Natsu POV
It was almost effortless. I took down about 4 of them before it started to get difficult. None of them were mages, I could tell because I could smell no magic on any of them.
Usually if someone is a mage, I can smell what kind of magic they use. Like with Erza, I smell steel and cloth – depending on what armour she will use. With Grey, I can smell.. well.. ice. With Lucy, however, I smell a range of certain animals (because of the zodiac keys, i.e. lion, lamb, crab, you get the point) as well as a weird scent of Jasmine – do not ask me why, because not even I know. Heck, Gajeel smells like iron and Juvia smells like water. Levy smells like books (Gods know why, but I don't), Bisca and Alzack reek of gun powder.. You get the point.
Anyway, back to the fighting. It was getting difficult because I was starting to lose my strength. I needed to eat. Fast. But, what can I make explode with flames? I don't see anything.. Shit. I had better hurry this up before I get weak. Right as I was about to upper-cut a guard, I was hit over the head with something hard. Damn, that hurt. I turned to where the blow came from. There was a guard that was, quite literally, quivering in fear. I could practically feel the fear radiate from him. Poor guy, I almost felt bad for what I was about to do. Almost.
I gave him a death glare, and saw him flinch, before I knocked him out with one blow to the face. What a douche! I thought. My head was now slightly hurting because the bloody idiot had hit me with.. I stopped short and checked what he was holding. Oh my god.. He hit me with a fucking metal pole?Wow. That was a desperately hopeless move. What an idiot.
I turned back to the remaining guards. They were all looking behind me for some reason, and they looked like they were about to crap their pants. What the hell? I looked behind me. Ok, I think it's official. I feel like I am going to shit my pants, even though I wont.. It was Lucy. And even I was scared. She looked like a cross between a psychopath and a serial killer. What the hell made her so mad?
"Natsu.." I almost shat myself when she said my name – not literally, but I was still scared of the tone of voice she used. "Are you ok? Did that last blow hurt your head?" She asked me. Why would she want to know.. Oh.. OH! I see, she was pissed because some idiot hit me over the head with a metal pole. Ha-ha, she was so silly sometimes. God, have I missed her.
"I'm fine, Luce. Don't you worry. I will be done with the rest shortly." I told her. Turning back to the guards, I noticed that they were still scared stiff. I lunged. I took two out by running past them with my arms out, effectively knocking them out from being clotheslined. Ha-ha! Their faces were funny. I faced some more enemies, the ones that had snapped out of their fear-induced daze, who were coming at me. There were about 5, which was easy enough. I didn't rely on my magic while fighting these guys, I decided that I should show Lucy just how strong I naturally am. I took the first guy out by round-house kicking him in the face, the second by a punch to the stomach and a knee to the face. The third and fourth I chose to take out by dodging their attacks, and instead making them hit each other until they both knocked each other out. With the last guy, I figured that I would be a bit of a dick to. I gave him a hard enough punch to his 'jewels' that made him double-over in pain and faint. There was two left out of the original 13, now. I heard the two whisper to each other – they were thinking about distracting us and making a run for it. Hang on.. I recognised those voices. I almost growled, but I made myself be calm. I looked over to Lucy, and gestured her over.
"Hey Luce, wanna help me with these last two goons? I would love to see you take down these two – especially since they are the ones that I over-heard in the hallway, when I was coming to get you, say that they'd love to take a certain advantage of you when you were next sleeping." I raised an eyebrow. It was true, I didn't pay attention to them before, but now that they were here, I suppose that letting Lucy know wouldn't be a bad thing – especially since I wanted to pound their heads in as well.
I saw her eyes flash in anger. She looked over at them and hissed. I almost laughed, for two reasons. The first, being that Lucy's hiss was very much like a very angry and wet kitten, and the second was because those guys faces' paled and twisted into ones of pure and utter fear. They looked like they just saw their lives flash before their eyes. I didn't laugh though, because I was still so pissed at them. They deserved what they got.
Lucy went over to them and this is what happened; the first guy got a knee to the 'jewels' as well as a kick to the torso – Ouch – and the second guy got a bitch-slap to the face so hard that he'd fallen over – Double Ouch – before getting a heap of cat-claw like scratches all over him. Ok, make that Triple Ouch. Lucy can seriously injure people if she is mad enough, and I am not complaining this time since it is both: not me & they deserved it.
"Lucy, I think they've had enough. You can stop now." I chuckled. She could get so carried away with things like that, and a majority of the time I found it down-right hilarious. She always reminded me of a pissed-off kitten. Cute, but hurtful. I smiled softly at her, after she stopped hurting the poor guy and looked at me sheepishly. I walked over to her and held out my hand. She looked at me in surprise, but quickly recovered and smiled – taking my hand. I grinned. I helped her up and ran outside, with her still in tow and holding my hand. I was smiling huge, and I didn't care. Once we started on the path that Grey, Erza, Happy and I took, we noticed a few unconscious guards scattered here and there. Most likely Erza. I shuddered to think of what happened to them. I ran with Lucy to where me and the other agreed to meet up, and saw them there waiting patiently. Once they heard us coming, they looked over in relief and joy – they were happy that I had found Lucy – before noticing me and then proceeded to look gob-smacked and I knew why. I hadn't smiled like this for 7 months, so it was shocking to see me do it now. When I got closer, I saw this guy all hunched over and tied up by a rope, with tape over his mouth. He was conscious and wildly looking around for an escape. I froze when I got closer – making Lucy knock into me – as I realized that he must've been the leader of this whole mess. The one who must have kidnapped Lucy, himself. My blood boiled.
"Is he..?" I gestured to the tied up guy with a nod of my head in his direction.
"Y-yes.. He's the one who kidnapped Lucy.. Natsu..?" Erza looked at me cautiously, and what she saw must've been scary because she flinched away. I felt Lucy let go of my hand and, seeing her do this next thing in my peripheral vision, walk to stand beside me and look at my face. I saw her face become both shocked and frightened. Yup, my demeanour from before I rescued Lucy must've come back. I walked over to the guy tied up and, once I got close enough, the guy looked at me in fear. Good. I untied him, and tore off the tape over his mouth viciously.
"I will give you a 10 second head start. Run." I told him, my voice cold, detached and deadly. He shakily got up and ran. I admit, he was fast.. But not fast enough. Erza looked at me like I was nuts, before she realised my plan.
You see, when a fire dragon wishes revenge on someone – he goes on a 'hunt'. The 'hunt' consists of a game of chase-and-kill. Meaning, the fire dragon lets the guy run, before chasing him down and killing him. As for me, because I was pretty much raised by a fire dragon, I am going to go 'hunting' in the streets of Magnolia.
"NO! Natsu, don't you dare do what I think you're going to do!" Erza panicked.
Grey and Lucy looked at Erza in confusion and shock, while Happy just looked frightened. Happy knew what I was going to do, and Erza had already guessed it.
"What? What is Natsu going to do?" Grey asked Erza. Lucy glanced cautiously at me quickly before paying attention to Erza again.
"Natsu's going to hunt!" Erza looked at me in horror. Grey looked even more confused, as did Lucy.
"He's going to.. what?" Grey and Lucy questioned.
"You guys remember how Natsu was brought up by Igneel, yes?" Erza questioned the two. Lucy and Grey nodded. "Igneel was a fire dragon remember?" Again, the two nodded. "Well, what happens when a fire dragon wishes revenge on someone – he goes on a 'hunt'. The 'hunt' is basically a game of chase-and-kill. Meaning, the fire dragon lets the guy run, before chasing him down and killing him. In this case.. Natsu is the fire dragon." Erza told them, at last. Grey and Lucy looked at each other shocked before looking at me, scared.
"How do you know this, Erza?" Lucy asked quietly, still looking at me.
"I had asked Natsu about it once, years ago, and Natsu had vowed to never 'hunt' anybody – not under any circumstances, other than to 'ensure the safety of his Nakama' and the person must definitely have a death wish." Erza told them. Grey and Lucy then looked horrified.
"Don't do it!" Lucy and Grey shouted at me.
"Too late.. I will see you guys back at the guild in less than 10 minutes." I said, my tone was icily dangerous. I saw everyone shrink back at my voice – but before they could recover themselves, I was out of there. I was in a dead sprint towards the streets of Magnolia, following the bastard's scent like a shark following the scent of blood in the ocean. I could tell that he hadn't gotten far. I doubt anyone could, what with my speed and time I gave him.
I found him in an alleyway, trying to hide his scent with garbage. Too late.. I thought. I stalked towards the guy, slowly and with a deadly purpose. When the guy noticed me, the shrank back in fear, knowing that he'd been caught so soon and that he was probably going to die. Got that right.
I roared loudly, and you could hear the anger in it. My rage was so much, that it was almost tangible. I felt my hands and feet get covered in flames, as well as my dragon scales form on my skin. I beat the guy up badly, punching and kicking him so hard that he'd definitely have bad bruises. I also scorched him multiple times from my flaming hands and feet. Blood was everywhere, but the guy was still alive. He had only just fallen unconscious, when I was about to finish him off. I roared again. This time I was even louder and fire came out of my mouth, the fire on my hands and feet spread so that my entire arms and legs were covered in giant flames. I felt my eyes turn into tiny slits. All I could think about was killing this guy for even touching my Lucy. I finished roaring and was going to go in for the kill, when I heard something that made me stop in my tracks.
"NNNAAATTSSSUUUUU!" I heard my Lucy screech. My flames on my arms and legs vanished. I turned around, slowly, and looked at her. She wasn't alone. The others (Grey, Erza and Happy) were with her. They all looked at me in terror. Lucy looked like she was going to cry. Wow, I must've looked so much more different from my usual self. I looked around and saw a slightly cracked door-length mirror standing up by the garbage. I looked at myself.
I was scaly, from head-to-toe. My hair was spiked straight up, and it had turned from pink to a dark pink/red colour. My eyes were slits and looked like Igneel's when he was extremely pissed-off (which I had only seen once, but still remember the frightening memory). My clothes were torn in some places and my muscles were more pronounced. I had blood splatter on my clothing and chest, as well as a couple on my face. My knuckles were busted and I had grazes over my body, every here and there. The veins in my body were more pronounced than I'd ever seen them. I almost scared myself, just looking at me. Almost. I was slightly shocked at my changed appearance though, and understood why everyone looked at me like that – like they were very afraid of me. I couldn't blame them.
I looked back at them and saw them flinch. "Go, I will catch up to you guys soon. I need to finish this." I told them, my voice even more deadly than before.
I turned back to the guy, and I re-ignited my right arm. I was about to finish him off, when I suddenly felt arms around me. I stopped, put my arm out again, and looked over my shoulder. Lucy was hugging me from behind. I looked at her, my gaze went from vicious and deadly, to soft and loving in a matter of milliseconds. I was confused why she was doing this – despite how much I loved it, and her – until I realised the reason. She's scared. She doesn't want me to kill him. She wants me to stop. She wants me to give up the hunt.. My understanding made me look at her in both love and sadness. She's also terrified of me, yet she wanted me to stop so bad that she came over and held me back with her hug. She's more courageous than I gave her credit for. If she wants me to stop.. then I have no choice. I don't want to push her away anymore, and if I continue with this, then she will most definitely be pushed away. Either by me or her, herself. I am not going to lose her again. Never again..
I felt myself turn back to normal – scales disappearing, veins receding, eyes going back to normal, everything changed back. I twisted in Lucy's arms, and hugged her. I buried my face in her hair, inhaling deeply. God, I loved her scent. Lucy felt so fragile in my arms, yet so unyielding to break. I held her against me, tightly. It was tight enough to be called a 'tight embrace', but not tight enough so that I'd crush her in my arms. I held her there for a while, I breathed out her name when I was calm enough to not want to turn around and finish the guy off.
"Lucy.."
She responded by squeezing me tighter against her. I smiled and tightened my grip to match hers. I felt something wet on my chest – and it wasn't the blood, because that was reasonably dry enough to not be wet anymore. I pulled back, and cupped Lucy's head in my hands, so that I could lift her head up so that I could see her face. She was crying, but she looked happy. I looked at her, confused.
"Lucy, why are you crying if you're happy?" I asked her. I really didn't get why girls did that. It confused us guys.
"Be-because.. You st-stopped.. Fo-for me.. Y-you didn't keep hu-hurting him.. Be-because I held y-you.. I-I am so-o happy!" She blubbered. "I-I am good en-enough for y-you.. I a-am good enough t-to get you to st-stop fighting wh-when you are li-like this.." Lucy smiled in glee, hugging me again, burying her face into my chest. I was shocked. She thought that she wasn't.. that she.. oh my.. God, is she dense. If she weren't good enough for me, then why would I have fallen for her? She's such an idiot.. My idiot.. My Lucy..
I smiled, and once again I lifted her face up so that I could look into her eyes. "Lucy, if you weren't good enough for me, then why would I have fallen for you?" I told her seriously. I looked at her lovingly as I said it, implying that it was a rhetorical question, but she answered unfavourably anyway.
"I dunno.. a f-fluke, maybe?" She looked away, embarrassed. I was gob-smacked by this woman's answer. My god, it was worse than I thought.
"Lucy," I started, sounding hurt. She looked back at me, her eyes staring at me incredulously. "How in Earthland are you a fluke? Good god! Lucy Heartfilia," I started my rant, Lucy just looked sheepish. "I did not fall for you by 'a fluke'! I fell for you by getting to know who you are, personally. I have not, ever, met a woman like you. You are like Lisanna, Levy, Mirajane and Erza combined! You're like Lisanna because you have a naturally caring personality. You are like Levy because you are smart. You are like Mirajane because you are beautiful and sexy and know just what to say to get everyone motivated. You are like Erza because you fight fiercely for your friends and would die protecting them in whatever way you could. But most of all, you're you. You are like those girls in many ways, yes, but you also have things that they don't – and that's what I fell for the most. You're creative, you love your spirits with your heart, you have blonde hair, you put up with me – even if you get upset with me most of the time with the shit I do and get you into – and you're the most happy-go-lucky girl I know. But, the most important thing of all, is that you love Fairy Tail and everyone in it and wouldn't trade it for anything. We, everyone in Fairy Tail and I, are so lucky to have you with us, in our guild. No one could ever replace you. You wouldn't believe how much everyone, mostly me, loves you. We wouldn't give you up for our lives." I told her, honestly and sincerely. I saw her tears turn into waterfalls down her cheeks. She looked at me in shock, and also happiness. "Now, let's get you home. Eh?" I asked her. "Let's go back to Fairy Tail." I smiled.
She nodded and let go of me, so she could hold my hand. I grinned. Lucy had stopped crying by the time I walked over to the guys and Erza looked like she was going to cry, where as Grey and Happy were gob-smacked and speechless. I laughed whole-heartedly at them, and that seemed to get Erza bawling and Grey and Happy smiling at me. Lucy looked at them curiously.
"Lucy, remember when I told you about what I was like after I stopped being your Nakama?" I nudged her side. Her eyes glazed over for a few seconds before realisation came to her face. She looked at me, smiling gently with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Hey, none of that. Happy-go-lucky, remember?" I teased. Lucy just grinned happily.
Erza seemed to not be able to contain herself anymore, because the next thing I know is that me and Lucy were in her embrace against her armoured chest. HOLY MOTHER-F#*$%! That hurt, really bad! I screamed in my head. Erza took a bit to calm herself down, and let us go while she told me that she was happy to see me back to my old self again. Grey said the same thing, clapping my back with his hand. Happy just jumped onto my head and started purring loudly.
"Natsu's back! Natsu's back! Natsu's back!" Happy chanted. I just laughed again.
And now, we were on our way back to Fairy Tail, together. And Lucy was still holding my hand. I smiled.