400 years

5

Luckily for me, this guy named Gray seemed to be a bit more reasonable.. "Please this is on me. It was rude of me not to introduce myself first." (He gestured to Natsu, then glanced back towards me.) "Please, call me Gray. I serve at the side of Makarov Dreyer, Erza Scarlet's right hand man."

I smile and introduce myself, "Nice to meet you. I'm Lucy Heartfilia." 'Gray seems kind, which is a nice change of pace. He's also decently good looking!'

Once again a cocky smirk rested on Natsu's face. "I don't know who she is, but she roused me and saw me to safety."

With a quick glance at Natsu and Gray's face turns down into a small frown. "She did? That couldn't have been easy, sorry for your trouble. But (The frown then subsided and he leaned into a deep bow of thanks.) thank you for protecting our lord's life."

"Oh, I just did it without thinking." My cheeks tented a bit as I spoke. Gray then mumbles something I can't quite make out, but I think I hear the word dense..

Gray continues with, "So what brought you here tonight? You don't appear to be a nun and your dress is rather bicultural. (His eyes lower from my face to my outfit as he continues with slight rise to one eyebrow.) Are you from abroad?"

I wasn't necessarily ready with a explanation that They'd understand. 'I'm sure it's going to sound implausible but I might as well get everything out in the open' Plus What would any of us gain if I told a lie? So I blurted out the truth.. "Actually, I'm from a different time than yours altogether."

With this statement both Natsu and Gray glanced at one another, "What?" They said in unison. Gray seemed weary of me suddenly and Natsu had a raised brow. But it was hardly the look of confusion more like he was amused.

{Durning our talk while surrounded by soldiers, we'd started walking towards a near by camp, assuming they'd set it up in search of Natsu or as a post for soldiers in search of the person(s) responsible for the fire. We entered the camp as the conversation continued.}

I continued to explain, "I come from 400 years in the future. I followed a cat through a stone gate in a cave." They then stared at me in shock and then disbelief. But suddenly the odd air was disrupted.

A toothy grin cracks across Natsu's face, he bursts into laughter. "She's a storyteller too! Although I've never heard such an absurd tale!"

Gray's face softened to slight concern, "You poor thing. The smoke from the fire was very disorientating i'm sure."

"But, I really am from the future tho-"

Gray swiftly ushered me a towards a chair, "Sit down over there and get some fresh air. Someone will bring you a change of clothes."

"O-okay then, thanks.." While taking a seat on a cloth folding chair, I notice the shape I'm in. 'Hmm, I didn't even notice but it's true; my clothes are a wreck.' My shirt is stained, my arms to my elbows covered with soot. The hem of the medium length skirt had been burned through in spots.

"Once you're freshened up, you'll feel much better."

"Thank you, again." Giving a quick bow; a soldier approached with a bundle in his hands.

Gray showed me to a place I could change in privacy. "Now let's get you into these shall we, Miss Lucy?

Once inside the make shift changing tent that'd been prepared for me; I look over the attire I'd received. A yellow kimono, white obi, an orange haori and white tabi. Feeling better in the offered clothes and taking a quick circuit to get familiar with the geta and kimono. I chuckle to myself as I wobble a bit until comfortable, 'I'd only ever wore clothes such as this at festivals.' Feeling to drained to replace my updo, I decide to leave it down. I stepped out of the tent once I'd finished changing, were Gray then guided me to the center of the camp.