My Little Kitten

Chapter 25 - One Week

One week...It's been one week since Lucy and Happy disappeared. On the first day, the whole guild started a search party for them though Magnolia but had no luck. I looked for them day and night for three days straight without sleep and food. Erza and Gray had to drag me back to the guild after I collapsed in an ally way near Lucy's apartment. After seeing me in that state, Erza and Gray have been keeping a close eye on me and won't let me go search for them until we hear some information. Since then everyone has been keeping their eye out for Lucy and Happy or Taka Tamako. I was sure Taka took Lucy but I don't understand why he took Happy as well.

This morning, I dragged my tired body into the guild and towards the bar. For the last week, I have been losing sleep and lost my appetite worrying about them. Lucy is vulnerable as a kitten and wouldn't be able to defend herself. I know Happy can hold his own in a fight sometimes like in the Phantom Lord raid but I'm still worried about his safety along with Lucy's.

I sat down at the bar and held my head in my hands. Without needing to look up, I know some people were looking at me with sympathy in their eyes. I was angry at myself, I should've watched Lucy more closely then maybe this wouldn't have happened. 'What is Taka's reason for taking Lucy? Is he torturing Lucy and Happy right now? Will I ever see them again?' I thought the same thing I've been worried about for the last few days.

Gramps tried contacting the other guilds to see if they have seen her but we haven't heard any news from them. With no news in sight, all I can do is drown in my sorrows every day, sitting on the bar stool that Lucy would sit on. I thought about all the times I confronted Taka. First when I met him as a traveller looking for directions to Magnolia from Crocus...Crocus...Crocus...Crocus! I abruptly stood up and slammed my hand on the counter. "I know where Lucy and Happy are!" I exclaimed.

Everyone's attention immediately turned to me from my outburst. "Where Natsu?" Mira asked the question everyone was thinking. "Crocus" I simply said and turned to walk out the guild. "Hang on we're coming with you!" I heard Gray shout behind me and I turned to see Erza, Gray, Wendy and Carla run up to me. "Alright lets go" I replied and ran out of the guild with them following.

We hired a Magic Mobile because it was the fastest way to get to Crocus. Erza nominated herself to drive the Magic Mobile. It's unusual for me to want to get on a moving vehicle but I needed to get to Lucy and Happy asap. During the ride, I dangled half of my body out the window. Wendy kept apologising because she couldn't use her Troia spell to help with my motion sickness.

Once we reached Crocus, I started running out of the Magic Mobile to tear down the city looking for Lucy and Happy but Erza quickly grabbed me by my scarf. "First we should ask Sabertooth if they've seen Lucy or Happy" she said, "but I can sniff them out faster!" I argued. "You don't know where to start idiot" Gray argued back. "We're going to Sabertooth and that's final" Erza stated and dragged me all the way to Sabertooth.

"Hey Natsu!" Sting greeted as soon as we walked into Sabertooth's guild hall. He walked up to us with Rogue, Lector and Frosch behind him. "Where's Happy and Lucy?" Sting asked and I felt my heart sink. "Lucy's been kitten-napped and I think Happy's been dragged into it" I explained. "Didn't you get Master's letter?" Erza asked, "no we didn't but is there anything we can do to help?" he replied. "That's strange, someone must have intercepted the message before it reached Crocus. We came here to see if anyone in your guild has seen Lucy" Erza said. "I'll ask them" he replied and stood up on one of the guild's table.

"Everyone listen up!" he shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Has anyone seen a golden coloured kitten with brown eyes anywhere in Crocus?" he asked. A few murmurs were heard throughout the guild hall until we heard someone say "I've seen a golden kitten with brown eyes." We turned towards the voice and it was Rufus who said it. "The kitten was with a man with messy brown hair" he said, "that's who we're looking for! Was there a blue exceed with him?! Where did you see them?!" I shouted, determined to know.

"I didn't see a blue exceed and it was on the west side of the city" he replied and I instantly bolted out of the Sabertooth guild hall. "Thank you for your help" I heard Wendy thank Sabertooth as I ran. "Oi Flame Brain slow down!" I heard Gray call out from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and Erza, Gray, Wendy and Carla were running behind me. "I have to save Lucy!" I shouted back and kept running.

Once we were in the west side of Crocus, I began sniffing for Lucy's, Happy's or Taka's scent. "Anything yet?" Gray asked, "no" I replied. People looked at me weirdly as I went on my hands and feet trying to catch the scent. I crawled through the streets with no luck until I caught a faint scent of Taka and Lucy along with another scent I don't recognise.

"I found Lucy's scent with Taka's and someone else's" I said and crawled towards the scents. "Someone else's? You can't recognise it?" Wendy asked, "no but this person was definitely with Taka and Lucy" I replied. The scent got stronger with every step, I was getting closer to finding Lucy and hope raised in my chest. 'I'm coming Lucy' I thought as we ended up at a house at the edge of the city.