Natsu with Cosmos remains at the forest where Puru originates. The Salmon haired mage had decided to stay behind to help and teach the Puruns how to defend themselves against predators. Both stayed there for almost three months while getting occasional visits from their teammates.
Right now, Kama and his teammates are riding on horses as they are heading for the forest to check up on the two pink haired individuals.
"I wonder how Cosmos and Captain Natsu are doing right now?" said Kamika as the group have been chatting about the two and their plans to help the Puruns.
"Probably the same as the last time we came to visit, right?" Neppa replied while holding his bottle near his mouth. "I mean, training some furballs that are all cute and fuzzy into fierce animals ain't something easy to do, right?"
"Cute, fluffy, and Fuzzy-tai!" Uosuke exclaimed while waving his flag. "it's a bit catch of fluffiness-tai~!"
"in any matter, Natsu said that he would be done by the end of this month." Said Kama as he is more focused on getting to the forest. "if he says something like that, it means that he really has trained the Puruns."
"still, I don't see how he's going to be able to teach them how to fend themselves." Said Kamika while thinking of what Natsu would do to train the Puruns. "they're forever on prey since they were born…"
"that's true." Neppa nodded in agreement.
The group keeps on their journey as they were arriving to the forest in just a few more minutes.
Kama and his Team walks in the forest as they left their horses tied to the outskirts of the forest and are now heading in to find Natsu and Cosmos.
"hey, Natsu!" Kama called out as he knew that the Dragon Slayer would be able to hear him with his enhanced hearings. "it's me! Kama! I came with my team to check on you and Cosmos!"
"I really wonder how Captain Natsu trained the fuzzy Puruns…" said Uosuke with a curious voice.
"you think he beats them up if they don't do what he says?" Neppa asked while making an imagination bubble where he imagines Natsu holding a log and use it as a baseball bat to train the Puruns that are the balls.
"that's just plain animal abuse…" Kamika sweatdrops as she could see Neppa's imagination bubble. "Even Captain Arcadios isn't that harsh when it is to train others…"
"hey, focus on finding Natsu and Cosmos." Kama told his teammates as he looks at them for a moment before to the front. "hey! Natsu!"
The group keeps walking into the forest as they walked right to the area where all the Puruns used to be gathered at.
"that's strange…" said Neppa as he and the others looked around. "no signs of anyone here."
"did they all go take a potty?" Uosuke asked as this made the others look at him weird.
"Captain, did they already leave earlier than expected?" Kamika asked Kama who shakes his head before he crosses his arms.
"if they did, we would've bumped into them." Kama stated as he glanced side to side. "And even if they did leave before us, where in the world are the Puruns? I don't hear nor see anything at all."
The group looks around before they felt the ground shaking for a moment.
"An earthquake?" Neppa asked as everyone looks at the ground and feels the shaking vibration from their legs.
They continue to feel the vibrations from the ground before they heard something large coming their way.
"An animal?" Kamika asked while tensing up as she and the others prepared themselves for a fight if a predator came their way. "sounds big."
"possibly." Kama replied as he hardens his gaze at one part of the forest south of their position from which they could hear the sound that is coming closer. "get ready."
The team prepared themselves for a possible fight with a native predator of the forest, they look at the trees and soon sees a large Forest Wyvern busting through. The large reptilian roared loudly as its roar echoes.
"big-tai!" Uosuke screamed
"that's one big Forest Wyvern!" Neppa exclaimed. "it's got to be at least 150 feet tall at the most!"
"it's big and I think it's very hungry too!" Kamika added in as the Forest Wyvern is looking down at them. "Should we attack, Captain?"
"if we don't, that thing will come and eat us." Said Kama as he wields two pair of scythes that are his main weapon after he became a captain. "let's do this!"
Kama's team nodded as they prepared to use their magic against the Forest Wyvern that growls for a moment before it turns and looks a bit afraid then proceeds to run away.
"what's its problem-Tai?" Uosuke asked as he and the others look at the Forest Wyvern that runs away from them. "scared-tai?"
"must've known that humans are at the top of the food chains." Said Neppa while crossing his arms. "man, that thing could run."
"but it looked afraid." Kamika noted as she looks at Kama. "like something was going after it."
"a Forest Wyvern that large and is afraid of something that could intimidate it?" said Kama as he looks a bit uneased. "that doesn't sound good at all."
Before the group could think of the reason why the Forest Wyvern had run away, they felt rumbling once more as this felt like giant footsteps because of the rhythm of the shaking.
"looks like we're about to find out what could scare that Forest Wyvern." Said Neppa as everyone looks at where the Forest Wyvern had first came, and they could see something more larger than the reptilian monster coming.
Kama and the others readied themselves as they just waited for the large creature that continues to make loud yet tremoring footsteps.
"hey~! Captain~! Everyone~!" a voice called out as this made Kama and the others look confused for a moment. "welcome~!"
"h-hey…is that?" said Neppa as he looks completely awestruck while Uosuke had his jaw dropped.
"C-Captain…was that?" said Kamika as Kama nods to her.
"i-it's Cosmos." Kama spoke as he and the others were looking up because the large creature that scared the Forest Wyvern came and it wasn't something that they expected. "…and the Puruns."
"hi guys~! It's been a while!" Cosmos hollered as she is high above the air and is riding on a large humanoid body that is entirely made of Puruns who are latched together. "it's good to see you all again~!"
"it's a big mass of fluff-tai~!" Uosuke exclaimed while in complete shock.
"s-seriously?" Neppa spoke as he had no other words to describe what he was seeing with his very own eyes.
"no wonder the Forest Wyvern ran away…" Kamika spoke out as she looks at how tall the large structure of Puruns.
"so this is what he means by teaching them how to defend themselves…" said Kama while storing away his scythes and then scratches his head. "that guy got some weird ideas sometimes."
"alright, everyone~! Disperse~!" Cosmos hollered out to the Puruns that cried out once before the large body of fluff disperses into a big pile of fluffballs where the pink haired woman landed safely upon.
"Hey, Cosmos…the hell was that all about?" said Kama as he and the others approached their teammate. "those Puruns just made…a big body out of themselves?"
"it's a self defense technique that me and Natsu taught them." Said Cosmos with a smile as Puru came hopping and then rides onto the pink haired woman's right shoulder where it gets lots of scratches from her. "we thought of it after learning that the Puruns are very light yet very strong with their legs and they are also very sticky to one another."
"they are?" Neppa and Uosuke asked as Cosmos nods before giving a live example by grabbing a nearby green Purun and latches itself to Puru then tried to pull the two off from one another, but it proved to be difficult.
"let me try." Said Kama as he grabs the two Puruns and tried to pry them off one another but to no avail was he able to. "damn! they're stuck together!"
Kama keeps on pulling before he stops and hands the two Puruns back to Cosmos who carries them before both fluffballs separate on their own.
"so I guess with them being so sticky to one another, they could form that large form of theirs, right?" said Kamika as Cosmos nodded with a smile. This made the black haired woman cup her chin while looking at Puru who jumps and rides on top of the pink haired woman's hat. "to think that such a friendly, fluffy, poofy, and fuzzy animal could have such a potential."
"I know what you mean." Said Cosmos. "when Natsu first tried to teach them how to fight, it didn't work. So he decided to learn everything that the Puruns can do before teaching them how to become something that wasn't so easy to be preyed on."
"speaking of Natsu, where is he?" said Kama as he looks side to side before to Cosmos. "isn't he with you guys?"
"oh, he's actually getting lunch while I help Puru and the others in training." Cosmos replied before she looks to the side and smiles while waving a hand up. "ah! Here he comes!"
Everyone turns to where Cosmos is looking, and they see Natsu coming to them while carrying a huge sack behind his back.
"yo." Natsu called out as he came to the group. "took you guys long enough to come."
"hey, you were the one who didn't call back when I hollered you." Kama replied while crossing his arms before he nudged his head once. "what's with the sack?"
"This?" said Natsu as he looks at the sack once before back to Kama. "the furballs' lunch."
Kama raises an eyebrow to Natsu's words as he watches the salmon haired man puts the sack down and opens it to reveal that it is filled with ball shaped colored candy.
"I've bought this from a town near the forest." Said Natsu as he grabs a handful of the ball candy before he throws them into the air where several Puruns jumped up and gobbles them up. "these furballs are more motivated when given a treat."
"so that's why you asked for money last time…" said Kama while sighing as during one of his visits; Natsu had asked for some money that he would repay at a later time. "I should've known."
Afterwards, Natsu fed all the Puruns with the candy that he bought as they were all now hopping around everywhere doing games, lazing around, or seeking out more food.
"they're so fluffy~!" Neppa and Uosuke moaned out in pleasure as they are surrounded by some Puruns that cuddles with them. "so fluffy~!"
"yeah, yeah" said Kama with a sweatdrop to his two teammates. The captain sighs before he turns towards Natsu who is in the middle of packing his belongings into a sack bag with Cosmos doing the same. "hey, hurry up. I don't know how much fluffiness these two can take before they turn into goo."
"don't rush us." Natsu replied as he tied his sack bag before he hoisted it up onto his right shoulder. "Need to make sure that the Puruns can still protect themselves when we are gone."
"And how are you supposed to test that?" Kamika asked.
Natsu nudges his head towards Kama who looks at him confused for a moment before he sighs while shaking his head.
"one day, I'm going to make you pay double of what you owe me." Said Kama as he walks away while wielding his scythes in hands.
"I'll pay you back while also throwing in a drink at the bar." Natsu replied before he did a high pitched whistle that made all the Purun turns towards him. "form up!"
The Puruns soon made a stampede as they all joined and sticked together before forming the large humanoid body of fluff that stands before Kama.
"just a minute or so will do, captain!" Cosmos hollered. "Puru and the others are still very weak creatures after all, please remember to use the blunted side of your weapons!"
"like I don't know that." Kama replied as he started to spin his scythe and then proceeds to throw them at the Puruns.
The giant body of fluff backs a bit before they formed a hole in the body where the scythe flew through.
"that's smart." Said Kamika as she watches the Puruns work together in grabbing a deadfall log and then throws it to Kama. "and strong too."
Kama catches his scythes that came flying back before he swings one down and cuts the deadfall into two.
The Puruns soon slams down a fist at Kama who quickly dodged but the large body of fluff swings its attack directly at the captain.
"what!?" Kama looks in surprise as the large fist of fluff hits and sends him flying. "ugh?!"
"no way!" Neppa and Uosuke shouted.
Kama flies in the air before he came landed back on the ground while his scythes fell elsewhere after being hit by the fluffy fist.
"I misjudged its speed." Said Kama as he checks his body and sees no damage. "and overestimated its power."
The big body of Puruns grabbed a large boulder nearby and then threw it at Kama who jumped to dodge then began to jump some more because more boulders were being thrown at his direction.
'its direct attack doesn't give so much result, but it has strength of numbers and speed while also knowing how to use its surrounding objects to attack.' Kama watches and quickly evades the big Purun's attack one by one while noting how effectively it was overcoming its weakness with its strength. 'anyone who isn't trained and strong won't be able to survive against it.'
Kama jumps back very high and then landed on the branch of a tree, the Puruns were about to go on the attack but Natsu let out a high pitched whistle that made it stop in its track.
"that's far enough!" Natsu called out before he clapped his hands once in making the Puruns disperse their large form and then scatter everywhere.
"They were actually getting the captain on the run….amazing…" Neppa muttered out while Uosuke nodded a few times in agreement.
"to think that just being taught how to defend themselves, the gap between them against their foe could be strong." Said Kamika as she cupped her chin while looking at the dozens of Purun that were scattered around. "very fearsome, the potential that these Puruns has."
"What you think on them?" Natsu called out to Kama while having Puru jumping then riding onto his head. "effective?"
"quite so." Kama replied while storing away his scythes onto his back. "they have a great coordination of teamwork with one another." He then looks at Puru who gets a few scratches by Natsu. "I'm assuming that this little one is the leader?"
"nope." Natsu replied while shaking his head before Puru's father came riding onto his left shoulder and let out a cry to Kama. "he is."
"the father being the leader.." said Kama while crossing his arms. "figures."
Sometime later.
After making sure that the Puruns were able to defend themselves without Natsu's help. The group heads off from the forest as they prepared to get back to Crocus.
"take care, Puru~! Everyone~!" Cosmos waved a hand while hollering to Puru and the others who are staying at the forest while she is riding on a horse with Natsu at front. "take care of each other~!"
The Puruns let out their cries while jumping around.
"goodbye, fluffy balls-tai~!" Uosuke joined in on the farewell as he waves his flag that has images of Puruns on it. "we'll come back to visit your fluffiness-tai~!"
"you can count on it~!" Neppa exclaimed.
"They become quite attached to the Purun's fluffiness, right Captain?" Kamika asked Kama who sighs while shaking his head before he looks at Natsu.
"hey, Natsu. Those Puruns will be okay, right?" Kama asked the man. "they're strong against opponents who use physical attacks, but what about magic? We never tested on that."
"relax." Natsu replied while taking a glance at Kama. "I taught those furballs to just run and hide if they fight against mages. I taught them better."
"you sure?" said Kama.
"positive." Natsu replied with a nod before a pink blur came and hit him on the back of his head. "ugh?!"
"PURU~!" a small cry rang out as the group sees Natsu leaning up straight and looking up to his head to see Puru latching onto him.
"Puru? Why did you come here?" Cosmos asked as she reaches out her hands to Puru who jumped into her arms.
Puru cried and purred to Cosmos before Natsu grabs the furball.
"you little fluffball really need to learn who you should hit and not hit." Said Natsu while his eyes glows red and cause Puru to cry in fear.
"Natsu, don't scare him~!" Cosmos cried out as she takes Puru from the man. "he didn't mean to hit you!"
"tell that to this furball who always comes hitting my head ever chance." Natsu growled in annoyance while glaring at Puru whose fur stands up and made the furball go hide in Cosmos' hair. "why did it come again? Does it still want to be flung like back then?"
"no flinging Puru~!" Cosmos retorted while slapping Natsu's back and then began to calm Puru who slowly came out of her hair. "he's just here because he wants to be with us! Just that!"
"hey, you were the one who said that it was better for it to stay back where its home is?" said Natsu as he looks back front and focuses on riding the horse. "it came to us because of a change of mind."
"I like to think of it that way." Said Cosmos as she now holds and hugs Puru close to her chest. "maybe Puru wants to come with us because its close to us after how long we are together."
"I'm not taking care of that thing if it eats all the candy in Bash's store again, you hear me?" said Natsu with an annoyed face. "I'm still pissed after how it ate everything."
"Puru said sorry already, didn't he?! Just forgive him~!" Cosmos cried out while hitting Natsu's back repeatedly.
"no way." Natsu replied with a deadpanned face
While the two pink haired individuals bicker against one another, Kama and the others look at them awkwardly.
"it's been bugging me for a while, but…" said Kama as he points a finger at them. "you two…since when you become so close and familiar to one another?"
"huh?" said Natsu as he glance at Kama before to Cosmos. "well that's because we decided to go out with one another."
"yes~! That's right~!" said Cosmos with a smile while hugging Natsu's back with Puru in between. "we're going out!"
"WHAT!?" Kama and Kamika exclaimed while Neppa and Uosuke who were drinking instantly did a spit take while their eyes popped out.
"since when?!" the group exclaimed.
"about a week of us staying back at the forest." Said Natsu while Puru came jumping and riding onto his head. "turns out, the two of us got a lot in common and we live close to."
"Natsu can be gruff and all, but he's very sweet sometimes~!" said Cosmos while smiling at Natsu. "right~?"
"only sometimes." Said Natsu while looking away.
"aw~! You're blushing~!" Cosmos teases as she hugs Natsu's back even more. "you're cheeks are going red~!"
"that's just my hair." Natsu replied. "and don't stick too close. It's already annoying to have this furball come along and stick onto my head."
"isn't that fine? I mean Puru likes to stay on your head, right?" Cosmos replied and Puru let out a cry of agreement.
"he is only liking it because of my hair's color." Said Natsu with a monotone voice and a stoic face.
The two keeps on talking while riding their horse that moves farther ahead than that of Kama and the others who were looking baffled and shock from learning that their two friends are going out.
'what the hell do they even have in common!?'
The group asked themselves before they shake their heads and whip their horses' reins so that the mammals run to catch up to Natsu and the others.
Kama and the others began to bombard Natsu and Cosmos with questions as the group continues while they head back for Crocus.
That's a wrap!
Bye bye