Natsu finished unloading the cart. He felt sure that Lucy will probably throw a fit at the muddled arrangement of the boxes he had unloaded. It was his overwhelming need to get back to her that had him uncaring at that moment. He found himself pondering over this emotionally drive to be by her side at this moment. Sure, he loves her and wants to be with her, that's kind of a given. Right now though, he also has this huge pit in his stomach that seems to be composed partly of simply missing her, even though he has been away an hour at most, and worry.

Natsu's worry falls away from his thoughts as he pushes the cart through Magnolia. He greets the people as he passes with smiles. This insurmountable amount of jubilation within him simply has to be shared with the world around him. Last time he was nearly this happy was probably when Happy hatched from the egg. The feeling of having Lucy as his mate though was quite larger then his best friend's birth. It couldn't be easier to be happier then the moment that egg rocked and cracked open but somehow it was.

He neared her apartment now. What would soon be a vacant empty apartment, he smiled to himself at the thought. He waited to hear a retort in return. He was sure that he was close enough their mental link would be intact but when he heard nothing the worry inside him bubbled to the surface with a vengeance.

He haphazardly dumped the cart outside the building and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. When he opened the door nothing immediately looked off. Her keys and whip were laying on her desk where she left them when they had first started packing. Luce?

She still didn't respond. Yes, something was wrong here. He went into her bedroom and a red haze engulfed his vision. He knelt and inspected the small pool of blood on the floor. He snarled as he recognized an unfamiliar pungent scent. There was an underlining aroma though that Natsu recognized almost instantly. "Another slayer has Luce."

He whipped back through the living room to grab her keys and whip. She would want them to help kick the abductor's ass when he found them. Because the scent was strongest at her bedroom window he vaulted through it and began tracking.

The slayer that had abducted Lucy hadn't considered masking his scent and Natsu had an easy time following it. The trail carried Natsu deep into a forest. There were rocky hillsides encompassing it on all sides as far as Natsu could tell.

Then Natsu scented something that would unfortunately put a damper on his search. He looked up just as huge gray clouds rolled in. The sky opened up and it started to downpour. Crap, he had to keep trailing the scent as far as he could before the rain washed it completely away.

Lucy groaned as she felt an uncomfortable rocky surface below her. She was hoping she would wake up to dull headache. No that wasn't to be the case. Her head felt like someone had cracked her skull open then repeatedly smacked at said crack for good measure.

She opened her eyes to take in her surroundings. Nothing but darkness loomed around her. Although she was assuming since the surface was rocky and the area had a dank feel to it that she was probably in a cave of some sort.

A shadow in the cave tore apart from the rest. Her abductor she immediately assumed. She couldn't make out any of his features. All she saw was a darker shadow amongst the rest that paced back and forth.

"Ah so the girl awakens," his voice has an element to it that sends chills up and down her spine. The shadow comes closer to her and she shivers when she feels his breath on her neck. "Don't worry, I don't plan on hurting you."

Keyword 'plan' I'm sure. Lucy knew to never trust what an abductor said, only to keep alert and not to do anything reckless. "So, what do you want from me if you don't plan on hurting me?"

The chuckle that erupted from the shadows sent chills up her spine. "Right to the point, I like that." She traced his shadow as it moved to a far wall and lit a torch. It bathed the cave in firelight.

It wasn't enough to provide Lucy with many hints about her location, but at least she could see the general area around her now. She could tell that the cave was deep because she could not see a hint of natural light anywhere.

Her abductor had been staying here for a bit of time also. There were hints at a campfire and his bedroll lay beside it, rumpled from having been slept in.

She surveyed her captor as he took the hood from his face. He was older, probably mid twenties. His face was marred with scrapes and a huge scar decorated his right cheek. He had long mangy midnight blue or purple hair (the lighting made it difficult to tell for certain). The cut of his hair kind of reminded her of Gajeel's style but where Gajeel's was swept back from his face. This man's hair framed his in a spiky disarray. The man was mildly intimidating, but there was something about his eyes that calmed her.

The color of his eyes was hard to define and distinguish. His irises were small and beady. The color seemed to be this bright viridian green. What surprised Lucy most is there wasn't a maliciousness in his eyes. Instead his eyes held something she could only define as was almost a fear. He was the one that held her captive and he seemed to be the one scared.

He cleared his throat before he seemd to compose himself, the fear almost completely vacant from his eyes. "Give me your ring and I will let you go."

"My ring? But why do you want my ring?" She looked down at the ring in question and was mildly confused by what she saw. Earlier the ring had been almost pulsing with it's own light in a red brilliance. Unfortunately now it wasn't quite so pretty, the color was dull and the ring seemed to have a lifelessness in comparison. This she added to her rapidly accumulating mental list of things that didn't make sense.

"I'm a dragon slayer and my mate needs that ring!"

"Huh?" Lucy felt she was going to be in a forever state of bafflement. She looked at the ring again and for some reason it seemed to pulse back to life.

"Why would your mate need my ring? It's just a ring...isn't it?"

Luce? Dammit Luce, where are you? Please hear me.

Natsu?

Oh Luce, thank the gods! Please, love, describe to me where you are.

Lucy smiled at the endearment and proceeded to mentally visually project to Natsu what she saw.

Hmm, not much to go on. But no worries Luce, I know I'm not terribly far away. If only this rain would let up.

Wow, I didn't even know it was raining. I must be pretty far underground if that's the case.

Underground? Hmm that gives me an idea. Too bad I can't call your spirits. He mentally pictured Virgo for a moment tearing at the dirt beneath his feet. But that won't stop me from getting to you. We will be reunited soon, Luce.