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Beastly Possession	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 26740 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. I make no money, I just do this for my own pleasure.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Disclaimer: Now I'm not only writing fanfics about Hiro Mashima's manga Fairy Tail; it seems I've been asked to write lyrics for a certain country-western singer in Nashville. Um...is it bad that I actually don't listen to much American country music? At least I can write about farmers.

Chapter 18

A Tumble in the Clover

Sting politely took a cookie offered by a rotund farm wife who obviously believed that having many children would help during the planting and harvest seasons. The small mob of children annoyed Sting, all of them with bright orange hair and piercing blue eyes, each only a year older than the next. He lost count of how many there were, since the older ones looked alike, the younger ones ran around too fast, and there was at least one set of twins.

He focused on the haggard father instead, a grizzled man with dark skin from working the fields all day, his orange hair fading to white, smelling to Sting's sensitive nose like dirt, sweat, cut plants, sheep dung, and his breath reeked of cheese and moonshine whiskey. It was a retched smell that added to the aroma of cookies baking and stench of dirty diapers.

"So, you's huntin' that beast that's been plaguin' these farms, eh?" the farmer said in a drawling accent. "Issa 'bout dang time someone seriously hunted that critter."

"Has it been in the area for long?" Sting asked. He attempted to bite into the cookie, but it was rock hard. He discreetly tucked it into a pocket instead.

"Nope, came an' went like the wind, it did! Ate many of my animals."

Sting glanced around at the rowdy mob. "It didn't, perhaps, eat a few of your children?"

The farmer wheezed a laugh. "No, no. All present an' accounted for. It did try to attack my eldest. She's the one who scared the thing away when it came attackin' the chickens."

"Scared it away?" Sting frowned as he realized something was not making sense. A feral dragon slayer did not get scared away, and it hunted people, not farm animals. Perhaps the rumors were about a normal monster. "Did you actually see this beast?"

"Me? No sirree. Tenko did, though. She got a real good look at it."

"I think I should speak to her next." Sting rose and tipped his head to the wife. "Thanks for the cookie, ma'am."

"Oh, you're mighty welcome, sugar," she tittered. "Ain't every day we get such a cutie in the house. Here, have a few for the road." She already had a knapsack filled with rock hard cookies.

Sting raised an eyebrow as he took them. Well, they might actually taste good if the next farmer gave him some milk to soften them up. Or maybe he could use them to sink a line for fishing. Lector had been complaining about not getting enough fish.

Sting gladly stepped out of the noisy house and finally breathed some fresh air. Lector was waiting, keeping out of the way after one of the children had pulled his tail. He came up now and sniffed the floral sack.

"Cookies?"

"Trust me, you don't want them," Sting whispered. "Have you seen a girl around here?"

"There's one in the chicken coop."

Sting headed toward the small building surrounded by feathers. His boots sank into droppings, and once again Lector decided he would wait for Sting to speak with these farmer folks. The Exceed honestly did not like rural life and missed the city. Lector took the knapsack, tested out a cookie, could not bite into it, and stuck it back with a grumble about stupid farmers.

Sting ducked down into the chicken coop. He was unsure what he had been expecting, maybe a smaller version of the rotund mother. Instead, he saw a svelte girl his age, her gleaming orange hair pulled back into a haphazard bun and held in place with a pencil, strands falling down in ringlets, and although her dress was simple and her apron filthy, her skin was absolutely flawless and gleamed golden-bronze from a life in the sun.

"Well well! A piece of heaven found in the most humblest place on Earthland. No wonder your name is Tenko."

The girl startled, dropping the egg she was holding. Sting rushed forward and grabbed the chicken egg before it fell. He rose up, put the egg back in the nest, and found himself standing so close to the girl, he could smell a rose scent from her hair.

"A beauty like you doesn't belong on a farm," Sting said suavely. "If I weren't on a mission, I'd take you back to Sabertooth with me."

"Sabertooth?" she gasped softly. "You're a mage?"

He showed Tenko his guild mark. "I need to ask you some questions."

"About the beast," she realized. "I knew Papa put out word for help about it, but I didn't think he'd hire a magic guild."

"He didn't. I happen to be hunting this beast. Just good luck that I got to meet you," he smiled, completely dazzling her.

"I...I see," she blushed, looking aside as her cheeks burned. Then she saw the droppings they stood in and the feathers that covered the ground. "Perhaps a better location. This chicken coop must stink."

Sting followed the young lady out of the reeking coop and down to a piece of farmland left to fallow with a clover cover crop. Here they sat and gazed at the tiny puffs of purple flowers. Tenko tucked her skirt around her politely, and Sting looked around at the plants with a childlike curiosity if he could find a rare four-leafed clover. With hunting this beast, he could use all the luck he could get!

"So, what did you want to know?" she asked.

Sting jolted out of his cloverleaf search. "Oh, right. The beast. Anything you can tell me about it: what it looked like, how it behaved, what it did? Anything at all you can remember might help me hunt it down."

"Hunt it down?" she mumbled. "It...he's a person. Or maybe, half a person. But he looked somewhat human."

"That's normal," Sting assured her. "This creature was once human, but it lost its humanity a long time ago. It's no longer a man, nor does it think like one. It's purely a beast now."

"No," she said, shaking her head with a furrowed brow. "There's a part of him still human. When he tried to...to..." She broke off with a shiver.

Sting placed a reassuring hand on her back. "It's all right. This beast does horrific things to people. I've seen the horrors and heard the very worst. It's safe to tell me. I won't judge you."

She nodded and swallowed hard. "I was just waking up for the morning chores. I get up before Mama and Papa to fetch water. I was at the well when I heard a noise in the chicken coop. I thought it was a fox. We've had those a couple times. So I went to chase it away, and that's when I saw...glowing eyes," she whispered in remembered terror. "It was huge, the size of a man, wings and a tail. It was before dawn, still dark, so I can't tell you much, but the wings appeared to be reddish. His skin was the same color as yours, but there was something strange about it, like scales in certain areas. He grabbed me before I could scream and slammed me against the wall. He began to...lick me," she mumbled in shame, and her eyes filled with tears. "I really thought he was going to...to...do things." She put it delicately and blushed.

Sting looked a little surprised. "It didn't?" he asked. Although that was a good thing, it did not fit the normal profile of a feral dragon slayer that acted purely on dark instincts.

Tenko shook her head. "His voice suddenly changed. It was distorted and growling at first, but then he seemed to talk normally. He...apologized. Then he began arguing with the first voice."

"Two voices?" Sting tried to clarify.

She nodded. "It was like he was arguing with another side of himself."

Sting looked aside. This made absolutely no sense. "The feral should be too far along. Then again, I suppose the human side could break through momentarily. What sort of things did he say?"

Tenko shrugged and looked down at the purple flowers to avoid eye contact with such a handsome man while confessing about something as horrible as a near-rape. "He repeated over and over that he didn't want to hurt anyone, but the other side, the beast side, kept screaming profanities about wanting to fu-...uh, to have sex," she said more politely. "He was fighting with himself, then he ran out screaming that women were...off-limits." She shrugged, unsure at the meaning of this, only relieved that she had not been hurt.

Sting looked troubled. "The beast listened to the human side. That's very unusual."

"Unusual?" Tenko asked worried.

"I mean no offense, but this beast is a creature of vile destruction and wanton slaughter. It would have raped you while eating you alive. To see that you're safe, not a scratch on you, and the beast backed away due to the human side coming forward...that's a real surprise."

Tenko pouted and looked away petulantly. "Maybe it's just me. Seems like no man, even a half-man, wants me."

Sting was no fool. He heard the offer hidden in her pouting words. "Perhaps it truly is you," he said in a deep, seductive voice that brought Tenko's face back over to him in surprise. "It seems even a beast from Hell can be tamed by the face of a Heavenly Child."

Tenko, whose name meant Heavenly Child, blushed at his words.

"You know," Sting said, sidling up closer to her, "this beast leaves a mark on its prey, something to guide it back if it wants to play with the prey a little longer."

Her face paled in dread. "A mark? Like how wolves mark territory?"

"Exactly. It could be anything: a smell, a bite, a scratch." His hand caressed her sun-kissed arm. "Where did this beast touch you? Show me everywhere it touched. You see, I'm a dragon slayer. You could say that my specialty is finding beastly marks on people. I don't smell it on you." He nuzzled his nose into her neck, giving her chills. "So it must have been a physical mark. Did it touch your arms?"

Tenko blushed fiercely. "I...I don't remember. Maybe."

Sting moved in closer. "Did it touch your shoulders?"

"Y-yes." She breathed heavily, loosening her blouse and willingly tugging it down. "He grabbed my shoulders when he slammed me against the wall."

"Such a brute!" Sting said, caressing the paler skin on her neck and shoulders, inching the blouse downward. "I shall slay that creature for daring to touch such perfection. Where else? What other places did this fiend touch? I need to inspect every single place to search for its mark."

"He...just for a moment, though..."

"A moment is all it would need."

"He...grabbed my...my bosom."

"Bosom?" Sting chuckled as his lips trailed over her flushing skin. "Have I ever told you that I love the way farm girls talk? Tell me more," he said, guiding her as Tenko leaned back against the fragrant clover and pulled him with her. Sting leaned over her, using his body to shade her eyes from the sun. "Show me every place it might have marked."

"Sir!" she gasped as he leaned down over her.

"Just call me Sting. Remember, I won't tell anyone. I won't say where it touched you or what it did. This is our secret." He leaned over and nipped on her collar bone, making her shudder in pleasure. "Our little secret."

An hour later, Sting walked up the hill from the clover field with slightly disheveled hair and a lazy smile on his face. Lector was glaring at the farmer's hunting dogs, which were snarling back at him, trying to decide if this weird creature was a cat or not.

"About time!" the Exceed complained. "She must have had a lot of information."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure," Sting said, still lightheaded. "Actually, her story is bizarre. So far, the beast has been slaughtering mostly people, entire villages wiped out. Yet this is the third farm we've visited who claim that not a single person was hurt. The daughter confronted the beast, and it let her go. That's not at all the way a feral dragon slayer acts. Its instinct is to kill humans, so why is it now heading into non-populated areas and killing only animals?"

"Maybe this is another creature? We could have lost its track."

"No," Sting muttered, reaching the main road and staring back down at the little farmhouse, including the orange-haired girl standing on the porch, watching him wistfully. "Her description fits perfectly: the face of a human, wings, a tail, scaly skin. It's definitely a feral dragon slayer. There's no way there could be two...or at least, the odds are astronomical."

Lector tried to think logically about that. "Maybe it's having a change of heart."

Sting shook his head. "According to Rogue, that can't happen. It gets worse with time, not better. Dammit, I really wish he had come along with us. He and Gajeel and the only dragon slayers who know how to handle this problem."

He sighed, missing his fellow dragon slayer, but he knew that Rogue did his own thing. He stared at the distant girl instead. At least without Rogue there to act all stoic, Sting could have a little fun.

Lector gave a weary sigh. "You marked her, didn't you?"

"Just a little tumble in the clover," he said dismissively. "She might be worth returning for, but I doubt I'll ever come this way again. We better hurry," Sting decided, turning away from the farm and the girl. "We seem to be close. We have to press on before this little loll in its habit ends and it heads back to civilization."

"Right, but no more marking women. One of these days, you're going to ruin some young girl's life, or her father will come after you with a shotgun."

Sting just laughed at that. "Who needs Rogue around when I have you to keep me in line?"

"I obviously don't do a good enough job," Lector grumbled as the two continued on their way.

Back in Lucy's group, they set up camp for the night. Natsu was stuck in his cage of runes, curled into a ball of sickness due to the bumpy ride. It took him nearly an hour after stopping before he recovered enough to sit up. Freed reworked the runes just enough to slide a plate of food in and remove a bucket they gave Natsu for puking and peeing. Otherwise, nearly everyone kept far away from the cage, uncomfortable with the idea of having their friend locked away. No one really knew what to say to him, and he did not bother to speak to them either.

Capturing him was an adventure, but transporting him back, knowing he was unstable, was a solemn duty.

Lucy glanced occasionally to the purple glowing runes. However, Natsu's sad expression pained her. She began to think it might be better if he was in his beastly form. Then it would feel more appropriate to keep him caged like this. For now, it felt...wrong!

Mirajane sang a campfire tune, hoping to pull them out of their gloominess. It did not really work, and finally they all went to bed early. Gray offered to take the first watch, and he sat by the fire, glaring at Natsu's cage. Natsu watched him back for a while.

"You wanna say something, droopy-eyes?" he finally challenged.

Gray kept quiet. Something gnawed at him, but he had to keep quiet about it, at least until he heard everyone asleep. He listened closely. Wendy slept so silently, it was hard to tell when she finally dozed off. After an hour, he decided it was safe enough. He stood up, which pulled Natsu out of a light doze. Silently, Gray walked over to the glowing cage sitting on a wheeled cart, casting a lavender hue around the bit of grass they had parked it on.

"I'm going to ask this only once, Natsu," he whispered, which made the dragon slayer scoot closer to the edge of runes. "I want the truth, no matter how...how damning it is." He sneered for a moment but held back his anger. He needed to hear it from Natsu first before he could truly give in to hatred. "Yesterday in that cave," he whispered, "did you rape Lucy?"

Natsu's face showed astonishment, then anger. "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing," Gray glared. "She won't talk to me, and that makes me even more suspicious. I know you assaulted her..."

Natsu began to shout, "I didn't..."

"I overheard her talking to Wendy yesterday, asking her if she could use her healing magic to check for pregnancy."

Natsu blinked, then slowly a smile came to his face. "She's pregnant?" he asked in abetted happiness.

Gray shook his head. "Wendy detected nothing."

Natsu sank a little. "Oh. That's...good, I guess."

Gray sneered at him. "You really did rape her, didn't you?"

"No!" Natsu insisted.

"You had sex with her."

"Yes," he said in a panic, "but...but I didn't rape her. I swear, I didn't!"

"Then the beast did, whatever. Just like you raped her before."

"I never..." Natsu froze as sickening realization dawned on him. That, at least, was one accusation that Gray had every right to make. "Goddammit," he hissed in self-loathing, and Natsu curled into a ball. "Did she tell everyone about that?"

"So far, only Master and I know. She had to tell him. I managed to guess. No one else knows about it. If she doesn't want people to know, I won't say anything, but I swear, Natsu, I will never forgive you for that."

"Even if she forgave me?" he asked quietly, looking up with mournful eyes. "I didn't rape her yesterday. It was...what's the word...consensual. I was fully in control, and Lucy wanted it, I swear."

Gray's anger now began to boil. "If you were in control yesterday, then why the hell did you try to rape me?"

"Rape...you?" He sneered in revulsion. "When the hell did that happen?"

"Just before Lucy came and practically threw herself as a sacrifice to get the beast off me and onto her. I ran to get help, and next thing we knew, you were flying away with her. What the hell was I supposed to think?" he shouted quietly. "Do you expect me to believe that after you did that to me, you just smiled at Lucy and she opened her arms to embrace you?"

Natsu put his hand to his mouth as he looked sick. "What...what exactly did the beast do to you?"

Gray inspected Natsu's reaction. It was pretty obvious, he was completely unaware of the beast's actions while it was in control. "Do you really want to know?"

Natsu shivered with a way-too-vivid imagination. "Maybe not," he mumbled. "I didn't do...that...did I?"

Gray looked away, suddenly feeling awkward as well. "You didn't...stick it in."

"Oh, thank God!" Natsu sighed in relief. "I'm really sorry. Dammit," he grumbled. "Now I have to enforce not only 'no sex with women' but 'no sex with anything.' Stupid beast."

"Don't think I'll forgive you so easily just because you weren't conscious."

"I don't blame you," Natsu mumbled. "Shit, that would have been the worst thing ever. You must really hate me."

"Yeah, I do," Gray said honestly.

Natsu's forehead crinkled in sadness. "Gray...Lucy trusts you. She's close to you."

"We're teammates. Of course we trust one another."

Those slanted eyes gazed up, and they nearly glowed in the low light of the runes. "I'm charging you with protecting Lucy while I'm locked up. Keep her safe, even if it's from me. If I turn again, and if I break out of this cage somehow, protect her. If the beast tries to hurt her, I give you permission to kill me."

Gray's eyes widened at how seriously Natsu said that, completely unlike him, yet he spoke without hesitation. Obviously, this was something the dragon slayer had been thinking about for a while. He was honestly that scared for Lucy's safety.

"I sure hope it doesn't come to that," the ice mage frowned.

"Believe me, I hope not either," Natsu laughed tensely. "Still, it could happen. I've told that to Lucy, too, but I know she won't hurt me. If she threw herself at the beast to save you, there's no way she'd do what it takes to stop the beast for good, so I'm leaving that duty to you." Natsu bit his lip, and if Gray didn't know better, it almost looked like the dragon slayer was ready to cry. "There's no way I could live with myself if I hurt her again," he whispered miserably, "so if the beast is about to do anything, protect her at all cost. Only protect, though!" he insisted firmly. "Lay a hand on her, work your moves on her, flirt with her in any way, and I will bash your ugly face in." He glared seriously. "Lucy is my mate now, and I'm not going to let you steal her away."

Gray chuckled softly. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I won't take another man's girl." He looked aside and glanced back to the camp, to the tent where Lucy was sleeping. "You're one lucky bastard, Natsu."

"More lucky than you," Natsu goaded.

Gray chuckled while glaring at him. "Shut the hell up, flame-brain."

"You couldn't get a snowflake to fall for you."

"At least I don't have a subconscious desire to screw men."

"Seriously, shut up about that."

Gray laughed, and for a moment it seemed like they were normal again, bantering, pestering one another, except the barrier of runes reminded him of the dire situation. "You know, we went through a lot of trouble to hunt you down. You better not be weak on us and go feral or whatever while we're hauling your lazy dragon ass back home."

"Suck on an icicle, stripper. There ain't no way I'm giving up now. I have to take Lucy on a date."

"Oh, now that's something I'd have to see! I'm sure Cana will start taking bets on how long you last before Lucy gives up in humiliation."

"At least I can stay dressed in public."

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you back!"

"You already tried that."

"Seriously, do not ever mention that again or I will burn every hair off your body."

Gray laughed. Sure, it annoyed him and angered him that the beast had tried to do that, but in the end, nothing happened and now...

Now he had the best blackmail against Natsu ever!

End of Chapter 18
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Beastly Possession