Team Go!
The team had to basically drag Erza away from the picnic ground to go on ahead with them. She was only persuaded by Lucy's insistence on the urgency needed to save the young boy listed on the request. Erza put away her dreams into the back of her mind for the time being while she pulled her heavy-laden cart down the cobbled road.
"Are we almost there yet, Lucy?" asked Happy, the blue cat. Natsu walked beside Lucy, now fully recovered and with Happy flying above his left bared shoulder. "Well, look's like we are almost there according to the map," Lucy replied while holding a small map of the town. "Let me see!" exclaimed Happy, and he flew behind her to take a look.
They were on the right track however. Minutes later, they walked upon the address listed on the request. The driveway was also made out of cobblestone. It turned off of the road up to a grass-covered hill where a decently sized house rested upon it. Lucy looked at the surroundings in short interest as the group slowly made their way up the hill. There were three lush trees in the front yard, and one of them had a wooden swing attached to one of its long thick branches. Not far from that swing was a birdbath that was situated closer to the house. Lucy smiled at her thought of Aquarius but then cringed when she remembered the constellation's temperance of birdbaths. Carla murmured from beside Wendy, "How quaint," for only her to hear, but of course Natsu heard too. Wendy nodded to Carla while she looked at the swing with a smile on her face lighting up. Natsu was quiet for once. Erza came up from behind them dragging her belongings up the hill willingly. She then parked her cart between the other two trees on the right side of the front yard in what looked like a small parking area and smiled in approval.
Upon hearing the racket made from Erza, a young woman with long dark brown hair, cleanly dressed, rushed out of the white front door with her mustached husband also cleanly dressed in tow. "Hello!" called Lucy, and she held up her right tattooed hand as she continued, "We are from Fairy Tail and are answering your request." "What happened here?" added Natsu innocently from beside Lucy. The mustached man glanced at Natsu while the woman spoke in a quavering voice, "Our son, Timothy, went out to the woods behind our house later last week." Tears threatened to well up in her eyes. Her husband put his hand on her back lightly to soothe her as she continued, "We also had a cat named Tiger; Actually, it was his." The woman breathed deep. Natsu nodded, and Wendy looked at the woman with an empathetic expression. Carla crossed her arms together from behind Wendy. She continued, "The cat ran away. Tim is so adamant that Tiger is to be part of the family that he ran after him, and he probably assumed it went into the woods." Her husband was silent all throughout this time, but then he added in a serious tone, "Please, find my boy. Even if he is alone…. Bring him back to us!" Natsu rubbed the side of his temple with his hand while Lucy, looking concerned, told the couple in a reassuring voice, "We will find Timothy. Don't worry. Leave it to us. Mr. and Mrs.-?" The woman bowed and said, "My name is Carla." Her husband did the same and said, "My name is Torin." Wendy spoke quietly, "She has the same name as you," to Carla who was now beside her. "I see that," replied Carla. The wife, Carla's eyes went wide as she looked upon the cat, Carla. Erza chose this awkward time to bow down slightly toward the couple and told them, "On our honor we will find your son." She then turned around and said to the Fairy Tail group in a rallying command, "Let's go!" The rest of them bowed slightly in turn and followed her towards the forest.
Natsu wore an amused expression, and sniffed the air around him when all of them were standing in the beginnings of the forest. It was densely populated with trees and undergrowth, but since it was the start of the fall season, some of the leaves were falling off while others were slowly changing color. "So, this boy really like cats it seems," Lucy uttered while they walked along. "Of course he does!" piped Happy from beside her. "We need to find Timothy promptly," said Carla, "He has been here in the wilderness for almost a full week now. Let us hope he is a strong young lad." Natsu kept sniffing at the air during their conversation, moving himself back and forth on the path ahead. "Have you found anything?" Wendy questioned. She was with him on the path and was doing her best also to find a scent but knew full well that Natsu's nose was the best at catching them. "I think so," he replied. "I am coming up on one of them." "Who?" all the girls asked at the same time. "Tiger," said Natsu in reply with a glint in his eyes. "Tiger?" parroted Lucy. "Let's continue on," urged Erza. Natsu ignored Lucy for the moment while he moved on at a faster pace and disappeared. The team ran after him, excluding Happy and Carla who had started to fly.
"Where did he get the cat's scent from?" wondered Lucy out loud as she ran as fast as she could to keep up. Wendy was close behind her and replied, "The scent was on the tree with the swing. Both of their scents were heavy there." Carla's face looked serious as she flew in front of the two girls with Happy being happy beside her. Erza was ahead of them all, following close behind Natsu.