Wanderlust

~Chapter 4~

Lucy's POV

Plue and I have been searching for this creature for hours. There's been no sign of anything that would be big enough to kill livestock. We've only found a few small animal tracks and some deer poop. Nice. As we continued to look for clues I thought of a brilliant idea. I gasped and slapped my forehead because I was an idiot for not thinking of this before! "Plue! Let's go back to the creek by our camp. I have a feeling we'll have more luck there." I said proud of myself for my idea. Plue made a noise of confusion but started walking that way anyway.

Once we made it to the creek I made my way to the spot I had stood that night. I crossed the shallow creek and made my way to the bush that I had seen those piercing eyes. I started to search through the bush looking for any clues. Something red caught my eye. I looked closer and noticed it was.. A scale? I picked the scale up and examined it closer. It was beautiful! The red reflected the sun making a flame effect.

"Hey Plue! Come look at this!" I shouted from across the creek. He paddled his way across the stream and I gave him the scale. He made a little 'ah' noise and handed it back to me. "Let's continue on this way!" I said pointing towards the back of the bush.

We continued walking as the sun started to get lower. As we strolled through the brush I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched. Every now and then I looked behind my shoulder incase something was behind me but there was never anything there. I looked behind me once more but of course there was nothing. Just as I was about to face forward I stumbled into a tree.

I held my head in pain, rubbing the spot that made contact with the tree. Once I actually looked at the tree I noticed huge scratch marks had disturbed the bark. Was it a huge cat? Or was it the beast? I traced the marks with my finger before shaking my uneasy feeling off and continuing through the woods.

The further we went the more we saw the marked trees. It's like someone or something was marking their territory, I thought. The uneasy feeling made its way back into my chest. I continued forward a lottle slower than before. We soon landed in an open clearing. A small cave was on the other side of the field, slightly hidden by overgrown shrubs.

We made our way to the cave, my guard up and on high alert. We were name right outside the cave. The sun made just enough light to where you could see the first few feet inside. I looked down on the ground an saw more scales. Now fully confident that this was where the beast resides, I slowly made my way in. Before I went any further I called out to Plue. "Stay here, and if anything happens then run and find help, okay?" I said, looking at him seriously. He just nodded his head and looked at me nervously. I sighed in relief and continued into the cave.

I was about ten feet in already and the darkness swallowed me whole. I started to feel around for anything that could help guide me through. I found the side of the cave and continued to feel my way along. After a few more feet I stumbled on something big. I fell to the ground and huffed in annoyance. Damn caves with their rocks and darkness, I thought. I felt around again trying to grab something to help me up. I touched something cold and bumpy. It kind of feels like a snake's scales, I thought as dread washed over me in waves.

The object began to shift and I quickly got up pulling out one of my keys in self defense. Deep growling came from deeper inside the cave as flapping noises echoed throughout the place. I wanted to run back towards the entrance but something stopped me. The creatures tail wrapped around my ankle pulling me to the ground. I gasped as it started to pull me farther into the cave. Just as I was about to summon one of my spirits, the creatures claws held my shoulders down. I started to panic and just as I was about to yell I caught sight of its eyes. Those same soul piercing eyes I had seen that night by the creek. They glowed through the darkness of the cave and now that I got a closer look I could see that they weren't yellow but more of an onyx color.

I tried to struggle out of the beasts grip but that only made it tighten around me more. I let put a gasp of pain as its ckwas started to pierce my skin. The creatures growl caused a shiver throughout my body.
I hung my head down and knew that if I made any wrong move now the creature would likely crush me to death. I needed to think of something and fast.

"W-what are you?" I said with fear clear in my tone. The creature seemed to flinch at my voice, slightly recoiling it's grip before tensing back up. It was silent for a moment before the creature did something I didn't expect. "I.... Dragon." The creature responded.

Wait! This thing- I mean dragon can talk?! I honestly didn't expect to get an answer... Maybe I can try to reason with it! I thought nervously.

"Do you have a name?" I asked hesitantly. There was another pause before I got an answer. "Natsu." It replied curtly.

"Okay Natsu, well my name is Lucy. I was hoping that I would find you here." I said choosing my words carefully. If I tell him that I came here to kill him he'll definetley kill me, I thought nervously.

"Why?" He responded his grip on me tightening slightly. I could feel his glare on me darken and I started to sweat slightly.

"I wanted to....." I paused racking my brain for anything to say. "become your friend." What? Lucy you idiot! Out of all the things you could of said that was what you cam up with. Welp, I guess I'm dead now. I thought as I accepted my fate.

"F-Friend?" Natsu responded shocked. His grip faltered and I slipped out of his arms falling onto the floor. I was surprised but didn't let my chance go to waste. I ran out of the cave as fast as I could but I heard a rustle come from behind me. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. I kept chanting in my head as I ran into the clearing. "W-wait!" Natsu shouted as he chased me.

I knew that I'd never outrun him so I stopped. I could here him from behind me, the grass crunching from beneath his weight. I sighed, and slowly turned around facing him. I gasped when I finally got a good look at him.

He was handsome! He had the face of a human with pointy ears and horns. His hair was also pink which I found cute. He had scales running down his neck and chest. His arms were fully covered with scales with claws attached to his fingers. His legs were also covered with scales with claws to match. He had gigantic wings and a tail that looked just as impressive. He was also wearing clothes which I was thankful for. What caught my interest was the white scarf that was wrapped around his neck.

He looked at me curiously as he slowly made his way over to me. "Why... Run?" He asked. I looked at him and held my head in shame. "I... I'm just scared of the darkness! Yup-that's it! Just wanted to get out of the cave." I said nervously, while fidgeting with my hands. He seemed to take that as an answer and gave me a goofy grin. "Lushie.. Weird." He said.

Wait?! I'm the weird one here?