"Be careful," Wendy whispered to her older brothers. They were in some town called Hargeon, they had been for a few days. But it was finally time for them to go their separate ways.

"Are you sure about this, Breezy?" Gajeel frowned.

"Doesn't matter. Laxus said to let her go- If he thinks she can do it, than we need to believe in her," Erik grumbled, arms crossed.

Wendy gave them both a toothy grin while Charla crossed her arms with a 'humph'. The only girl gave her brothers a tight bear hug before setting off.

"Don't do anything stupid," Erik said. "And if you get into any trouble I'll kick your ass," Gajeel rolled his eyes and headed in another direction.

Erik waited until he could no longer hear them before heading off as well- taking the direction of the forest.

"Well we have to find something!" The boss will kill me if we don't come back with another kid, and we still have to finish the experiment!

"But sir-"

"No buts! You find me someone, anyone, or I'll use you!"

Erik's ear twitched as he heard the yelling. Slave traders- and apparently they were short on the needed supply.

Something in the maroon haired teen's gut made him spin on his heel and start running.

"What was- Hey! There's a kid!"

"Get him! If the capital finds out we're taking stock from Fiore we'll be thrown in prison!"

"Grab him!"

Erik pushed himself faster as he heard the mens' yells, Cubellios hissing at them over his shoulder.

There is too many of them! You must run faster! Erik heard from Cubellios, running as fast as he could.

"I'm basically half dragon there's no way they could catch up to me unless they've got some sort of magic enhancers!" Erik snapped, focusing his ears on the men chasing him.

Erik! You're not being cautious enough, call for help!

"Hell no!"

Please! Erik, you need to call the others! You're arrogance should not keep you from asking for the pride- and this is serious! If you get taken, what will they do with me? In case you haven't noticed, I'm a six foot long flying snake, I can't exactly be much help at the Tower of Heaven anymore! And if you get captured, again, how are we supposed to break my curse?

"You're so pushy,"

I will bite you. Now do it!

Erik nodded, swallowing thickly as he noticed the men gaining on him. The teen stopped for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"That sounds like Erik!" Charla exclaimed when a roar shook the ground, echoing all around them. Wendy had halted her movements, eyes wide in shock and fear before narrowing into an angered look.

"Somebody's trying to hurt my big brother. Charla!"

"Right!"

"What the hell?" Gajeel tilted his head when he heard Erik's roar. Narrowing his eyes, Gajeel took off toward the sound.

"He's there! Grab him!" One of the slave traders shouted. Erik quickly surveyed his surroundings, counting the men to see how he'd fair.

There were six of them, all full grown men. He didn't know if they were mages or not, but even still his ability to hear souls gave him an advantage.

"Erik!"

"Hey! Get the hell away from him!" Erik smirked when he heard the two, getting into a fighting stance as Charla set Wendy down beside him and Gajeel ran forward.

"Three against six? We win," Gajeel smiled darkly.

"Sky Dragon: Claws!"

"Iron Dragon: Club!"

"Poison Dragon: Roar!" The trio shouted. When plumes of red poison filled the air, Erik grabbed each of his siblings and ran as fast as he could.

"Are you okay? Do I need to heal you? Oh, was it a good idea to separate? If the world is this dangerous what if the others are in danger!" Wendy rambled, trying to look over Erik even though he was holding her.

"I'm fine, Wendy. It's because we're near the shoreline- slave traders are common in Bosco. We need to keep moving,"

"Fucking hate that place. Now will you let me off your back first you prick?" Gajeel grumbled, somehow having been put onto Erik's back.

The thirteen year old let out a tiny shriek when Erik dropped him, glaring at his older brother.

"We'll be fine by ourselves, we just need to stay away from the borders," Erik ignored Gajeel, still holding Wendy. "Charla?"

The Exceed snapped her head to look at him. Erik locked eyes with the white cat. "Take care of Wendy. And Wendy, look after Charla. Right?"

"Right!" Both girls exclaimed, smiling brightly. Erik nodded, placing Wendy back on the ground.

"You two can fly away from here. I'll stick with bolts-for-brains over here until it's safe for us to separate," With that, Charla grabbed Wendy and flew off, leaving the two boys.

"We're gonna be fine," Gajeel murmured, though it seemed more like he said it to reassure himself. "Everything'll be fine,"

If only.