Shattered Dreams ||Nalu||

Chapter Sixteen

It was quiet. A chilling quiet that had the hairs on the back of Lucy's neck raising, and she had the distinct feeling that someone was watching them. More than likely they'd been found by a pack of Marked ones, who were probably keeping back for the time being, waiting for the perfect chance to attack. She snorted to herself at the thought. Why didn't they just attack and get it over with?

Natsu glanced at her, concerned. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, closing her eyes to simply rest as he walked. The fire mage had demanded she let him carry her for the rest of the day after the attack accompanying Gajeel's death, until they found somewhere suitable to rest. She'd decided not to bother protesting, especially after she'd had him examine the mark on her back only to discover that it was nearly filled out completely. He'd get his way anyways...so, the celestial mage found herself being carried on his back, one arm wrapped around his neck to keep her balance, the other clasped lightly in Wendy's hand. "Just thinking, that's all."

Wendy scrunched up her nose unhappily, being very careful not to touch Natsu as she stepped over a tree root. "They're following us."

So the dragon slayers had noticed it, too. Why she was surprised, she didn't know. Their noses would have told them if their ears hadn't.

"I know," Natsu grumbled, onyx eyes darting to look over the shoulder Lucy wasn't resting her chin on. She fought back a sneeze when his pink hair brushed against her nose. "They're not attacking. I don't think they're going to. They cut us off from the beach."

"Where are we going then?" Lucy demanded, frowning again.

"Back towards Magnolia," Natsu said with a soft huff. "They're herding us like we're cattle." Fury underlined his words, and Lucy sighed softly, patting his chest with the hand that wasn't holding Wendy's.

"We'll figure it out," she told him, shaking her head. Not.

Wendy spoke up again, pulling her hand free of Lucy's. "Could we head towards Clover Town, do you think? Or would they cut us off again?"

"I think we just need to find a safe place and hole up there for as long as we can," Natsu said bluntly. "But we can't. We need food, and I can feel the temperature dropping again. You two are going to need some kind of shelter. I can keep ya warm, but even I get cold at some points."

"I don't know how you haven't lost a limb from frostbite yet," Lucy commented, referencinging to his lack of coat. He'd gone with a simple jacket he'd found while they'd been sheltering in Hargeon, but it had been burned away when the Marked had come after them.

He flashed her a small grin. "It's hard to get cold when you're fired up all the time."

"Idiot," she sighed, smacking his head lightly. She went back to brooding about the fact that she had no keys left, that all of her Celestial Spirits may or may not have been dead. Just like everyone else was or was going to be. The thought had her tightening her grip around Natsu. She couldn't let him get the Marks. If he got the Marks...she didn't dare think about the pain that would accompany that, both physically and mentally.

Lucy furrowed her brow in thought, thinking back to what Loke had told her...or trying to. She couldn't remember all that well, the recovering along with an attack moments later had diminished her memory of the words. What had he said? Something about remembering something? A stab of pain in her head made her grimace. Okay, change of plans, she wouldn't focus on that. At all. It hurt her head to think about it.

"Um, Lucy?" She glanced at Wendy, who was looking at her with concern in her hazel eyes. "Do you think...do you think they're waiting for us? Like Gray said he'd do for Juvia?"