Esme lepped through the trees of a forest towards the destination of their mission. Kage, in his raven form, flew next to her. Esme landed on the forest floor in front of a large cave and Kage landed next to her, turning back into his normal form. A bolt of lighting landed in front of them and Laxus appeared, glaring at them. "Will you two slow down?! I can't jump through trees like you can!"
"Well it's not like we asked you to come. You invited yourself." Kage stated, shoving his hands in his sweater pocket. "You're magic is weak because your still sick and there's no way I was gonna let Esme fight this monster on her own!" Laxus argued making Esme giggle. "Awe~! That's sweet!" She said while patting his cheek and walking passed him towards the cave.
Kage strolled into the cave while Laxus and Esme stayed outside. "Why are we letting him go in alone?" Laxus asked.
"Because our plan is to lead the monster out here so we're not trapped in that cave. Kage can turn into a cheetah so running away won't be a problem."
A loud screech and rumbling came from the cave and Laxus and Esme got ready to fight. A cheetah booked it out of the cave and a large owl griffin ran out close behind. Esme slammed her hands on the ground and formed a golden magic circle. "LIGHTNING PRISON!" She yelled and pillars of electricity formed around the beast and shocked it until it passed out. "And you thought we couldn't handle it." She said to Laxus with a smirk. Her and Kage walked up to the owl griffin as the Lightning Prison faded.
"It's a beautiful creature. Shame we have to kill it." Esme muttered. "It was killing the people of a nearby town for food. We wouldnt HAVE to kill it if it just stayed in its territory." Kage said as he crouched down in front of it and held his hand out towards its head. A small blue magic circle appeared for a couple minutes before disappearing. "What did you do?" Laxus asked as Kage stood up and walked away from the beast. Kage shot him a smirk. "I just got myself a new animal to turn into."
Thunder echoed through the clouded sky and it started to rain just as Esme finished off the animal. "We should set up camp. Walking back in this weather isn't smart." She said. Kage let out a sneeze and she chuckled. "Thank you for proving my point!"
They set up camp just in the mouth of the cave to get out of the rain. A small fire in the middle of two tents. Laxus entered the cave with some rabbits he had caught for food but was met with a worried Esme. "We have a problem." She said. She then pulled the flap of her tent open to reveal her brother, sweating panting and running a very high fever.
"He got sick again?" Laxus asked.
"He was never better. But being caught in this rain must have brought his fever back."
"Well he's gonna have to bare it for tonight. The rain doesn't look like it's gonna let up so we'll have to head back tomorrow."
Esme got ready to sleep in the other tent while Laxus offered to stay up and take care of Kage. Laxus sat next to where Kage layed in the large tent. "Fuck off Sparky, your not....y-you....I don't need.." Kage slurred out. Unable to form a sentence. "Try to sleep kid. Let your body rest so it can get better."
"N' don't need shit from you. I can turn to fuckin....bird cat...monster...chicken."
"I can't believe I offered to deal with you." Laxus muttered. "But If I DIDN'T take care of you then I'll have Gajeel, Lily AND Hayden on my ass.
"S' Kinky~"
"GO TO SLEEP!"
The next morning Esme and Laxus both crawled out of the tents and stretched. "How is he?" She asked. Laxus paled and shivered. "I never want to be alone with him again."
Esme let out a loud laugh. "What did he do?"
"He didn't DO anything. He just layed there and spewed nonsense about a foursome between me, Hayden, Gajeel and Lily."
Esme suddenly started laughing so hard that she started crying while Laxus turned red and told her to shut up. "Is he still asleep?" Esme asked when she finally calmed down.
"Yah. With magic currently weakened along with his body, he's gonna be asleep for a while. I'll carry him on my back, you take our bag of stuff."
Esme nodded and they started packing up to leave. Esme carried the bag that held their camping stuff while Laxus rested Kage against his back. Once the two were ready, they took off out of the cave and through the forest.
Gajeel and Lily sat outside the Guild, waiting for them to get back. "I swear if anything happened to him..." Gajeel said with a glare. Hayden stepped out of the Guild and walked up to them. "They still not back yet?"
"No. But they better be back today or else Gajeel and I might go looking for them." Lily stated. Anger dripping from his voice. They soon spotted the team making their way towards the Guild and ran up to them. They almost murdered the Lightning Dragon Slayer when they saw Kage passed out on his back. "What happened?!" Hayden demanded. "Calm down boys. We got caught in a storm and Kage's fever came back. We couldn't risk traveling in the rain so we camped out in a cave." Esme explained, walking pass them and into the Guild.
Laxus turned slightly and let Gajeel take the sick boy. "We shall take him from here." Lily stated. Laxus nodded and followed his girlfriend into the Guild.
When Kage woke up, his vision was blurred and his head pounded. "How are you feeling?" A deep voice asked. Kage looked to his side and saw Pantherlily sat next to him. "In pain." Kage stated, moving to sit up slightly. "Gajeel went out to pick up some food. I offered to stay and watch you."
"I'm at your guys' house? Last thing I remember was talking to Laxus inside my tent."
"You got sick again-"
"No shit."
"So Laxus took care of you until you fell asleep. He then carried you back to the Guild and handed you over to us." Lily then got up and crawled onto Kage's chest, curling up while Kage ran his fingers through the exceeds fur. "You guys came back later than you said you would. We were really worried."
"It was a small delay. We were only one day late. You guys are so paranoid." Kage teased. "Hey! I have a new animal I can turn into! Wanna see?"
"Absolutely not! You are going to stay in this bed until you're better!"
"Kill joy..."
