To Be Contained || Gratsu

The Lost Dragon

Word Count: 556

Sorry for a short chapter, but Gray is starting to realize how much Natsu means to him. It's getting a little angstier as we move forward! Enjoy and feel free to give me suggestions and feedback!

Natsu felt a thick fog clouding his mind, but could tell his surroundings were unfamiliar. His dulled nose took in the scent of rust and decay, his ears catching little noise, and his limbs feeling weighed down. His eyelids fought against him to remain closed, but he forced them to open to discover where he actually was. The winner of the battle was met with utter darkness, though he couldn't tell if that was due to the lack of windows or if something was blocking his sight. He had no recollection of the time after he had tracked that strange scent into the darkened city, leaving him none the wiser as to his location.

As minutes passed, Natsu grew more and more uneasy. The fire dragon had never been afraid of the dark, but he felt the hairs on his neck rise. He didn't know where he was or what was going to happen to him, which was the most frightening fact of all. Natsu held back the pitiful whimper he wanted to make, thinking of his team to give himself courage. They were the strongest team in Fairy Tail, and he trusted them with his life.

As a faint light reached his eyes from around the blindfold (which he had only realized was one due to the light) and footsteps approached, the pink-haired dragon slayer hoped his team could reach him before a maniacal laugh cut into his thoughts.

//With the team//

Gray panted, surveying the demolished landscape. As usual, Natsu had gone overboard and destroyed something. The ice-wizard shook his head, knowing he would get a scolding from Erza again. Happy suddenly flew in front of Gray, hovering near his face.

"Gray!"

"What is it, Happy?"

"Have you seen Natsu? He went to go track a scent but he didn't come back!" The blue cat sounded desperately concerned, his voice wobbling slightly.

"I'm sure that idiot just got lost. Dont worry, we'll find him," the mage assured Natsu's exceed. Erza, having overheard the conversation, took charge of the search party. Happy lead her to the point where he had ceased following his slayer.

Erza was crouched over the pavement, staring beneath her. Gray copied her, seeing what she was looking at: footprints in the dust. There were two pairs, though one seemed as if the person had been dragging their feet. Happy flew over as well, but instantly covered his nose.

"There are two sets of footprints, and a lingering foul stench in the area," Erza said, summing up their clues so far.

"Do you really think he just got lost?" the exceed questioned Gray. The ice wizard thought before he answered, not wanting to lie to the worried cat.

"I'm sure he's fine," he said, his stomach growing nauseous. Gray didn't even want to think about what could be happening to that fireball. How could the team go on without Natsu? Gray shook his head, knowing that his thoughts weren't going to help the missing slayer any. Gray had never been one to worry for Natsu, but at this point he couldn't escape the plaguing notion that the dragon wasn't safe and Gray was helpless to save him. His rival, his teammate, and occasional friend. The ice-make mage knew nothing would be okay until the fiery pink-head returned home.