Gratsu: a long job

Chapter Four: A Strange Town

Chapter 4: A Strange Town

General POV

           The two wizards slept together soundly for the rest of the train ride. Erza and Lucy didn’t even notice, they were too busy playing a card game. Lucy was winning, naturally, as she had a lot of time to practice during her lonely days at her family’s mansion; Miss. Scarlet did not like losing, and was becoming as red as her name might suggest in anger.

           “You cheater!” She lunged for Lucy, who called upon Cancer. Cancer was more than happy to join the fight of the two girls who were, how shall I put it, scantily clad. That lasted for a while, until they had both fallen asleep holding tight to clumps of each other’s hair.

    The train whistle blasted the poor ears of its riders, signalling they’d be arriving soon.   Natsu and Gray drifted out of sleep. Natsu slowly turned around, eyes half open, not quite awake yet, with a rosy blush dusting his cheeks. Gray also opened his eyes, and for a second, their eyes met and connected. They began to sink into each other, and then suddenly their eyes grew wide. They jumped apart.

    “Ahhh!” they yelled.

    “What was that for, Natsu?!” Gray yelled angrily, knowing full well that it was all his doing.

    “What do you mean by that Ice Queen?! YOU were the the one SPOONING me!!!” Natsu yelled back, his cheeks turning from green to red. Gray huffed angrily, unhappy with the turn of events, and left for the girls’ car.

    The girls were awoken by the boys’ fight.

    “I am going to kill those two...” Erza mumbled, her words blocked by Lucy’s face, which she had fallen asleep on.

    “Not if I get to them first...” Lucy replied, also still half asleep. They both realized how they had fallen asleep and Erza nonchalantly slid off Lucy. The two girls sat up, laughing cheerfully.

    “I guess we’re almost there, aren’t we?” Lucy wondered aloud, casting an excited gaze outside the window.

    They met up next to the door as the train squealed to a stop, color quickly returning to Natsu's face as they drew to a halt.

    When the group stepped out to their destination, Schwerin, they noticed immediately why they had been called. the town was in shambles. Small houses had maybe two walls standing tall if they were lucky. The streets were strewn with broken and burnt chunks of wood, shattered bricks and stones, and occasional splashes of blood.

    “What happened here?” Gray’s deep voice wondered aloud. The others were equally bewildered.

    “That’s the power of a death wyvern.” Team Natsu swiveled their heads to the voice. It’s source was a young man standing atop a pile of rubble. Arms crossed, and stern, untrusting scowl on his face, he was definitely in charge. The man was certainly odd. Petals, leaves, and vines seemed interwoven into his hair. He was dirty, as if he had gone and rolled around in a pile of soil; however, he didn’t look messy or gross or even unclean. He somehow managed to pull off the dirty look. Nevertheless, the most noticeable of his characteristics was his bright emerald green eyes. They dazzled; somehow the entire color spectrum was interlaced into pure green. In his bad mood, red seemed more prominent than the other colors.

    “What? Ye gonna keep staring at me or are we gonna fix this?” The man yelled, irritated.

Erza was the first to snap out of it. “Who are you?”, she demanded, so fiercely that Natsu and Gray quickly grabbed each other in case her furry turned in their direction. Surprisingly, the man didn’t even flinch.

“Ulfang Byof.”

   

“Ulfang Byof, are you are our employer?” The man curtly nodded his head, unblinking.

“This guy gives me the creeps,” Natsu whispered in Gray’s ear. Gray tried not to react, but the mage’s closeness emanated a heat which sent shivers down Gray’s spine. Gray regained control, and grunted in agreement.

    The group was silent, awaiting explanation. With a sigh, Ulfang began his tale.

    “It was morning. The sun had just peaked from behind the mountain range and the birds had just risen from their slumber. I was yonder--”Ulfang pointed at the large boulder near a breathtaking overlook that Gray and Natsu were standing near. Both backed quietly away from the rock as Ulfang continued his tale in his odd forested accent. “I felt a tremendous source of magic. Then, the birds stopped chirping.”

Ulfang paused here, observing the look of fear in the group’s eyes. Natsu inhaled quickly as he felt the cold touch of Gray’s arm against his; he seemed to have moved in his apprehension. Lucy held onto Happy tightly while the cat was attempting to flee. “A massive wyvern rose from the valley. the people of this village are strong; they tried to fight the beast. Its tail unfortunately knocked me out early in the battle, and I awoke to find my comrades and friends had been transformed into something...else. I can only describe them as the creatures from the old legends: zombies. I tried to contain 'em, but they escaped. I need ye help to find and restore them, and slay the beast that committed this atrocity.”