Hello my loyal readers! To start to thank those who have returned to read this long over due update. Secondly I would like to apologize for the atrocious wait! The end of last school year, my sophomore year, got really crazy really fast and unlike what I had expected my summer was just as, if more so insane. To start I took a college course, Portuguese II over the summer, which not only stressed me out but took a lot of time to prepare for. I also spent a lot of time with family and visited my dad, who had moved away early this year, who had me look at some colleges down where he lives. Then school started and I was chosen for the varsity volleyball team, which was fantastic, but combining that with the homework from all my honors classes well… you can catch my drift and the season was extended by my team making it to states. Now I'm not going to lie and say I had absolutely no time to write because that would be a huge lie, I had time but every time I sat down to do so I felt like what I wrote wasn't up to my standard and I didn't want to cheat you guys or myself with a crappy update. Wow… that was long… anyway thanks for baring with me! On to the overdue update!

Disclaimer~ Refer to Prologue

Chapter 4~ To Send a Message

Lucy's POV

I awake to sunlight streaming through the window, which was a nice change from a rough awakening due to a tragedy of some sort. I sit up with a stretch and yawn, noticing some of my own clothes splayed out on a chair at the foot of the bed. No doubt Erza or Levy's doing. I quickly change out of my borrowed clothes and into my own, scooping up the discarded clothes and carrying them downstairs with me, unsure of where I was supposed to leave them. Below me, my guild mates were chatting and mulling around as if it was a normal day. But it wasn't. I could see slight differences, voices much more subdued than usual, nervous looks cast around as if awaiting an attack. It was pretty clear that last night had shaken them up pretty bad. I walk down the stairs when I'm suddenly rammed, nearly sent to the ground if not for my attacker steadying me.

"Sorry Lucy!" Lisanna exclaims, clearly flustered. Her hair and eyes were wild in excitement.

"It's fine. What were you in a rush for?" I respond.

"I was asked to fetch you. Happy and Natsu just woke up! Master, Erza, and Gray are already there!" She says in a hurry, grabbing my arm and pulling me after. It takes a second for me to find my balance, but soon enough I regain it, relief filling me at the news. We rush back into the infirmary, and I stop at the doorway, spotting Natsu sitting up, still covered in bandages, Happy curled up by the dragonslayer's leg.

"Natsu, you're alright!" I exclaim, rushing forward to the side of the bed. Gray stepped back out of my way. I latch my arms around him, tears of relief in my eyes. "You idiot! You made me so worried!" I hear him chuckle a little, hand laying gently on my back.

"Sorry to worry ya, Luce." He replies, voice sounding a little strained. I realized I was probably hurting him and sheepishly withdraw, not missing the small sigh of relief.

"So what happened to you Natsu? Who attacked you and Happy?" I ask, glancing around at the assembled faces. The easy grin instantly fades from his face, and I see a flash of fear in Happy's eyes. Natsu's hand snakes around Happy, pressing the Exceed a little closer to him.

"We were ambushed when we arrived at the mission location." He starts, everyone leaning forward to catch his words as the story began.

*Flashback*

The moon and stars danced in the sky above a small clearing, in the center of which stood a salmoned haired boy. A blue cat with wings floated by his head.

"Are you sure this is the right place Natsu? There's no one hereeeee." The cat whines as the boy pulls out a tattered slip of paper, peering at in the pale light.

"This is where it says to be Happy. A clearing on the Magnolia side of the forest!" Natsu exclaims, waving the job request around in annoyance.

"Are you surrrrrrre we're at the right one?" The blue cat questions, further aggravating the dragonslayer.

"Of course I am! The request said it was by a river! There's the river!" Natsu exclaims, shoving the paper away and pointing at the rushing blue water that snaked through the trees to their left. Happy sighs, resting himself on Natsu's head.

"So I guess we gotta wait then." He says matter-a-factly. Natsu grumbles and sits on the ground.

"I don't know why they wouldn't just come to the guild and tell us instead. It's not much farther away, and they have food at Fairy Tail." Natsu complains with a huff.

"Oh quit complaining Natsu. At least it was close so we didn't have to take the train." Happy replies matter-a-factly, earning a nod from his partner.

"Yeah I guess so...I just have a bad feeling.. Something smells funny." Natsu remarks, nose twitching. Happy's nose twitches as well, and both of them whirl as a sharp sound breaks the night behind them. Happy takes back to the air as Natsu stands, hand curled into a fist.

"Who's there?!" Natsu calls. He receives no answer, the night seeming to turn instantly unfriendly. A cool gust rips through the air as the moon was hidden by clouds, unnoticed until now. Another snap splits the air, opposite the first and closer. Natsu turns towards the new sound, and Happy drops so he's hovering back to back with Natsu, small form quivering a little bit.

"I don't like this Natsu." He murmurs, pressing closer to the dragonslayer. The dragonslayer's eyes scan the area in front of him. Almost immediately after the words left his mouth, the air next to the two shimmers, a dark haired woman appearing briefly. Neither have a chance to react as she strikes, a swift kick knocking Natsu back into a tree before she disappears once more. "Natsu!" Happy cries, whirling after his downed friend. Big mistake. The woman appears again behind the cat, repeating her earlier action before shimmering out of existence again. Happy slams into a tree opposite Natsu with a muffled cry.

"Happy!" The dragonslayer calls, fists flaring with fire. "Where did she go?!" Fingers tap on his shoulder.

"Looking for me?" The woman questions sweetly, full out decking him in the face as he whirls around. The Fairy Tail wizard staggers to the side from the blow, but manages to stay on his feet. The woman presses her advantage, flashing in and out of view as she reined blow after blow on Natsu, who tried fruitlessly to block. He reels from another attack, the woman's laughter ringing out as he struggled to get back up. "So, this is the mighty Salamander we've heard so much about? Pathetic, I can finish you all by myself." She declares, making her little speech in clear view, knowing Natsu wouldn't be able to take advantage of her current weakness. However, he wasn't alone.

"Max Speed!" Happy cries from above, swooping down towards the woman. This time it's her who's unable to react in time as the Exceed's hit sends her flying right into unconsciousness.

"Nice job little buddy!" Natsu says with a big grin as he got back to his feet. They don't get to celebrate for long however, both mages sniffing the air with their enhanced noses as a new presence was recognized. "Who are you, what do you want?" The fire mage shouts, both his and Happy's heads acting as if on a swivel. The answer received was far from expected. A large wave of water suddenly crashes towards them out of the foliage, slamming Natsu in the center of the chest and sending him flying backwards.

"Natsu!" Happy cries, spinning to watch his best friend. Wrong move. A dark shape drops behind him, and, in an instant, the Exceed is collapsed on the ground, the quick strike knocking him out cold as the shape fades back into the shadows.

"Happy!" Natsu shouts in turn, going to stand, but the water lashes out again, this time in the form of a whip. Natsu raises his arm to block the strike, and the water wraps tightly around it. The fire mage shoots a glare at the opposite edge of the clearing, his gaze pausing on Happy's huddled form. "Who are you and what do you want?!" Natsu repeats savagely. In response three figures step forward from the shadows, the water withdrawing from his arm and splashing to the ground.

"Who were are doesn't matter. Our purpose however is to send a message." The middle figure says is a sickly sweet voice. "Nami, could you please be a dear and fetch Azumi? Calus and I can handle the little dragonslayer on our own." She says in the same tone. The largest of the shape's nods and shuffles forward towards the unconscious woman from before, picking her up with ease and slinging her over his shoulders.

"I will meet you both back at the guild." The man says gruffly, nodding again towards the other woman.

"Wait… you guys are in a guild?" Natsu exclaims in clear disbelief. The woman turns to her other companion, who merely shrugs. The woman also shrugs before turning back to the dragonslayer.

"I guess it doesn't matter, but yes, we are part of a guild. Not that it concerns you. We have more important business with you anyway little dragonslayer."

"What are you…? Natsu starts to say, but he is cut off, forced to dive to the side as the tree behind him splinters, the water inside it bursting out to lash at the fire user. "Hey! Tell me who you people are and what you want already!" The Fairy Tail mage shouts, forced to dodge another attack as the water whip pursues him. The other mage joins in the offensive, his form shifting between a multitude of animalistic characteristics. The opposing mages force Natsu back, and Calus leaps forward, fingernails and teeth elongating in midair. Natsu hardly has the time to raise his arms in front of his face in an X formation to block the attack. Calus's sharpened claws rake through his forearms, one claw like fingernail still managing to glance Natsu's cheek, and a thin trail of blood trails down the side of his face. Natsu growls and pushes Calus back, disrupting Mizu's attack as well since her comrade was now in the way. There's a lull in the fighting as Calus slowly gets to his feet, and each of the combatants regards each other, sounds of rushed breathing filling the air.

"Not bad little dragonslayer. It's rather impressive that you've lasted against the two of us this long. Few others can boost that feat, and even fewer still draw breath. However, you will join the latter very soon." Mizu says sweetly, water whips raising up behind her. "I guess Calus and I better get serious. Natsu merely smirks, whipping the stray blood from his face.

"You're finally getting serious? Good that means I can let it loose!" The dragonslayer says, his fists igniting in flame. "I'm all fired up!" This time Natsu is the first to attack, leaping forward and slaming his fist's in between the two, flames scattering the opposing mages as they attempted to dodge.

"Water Magic: Ocean Wave!" Mizu shouts, a blue magic circle appearing below her. The stream behind her raises from its banks, towering above her in a swirling mass.

"Beast Transformation: Forest Cat." Calus says in unison with her, a golden magic circle- opposed to her blue- forming at his feet. His human traits are completely overtaken with animalistic ones, and his human body becomes that of a large forest cat. He leaps into a tree as the water comes crashing down, and Natsu scrambles to scoop up Happy right as the water hits. Both Fairy Tail members are swept away by the torrent, left sopping wet and gasping when it the water finally filters away. Calus takes this opportunity to attack the now disoriented dragonslayer, and leaps down from the treetops. Natsu manages to stumble to his feet as Calus advances, but the transformation mage still manages to catch the dragonslayer's chest, raking down from the center of his front down to the side in an arch. Calus's other paw peppers more wounds upon Natsu's vulnerable body simultaneously. The dragonslayer falls back, blood spraying from the lacerations, and he just barely rolls out of the way as the other mage presses his advantage, going in for the killing blow. Natsu hardly manages to makes it to his feet again, his teeth gritting in both pain and determination. He tightens his grip on Happy before turning around and sprinting into the forest. Calus pauses, turning to Mizu, his ears drawn back close to his feline head.

"Well, go ahead Calus! I'm sure you are more than capable of finishing him on your own, right?" Mizu questions. The transformation mage's feline face draws back into feral mock grin and he whirls, taking off in hot pursuit.

"Hang in there Happy." Natsu murmurs as he runs, voice filled with pain. He held the Exceed with one hand as he went, the other wrapped around his side in a desperate attempt to slow the flood of blood. He doesn't make it far, injuries clearly hindering his speed, and Calus catches up, pouncing on the dragonslayer. They both go down, rolling as Calus used Natsu's back as a scratching post. Eventually, Natsu manages to throw of his attacker, but the other mage manages to twist in midair, landing on his paws. The cat leaps forward again, planting his paws on the sides of Natsu's pain stricken form, grinning ferally down at his prey.

"It's time to end this." He hisses in a gravelly voice, bringing up a large, bloodstained paw. Natsu glares in defiance as the paw descends towards his throat, far from finished. He waits until the paw is almost upon him before ducking to the side, slamming a flaming fist in Calus's face with enough force to send the enemy Mage flying. The fire user doesn't waste any time to check on his foe, failing to notice the cat's claws had snared his scarf. His stumbles painfully up to his feet, body swaying dangerously as his vision fades in and out of focus due to blood loss. He slowly drags his failing body towards Magnolia, a trail of bright scarlet splashing upon the surrounding foliage left in his wake.

*End of Flashback*

"After that, I dragged myself and Happy to Lucy's apartment, hoping she was back." Natsu finishes, the thought of an alternate outcome if I hadn't been home flashes across my mind, causing shivers to tingle down my back. I look to Natsu, covered in bandages and looking far worse off than he ever had, excluding this past week. I realise that,i f I wasn't there, he would have been dead. He had almost died.

"Did you catch any clue to what guild they may be from? A tattoo or some other mark?" Makarov questions, his face creased in concentration.

"No, all I know is they really wanted to kill me for some reason." He replies, fidgeting a little bit. I don't miss the accompanying wince that follows the small movement, and I feel a prick of pain in my own palm as I realize how tight I was clenching my fists.

"From the place you described it also sounds as if they wanted someone from Fairy Tail to find your body." Erza adds darkly, eluding a dangerous aura.

"They wanted to send a message. They said that much to Natsu. My guess is it's directed to all of Fairy Tail. Between the ambush and the scarf, Natsu was just chosen as an example as Master said before." Gray adds. "By taking out one of the stronger guild members, it would strike fear into the hearts of the others in the guild, and it seems to be working so far."

"That, and the guild would still be mourning for their loss if their goal is to attack us. If all of their members are as strong or stronger than Natsu described, we would be destroyed." Erza growls, her hand grinning an invisable sword handle tightly.

"So what's the plan now?" Lisanna asks quietly. She was so quiet throughout the entire thing that I had forgotten her presence. We all turn to Master who seems to be deep in thought.

"To start, Natsu must focus on healing. Those injuries are still rather severe. Without either Wendy or Porsylinca to check them and treat them, we have to make sure they don't get infected."

"What are you talking about Gramps? I'm fine!" Natsu says, trying to move out of the bed, pain written all over his face. "There's no way I'm sitting back and waiting if there's an attack!"

"You are not fine Natsu!" I shout, giving him a glare. "You barely made it out alive! In your condition you'll just get yourself killed!"

He looks at me in surprise for a moment before settling back, grumbling under his breath about something. The Master clears his throat before starting once more.

"In addition, we will have at least four people -not including Happy and Natsu, who still need to rest- at the guild at all times in case of an attack until this matter is resolved." He finishes.

"What about taking jobs?" Gray asks, causing Makarov to sigh. "Shouldn't we keep everyone in Magnolia to avoid another ambush?"

"Solo missions are still banned, and I will talk to the guild about only taking missions from known sources, but it may be the plan of enemy to starve us out. We need the jobs to operate, and we will not show them any fear!" There are nods of consent all around, everyone clearly troubled. "Natsu, Happy if either of you remember anything, please be sure to report in. Everyone else, keep an eye open and make sure the knowledge of what transpired stays inside the guild. We don't want to cause any hysteria." With that we all file out of the infirmary to let Natsu and Happy rest (despite Natsu's insistences that he was fine. His tired eyes betrayed him, and Happy had already fallen asleep again) and headed off to spread the word through the guild. Whenever this threat struck, we would be waiting; Fairy Tail was not going to go anywhere.

I hope that was up to standard everyone and, once more, sorry for the wait! Also, since I didn't do it in the intro, thanks to FairytailForeverGirl, NatsuL0ver, SaekoRosei x, Facade15, Zafrand, Maverickdm, and Shugo Fairy 4eva for the reviews and Fallen Crest, LoneStorm, BlueFiestaMockingjayPie, FairytailForeverGirl, zack0zack, danielajcjdl, PhantomTsubasa, platinum-breaker, Zeidesrem Inaliel Obazs, JcL107, dazil0darlin, SaekoRosei x, kyoko123, stormbreeze19, loveisourbitch, nicolasstemarie2, Zafrand, cherrila, JDantes, Nightcore Majesty, violet120, BitOtaku, Facade15, ImageDragons, PlushChrome, Sierraisawesome, XxXxLoveTheGamexXxX, rkynman, platinum-breaker, mkfl001, FairytailForeverGirl, Riz is awesome, IAmAnAwesomePussian, natsuxlucyrulez, orionXD, claiternaiter, XinderXD, blumenwiese, RonnieMack, The Johno 23, and animeluver993 for the favorites and follows and a very special thanks to Chromie, my new Beta! I will definitely do my very best to update more often in the future so please leave me some lovely feedback!

~Foxx