With his galea in place surrounding his head, it was nearly impossible to get his raven-haired companion to stop laughing at him.
"You're wearing the same thing, Gray. Why are you laughing?" Natsu frowned, readjusting baldric over his shoulder before putting his sword in place.
"That ugly pink hair of yours is sticking out at the bottom," Gray answered, pushing himself off of the wall and walking over to him. "Are you really going behind the emperor's back? You know if you get caught he won't show any mercy, seeing that you've been imprisoned countless times for meaningless arguments. You're lucky they're letting you free with having to join the legions as punishment."
Natsu glanced at him before nodding firmly. "We want this, Gray. It's either we do it before I am sent off to fight again or we never get married. Saint Valentine agreed to it already, we just need the right time and place."
"Hurry up then if you want to get back. The general is growing impatient. Whether or not he has the rest of the cohort back, Redfox will leave us behind," He said quickly.
Natsu nodded, looking around if anyone else had survived the battle. "I think everyone retreated already." He turned back to Gray. "Let's go."
-
"Thought you two were dead," The praetor grunted as Natsu and Gray finally managed to meet the rest back at the small area of tents they had set up. "Good to see my best soldiers are still here to stay."
Natsu remained stone-faced as Gray nodded. "Sir." He quickly pulled Natsu along as they sat in one of the tents before he said anything that would piss off the praetor.
The pink haired soldier took his galea off and ruffled his locks tiredly, the thought of returning home giving him a little more energy.
"Did you hear the rumors about the emperor's 'magic' experiments? People say he's changing."
"Changing from what? The bastard he already was?"
Gray chuckled. "Do you believe it?"
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "The rumors? Not even a little bit. Emperor Zeref lost his mind a long time ago. It's no wonder people think something's happening."
The raven haired man sighed. "I wonder what'll happen once we get back."
Natsu hummed in response before murmuring, "What I wouldn't give to see her right now."
"Focus. You'll see her as soon as we return, but for right now we need to start packing up so we can get mov-"
It happened so suddenly, catching the two completely off guard. One of the soldiers had fallen right in between the flaps of the tent, blood seeping out of his back where the arrow was piercing him. He was dead.
Natsu looked at Gray with wide eyes, neither of them moving for a second before hearing yells coming from outside the tent.
"Ambush," Natsu muttered, putting his galea back on and pulling out his sword.
The two burst out of the tent, Natsu surveying the area for what was going on. He saw Redfox fighting off two soldiers nearby, and half of the enemy's army was littered on the ground, as well as some of their cohort's men. The ground seemed like it was no longer a dirty green, but more of a dark red.
Natsu quickly acted as a soldier ran towards them, swinging his sword in attempt to kill Gray.
The pink haired soldier managed to stab the enemy in the neck, some of the blood spurting out from his neck splattering onto his face.
"How many more of them are there?" Gray asked, killing off another enemy soldier.
Natsu looked around, using his sword to deflect the attack of another. "We need to get to Redfox."
The two of them ran towards where they spotted the black haired man earlier, seeing him kill another soldier. He turned to see them and looked around hastily, making sure no other enemies were nearby. He was angry. "This is because you two lagged behind. The enemies were able to track our camp because of you two!"
"How is that possible? We made sure no one was following us," Gray answered.
"It doesn't matter now. We need to go, or else none of us are making it back alive," Natsu struggled to fight off a soldier, finally stopping him with the help of the praetor.
"Round up whoever is still alive and can walk. Those injured will need help getting back," Redfox said gruffly. "Kill any enemy who stands in your way."
Natsu and Gray nodded as Redfox hurried off to fight two more soldiers before the two of them went in the other direction.
"Looks like we won't be going home without a little bloodshed," Gray grunted.
Natsu chuckled, dodging the attack from an enemy soldier. He stabbed the soldier in the back before wiping the sweat off of his forehead. "Guess not."
