retaliating punch was grabbed by the wrist, then pulled to bring Natsu's entire body forward into a headlock.
"You–" Natsu forced in a shuddering gasp past Gray's arms. "You motherfucker." He brought his head back, slamming into Gray's nose and forcing him to let go, then rolled. The teens shared a scathing look before running at each other to fight.
After a few minutes of, as Elfman would call it, manly bonding, Natsu paused halfway through a punch. Gray took the opportunity to hit him in the stomach and cause Natsu to double over.
"Wait– No seriously, dude, wait! I smell something." Natsu coughed, holding up a hand in timeout. Gray huffed, rubbing a soon-to-be bruise on his rib.
"What the hell could be so important–"
"Shut up!" Gray glared at Natsu, who was thoroughly ignoring him. Natsu closed his eyes and took in a deep breath through his nose, trying to discern what had smelled so peculiar to him.
"What is it, Natsu? Anything bad?" Asked Happy, noticing how the pair had stopped fighting.
"I can't… Oh, shit! There's some people out here. And a lot of them!"
"What's bad about that?" Asked Gray, clearly annoyed at the dragon slayer.
"Why the hell would a big group of people be out in nowhere? It wouldn't be the only time bandits have tried to get us on trails."
"It wouldn't hurt to check." Remarked Lily.
"Fine. Where are they?"
"East." Not waiting for a response, Natsu sprinted off, leaving a very annoyed Gray and two concerned exceeds behind.