Dawn of Adventure {Book One of The Paths We've Traveled}

Chapter Six: Sickness Progresses

"We need to rest," Lucy called out, her hand resting on Wendy's forehead. The younger girl shook her head, grabbing Lucy's wrist to try and pull her away. Lucy gently pulled Wendy's hand away, brushing her sweaty hair out of her face. "You do need to rest, Wendy."

"No, I don't want to keep slowing us down." Wendy's voice was haggard, and she couldn't even move from the floor of the wagon. Most of her sickness at the moment was because of the moving vehicle, but Lucy knew that she truly wasn't doing well.

"If you push yourself too much, that'll slow us down even more," Lucy admonished, pulling a blanket up around Wendy's chin. The girl smiled thinly before yawning loudly, wrapping her arms around her stomach as the wagon rolled. "Would it help if you rode the horses? I know animals don't make you sick like vehicles do."

Wendy shrugged, moaning and looking up at Lucy through bleary eyes. "It would be better, but I don't think I have the strength to keep myself awake or steady enough." The wagon went over a bump and Wendy retched, curling into a ball as her stomach tried to empty its contents. Lucy sighed, rubbing the girl's back in a small gesture of comfort.

"There's a clearing up ahead, we can camp there for the night!" Happy sat atop of Natsu's head, still mourning the fact that his wings refused to work. But he was more than happy to ride it out with Natsu.

Within the hour, the group had assembled their small camp. Natsu and Gray were still struggling to set up their tent, Happy trying to help but simply making the whole thing worse. Wendy and Carla were sitting by the fire next to Lucy who was currently cooking up a soup over the flames. At the same time, Erza was gathering firewood while collecting nearby herbs that Wendy had pointed out earlier. She was doing much better now that they weren't moving, but even so, she was definitely getting worse the further they traveled into Benos.

Wendy sighed, closing her eyes while trying to inhale as deeply as she could. She couldn't do it very well, so she instead pulled Carla closer to her chest as she tried to swallow past the lump in her throat that made it nearly impossible to breathe. Carla shifted in Wendy's arms, looking up at the young girl that was struggling so much every single day. Lucy glanced over as well, pity welling up in her heart as she beheld her friend. She prepared a bowl of stew before setting it down before Wendy, offering the girl a small smile as Wendy forced her eyes open.

"How are you feeling, kiddo?" Natsu asked as he sat down besides Wendy, the boys' tent finally set up. Natsu tousled the girl's hair, grinning down at her as he tried to stay optimistic. He knew Wendy wasn't doing very well recently, and that the farther they went in Benos, the worse her condition got. And that part of him that thought of her as a sister wanted to send her back to Magnolia where she was safe, far away from this sickness that plagued her. But he thought that with every job, and for all of his teammates, even Gray, though he would never admit it. No matter what, he always wanted to protect his friends, the people who had become his family these past few years. But he had to learn to let his friends take on their own fair share of danger if they were going to succeed. And he would never want to force Wendy to go home when it was so obvious that she wanted to stay. That's what he would want in her position.

Wendy smiled sleepily at him, resting her head against his shoulder when he sat down next to her. "I gotta say," her voice scratched, and she cleared her throat before continuing, "that I've definitely been better." She picked up the bowl in front of her, trying to ignore the shaking in her hands as she ate.

Lucy handed Natsu and Gray their own bowls of soup, as well as smaller ones for Happy and Carla. Happy looked like he wanted to reject the soup, but once he realized he was out of fish, he reluctantly began eating.

Lucy was about to serve herself when Erza returned, arms full of firewood with a bulging bag hanging from her waist. Gray leapt up from his seat by the fire to take her load from her, and Erza nodded her head gratefully. She took the bag from her waist and sat next to Wendy, placing it gently in the young girl's hands. "I tried to find everything you asked for, but I don't know if I got everything right." Wendy smiled at Erza, already digging through the bag.