13This was inspired by a piece of artwork by Alina-chan on one day when I was wasting time. I hope ya'll like it.
DISCLAIMER: I'm a college student; I can barely afford food, much less these characters. Please do not sue, you won't get anything.
Her first real thought was that he smelled. Plain and simple.
He smelt like ashes, sweat and dirt.
Normally, back at the guild, he smelt like wood, pinewood, to be exact. And though she would never admit to it, she loved that smell.
But she didn't care. She just didn't care. Hell's bells, the sky could turn purple, the seas could dry up, Happy could be a normal cat, but she wouldn't give a damn.
Usually she'd say it was a "normal mission" but since when did they go on any "normal" missions? The idea itself was ludicrous. Crazy. Insane. Unheard of even.
The creature had been vicious. It wasn't particularly bright as far as monsters go, but it wasn't stupid either. It's sheer size made up for its lack of brains. It had been harassing some farmers who lived near the mountains.
Natsu had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time. The landscape was hilly: Full of crevices that opened up to underground caverns that stretched for miles.
Once it had realized it was losing, pure desperation had set in.
And somewhere in its monster-mind, it decided that if it was going down it was taking somebody with him.
He, along with Ezra and Grey had pushed the beast back toward one of these crevices and as Taurus had landed the final blow, the beast had latched on to Natsu with it's claws as it fell into the deep darkness.
She had been sure her heart had stopped as she had watched him disappear.
How he had managed to crawl back up that crevice was beyond her.
All that mattered it that he did it and he was in front of her with that lopsided grin on his stupid face.
His clothes were torn to pieces as usual. His vest had disintegrated. His cape was barely there. They had been ripped to shreds. His shoes were gone.
He was covered in bruises on his left side. His lip was bleeding, and he was covered in dirt and other foreign things she didn't even want to put a name to.
The only thing that was still in pretty good condition was that damn scarf.
She hadn't even realize she was crying until he spoke. "Don't cry, Luce." Like nothing had ever happened. Like he hadn't been dragged into a dark pit by a half-dead, mad beast, bent on surviving a fall that it no normal creature could.
That had been the wrong thing to say turns out, because she just started bawling.
Stupid dragon slayer.
Didn't he know how worried they had been? He had been gone for hours. Hours!
"You idiot! Didn't you know how worried we were? How worried I was?" she shouted at him. "Don't ever do that again, you bastard!" Her words dissolving into little mewls and cries associated with distressed baby animals.
She didn't even notice he had moved until she saw his feet, and then felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her into a hug.
He still smelled something awful. But it was comforting, in a way and it ceased to really bother her when she let the fact that he was warm and solid and there. That was all that mattered.
"Lucy, you weirdo, don't cry. I'm here." He whispered in her ear, making her shiver. His arms tightening reflexively.
He was there. His arms were around her. This was all the comfort she needed.
"It's okay. I'm okay." He whispered, over and over again like a mantra, more soothing for her overwrought mind than anything else.
She didn't think about where Ezra, Gray and Happy were, though they had long faded into the background. She didn't think about how dirty her clothes were getting –like she normally would- she though just about how he kept whispering to her.
"It's okay. I'm okay."
And that was all that mattered to her.