A Rivalry to Last || Natray / Gratsu

Escaping the Cold?

Word Count: 937

True to expectation, Mt. Hakobe was much colder than the sweltering air in Magnolia. Gray, wearing nothing but boxers, was separated from the fully dressed slayer. Although, fully dressed was a concept few understood, including the pink-headed mage. Erza walked between the rivals, keeping her eyes on their movements. When she glanced in their directions, both flinched under the weight of her glare. Nobody would dare to step out of line when Erza grew angry.

"Are we there yet?" a voice whined, breaking the silence of the mountaintops. The speaker received glares and responded with a confused, "what?"

"Shut it flame-brain, and it'll feel like a much shorter walk to the rest of us," another, lower voice growled out. Two iron-clad fists clenched, giving voice to yet another person's displeasure.

"Stop this needless quarreling at once!" Erza shouted, causing small drifts of snow to slide from the mountainside. Both boys in protest froze, ducking their heads.

"We're sorry, Erza," they said pleadingly and in perfect unison. Erza glanced at both again, making her threat clear. Luckily for her, the two mages quickly got the message. Even Natsu, which lead to a quiet trek to their contracted mission.

//time skip to after their climbing, brought to you by laziness!//

The dragon slayer huffed, having tried to start a fight with Gray. Erza, of course, would not stand for that behavior. She taught both a lesson, though Gray had not participated, and they had soon quieted down once more. "We have arrived," declared the armored mage, the trio walking towards the specified location. The boys dragged their feet, heads hung low, and followed soon after.

A kindly old man, the leader of the small village (why anybody would want to live on Mt. Hakobe was a mystery to them all), asked the tean to take down a monster that had been attacking. After finding out that the monster was impervious to fire, the fire mage pouted with a dark aura surrounding him. He crossed his arms angrily, thinking, I only got this job for the stupid stripper, and yet I don't get to do anything! Gray sighed, awkwardly putting his hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"Hey, uh, I'm sure that once we break the defence that you can light it up," he attempted to reassure, not knowing why he felt the need to. Something about the dragon's expression made him panic. The smaller mage brightened up a noticeable amount, grinning widely again.

"Yeah, let's kick its butt!" he shouted, causing more snow to fall from the mountain.

"Careful, flame-for-brains, it's dangerous to shout up here! You wanna cause an avalanche?!" Gray retorted, not listening to his own warning. Erza looked at the arguing pair and they quickly tried to play the "best friend" act, but Erza grabbed them each by an arm and continued on to the last sighting of the fire-resistant enemy.

//li'l time skip//

Natsu had been waiting for a chance to attack the creature with his brilliant flames, but Gray and Erza were having difficulties breaking its defense. He growled angrily, wishing Happy hadn't outright said no. His exceed had wanted to spend time with Lucy, that traitor cat. Why did Happy like her better? Hadn't HE raised him? He focused back on the fight when one of Gray's ice lances nearly impaled him. "Watch your attacks, ya stripper!" he yelled at the offending ice mage, noticing that Erza had shifted into battle armor with wings and was attacking from above. Gray stood his ground, facing the towering monster head on. Natsu stared at Gray's back for more seconds than necessary, but huffed when he was ignored. Between the two wizards, the problem was dealt with without Natsu's input at all.

Gray saw the slayer's face and had to do something to change that gloomy expression. He quickly glanced at Erza, getting permission, and shot a lance at the mountaintop above Natsu's head, making snow envelop the mage. It swiftly turned into a puddle of boiling water as the dragon slayer became fired up. "Fight me, Gray!" he exclaimed, rushing at the shirtless male, fist raised.

Erza watched the duo, failing to miss the grin forming on Natsu's face. She shook her head, returning to the man to get their reward. The two could follow after Natsu blew off some steam.

Speaking of steam, Natsu's skin seemed to radiate it as Gray continued to taunt the pissed off dragon. "C'mon, salamander, is that all you got?" He kept dousing the slayer in freezing water and covered him in snow. The steam around his body grew fainter until it disappeared, along with Nastu's will to fight Gray. The next time Gray piled snow on him, he simply curled up inside the chilly prison.

Gray looked at his creation, confused as to why it was still in one piece. What could Natsu be doing in there? He stepped closer, wary, and took away the ice and snow. The sight revealed was not something Gray was prepared for nor happy about: there lied a ball of a dragon, skin shivering and limbs tucked in. Gray felt guilty just looking at the way the slayer had curled into himself. He figured that Natsu wouldn't complain at this point, and he lifted him into his arms. Erza had already left, so he made his way back to the village with Natsu nuzzling his throat. Oh, how interesting this mission was. What Natsu needed was to escape the cold, but for some reason the dragon clung to the ice wizard even tighter when he thought the words.

Chapter 2 done! Please give me feedback and feel free to comment, vote, and give suggestions. I'll try to figure out an updating schedule and stick to it. Thanks for the support!
~FanaticShipper07