Fire and Gold (Nalu)

Chapter 15 ~ Numb

Lucy's POV:

My voice wouldn't work. Nothing but a strangled cry escaped me as that wretched sword plunged into Natsu's stomach. My partner's stomach.

He staggered backwards, spluttering up droplets of blood. Yet he still stood his ground. He'd made up his mind. That child was not dying today.

He reached a shaky arm behind his back and gently pushed Eddie further away towards his mother, who now lay silent on the floor.

"You fucking brat..." the soldier spat, shaking with rage.
"Captain don't," another soldier said, anticipating his next move, "We have orders to bring them back alive. You can't kill him..."

The man didn't reply. He watched as Natsu, still upright, grasped at the sword- crismon pouring out his mouth as he choked on his own blood.
He then turned to me, a murderous, sinister expression on his face.

He tightened his grip on the hilt and without breaking eye contact with me, twisted the sword.
The size of the wound tripled tenfold. A hole straight through Natsu's body appeared, comparable to that of a shotgun wound. Only bigger.

Natsu screamed like I'd never heard him scream before. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he cried out, blood dripping from the wound and creating a pool of death on the muddy floor.

I heard a shriek escape me. I tried with all my might to get up but my head was met with a boot. It pushed me back to the ground with such force that my vision blurred and I felt sick.
Though, I felt sick anyway.

With a wicked, ungodly laugh, the soldier pulled his sword back out from Natsu's body. And just like that, the only thing left to plug the gaping wound was gone and blood gushed out, resembling a waterfall from my own hell.

He staggered backwards, gasping for air. With all the strength he had left, he turned to me. My eyes met his. Though blurry from both the gas and my own tears, I could make out what face he was making.
He looked remorseful. Not for what he'd just done, but for all the things left unsaid. He suddenly looked like he had a lot he wanted to tell me. A lot he wanted to do with me.

But, all he managed as he choked and gagged was, "sorry, partner."

With a gentle, toothy smile that before now had filled me with so much joy and warmth, his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the ground, head hitting the floor with a dull thump.

He didn't get back up.

I could see, but I couldn't. I could hear, but I couldn't. I could smell, but I couldn't.
My entire world went crashing down on me.

I screamed until my throat was raw, I reached out as far as I could to try and touch him but he was just too far away. My fingers felt his lingering, fading warmth, but not him.

"Fuck, captain! What're we meant to do now?! We had orders!" One shouted from above me.
A heard the clink of a sword being returned to it's scabbard, "...nothing. We say nothing. We've got one of em, that's all we need. We'll just say the villagers's had killed him when we got here, chances are once we leave they'll start cutting off parts of his body to eat anyway. No one has to know."

I wasn't listening to them. All I could focus on was the tiny, weak, rise and fall of his chest. He was still alive. Barely.
I had to get to him. I tried to crawl again. My head screamed at me to stop, my previously nearly healed concussion had come back full force, dizzying me and making the world spin as though I were on a merry-go-round. My back was no better, I was starting to inch past the point of no return with it.

Still, I tried. But again, that's all I did. Try.
That's all I ever seem to do.

I got a boot to the face again. The soldier pushed me back down much harder this time and the trauma to my head made me throw up, retching against the mud. On top of that, I was in no way a safe position to be throwing up, stomach down. I choked on it, gasping for air as it went straight up my nose, abruptly ending my ability to breathe. The acid of it stung my throat, mouth and nose, making me wretch even more violently.