A/n: Oh snap another chapter so soon! I'm telling you guys right now, under no circumstances are you to get used to fast uploads, hoe don't do it lol. Besides that I am glad to see this thing is getting a positive response and thank you to everyone who faved and followed this thing, and BIG thank yous to those of you who left reviews telling me your thoughts on the first chapter.
Now read on to see what this chapter has in store and don't forget to click in that box at the bottom to leave me a review and tell me what you think (heh, I'm sounding like a person on YouTube..."if you liked this video click on the subscribe button below" yadda yadda yadda).
Lucy felt completely confused as she looked between the rest of their team and Wendy. She was at a loss for the younger girl's behavior, not understanding why the cobalt haired slayer crouched over her like a rabid dog protecting a piece of meat; then, growling and snarling at their friends as if she didn't even recognize them.
"W-Wendy?" Erza said the name in surprise, the crimson haired woman the first to recover from the initial shock of Wendy's reaction to them. Perhaps the small mage had gone into a defensive mode triggered by she and Lucy's tumble off the hill? It would make sense. "Wendy, it's okay, it's us..." the S-class mage said slowly, hoping to calm the youth down as she slowly approached as one would a wild animal.
An action that proved to be a mistake.
Wendy lowered herself even further atop Lucy as her growling only grew in frequency and intensity. "Stay away Erza!" she warned the knight, making the young woman stop in her tracks immediately, as the sky dragon shot all of the people present a warning glare.
Carla's eyebrows came together in confusion as she hovered in the air, her concern for her young charge only intensifying. "Wendy, what's-" the female Exceed began to inquire as she drew closer.
"I said stay away!" Wendy snapped as her words were strong enough, painful enough, to cause the cat to freeze. Wendy had never shouted at her before and it was clear to tell that Wendy's rejection of her closeness hurt the Exceed.
Eventually, Gajeel managed to get over his shock at the current situation and regain his bearings. He realized what was happening quicker than the rest of their teammates. He needed to act quickly before Wendy did something that he knew she would regret later once her instincts and desire to protect her mate wore off.
"Everybody, back off now!" the Iron Dragon Slayer ordered, earning attention, making no moves to get any closer to the two teens on the ground.
Gray gave him a look normally reserved for Natsu. "Are you nuts?" the ice mage protested. "Something is clearly wrong with Wendy." Pointing at the girl in question as if anyone could have missed the state the youngest among them was in currently.
"Nothing is wrong with her. She's reacting that way because she sees you all to be a threat to her mate," Gajeel explained to the group. "She'll calm down a bit once you all give her some space, though she won't be fully at ease, she won't be as close to attacking you all as she is now.
So, I'll say it again... ." The tallest among them repeated emphasizing the last two words. "Slowly," he added least they move too quickly and it set the sky dragon off.
Even though it was clear that the others didn't fully understand what was happening they did follow Gajeel's order and slowly backed away from the growling girl and downed Celestial mage. Hearing as Wendy's warning noises reduced in frequency, until she stopped making them altogether. She still eyed all of them warily though and kept herself positioned between them and Lucy.
With that done, the rest of Team Natsu turned their attention toward the former Phantom Lord mage.
"Okay, you obviously seem to know what's going on here," Gray brought up, looking toward Gajeel and crossing his arms. "So spill."
Juvia nodded in agreement with Gray's bluntness as she glanced over at Wendy. "Juvia admits, she too would also like to know what is going on that would make Wendy behave in such a way," the water mage admitted before returning her attention to the scarred dragon slayer.
The studded man tossed his hair over his shoulder in a nonchalant manner, before answering, "Mating season," as if there was all there was to it.
"Mating...season..." Erza drew out the words as if they were unfamiliar to her. Given the context and circumstance he was using them, that was actually correct.
The eldest among them never got a chance to elaborate further before Natsu joined the discussion. "No! There's no way Lucy can be Wendy's mate!" The fire mage denied as he sprang to his feet, his words earning a hiss from Wendy on the opposite side of the clearing.
A look of intensity on his face as his hands tucked into fists, his body trembling with anger, as his lips curled back into a snarl and he glared at the sight of the two girls, the sky dragon slayer more specifically.
He knew what a claim meant for a dragon. It wasn't just a random thing that happened contrary to what it seemed. It meant that a dragon had found the other half of their soul! The person that was always destined to be with them! But, that didn't make sense. Lucy was supposed to be the other half to his soul, not Wendy's. Clearly her dragon had made a mistake.
"Lucy can't be Wendy's," he protested fiercely, feeling his muscles tense as a different kind of fire raged inside him. "I don't accept it! Not when she's supposed to be mine!" Ending his declaration with a vicious snarl as he glared at the smaller dragon slayer.
Wendy was quick to respond to Natsu's snarl with one of her own, actually jumping to her feet, standing in front of the blonde. The tension between the two Dragon Slayers could easily be felt as it bared down heavy enough to suffocate them all. The two teammates not looking at one another like friends, or even rivals, but as genuine enemies.
Gajeel snapped his head in Natsu's direction, disbelief causing his red eyes to go wide. He couldn't possibly be doing this could he? Not when he knew how claiming worked. "Salamander, just what do you think you're doing?" He demanded to know marching over to the green eyed slayer and yanking forcefully on the light skinned teen's arm. But, Natsu easily snatched away from him, his emerald eyes never leaving Wendy. No, he didn't accept this at all!
Though no more words were spoken between them, how Natsu stood and the emotions radiating off him, Gajeel knew what was about to happen soon if he didn't stop it.
"Erza, Gray, Juvia," Gajeel called placing himself between Natsu and Wendy. His arm formed into an iron rod as he kept his eyes focused forward trained for even the slightest movement from the fire dragon. "I need you all to take Natsu away from here. Now."
Gajeel's tone was completely serious as he spoke, and the fact that he didn't refer to the fire mage by his moniker just solidified how serious things were at the moment. Red eyes narrowing as the youth in question took a slight step forward. The expression Natsu wore on his face was vicious as the pupils of his eyes had become spliced, signaling his dragon side was well on it's way to coming out and being in control.
"I don't care if you've got to knock him out to do it, but he can't stay here with the way he's acting right now," the tallest among them informed the other members of their team. "The way he's acting right now, if he and Wendy were to come to blows...they'd attempt to kill each other."
The words ringing off the trees as it seemed to echo throughout the forest.
"Kill? That's ridiculous," The shirtless man denied as he looked at Gajeel. "Natsu and Wendy would never try and hurt each other, less alone try and kill one another." Feeling the need to defend both his comrades.
A smirk came onto Gajeel's face from Gray's words, though he was far from amused. "And at any other time, you'd be absolutely right Gray," came his response. "However, this is mating season and, just like all animals during this time, a Dragon Slayer's behavior changes.
Just look at them." Referring to the hostile behavior both Wendy and Natsu were displaying to one another. It was completely out of character for them. This level of fury was normally reserved to Fairy Tail's enemies, and even then, one would have to push one of it's members well past their tolerance levels before they outright had a murderous expression on their face.
"We should do as Gajeel says," Pantherlily agreed after the group had fallen into silence once more, with only the sound of hisses and growls serving as a background noise. The black furred Exceed hovered next to Erza with his arms folded over his chest and eyes closed. "Though I admit I would like to fully understand just what mating season entails for Dragon Slayers, the concern for the safety of my friends outweighs my curiosity."
Gajeel couldn't help feeling like a proud parent from his Exceed's words.
"Then we shall take Natsu to the train station and await your arrival there," Erza said as she approached her pink haired guildmate, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come Natsu," the S-Class mage ordered tugging on his shoulder.
He didn't budge.
"Come on Flame Breath, you heard Erza," Gray said approaching his rival and giving Natsu a push to get him moving. "We're heading toward the train station."
Still, Natsu did not move in the direction that the other two were trying to make him walk. Instead, the pink haired man attempted to move in the opposite direction. Erza, having both had enough of his behavior and not willing to allow Natsu to attack Wendy (mating season be damned) finally solved their problem by punching the young man squarely in the gut.
Successfully rending Natsu out cold as Gray caught the unconscious fire wizard before his body hit the ground. Taking a moment to encase Natsu's body in ice...just in case. He noticed only then did the tallest among them relax.
"Hurry and get him away from here," the crimson eye male repeated as he waved them off. "I'll be along in a few moments." Motioning over his shoulder toward the mated pair. He had to deal with that before he left. Wendy wasn't exactly thrilled with his presence either.
Once the others had left, some a bit more reluctantly than others, the studded dragon slayer turned around to face Wendy. He held his hands up in a non-threatening manner, showing her that he meant no harm. "It's okay Wendy. I'm not going to take her from you," he assured the younger slayer slowly.
"Gajeel, what's going on?!" Lucy, who had been silent up until that point, questioned in a panic. He could see a mixture of emotions playing out within her eyes as she looked to him for answers.
Just what the hell was happening? She was Wendy's supposed mate? And apparently Dragon Slayers went into heat like animals? Then Natsu getting so angry and the way he and Wendy looked at one another? The Celestial mage found herself drowning from everything she had witnessed, her mind only now calming enough to where she could voice the only thought she managed to have from all of it.
He sighed allowing his shoulders to slump a bit. "Look, I know this is a lot to take in right now Lucy," he replied to her as he caught her eyes. "But, I don't have time to explain in detail what is going on right now.
Wendy isn't calming down, and I suspect it has much to do with that idiot Salamander's display," he told her, silently cursing Natsu for his reaction. "I have to leave soon and once I'm gone, you'll have to calm her down."
Calm her down? Lucy didn't see how she would be able to manage such a feat and voiced her thoughts on the subject. "And just how exactly am I supposed to calm her down?!" she demanded to know from the from her spot on the ground. She'd been afraid to move given Wendy's behavior topped off with the stare off between the fire and sky dragon slayers not long ago.
"You're her mate Lucy," Gajeel stated simply. "As long as it comes from you anything you manage to think of will help calm her down and soothe her dragon side." Beginning to step back toward the treeline as he finished his sentence.
Wait, he wasn't serious about leaving her here was he?
"When you've managed to calm her down, head to the train station," Gajeel continued to speak, even as his body began to disappear into the foliage. "We'll be there waiting for you." The sound of grass crunching under his feet being heard as he walked away.
The sound getting softer and softer until Lucy could no longer hear it.
That just left she and a pissed off Wendy who hadn't moved from her position for sometime. It was all too much for the heiress to handle. He'd called her Wendy's mate...just what did that mean for her? Was she now the wife of a child now? And why her for that matter?
It all proved to be too much too fast for Lucy and she found her eyes stinging. Before she could stop it a broken sob escaped her mouth, before she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. The action didn't help to stop the onslaught of emotions that slammed into her and before she knew it, she found herself sobbing into her hand as her vision became blurred from the heavy tears that poured from her honey brown eyes.
Her body shook trembling from the strength of her emotions.
In an instant, Wendy was by her side. The young girl straddling her waist before she began nuzzling the Celestial mage trying to comfort the blonde. While Wendy didn't sense any immediate danger something was bothering her mate and she listened to her instincts guiding her, telling her to soothe whatever bothered the older girl.
Soft rumbles akin to purring coming from her chest as she bumped her head against Lucy's trying to help. Her actions prompting Lucy to cry even harder; when that didn't seem to be working, Wendy sat back resting her weight between Lucy's pelvis and lower stomach. With a surprising show of strength (something Lucy didn't expect the blue haired teen possessed) the dragon slayer had pulled Lucy up and into a hug.
She tucked the Celestial mage's head beneath hers and began to rock back and forth, causing Lucy to do the same, as she rubbed the older girl's back all the while continuing to emit soft rumbles from her chest. Though she tried to resist the dragon slayer's attempt at comfort, as Wendy's actions persisted, Lucy found herself slowly calming down. She felt drained after her emotional breakdown and found the day's earlier events catching up with her as well as her eyes drooped.
Lucy couldn't believe it. How did she go from loving and caring for Wendy as a sister to being considered the young girl's mate? Why her?! Just how did things manage to get so complicated in a single afternoon? She hoped Gajeel was able to explain all of this and that perhaps there could be someway out of it-she wasn't prepared for a life change such as this.
Eventually, exhaustion caught up with her, as the gentle rocking motion and the rhythm of Wendy's soft purring managed to lull the older girl to sleep but not before she felt a brief echo of emotion that enjoyed being held in such an embrace by the sky dragon.