It was a hot day in Bilgewater. Sarah Fortune was just cleaning the tables of her Inn. Her only steady income was from pirates who want to buy more rum from her. She walks back to the bar and pours a glass of Oakheart Seashell for herself. The liquor sweetly burns her throat. "Hmm… still good" she lays back the bottle of expensive liquor and starts cleaning the counter. Her body was a little exposed as usual and she knew some men were only here for her looks. But they pay a price if they stay longer than 10 minutes without drinking. And if she caught someone staring, she would kick him out of the inn without warning. Everything was going all right, people paid and left. Until she was alone in the inn. Until…
"..Dka." Sarah caught a glimpse of someone screaming. Not nearby but… still. It was coming closer "…shi! Shit!" until it became a loud screaming "OH! SHIT!" and right after those words she heard something falling from upstairs… down one floor… another… to the ground… there was a guy. Pinkish hair… and a completely bruised body. "Oh my body…" he complains. Sarah felt a rage, but at the same time pity for the guy. He destroyed her inn, but he is in incredible pain.
"Uhm… Are you okay? Because I don't think anyone is going to pay that hole you fell through" she kneels down to him and smiles "I'll take care of you for a day, okay?" he only gives a thumbs up and groans. "Give me… some time… please…" Sarah takes him over her shoulder and takes him upstairs to one of the rooms. Laying him down on the bed. "I do want an explanation when you wake up"
A couple of days went by. And the pink haired guy was still asleep, recovering. The longer he stays there, the angrier Sarah gets at him. She paid a lot of gold for the reparations of her inn and the upkeep is so high that she has trouble finding something to eat for herself besides soggy leftover bread.
It did not take much longer until the pink haired guy started talking to her. "Miss… thank you…" he said when she walked by. Sarah only smiled and keeps on working. Trying to ignore the fact that he is nothing more than a bother.
The day after he was sitting straight up. I heard him walking around upstairs and went to go check on him. "Hey, you finally are well again. Mind explaining me why you fell through the roof?" the guy looked over at her
"I was just doing a request from the board, it said that I should read it out loud... and now I am here. The name is Natsu by the way. Natsu Dragneel" he offers a hand to her
"Well, you'll need to pay for the damage you did to my inn, unless you want a bullet through your head" she grabbed one of her guns and pointed it at Natsu. A rage going through her eyes "You are going to pay, one way or another"
"WHOA! HEY! Hey! Not so fast, I have some money on me. How much did it cost?" he grabs a pouch of Jewel and opens it.
"75.000 gold" Sarah said in a sharp tone. Pushing the gun in his face
"Uhm… what exactly is Gold worth in Jewel?" he opens his pouch with Jewel and lets Sarah see
"What the heck are those? they look like something Taric would be carrying around" she grabbed one of the gems "Does seem like it is worth something" she puts it in her pocket "I'll take the whole bag and you are going to work for me too" Sarah smiles
"Uhm… Just to keep the good name of Fairy Tail, I will. But I also have this request that I still have to finish" he holds the paper
"Give me that!" she snatches it from his hands and starts reading
'The Institute of War is calling for new champions to fight on the battlefields. Wizards are asked to join in as quickly as possible. High reward for every wizard that joins.'
"Oh, so you were going to join The League? Well Good luck with that. Joining is not an easy task" she giggles and lays down her guns
"How do you know?" he smiles "You don't look like a wizard. Way to skinny" he makes his finger burn." Smiling a little and laying down on the bed "I will pay for everything once I get there"
Sarah laughs "Welcome in Bilgewater buddy. You are not going to leave this place without a boat. And if you illegally get caught on a boat, you are going to jail. Every boat is pretty darn expensive. Lucky for you I have a boat. But you'll have to work for it. Tomorrow morning I want you to clean all the rooms" she stands up "We are leaving the day after"
Natsu gives a thumbs up "Will do, and thank you miss…" Sarah quickly answers with "Fortune." and she shuts the door behind her. Walking downstairs to give the new people a round of ale and rum.
The next day was a rainy day. The people came in with soaked clothes just to enjoy the fireplace. With some rum. Natsu was just busy mopping the floors and cleaning the windows. When Sarah walked in "You were a fire mage weren't you? The people downstairs want to light the fireplace again. Go help them out if you want to" she smiled kindly at him and walked back downstairs
Natsu made a soft 'Hmmpf' sound and walked downstairs. Kneeling at the fireplace and heating up the dry wood. The man laugh at his silly action. But are amazed when he actually ignites it. They clap and smile, sitting back and drinking more of their drinks
"See, that wasn't too hard" she teased him "Tomorrow we will sail to the main land" as soon as he heard sailing he almost threw up
"Are you sure we can't walk… I hate boats… trains… carts... everything..." he almost throws up again from the thought and walks upstairs. Continuing to clean the rooms.
Sarah Fortune closed the Inn after a couple of hours and sits down on the couch downstairs. Resting and enjoying the fire. "Hey! Fire boy! Come here for a second." Seconds later he comes downstairs
"My name is Natsu, and yes what is it?" Sarah asked him to take a seat and offers him a glass of ale. Fresh from the tap
"Well done, you deserve that ride to the main land" she crosses her legs and chugs down the 0.5 L glass of ale. "Aaah! I needed that…" she said satisfied and lays down the glass on the ground "Where exactly do you come from Natsu? Tell me some more about yourself" she rests her head in the palm of her hand and looks at him
"Well, I am from Magnolia. One of the stronger wizards in my guild. Use Dragon Slayer Magic by eating fire. And my team… oh… I remember… we were doing this together… but… looks like I am the only one here. I was with my team reading the same words. But I think we got split up." He sinks back in his seat "I am worried about my little buddy"
"Well, I haven't fully introduced myself to you either. My name is Sarah Fortune, I am a bounty hunter. I am one of the champions of the league and am one hell of a nightmare with my guns" she takes one of the pistols from her side and spins it in one hand. Aiming at Natsu and making a joking 'Bang!' sound.
Natsu smiled "You, are in the league? Oh puh-lease, you can fire a gun and you can enter?" he laughs. Sarah loads her gun and aims at Natsu "If you want to keep your head there, you should shut up about my guns." Without a second warning Natsu immediately shuts his mouth
"Sorry Ma'am, thank you again for taking me to the Institute of war. I guess my other friends are going to be there too." Natsu takes a sip of his ale and puts it down again.
"Tell me some more about your friends? What are they like?" Sarah smirks and plays with the trigger "Are they just as good looking as you?" that comment made Natsu blush and he sips more ale
"Gray, Erza, Lucy and Happy. Gray is 90% of the time half naked, Erza is plain scary, and Lucy always tries to use her sexual appeal in her advantage. And Happy is my companion." Natsu relaxes in the seat and drinks more.
"Oh, I think you are a good lookin if I might say that. Or will I be in trouble with Lucy if I do?" she chuckles.
Natsu blushes a little brighter red "Miss, please. How old are you? 25?" Natsu smiled innocent and tried to wipe away her thought
"I am 18 to be exact" she smirked and throws him one of her guns "you thought I was old like that? HA!"
"18? Well… that does explain your behavior and such. But where are your parents? Isn't this theirs?"
"Both dead because of a pirate. Once was a customer of my mother's gun shop. These are the guns he used to kill them." She said a little saddened.
"Oh, I am sorry to hear that Sarah. I thought… Never mind" he drinks the rest of the ale and yawns "I am getting rather tired Sarah. Can I go to bed?"
"My bed, I want to sleep next to a handsome like you." She smiles and stands up "If you refuse I will sail of with the Syren alone"
*sigh* "Fine, but no funny stuff Sarah." His eyes are burning and he stands up "Lead the way." Sarah smiled
"You are not going to let me go first up the stairs are we?" she said a little ashamed and gives him a slap on the cheek.
Natsu held his sore cheek with his hand and walked up the stairs "Well, sorry princess. But how do I know which room is yours?" he said grumbling
"Oh? So you admit you did not clean all the rooms huh?" she laughs. "If you did you would know which room is mine." Natsu blushes
"I did… kind off?" he ignores the question and keeps on walking
"Up the stairs again. Room number 203." Sarah sighed and pushed him further. "We are leaving as soon as I feel like waking up."
I thought about making a new story. I hope everyone can enjoy
Sincerly, The voice you hear when you are reading this.