Natsu could tell that he was getting closer. The conversations the mysterious group were having were slowly turning from murmurs to distinct words. At this point, he was sure they were bandits, preying on lone travelers across towns. He didn't dare stop to explain this to Gray, who was running a little behind him, lest he lose precious time. Natsu could hear the bandits stealing from someone at this very moment. Gray, however, had another idea.

"Natsu! Natsu, what the fuck! Slow down!" Gray hit the ground, casting a thin sheet of ice across the ground. Natsu immediately slipped and landed hard, stopping his fall with his hands.

"Gray, you absolute ass! Those bandits are robbing someone right now, we've gotta stop them!" Gray jumped.

"Well why the fuck didn't you say that? Fine, c'mere!" Gray hit his hands together and created a large cannon of ice. "Get in."

Natsu wasn't sure if he trusted getting into such a precarious position, but it was one of the most exciting things he's done in a while. He gave in.

"Okay– Fold your legs. Boost off the back of the cannon and explode fire from your feet at the same time. I'll tell you when to blast. It should get you there a hell of a lot quicker. We'll catch up. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Okay. 3… 2…"

"Don't count down, just do it!"

"Fine! Shoot!"

Natsu focused as much strength as he could into his legs, pushed off from the ice at his feet, then boosted himself forward with a sudden burst of fire. He felt Gray aiming the cannon, and then the cannon itself shattering with the force of the explosion. Wind ripped at Natsu, rushing past his ears and tugging at his clothes. Barely moments later, Natsu looked down to see the earth getting further away from him and Gray's image becoming smaller. Before long, the momentum slowed, and Natsu's stomach dropped. His descent was soon. It was at that very moment that Natsu realized he and Gray had not discussed how he should land. Well, it's not like he was known for making plans.

As Natsu hit the zenith of his arc, he looked to see where he would be landing. Most importantly, he saw a small path with a group of men ransacking a carriage. Quick approximation told him that he overshot slightly, and was going to fly over the path. Natsu was picking up speed, falling faster, and found it increasingly hard to control where he was going. He couldn't do much besides flail his arms and hope for the best as he plummeted towards a grove of trees.

Natsu's back smacked against a branch. He felt only temporary relief as the branch near immediately snapped and dropped him further down the tree. He flipped, this time landing on a thicker branch, right onto his stomach. Ignoring the pain, he hastened to attach himself to the shaking branch. Once stabilized, Natsu realized he wasn't all that far from the ground. He shimmied down the trunk of the tree until he collapsed onto the sparse grass. He took in a few deep breaths as the adrenaline rush subsided and the pain really began to hit. Quickly, he checked to make sure nothing was broken. Everything seemed fine.

Natsu stood with a sigh, leaning against the tree for a moment before taking a few small steps towards the open path. Focusing, he could hear the raiders debating what "that crash" was. Natsu grimaced. He didn't have much time before he was found.

Natsu, still recovering, decided to creep around trees until he could see the group of robbers. Oh, damn. That was more than he thought. He tried to count them all, but everyone kept moving and Natsu eventually lost track. This really wasn't the best situation to be in. But he had to do something! It would leave a really bad taste in his mouth if he saw a heist and did nothing to help, especially with his abilities. Maybe he could wait until Gray arrived? Natsu didn't know how long that would be. Plus, it seemed like the group was almost ready to move on. Well, that leaves nothing else except… jumping in and fighting.

The first two went down with ease, considering they weren't expecting anything. Natsu grabbed the closest man to him and threw him at another, before covering them in enough flame to char. Everyone else, shocked, just looked at him dumbly. Natsu took the opportunity to knee another man in the diaphragm, sending him to the ground. By this point, the group was ready to retaliate. Natsu watched as almost 30 different types of magic were simultaneously sent his way, along with quite a few projectile weapons.

Is this a dark guild? Natsu thought. How come so many of them know magic? Natsu wasn't left with much time to ponder this, as he was quite preoccupied with rolling away from the mass amounts of magic being thrown at him. He took in a deep breath, allowing his lungs to fill with fire, before unleashing a giant cone of flame onto the crowd. If Lucy was here, she certainly would have screamed at him for catching the carriage, and a significant portion of the surrounding forest, on fire. But, she wasn't, so Natsu allowed himself a hearty cackle as the temperature around him soared. Oh man, he loved this. Natsu spun and punched, knocking an oncoming assailant out of the way.

More and more enemies came towards him, and Natsu enjoyed fighting them all. After some time, though, he realized the hoards were not slowing down. Did they have a healer somewhere? He tried to look for one, but was instantly stopped by three robbers jumping on him at once. He couldn't get a break from fighting in order to see what was going on. The drain on Natsu's energy and magic was becoming apparent. His fire wasn't as hot, didn't go as far, and his punches were significantly weaker. The enemies he fought were getting back up, hitting him a hell of a lot harder than he hit them.

Natsu stepped towards a knife-wielder, nearly getting a slash to the face, then missing a kick to the enemy's chest. As he stumbled back to regain his balance, Natsu felt a sharp, searing pain in his side and a magical orb fly past him. He fell on his back. Looking down, he saw his shirt ripped open, blood soaking into the remaining cloth. All his exhaustion, blood loss, and shock culminated in that moment, and Natsu passed out in hostile territory.