Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 33 - The Traitor

Whoever it was following them wore a particularly earthy smell. Natsu and the other Dragon Slayers didn't truly pick up on it at first, given how musty the rest of the group had become, but after a chance to catch a bath by a river and wash away their own grime, the scent became of particular interest.

Especially because it belonged to a Second Generation Dragon Slayer.

It maintained a fair distance from the group, still. At times, Natsu caught it on the wind ahead of them, other times it was level with them but at a distance to the east or west. Wendy was the last of the Dragon Slayers to notice it but was incredibly wary of it when she did catch it. Natsu easily determined that it wasn't Axel or Kiyl, this was one of the other six new Dragon Slayers.

"Let me go find him," Natsu said during one of their designated walking breaks. Erza shook her head. "Come on, Erza! Let me catch this guy and we can get some info out of him."

"At this point, it's more beneficial for us to let them go about their mission as if we don't know," Erza said quietly. "It'll clue us into their next move. Will they call for help or only maintain their distance? So far, the Empire hasn't seemed interested in stopping us. For the moment, I'd hedge my bet that we're being watched if only to see if we recruit allies or clue the Empire into some hidden rebel bases."

"Boy are they going to be disappointed," Gray muttered.

"For now we'll let the tail keep track of us," Erza said. "Undisturbed."

Natsu frowned but relented. It'd been days of nothing but walking and idle chit-chat. Nobody bothered to scout ahead or see what was going on. The Empire was going to sneak-attack them anyway, and the Dragon Slayers could probably pick up on it if that were the case.

The walk to Crocus was fraught with mostly plains, hills, and some mountains. They found refuge in a few abandoned villages, the chains of Imperial servitude lain across all of them. They followed a stream that Erza knew would lead them to Crocus so they didn't get lost along the way. Time was still of importance, as the Games were set to start in a week. If they weren't on time, the Empire would probably try and force them into getting there, likely leveraging Lucy in some way to do so.

On more than one night, Natsu considered getting up with Happy and bolting to Crocus to rescue Lucy, then abandoning the Games altogether. Sure, he wanted the chance to fight Erza, and their fight would be a great distraction for everyone else to get Lucy away and cause a bit of mayhem, but it'd be better to see what the rest of Fairy Tail was up to.

But Erza kept vigilant watch of the rest of them. She wasn't afraid of fighting the Empire, but against an enemy this large and powerful, she was being careful. Natsu couldn't relate. But, out of respect for Natsu and Gajeel, they also weren't taking the trains to Crocus, so Natsu wasn't going to start raising complaints any time soon.

"When we get to Crocus," Carla said as they got walking again, "what sort of a host do you think we can expect?"

"What do you mean?" Erza asked.

"I'm simply wondering if the Empire views us as a micro army marching on their gates and if they'll respond in kind with their own," Carla said, "or if there will be a bit less hostility."

"So far the Empire doesn't seem keen on allowing things to escalate explosively," Erza said.

"You weren't around when Sting came for the rest of us," Gray said.

"No," Erza said, "yet I can't help the feeling that what he did was an exception, an outlier." She glanced at Natsu. "Something a Dragon Slayer would do."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Now that everyone is corralled and under incredible scrutiny and supervision, it's unlikely they'll attack us unprovoked," Erza said. "If at all. It seems they have a vested interest in attempting to puppet Natsu and me as some sort of redeemed warriors falling under Imperial jurisdiction."