A few days later in the land of Fiore, at a barren wasteland of an area. There are several horses walking upon the land as there is Natsu, Cosmos with Purun, and Kama riding on the mammals.
"i-I can see the forest now…." Cosmos called out with a rather awkward smile as she looks at Natsu and Kama who looks very annoyed to the point that they want to kill someone. "c-captain?"
"WE SEE IT" said Natsu and Kama in unison as they were growing a black and dark animosity of an aura behind them. "JUST FOCUS ON GETTING THERE."
"y-yes…" Cosmos replied with a sweatdrop while Puru let out a single confused cry.
A few days back, after Puru completely ate all the candy in Bash's candy story. The cowboy got infuriated to the point that he beat up Natsu along with Kama for stupidly placing such a sweet predatory animal in his store. Save to say that Cosmos didn't get the beating because of her being a woman and all. afterwards; Bash gets both captains to escort her and Puru back to the forest to get him home which leads to the group where they are right now.
After a few days of travelling on their horses; Natsu and the others are on route to the Forest.
"just a bit longer, Puru." Said Cosmos while smiling to the little pink furball on her lap. "once we get to the forest, you'll be home."
"Purruuu…?" Puru let out a cry while looking at Cosmos.
The group continues to travel on their horses as they went straight into the forest's borders.
A few minutes later, Natsu and the others are now in the forest as they ride their horses following a path that leads to the deeper parts of the area.
"This forest is beautiful…" said Cosmos wit a smile.
"Pururururu~!" Puru let out a joyful cry as the furball looks side to side.
"Looks like we went to the right forest." Said Kama in seeing Puru's reaction. "That furball is just bursting with energy already."
"The smell of this forest is the same as the one that Puru has on him." Natsu stated while sniffing the air a few times. "I also smell some Puruns nearby too."
"then let's go and get Puru back to his friends and Family!" said Cosmos with an excited face as she stops her horse then hops off its saddle then runs off with Puru in her arms.
"hey! Cosmos! Wait!" Kama called out but Cosmos just runs off straight into the forest. "for the love of…"
"for someone in an executioner's team she has some traits of a little kid, doesn't she?" said Natsu as Kama sighs in response.
The two captains get off their horses and get them to stay near a tree that has their reins tied around. The two then followed after Cosmos as they needed to make sure she didn't get herself into trouble.
A few seconds of walking later. Natsu and Kama arrived at a big opening where they hear the sounds of Cosmos screaming laughter as they see many colored Puruns all over the place and are just snuggling around the pink haired executioner on the ground.
"s-stop~! That tickles~!" Cosmos squeals in laughter as many Puruns came and snuggles their fur against her. "stop, please~!"
"We were worried for nothing" said Kama while crossing his arms.
"no kidding." Natsu replied as he scratches the back of his head a few times. "can't worry on her if she gets swarmed by a bunch of furballs, right?"
A few seconds later, the ground suddenly rumbles and shakes as the Puruns stopped swarming Cosmos and then started to run and jump away.
"what's going on…?" Cosmos asked while catching her breath from the constant tickling swarm from the Puruns.
"Sounds like something big is coming." Said Natsu as he and Kama looks at where the rumbling is coming from. "something big and the Puruns are afraid of."
"yeah. Look at him." Said Kama as he looks down to see Puru letting out a snarling cry while shaking angrily. "whatever is making the land rumble; Puru hates it."
Everyone looks at one part of the forest as they see trees shaking and rumbling before a few broke down and a Forest Wyvern came roaring out.
"a Forest Wyvern? It's a big one." Said Kama in checking the large reptilian monster. "it's bigger than the usual Forest Wyvern."
"I bet that this thing is a predator to the Puruns." Said Natsu as he saw the Puruns hiding into Holes, burrows, or anyplace that could give them shelter and protection. He then looks down at Puru who is snarling even angrier. "and Puru hates it very much."
The Forest Wyvern growls as it looks at Natsu and the others before it roars loudly.
"Purururu~!" Puru snarls very loudly before the Pink furball jumps and then lunges at the large reptilian monster.
"Puru!" Cosmos cried out as Puru spins into a ball and hits the Forest Wyvern's head but that didn't do anything, so it repeatedly jumps around and started to hit the reptile monster from any parts of its body.
"doesn't it know that it can't hurt that thing at all?" said Kama as he and the others watch Puru hit the Forest Wyvern on its head, back, stomach, legs, and even the wings. None of its attacks made any damage on the reptile. "it's small and that thing is big."
"I don't know what made Puru hates that wyvern." Natsu spoke out as he squinted his eyes at how hard Puru is trying to take down the reptilian monster. "but it is doing it for a purpose."
The Forest Wyvern soon roars before it went and swings one of its wings that hits Puru who gets sent flying into the air before falling straight to Cosmos who lunges in and catches it.
"Puru? Are you alright?" Cosmos asked with a worried face to the little furball that looks weakened after one hit.
"that's it." said Natsu as he cracked his knuckles while approaching the Forest Wyvern that is looking back at him. "I had enough and can't watch this anymore"
The Forest Wyvern growls as it looks at Natsu whose knuckles burst into flames. The reptilian monster snarls before it roars and lunges straight at the Salmon haired man who pulls back his flaming right fist.
"Karyuu no Tekken!" Natsu shouted as he went and punched the Forest Wyvern's snout before sending it flying into the air and far away into the sky.
Seeing the Wyvern getting sent flying away; many of Puruns look in awe before they look at Natsu who swings his right hand so that the flames dissipate.
"That Forest Wyvern won't be coming back soon." Said Kama while approaching Natsu from behind.
"yeah." Natsu nods before he sees that he and Kama gets surrounded by all the Puruns that came out of their hiding places. "huh?"
"PURURU~!" all the Puruns cried out before they all lunged at Natsu.
"H-HEY!" Natsu shouted as he gets swarmed by countless colored furballs.
Kama sweatdrops as Natsu is now caught under a large pile of Puruns that piled up over one another.
"good thing I wasn't near him…." Said Kama while Cosmos and Puru gets near. "the heck just happened?"
"I remember that Puruns usually piled up with their kind so that they could be warm and cozy." Said Cosmos as she sees how big the pile is. "I guess since the Captain took out the Forest Wyvern, the Puruns saw and are thanking him for it."
"is that so?" Kama asked before he sees Natsu popping out his head and hands from the pile of furballs.
"would you two mind helping me out of this pile of furballs!?" Natsu exclaimed. "it is suffocating in there!"
Kama and Cosmos sweatdrops in an instant as the two started to help Natsu get out of the pile by pulling, but that took a lot of time and effort to do so.
A few hours later; the day was gone, and the night came.
Natsu and the others decided to camp in the forest as it was a bit too late for them to travel back to Crocus. So here they are sitting around a campfire while being surrounded by dozens of Puruns.
"this is…annoying." Said Kama as he is holding a drink canister in his grasp and is trying to drink it, but he gets the many obstacles by the Puruns that latched and hangs around him. "Why are they hanging on me too?"
"I guess since you're with us, they think you're friendly too, captain." Said Cosmos with a smile while being surrounded by Pink Puruns.
"do we look like we're enjoying the company?" Natsu asked as he is basically covered with Puruns hanging around him, his face looks emotionless because he is stuck with the furballs attached to him. "do we?"
"w-well…." Cosmos spoke out with an awkward smile.
"Pururuu….." a little Purun cry was heard as Cosmos looks down to her lap as Puru laid on there with a bandage wrapped around its body that is treating the injury it received after trying to fight the Forest Wyvern.
"sshhhh. Just sleep, Puru." Said Cosmos while caressing the little pink furball's head. "just sleep and you'll be fine."
"Purruururu…" Puru cries out softly before its ears perked up and the little fluffball looks up. "Puru?"
Cosmos looks at Puru's reaction before she turns and sees a bigger Pink Purun hopping by as it seems to be looking straight at Puru.
"Purururu!?" the bigger pink Purun cried out as it soon jumped towards Cosmos' lap and nuzzles against Puru. "Puruuu~!"
"what's going on with those two?" said Kama as he and Natsu looks at Puru and the bigger Pink Purun that just nuzzles itself against its smaller kind.
"I think…." Cosmos spoke out as she watches the loving care that the bigger Purun is giving to the smaller one. "I think this Purun is Puru's parent!"
"Puru's parent?" said Natsu and Kama in unison as Cosmos smiles and nodded before she looks at the two Pink Puruns on her lap and sees how the two are just nuzzling close to one another.
"You must be Puru's Papa, right?" said Cosmos as she caresses the bigger Purun's back a few times. "I'm so glad that you came for your child."
"Pururu~!" Puru's dad cried out as it nuzzles its head to Cosmos' hand for a moment before it nuzzles close to its child.
"if that's Puru's dad. Where is his mom?" said Kama as he looks around for more Pink Puruns. "she must be around here.."
"Pururu…" Puru cried out a bit sadly as this got everyone's attention. They look at the little pink furball and sees how it looks so sad to its father who is consoling and cuddling him with care.
"I think I know why Puru hates that Forest Wyvern so much…" said Natsu in a small voice as he frowns a bit from hearing Puru's sad cry.
A few minutes later, the campfire goes on as Natsu stayed on watch while Kama and Cosmos rests.
Kama looks to have trouble sleeping because all the Puruns piled onto him while his pink haired teammate is sleeping all so peacefully with the Pink Puruns that just cuddle with her.
Natsu stayed awake as he looks at campfire before his ears twitched a bit and he turns to the side.
"Where are you going?" Natsu spoke out as he spotted Puru slowly walking away. "you're injured and should be resting."
Puru stops and looks at Natsu for a moment before it turns and walks away.
Natsu watches Puru leaves the camp before he turns and sighs as he then stands up.
Taking a few feet away from the camp, Natsu slowly follows Puru who walks straight to the worn-out tree that it once keeps ramming itself against in its training in the past.
Puru stands in front of the tree before it jumps and rams itself against it.
Natsu looks at what the little furball did and could instantly tell that it was trying to train itself.
Puru starts to ram itself against the tree's worn-out trunk repeatedly as it didn't care of its wounds just reopening and blood started to dye its pink fur red.
"Just stop it." said Natsu as he watched Puru's actions. "Your body is too small, you're covered in fur, and you eat sweets. It's no use on how long you train yourself; it won't help you get strong."
The little furball didn't heed Natsu's words as it just continues to ram itself against the tree's trunk over and over. Not caring if it is becoming a red Purun because of its blood that dyed itself red.
For over 10 minutes passes soon, Natsu watches the little furball's struggle and couldn't feel pity and worry for it.
Puru hits itself against the tree before it fell and started to struggle in getting back up.
"enough, you're tired and too injured." Said Natsu as he approached the injured Purun. "Your dad will be worried and so will Cosmos." He then reaches his hands down to grab Puru. "Just stop and rest."
"Puru~!" Puru cried out as it jumped away from Natsu's approaching hands and started snarling at him. "Purururu~!"
Natsu looks at Puru as he is a bit surprised of the so called peaceful animal acting aggressive but he soon sighs while looking away for a moment and then looks back at the little furball.
"it won't matter how much you hit yourself against this tree." Said Natsu while crossing his arms. "it's tougher than you, it's stronger than you, It's bigger than you. Just stop what you are doing."
"Puruuu~!" Puru snarls at Natsu before it went and jumped against the tree that it rams against.
Natsu sees Puru's action and just sighs while facepalming. He knew about people being hardheaded but not on a small pink furball.
Puru continues to hit itself against the tree multiple times and upon the umpteenth time it did. A crack appears as this surprises Natsu who sees that the tree's trunk is breaking and soon falls to the ground.
Natsu looks rather surprised at the scene as he then looks at Puru who is weakly lying on the ground and is terribly injured after what it did. The young man looks at the small furball and gets reminded of his younger days when he is always training hard at the Magic Knights training regime.
"You must be so determined, huh?" said Natsu in a small voice as he went to Puru and started to tend the small furball.
On the next day. Kama prepared his belongings as the group had planned to go back to Crocus after delivering Puru back to his habitat in the forest.
"hey, Natsu, Cosmos. Let's get going." Said Kama as he hoisted a sack bag over his shoulders. The Captain of the Garou Knights looks at the Captain of the Salamanders who is tending to Puru with Cosmos. "hey, you guys heard me or what?"
"you go back first, Kama." Said Natsu as he tied the bandages on Puru. "I'm planning on staying here for a while."
"huh? Why?" Kama asked. "we got to get back or Captain Dash will hunt us down to make us work like slaves for his shop."
"tell the old man just to wait." Said Natsu as he held Puru up and gave the furball to Cosmos who carried him. "These fluffballs needs to learn how to protect themselves against predators like that Forest Wyvern." He then looks at Kama. "and I'm going to teach them."
Kama looks at Natsu as he then facepalms.
"you can't be serious" said Kama while shaking his head before he looks at Natsu. "in case you've forgotten, these Puruns aren't known to be aggressive and everything, you know? they're small, fluffy, and very much weak, they won't get strong even if you train them."
"I said I'm going to teach them how to defend themselves." Said Natsu while crossing his arms and having a small smirk on his face. "not train them."
"how is that any different?" Cosmos asked with a little bit of a confused face.
"you'll see." Natsu replied while Puru's father came jumping and riding onto his right shoulder. The pink furball cried out to the salmon haired man who turns and scratches its head, getting the animal to purr in a happy way.
Afterwards, Kama left the forest while leaving behind Natsu with Cosmos and the Puruns. He didn't know what the salmon haired man had in mind with teaching the Puruns how to defend themselves from predator and everything, but he got a feeling on his gut that tells him that he would succeed.
"got no idea what you have in plan, Natsu." Said Kama as he rides his horse before he stops and looks back at the forest which he is leaving. "but sure hope you know what you're doing."
Kama then whips the reins of his horse once and got the mammal to walk away from the forest.
Back in the forest, Natsu stands and looks at the army of Puruns around him while Cosmos is in the background with Puru on her lap.
"now then…" said Natsu as he cracked his knuckles a few times. "it's time for you furballs to learn how to fend yourselves."
"Purururu…" the Puruns cried out while looking confused before they all look scared as Natsu's eyes glows red while a red aura glows around his body. "Pururu~?!"
"C-Captain….please remember that they're just small and fluffy animals…." Cosmos awkwardly told Natsu while holding Puru in her arms.
"don't worry." Said Natsu while grinning. "I'll just teach them how to fend themselves, I won't harm them in any other way."
"t-that doesn't give me some relief at all…." Cosmos replied with a sweatdrop behind her head.
That's a wrap!
Bye bye