Word Count: 775

Natsu groggily opened his eyes, remembering hopping on the train but not much else. His left cheek felt oddly cold, and he swiftly moved off of the solid object that had been holding him up. He stretched, his stomach finally settled now that the train had ceased movement. Lucy let out a giggle at Natsu, shooting her index finger at the "object" next to the slayer. Natsu furrowed his brows in confusion but proceeded to look to where she had pointed. The dragon's jaw fell open and his eyes widened so far the celestial mage worried he would hurt himself.

"Wha-? The stripper-?" Lucy smiled as she witnessed Natsu's inability to form coherent sentences.

"Yeah, Erza didn't even have to knock you out this time." Natsu gently poked Gray's cheek, wanting an answer to all the questions he couldn't quite formulate. The ice wizard's hand rose to swat the offending dragon away, but the warmth of Natsu's own hand wrapped around his. Gray slowly woke up, trying to yank his appendage away from whatever was trapping it. He lifted his eyelids only to be met with pools of green staring at him.

"What the hell, pyro?!" Gray exclaimed, pushing Natsu's face back.

"Why didn't Erza knock me out?" the dragon asked lamely.

"Because you had already fallen asleep?" the ice-make mage answered, though it sounded like a question in itself.

"On you?" Natsu kept up the barrage of inquiries, none asking exactly what it was that he was actually wondering.

"Yeah. What's with all the questions, man?" Gray grumbled, averting his gaze from Natsu's curious glance.

"Why did you let me do that?" Sometimes the fire dragon slayer wished he had a filter, but he had finally asked what he had been wanting to know. Gray looked up, startled, but gave no response. The mage honestly didn't know why he had shifted Natsu so that he rested on him. Didn't know why the heat from the other male's skin had been soothing to him. Gray shook his head, mumbling out something only Natsu could hear.

"Let's be off," Erza called to the two, turning around to go find her small mountain of baggage. The boys pointedly turned their heads away from each other, crossing their arms. Lucy held back another laugh, picking up Plue and leaving the rivals to "ignore" the other.

//time skip because I'm not good at writing battle sequences DX//

Natsu sniffed, his sandal-covered foot resting on his fallen opponent's back. Something smelled funny, and he fought the urge to cover his acute nose. Lucy, Erza, and Gray had all taken down enemies as well, leaving only the team left standing. Natsu saw this as the perfect opportunity to investigate whatever the strange scent was.

"Stay here, Happy. Something smells funny," he told his exceed.

"Is it fish?" the blue cat asked excitedly, but received a head shake in response. His ears drooped and he let his slayer go check out the hunch by himself. Natsu walked around the ruins of a building that had been too close to his fire, because buildings always seemed to get in the slayer's way, and sniffed the air. The odd smell drew him closer to the heart of the cluster of buildings. The setting sun painted beautiful colors across the sky, but elongated the shadows, pulling them to coat the city in darkness. The dragon continued tracking, paying no mind to the lack of light, as he was relying on his nose anyway.

Natsu tilted his head as faint laughter made its way to his ears, his nose overpowered with a scent he still had yet to place. It smelled like all the scents he had ever covered his nose to combined into one. The dragon grew lightheaded from the effect on his senses, but still spotted two eyes gleaming in the dark. Both were a milky white, the pupils having no hue distinction from the rest of the eye. They appeared to be glaring, but Natsu couldn't quite tell. The fire mage's vision swam, making the shadows appear to devour the landscape.

"Poor little Salamander," called a man's voice. It was raspy, forcing Natsu's hands to his ears to block out the harsh noise. The man approached, his tattered cloak hiding the rest of his form. Those oceans of bleak bore into Natsu's own eyes, preventing the green from looking away. "Now, come with me," commanded the voice. The indistinguishable pupils suddenly glowed light gray in the darkness, compelling Natsu to follow the order. In a trance, the dragon slayer nodded his head slowly, standing and trailing after the shrouded figure in the blackness of night.

Our little Natsu went off with the strange man! Let me know what you think so far and feel free to give me suggestions on how to continue!

~FanaticShipper07