What's a Soulmate?

Lost in the Within

Natsu woke up a little groggy. His back hurt, but other than that nothing appeared to be wrong. The light shone through María's window, lighting up Natsu's face. Confused, the Salamander looked around. 'Was it all a dream?' he wondered.

Cautiously, he set foot on the cold floor, wincing. It was freezing. He looked under the covers, but couldn't seem to notice Happy anywhere.

"Ah, he's probably eating! I gotta eat too!" he said to himself. Now excited for a flavorful morning, Natsu dumped his clothes on and ran downstairs. The main room was empty, which struck him as odd. 'Are they all asleep?' he questioned.

The pink haired boy shrugged. "Oh well. A guy's gotta eat." Then he opened the fridge to help himself to whatever he wanted.

Gray was staring at the blue sky with its stupid yellow sun. His morning had not been off to a good start. His muscled ached, he had no idea where he was, and nobody was around. The ice mage was stripped off of clothes, but that part didn't really bother him much. Nobody was there to see anyway.

"Where the hell," he asked. "Am I?"

Through the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of an orange mane. Now full of hope, he jumped up and ran towards the bushes. There was no sign whatsoever that there had been someone there.

"Whoever you are, show yourself!"

"Gray?" he heard a confused voice ask behind him. The raven spun around to come face to face with his fellow friend, Loke.

"Why are you in your underwear?"

Gray quickly grabbed some over sized leaves nearby and put them over him.

"I woke up like this," he hissed. Loke smacked his back with a laugh, and settled down. His face was beading with sweat, usually neat suit ripped.

Gray pointed with his chin. "What happened to you?"

Loke just shrugged, his face seeming to contort with pain. "Some villagers tried to burn me. Said something about their princess having to be safe."

"I would see why they'd try to keep you away," he chuckled. Loke glared half heartedly, then stood up.

"We gotta find everybody else. I have a feeling this is what Levy was talking about."

And with that, the two set off to a mysterious quest.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Levy were fighting with lions. Lucy was up in a boulder, throwing rocks towards the herd. Levy was bathing them in iron bars she'd taken from the cell she woke up in. The two were screaming at the lions to get out.

"Go away!" Lucy groaned. "Where are my celestial keys?"

Levy shook her head. "I don't know why, but I can't use my magic!"

Suddenly, the two heard a snarl in the distance. A flash of blue and black speed past them. In an instant, all the lions had run away. All that was left were an Iron Dragon Slayer and a blue, flying cat.

"Gajeel!" Levy squeaked. She slid down the boulder and ran towards him. "Are you okay?"

Gajeel grunted. "Yeah, I'm fine. Ya need me to save ya all the time, Shrimp?"

But Levy didn't get mad, because she knew he was joking. Lucy, on the other hand, gasped indignantly.

"How dare you? She worked very hard! If it weren't for her, I'd be dead!"

The blond was now standing right in Gajeel's face, having to look up due to size difference. Despite that, Gajeel shrunk back.

"Where is everybody else?" Levy asked. Gajeel turned towards her and simply shrugged. Happy flew to Lucy's face and started sobbing.