Chapter two: A hundred years
Sup guys, I don't have anything to say, but enjoy.
Natsu and Lucy waltzed side by side. Now and then he nudged her and she lightly punched his shoulder. He would shine his enormous canines at her and she would blush faintly and then smile at his silliness. Gray and Erza could clearly see that they had a strong and developing relationship.
"How far is this village anyways? I'm hungry and I'm afraid that if I hang around Iceberg over here, I'm going to lose my appetite." Natsu pouted as he walked on.
"Stop complaining, Pyro. We're not far from the village now." Gray growled in irritation.
"Luuuuce~, Popsicle is being mean." Natsu coo'd as he tugged lightly on her skirt.
"Natsu they're allowing us to go with them to their village, knock it off." She stated firmly. She nudged him again and his smile returned. He nudged her back and the two continued to glance at each other.
"I don't care what you say Erza. I still don't trust that guy." Gray stated in irritation. "I mean we found him in an iceberg for damn sakes!" Gray growled.
"I know how you feel, Gray. The war has taken its toll on us all, but you can't be wary about everything. I mean they, or well he in this case doesn't look dangerous to you does he?" Erza asked as he pointed to Natsu who was currently rubbing Igneel's forehead.
"I suppose not." Lucy frowned at the mention of the word war. What war were they talking about? What were they missing out on? Sure war was busy brewing in the fire nation, but did really get so much worse now? How long were they in that iceberg?
"Uhm, Gray?" Lucy asked as Erza and Natsu took the lead now.
"Yeah?" He returned as he faced her. She fiddle with her fingers as nervousness overwhelmed her.
"When did your father exactly leave for war?" Lucy asked curiously. She needed to get to the bottom of this whole situation.
"About 12 years ago. I'm not entirely sure, but I remembered the day pretty well. The asshole left me crying on the peer. Said he was doing it for us and the tribe. Said he'd be back soon." Gray sighed in frustration.
"If only my father was like that. Natsu almost killed him just so we could escape together." Lucy sighed at the memory.
"Sounds like a tough childhood?" Gray asked sympathetically.
"You have no idea." Lucy giggled. As they kept on walking Natsu suddenly came to a stop, causing Gray to walk straight into him.
"Watch where you're walking, Stripper!"Natsu growled angrily. A tic mark appeared on Gray's forehead as he composed himself.
"Watch where you're stopping, Fire breath!" Gray growled back.
"Knock it off you two!" Erza stated firmly as a dark aura surrounded her.
"And what if I don't want to?" Natsu asked defiantly. Gray turned visibly pail, while Lucy raised both her eyebrows. Gray took am enormous step back, insisting that Lucy does the same. The next thing Natsu saw was a huge amount of snow as he was punched straight into the snow below him. He let out a low groan in pain.
"Well here we are." Erza stated as she directed to the small village ahead. There was a few huts created out of ice, with a conformation of the remains of a camp fire in the middle of the village. "It's not much, but we make do." Erza smiled softly.
"She means she makes do, I just go fishing." Gray stated sarcastically.
"Well what are we waiting for! I'm starving!" Natsu stated as he broke into a sprint.
"Oh no! You're not going to eat all our food on my watch!" Gray growled as he sprinted after him. Igneel sailed across the snow after the two new rivals, leaving two sighing girls in their wake.
"We're home!" Erza called once they entered the village. Villagers gathered around the four teenagers as well as Igneel.
"This is Natsu and Lucy and, well Igneel." Erza smiled as she directed at them. Natsu smiled proudly, while Lucy blushed faintly.
"You brought people here? As if our village needs more mouths to feed. For all we know the might be fire nation spies." An older woman with pink hair stated.
"It's nice to see you too Porlyucica. Oh yes of course we're fine. We also brought some fish home! You are very welcome." Gray stated sarcastically. Porlyucica narrowed her eyes at the young water bender. "And they aren't fire nation spies, they are fire nation, b-" The group gathered around the four, stepped back in fear. Lucy and Natsu both frowned at their actions.
"You two might as well have burned down the whole village!" Porlyucica sneered.
"They're not a threat, Porlyucica. They're absolutely harmless." Erza stated as calm as she could.
"Besides, do they look dangerous to you?" Gray asked as he faced Natsu and Lucy who were staring at the few children that decided to use Igneel as a slide.
"I guess not." The pink haired woman huffed in anger. "They can stay as long as the help Gray with finding food."
"Oi Natsu, Lucy! You can stay if you help me fish!" Gray shouted over to the two of them. They immediately turned to face him.
"Sure no problem, Gray." Lucy smiled politely.
"Yeah Ice-brain. I'm a pretty good fisherman if I do say so myself." Natsu stated with pride. "I'm all fired up!"
"Just be careful, guys. I won't be there to save your ass's since I have to help here at camp." Erza stated as she crossed her arms over her chest.
/
Natsu and Gray crouched behind a heap of snow, keeping a steady eye on a otter penguin while Lucy merely rolled her eyes at them. They all knew that they had to fish for food, but Gray and Natsu had insisted.
"Alright Flame-brain we're going to catch this bloody otter penguin one way and that's my way." Gray stated as he stood up straight and held up three small fishes. He gave one to Natsu and one to Lucy. The two gave their fish a weird look before the penguins started heading their way. "These guys only come near you if you have bait and we have a lot of it." Gray smiled mischievously. The three of them picked out their penguin and before they knew it they were racing down the mountain.
"Who knew ice princess wasn't so boring!" Natsu shouted as he raced past Gray.
"Like hell you're beating me flame brain!" Gray shouted as he realized why the fire bender took the lead.
When the three of them reached the bottom of the mountain, a large ship came into view. Natsu hopped off of the penguin otter and cocked his head to the side.
"Why is there a fire nation ship here, snowball?" Natsu asked as he took a step closer.
"It's one of the very first ships that had been deployed to the South pole." Gray stated with a sigh.
"Come on Luce. Let's check it out." Natsu stated with a frown. The two ran off towards it to have a better look.
"No wait! We aren't allowed to..." But it was too late. The two disappeared inside leaving Gray no choice to follow. When Gray finally caught up to them, Natsu and Lucy was looking around like lost puppies.
"What kind of a ship is this, Gray?" Natsu asked as worry filled his voice.
"It's a fire nation warship." Gray clarified. Natsu and Lucy both shared a worrisome look before Natsu continued.
"I remember the fire lord showing me the blueprints of something like this before he left, but I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to use them. This is unforgivable! When I get my hands on Hades..." He was cut off by Lucy this time. Gray however let Natsu's statement sink in. He must've been high up in fire nation ranks if he was personally shown the blueprints.
"Gray, who is this?" Lucy asked as she pointed towards a painted portrait.
"That's Fire Lord Ivan, wait a minute if you had a meeting with the guy how come..."
"Isn't Hades Fire lord, Gray?" Lucy asked as even more worry filled her voice.
"Lucy, Hades is dead." Gray stated as a knot started to grow in his stomach. The three of them were silent for a long time. Natsu's face morphed from an angry one to a complete horrified one.
"How is that possible? We saw him just a few days ago!" Lucy shouted as tears started to drip down her cheeks.
"Gray, when did Hades die!?" Natsu shouted as his brain tried to find a logical explanation.
"About ninety years ago." Gray stated as he clenched his fists. Lucy clasped her hand over her mouth allowing something like a sob to escape. Natsu pulled her in for a hug holding onto her for dear life. "You said you saw the blueprints to this thing right?" Natsu nodded dully. "He finalized the details for these things before he died."
"The that means..." Lucy trailed off as she began to sob into Natsu's chest.
"That we were frozen for a hundred years..."
I am so sorry I took this long to update! School has been hectic and exam is gonna be hell! Anyways I will try to update as soon as I can!