midnightstar | DA KIDLETS because i miss them so

Now that the weather was warmer, the kids were no longer so restless (not that they could be too restless with Natsu around to play with) and were eager to go out and on adventures of their own, both with their older sis/bro/not parents and without. Regine was kept busy helping to tend the guild in their absence, though occasionally she got dragged off by the children for adventures, on days that Natsu and Lucy had work to do.

Although lately there'd been a lot of jobs, so Lucy, at least, hadn't had time to spend with the kids quite so much. Which was why she had suggested taking the kids to the beach for fun, sun, fishing, and whatever else they wanted to do. Good plan, yes? Yes! Nev'd been up since the crack of dawn, full of excitement, and vigor, like a tiny fire-less Natsu. Justyne, on the other hand, had slept in a little more. Lucy just had to put a few final touches on her appearance - since her hair had gotten much longer in the last few months. "Twenty jewels say that Neveren will be knocking on the door in five minutes." She called over to Natsu with a grin.

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Sometimes it was rather hard to distinguish who the kids really were what with the silly banter between Lucy and Natsu. Not that there was any incentive to change that what with how entertainingly silly they could be during their exchanges.

"That's perfect Nev. Keep adding everything you can find. Hell even some seashells should work nice too." Since they could provide armor in certain parts of their patchwork wall. While he did direct Nev in that regard, Natsu was also building a noticeable tower to the right of the wall. One big enough to house him suspiciously enough. He wasn't thinking of how much of a target that little side project would be

They weren't that much older than the kids too, for that matter. So there was that as well. Herb was busying himself checking on both kids, wondering why they were being silly, digging holes. That was HIS job. Lucy and Justyne were busy giggling, chatting about their PLAN. Well Natsu could easily hear them, and Lucy knew that, which is why she turned to Justyne.

"Okay, so we'll communicate our plan by writing it in the sand here, so certain troublemaking Dragonslayers can't hear us." Deliberately emphasising 'troublemaking' because she knew he'd hear it, of course. Compared to Neveren and Natsu's fort, theirs was a lot less stable, just water and sand holding it together. At least what the boys could see if it; Lucy was getting some of the spirits involve for the shenanigans too after all.

"I heard that princess!" Natsu called out from his fort and start digging holes into the tower from which he could stick his arms out and intercept any projectile that might come flying towards their fort if it came to that. Yes Natsu would literally be the defense turret.

Lucy's only response was to laugh, slinging an arm around Justyne's shoulders. "See, sometimes him being able to hear things so well is convenient. We won't have to yell for him to hear us say, 'He's a big goofball and some silly boys for isn't going to beat our defense~!'

"But Lucy, I'm not sure-" Justyne paused, shushed by the older girl. The two went quiet, presumably scribbling something in the sand, giggling, and then Justyne peeked out from around her fort. "Waa, it's really nice over there. Lucy, how are we going to win this one?"

Lucy was thoughtful a moment, before scribbling 'Capture the brother' in the sand. "We'll go for this. The Dark Dragon over there won't have any choice but to surrender then~!" MWA HA HA HA.

Neveren, meanwhile, was trying to coax the puppy over to his side of the fort. They could totally arm a puppy cannon and knock down Lucy and Justyne's fort! (Not an actual cannon of course...)

"Muahahahaha if you want to surrender now's your last chance. Nev make sure to grab Herb and make him swear loyalty to the dragon crown!" Natsu laughed as he kept his eyes to the sky and then in front of him in case Lucy decided to start the war.

"Fairy Tail Mages don't know the meaning of the word 'Surrender'!" Lucy called back so Nev could hear her too. Justyne gasped, playing into the act, "Oh no, Lucy they've captured Herb~!"

"Don't worry Justyne, we'll save him! Quick now, we'll do this - and this - and ... yeah just like that..." Lucy giggled, leaning out from behind the fort. "Don't even for a second think that you'll have your way! Herb! Stay strong! Don't give in to the Dark Side!"

Neveren, thoroughly amused by this, called back, "We're the good guys! You girls are the bad ones!" Because cooties. Oh wait, they're supposed to be princesses. "I mean -- You... um..." Shoot he's not good at the creative thing like his sister and Lucy are. "You turned against the crown so you're...traitors!" He glanced at Natsu for approval.

Herb was just excited to be part of the fun, getting bellyrubs from Neveren and wiggling around until Nev got him to sit still behind the fort. "Ha! He's sworn loyalty to the dragon crown now, Natsu!"

"Hehe well at least you talk a good game!" Natsu called back and flew a small gust of fire over the Princess wall while making sure to avoid actually hitting either of them. Dragon king will show his power dammit.

"That's my trust second in command for ya. Get ready for anything. The princesses are definitely scheming some trick."

Lucy and Justyne mock shrieked as the gust of fire sailed overhead. "I told you that evil dragon king wasn't to be trusted, Princess Justyne," Lucy peered out from behind her fort. "If it's a fight he wants, then he's gonna get it!" She shouted over to them. "Archers!"

Well.. Archer. Namely Saggitarius, who found his mistress being extremely silly - but she had given him water balloons to fire over the fort, and this is what he was doing. Sending them three at a time over the wall!

But Natsu was right about them scheming, because Saggitarius wasn't the only spirit she'd called on; Virgo was getting in on the act too, digging a tunnel under their fort towards Natsu's. Hopefully Saggitarius could keep the boys distracted long enough, as Justyne crept along the tunnel after Virgo. Sneaky Sneaky~!

Archers? Natsu's eyes immediately shot upwarsd just in time to see the water balloons falling towards their position. "INCOMING WATER BOMBS!" Natsu yelled before he started firing short flame bursts at them to try and pop them and evaporate the water before it damaged the fort.

At the sudden chaos, Herb proceeded to bark, jumping to his feet. Nev eek'd, looking up to see the balloons getting popped by Natsu's flame bursts, some of the water raining down, most of it evaporating before it reached the fort.

"Tch." Lucy huffed, "Keep firing, Saggitarius!~" Keep Natsu's attention~! Justyne crept along after Virgo, though they were getting closer to Natsu's fort. Hopefuly Saggitarius was keeping his attention enough that he wouldn't notice Virgo popping up a few feet behind their fort, with Justyne climbing up to grab her brother. Herb did notice though, even if Natsu didn't, by some miracle, and attacked! ... by which we mean as she was grabbing her brother's ankle, the puppy scampered over and licked her face. "AUGH!!"

DID NOT FACTOR IN PUPPY BETRAYAL

Natsu managed to intercept every balloon with minimal damage to their fort and for Natsu it felt as if the battle was definitely going in his favor. However he then heard a familiar cry of surprise. Hang on that voice was supposed to be on the other side behind their fort. That being said he should have pulled his arms out of the tower before spinning around. As it were, Natsu ended up cutting through the middle of his sand tower causing it to colapse on top of him.

Neveren was the next to cry out in surprise, one Justyne managed to get Herb to stop slobbering on her. "I Got him!" She called over, giggling.

"Quick, capture him!" Lucy cried back. "The Dragon's inconvenienced but it'll only be for so long~!"

Justyne giggled, "Sorry little brother - you should have joined us~!" MWAHAHA -well there was probably still a chance they could win, but she was busy 'freeing' Herb and jumping back down into the tunnel, dragging her brother with her.

"WAAAH, no~!" Nev's distress was full of too many giggles to be really distressed. "Dragon King~! Help~!"

GASP. OH NO, what will the Dragon King do NOW. That's what Lucy wanted to know, as she tried to keep from giggling seeing the tower collapse on top of him like that. Tried and failed, giggling hysterically.

What the dragon king was going to do was roar and fire off a plume of fire skyward to blast away the sun before turning in the direction of the hole where his precious subordinate had been pulled under. "You get your frilly skirt back here little princess!" Natsu roared and dove into the whole crawling through with nothing but firey determination.

Justyne shrieked when she heard the dragon's cry, scrambling ahead faster. Herb helpfully hurried along, popping out of the tunnel well ahead of the kids. Neveren grinned, slowing his sister's progress down, leaving Justyne with few options. Let go of her brother or be captured~!

Lucy paced by the hole anxiously, not sure if Justyne would get out in time. "Aah, I shouldn't have sent her in by herself. Woe, little sister~! If she gets caught by the dragon king who knows what he'll do to her~!" Hamming it up much Lucy? Of course it was for Natsu and the kids' benefit.

"Heeere's the dragon!" Natsu roared as he caught sight of Nev's arm ahead in the tunnel. It was decision time for Justyne. Abort and settle for just having captured the doggy or be captured. He was enjoying the hunt though so unless Lucy intervened he would probably chase after Justyne still.

Another gleeful shriek from Justyne, though the tunnel exit was not far either! She let go of her brother's arm, making a break for it, popping out of the tunnel with a wild adreneline filled grin. "Sorry Lucy, I couldn't get him - the dragon was right behind me!"

Lucy grinned, ruffling sand out of Justyne's hair, "It's okay, I had a feeling the dragon wouldn't let the prince go so easily. But you rescued mascot prince Herb so it's okay. We may have to defend our fort - get ready~!" Just in case..! Justyne guarded the entrance for the tunnel, while Lucy scanned the rest of the beach in case the boys decided to dig upwards. She's on to his tricksy tricks~!

Natsu smirked as his second in command was released. Nev and Natsu paused in the tunnel and had their impromptu strategy meeting. "They think they took the lead by capturing our mascot. Lets prove them wrong, First officer Nev. We'll dig up the ground right under them and trap them in sand!"

Oh a flow in her plan. She wasn't looking at the ground around them. Oh well! "Stay alert, Justyne~!" Lucy cautioned, with the other girl giggling, a water balloon in her hands.

Neveren grinned, "Yeah! They'll never see it coming!" Mwahahaha! Wait, were good guys allowed to 'mwahahaha'? Eh, he'll work that out later, for now he would take Natsu's lead since he didn't know where exactly he should dig to drop his sister and Lucy into their neat little trap~!

If the princesses were smart they would have taken the opportunity to strike at the king's fort. As it were however they would have no idea of the insidious trap being laid around them.

"That's right. Now hush. You go to the right and I go around to the left" Natsu instructed with a hushed whisper before starting to dig a hole in the side of the tunnel.

Lucy -had- actually thought about taking that opportunity, but then if they'd taken the boys fort, then their own fort would have been claimed. Neveren stifled his laughter, nodding, proceeding to dig at a slightly slower pace in the opposite direction.

"Lucy... shouldn't they have come up by now?" Justyne eyed the mage, who was still scanning the beach.

"Yeah... they're obviously up to something..." But WHAT?

Oh they were up to something alright. And the fact that Herb was not giving them away proved that his loyalty was still to the dragon crown. So Natsu slowly dug a trench around the girls circumventing the fortress wall they built up and then started circling to the left aiming to meet with Neveren's own digging.

Herb was a good dog! ... actually he was watching the sand intently, since he could smell both Natsu and Nev digging away beneath them. His tail wagging slowly, he pawed a little at the sand. HE knows you're down there...~!

Lucy and Justyne on the other hand, were getting a little nervous, "Should we take the fort you think?" Justyne inquired. "They're still down there and-"

Oh, Lucy just caught on, from the small squeak she just let out, whispering a faint, 'They're STILL down there-' to herself. Oh crapocrapocrap.

Natsu heard that sound of realization but just then he dug right into Nev's own tunnel. "Time for operation mole war." Natsu said and immediately started digging in a straight line going straight for Lucy's feet!

Herb barked at the ground once he heard Natsu making his attack! That was either a warning back or a 'ha ha, he's come for meeeeee' bark. Hard to say. Natsu would probably claim he knew.

Justyne looked at Lucy, confused, "What's wrong?"

Lucy glanced at the ground, and then around. "Don't worry, I'll save you! Get to high ground! They can't get you there!"

She scooped Justyne up! And pushed her up to climb onto the boulder to hopefully get her to safety before Natsu finished his tunnel - even though the sand was going to collapse beneath her feet so he better be ready to catch her~! OR else!

Natsu clearly knew. Herb was telling him how close Lucy was to his goal. Still she just had to walk over the tunnel he'd been digging so the sand was not as sturdy there to the point that he heard the swishing of the sand start to cave in, giving him ample time to turn around and catch Lucy just as she fell under.