Gray kicked the dead wyvern in the head multiple times, his anger coursing through his veins.
"Enough!" Erza called to him, subconsciously booting the other dead wyvern in the side as she approached Gray.
"You're injured," he stated, looking at the bite marks on her shoulder with concern.
"So are you," she replied, noting the large gash in his stomach.
"What do we do now?"
Erza nodded, glad to change the subject. She needed a doctor, she knew, but she didn't want to panic Gray, "We need to get a hold of the guild first," she announced, starting to rummage through her bag for the lacrima, "then we need to look at our injuries," she paused, glancing at Gray with a smirk on her face, already knowing he'd like the next thing out of her mouth, "And then...I say we pay Old Man Antoine a visit for some answers."
Gray returned the smirk, getting beside her for the lacrima call.
Natsu and Lucy were on the move. Rested safely against his back in the piggy-back position, they were running again. They hadn't come across any roads, no signs, no trails. Just miles and miles of bush. It was good in a way, she supposed, since the further they went off the radar, the less likely they'd be found. On the flip side, they further off the radar, the less likely they'd be found...as in their nakama would not find them. And how, exactly, do you hide from demons of hell? It was only a matter of time, they both knew...and so they ran.
3 days had passed. Natsu and Lucy did little other than eat, sleep, and run. Her back was starting to crust over and heal a bit, but the bones that were brushed with the claws would require magic healing. He refused to let her walk, much to her frustration. Similarly, he made sure that he gathered food and supplied water to her. They didn't talk much.
"Natsu," she said after the 4th hour of running that day, "I see something."
He paused, peering ahead. It was odd that she'd see something first, considering that he was the one with excellent eye sight.
"It's a road!" she said excitedly, pointing ahead, then wincing because she jarred her back.
He grinned, "Let's go!"
With renewed vigor, he bounded toward the road.
"Okay," he said, suddenly losing his luster, "So it's a paved road. We still don't know where we are. We still don't know which way a city might be. Well this sucks!"
She laughed, the first time he'd heard that musical sound in days, "Let's pick a direction and follow the road. It will lead somewhere eventually, right?"
He grinned his renewed enthusiasm to her and took off down the road to their right, "This way feels good to me!" he decided.
About 45 minutes later, both mages started getting excited as it was obvious they were getting to a town. Deciding against stopping at the first houses they saw since they likely couldn't provide the medical attention needed, they continued into town, getting awkward looks from townspeople as they entered. Nobody offered help nor spoke to them. When Lucy thought about it, she could kind of understand why. They were strangers and they were dirty and wounded. She hoped a hotel would take pity on them, knowing she had a bit of jewel in her backpack.
They found a small hotel on the outskirts of town and entered it, the hotel desk person's eyes widening in horror.
"Hello," Natsu said sweetly, "We're mages, fresh from a fight with some nasty beasts. We need a room and a doctor and a lacrima. Can you help us?"
The desk clerk's eyes widened again as he muttered something under his breath that was unintelligible before pressing several buttons on his desk.
"He doesn't speak our language," Lucy realized as she glanced at the multiple areas around the room that had different, unfamiliar writings on them, "Natsu, we aren't in Fiore!"
"Impossible!" Natsu scoffed, "I'm sure he's just calling the doctor."
He glanced at the man, who had panic in his eyes. Several men in uniforms appeared at the door opposite the entrance.
"You're right," Natsu said, spinning on his heel, "Let's get the hell outta here."
And so, again, Natsu ran. Nobody seemed to be chasing them, so after awhile, they walked. They took in the town quietly, not saying anything to anyone. They stuck out like sore thumbs, however. With Lucy's blonde hair and Natsu's pink, plus the fact that he piggy-backed her, they stood out wildly. It seemed everyone in the village had dark skin and dark eyes. They all wore white robes down to their feet.
"We need supplies," Lucy said, knowing that they were about to hit the pavement again, "Maybe if we can't communicate, they'll at least accept our jewel for some food."
Natsu caught the eye of a little girl watching them and offered a kind smile. When she didn't bolt, he approached her slowly, "Hey little one. How are you?"
The little girl was maybe 12 or 13. She had dark hair and dark eyes, much like the majority of the residents of this strange little town, except her complexion was considerably lighter and there was a tinge of colour to her dark hair.
"You...Fiore?" she asked awkwardly.
Lucy and Natsu's eyes lit up.
"Yes," Lucy said gently, "We're from Fiore. I'm Lucy and this is Natsu. What's your name?"
She looked at them blankly, obviously not fully understanding. She rattled off a phrase or two in a foreign language, then gestured for them to follow her.
Looking at each other, Lucy nodded to Natsu as they seemingly didn't have a lot of options. 20 minutes later, they came to a tiny house on the outskirts of town. The girl went in the house, yelling in the strange language. A minute later, a large man came to the door. He was different from the other villagers. His hair was green and his complexion was much lighter.
"Hello," Lucy said nervously.
The man smiled, "So it's true - you really are from Fiore."
"You speak our language," Natsu said dumbly.
"I'm from Fiore too," the man laughed, "This is my daughter, Petra, and I'm Henre."
Natsu stuck out a hand to shake the large man's, "I'm Natsu and this is Lucy."
"What brings you here?" Henre asked, waving them to follow him into the house.
Natsu let Lucy down, holding her gently so she wouldn't fall on her wobbly feet, "We're travelers," he said, "But we lost our way. We were attacked by...a forest creature. My wife...she's hurt pretty badly."
Lucy coughed into his shoulder. Wife? What the hell?
"I will see what I can do to help," Henre said, gesturing to the couch.
He called in the foreign language to the kitchen and a pretty woman came in. She was dark like the other villagers. Natsu smiled at Petra, knowing now where her looks came from.
"This is my wife, Santri," Henre explained, "She's not a nurse, but I'm certain she can look at your wounds."
Obligingly, Lucy removed her backpack and turned around. The angry wyvern claws had raked from her shoulder down to her mid back. Natsu had cleaned the wounds daily and used the antiseptic in the backpack to the best of his ability, but admittedly, he was clumsy at the best of times. His bandage job was...something to be desired.
Santri nodded at Lucy, obviously not speaking the Fiore language herself, and then examined Lucy's back. She took her hands and gently pushed the wounds, making Lucy cry out. Natsu made a move to go to her, but Henre held out a hand, indicating to give Santri time. The wounds began to glow and heal up.
"You have healing magic," Natsu said in awe.
Santri smiled as she continued working on Lucy.
"She is a limited healer," Henre said, "But certainly limited is better than none. What did you say attacked her? Those are claws unlike I've ever seen."
"We don't know," Lucy said quickly, thinking it was better to divulge as little information as possible, "It was dark out."
"Hmmm," Henre said, so low Natsu probably wouldn't have heard without his dragon hearing.
The woman grunted with satisfaction at her healing job, saying something to her husband.
"She says she's done what she can," Henre supplied, "And it should be much better, but you need to rest."
"We couldn't get a hotel," Natsu said, "The man there called a bunch of soldiers of some kind."
Henre nodded, "They don't like outsiders here. I came to this village years ago, fell in love with Santri and stayed, but it took years for the villagers to accept me. We have an extra room."
"Do you take jewel here?" Lucy asked, "We have jewel and we'd like to pay you for your kindness."
Henre shook his head, "Unnecessary," he quipped, "Santri and I would always help someone in need if we could. Besides...jewel means nothing here. They have another form of currency."
Natsu and Lucy nodded their thanks, following Petra to their assigned room.
"Wife?" Lucy asked Natsu with wide eyes once they were safely locked in.
Natsu shrugged, "I didn't think they'd let us stay together if I said anything else. I'm not letting you out of my sight. Besides...aren't you kind of my wife? We're together all the time and there's no other person in Earthland that I'd rather be with..."
His face went crimson and he looked away nervously.
She smiled, gently drawing him into a hug, "I'd be lost without you, Natsu."
"Yeah," he kissed the top of her head, not missing the teasing sarcasm in her voice, but thankful for her steering the conversation away from his embarrassing statement that they're practically married, "You would be."
She smacked his arm, laughing with him, feeling more relaxed than she had in days.