HELLO EVERYBODY! :D Oh gosh, please forgive me for not updating this for a whole entire week! I was supposed to update it daily... :( ANYWAYS, I will not continue to blabber so that all of you readers can get reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.
"Lucy got kidnapped!" Ashley barged into Lucy's room, where Natsu and Fireball were waiting for the Lucys' returns.
"What?!" Both Natsus jumped up from the floor.
"She was on a little hill just outside of town. I saw someone cast a sleep spell on her and drag her away. I ran as fast as I could, but when I got there, everyone was gone. Then I ran here to tell you guys." Ashley was still panting.
"Oh no…" Fireball said sadly while adjusting the goggles on his head.
"I knew I should've chased after her when she ran out of the guild." Natsu slammed his fist on the wall, causing it to shake.
"Natsu, calm down." Fireball said with a worried look on his face. "You don't want Lucy to come home to a hole in the wall, do you?" Natsu turned his head slowly to look at Fireball and lifted his fist off the wall.
"Natsu, are there any stores that sell weapons that Fireball and I can use?" Ashley asked as she walked near the two boys.
Natsu looked up in thought. "I think there's one place that just might have something you two can use and it's probably still open too!" He grinned at the two people from Edolas before he grabbed both of them by their collars and dragged them onto the streets.
"Natsu! Let me go at this instant or I will use a torture technique on you!" Ashley yelled while she flailed around. 'Man, this guy's grip is strong.' She thought. Natsu quickly let go of Ashley and she fell onto her back. "HEY!"
Natsu grinned at her before he continued walking and dragging Fireball.
"Natsu, if you don't mind, I can walk by myself." Fireball said quietly and then he added quickly, "But don't let me fa-" Natsu let go of Fireball and let him drop onto his back too. "OW."
"Oops." Natsu looked at Fireball and gave him a grin as well. Ashley and Fireball got up from the ground and walked behind Natsu.
"Hey, Fireball?" Ashley kept her stern face on as she talked.
"Y-yeah?" Fireball stuttered, afraid that she was going to introduce him to a new torture technique.
"What do you think of Earthland?" Ashley was speaking in a whisper now with her hands in her pockets.
"It's alright." Fire replied. An image of Earthland Lucy flashed through his mind and he turned a light shade of pink. "It's pretty fun."
Did he just blush? Ashley thought. "What are you thinking?" She asked as she leaned towards Fireball menacingly.
"U-um…" Fireball backed away slightly. "I was just thinking about how nice the people here are."
Ashley drew back instantly. He's definitely talking about the other Lucy. She and Natsu are the only people we really got to know here. Ashley felt accomplished for figuring it out, but for some reason, she felt her chest ache a little. Not knowing why it was hurting, she decided to move on to a different topic. "Do you miss home?"
"Yeah, do you?" Fireball looked at Ashley. He thought it was getting easier to talk to her, especially since she hasn't been very mean since they reunited with Natsu and Lucy.
"Of course." Ashley said simply.
"This is still pretty nice though. Especially because I'm not alone, I've got you!" Fireball said.
Ashley turned to meet Fireball's gaze. He was staring at her with a grin that she rarely ever saw on him. She quickly turned away with pink on her cheeks. What is this feeling?
"Oi, guys, we're here!" Natsu exclaimed.
Fireball and Ashley turned to the sound of Natsu's voice and saw him standing in front of an entrance to a fair.
"Natsu, you idiot! I thought we were going to get weapons!" Ashley shouted and whacked Natsu's head with her hand.
"With those fists you shouldn't need to get any more weapons." Natsu muttered to himself as he rubbed his head.
"What did you say?" Ashley cracked her knuckles as a dark aura surrounded her.
"Nothing!" Natsu squeaked.
While Natsu and Ashley were fighting, Fireball walked into the fair. He understood why Natsu brought them there. At the fair, there were tons of stands that sold items, so there had to be at least one that sold some weapons.
As he walked through the stalls, he saw a game stand that had a keychain with a little figure that looked like Plue, Lucy's Canis Minor. He had seen the celestial spirit once when Lucy was showing him and Ashley around town.
The owner of the game stand saw Fireball's staring at the keychain. "Hey you, do you want to play? It's 200 jewel per try." The game stand owner pointed a finger at Fireball.
Fireball had a surprised look on his face from the owner's outburst. He stuck his hand in his pocket to see if he brought any of the money that Natsu and Lucy gave him. He searched around for a moment before he finally grabbed 200 jewel. He was about to pull it out when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Fireball!" A loud Natsu appeared beside Fireball and took his hand off his shoulder. "Ashley and I were looking everywhere for you!" Natsu's gaze seemed to turn to the same keychain Fireball was looking at before and he walked towards it. "Whoa! The little figure on it looks just like Plue! Lucy would love this!"
Suddenly, the game stall owner stood in between Natsu and the keychain and held out his hand. "If you want it, then pay 200 jewel and win the game, then you get a prize."
Natsu grinned and pulled out 200 jewel to hand to the owner. "Alright."
Ashley watched as the owner explained the game while Natsu looked incredibly bored and occasionally nodded. She grinned at the sight before she turned to Fireball and saw a hurt yet baffled expression on his face. "Is something wrong?"
Fireball shook his head. He had wanted to get the keychain for Lucy, but it seemed like Natsu was going to instead.
Ashley looked at Fireball worriedly. "Here, let's go have some of our own fun while Natsu's getting that keychain." She smiled a little devilishly before taking Fireball's hand and pulling him after her.
"W-where are we going?" Fireball asked. It had been five minutes, but Ashley was still leading him around the fair. He wouldn't have minded really, but he just felt a little numb after what Natsu did.
Ashley stopped moving and Fireball almost crashed into her, but instead, he stumbled past her and fell.
"Want me to win you something?" Ashley asked.
He looked up to see Ashley grinning at him. Then he moved his gaze to what she was standing beside. It was a game where it was a test of strength. You would have to use a hammer to hit a block and depending on how much power you used, a beam would shoot up from a small opening of the block. If you hit the block hard enough, the beam would hit a giant bell 8 metres high up in the air. Spectators surrounded the game to watch the players.
"Well?" Ashley asked, tapping her foot with impatience.
"O-okay?" Fireball got up and shrugged. It wasn't like Ashley to do anything like that for him, so he wasn't sure whether she was joking or not.
Ashley turned to the owner of the game and paid him the amount of jewel to play the game. She walked towards the hammer lying next to the block that she would have to hit. The spectators started to snicker at Ashley.
"How is a girl going to win such a manly game?" Someone said.
"She doesn't look very strong at all." Another said.
"This is going to be funny to watch." Somebody else said.
Ashley ignored everyone and took the hammer in her hands. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She swung the hammer backwards and opened her eyes. Quickly, she took a step forward and brought back the hammer with incredible speed. Most of the spectators' eyes couldn't even catch up to her movements. The hammer collided with the block and made a deafening noise. The beam shot out of the block instantly and everyone watched as it rose. Ding! It hit the bell.
The spectators had looks of shock and amazement before they started to cheer. Ashley, however, was not interested in their cheers. She wiped a drop of sweat of her forehead and looked over to where Fireball was standing previously, but he was gone. Ashley felt a surge of disappointment and anger. The game owner went up to Ashley and handed her a prize: an enchanted whip. Ashley thanked the man before she ran from the cheering spectators to look for her partner.
Fireball didn't mean to leave Ashley. He didn't even realize he left the game that Ashley was at until he snapped out of his daze. He had subconsciously walked over to the game where the Plue keychain was. Natsu was still there. Apparently, he was really bad at games that require a high level of intelligence to win. As a result, Fireball had played for Natsu and ended up winning the keychain. He wanted to keep it so he could give it to Lucy, but he had played for Natsu, so Natsu was the one who would keep the keychain.
However, before he left to find Ashley, he saw another prize that caught his eye. He paid to play the game another time and had won again. For his prize, he chose a golden sword that came with a sheath, so that he would have a weapon to use to save Lucy. Lucy! He had almost forgotten that she was in trouble.
"Natsu!" Fireball said frantically as he ran after his counterpart, who was on his way to find Ashley.
"Eh?" Natsu turned around.
"Natsu, we have to stop playing around! Lucy's still in trouble!" Fireball talked quickly. "We've already spent three hours here!"
Natsu's eyes widened. "WHA?! WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR THEN? WE GOT TO FIND ASHLEY AND SAVE LUCY."
As if on cue, a very unhappy Ashley came running into the two pink-haired boys' view. "NATSU!" She was yelling angrily.
Both Natsus became very afraid. "Who's she talking about?!" Natsu Dragneel shouted.
As an answer to Natsu's question, Ashley came charging towards them and connected her fist with Fireball's face.
AND THAT IS THE END TO CHAPTER EIGHT. I HOPE ALL OF YOU READERS ENJOYED IT. I don't know when I'll be updating again because I have a lot of garbage I need to do, but I will update as frequently as I can. Remember to review because I love to know what all of you are thinking about the story so far! Oh and thanks to all those who have reviewed already! It keeps me motivated to keep writing! xD