"Lucy!" Natsu and Happy called as they approached rapidly. Lucy and the others weren't even halfway to the village, so they must've been heading back to find them. Lucy smiled brightly at them as they ran up. Stopping once they reached her.

"Are you alright?" Puffed Natsu, resting his hands on his knees.

"Perfectly fine!" Lucy smiled. "Sorry to have worried you."

"Nah, we knew you'd be fine, right Happy? Hehehe.." Natsu chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Natsu was so worried the first thing he did when we got here here was to go get medicine!" Happy chimed. "Erza too!"

"Where is Erza?" Lucy asked. "She wasn't with you?"

"The villagers said something about a job for us, so she stayed back to listen to it." Natsu replied, looking excited. "Hopefully it's something fun!"

"Aye sir!" Cried Happy.

" I don't know If this is your definition of fun." Erza said from behind them. As per usual, she had arrived silently. She was holding a poster like the ones posted on the job board back in the guild hall. It had a picture of what appeared to be a giant fish on it.

"Apparently there is a fish around here that likes to eat fishing boats. How ironic." Erza pointed to the poster. "The reward is 30,000 jewel."

"A-a-a Giant fi-i-ish?" Happy's mouth was watering, and Natsu's eyes had lit up. He raised his fist straight in the air.

"Beware fish, Natsu the dragonslayer is coming for you!" Natsu yelled to the sky. Gray scoffed.

"You couldn't catch a rock."

"Oh yeah!" Natsu retorted. "I bet I could catch it before you!"

"Is that a challenge!?"

"Not for me!

"Fine, first one to catch it gets the reward!" Gray growled. Natsu nodded with a confident smile.

"Let's go Happy!" Natsu yelled.

"Aye sir!" Happy responded. They both left, running(and flying) towards the beach, back in the direction of the docks.

"Hey, wait up!" Gray yelled, running after them.

"What are you going to do Erza?" Lucy asked. Lea had curled up in her arms earlier and dozed, but she now yawned, stretching her arms out in front of her.

"I'm going to go to the beach. Are you coming with me?" Lucy smiled.

"Actually, I was planning to go see the village again."

"Can I come Erza?" Lea asked. Erza shrugged, then turned to follow the others, with Lea quickly leaping out of Lucy's arms and following. Lucy turned, and continued walking along the trail to the village alone. As she walked, Lucy noticed the sunlight starting to dim as the sun set. Suddenly, at the edge of her vision, a light appeared at the edge of the forest. She turned towards it, and it bobbed slowly up and down. Curious, Lucy walked towards it. In response, it started moving into the woods.

"Wait!" Lucy called, but to no avail. The light continued to move deeper in the trees.She looked back, but her friends were already out of sight, and presumably, earshot. Lucy grimaced, then waded into the brush after the light, disappearing into the trees.

"Hah! Got it!" Natsu yelled, holding a fish several times his size over his head. Happy was latched onto it's tail, being swung around as the fish flopped about, trying to free itself.

"Well done." Erza said from a chair nearby. She was reclined back underneath an umbrella, and had added a large pair of gaudy sunglasses to her outfit.

"No fair, you cheated!" Gray yelled. He was missing his shirt, though this time it was purposeful. "You used magic!"

"You never said we couldn't!" Natsu yelled back.

"I thought it was obvious, but I forgot how stupid you are!'

"What did you say!"

"You heard me, flame brain!"

"Stripper!"

The group started their walk back to the village, albeit with a few more bruises as a result of Erza ending Natsu and Gray's fight, whether they liked it or not.

"I wonder if Lucy's okay." Natsu muttered under his breath. He shook his head, reminding himself that she could take care of herself. He sighed, shifting the fish he was still carrying under his arm, which had been a bit charred due to his and Gray's squabble. They walked on silently for several minutes in the oncoming dusk, before they saw the walls of the village as they crossed a ridge. A few minutes later, they were met at the gate to the village by the chief's son.

"Hello!" He called. "I see you caught the fish already. Quite impressive." He looked over the group and frowned. "Where is the last member of your guild? Is she not with you?" The Fairy Tail members looked at each other worriedly.

"You mean, Lucy isn't here?" Erza asked.

"Not that I know of." He replied. "I haven't seen her at all tonight."

"Alright." Erza said, instantly becoming serious. "Natsu, take Happy and fly over the island. Lea, go back to the ship and look for her there."

"Aye sir!" The three chanted, before taking off.

"Gray," Erza turned. "You're with me. we'll check the southern half of the island."

"We'll get the Northern half." The chief's son said. "She helped save our village, so we owe her."

"Alright." Erza said, changing into her normal armor amid a brilliant flash of light. "Let's go."