Natsu's POV:

"There is one thing..." I said, and Gray turned towards me.

"What?" He asked.

"The one thing hotter than fire... isn't it obvious?" I smiled, "Lava!" As I presented my brilliant idea, I received a hard fist to the top of my head. "Ouch! What was that for?!"

"It's for being stupid and getting my hopes up," Gray said crossing his arms, "It's you don't have any actual ideas, don't say anything. It's annoying."

"S-Sorry," I muttered, "I just thought it might work."

"Even if it did work, the village would be flowing with magma... no matter what it would end badly."

"Well, then I don't know what we're supposed to do!" I sighed loudly and threw my arms into the air, "And you're not coming up with any ideas either..."

"I know. I'm trying to think, but you won't shut up," Gray turned back and glared at me, "I'm going to go check this place out; see if I can figure out what to do. Don't touch anything else."

I sighed and sat down on the ground. This mission was the biggest pain I had ever experienced in my life. I never realized it before, but he's kind of a control freak. I mean, I was really just trying to help... Whatever... I thought. I'll just take a nap, or something...

*************************

Gray's POV:

I left Natsu behind and ventured farther into the village. It was so morbidly still and lifeless. I reached towards a young girl. The look on her face was that of horror. Whatever did this most certainly was not subtle about it. I felt the ice over the girl's cheek -- the warmth was still noticeable under the cold. She's alive..

I wonder why I've never heard of this type of ice before -- why did Ul never tell me about it? Did she even know?

I sighed. It was bothering me that I coundn't figure this out. I mean, there has to be a way to fix it. Right?

To Be Continued...