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

Chapter Twenty-Two: Into the Unknown

Why she did this to herself, she would never know why. She should have said screw it to the consequences and worn all the pants and coats possible, along with thick socks and mittens and hats. Yet here she was, garbed in only a thick cloak, oversized boots, and her worn cotton maid uniform. She assumed it was only through luck that she hadn't frozen already.

Lucy stumbled blindly through the snow covered countryside, her vision limited to only about a few feet ahead of her. Her socks froze to her skin like casts, failing at keeping out the piles of snow that crowded the extra space in her boots with each new step that sunk a good foot into the white tundra every time. Natsu's cloak and scarf flapped around in the violent wind, constantly escaping her tired attempts to hold them in place against her chilling skin.

The time of day frightened her. Not that she could really see the sun with the complete lack of visibility, but she had a faint idea due to the lightening sky. The day had to be breaking, or perhaps it already had hours ago. Without a watch or a view of the sun, she truly had no idea what time it was. But she had left probably around dinner the day before, meaning she wandered the entire night with no end in sight.

Was Wendy still okay, these hours later? Had Natsu or Evia managed to wake her up? Or did she still lay in a restless sleep, searching for a way back to consciousness through the endless sea of black? "I should really write another book," she grumbled, blinking snow from her eyelashes as she took another staggering step forward, snow pouring into her boots in a flood. Her voice cracked and groaned from disuse, throat aching from the below freezing air.

She shivered, rubbing her arms with the ends of the cloak in a meager search for warmth. Nothing was warm anymore, she would never again lose the traces of cold that clung to every inch of her body. Even her breath no longer warmed the space before her mouth, her body lacking the heat to melt the frozen air around her. It was times like these when she wished she had the fire powers of her best friend. Or a tolerance to snow and ice like her stripping friend. Instead she was stuck with a useless key frozen between her breasts, the other fourteen hidden somewhere along with her whip in the tiny room she despised. Lucy groaned, squinting desperately for a sign of something. Anything. God, she was so cold.

XXX

"Get some rest Natsu," Erza shoved him towards his door, sending the weary Fire Dragon stumbling. "Staying up any longer isn't going to help Wendy get better." Natsu glanced back with bleary eyes at the room he had just vacated, Wendy's labored breathing attacking his ears and hurting his head and heart. He didn't want to leave her. But like always, Erza forced herself into the situation and was making him go to bed. He wasn't really complaining, not when he couldn't remember the last time he actually slept for more than five hours. But sleeping while Wendy fought for each intake of air...

He yawned hugely, answering his own question. Gray scoffed, collapsing on one of the couches. "Go to sleep pyro. Before Erza makes you."

Natsu rolled his eyes in return, grumbling insults under his breath. But he did as he was told (for once in his life), and pushed open the door to his room, breathing in the strong scent of smoke and burning wood. Grinning to himself, he shut the door tightly before sucking in about half of the roaring fire. The temperature and light in the room diminished noticeably, but he didn't care. He was tired, his stomach was full of fire, and his scarf was just waiting to be put on. He yawned again, searching for the familiar scaled fabric lying somewhere in the mess of his room. Well, it wasn't a mess to him, but Lucy complained everytime she caught sight of it. Speaking of Lucy, he hadn't seen her since last night, when she had barged into Wendy's room for a moment before disappearing. He wondered where she possibly could have gone. It wasn't like her to just not show up for hours, especially when Wendy was so sick.