Ruthless Winds and Raging Seas

Chapter 13

It was not long before they found the ship that had crashed years ago. Strangely enough though it had crashed into a very large cliff where it was nearly split in two. Upon arriving Natsu and his crew climbed up the cliff using a harpoon and slipped into the ship.

"Now remember boys." Erza told them. "This ship is slowly but surely falling apart so no running, no rough housing, and touch nothing but the coins."

They searched around the ship with great care, knowing full well that one slip up could lead to this ship crumbling to pieces with them crumbling along with it.

At first all they could find was useless junk. Rusty swords, used pistols, floors and walls stained with old beer and rum. But at long last they found the skeletal corpses of the former crew that boarded this ship.

"Any of them have coins where their eyes should be?" Natsu asked his crew.

"None that we can find." Laxus said.

"Okay let's split up. Erza, Laxus, and I will look in the West wing of the ship. Gray, you and Gajeel check the East wing."

"Aye-aye!" His crew replied.

In the East wing Gray and Gajeel didn't have much luck. They didn't even find a body in that area.

"I thought you said we would find coins wherever dead sailors were?" Gray asked him.

"We should have at least found two already." Gajeel answered.

"Hey while we're alone would you mind if I asked you what pissed you off the other night?"

"What part of the phrase none of your business did you not understand last night?"

"Sorry it's just that the only time I ever see you get that angry is when Natsu snoops around in the kitchen. Did you hate her singing or something?"

"Look it's not that I hate her singing it's just that song she sang reminded me of something. Something that makes me really angry whenever I think about it."

"What is it?"

"As I said before it's none of your business." He opened his mouth to say something but hesitated before speaking again. "A word of advice, don't get too close to that mermaid or any other creature like her because if you do she might steal your heart."

"Steal my heart? Is that a joke? Fins and scales aren't exactly what I look for in a woman." Gray chuckled. "You don't have to worry about me. I keep my heart locked up real tight, nobody's going to steal it."

"Aye, I thought the same thing a long time ago." Gajeel mumbled quietly to himself.

In the West wing Natsu found one corpse that had two coins covering where it's eyes once where but it was high up, so high that he couldn't reach.

"Gajeel come here." Natsu called.

"What is it?"

"I need you to lift me on to your shoulders."

"Why?"

"Because that skeleton up there has coins but I can't reach."

"We're going to have to be careful while we're doing this."

Gajeel lifted Natsu on to his shoulders and moved him toward where the skeleton was. Natsu reached for as far as he could go.

"Hurry up! You weigh a ton!" Gajeel complained.

"Oh don't be a baby!" Natsu told him.

Eventually Natsu managed to grab the two coins.

"I got em." He said.