When Lina and Amelia finally came upon the river, they were pleased to discover that a small pool branched out surrounded by tall bushes.
"This is perfect!" Lina stated cheerfully. With the natural setup we won't have to waste time creating a bath.
Amelia shucked one of her shoes and tested the water with her toes. "But it's so cold!"
"I'd expect as much. It's not a spring no worries though, a fireball ought to remedy the problem." The red headed sorceress pushed up her imaginary sleeves and held her hands out. She felt the usual rush of power that came when casting a spell and felt heat forming at her hands.
"Fireball," a bright orange light filled the area as Lina cast the spell. When the light faded the pool was steaming. "There we go, now it's perfect!"
The petit princess nodded and readily agreed with her companion. Amelia crouched next to her toiletries and was fishing for her scented soap when she discovered that it wasn't among her belongings.
"Hey Lina, I forgot my soap. I'm going to go back and get it. Did you forget anything?"
"Nope," said sorceress responded "I've got everything."
"Okay, I'll be back soon!" And with that the black haired girl ran off.
Lina hummed lightly as she fished out her own soap and towel. It hadn't been more too long since her last bath but Lina always did enjoy an open air bath. After retrieving her bathing beauty products she stood to undress herself.
The girl was in the process of removing her mantle when she heard a rustling coming from just across the river. Her movements stilled as she strained her sharp ears. More rustling occurred. Whatever that was coming was headed straight towards her.
Lina steeled her nerves against the oncoming (and hopefully useful) intruder. Her hopes were rooting for a bandit to pop his homely face between the bushes. That would be the icing on the cake at the moment. A small, very small, and irrational portion of her brain wondered if it was possibly Gourry who was tromping in the forest beyond. A small blush appeared on her face as her brain instantly shut down that train of thought. If it was indeed Gourry in the woods come to peep on her beautiful and young and innocent body she'd tear him a new one.
The movements got louder and closer and Lina felt her muscles tense in anticipation. Then, suddenly, a head did pop out of the bush. It had pink hair.
The dragon spookers first thought was, Not Gourry. Then she quickly raised a hand, snapped, and shouted.
"MEGA BRAND!"
The area where the head appeared instantly blew up.
~0~
Natsu had just wanted to get some water. He was just following his nose when he saw a bright flash and the scent of fire flooded his senses. His stomach almost instantly growled. The direction was a bit farther north but if it meant the possibility of getting some food it was worth it.
So the dragon slayer changed his course. He knew Lucy wouldn't mind too much, she was practically dead to the world by the time he left. It was about a minute after Natsu changed directions when he noticed a man resting on a tree branch above him.
"Um, excuse me?" Natsu called.
The man looked down at him; Natsu decided he had a creepy smile on his face.
"Yes?"
"Were you the one with the fire?"
"No, that wasn't me."
"Oh."
…
"You have purple hair."
"Yes, I do. You have pink hair."
….
"Are you apart of the group that goes around blowing up restaurants?"
"Not really."
Natsu tilted his head to the side, "what do you mean 'not really'?"
"Just that," the man smiled. "Though one of the people you want is over there."
"And how do you know that?"
The Mazoku's smile grew wider. "That's a secret," he said and then he vanished.
Natsu blinked in surprise, who had the magic to disappear like that? Maybe he was like one of Lucy's key-thingies, like Loke.
Deciding that it was pointless to stand there any longer Natsu continued his trek. His thoughts meandered a bit as he thought of all the things he could do if he was able to disappear like that. All the tricks and cool new fighting moves he would be able to come up with. I could definitely freak Lucy and Gray out, he thought with a small smirk.
He soon came upon a tall hedge. The scent in the air was permeated by the perfume of water with lingering wisps of smoke. He poked his head though the bush to see if there was truly a river on the other side.
He saw a red headed girl then a bright flash. The next thing Natsu knew, he was feeling himself being blown up. It was then as his body was propelled into the night sky that he remembered someone told him to be careful of red heads.
So, I'm sorry that this isn't a funny chapter. It doesn't feel very funny to me. But I suppose that's just because it's a plot progressing chapter. Did I scare you peps? I bet you thought I was going to do a strip tease or inappropriate scene didn't you? Too bad :P I don't write that stuff yet. Besides, this story won't have anything too bad in it. So reviews plz! I love them.