Unfrozen Love

~* Chapter 23 *~

"Let's go, Team Natsu!" Erza yelled before pointing towards the street, everyone behind her, Lucy, Natsu, Wendy, Happy, Carla and Gray, all agreed, yelling, "Yeah!"

Gray turned his head towards the back of the room, staring at the closed door of the infirmary. "Old man." He said to the master of Fairy Tail, "Take care of Yuki."

Makarov gave him a nod before waving him off, saying, "Well, get to it, child! We don't want you to die if you met Yuki by accident, you know!"

"Right." Gray nodded before waving goodbye, running towards the Team who was walking away from him.

"So, any idea where Ultear would be?" Natsu questioned as he carried his backpack.

"You were the one that thought of finding Ultear, you know, Natsu?" Lucy said, letting out a sigh.

"We have to find a dark guild that is related to Zeref." Erza answered with a small smile, "They'll be there to exterminate them."

"Where's the closest dark guild?" Wendy questioned, her voice still as quiet as ever. "There's one from the west of Town." Carla said, pointing her paw towards the direction of the dark guild.

"But, isn't that guild inside the forest?" Gray said, "There'll be for sure a large number of ambushes and thieves."

"That's our only hope." Erza said, "If you want to go to another guild, it'll be miles from here, and it will take days, or even weeks, to get there." Gray's chest tightened. He can't stay that along away from Yuki.

"By night time, someone will have to stay up and watch." Erza said, "If your tired, call anyone of us up." Everyone nodded before walking into the forest, all of them not letting their guard down.

Few hours past, and Erza's hand shot sideways, signaling them to halt. "It's getting dark." She said, staring at the orange-y yellow color on the sky. She walked into an open field before saying, "We'll camp here for the night. Lucy, Wendy, set up the tents. Happy, Carla and I will collect firewood. Gray, you come also to keep watch. Natsu, you stay and keep watch just in case if there was any ambush."

Everyone parted before doing their own thing, and Gray followed right behind Erza and the two cats, watching them from afar. "Why'm I watching? You should be fine on your own." Gray said, crossing his arms before leaning against the bark of the tree.

"You have to get Yuki out of your mind." Erza said, catching him off guard.

"What?! Why?"

"You aren't even concentrating right now." Erza said, her eyes furrowing before picking up a piece of log, "You were slacking off right behind the team while we walked, your mind was somewhere else."

His eyes lowered slightly, "I know.. But-"

"No but's, Gray Fullbuster." Erza's voice was stern, but also showed a kind of advice-like tone, "Just get her off your mind for a few days. After finding Ultear..." Her voice trailed off, and she started to stroke her chin.

Gray raise an eyebrow, "What's wrong?" He questioned as he walked towards her.

"Once we find Ultear..." She mumbled, "What do we do after?"

Gray halted in his steps, him now deep in thought, "What do we do...?" Silence. Then, the rustling of the leaves sounded, snapping them out of their thoughts.

"Happy, Carla! Where are you?!" Gray yelled. He heard nothing, "Weren't they here a few moments ago?"

"Not anymore." Erza said, "I think they've been kidnapped."

"What?!" Natsu pulled Gray towards him, his eyes flaring with anger, "Why didn't you watch them, Ice Bastard?!" He yelled, the fire crackling behind him.

"Hey!" Gray pushed Natsu away from him, "They were with us the whole time! But then we didn't see them after that!"

Natsu clicked his tongue before sitting in front of the fire, grabbing a small stick before poking it into the fire, sucking it after it was lit. He mumbled under his breath as he continued to eat the fire.

"Carla..." Wendy's eyes were down, while her head was hung down. Lucy was by her side, patting her back softly.

"We'll find them..." Lucy assured while Wendy nodded.

Gray watched, but clicked his tongue before walking into the forest. "Where the hell are you going?" Natsu grabbed Gray's shirt (yes, he's wearing a shirt this time).

"Finding the guild." Gray answered plainly before walking forward, but Natsu tightened his grip.

"Oh hell no! It's already dark out! You're going to be attacked by bastards inside the forest!"

"You're calling everyone a bastard right now, bastard!" Gray yelled.

"You too, Stripper!" Natsu snapped back, but his grip slipped. "Sh*t!" Gray burst into a run into the forest, and he ran where the shadow cast a shadow over them.

"Crap!" Natsu ran forward, but Erza stood in front of him. "Erza!" Natsu's eyes furrowed, but her's glared fiercely into his, him shivering from head to toe.

"Leave him." She said, looking into the forest.

"Why?!" Natsu yelled, "He's going to be killed!"

Erza smirked, but shook her head side by side, "He won't." She said, turning her body towards the fire, "He's not going to be killed by weaklings like them, even if they are 10 times stronger then he is." She took a step forward, "He's got the guts to fight for his love one."

Gray panted as he ran, using his instincts to find his way through the forest. "Little bit more..." He skidded across the floor before rolling, rolling into the bush closest to him.

"Move along!" A man's voice yelled just in time. He heard scampering feet, but he didn't dare move a muscle. Moving a muscle means the rustling of the leaves around him.

"Oof!" It sounded like a female voice, then he heard a thump. The thump sounded close, but far at the same time.

"Get up!" The man yelled, "We'll need you to defeat that ice bastard!"

"Ice bastard... Is he talking about me?" Gray mumbled to himself, curiosity building up inside him. Just as he listened to the footsteps walk away from him, he heard another pair, right behind him, and a voice as low as a lion's.

"Well well, who do we have here?"