Rouge Solo #5/#6: "Comforting Warmth"
"We're home, everybody!" Natsu cried as he entered Mez, Osha rushing in along side him. It was very early in the morning, but he knew at least Fakih would be awake to greet them, and he smiled at his father. It would be fantastic to have Osha home! He would meet Ogbonna for the first time, Sangita would make a huge feast with the food that Mycah caught, and everyone would be happier! He grinned at the thought of a peaceful dinner with all his family surrounding him. Absolutely perfect.
"Where is Moka?" Osha asked, breaking Natsu's bubble of happy thoughts. "He's always up this early! Where is my Moka?"
"I... I don't..." Natsu began, glancing from left to right. How was he going to tell his father that his partner had been missing for almost six years now? They had just got home from a long journey, he couldn't be the one to upset him! He held his breath and searched for the right words to explain, until he spotted his grandfather wandering out of his tent. "OH! LOOK! IT'S GRANDPA, DAD!" He exclaimed, waving to Fakih. "GRANDPA! We're HOME!"
Fakih blinked, rubbed his eyes once or twice, before squealing. "OSHAAAA!" He cried, darting straight over to his son. His arms wrapped around Osha as tightly as he could manage without choking him, and he began to sob. "You look just as young as you did when you left, my sweet, sweet, Osha!"
"Oh, father! Don't lie!" Osha chuckled, his own tears starting up again. "I've certainly aged! Moka won't recognize me!"
Fakih paused, his eyes growing solemn, before he turned to face Natsu.
"You haven't told him...?" He asked, clearly taken aback.
"What hasn't he told me, father?" Osha said, turning his attention to Natsu as well. "Is Moka alright...?"
"M-Moka...? Oh, yes!" Natsu stuttered, rubbing his head nervously. "Moka is... Is... Uh... Is... Iiiiis...."
"My father has been missing for six years, Osha." Grumbled Mycah, who had stepped out of his tent just as Fakih had begun to cry out. He sighed, hugged Osha tightly, and smiled weakly at him. "We are going to start searching for him now that you're home..."
Osha paused, his expression going completely blank, before his body went limp. His Moka was... Missing? MISSING?! He broke into a sobbing fit and buried his face into his father's shoulder.
"MOKA IS GONE?! MY MOKA IS GONE?!" He screamed. "NO! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!"
"He went on a hunting trip and never came back, dad..." Natsu replied, his own body growing stiff. He hated to talk about Moka, the whole thing just didn't make sense. A beloved berserker set out hunting with his friends and never returns despite multiple accounts from his friends stating that he did, in fact, turn and go home without injuries. None of it made sense...
It was then that Mycah tapped his shoulder and brought him back out of his thoughts. His entire family had woken and gathered around him, chattering about plans to split up and look for Moka. His brother lead him aside and into one of their tents, before giving him a hug.
"Thank you for being so good..." He said, heaving a sigh. "You got Osha safely here where he belongs and I'm pleased..." Then, he glanced down to the floor. "Now all we need to do is travel to Zena and find my father..."
"Zena? Why Zena?" Natsu asked.
"Because Zevian said he might have seen him wandering around on the slopes..." Mycah replied, biting his lip. "Zev didn't get a chance to actually talk to the man he saw, but he said he had blonde hair and light skin. If that's not my father, then who else would he be?"
Natsu nodded. Zevian would never lie to Mycah, he was like family. He and Moka were fairly close while growing up, as it had been explained to them when they were children, making it even more unlikely that Zevian would lie about seeing their father. He smiled back at his brother and patted him on the shoulder.
"Alright, let's head out before noon." He said. "We'll want to be sure to beat any storm that might come our way..."
---
As Natsu had predicted, there was a blizzard approaching Zena that could be seen just as they ascended the first slope. He and Mycah had to be careful while they traveled up these mountains together, and be mindful of where they were. Neither man wanted to end up like Zevian's wife, Ren, who slipped off of a slope and fell to her death six years prior. They tied a rope to each other's backs to ensure that neither of them would get lost.
At first the blizzard was light and manageable, but as they climbed further and further upwards, the fury of the storm grew stronger. Mycah would buckle down against the winds as they were coming, but Natsu knew that it was better to remain in a defensive stance no matter the strength of the gust. As soon as his brother's guard was let down, the wind would come swooping in again and knock him down, if he wasn't careful. Natsu clung to every bit of hope he had that they would make it to the first plateau in one piece.
But despite his time spent in prayer, a piece of ice came crashing down from above them, sending shards of ice down with it. Mycah made a poor move out of fear and latched onto a small foot ledge, only to have it crack under his weight. Without anything else for him to grab onto, Mycah plummeted downwards, which jerked Natsu off of his own steady grip. The pair of brothers screamed, assured that their fate was sealed.
Mycah landed upon the ground first with a dull thud and could only watch as Natsu fell his last few feet. Their bodies lay still upon the snow, stunned by the force of how they had landed. Natsu gazed to Mycah and Mycah gazed back, before both men blacked out.
---
A loud thumping noise was what Natsu woke to days after he and Mycah had taken their fall. His eyes fluttered open to find himself laying in the arms of his elder brother, who had woken only hours before. Tears were streaming down his brother's face, which prompted Natsu to nuzzle into Mycah's chest.
"Shhh, I'm okay..." He sighed.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Mycah gasped, cradling Natsu like a baby. "You and I had taken such a fall and I thought I had lost you, little brother! I am so sorry that I made such a dumb move like that!"
Natsu nodded and wiggled into a sitting position. He squeezed Mycah tightly for a moment before looking around. Where were they? Some sort of cave or something? It sure wasn't a house, that's for sure. It had some odd makeshift furniture, a rug, and a fire pit in the center of the room. There were no logs on the fire, but it looked as if it had been recently used. He turned to Mycah and arched an eyebrow.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"I'm not certain, actually..." Mycah replied. "I woke up a few hours ago and saw you laying beside me. Somebody must have found us and brought us here..."
"Oh..." Natsu muttered, his voice trailing off. Well, whoever had saved them surely didn't have a proper house. This was a cave made up like a den area! Who would choose such a cold, strange place to live?
Suddenly, his attention was caught by a soft glow coming from the mouth of the cave. He wriggled himself up against Mycah again and pointed.
"This must be the person who saved us..." He said.
"Good, they're home!" Mycah whispered, grinning. "Welcome home, friend! Thank you for saving us!"
The glowing paused sharply before rushing forward, as if startled by Mycah's voice. Hurried footsteps could be heard rapping up against the hard cave floor before a shadow made it's way along the wall. Finally, from seemingly nowhere, a man in a tan cloak emerged from the darkness. Long, thick, blonde curls could be seen poking out from his hood, and sparkling blue eyes gleamed against his rosy, broad smiling cheeks. He hustled over to the fire pit, laid his torch down in it and placed the bag of fire wood he had been carrying beside it, before turning towards Natsu and Mycah.
"My goodness, you've both decided to wake up while I've been gone!" He cried, giving a rather boisterous chuckle. "Poor boys, so far from home! You took quite a fall, didn't 'ya? Ah, but there's nothing that I can't handle! You're in good hands, boys!"
He bent down and quickly went to study Natsu's knee, keeping his grin while he re-bandaged it.
"Looks like you had a previous injury here, no big deal!" He chirped, wrapping the bandages tightly around Natsu's leg. "There! As good as it was?"
"Yes, thank you very much!" Natsu replied, gazing up to Mycah. He was about to comment on how wonderful the stranger was, but paused when he noticed how stunned Mycah seemed to be. "... Mycah, are you alright...?"
"Baaah, he's probably just shocked at how much wood I can carry!" The man laughed, patting Mycah upon his head. "Now, Mycah is it? How old are you?"
Mycah could only stare, his eyes seemingly blank. He was like this for several minutes before he wrapped his arms around the man.
"Father! We've found you!" He cried.
The man stared blankly at Mycah, but accepted the hug with a smile.
"Poor boy, you're so delirious!" He chuckled. "I haven't any children! What would make you think I'm your father?"
"Well, for one thing..." Natsu said. "You're wearing his gauntlets!"
The man peered at his gauntlets and blinked.
"I haven't any idea how I got these..." He said, before simply sitting down, his eyes growing distant. "... Come to think of it... I don't even know my own name..."
"Your name is Moka!" Mycah cried. "It means comforting warmth!"
The man blinked and grinned.
"Ah, speaking of warmth!" He chirped. "We should start a fire!"
"Let me help you get that started!" Natsu chirped. He wanted to see if he could distract the man long enough so his brother could get more information out of him. But, instead, the man loaded the logs on the fire and told him to sit down. However, just as the man was about to light the fire, Natsu had a bright idea.
"Let me show you a fun way to light a fire!" He exclaimed, quickly producing a few leaves from his pocket. He threw them on top of the logs and set them on fire, relishing the crackling sound that came from them. "Is that cool?" He asked the man.
This time, the man's expression went from that of pure delight, to befuddlement. He peered around the cave, looked to Natsu, and the straight to Mycah.
"Mycah... Is that you...?" He asked, his eyes brimming with tears. "Where the hell are we?!"
"FATHER! YOU REMEMBER US!" Mycah cried, lunging himself into his father's arms. "THANK THE GODS!"
---
"Are we all set to go home, now?" Natsu asked the next morning as the trio packed up the remainder of their things from the cave. He watched the two men, his brother and his father, as they chuckled and poked at each other. They, too, looked very much alike, as he and Osha did. It was funny, really, how all of this had happened. Love was a wonderfully confusing thing, wasn't it?
They walked home side by side, with Moka's arms wrapped around their shoulders. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, despite the many hiccups and accidents along the way. As such was life, as such it will always be. You can't avoid every problem you face along the way, all you can do is deal with it. However, Natsu was hopeful that his troubles were over for at least this year. He had had enough adventures for now!
But something told him that just because he had had enough adventures, doesn't mean adventures had had enough of him.
(Word count: 2041
NOTE: Counting this as TWO ENTRIES)
"We're home, everybody!" Natsu cried as he entered Mez, Osha rushing in along side him. It was very early in the morning, but he knew at least Fakih would be awake to greet them, and he smiled at his father. It would be fantastic to have Osha home! He would meet Ogbonna for the first time, Sangita would make a huge feast with the food that Mycah caught, and everyone would be happier! He grinned at the thought of a peaceful dinner with all his family surrounding him. Absolutely perfect.
"Where is Moka?" Osha asked, breaking Natsu's bubble of happy thoughts. "He's always up this early! Where is my Moka?"
"I... I don't..." Natsu began, glancing from left to right. How was he going to tell his father that his partner had been missing for almost six years now? They had just got home from a long journey, he couldn't be the one to upset him! He held his breath and searched for the right words to explain, until he spotted his grandfather wandering out of his tent. "OH! LOOK! IT'S GRANDPA, DAD!" He exclaimed, waving to Fakih. "GRANDPA! We're HOME!"
Fakih blinked, rubbed his eyes once or twice, before squealing. "OSHAAAA!" He cried, darting straight over to his son. His arms wrapped around Osha as tightly as he could manage without choking him, and he began to sob. "You look just as young as you did when you left, my sweet, sweet, Osha!"
"Oh, father! Don't lie!" Osha chuckled, his own tears starting up again. "I've certainly aged! Moka won't recognize me!"
Fakih paused, his eyes growing solemn, before he turned to face Natsu.
"You haven't told him...?" He asked, clearly taken aback.
"What hasn't he told me, father?" Osha said, turning his attention to Natsu as well. "Is Moka alright...?"
"M-Moka...? Oh, yes!" Natsu stuttered, rubbing his head nervously. "Moka is... Is... Uh... Is... Iiiiis...."
"My father has been missing for six years, Osha." Grumbled Mycah, who had stepped out of his tent just as Fakih had begun to cry out. He sighed, hugged Osha tightly, and smiled weakly at him. "We are going to start searching for him now that you're home..."
Osha paused, his expression going completely blank, before his body went limp. His Moka was... Missing? MISSING?! He broke into a sobbing fit and buried his face into his father's shoulder.
"MOKA IS GONE?! MY MOKA IS GONE?!" He screamed. "NO! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!"
"He went on a hunting trip and never came back, dad..." Natsu replied, his own body growing stiff. He hated to talk about Moka, the whole thing just didn't make sense. A beloved berserker set out hunting with his friends and never returns despite multiple accounts from his friends stating that he did, in fact, turn and go home without injuries. None of it made sense...
It was then that Mycah tapped his shoulder and brought him back out of his thoughts. His entire family had woken and gathered around him, chattering about plans to split up and look for Moka. His brother lead him aside and into one of their tents, before giving him a hug.
"Thank you for being so good..." He said, heaving a sigh. "You got Osha safely here where he belongs and I'm pleased..." Then, he glanced down to the floor. "Now all we need to do is travel to Zena and find my father..."
"Zena? Why Zena?" Natsu asked.
"Because Zevian said he might have seen him wandering around on the slopes..." Mycah replied, biting his lip. "Zev didn't get a chance to actually talk to the man he saw, but he said he had blonde hair and light skin. If that's not my father, then who else would he be?"
Natsu nodded. Zevian would never lie to Mycah, he was like family. He and Moka were fairly close while growing up, as it had been explained to them when they were children, making it even more unlikely that Zevian would lie about seeing their father. He smiled back at his brother and patted him on the shoulder.
"Alright, let's head out before noon." He said. "We'll want to be sure to beat any storm that might come our way..."
---
As Natsu had predicted, there was a blizzard approaching Zena that could be seen just as they ascended the first slope. He and Mycah had to be careful while they traveled up these mountains together, and be mindful of where they were. Neither man wanted to end up like Zevian's wife, Ren, who slipped off of a slope and fell to her death six years prior. They tied a rope to each other's backs to ensure that neither of them would get lost.
At first the blizzard was light and manageable, but as they climbed further and further upwards, the fury of the storm grew stronger. Mycah would buckle down against the winds as they were coming, but Natsu knew that it was better to remain in a defensive stance no matter the strength of the gust. As soon as his brother's guard was let down, the wind would come swooping in again and knock him down, if he wasn't careful. Natsu clung to every bit of hope he had that they would make it to the first plateau in one piece.
But despite his time spent in prayer, a piece of ice came crashing down from above them, sending shards of ice down with it. Mycah made a poor move out of fear and latched onto a small foot ledge, only to have it crack under his weight. Without anything else for him to grab onto, Mycah plummeted downwards, which jerked Natsu off of his own steady grip. The pair of brothers screamed, assured that their fate was sealed.
Mycah landed upon the ground first with a dull thud and could only watch as Natsu fell his last few feet. Their bodies lay still upon the snow, stunned by the force of how they had landed. Natsu gazed to Mycah and Mycah gazed back, before both men blacked out.
---
A loud thumping noise was what Natsu woke to days after he and Mycah had taken their fall. His eyes fluttered open to find himself laying in the arms of his elder brother, who had woken only hours before. Tears were streaming down his brother's face, which prompted Natsu to nuzzle into Mycah's chest.
"Shhh, I'm okay..." He sighed.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Mycah gasped, cradling Natsu like a baby. "You and I had taken such a fall and I thought I had lost you, little brother! I am so sorry that I made such a dumb move like that!"
Natsu nodded and wiggled into a sitting position. He squeezed Mycah tightly for a moment before looking around. Where were they? Some sort of cave or something? It sure wasn't a house, that's for sure. It had some odd makeshift furniture, a rug, and a fire pit in the center of the room. There were no logs on the fire, but it looked as if it had been recently used. He turned to Mycah and arched an eyebrow.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"I'm not certain, actually..." Mycah replied. "I woke up a few hours ago and saw you laying beside me. Somebody must have found us and brought us here..."
"Oh..." Natsu muttered, his voice trailing off. Well, whoever had saved them surely didn't have a proper house. This was a cave made up like a den area! Who would choose such a cold, strange place to live?
Suddenly, his attention was caught by a soft glow coming from the mouth of the cave. He wriggled himself up against Mycah again and pointed.
"This must be the person who saved us..." He said.
"Good, they're home!" Mycah whispered, grinning. "Welcome home, friend! Thank you for saving us!"
The glowing paused sharply before rushing forward, as if startled by Mycah's voice. Hurried footsteps could be heard rapping up against the hard cave floor before a shadow made it's way along the wall. Finally, from seemingly nowhere, a man in a tan cloak emerged from the darkness. Long, thick, blonde curls could be seen poking out from his hood, and sparkling blue eyes gleamed against his rosy, broad smiling cheeks. He hustled over to the fire pit, laid his torch down in it and placed the bag of fire wood he had been carrying beside it, before turning towards Natsu and Mycah.
"My goodness, you've both decided to wake up while I've been gone!" He cried, giving a rather boisterous chuckle. "Poor boys, so far from home! You took quite a fall, didn't 'ya? Ah, but there's nothing that I can't handle! You're in good hands, boys!"
He bent down and quickly went to study Natsu's knee, keeping his grin while he re-bandaged it.
"Looks like you had a previous injury here, no big deal!" He chirped, wrapping the bandages tightly around Natsu's leg. "There! As good as it was?"
"Yes, thank you very much!" Natsu replied, gazing up to Mycah. He was about to comment on how wonderful the stranger was, but paused when he noticed how stunned Mycah seemed to be. "... Mycah, are you alright...?"
"Baaah, he's probably just shocked at how much wood I can carry!" The man laughed, patting Mycah upon his head. "Now, Mycah is it? How old are you?"
Mycah could only stare, his eyes seemingly blank. He was like this for several minutes before he wrapped his arms around the man.
"Father! We've found you!" He cried.
The man stared blankly at Mycah, but accepted the hug with a smile.
"Poor boy, you're so delirious!" He chuckled. "I haven't any children! What would make you think I'm your father?"
"Well, for one thing..." Natsu said. "You're wearing his gauntlets!"
The man peered at his gauntlets and blinked.
"I haven't any idea how I got these..." He said, before simply sitting down, his eyes growing distant. "... Come to think of it... I don't even know my own name..."
"Your name is Moka!" Mycah cried. "It means comforting warmth!"
The man blinked and grinned.
"Ah, speaking of warmth!" He chirped. "We should start a fire!"
"Let me help you get that started!" Natsu chirped. He wanted to see if he could distract the man long enough so his brother could get more information out of him. But, instead, the man loaded the logs on the fire and told him to sit down. However, just as the man was about to light the fire, Natsu had a bright idea.
"Let me show you a fun way to light a fire!" He exclaimed, quickly producing a few leaves from his pocket. He threw them on top of the logs and set them on fire, relishing the crackling sound that came from them. "Is that cool?" He asked the man.
This time, the man's expression went from that of pure delight, to befuddlement. He peered around the cave, looked to Natsu, and the straight to Mycah.
"Mycah... Is that you...?" He asked, his eyes brimming with tears. "Where the hell are we?!"
"FATHER! YOU REMEMBER US!" Mycah cried, lunging himself into his father's arms. "THANK THE GODS!"
---
"Are we all set to go home, now?" Natsu asked the next morning as the trio packed up the remainder of their things from the cave. He watched the two men, his brother and his father, as they chuckled and poked at each other. They, too, looked very much alike, as he and Osha did. It was funny, really, how all of this had happened. Love was a wonderfully confusing thing, wasn't it?
They walked home side by side, with Moka's arms wrapped around their shoulders. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, despite the many hiccups and accidents along the way. As such was life, as such it will always be. You can't avoid every problem you face along the way, all you can do is deal with it. However, Natsu was hopeful that his troubles were over for at least this year. He had had enough adventures for now!
But something told him that just because he had had enough adventures, doesn't mean adventures had had enough of him.
(Word count: 2041
NOTE: Counting this as TWO ENTRIES)
