Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long to write. I sort of lost interest in writing for a little while, and when I finally felt like writing again, my old laptop broke down. Luckily, I have a new one now, and it's faster than the old one, so there might be faster updates in the future. :)

"I wish we could've taken the train all the way to the town," Alzack sighed.

"Haha – no," Gajeel snapped. "That train is evil."

"But we could be there by now," Bisca said.

"They're right, Gajeel," Levy added. "We could've been there by six P.M, latest. But it's almost midnight now."

"Anyone just conveniently happen to bring a tent?" Gajeel asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Guess we're sleeping on the ground, then."

"Y'know, we could've stopped at one of the shops back in that town and bought a tent," Alzack pointed out.

"None of us thought we would be walking for this long," Levy answered.

"…So, do we have anything we could use instead of a tent?" Bisca asked.

"Wait a minute." Levy dropped the small backpack she had been carrying, opening it and starting to dig through the contents. "I think I might have some blankets we could set up like a tent, but we'd need some nails. And some sticks. Alzack, Bisca, could you two go find me some tree branches or something? Thanks. Gajeel, about the nails…"

Gajeel's hands flew protectively to his pockets. "You're not having 'em."

"We need them."

"They're the only food I brought!"

"I don't need that many. Only… I don't know… six? You can do as you please with the rest of them."

"…Fine."

"Thank you."

Half an hour later, the four of them stood back to admire their handiwork.

"Levy," Bisca said, patting the shorter girl on the head, "you are a genius."

"What a waste of nails…" Gajeel grumbled.

"At least we have a place to sleep," Alzack told him.

"But it's not a very big tent…" Levy said sheepishly.

"Don't worry, we can all fit if we squish together a little," Bisca smiled.

Gradually, all four of them started to go red in the face as they realized the implications of that.

"Can we make the tent bigger?" Alzack asked, breaking the silence.

"We don't have any more blankets," Gajeel answered.

"It's just one night," Levy managed. "And… and it's n-not as if we're…"

"Yeah." Bisca nodded. "Let's just get some sleep, okay?"

None of them actually got more than a few hours' sleep that night. It was difficult, lying there with nothing but a few blankets between them and the cold ground, not to mention the awkwardness of being sandwiched between two people (for Alzack and Bisca, anyway – Gajeel was on the far left of the tent and Levy on the far right, but they were still between one person and the wall). So in the morning, all of them were still tired and aching from yesterday's trek.

Levy groaned. "Bisca, can you move? I need to get out."

There were some shifting noises from behind the bluenette. She became aware that the other woman was pressed quite closely against her back. "Nope," Bisca answered. "Can't move. I'm stuck between you and Al."

"Huh…?" Alzack yawned. "What was that? Did someone say my name?"

"I'm stuck between you and Levy," Bisca explained. "Could you get out?"

Alzack tried to move, only to find that Gajeel's arm was wrapped around him. "Ugh, Gajeel's holding me." He tried to pull away.

"Oi. Get back here, Lily." Gajeel grumbled in his sleep, pulling Alzack back toward him.

"Sorry. I can't move either," Alzack whispered.

"You'll have to wake Gajeel up," said Levy.

"Shhhhh!" Bisca suddenly hissed.

There was a short pause. "What?" Alzack and Levy asked in unison.

"I said shhhhh! As in shut up! I heard something."

All three of them were completely silent for a few moments. Slight rustling noises could be heard in the forest behind their makeshift tent, like footsteps, with quiet voices which seemed like they were coming closer to them.

"The next town should be another… six hours or so away by now."

There was a groan. "I'm sick of walking."

"We've only been up for an hour, Steve."

"Yes, and we walked for another full hour yesterday. And all because the stupid vehicle was too small to fit us as well as everyone else!"

"Calm down. We'll rest when we reach the next town."

"What's the point of this mission, anyway?"
"We're supposed to be searching every town in the area for… you know what we're looking for."

"But why is it necessary to trap everyone inside?"

"One of the town's residents may possess the device we're searching for. It's important to thoroughly search every household as well as the rest of the town."

As the voices faded into the distance, Alzack turned his head slightly toward Levy. "Were they the ones who…?"

"Judging by what they were saying, I think so," Levy whispered.

"So they're looking for something," Bisca observed. "And that town isn't the only one they plan on searching…"

"By the sounds of it, we'll have to walk two more hours to get to our destination," Alzack said. "We need to get out of this tent."

"But – wait a minute!" Levy gasped as an idea suddenly struck her. She started trying to pull one of the blankets forming the tent away from the nails that fastened it to the ground. That was when one of the tree branches snapped, causing the entire structure to collapse.

Three startled yelps were heard from beneath the heap of blankets, along with a sudden snort of surprise as Gajeel woke up.

"…You had one job, Levy," Bisca said. "One job."

"You said I was a genius yesterday!"

A few hours later, they finally reached the town. It seemed that the black dome surrounding the town was creating a strong wind which almost knocked them over backwards. Well, it wasn't really a wind – more like a force.

Levy frowned. "I've never seen this type of magic before."

"Whatever the case, we have to find a way in," Alzack said.

"Obviously, we can't just walk straight in," Bisca added, pointing to the dome.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Gajeel answered.

"None of us can fly, so we can't go into it from the top," Levy continued.

"Captain Obvious strikes again."

"Shut up, Gajeel," Alzack snapped.

Gajeel turned and stared at him. "What?"

"I said shut up. Unless you have something useful to say, which, by the sound of it, you don't." Alzack glared at him.

The dragon slayer blinked in confusion. It always perplexed him how, despite the obvious difference in strength – both physical and magic power – the gunslinger would blatantly sass him. If he kept talking like that to people who were so much more powerful than him, he would probably end up in hospital. Or possibly a graveyard.

"I guess that only leaves one option," Levy sighed. "Underground."

"Unless we find an entrance in the side of the dome somewhere," Bisca said hopefully.

Levy looked up at her. "Do you really want to walk all the way around this dome to look for an entrance? Even with all four of us, it could take hours, and we're not guaranteed to find anything."

Bisca sighed in disappointment. "I guess you're right…" Both she and Alzack yelped as Gajeel suddenly grabbed each of them under one arm.

"Get on my back, Shrimp," the dragon slayer said to Levy.

The bluenette glared at him for calling her "Shrimp", but climbed onto his back anyway. "What are you going to do?"

"Go underground. Duh."