Natsu's POV
A light breeze shook the luscious green trees as I walked through the unfamiliar surroundings that we had ended up in. We had been walking for days and my
feet were aching painfully. The grass rustled under our feet as we attempted to get through as quietly as possible- without much success. Out of the corner of
my eye I saw something move in the dark bushes that had grown all over the landscape.
"Lucy, get down," I ran past the golden haired girl as fast as I could and threw a spell of fire into the nearby greenery. I heard a loud yelp and when the fire
disappeared a burned carcass was lying in-between the now steaming naked branches. Throughout our journey we had been attacked by creatures at every step
we took. Grey wolves, ferocious bears and giant spiders all alike. They were no match for our magic but it was tiring and trifling nonetheless.
"Are you alright Luce?" I looked in the girl's direction anxiously. She was holding her keys ready to spring into action with a stern face. She loosened when she
heard me and smiled brightly.
"Yes I'm fine Natsu, are you? You've been doing most of the fighting, aren't you running out of magic? You know I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself;
earlier Virgo helped me defeat five of them at once. You can rest once in a while," she stated matter-of-factly. I could hear the concern in her voice but there
was no way I was going to put her at any risk willingly.
"I'm not letting my friends get hurt! I'll do anything to protect you!" I spoke with my heart full of resolve. I saw her cheeks turn a shade darker and she looked
into the trees ahead as if to look for something.
"A…anyway let's keep going," she started walking and I turned to follow when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"You liiiiiiiiiike her!"
I spun around quickly to see the familiar blue shape floating a few meters behind with a devious smirk plastered on his face.
"Shut up happy!" I snarled. The sea blue cat grinned even wider.
"Pfft. Hihi Natsu's angry," he replied while holding back a laugh with a one paw covering his mouth. He used his white wings to float away just out of my reach
as I tried to grab him. This caused me to flail my arms pathetically as I fell to the ground face-first. I struggled to my feet quickly and started chasing after him.
We ran around the clearing a few times until Lucy's voice called out to us.
"Come on you guys we have to keep going!"
I stopped in my tracks and turned my head in the direction of her voice. She stood there smiling as Happy and I stopped our quarreling and returned to where
she was standing.
"Fine let's keep going," I gave in. She turned around and we started walking, not before I shot Happy another glare though of course. He simply held back his
laughter as we kept walking.
After about an hour passed I heard a noise up ahead. I signalled Lucy and Happy to stop by stretching my hand and shushed them. I strained my ears to make
out what was producing the sound and my mouth dropped in surprise as I listened.
"We… get back…will die..." my ears picked up the familiar octaves and tones. They were people! I couldn't make out all that they were saying but they were
definitely people. We finally found someone! I beckoned for the rest to follow and headed towards the sound. I snuck through the foliage careful not to make a
sound. Then they came in to view. A man and woman were standing up ahead. They were dressed in what looked like a random assortment of cloth sewn
together. It was ripped in several places revealing badly dressed wounds that I could smell with my dragon senses.
"What are we going to do? We must flee to the city or face death there is no other option!" The man argued to the woman in a desperate voice. The woman had
tears in her eyes.
"But mother…the kids," she started to sob and turned to run. The man grabbed her arm sternly.
"They're gone! You know they are! We saw it happen! We have to go now before more bandits show up," his face was strained with sorrow and fear as he kept
the woman from leaving.
"I know… but how can I believe it. Everything we had. All that we had built… gone," She spoke with a quiet voice and looked down, her tears no longer flowing.
She turned around and embraced the man tightly. She clawed into his back as she held back tears.
At that moment I chose to leave the cover of the leaves. When they saw me they broke apart fear written on their faces. I stalked towards them, anger burning
through my veins.
"Natsu wait, you'll scare them!" I saw Lucy run in front of me and she put her hands on my chest to stop me from moving.
"Your face has murder written all over it! I know why you're angry but calm down first! I'll talk to them!" She turned to the couple and smiled gently. Her smile
never failed to soothe my spirit and I slowly let my face sink into my regular expression as I watched her.
"I'm sorry about my friend. I can assure you he means no harm, at least not to you. He was just shaken up about your situation. We happened to overhear your
conversation and just couldn't help but wonder what in the world happened," she spoke kindly and her voice seemed to put the couple more at ease as they
looked at each other. Eventually the woman nodded and turned to us.
"I am surprised that you would ask this. Surely you have also felt the effects of The Disappearing?" The woman asked Lucy.
"Sorry, but we haven't felt anything. Except of course for showing up in this place all of the sudden. We don't even know where we are. Maybe you can tell us?"
Lucy asked her carefully. The woman's face became that of surprise.
"This is strange indeed, I have rarely heard of any who do not know the name of this place. It is known as the Elwynn forest. But surely you have heard of
Stormwind?" She spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And when Lucy shook her head with furrowed brows the woman's eyes stretched in
surprise.
"There is no chance that you have not heard of this place. Even if you were allied with the horde you would know of it. The lowliest of peasants know of it! You
must come from a faraway place indeed," the woman spluttered. Lucy turned to me with a face of concern, I didn't know any better either. One thing I did know
was that an unsettling feeling in my guts was becoming stronger by the minute.
Lucy's POV
I followed the woman as she wound our small group through the dense forest; she always made sure we stayed away from the dirt road to the east. Along the
way I tripped and stumbled over loose rocks and tree roots that seemed to want to trip me on purpose. From the corner of my eye I saw Happy's blue figure
whizz through the drooping canopy of orange-green leaved trees. We had kept happy at bay from the group, though not out of reach, as to not frighten the
woman, Valery, and her husband, Hod. Distracted by my own thoughts and forgetting to watch my step, my foot got hooked under a root and I fell forward. I
groaned as I pushed myself onto my elbows and rubbed my fingers over my temple. I could already feel a bruise growing under my skin from where I hit my
head. Natsu stopped beside me, one eyebrow raised.
"You're really clumsy sometimes Lucy," he stated matter-of-factly. I glared at his disappearing figure and awkwardly climbed to my feet. I jogged to catch up
with the others, my spirit keys clanking at my hip, but to no avail as we had already reached our destination.
"We're here," Valery announced, waving for us to sit down around a small pit of ash and coal. She continued, "I'm afraid we can't stay long, but we can supply
you with a map and some food." She smiled kindly; her face was full of strain and creases, which were caked with a thin layer of dirt, but her smile was still
warm and welcoming. I could only smile back but I felt a pang of sadness for the couple. I sat next to Natsu on a fallen tree trunk. Hod ambled to a pile of boxes
and bags where he forged for something and a minute later returned with four mugs. He pressed one into everyone's hand. I looked down into my mug to see
brown sludge staring back at me. I glanced at Natsu whose face had drained of color at the sight of the strange broth. I elbowed him in the ribs and
simultaneously we chugged down the contents of our drinks. Natsu's face went from white to green as he swallowed and then it faded to relief. I put the cup on
the floor next to me and leaned forward to start the conversation.
"This place seems deserted. Where are all the people?" I questioned. Wrong question, Lucy I told myself as Valery's eyes watered again. She sniffed and wiped
at her eyes with the corner of a torn sleeve.
"Most of the people that used to live in these parts are dead, and the survivors have fled," she told us. Hod placed a comforting hand on his wife's knee. I
opened my mouth to speak…
"Dead. How can a whole population be dead?" Natsu interrupted me, jumping from his seat suddenly very angry. His fists were curled up against his thighs and I
noticed small sparks of fire beginning to ignite from his palms. I tugged at his sleeves and grudgingly he sat down again.
"Do their deaths have anything to do with The Disappearing you mentioned earlier?" I continued to prod them, desperate for answers. Hod nodded and took
over for his wife.
"Yes, it happened five days ago," he started. Both mine and Natsu's heads snapped up and our eyes met in understanding. Five days ago…that's when we first
landed in this strange place. Hod continued, "it came from the north, like a hurricane, a powerful golden light of magic flooded over the city, the forest, and
everywhere else, blinding us. When we regained our vision we saw the destruction the light had brought. Stormwind, once a glorious hold and the base for the
Alliance, had been reduced to rubble and in that rubble laid thousands of corpses. At first we thought the Horde had caus-"
"What is the Horde?" Natsu interrupted, his voice flat and seemingly calm but his eyes burning with rage. Hod and Valery looked at each other in confusion once
again.
"You really are from another land aren't you?" Valery realized. I nodded sympathetically.
"The Horde is the Alliance's opposing faction…the Horde is more violent, bloodthirsty and every man is for himself," Valery told us. We were both listening
intently, even Happy, who had settled on the branch of a nearby tree was leaning in to hear. "Please, what happened after the light came?" I pressed.
"We thought the Horde had caused the eruption of magic but it soon became evident that the Horde's stronghold, Orgrimmar, and it's inhabitants, Orcs, Blood
Elves, and Undead, had also been effectively wiped out," Hod sipped the last contents of the foul drink. Orcs? Undead? What kind of place is this, I thought in
horror. Natsu beside me seemed utterly excited at the prospect of fighting tougher opponents. I shook my head at him, blonde strands of hair bouncing around
my face wildly.
"We don't know why we survived," Valery was suddenly whispering, "my mother and our children…" she trailed off and buried herself in her husbands chest. Hod
reached inside his jacket pocket and threw Natsu a rolled up parchment that was stained yellow from age. He spread the map out in front of our feet. The map
depicted three large continents; Kalimdor, Northrend, and the Eastern Kingdom.
"We are on the southern half of the Eastern Kingdom, close to Stormwind," Hod pointed to the continent furthest to the right, "me and my wife will be leaving
now, it's not safe to stay here, you should start moving too."
After we had collected our supplied and said our goodbyes, Natsu and I strolled through the sparse woods while Happy created constant conversation. We made
sure to stay away from the main roads at all times like the couple had instructed us, who knew who could be travelling on the roads. Despite our dire situation
Natsu seemed content and happy, having folded his hands behind his back he started to whistle.
"And why are you so happy, may I ask?" I demanded, making sure my tone was laced with disapproval. Natsu shot me a toothy grin and chuckled.
"Because I'm pretty sure I won't see Gray's ugly face any time soon," he sang.