I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter 5:

For hours they kept that pace in complete silence. Wendy was finding herself getting very tired, but she knew if she stopped there was no way she'd catch up. Natsu was also struggling, but he was having a bit easier time keeping the pace they were going. Gajeel was also feeling the strain they were, but he was handing it better. He moved like this often for long hours because of his distaste for moving vehicles. Briefly he wondered why the woman didn't want to take a train and get closer before continuing on foot, but chose not to mention it at the moment. Gajeel then took noticed of Wendy's very heavy breathing and her movements falling back behind them.

He grunted under his breath before dropping back to where she was. Before she could ask what he was doing, he had reached over and grabbed her arm and swinging her around behind him. "Hold on" He almost growled, drawing a startled squeak from little Wendy and her arms locking around his neck. He sped up again to match the pace of Natsu and Talia, knowing it would be much more beneficial for all of them to not lose Wendy. After she recovered, he would put her down and they could all continue. He hoped his energy wouldn't deplete too much by carrying her.

"Hey Gajeel that's not fair!" Natsu complained from beside him, "Carry me!"

"Shut up Flamebrain" Gajeel growled.

His insult drew a string of insults from Natsu thrown his way and he responded to them. It went on for a few good minutes before Talia snapped.

"Would you both just shut the fuck up?" She growled from in front of them before speeding up her movements to leave them.

The two of them froze (about as much as you can while hopping through tree limbs) before realizing she was speeding up and struggled to catch up. Without realizing it, they both agreed with each other. She was as scary as Mira.

The trio ran for another hour or so before Wendy signaled to Gajeel that she could carry herself again. Gajeel paused to let her off his back, none of them noticing that Talia slowed a bit as they stopped so that they could easily catch up again. When Wendy was back on her feet, the two started off again. Gajeel could feel the muscles in his legs screaming at him, something he hadn't felt in a long time. Natsu shared his feeling, but was struggling with his stamina to not give out as well.

They didn't go for too much longer, even if it seemed like forever to the three Fairy Tail mages, before Talia came to a stop by planting her feet on one branch of a tree. The other three, seeing her sudden stop, also tried to stop but weren't as successful at making a clean stop. Natsu toppled over the branch he tried to stop on, falling to the forest floor. Gajeel almost followed him, but managed to keep his balance enough to jump to the ground. Wendy stopped the easiest of the three, being the smallest. She stood on a branch near Talia and the two of them jumped to the ground next to the two men.

Natsu laid on his back on the forest floor, not able to get up. Wendy and Gajeel were desperate to sit, but they were worried they'd only be moving again soon and didn't want to sit if they were.

"It isn't dusk, but we must hunt for dinner so I decided to stop a bit early. You may take a break" Talia spoke evenly, the second her words ended the other two dropping to the ground. Talia smiled lightly, aware they weren't looking at her.

"There is a river nearby in that direction," Talia pointed to the west "The men will go and fish for all of us, and Wendy and I will set up camp."

Her words fell on deaf ears as they continued laying there. With a sharp growl they leapt to their feet, wobbling a bit, and took off to the west. Wendy smiled after them a bit before turning to Talia, her smile falling. Talia watched her, a little upset that she felt she couldn't even smile.

"Come on, lets get started" Talia told her. The two of them together cleared out the area of all leaves and debris before gathering rocks and making a fire-pit. Then the two of them went looking for firewood and sticks to cook the fish on.

When they got back to the camp Natsu and Gajeel were walking up with a couple fish in hand. While Wendy and Gajeel cleaned the fish, Natsu started the fire, getting it going easily.

They were all positioned around the fire to keep warm, letting the fish cook in front of them. They were all silent, not really sure what to say to break the silence. Finally, Wendy broke it.

"Ma'am-I mean, T-Talia" Wendy tried, not completely comfortable with calling her by her first name.

"Yes?" She replied. She didn't want Wendy to be scared of her or for any of them to not like her. That was the last thing she wanted.

"W-what type of magic do you use?" Wendy finally asked the question that had been on all of their minds that day. Talia made a face like she was thinking.

"Nature magic, of sorts" She finally replied. They all stared at her, not really expecting that reply. Then they all considered it and figured that was probably why she could move through trees so easily. One of them, instead of keeping this in their heads, spoke.

"So that's why you can jump through the trees faster than us?" Natsu said loudly. Talia cut her eyes to them, weighing her options of replying.

"No, not completely" She answered before reaching forward to grab one of the fish by the fire. It smelled like it was done, so she began on hers. The others watched her suspiciously, not sure how to feel about her answer. They slowly grabbed their own and began eating.

Talia knew they were confused, but she wasn't going to let them in on her magic. If she could help it, they wouldn't know the nature of her magic until they got to their destination and began the mission.

When they finished eating, Talia moved to lean her back on the base of a nearby tree. "Get some sleep, tomorrow will be a long day" Talia recommended before closing her eyes to rest. Natsu and Wendy took her advice, curling up on the ground to try and get comfortable. Gajeel, on the other hand, took a place as far from Talia as he could while still keeping an eye on her. He feigned sleep as he watched, not completely comfortable with sleeping around someone he knew nothing about.

At about midnight he was roused from his light sleep, one that he wasn't even aware he had fell into, at the sounds of boots treading the ground. He watched as Talia stood from her spot before walking off into the forest. Gajeel waited a few moments, letting her get just to the edge of his vision before he rose and started to follow her.

She went deep into the forest, miles away from where the camp was. He wondered why she would have any reason to go this far, but decided if she was an enemy with malicious intent, she would have to go this far away to speak with whoever is hiring her.

Finally she slowed, looking around the spot she stood at. Gajeel stayed a good bit of distance away watching her as she picked a level spot in the center of the clearing and sat down. She crossed her legs under her and placed her hands flat on her knees before closing her eyes.

Gajeel stayed a good distance away for a while, just watching her. After a good half hour he realized that she wouldn't be moving and turned to walk back to where their camp was. The sound of Talia's voice stopped him, making him freeze in place.

"Seen all that you need to?" She asked. There was no emotion in her voice, this caused Gajeel to turn and look at her. She was still sitting in the same spot, eyes closed. For a moment he wasn't completely sure he had heard her speak.

He stood in place for a few seconds, just watching her. Finally she opened her eyes, immediately narrowing them into an annoyed gaze. "Well, are you going to stand there, leave, or come and ask me what you've been wondering this whole time?" She asked in a very sarcastic tone.

He thought over her words before turning his body to walk towards her. He stopped five feet away, stuffing his hands in his pockets to try and appear like he wasn't nervous about being anywhere alone with her.

"Well?" She asked again, having closed her eyes again and was back to how she looked before.

"What are you doing?" He asked roughly. He had watched her do this for a while and was getting sick of seeing her sit in place and do nothing.

"I am meditating," She spoke, then peeked one eye open "Or at least I was."

"What for?" Gajeel growled. He knew that the Bunny Girl back at Fairy Tail always did that because her magic wasn't based on strength, but rather on her own magic inside her. From what little he knew about the woman's magic, being nature based, she would draw it from the Earth, right?

"I am trying to speak to my master" She said plainly, "I have not spoken to her in years and I was looking for guidance."

Gajeel wasn't sure what to make of the information. He didn't know you could talk to someone through meditation, but apparently this woman could.

Talia stood and began her walk back to the camp, beckoning Gajeel to walk with her. He did so, but kept a step or two behind her. He always did this when walking with other people so that he could keep his eyes on them in case they made a sudden move to attack him. He wasn't sure if he could even hold a light to her in a fight, but her having an advantage of surprise wouldn't help at all.

"Gajeel, what was your dragon's name?" She suddenly spoke, drawing Gajeel out of his own thoughts quickly.

"Hm" He grunted, observing her for a moment before replying, "Metalicana."

"I see" She spoke softly, "And I'm sure, before he left, he taught you to always trust your instincts, correct?"

Gajeel hesitated before grunting is a sort of affirmation.

"And what are they saying about me?" She asked evenly. He couldn't see her face, but he suspected her expression didn't change in the slightest.

He stayed quiet, thinking over that. Even since he saw her, they told him to either kill her or run. After her little display of her power, they has changed direction completely and were screaming for him to just run and not get involved with her. But against his instincts commands, instead listening to Pantherlily's reasoning, we went out for this job. When she spoke to him, he had to force himself to stay in place. After all, it would've been extremely out of character for him to take off running at anything or anyone. All it look was one look at her eyes, seeing the belittling look she gave all of them, as if she knew exactly how they all felt, and even he felt like a little mouse at the entrance of the lion's den.

Since then he's watched her closely, ready to follow his instincts at any moment, for they'd been repeating the same thing over and over since their mission "Run before she kills you". Deep down, he knew, even if he had to he couldn't. He couldn't leave Wendy and Natsu behind. As annoying as Natsu was, he cared about him and Wendy.

"They've been telling me to run because you're dangerous" He finally responded, keeping his voice low.

He saw a slight halt in her step, and watched her body movements closely. She turned her head slightly to the side just enough so that he could see the wicked grin that had spread across her lips.

"Good, as they should" She told him, a slight hiss to her words, "I could kill all of you with one spell, it's good that you're wary of me."

Gajeel froze in place, his steps stopping completely as she continued on without him.

So it was brought up to me that I "made travel exactly like Naruto" and that no one in Fairy Tail travels like this. I'd like address this, first saying the only travel we've seen is on a train and in SE Cars, as far as I know we haven't seen people really travel any other way, but the way I see it is there have to be some people who don't travel by train or car and they prefer on foot. There's also the fact that "oh they're going through the trees and the only thing that's ever been seen in is Naruto so it's exactly like Naruto" but in Naruto, they travel on land and walk over water too and you don't see me making them walk on water.

I made this decision for a specific reason that'll be explained later on, why she chose the trees and not the forest floor and why she chose on foot over train and car all together.

Seriously though, don't go and compare one aspect of their travel to another anime just because you've never seen it in that one. It's like making them use a portal to get somewhere and suddenly I'm making them travel exactly like Bleach, it makes no sense.

And if you haven't noticed, I get a little offended when I'm accused of making something exactly like another anime without any reasoning because if I didn't have reasoning, they'd be on a train.

Anyway, please enjoy. And like I said before, I do everything for a reason.