The Lost Dragon Slayer

Chapter 2: Agony

By the time Gray had finally found Lucy, she was unconscious and on the verge of falling off the cliff. Terrified that something was seriously wrong, he pulled her away and cradled her against his body, sighing in relief when he felt her light breath fan against his chest. He placed her gently on the ground and scanned over her beaten body. His eyes lingered on her broken leg, knowing that with the way it was bent, she would be out of commission for a while, even with Wendy's healing magic.

Knowing she was now in a safer place, Gray scanned the area in search of Natsu. He found it strange that he couldn't find the idiotic dragon slayer around Lucy, especially with the way she was hanging off the cliff half beaten to death. He was worried when both Loke and Virgo suddenly disappeared from the battle, knowing that only occurred when Lucy was unconscious or out of magic. Both options didn't help the worry pit in his stomach as Erza and himself fought off the rest of the surprise assault. He was sent to find Lucy and Natsu while Erza attended to tying up the bandits. Mest was pretty much out of commission at the beginning of the fight due to taking the head on assault right at the beginning. He was banged up but Wendy was in charge of taking care of his more serious injuries at the moment.

He glanced back down at Lucy and cringed. Wendy was going to have her work cut out for her when she saw Lucy.

Looking around once more, he scratched his head as he took in the amount of damage to the landscape. He considered them lucky that the attack happened in the cliffs, rather than the town where Natsu could have destroyed it all even before their mission began.

"Speaking of the damn idiot... where is he?" Gray shrugged and began to walk around the cliff ledge. "If he was around here... I'd be able to hear him a mile away. Where the hell did he go?" Gray's heart began to beat faster, knowing that if he didn't find Natsu soon, Erza would have his head. The palms of his hands had just begun to sweat when he nearly jumped out of his unbuttoned pants. He twisted his body around to face Lucy hearing her groan and he ran back towards her.

Kneeling down to hear her better, he leaned closer and caught the heart wrenching words that leaked from her mouth.

"Natsu... No... You can't... Don't leave me again..."

Was she talking in her sleep? Dreaming about the flame brain of all people? He sat back on his calves and thought back to what she could have meant. He glanced around, taking in all the damage of the area with a more calculating eye. He noticed the trails of blood splatter all around, and got up to follow the trail to the edge of the cliff where he first found Lucy. His eyes widened when he noticed the large patch of now dried blood on the side of the cliff that strangely looked like something had tried to claw its way up the side of the mountain.

It was fingertips.

Gray fell back and breathed heavily in and out through his nose, trying to calm himself down. Natsu didn't...? He hadn't...? He quickly scrambled back up spun around, taking in every angle of the area. Hoping, praying to himself that he was wrong.

"NATSU? Natsu! You idiot! Where are you!?" He frantically searched for the pink haired bastard, but each passing second of no retort back was another stab in his heart. Gray dropped to his knees, arms limp at his sides as the realization was finally sinking in.

The reason why Lucy was so banged up on the side of the cliff reaching down.

The reason why Natsu was nowhere in sight.

The reason why there was blood everywhere and none of it seemed to have come from Lucy.

Gray glanced back at the blonde haired women before he sank down into his arms and began to cry.