ZiraUzu

Title: War Pawn

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy

Couple: NaLu

Rating: T

Warnings: OOC

World: AU

Summary: Welcome to a world of chaos and misfortune where the strong are weak and the weak are dead. Magic has been sucked from the world and those who still have it are hunted down and chained into instruments of war. With a revolution brewing beneath the surface one only has two choices: Run or fight. But it's hard to pick a side when the only one left with magic is yourself... /NaLu/

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

Warnings: Language.

War Pawn: Chapter 4

ZiraUzu

(June 25, 2015)

xXx

I awoke to the sound of purring in my ear and the taste of fur in my mouth.

Happy was the name I decided to give my little blue companion. He yowled as I bolted upwards on my bed, spitting fragments of blue fur from my mouth as my legs and arms got tangled in the grubby sheets. Pillows tumbled from the bed in my thrashing and I followed them to the floor moments later, landing with a loud thump.

I groaned, pushing myself up onto an elbow. Happy slipped his head out from under the
bed and glided under the space between my arm and the floor, nuzzling his furry face into my neck and once again filling my mouth with his fur do to his aggressive cuddling. The little guy was a lover.

The corner of my mouth twitched upwards as the little ball of blue fur purred happily, nuzzling his head into my open palm. This little guy really was a miracle. Even in this would, where everything was twisted and cruel there was still some good, even if it came in the form of a little blue cat. That was why I named him Happy, because he brought a little bit of hope with him wherever he went.

A pained groan escaped my throat as I pushed myself into a sitting position. Leaning against the grimy inn bed, I pulled Happy into my lap and stroked him absentmindedly. My head fell back against the stiff cot and I closed my eyes. With my eyes closed my sense of hearing kicked in, picking up the sounds of marching soldiers and dagger scuffles from the back allies.

The riots were the first thing I noticed when I reached Shirotsume.

They started out innocent, simple civilian movements that remained relatively peaceful. Mostly they were used to collect food or money to buy essentials for the children and the struggling families in the area. People showed up, donated what they could, stayed to catch up on news, and returned home. Simple. Easy. Safe.

Now it was another story.

The citizens had grown foolish, blinded by rage yet unsure were to direct it. So they made stupid decisions. There wasn't a day that went by without the riots turning violent. Any building that was deemed Collector property was set on fire, any tax collector that came by was beaten within an inch of his life. This is what the once peaceful people of Shirotsume had come too and they were only making it worse for themselves. The Collectors were starting to take notice.

And that was a problem for me.

Happy pawed at my chest, a curious meow leaving his throat as he stared at me with his big eyes, head cocked to one side. I scratched behind his ears and he purred in contentment. "Collectors are going to be moving in any day now, best we be going, buddy."

Suddenly a creak sounded from the other side of the door. My ears twitched at the noise, the person on the other side moved slowly, cautiously because they were most likely afraid to get caught. They had an air of stealth to them, I'd give them that.

I closed my eyes, ears perked as I listened to the intruder on the other side of the door. There were two of them, both female judging from the octaves of their voices as they whispered quietly to each other. One of them had quite the sailor mouth on her. The other fluctuated between monotone and hysterical whispers before her words morphed into a muffled giggle.

Sailor Mouth hissed at the giggler, commanding her silence as she moved towards the door. I felt the corners of my mouth twitch up, Sailor Mouth was a good name for her, I'd have to remember that one the next time she was spewing profanities at me. If there was a next time.

I hadn't a doubt in my mind there would be.

Her scent drifted through the door, and in my contemplation of trying to decide if I should hightail it out the window or not, I found myself indulging in it. She smelled . . . nice, which was a surprise nowadays. People tended to put personal hygiene on hold, much to my nose's dismay, Sailor Mouth though, still smelled nice. The earthy scent of dirt and rain drifted under the door, along with the faintest scent of vanilla. Must be natural, no way she'd have perfumes. The other smelt metallic, almost like an empty machine, along with pine.

As their quiet whispering continued— damn they sure were taking their sweet time—Happy jumped from my lap and trotted towards the door on his little paws. He paused a moment and then pawed at the wood before arching his back and hissing at the obstacle between him and the two strangers on the other side. The voices paused for a moment before resuming again when they deemed that Happy was, of course, just a cat. The hysterical giggler cackled and then muttered something about not knowing about the cat, which was followed by a number of curses.

Then the door handle began to jiggle and creak.

I scooped Happy up, nuzzling his head to calm him down, before hauling my pack on my back and slipping out the window just as the door burst open. I glanced over my shoulder as I leapt and caught the brown doe eyes of a certain little pickpocket, a smirk stretched across my face.

Her next line of curses was anything but quiet.

I could hear her footsteps thundering through the inn as I jogged around the corner and slipped into the back alley that the workers used to transport garbage and other waste. It smelled awful, littered with rancid food scraps, garbage, and the occasional dead animal the back alleys of Shirotsume were not a place the common folk dwelled, but rogues like me, well it was a haven.

I ran through the alleys, twisting around corner after corner as I went, though I was careful not to get myself turned around. I had thought it would be a miracle if Lucy could track me through this, apparently she was quiet skilled at it or so I've heard. The people liked to talk, and her name had traveled far, though very few knew of her.

And it was exactly two seconds later that she crashed into me, sending me skidding into the stone ground and Happy straight into the air with a yowl. And it bloody hurt too.

I grunted in pain when Lucy plopped herself down on my stomach and grabbed my wrists, forcing them into the stone. Thanks for adding to my growing list of injuries. Damn she was tiny but she was stronger than she looked.

"G-got you," her voice came out as a tried rasp.

An annoyed hiss slipped from my throat, "No shit," I said and rolled my eyes, "We have got to stop meeting like this. Another tackle like that and I'll be dead."

Lucy scoffed from her place above me, annoyance evident in her features. "Do you really have nothing better to do than joke about every little thing?"

"Makes life more fun."

That earned me a nice slug on the head. Lucy was absolutely livid as she hauled me to my feet before promptly slamming me into a brick wall—again ow— just as the other girl came trotting into the alley. "Shut it. You're coming with us," Lucy hissed as she shoved an elbow between my shoulder blades and twisted my arms behind my back. "And life isn't meant to be fun. Levy, help me."

This blonde was cocky and I'd had enough of her. I ripped my arms from her grip, shifting her off balance. I kicked her in the side, hard enough to cause her to stumble backwards a few steps but not enough to knock her over. I wasn't a complete asshole. She stumbled forward as I started to bolt only to have her wrap her arms around my waist.

I really wish I was better at being an asshole.

"I suggest you stop your resistance slayer. It would be beneficial for you in the long run."

That was the first time I paid attention to the little bluenette that had been creeping in the dark corners of the alley.

Small and incredibly dainty she didn't look as if she could cause any real harm. I had passed her off as Lucy's hysterical companion, someone she had picked up along the way because she felt sorry for them. I had been terribly mistaken. To the naked eye she was normal, she was human, but to others, the ones that knew of her kind, she was a dangerous instrument.

She unsettled my nerves.

Her eyes, brown in appearance, pulled between their natural color and a vibrant red when I looked at her. My eyes, still sensitive to unnatural elements of this world thanks to the magic that flowed through my veins, could pick up the invisible traits that humans couldn't see. The structure of her body was stood rigidly, locked at every joint as she stared at me with those lifeless eyes.

Lucy had indebted herself to the service of a mole and was ignorant of the consequences her actions had caused her. These creatures were not something to mix with. They were better left to their dark corners, away from humans.

"What have you done?" I hissed at Lucy over my shoulder, my voice quiet and grave.

"She's done what she had too. Siiiiiiiilly dragon, silly, stupid dragon. So very precious, precious little dragon," the mole giggled as she fluttered on the points of her toe through the alley. "Now, come. We have plans for you."

The mole turned and skipped from the alley. Lucy shoved my forward, keeping one hand between my shoulder blades to ensure she would be able to grab me if I ran. But I would not be running, not with a mole present.

"What did you promise her?"

"Doesn't matter."

It did matter. It was the upmost important thing when making a contract with a mole. They were greedy, foul creatures and a payment was the one thing they would never forget.

"If you made her a deal, something you can't keep—"

"It is my burden to bear."

Lucy said nothing more after that, choosing instead to usher me, on occasion rather violently, from the streets of Shirotsume.

X

This was the worst form of torture. Seriously, in all my life I had never felt such excruciating pain. My mind was blank, my thoughts torn from the recesses as I passed between conscious and unconscious again and again.

The carriage lurched forward and I once again repressed the urge to upchuck.

"The all mighty dragon slayer reduced to a quivering puddle of helplessness all do to a carriage ride. I can't decide if I feel sorry for how pathetic you are or if I find this amusing."

"Shut it," I whimpered. Lucy shook her head, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched me curl into a ball on the floor of the carriage we had been in for the past two hours. Two hours! Death was welcomed at this point.

"Poooooor baby dragon!" The mole sang from her place on top of the carriage. She had refused to ride inside with Lucy and myself and I was perfectly fine with that. The farther away from me she was the better.

Yeah, death was starting to look better and better.

X

I had come to the realization by the time we reached our destination that my life was no longer in my own hands. This was unsettling to me, for I had always been in control of my own actions, my own decisions and thoughts. Those were no longer my own, and it was a disturbing realization as I was led, this time in chains, into was I could only assume was the Fairy Tail tavern's backup base.

Lucy led me along like a dog, tugging the chains harshly whenever I shopped or fell behind. We were alone now. The mole had disappeared not an hour ago, claiming she had matters to take care off before reaching the base and after pleading a rather persuasive argument Lucy had agreed to give her two hours to herself. I was unfamiliar with what could possibly interest the mole to the point that she needed to go off by herself, but I was certain I wouldn't like the answer if I were to find out.

I was at least content to be rid of her for the moment.

The base could only be described as a dingy shack. Small and constructed from rotting wood it was in worse shape than the previous location. Even from the outside I could make out a number of holes in the roof where it had collapsed. Fairy Tail's emblem was scorched into the rotten wood of the front door. There wasn't a window in sight that wasn't at least cracked, most of them broken or missing entirely, must make for quite a draft during colder weather.

Lucy shoved the door open when we neared it, her hand lingering along the scorched wood of the emblem as she moved inside, tugging me along after her. The occupants of the tavern went silent at our entrance.

Some gave us a quick glance as we passed through the room and moved towards the back, where a tattered door barely hung on its hinges, others openly stared, gawking at my every movement. I kinda wanted to punch most of them in the face, not that it would solve anything it would just make me feel better. I understood their need for the staring, I was a foreign creature to them, and something they had heard about but had never had the chance to examine in a close proximity.

I wasn't that fascinating.

"Makarov will want to see you," Lucy said before muttering something under her breath about finally having me out of her hair. Well, you aren't exactly a peach to deal with either I thought as she practically threw me through the door.

The old man behind the door was perched on top of a makeshift table. Composed of two stools and a slab of wood, it was a sorry excuse for a sitting area, let alone a desk, which is what I assumed he normally used if for. He glanced up at my ungraceful clattering as Lucy shut the door behind us, a look of amusement in his dark eyes.

"You found him."

"No thanks to you, old man," Lucy sneered, but there was a hint of endearment behind her words. She respected this man, though she expressed it a way that was far different than the lines of respect usually followed.

He turned his attention to me then, "Welcome back, slayer. I do hope you enjoyed your trip to our little base."

"You tryin' to be funny?" I snapped.

"Far from it," the old man said. He moved from his place on his desk, coming to stand in front of me and survey me. I felt like a caged animal.

He said nothing, instead choosing to survey me with calculating eyes, which were calm but raged a deadly storm deep in the depths. Then her turned his gaze on Lucy, who straitened under his stare.

"Where is Wendy? I wish to speak to her as well."

I could tell the second that Lucy broke out in a cold sweat. She became fidgety, her eyes unable to hold Makarov's.

"You lost her?"

"I can expl—"

There was a loud crash from the other side of the door as the base suddenly erupted into a storm of noise, which erupted into the room when the door was thrown open and a certain bluenette came dancing into the room, "I'm baaaaack, Lucy!"

Makarov's gaze turned hard at the sight of the mole.

The old man's face turned purple with rage. He pointed a shaky finger at Levy and then me, "You and you. Out. I need a moment with Lucy."

A raven haired man came into the room to usher me and the mole away. He took us around to the back of the base, where a small room was closed off from the rest of the shack-like building. His dark eyes regarded us with distain and he grunted before leaving us, slamming the door shut behind him and encasing us in darkness.

Just great.

"What have you done?"

"I did what I had to."

I tilted my head to the side at the sound of voices as they drifted through the walls. Levy fell silent beside me, though I was unsure if she could hear the voices that I could.

"I asked you to track him, to bring him back. I didn't ask you to make bargains with a mole. You're actions are foolish, irresponsible, if you had been focusing on finding him and not chasing this creature perhaps Wendy would still be with us now."

Wow low blow old man.

Lucy was silent.

"Fix this. I don't care how, just do it. You've made your choices, use the mole if you must, but don't dig yourself deeper, Lucky. I can't lose anymore of my children."

xXx

I was distraught.

I have been reprimanded a number of times throughout my life, sometimes for small things, like leaving the light on when I was little or wondering where I shouldn't, and sometimes for larger things, like accidently setting fire to the gardens when I was twelve, but those reprimands never humiliated me. This one made me feel small and insignificant. This one hurt.

It hurt because I knew Makarov's words were true.

The guilt was the only thing I could think about as I made my way towards the back room to let Levy out since I knew she would try to bust her way out if she was confined any longer. The dragon slayer I was less worried about, though rumors often said he was powerful and dangerous, for the moment at least, he seemed passive enough. It was a little unnerving actually.

As I neared the back I could make out the sound of Levy wailing and a steady thumping noise along with it. One of my brows rose in curiosity as I opened the door, only to be practically run over when Levy shot from the room, wailing as she went. Natsu remained where he was, thumping his head in a steady rhythm against the wall. They were eerily alike, those two.

"You'll have to stay here," I murmured before adding a quiet, "sorry," as an afterthought. He barely glanced at me, his dark eyes shifting for a moment before returning to a place on the wall.

"It's okay," he said, "I'm just glad to be rid of her for a moment."

"Levy?"

He nodded; his hair dragged against the wall and caught on the splintered wood. He grimaced as he lifted his face away from the area, pulling wood fragments from his hair.

"She's not so bad."

"You don't know her."

"Well neither do you."

"Don't have to."

I opened my mouth, a witty response on my tongue when Gray came around the corner, knocking his fist against the wall to get my attention. I turned to him, my reply dying in my throat. "They're making plans to conduct a rescue mission for Wendy, figured you'd want to be part of it."

I nodded once. Gray cast a stern look at Natsu before moving back down the hallway.

I hesitated at the door once Gray was out of sight. Natsu regarded me with a questioning gaze, curiosity swimming around in his dark orbs. Glancing over my shoulder I let out an exasperated sigh before moving into the room and shutting the door behind me.

Natsu raised his head as I sat beside him. He shifted away, but only slightly as if he was uncomfortable with being in such a close proximity to me even though it wouldn't have been the first time. I could feel his dark eyes as he continued to stare at me. They flicked, never seeming to stay in one place at a time as his nose and the space between his brows crinkled in thought.

He looked kinda cute like that.

I shook my head, ridding it of my previous thought. It was inappropriate to think of him like that. Wasn't it?

"Why are you still here?" He asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between us.

I sighed and pulled me knees to my chest; turning my head towards him I rested my cheek against the top of my knee. "People say . . . a lot of things about you, Natsu. I've heard every rumor and I've been hearing them since I was very small. But when I sit here, in this dark room, and look at you, and I mean really look at you, well you don't quite fit into the natural description that others have created the way I thought you would. The description I had in my head is a very different Natsu than the one that sits in front of me."

He looked baffled for a moment, his mouth open and his jaw loose before his teeth snapped together and his gaze turned hard. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "The rumors are probably right."

I shook my head, "No. I don't believe they are."

"Why are you here, Lucy?"

Why was I here? It was a good question and one that I wasn't so sure I had the answer too. I didn't know this man, didn't know how he thought or acted and yet I was defending him against the picture that my mind had conjured just from the stories I had heard through my childhood. But as I sat beside him I could feel the comforting warmth coming from his skin and I could hear his quiet breathing and the steady rhythm of his heart and I found that I didn't particularly want to know the answer to my own question.

For once I didn't need to know the answer.

And if felt good. Liberating if only for a moment.

"I don't know," the words came as a quiet whisper and they brought his gaze towards me. The moonlight from the small window at the top of the room shown across his face, allowing me to see that his eyes reflected the color of emeralds in the light. I stared at him and he at me and no words were said for a very long moment but he held my gaze anyway, refusing to be the first one to break away.

"Perhaps I just wanted someone to listen. Someone who doesn't know me but is still willing to have a conversation about the little things, though the things that plague my mind are far from being little problems at the moment and for some reason I feel like you could be that person. It's so incredibly strange to me but then again things haven't made sense for a long time." I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and leaned my head against the same wall that had left splinters in his hair only minute before, "I miss when things made sense."

"Things never made sense."

"At one time they did, long, long ago."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am."

"Can you prove it?"

"No."

Silence fell over the room once again. It was comfortable, serine and so very foreign to me when I had a stranger that was supposedly dangerous sitting beside me in a confined, dark room. Natsu opened his mouth as if he had something to say before closing it again but I could see that there was something on the tip of his tongue. He just wasn't sure if he should speak or not.

"You can say it."

"There was someone else with you when you were searching for me," he began. I stiffened at his words and he paused, casting a curious yet thoughtful stare my way before continuing, "She is missing?"

I nodded.

"What happened?"

I shook my head, unshed tears pooling behind my eyes, "I fucked up. I left her in the inn. It was a small, dainty little place, concealed for the most part if you didn't know what to look for. I thought it was safe, there people who owned it were kind, good. I came back to a pile of dead bodies and charred wood," I took a deep breath, "And Wendy was gone."

"She was taken?"

"Most likely," I whispered.

"Do you know who took her?"

"I—no, no I don't."

I had my suspicions. I couldn't tell him, I wouldn't because knowing the truth was far more dangerous to people like him. It was dangerous for people like me too and if I was dealing with who I thought I was then it was best to not get Natsu or anyone else involved for that matter.

I didn't confine in people often, it just wasn't who I was. I had opened up to Natsu, a complete stranger, in a way that I wouldn't open up to people who I considered close to me. Not to Gray, not to Erza, not even Wendy. It was unsettling because it was so abnormal for me and I didn't even trust him. Not in the slightest.

"What's that?"

I followed Natsu's gaze. He was staring at the window at the top of the room. It was constructed of metal wiring, most likely to replace the glass that had once been there, which had broken before we had even found the building. A small bird perched on the sill and at farther inspection I noticed it was a carrier pigeon.

And there was something attached to its leg.

I stood and moved towards the bird, grabbing it carefully I pulled the small piece of paper from its leg and then sent it back out into the night.

The contents of the message sent a chill up my spine. It felt like ice had been poured into my veins and my body stood rigidly as I stared at the small piece of paper as it quivered in my shaking hands.

Cooperation is key, Miss Lucy. Come to the old place, you know the one. Come swiftly and come alone or she dies. We want the dragon. You have till sundown tomorrow.

~L

He was involve?

I crumpled the message in my fist. Things were no longer simple, not that they had been particularly easy to begin with but now I knew the depths to which they were willing to go in order to get what they wanted. They had brought in his assistance, which meant I had no choice in the matter anymore, I had to cooperate.

Because I wasn't dealing with just them, just the Kingdom, I was dealing with him.