Chapter 3

The Rat King

Gajeel felt himself floating, twisting, flailing through the air. A startled cry pierced his ears and a rich scent assaulted his nose. His body spun and twirled before landing heavily on something solid. Gajeel grunted, hearing an echoing, but more feminine, groan next to him.

His stomach rolled and he took several deep breaths before opening his eyes.

He sat in the middle of a forest. Pine trees loomed above his head, their dark branches blanketed with pristine white snow. Snowflakes swirled in the air and landed on his nose. A chill blew on the wind, but he felt surprisingly warm beneath his annoying uniform. He stood to his feet, wiping snow off his pants.

"Ow, ow ow…"

Gajeel sighed and slowly twisted to stare at the girl still on the ground. Her frilly white dress blended into the snow and he was sure her tiny black shoes would do little to ward off the chill in the air. A book lay in the snow, but she grabbed it before the dampness could damage the pages. She peered up at him, her dainty mouth pulling into a frown.

"Where are we?"

Gajeel opened his mouth to ask his own question when a crash rent the air. A troop of giant rats burst through the trees, a tall, blue rat leading the charge. Gajeel rubbed his tired eyes; the rat brandished a large fish in his hands.

"For the Rat King!" the blue rat yelled, his voice surprisingly familiar.

Without a moment to think, Gajeel drew his sword and blocked the fish aimed for his head. Levy cried out and jumped to her feet. Gajeel traded blow after blow, his arms weakening from holding the iron weapon for so long. Suddenly remembering himself, Gajeel gripped the hilt with one hand, turned his free arm into a metal club, and shot it at the blue rat. The rat jumped away, rubbing his shoulder.

"Happy? What are you doing?" Levy glared, but kept herself behind Gajeel and well away from the smelly fish in the rat's hand.

"Go, my minions! Go!" Came a cackle from the woods.

Gajeel lifted his sword and club and faced the woods. The pink haired fire mage stepped out of the trees, a great purple cloak billowing behind him. He cackled to the sky, flashes of fire shooting from his mouth. Gajeel rolled his eyes and heard Levy sigh behind him.

"Really, Natsu?"

Natsu pointed at them and yelled, "Charge!"

Rats swarmed around him and it took all Gajeel had to defend himself from their attack. Bursts of magic flashed behind him, telling him Levy had her own battle on her hands. A clawed arm swiped at his head. Gajeel lifted his metal arm, blocking the blow. Sparks flew as nails rasped against the thick metal and the rat shrieked.

This is the strangest fight I've ever been in…

"Gajeel, watch out!"

Levy's cry made him jerk his head up just in time to see the fire mage twist his hands, a ball of flames forming between his hands. He raised his hands, aiming directly at Gajeel, when a black shoe smacked him across the face.

Natsu howled and hunched over, cradling the side of his face.

"Your Majesty!" The blue rat cried out, hurrying to the mage's side.

Natsu looked at the duo and Gajeel tensed, ready for another fight.

"You haven't seen the last of me!" Natsu shouted, flames erupting from his mouth. "This isn't the last you've seen–"

"You said that already," Levy grumbled.

"Of the Rat King!"

With a loud cackle that started purple and pink birds from the trees, Natsu darted toward Levy, snatched the book from her hand, and hurried back toward the trees.

"Hey! Give it back!"

Natsu laughed, arms outstretched. The blue rat hurried to his side, a wide smile on his face.

"You must defeat the Rat King, if you want your precious book back!" His mouth twisted and a strange warble shook his voice.

Levy marched forward, stopping only when Gajeel threw out his arm in front of her. "Happy, you better not ruin that book or I'll–"

"That's what you get, for throwing a shoe at my face!" Natsu yelled, a red mark on his face darkening with every passing minute. "Defeat me, if you want it back! Come on, Happy!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

With a twirl of his cloak, Natsu disappeared into the trees. Happy quickly followed and the rest of the rats disappeared in a puff of gray smoke.

Gajeel waited until the trashing stopped and the forest returned to its normal, calm state. With a sigh, he turned his arm back to normal and sheathed his sword. Levy hopped in the snow and bent to retrieve her lost shoe.

"Yeah, real original, Natsu. Why'd you have to impersonate the Rat King, of all people…he gets defeated at the beginning of the story."

Gajeel simply watched as she tucked her foot back into her shoe and placed it back onto the ground. Snow crept up the sides of her shoes, almost reaching her exposed skin on her feet. She sighed, lightly stepped to a flat section of snow, and turned to look at him.

"Are you ok?" she asked, tilting her head. Her short hair caressed her smooth cheek and Gajeel grunted, clearing his throat.

"What's it to you?" he grumbled, brushing off his pants.

"I was just making sure, since he started attacking you and all."

Her fingers twisted in her dress and Gajeel felt a stab of guilt pierce his heart.

"I ain't the one who got my book stolen," he muttered, crossing his arms.

Was it just him, or did Levy's mouth twitch?

"I'm fine," she said, answering the question he definitely did not ask, "but I'll definitely be giving Natsu a piece of my mind when I get it back. It was the oldest book in my library, if you can believe it."

Gajeel grunted, choosing the safer option of staring off into the forest before he actually answered the woman.

He never thought of himself as the creative type, save for the few songs he wrote when he actually had down time, but for a dream, his surroundings were incredibly realistic. The snow and breeze felt cool on his skin and he could have sworn he actually smelled the trees. The bird's calls seemed just like the real thing, even if they fluttered by with strange colors on their wings.

"This looks just like what's described in my book Natsu stole," Levy mumbled, keeping a wide gap between them.

Gajeel sighed and rolled his eyes. If he was gonna make up a weird dream, why did he have to go and create her of all people? He avoided her like the plague, partially to help ease the guilt that squeezed his chest every time he saw the puny mage, but mostly to keep himself from the receiving end of a fight should her two lackeys decide he'd gotten too close. And if his guilty and apparently stress-filled conscience did decide to plunk her into his dreams, why did he have to make her look all soft and huggable in her pretty white dress?

Just addin' more and more to yer pile of guilt, aren'tcha?

He growled away the frustrations rising in his throat.

"I have no idea what yer talkin' about, Shorty, but I don't wanna hang out here any longer." His footsteps crunched in the snow as he trekked through a wider section of the forest.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"Dunno. Just away from here."

Does she always ask this many questions?

Maybe if he walked long enough, he would wake up and could put the whole experience behind him.

"Do you think–"

Gajeel growled and turned on his heel, startling the shorter girl.

She squeaked, but pressed on. "Do you think you could help me get my book back? It was a gift. And the oldest book in my collection..." She ended in a whisper, peering up at him through blue wisps of hair.

Try as he might to fight it, Gajeel felt himself soften.

"...just how old is it?"

And why should I care?

Levy twirled a strand of hair. "Over 130 years old," she said, a note of pride in her soft voice.

Gajeel sighed heavily, unable to ignore the way she begged with her big brown eyes and pouting lips. "Fine, I'll get yer stinkin' book back…"

He resumed his walk through the trees, his steps heavier than before.

"Great! Of course I'll come with you, it wouldn't be fair of me to make you do all the work."

"Whatever. Just don't slow me down…ya fall behind, I leave ya behind."

Snow crunched behind him as she hurried to catch up. He grumbled to himself as they walked, cursing the snow and strange dreams and pretty mages that had no business walking around with a thug like him. It was several minutes later that he cursed at himself for shortening his wide steps without even realizing it.