Fairy Tail Camping (Nalu, Gale, Gruvia, Jerza, Miraxus, ect)

28: Curious Creatures

*Erza's POV*

DAY 9
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It has been exactly seventeen hours since Natsy has seen Lucy. Carla and Pantherlilly have been scouring the skies endlessly. Happy, unfortunately has been injured from the strange source of magic that was shot at him. He hasn't spoken a single word, so we know virtually nothing of Lucy's whereabouts. When Levy and Gajeel came back to the camp yesterday after their walk, they said that they met up with Natsu and he was on a rampage looking for her. He didn't tell them anything, he ran around looking for her then took off with the next gust of wind. He didn't come back to the camp last night too, he's probably still out there looking. It's so saddening, he's boiling with rage, but he can't even find her. And he can't stand it.
Mirajane has ceased all activities due to the situation. She's not happy about it, but knows that Lucy is priority number one.
Master, Wendy, Romeo, Happy, Jellal and myself are the only ones here. The rest of the Guild is out searching.
We've been utilizing the amount of DragonSlayers we have,
Wendy has been busy healing Happy, whereas Gajeel and Laxus have been out and about trying to sniff out Lucy.
The only thing I've heard so far is that her smell is everywhere. As if she had been walking around the woods all night.
But then there's other times where it smells like Happy, in places he hasn't even gone to. It's perplexing and perturbing to the largest extent. I'm not even sure what to do. But we must find Lucy.
"Erza?" Jellal says, startling me.
"Yes?!" I answer suddenly.
"It seems that Gajeel and Laxus have located Natsu, but he doesn't have Lucy with him." He says.
My heart sinks slightly.
"Oh, well alright, where are they now?"
"They're heading towards us right now."
"Very well."

Simply because it wouldn't do any good to have everyone in a place that Lucy is obviously not, we designated our meeting area to be a rather large clearing in the middle of the woods.
I placed a large weapon of mine in the center, extending out beyond the trees so that it can be seen in case someone is lost, or if Lucy somehow escaped, that's if she was even captured. Blast! There's so much we don't know!
"Erza they're here!" Jellal yells from Wendy's direction.
I jolt up from the stump I was sitting on and rush over to the three DragonSlayers emerging from the brush.
"Just sit still! God! We need you to find Lucy!! If you aren't Lucy, but if you are then stOP IT LUCY!! AGRFGHHH!!!"
Natsu is wrestling with an animal I think. It has outrageously large ears and vibrant colors all over it.
It looks like a fox, and is currently kicking Natsu in the face with it's hind legs.
"What is this thing!?" I ask, trying to pry it off of him.
"I don't know! But I think it might be Lucy!" He yells.
"What?!" That can't be!"
"It smells just like her." Natsu says, holding it away from his face.
I look to Gajeel and Laxus, they nod in agreement.
"It's the cheerleader alright. From what I can tell at least- Geez! It's fricken everywhere! All I can smell!" Gajeel says, putting a hand up to his nose and turning away from the creature.
"Hey! You got a problem with Lucy's smell!?" Natsu shouts.
"And what if I do! You gonna cry about it!?"
"I'll make you cry Metal-Mouth!"
"Bring it on Salamander!"
"HEY SHUT UP." I yell.
"S-sorry.." They both say.
I wretch the animal from Natsu and hold it up under it's front legs. It struggles and kicks and tries to bite at my hands.
I shake it and yell at it.
"Stop it and be quiet!"
It whines and slackens.
"That's better. Now, we need to figure out what you are... Gajeel!"
He chokes and almost falls over.
"What?"
"Go find Levy and bring her back here now." I say darkly.
He turns around and is gone in a blink of the eye. I go over to Master and show him the animal.
"We're not sure what it is, but I could be the key to finding Lucy." I say, holding it in front of him.
"Mmm, how interesting, I'm not familiar with this creature, but it's extraordinary that it can wave out Lucy's scent like that."
Natsu rushes towards us and tries to grab the thing from me.
"But what if it is Lucy?!?!" He shouts.
"Hey! Hey! Calm down. I told Gajeel to get Levy for a reason. If there's anyone who can find out what this is, it's her. And besides, her and Lucy are best friends right? Levy will know what to do." I hold the animal in my arms and it quietly snuffs out a breath.
"Hm, what should we call this thing?" I murmer.
"What do you guys have over there?" Romeo calls, trotting over. He gets a good look at it before shouting,
"RANIBUFUX!"
"What?"
"That's what we'll call it." He says confidently.
"That just sounds like 'rainbow fox'." Jellal says from beside me.
"Sounds pretty lame if you ask me.." Laxus mutters.
"I don't see you coming up with a better one!" Romeo snaps.
"Woah, easy, I think it's a great name. From now, until we figure out what this is, we'll call it Ranibufux." I say, cradling it in my arms. I breathe in and shake my head a little, thinking to myself.