Searching for happiness (Attack on titan X Fairy Tail Crossover)

Chapter XIX - With a M

"Do you think Wendy is at this cave?", Natsu asked behind me as we fought our way through the undergrowth.

Just after I got out of the guild Wrath of Kelpie, I had returned to my comrades. They had all been quite surprised that I had come back so quickly and I had instantly inaugurated them in all the details I had learned. However, I had taken care not to tell them about my lie, because then Lucy would certainly have started to annoy me with questions.

The creek, Nile had mentioned, actually flowed very close to the guild building, so we followed it north. Lucy had summoned one of her Celestial spirits who had shown us the direction. However, I thought we could have done it without this weird guy who looked like a hyperactive, red penguin with a compass on his head. But Lucy seemed to have been very excited about this Celestial spirit.

"Honestly, I hope she's not there.", Erza said in front of me. She had taken the lead and we all ran in a long row right behind her. As if she were a mother duck and we were her chicks. The creek flowed quietly next to us and a few birds bobbed up and down the shore and did not seem to be disturbed by us. Thoughtfully, I agreed with Erza. It would really be the worst case if Wendy was in Kenny's cave. It would be a stroke of luck if we only met Kenny. Then we still would not have the slightest idea where Wendy actually was, but then we could ask him about her and arrest him. After all, he still had to be injured from our fight, and as a result he was no longer a major threat.

"But if she is not there, where is she then?", Gray said behind me. Well, we all would like to know that. And I was still bothered by the question of what these three characters who accompanied Wendy were all about. Reiner, Bertholt and Annie. They had to have a specific reason to support Wendy in her search.

It took a while, but finally we found a cave entrance under a ledge. It was overgrown with scrub and bushes, but Erza had discovered the cave immediately. I had to admit that I was a bit surprised that we could find this hiding place so easily. Secretly, I was worried that Nile had not told me the truth.

"Be careful.", I whispered to my comrades as we peered cautiously into the darkness of the cave, "We do not know what is in there.". With these words we sneaked close to each other into the interior of the cave. We crossed a dark and slightly damp, stone corridor. The daylight behind us was getting weaker, so our view was immensely limited. The smell of light mildew and damp moss rose to my nose and immediately I realized that here was almost the same level of cleanliness as in the guild Wrath of Kelpie.

Our footsteps echoed dully on the stone walls and we barely dared to breathe, fearing to make loud noises. However, we had to give up our camouflage after a short time, because it was now pitch dark and we could hardly recognize our own feet. To see at least something, Natsu gave us a little light with his fire. Since we were now much easier to discover, we now had to be more careful. However, my instinct somehow told me that Kenny, if he were actually here, would surely have noticed us long ago.

After a short time the corridor became wider and in the pale light of the fire we could see a large cave room, in which also some pieces of furniture stood. It had to be Kenny's shelter here. As it remained dark and calm, he was obviously not here.

"There's nobody here.", Lucy whispered behind me and I rolled my eyes slightly. Did she always have to pronounce the obvious? I paused to look around for a moment, but that had apparently been too abrupt for Lucy, who was walking right behind me. With a short surprised squeak she ran directly against my back. I shot her a scowl over my shoulder, but I was not sure she could even see it.

"Sorry.", she whispered as I looked ahead again. Natsu had now found a few torches that were in a holder in the wall and ignited these, so we had a better view. In fact, we were in a low cave room with a bed in a corner. Next to it stood a wooden table with two chairs and besides I could discover two wide chests. Apart from the torch mounts that had been knocked into the wall, there was no other interior. Typical Kenny, I thought immediately. As pragmatic and sporadic as possible. Erza sighed softly and put her hands on her hips as she stepped into the middle of the room and looked around.