Hot and Cold

Moon Drip

~*****~

The next morning, my eyes feel like lead. I barely slept a wink, thanks to Toasty Mc'Snoresalot. The sun peeks through the window and Natsu stirs, a loud yawn shaking my head. "It's so early!" He chirps.

"Yeah, I'm never up this early," Gray comments through his own yawn.

"You two kept me up all night and I'm not complaining!" Lucy chimed.

"I am." I comment as I sit up, my hand racking through my bed head.

"Stop whining and lets go!" Lucy chimed. I groaned loudly as we all followed her outside. She immediately summons her clock spirit-- I forget his name, it's too damn early-- and settles inside. I plop my hand on my fist after a moment of staring. Horologium, that's it.

"You really think we'll be able to find another way to lift the curse?" Natsu asked sleepily.

"Well, we don't have much of a choice," Gray mentioned. "The village may think the moon's cursed, but everyone else likes it. And destroying it might really mess things up."

"You're right! If we didn't have the moon, the tides would get all crazy! And at night the sky would be pitch black!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Without it, Salmon could go extinct!" Happy preaches. "And they're my favorite fish!"

"Would you guys keep it down?" Horologium says. "We don't know what's lurking out here, so we shouldn't draw any attention, the lady demands impatiently."

"You should walk on your own," Natsu comments.

"He's right." Gray nods. "Do you just summon your spirits because you're lazy?"

"Listen, this curse is freaking me out. We have no idea what we're up against, and I'm scared." Horologium states. "She says nervously."

"Are you kidding? This is awesome!" Natsu cheers. "S-Class quests rule!"

"Yeah, I bet I could probably freeze that stupid curse." Gray hums.

I snort. "I dunno, I think my ice freezes quicker than yours."

"It does not!" Gray snaps.

"Wanna make a wager on that?" I hum impishly.

"You three are idiots, she retorts disparagingly." Horologium says.

There's a loud thudding noise that causes me to halt. I turn around and gape. "Whoa-- what the--" Natsu gasps.

"It's huge!" Gray shouts.

"Giant Rat!" I cheer.

"What are you waiting for? Beat it up, you guys!" Horologium shouts. "She yells."

Just as Gray makes a shield, the large rat hocks up a waft of awful, awful breath. I mean, my eyes began to water. "It's a rat!" I hear Lucy shriek.

"Come on, you two, get up!" Gray snaps angrily.

"That really reeks," I comment with a heave.

"The smell knocked out Natsu!" Happy commented.

I pinch my nose and grasp at Natsu's vest and began dragging him along. "Here, catch--" I snap at Gray as I lug Natsu at him, just as he was waking.

"No, wait--" Natsu yelped before hitting Gray headfirst. I whirl around, tug my jacket up and slammed my hands against the ground.

"Wasteland--" I hiss and the ground is suddenly covered in a thin sheen of freezing ice.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?" Natsu asked curiously.