Alright. I put a bit more time into this. So hopefully if you thought the last chapter didn't flow too well, then this will hopefully go better. Mostly because I had a friend do a read through it for me. Anyways, this chapter is kind of dialogue heavy. So hopefully you guys don't mind. Hope you enjoy the chapter

Reference:

Talking - "Quotations"

Thinking - 'Contractions'

Flashback - Italics

Spells, Important people or objects - Bold

A Return Worth Waiting For

Chapter 10

'Should I do it? I no longer feel this is where I belong. These people don't have any form of honor or sense of fairness. Ganging up on 1 person with a small army just for some ransom money? Pathetic…But, he is my enemy by definition. Who's to say he won't beat me up and try to turn me into the authorities when he's finished?' These thoughts haunted the 'Low Voiced Male'. By all rights, their guild was an 'official' guild, but recent events could cause them to lose that privilege and become a dark guild. These thoughts conflicted the man who was stuck guarding the dragon slayer as a form of 'punishment'. How did he get stuck doing this? He refused to be a part of the ambush that resulted in the capture of the Salamander.

Scavenger's Hide. That was the name of his guild. It did not fit what they did, let alone was it even a good name. 'I hate the name of this guild. A better one would be something like….well, I don't know what it would be called.' His resolved solidified, he decided his decision: 'Free Natsu Dragneel'. With his decision set, he turned back to the room where the rose haired mage was being suspended by magic restricting chains attached at the wrist. 'Here goes nothing.'

Back to….?

Running. Lots of running. Why? Who wouldn't when a good friend or teammate was being held captive? A three man team was running at quite steady pace. Why not take the train? Was it due to the wait time? No available trips? Anger overtaking reason? No one knows. The three man team comprised of S-Class Erza Scarlet and two S-Class candidates, Gray Fullbuster, and Elfman Strauss. Their mission? Bring Natsu home safely. How far away were they still? Give or take an hour. Right now it was calm, but it was about to become hectic. Their plan? Search and Destroy. Search for Natsu and destroy the guild's base of operations as compensation for taking a member of their guild captive.

Gray briefly picked up his pace so as to catch up with Erza who was in the league. "Erza! How exactly do you want us to do this?!" He asked loudly.

Erza didn't bother even looking back at the raven haired mage, she simply stated "I don't so much care how we do it, just so long as he can get home." With that, she simply refused to talk anymore to put more focus into reaching the location of Natsu's disappearance.

Within an hour the group ended up at the forest in which Natsu disappeared. Seeing the multiple burn marks and bodies all making a steady line deeper into the forest.

"Looks like he was trying to flee but had to fight to do so." Gray observed.

"Wow, what a man! Taking down all these people!" Elfman roared. Earning a small glare from Erza for talking about being a man.

"Elfman, stop talking about manliness! At least until we can locate and rescue Natsu. Now, as we can tell, it was not a powerful enemy that took Natsu down. That much is clear. What is likely is that he was overwhelmed by sheer numbers alone. Whether that means he was too exhausted to fight back or he was piled upon by mass numbers and could not resist is not of concern at this point." Erza stated, pausing for a brief moment, but continued, "Alright, look for signs to which may point where he was taken."

Gray and Elfman looked around as Erza looked for anyone who may be alive, however unlikely it may be. Perhaps she would have luck as to find someone who was simply rendered unconscious for an extended time. However, no such luck was given to her, she was simply lost as to where to find the Salamander. Gray on the other hand, had better luck. He found blood. Dried blood, but still blood. Was this a hint to where he went? No. Probably not.

"Any luck yet Elfman? Gray?" Erza asked, clearly hiding desperation and concern behind the stoic expression on her face.

"Nothing here. How unmanly of me." Elfman lamented hanging his head down low.

"Nothing much here. Found a small blood trail; though I doubt it really points anywhere." Gray answered.

Erza perked up slightly because of this. "Blood? Show me!" She basically yelled at a possible chance to find the rose haired dragon slayer.

Gray motioned for Erza to follow him a small ways, beginning at the end of the bodies and burnt trees. Gray was right. There was indeed a small trail of blood, barely noticeable since it's dried and starting to crumble away.

"Good. This may lead us to him." Erza said preparing to follow the trail.

"Wait! How do we know this will lead us to where Natsu is being held? It could simply being an enemy's blood!" Gray complained, not because he didn't care about Natsu, but because this could simply be a wild goose chase.

"That's a fair point. But look around, at the damage done, there are burn marks everyone, the bodies have burns everywhere, yet no blood almost anywhere except here. Natsu was clearly using his Fire Dragon Slaying magic the whole time." Erza explained, letting it sink into Gray.

Elfman spoke up, "Ok. What point are you trying to make Erza?" slightly surprising Erza that he didn't add something about being a man.

"Well. Assuming he used his magic the whole time, which I'm confident he would seeing at the situation he was placed in, the fire from his blows would cauterize any wounds that would be given to his opponents. Blood would only be drawn after the wounds start to heal over and the 'wounded' would break the scab. The other possibility would be the opponent was punched in the face area such as the lip or nose. Both these possibility while they could have happened, would not have drawn this much blood let along for this long. This kind of blood would come from a more serious wound. Seeing as there's no bodies following this trail could mean that A, They dragged off Natsu as he was wounded and beaten, which further helps my theory that this is not the one of the enemies' comrades they took back. Natsu would have normally closed his wounds with his own fire unless he was unable to do so. Option B is that the ambushers carried, or dragged, their companion, or companions, back to their base. Seeing as they simply left the rest of their wounded/dead here, I see the first possibility more likely." Erza expertly analyzed, leaving the other two in awe. If the situation were not serious, Erza would most likely have laughed at their reactions. However, time was of the essence. Not waiting any longer for a reaction, Erza simply walked off into the forest following the trail, with a Gray and Elfman to start following, still trying to get over how Erza expertly analyzed just a trail of blood.

Following along the 'trail' for a time, Erza, as well as Gray and Elfman, noticed that the trail was getting smaller and smaller until it simply…ended.

"Great. It was a nice theory Erza, but what now?" Gray asked, quite annoyed. Not at Erza, but at the fact they no longer have a trail to go off of.

"Well. I'd say that while the trail has ended, there are still no bodies lying nearby. Meaning that the person they were bring back was of importance whether alive or dead. Dead being that their comrade was a influential person to their group and wanted to give proper burial or alive being that they noticed the wound on their comrade or Natsu and saw that at the rate they were heading, said person, or Natsu, would die of blood-loss before arriving, therefore sealing the wound to slow blood flow to a minimum or stop it completely. This is especially possible given that the message said Natsu is alive and our guild is particularly protective of each other. This is further supported by the numbers that faced Natsu, meaning that no one in particular in this group of people is strong, so they kept him alive, lest they invoke our wrath." Erza explained once again. Also once again, amazing Gray and Elfman. She was not like this a year ago.

"My solution, or rather, our best bet, is to follow the direction in which the blood trail led, and hope it takes us remotely close to their location. The trail was mostly a straight line so continuing on straight from where it ends is a good idea. Come on! We have to make haste." Erza finished starting to run off, leaving the S-Class candidates to themselves.

"What did she do during her one-year trip?" Gray asked rather bemused.

"As a man, I have no idea." Elfman answered. With that the two soon started to run after the scarlet haired woman.

With Natsu

Natsu was idly looking at the floor ahead of him. Being suspended by chains connected to his wrist left him with little to do to pass the time. He was wondering if his guild was out looking for him. They were notoriously protective of their 'family' and vengeful if any of them came to harm. It would probably apply to him as well as he was a big part of the family despite each and every one of the members, no matter how anonymous or new, were equally important to their 'family'. Maybe it was because he was someone many looked up to, such as Macao's son Romeo.

These thoughts, were what passed his time. How much time has passed? He didn't know; let alone know how long he has been held. But this time, he was broken from this thought when he heard a steel door open and shut followed by some heavier sounding footsteps. He continued to hear these footsteps until he saw a pair of black boots in his vision. He looked up, taking in the appearance of the person who came to 'visit' him. Black boots, dark gray pants, dark purple t-shirt, tanned skin, a slightly more muscular build than himself, and a face; a face that lacked emotions, with a set of sharp staring eyes.

"I see you're back. Starting to miss me?" Natsu joked, despite his situation.

A small smirk appeared on the face features. Apparently his face could contain emotions, if only barely. "Ha, you wish. No. My coming here has another purpose."

"Hmm, you know, you never told me your name despite all the times you've visited." Natsu stated, rather curious as to what name his jailer had.

'The Low Voiced Male' said nothing, until saying, "My name, as of right now is not important." He then reached up with a key to Natsu's bindings and began unlocking them.

"What are you doing?" Natsu asked surprised.

"What do you think I'm doing?" The Low Voiced Male asked.

"Probably moving me to another cell or taking me to my death." Natsu assumed.

"No." was all the man said as he finished unshackling Natsu, letting the rose haired mage fall to the ground, waiting for him to get up. "I'm setting you free. Now, let me get you out of here and back to your guild."

That finishes this chapter. I do hope you guys like it. I have a small idea as to what I'll have happen next, Spoiler - Natsu and 'Low Voiced' Male will simply walk right out. I'll let you figure out how. On the subject of the 'Low Voiced Male', Anyone got suggestions for a name? Preferably a less common one. I really suck at naming characters. Anyways, if you like it, Leave a review/comment, perhaps favorite and follow the story. If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them off in the reviews or send me a Personal Message. I'll do my best to respond.