The Rogue & The Alpha

Chapter 24 - Lost and Starving

Lucy's POV

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked Natsu who was leading our group back to the pack. It was becoming late in the afternoon and we were nowhere near the pack. "I swear it's this way" Natsu replied but I could hear some doubt in his voice. "You made us lost, didn't you?" Gray complained while glaring at Natsu. "No" Natsu denied while looking around.

We haven't crossed any animals to hunt since the Solstice and my stomach was begging for some food. "Natsu, we should stop to hunt. Everyone is clearly hungry" Erza spoke up. "I'm hungry too but there hasn't been any animals around for us to hunt" Natsu replied tiredly and then his stomach growled. "We get it you're hungry" Gray complained and then his stomach growled. "You were saying?" Natsu raised an eyebrow and Gray glared at him. "Shut up" he growled.

As they were arguing, my eyes wandered and I spotted some berry bushes. "Hey look! I've found some berries!" I cheered. "Really?!" Natsu, Gray and Wendy exclaimed happily. "Great job Lucy" Erza complimented. We ran towards the bushes and then noticed the berries had a weird colour to them. There were two types, one was a dark rainbow colour while the other was a bright purple.

"Wait!" Erza shouted before the boys could rush for a bite. "Are these safe to eat Wendy?" she asked. Wendy stepped forward and cautiously sniffed the berries. "I've never seen berries like these before. They aren't poisonous but something smells off about them" she said. "Then we shouldn't eat them just in case" I said while turning around and then I noticed the boys were already eating some of the berries behind us. "Guys!" I exclaimed and the girls whipped their heads around. Both boys turned to face us with purple berry juices staining their snouts.

"We don't know if these are safe to eat" I complained and then they both fell to the ground in pain. "Hey are you two ok?!" I shouted worriedly and then something weird happened. Their fur went multi-coloured before turning into a solid colour. Natsu's fur turned from pink to green while Gray's fur turned from raven to bright yellow. Their fur changed colour!

"Well that was weird" Gray commented as they stood up like nothing happened. Erza, Wendy and I stared at the boys with our jaws dropped. "What? Why are you looking at us like that?" Natsu asked, confused. I sighed, "just look at each other ok?" I said. It's best to let them see it for themselves. "Why?" they asked while turning to look at each other. "Ah!" they both exclaimed. "Haha you're yellow!" Natsu laughed. "Oh yeah? Well it's better than being green" Gray laughed and then they both glared at each other.

"Hey Pee Fur, what are you laughing about huh?" Natsu growled. "Me? What are you laughing about Puke Fur?" Gray growled and then they both started to fight. "You can fight later. Worry about your fur first!" I shouted but they didn't listen. "Enough!" Erza shouted and the boys jumped away from each other. As soon as Natsu jumped away, he farted. "Ew gross Natsu" I said while stepping back and covering my nose with my paw. "I didn't mean to" he replied and then farted again. "What the?" he exclaimed while looking at his butt and then Gray started sneezing uncontrollably. Natsu suddenly began to get dizzy spells on top of the farting while Gray would hiccup in between sneezes. What in the world is happening to them?! "I'm guessing one of the berries turns a wolf's fur a different colour while the other causes them to sneeze, fart, hiccup and become dizzy" Wendy explained. After hearing her explanation, I remembered hearing about these types of berries before.

"Wait, I know what these berries are. They're Rainbow and Mystery berries" I said. "Rainbow and Mystery berries?" Erza questioned. "I've never heard of those" Wendy said. "I've heard of them from other Rogues. Rainbow berries changes a wolf's fur temporarily and Mystery berries make a wolf either sneeze, fart, hiccup or dizzy for an hour" I explained. "AN HOUR?!" the boys exclaimed before going back to their sneeze, fart, hiccup and dizzy fits. "Although, I've never seen them until now though" I added ignoring their exclaim.

"Maybe you next time you two will listen to us before stuffing your faces" Erza scolded the boys. "Yes ma'am" they whined and then I remembered something important. From what I heard, Rainbow and Mystery berries grow on the northern side of the Outlands near Mt Hakobe. I've never been this far north of the Outlands but I was confident I knew where we were now. "I know where we are!" I exclaimed and everyone whipped their heads towards me in hope. "Really?" Natsu asked before sneezing. "Yeah, follow me" I said and then ran in the direction I believe Fairy Tail is. Erza, Wendy and I made sure the boys stayed at the back of the group as we ran. Especially while they were still under the influence of the Mystery berries.

After a little over an hour of travelling, we finally reached the border of Fairy Tail. It was close to where Natsu found me. Sometimes I can't believe I've found a new pack after all those years of being a Rogue. "Finally! The Mystery berries wore off!" Natsu cheered in relief. The boys' fur were back to normal and they both had stopped having sneezing, farting, hiccupping and dizzy fits. "Oh, we're home" Natsu stated surprised when he noticed where we were. I sighed at his stupidity.

"Good job Lucy for knowing the way home. Thank goodness you knew how to navigate the Outlands" Erza congratulated. "Having been a Rogue does have its advantages" I replied with a smile. During the Solstice, I didn't do anything helpful so I'm glad I was able to help out in some way.