Lucy blew lightly on the torch in her hand. A small spark flickered but disappeared almost as quickly. What she wouldn't give to have her husband's fire magic right now, not that it would do any good with the runes around Magnolia. She tried again, softer this time. The low light of the torch soon grew to Lucy's satisfaction. She held the light up and examined the room.

It was dark and damp in the basement. The only people who really came down here were Mira and Makarov so it didn't get cleaned regularly. It was dark without the light lacrimas, so they were forced to use torches. There wasn't much room for everyone either. People were huddled close together due to lack of space and warmth. Lucy couldn't really complain though. The basement walls were lined with an old mineral according to Makarov that not even runes could suck the magic out of them. As long as they remained inside, they would be protected from the invaders.

Thinking about the siege left a bad taste in Lucy's mouth. Makarov gave in so easily and it irked her. She still believed they could have fought back even without magic. But it wasn't her call to make. The master believed this was for the best, so she would obey.

"Hey Lucy, can I borrow some of your light?" asked Warren, bringing a bare torch up to her. Lucy nodded and brought her torch up to his, lighting it. He walked off, offering some of his light to others. Makarov watched sadly as his brats tried to get used to their accommodations. Their moral was already low with all the children gone, now it had hit rock bottom. The old man glanced to the side to see Mirajane and Lisanna walking up to him. Behind them were a couple of people carrying crates.

"What were you two able to find?" the old master asked.

"Not as much as you would like," responded Mira, "Most of the food is up in storage on the first floor and we can't go up there."

"But we were able to find some rations," said Lisanna, gesturing to the crates being brought in.

Makarov nodded, "Anything else? Blankets? Medicine? Lanterns? Weapons maybe?"

Mira shook her head sadly, "We found only three lanterns that don't run on lacrima. We couldn't find any medicine, but we're still looking. And we could only find twelve blankets."

"That's not going to be enough," Makarov muttered, stroking his short bear.

"We'll just have to share," offered Lisanna. The other two wizards agreed.

"And the weapons?"

"All the guns we could find were magic. None of them work. The only other thing that could count as a weapon was a kitchen knife Bixlow found," answered Mira.

Makarov frowned. It seemed things weren't exactly in their favor. It wasn't ideal, but they would have to make the best of what they were given. Nothing could be wasted and it all had to be used sparingly. Who knew how long they would have to stay down there.

"Well this is just dandy," muttered Cana as she crashed in a corner of the basement. Next to her were Juvia, Wendy, and Carla. Happy was dozing a few feet away from them.

"Juvia is scared," Juvia whispered. Just then, a spider crawled right passed her, causing her to jump slightly. Carla rolled her eyes.

"I'm pretty scared too Juvia-san," said Wendy.

"You two are grown women. Show some sort of backbone," growled Carla. Lucy walked up to the group, a lit torch in one hand and a lantern in the other. She lit the lantern using her torch and handed it off to Max for someone else to use, leaving the group of girls with the lantern. She placed it in the center of their group huddle and took a seat beside Juvia. Carefully, she gathered Happy in her arms and put him on her lap.

"I don't totally blame them though, this place is pretty freaky," she said. Cana chuckled.

"This is like one of those sleepovers we all used to have when we were teens. Having stereotypical pillow fights and gossiping about boys."

"Remember that one time when Erza was asleep and we doodled on her face? The next morning when she woke up her face turned all red because we drew Jellal's tattoo," giggled Lucy. The other girls laughed, remembering that moment well. Erza threatened them to reveal who did it, but she kept stuttering due to her embarrassment.

"Or the time we dared Lucy to kiss one of Juvia's Gray Dolls?" said Cana. Wendy and Lucy laughed; however, Juvia was not nearly as amused.

"Juvia does not find that funny." This only caused the girls to laugh harder, clutching their stomachs and earning weird glances from other guild members. Lucy calmed her fit of giggles and took a much needed yawn.

"Are you okay Lucy-san?" the blue haired woman asked. Lucy waved her off.

"I'm fine Wendy, it's just a yawn. It's probably really late right now," she answered, rubbing behind Happy's ears.

"Juvia thinks you should get some sleep," said the Water mage.

Carla nodded, "I agree, you've been pretty tired lately, with Natsu and Nashi gone and all."

A sad smile graced Lucy's face. She fumbled with the strands of Natsu's scarf that she forgot she was wearing, "I don't think I'll be getting any good sleep for a while Carla."

A cold hand placed itself on Lucy's shoulder. She glanced to the side to see Juvia smiling at her.

"It will be okay Lucy-san. Pretty soon, Natsu-san and Nashi will come marching home and everything will go back to normal."

"How normal though?" Lucy questioned. She eyed the room around them, "will we still be here, or will we rise up and face the men who conquered Magnolia?"

"I wouldn't worry too much Lucy," said Cana, "We may not have won the battle, but the war has only just started. We'll stop those jerks upstairs, you can count on that."

"Unless of course Natsu beats us to the punch," said Carla jokingly. The girls giggled once more, enjoying the time they had together. They talked amongst themselves for a couple more minutes before they noticed everyone heading off to sleep. Deciding it was about time, they hit the sack too, Lucy picked up the lantern. The girls around tried to get comfortable on the hard floor. Lucy smiled at each of them as they closed their eyes and wandered into dreamland. Lucy was about to blow out the light when she was startled by a sudden cough. She looked down in her lap where Happy was sleeping peacefully. Another cough came from the exceed but he remained lost in his dreams.

Sighing, Lucy blew out the lantern's light and put it down. She placed Happy down beside her and she curled up on her side, clutching her husband's scarf close to her.

FAIRY TAIL

Natsu ran a hand through his pink locks as if it would make him feel better. The night had been long and treacherous as Natsu tried to sleep, but he couldn't get much in. He missed his wife and daughter, but he didn't think it would be that hard sleeping without them near. When the rescue team woke up that morning, they speedily made it to the docks in time to catch the next ship to Tiar. In the rush, Natsu, Gajeel, and Laxus didn't have time to put on their motion sickness patches.

Even after putting the patch on, Natsu still felt extremely crumby. The patch was having little effect on him this time. The Dragon Slayer rubbed his face in irritation. He couldn't wait to get off this rocking tub.

"Hey Hot Head," said Gray, hitting him in the shoulder, "Get up, we're here."

Natsu shot up from his seat, his motion sickness vanishing. He ran up to the edge of the ship to catch a glimpse of the country his daughter was located on. He understood why they had to take an airship instead of a regular boat. The first thing Natsu noticed was that there was no beach or harbor; instead it was cliffs as far as his eyes could see. The area was rocky and dusty looking. He wondered if it ever rained there.

He could see the small outpost where ships came in and out. It wasn't busy like in Monica; there were only a couple of people walking around and there weren't nearly as many buildings.

"Come on," said Gray, "we need to get our stuff." Natsu nodded and followed the raven-haired man down to the decks below to fetch his things.

When the ship finally docked, Natsu practically kissed the ground he stood on. Erza pulled him off, scolding him for causing a scene. The group of seven looked around the small port. It was so pathetic compared to Monica.

"Why does it have so few people?" asked Gajeel.

"They're still building," answered Laxus, "Nobody want to come to a place as dry and disappointing as this unless it's worth coming too. Besides, they're probably scared of the natives." Laxus pointed up to the sky. Everyone noticed some kind of rippling effect happening where he was pointing, "They have a rune wall set up around the city perimeter to keep them out."

"But we need to find them," said Levy, looking at the various buildings, "We should stock up on supplies. There is a convenience store over there," she said, pointing to the small building. The team walked up to the building, a little bell ringing as they opened the door. The man at the front desk ignored them as they searched around for the items they needed. Levy however walked up to the front desk happily.

"Excuse me?" she asked. The man didn't cast her a glance as he fumbled through a newspaper, "I was wondering if you could tell us about the native peoples of this region?"

"Why would you want to know that?" he asked.

"My friends and I are planning to travel through this region and we were hoping for some information." The man groaned, putting his paper to the side.

"Are you trying to get yourselves killed?"

"No, just trying to help our family," she responded. She said nothing more on why they were there. Gajeel walked up besides her, placing his items on the counter. The man sighed, picking up Gajeel's stuff and checking the prices.

"There are a couple different tribes all around Tiar. So far, five have been recorded. The Okami, the Shika, the Tokage, the Fukurō, and the Ramu."

"Any we should look out for?" asked Elfman as he and Gray joined the group at the check out counter.

"The Ramu are located in the mountains south of here so you shouldn't run into them, and the Tokage are very easily startled. You won't have any issues with them."

"What about the other three?" asked Levy. Laxus, Natsu and Erza congregated with the rest of their friends, items in hand.

"The closest tribe is the Shika and they absolutely hate outsiders. They specialize in swiftness. The Fukurō don't exactly have a territory to call their own. They have these gliders that allow them to fly through the sky, so they never stay in one place. The Okami are probably the strongest of the three and have the largest numbers. They live farther east."

The man finished calculating their items prices and they gave him the money. Just as they were about to leave, he called out to them.

"Word of advice, just go in and out. There's no point risking yourselves longer than you have to."

"Thank you for the advice," said Levy, "but I'm sure we'll be okay. Have a nice day," she said, waving as they exited the store.

"Well that was helpful," said Erza, "Now we know what to expect."

"Let's just try to find them as soon as possible," Laxus spoke. Natsu was about to say something when a flash of color appeared in the corner of his eye. He looked up into the sky, blocking the suns light with a hand. Something small was fluttering through the breeze above their heads. Natsu squinted his eyes, finding it slightly familiar. As the object got closer to the earth, he could tell what it was. Natsu gasped.

The object in the air was a small salmon ribbon. Natsu took a couple steps back as it landed in his hand. He stared at the fabric for a couple of moments before taking a small sniff. He looked back at his group, a large grin on his face.

"This ribbon is Nashi's!" he exclaimed.

"Can you track her with it?" Erza asked, rushing to his side.

"I think so. The scent is still fresh." Taking a long, lingering smell, Natsu let his nose guide him in the direction it needed to go. His head stopped turning and fell towards the direction eastward.

"That way," he said breathlessly. Natsu shoved the ribbon in his pocket and started sprinting in the direction his nose had guided him. Everyone else picked up their stuff and followed Natsu in hot pursuit.

Natsu felt a burst of energy inside of him he didn't have when he first got off the boat. He glanced down at the scarf so nicely folded around his neck and tucked into is coat. He smiled at the pink stitching that was pocking out. This time Krugger wasn't going to outsmart them.

Because a Fairy Tail wizard doesn't lose more than once.