Chapter Thirty-Three
Red Hair
"I don't see why you're so angry, it was an honest mistake," Natsu said as he swiftly dodged another punch that caused the boulder behind him to be obliterated.
"It was," the man agreed, his scowl deepening, "until you continued to eat it, that's when it ceases to be a mistake and becomes an act of war," he added, swinging again.
This time Natsu stood his ground, holding up a hand to catch the incoming fist. Fights like this always went the same way, he'd find someone moderately powerful, he'd have some fun, and then he'd show them how utterly outmatched they were, usually by doing something like catching an attack with no discernable effect.
This was not like those fights.
Natsu caught the fist but was sent hurtling back into a tree, his body slamming against the wood so hard that bark shattered all around him.
"You know," he said, getting to his feet and brushing some dirt away from his shoulders, "you look like a pirate I know, but you sound like some kind of cosmic God of Destruction," he advanced, throwing his punch. The would-be assailant had followed a similar logic to Natsu, going to grab the fist. At the last second, he decided against it, sidestepping out of Natsu's way.
An unseen force of pressure went bowling through the clearing, smacking into the trees on the opposite side, producing an effect similar to Natsu's body slamming into them.
"You're strong, for a kid," the man grinned, showing that he was beginning to enjoy their impromptu fight.
"You're deceptively quick for someone with a prosthetic arm and leg," Natsu said, his grin mirroring that of the red-haired man.
"Not as quick as your mouth, apparently," the older man grunted, closing the distance with a dash, following up with a knee aimed high. Natsu slapped it away with a cross guard, striking out and landing a punch in his adversarie's gut.
The red-haired assailant was thrown up a few feet but quickly managed to get his balance, touching down with grace.
"Listen, kid, this has been fun, but you're playing with fire," the man said with a challenging glare, holding his hand out, fingers splayed wide as a barrage of undirected magical power hit Natsu head-on.
Natsu could feel past the torrent of magic, peering into the depths of this man's magical reserves. It was as vast a reserve as he'd ever seen in anyone. It dwarfed the likes of Titania and Mira, it even made Laxus' power pale in comparison. This was in line with a depth that Makarov could be compared to.
"That's kinda my thing, but don't worry, I'm as fireproof as they come," Natsu said with glee, pushing through the waves of power and jabbing at the man's outstretched hand so hard that the resulting slap echoed around the forest.
The unrefined magic was halted, leaving his defence wide open. Natsu rushed in, sweeping past the last-second attack and stopped, spinning on one foot. He gave the man a vicious spinning heel kick that landed in his gut.
He let out a satisfying grunt of pain but before Natsu could follow the attack with another, the red-haired man had recovered and kicked low, catching Natsu before he could guard against it.
The Fire Dragon was sent sprawling a dozen feet away, kicking up the dust in his wake. "Shall we try once more?" he asked with an almost feral grin, one that was matched well by the red-haired man.
They both rushed in, spinning backwards on their heel and slamming their feet high, countering one another perfectly.
Their exchange continued this way for some time, fists and legs flying with increasing power and speed.
The man managed to get around Natsu's defence and leaned in with a gut-wrenching fist to the stomach that launched him high.
He landed in the lower branches of a tree. After regaining his sense of balance, he dropped down to the lowest branch.
"This has been fun, really fun, I think you could genuinely be someone strong enough to defeat me, but it sounds like the love of my life might be in danger…" he said before pausing, "and probably Lucy," he said quietly.
"So I'm going to have to cut this short and leave you hanging. If and when we meet again, I'll pay you back for the meat, and I'll expect us to have a little rematch," Natsu said with absolute glee from where he stood.
The red-haired man simply gave off a light-hearted laugh, "I'm sure we will meet again, but perhaps next time we can move beyond using a quarter of our strength, eh?" he laughed heartily, seeing the pink-haired man's face turning into a deep frown.
"A quarter…" he said slowly,
"That's right, I was only using-"
"You were using that much?" he tilted his head, watching in fascination as his opponent stopped laughing and looked serious for once.
He dropped from the branch, his body enveloped in a soft orange aura. The air between them became tense.
"I really do have to go now but this was exciting! Before I go, I'll show you what a quarter of my true strength is, try to stay alive now!" Natsu grinned a moment.
"Now wait a minute, kid, I need to prepare myself for any real kind of combat!" the red-haired man asserted, trying to throw himself into a guard.
He got exactly the position he wanted but he knew by now that the kid was monstrously strong and fast and that his words were not going to work, not right at the peak of their performance.
Natsu dashed forward, striking out with a fist that slammed into the man's hastily thrown defence.
The resulting connection produced a shockwave around them. The man was gone in an instant, shot back through the forest with a blast that decimated the ground and trees all around his body.
The shower of debris finished falling to reveal a long trail of destroyed earth that disappeared from view.
"I bet he never expected it to be like that," Natsu laughed before deciding to leave the area before the man came back.
'Take the meat,' E.N.D. said.
"No, because that would be a dick move. I'll find something fresh," Natsu answered, falling into a run, and trailing back toward the general direction of the long road.
After a few minutes, he picked up Lucy's scent and then almost immediately Gray's. It didn't take long before he was back on the road, popping out of the forest and brush with ease.
"Yo!" he waved at them, holding up a fish he'd caught in a small lake he'd passed along the way.
"Yay!" Happy belted out ecstatically.
"This one is to share, but the next one will be all yours, little guy!" Natsu said with a smile as he approached.
"Let's get a bit further up the path and then find somewhere in the forest to pitch camp for the night, it'll be dark sooner rather than later and we should at least get somewhere comfortable before that," he told them as he lead the way, walking onwards until they'd come to a suitable point to stop for the night.
They'd reach Loduhn before night fell fully tomorrow, by that point they'd probably be able to find somewhere to sleep with a roof over their heads.
They each silently pondered what was waiting for them in Loduhn. No matter how hard she tried, Lucy couldn't shake her bad feelings whenever Natsu had said the town's name.
It was like a foreboding shadow, looming over the horizon. How much danger could she find herself in while Natsu and Gray were with her?
A/N: Just a little teaser, I can't have them actually fighting, not this early on.