Sorry for the long wait! I had a bunch of stuff... ugh, too complicated to get into. You don't wanna hear me rant.
So anyway, I focused more on Fairy Tail in this one. It's a bit short, but that's because I'm gonna be putting a lot of action into Chapter 3. I kind of feel like all of them are a bit OOC. I've been trying to stay as true to their character as possible, but especially because I made Happy a human, it's a bit weird.
Still, I hope you enjoy the little bit of Jerza (though there's not much so far since I'm not exactly focusing on Jerza in this fanfiction)and the relationship between Natsu and Happy. I made Happy a little kid cause of a picture of him as a human and I thought that was just adorable.
Okay, I think that's about it. Please review and I'll hopefully have the next chapter up soon!
Chapter 2
Though the daytime was achingly hot, the nighttime was close to freezing. However, the inhabitants of Fiore were long used to the climate and under the blue star-studded sky were a small group of people standing by a giant black square.
"Why am I assigned to water duty?" one of them grumbled, pacing restlessly as he waited for the five trucks to finish loading. "It's boring!"
"Shut up," a tall woman said, supervising the loading of the crates with a sharp eye. "Whatever Gildarts gives us, we do it and we don't argue about it."
"Yeah but I'd rather do border patrol or go to the Market!" he continued, scuffing his foot against the ground and sending up puffs of dust. "Or hey, we can just sleep, you know!"
A boy stood from where he was sitting against one of the trucks. "Shut up, Dragon Breath. You've been talking nonstop for an hour." He yawned widely. "Erza, how much longer until they'll be finished?"
"Another fifteen minutes for our convoy and then we'll be on our way. Elfman! How much longer for yours?"
"22 minutes!"
"Faster! We've got a huge amount of ground to cover and this is only our guild's area! The Lamia Scale group should be here in an hour and I want us to be gone by then!"
"Men! You heard Erza! Hurry up!"
The people loading the crates, terrified of the woman's wrath, worked faster. Their brows glistened with fear sweat despite the chilly air.
The eastern horizon was turning pale orange and pink when the last of the men finished. Four of the trucks roared off immediately, but the last one stayed. Erza climbed to the top of one of the trucks and stared out over the horizon where a cloud of dust was steadily growing larger. 10 pinpricks of light were bouncing over the ground, shining ahead of black truck-shaped shadows.
"That's Lyon's group," Gray said, seeing the lights as well. "We should go now."
Erza nodded. "Get in, Natsu."
The boy and Gray got into the back with Erza while the other two men who stayed behind climbed into the cab of the truck. The three settled themselves among the crates and the truck roared away after the well's guards gave them the all-clear.
"S-S-Stop-p-p…" Natsu stuttered as he curled up in a space between the crates, trying hard not to vomit.
"Didn't Wendy give you the motion sickness patches?" Erza asked, looking down at him while keeping one eye on their surroundings.
"N-No… sh-sh-shipm-ments," he groaned. "T-T-Two m-more weeks…" His arms curled around his flamethrower, cradling it like it was a teddy bear. Or a life preserver.
Gray sighed and rolled his eyes. "Idiot, you should've just told Gildarts. He would've assigned you to kitchen duty or something."
"Shut u-up…" The truck bumped over a loose stone and Natsu retched, his face turning a sick purplish-blue color and his cheeks puffing up to thrice their size. "Icy Bastard…"
"Not towards me!" Gray yelped, pushing him away.
"Stop arguing," Erza snapped and they cringed.
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
In five minutes, the first camp came into sight. No more than a collection of 50 tents, the occupants are villagers who live under the protection of the Magnolia Alliance. They are mostly men and women and children too old or too young or too sick to fight for the Alliance's behalf. Many were former guild members themselves.
"Erza!" a man with a twisted leg hobbled towards them. He was young with sandy hair and bright blue eyes. A woman walked next to him, keeping a careful eye on his movements.
Erza nodded towards them as she hopped down from the truck. "Good morning, Akira and Megumi. Is everything alright?" She turned around for a few seconds to motion to Natsu, Gray, and the other two men to start unloading several of the crates.
"Not bad, but two of the children got sick last night. Malaria, I think. We were wondering if you have any medicine."
"Not this time. Celestial Zodiacs bought most of it yesterday and it'll be another week before the merchants come back again. I'll tell Wendy and Porlyusica though and someone will come to take a look soon."
Akira nodded with relief. "That's good."
"Celestial Zodiacs?" Megumi spoke up for the first time. "That's the guild led by the daughter of Layla Heartfilia, right?"
Akira nodded. "Yeah. Rumor has it she's really young, like 19 or something."
"18, actually," Erza said with a small smile. "It has been only 5 years since the Phantom Lord attack on Heartfilia Territory."
"What was her name again?" Akira tilted his head. "Started with an 'L' too… Lily, Leah Lynn, Luna—"
"Lucy," Erza supplied helpfully. She turned as Gray called her name. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. We have three more camps to visit."
Akira waved his arm in a dismissive manner. "It's alright. We do get to see you twice a week or so and I know how things work. Oi! Get away from those crates!" he yelled to a group of young boys. "Sorry, Erza, duty calls. I'll see you soon though." He grinned at the tall redhead and grasped Megumi's hand as he walked towards the small pile of crates now surrounded by a crowd of thirsty people.
Erza smiled as she watched her friend and former guildmate walk away before she climbed back into the truck and sat comfortably on a crate.
"What were you talking about?" Gray asked. "Looked pretty serious."
"Not really," she said calmly. "We were discussing Celestial Zodiacs and Lucy Heartfilia."
"Lucy Heartfilia?" Natsu echoed. "Who's that?"
"The leader of Celestial Zodiacs, idiot," Gray said. "She runs Heartfilia Territory."
"Oh so she's like Gramps!" Natsu said, brightening. "Is she nice?"
"I don't know, I've never met her before," Gray said, shrugging.
"I've seen her once, when her mother was still alive. They briefly visited Master for something. That was 7 years ago," Erza said musingly. "We never talked, but I remember she looked a lot like Layla."
"She's probably really nice," Natsu said, grinning. His excitement was lost as he realized the truck was moving and he immediately slumped over, moaning and crying.
Gray shrugged, already losing interest in the conversation. He stared moodily over the wasteland as they drove over the dry dust, getting the golden yellow powder on their clothes and hair. Erza sat keeping an eye over the bumping crates so that none fell out of the truck.
The next two trips were as uneventful as ever until they pass close by Crime Sorcière area. A dust cloud was tumbling towards them, a rust-red truck at its head. Natsu and Gray shakily stood as they drew closer, readying their weapons in case of an attack, but it was only Jellal Fernandes, the leader of the 70-man guild, Crime Sorcière.
"Jellal," Erza said with surprise as they stop next to each other. "What are you doing in Fairy Tail area?"
"Erza," the blue-haired man said, giving her a gentle smile. "We need some supplies so I'm just driving to the Market."
"Alone?" Her mouth tightened with disapproval.
"Nothing will happen and I'm prepared for a skirmish." He nods his head at the black assault rifle resting on his dashboard.
Erza hesitated for a brief second. "I'll come with you."
Jellal looked shocked. "Are you sure? I mean, if you want to…" He blushed lightly.
She looked at Natsu and Gray. "I'm sure you can get back to the guild without me."
Gray nods. "We'll be fine." He raises a hand in greeting to Jellal. "Hey, man."
"Make sure you bring Erza back, okay?" Natsu demands, pointing at Jellal with narrowed eyes.
"She can take care of herself," Gray said, rolling his eyes as Erza climbs gracefully out of the truck, one hand on her sword to keep it from falling out. "She's Erza."
"Tell Gildarts and the Master where I've gone," Erza commands as she climbs into Jellal's truck. "I'll be back at sundown."
"Will do." They screw their eyes shut and cough as Jellal's truck started and left and waited till the dust settled before Gray banged on the side of the cab. "Let's go home."
The Fairy Tail camp was as busy as ever. With over 400 members, it was the largest guild in Magnolia Territory and the second largest guild in Fiore with Sabertooth topping them with 600 members. The Fairy Tail people right now were all in the midst of doing their assignments for the day like usual until a little after lunchtime when there was almost nothing to do. With no guild waging war on another, this period of peace sometimes made some especially bored guild members wish for a small skirmish or some sort but it was usually half-hearted since the heat sapped away energy as well as moisture and besides, no one really wants a fight.
Well, except for the occasional tussle. Natsu, in particular, is always up for one of those. Preferably with Gray or Gajeel, though.
"Where's Erza?" Mirajane asked, noticing Gray and Natsu hop out of the truck.
"She's with Jellal. We ran into him on our way back." Gray's eyes suddenly widened and he made as if to clamp a hand over his mouth. They looked fearfully at Mira, whose eyes were suddenly shining with a suspicious light.
"Good job, Underwear Princess," Natsu snickered. He hefted his flamethrower and strolled away from Mira, who was now pelting Gray with questions in a rather high-pitched voice.
"Natsu!" A young boy with blue hair ran towards him, grinning.
"Hey, Haps!" Natsu bent down, grabbed him around the waist, and slung him over his shoulder. Happy shifted, getting more comfortable. "What've you been up to?"
"Nothing, really. But Carla still won't go out with me," he said pouting. "I don't know why."
"Aw, you'll get there one day." Natsu dodged a group of people, walking down a small lane between two large tents. He then made a left and several twists and turns until he reached a large dull red tent between a dark blue tent and a black tent. The two other tents belong to Gray and Gajeel, though Gajeel almost never sleeps in his tent since he's at his workshop most of the time. Instead, his roommate Pantherlily occupies it most of the time.
Happy squirmed, indicating he want to be let down and Natsu bent his knees so the boy could clamber off his shoulders and run off into the tent.
The tent was furnished simply with two cots, two foldable stools, a foldable table, and two large crates to hold personal belongings, of which Natsu and Happy have little of besides clothes, weapons, and small articles of memorabilia. The whole area was messy and disorganized with the cots unmade and clothes and various items covering almost every available surface. The only things kept neat in the tent were the rifles and spare flamethrower lined up against one side of the tent. Natsu usually kept his cylinders of flammable liquid and gas in a crate against one corner of the tent and above that, the two usually kept a small box of ammunition for their pistols and rifles.
Natsu set down his flamethrower and checked to make sure there were no hazards before he set down the rest of his equipment and sprawled over his cot with a long sigh. "I hate transportation."
Happy comfortably sat down next to him. "That's what you always say. Want me to check if there're any leftover patches?"
"Nah, 's alright." Natsu yawned widely. "I'm bored."
"Take a nap. We do that everyday already."
"Sure." He kicked off his boots and adjusted himself, closing his eyes. He felt Happy lie down next to him and shifted over to make room. The two have taken hundreds of naps like this and it was almost second nature for someone to find the two sprawled against each other, fast asleep.
"Lisanna was looking for you earlier," Happy said sleepily.
"Why?" One of Natsu's eyes half-opened and peered at the blue-haired boy.
"Don't know. She just asked where you were." He shifted, throwing his leg over Natsu's. "I said you were on water duty and she just left."
"Oh." Natsu closed his eye. "Lisanna's been a bit weird recently."
Happy let out a snort. "Natsu, she's been acting a bit weird for months. Or weeks. I think. I didn't pay attention. Carla told me, actually."
"Really?" Natsu yawned again. "Maybe she'll feel better later."
"Maybe she needs fish," Happy said.
"We don't have fish. We've only had fish once in the Market, remember?"
"Yeah. I wish we can have fish more."
"Uh huh. When it rains again, I'll get you the biggest fish we can find, okay?"
"Really?" Happy popped up excitedly.
"Mhm," Natsu muttered, half-asleep. "Sleep now, fish later."
Satisfied, Happy lied back down as Natsu's snores began to fill the air.