The Knight and the Hunter


Summary:Axel, Erza's younger brother, fell out of their boat as they escaped Jellal and the Tower of Heaven as children. Erza thought he was dead. They reunite, but Axel isn't the kind-hearted little boy he once was...


The Hood


The mighty Titania Erza of Fairy Tail found herself in a humiliating situation. She had been trapped. By her quarry.

Shortly after Erza returned with the rest of Team Natsu to the new and improved Fairy Tail guild hall, an emergency S-class request arrived from the Magic Council. One of their high-ranking officials had been murdered by a mage wearing a hood and using a bow, and they demanded his capture. The Council suspected the man acquired dangerous information from the official's office after the murder, as the room had been thoroughly ransacked and several items appeared to be missing. Reportedly, these items and documents were dangerous in the wrong hands. At least, dangerous enough to get the Council to dub it an emergency.

Despite her fatigue, Erza immediately set out on the job. First, she traveled to speak with a few officials from the council, in order to gain any information deemed too risky to be released on the job flyer. This proved worthless; the only details concerning the suspect were that he wore a hood and used a bow, as stated. On top of that, the officials were either tight-lipped or ignorant of the nature of the missing items. It took every ounce of Erza's self control to stop herself from hitting the useless men.

So, Erza resorted to asking the town's people about men wearing hoods and carrying a bow. But after asking what had to have been half the town, it appeared that the felon vanished into thin air after committing the crime. Making no progress there, Erza expanded her search area into the nearby towns. As she traveled farther from larger towns toward the forests, she began to finally hear of hooded men with bows.

But every lead she followed turned out to be a simple hunter or thief, both of which she handled accordingly. Still, Erza was not one to quit. More leads came her way, and Erza dutifully followed them. Of course, she planned to return to Fairy Tail for Fantasia in the next few days, but after that she would return to her work. Erza would never miss Fantasia if she could help it.

Her prey, known as the "Hood" to the Council, heard tell that one "Titania" was pursuing him with the intent to capture him for his alleged murder. The Hood was intelligent and skilled. And he would not be followed.

Erza was searching the forest based on tell of a hooded bowman wandering within. She never found the man that her informant told her of. But her real prey found her. Thus, she was tied up above the forest floor, struggling to catch sight of the man's face. There were several hastily mounted bows surrounding her as she swung gently in the air.

"Erza?" the hooded man breathed. "You are alive?"

"I'm not so easy to kill," Erza ground out. "It looks like your bow traps failed." Erza, of course, was fully capable of escaping the embarrassing predicament she was in. But information was always easier to gather when the enemy thought you were beaten. Villains, after all, like to gloat.

"No, they still work," the man assured her. His face was still hidden, but his previously steady voice quivered as he said, "You are alive." The man brought his hand to his head and turned away, shaking his head slightly.

That is when Erza made her move, taking advantage of his distraction. She cut the ropes with a sword and jumped to her feet. "Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!" she shouted. An instant later, Erza was surrounded by dozens of razor sharp swords.

"Easy there," the hooded man said, taking slow steps back, though mostly to try and calm the woman.

"Are you the one they call 'Hood?'" Erza demanded, pointing her swords at him.

"Is that what they call me?" the man whispered to himself. Erza still heard him.

"Surrender now, or I will take you back to the council forcefully. In pieces, if needed," Erza growled.

"You have no idea," the man muttered. Erza thought this was meant as an insult. "I can't go to the council for acting on justice's behalf. I killed one of their people, Erza. They will not slap my wrist and let me go. Not for that."

"Then you leave me no choice," Erza said grimly, with her face darkening slightly. She shot toward him with great speed, several swords following her.

"WAIT!" Hood cried, moving his arm up toward his head and shoulders. When Erza did not check up, he jumped far above her head. Light flashed brightly, forcing Erza to cover her eyes. When she recovered, she saw the man had vanished into the trees, and an innumerable amount of arrows were piercing through her swords as they flew through the air.

Not missing a beat, Erza summoned more blades and sent them toward what she guessed was the Hood's hiding place. However, one by one, her swords were hit by more arrows, knocking them off course and occasionally damaging them severely.

The man stepped out from the foliage in a dark, mottled green outfit he was not wearing before. As he moved, the clothing shimmered, changing its appearance to blend with its background. Resting in his right hand and drawn by his left, an impressively carved longbow stood ready to send at least six more glowing arrows loose at the slightest twitch from Erza.

"I don't want to fight you, Erza," he said. "Let's talk."

"Criminals plead their case to the Council, not to me," was Erza's reply. "I have nothing to say to you." The hooded man frowned, despite his joy at having found Erza alive. She is far more... confident, I suppose, than I remember her, the man thought.

Hood opened his mouth to reply, but was silenced when the limb he stood upon was cut from underneath him. He kicked the scarily serrated sword responsible as he fell, and launched himself off the tree trunk. The half-dozen arrows he prepared shot forward from his bow, forcing Erza to dodge to the side.

Ten swords came out of nowhere and flew toward Hood. Erza was sure she had him, as he just fired his arrows.

She was wrong.

Hood leapt from the forest floor toward the swords, and jumped off several of the swords as they shot toward him. Twisting his bow with a flourish, he smashed six of the ten blades into the earth below. The other four dropped to the ground after glowing briefly.

A blue magic circle appeared, and his bow vanished, replaced by another bow sporting fangs in several places on its limbs. "Excellent use of telekinesis," Hood commented. "But I'm afraid I won't be taken in so easily. Or at all, for that matter."

"Enough talk," Erza yelled, requipping her armor into Black Wing Armor. The man growled in frustration, though Erza took it differently, and launched herself again.

"Will you listen for a moment instead of being a dog of the Council?" the man yelled after shooting an arrow that exploded and blasted Erza back. "What has the Council ever done for you to justify being so loyal?" Erza seemed to pause at that.

"The Council has given me and my guild nothing but trouble," Erza answered, gripping her blade tightly. "But I still do not condone murder."

"Fair enough," the man replied, reaching for his hood. "But the killing was justified. I understand you will not listen to the one you call 'Hood.'" He pushed the hood from his face, revealing dark blue hair down to the shoulder. "But will you listen to me?" Erza dropped her sword as the tears she thought she suppressed years ago returned.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "This is a trick."

"I promise it isn't," the man said.

"You're dead," Erza said as she struggled to stand. The younger man said.

"Afraid not, sis," the man said, stepping toward Erza nervously.

"Axel," Erza breathed, reaching a shaking hand toward the criminal. "My baby brother. You got...tall." Axel smiled a bit, still uncertain about what he should do.

"I always hated it when you called me that," Axel said, trying to hide tears of his own. Erza sobbed, and Axel closed the rest of the distance between them on an impulse and hugged his sister.

"You're alive," Erza cried. "I woke up, and you weren't in the boat anymore."

"Yea," Axel said with a small grin. "I fell during the night and a pod of dolphins carried me to shore."

"You're full of crap," Erza laughed.

"Was then, still am now," Axel quipped before sighing as Erza let out more tears against his chest. "Eight years is a long time."

"It is," Erza agreed. "Tell me what happened."

"Huh?" Axel asked. "Like, everything? Or with the official, or what?" Erza's eyes narrowed when she was reminded about that.

"From the beginning," Erza prompted, determined to get reasons for his crime later.

"Um," Axel said, before a wry grin twisted his face. "Well I'm pretty sure it began when our parents decided they wanted another, much cooler kid."

Erza hit him. Hard. "Smart ass."

"Only for you, dear sister," Axel chuckled as he got up from the ground, rubbing his jaw. "Well, remember after we had to run from Jellal, we got in the boat. I don't remember why, but I woke up during the night and fell out of the boat. I tried to swim after it and wake you up, but you were dead tired. Don't apologize," Axel warned. "It isn't your fault.

"Anyway, I wandered around after I landed on shore and eventually met this guy in the forest named Damien. He was once a member of some dark guild name Grimoire Heart, but he had been excommunicated by their Master Hades. He taught me how to use the magic I discovered back at the tower. Damien also taught me to use my bows. You remember I was a decent shot back before Jellal went nuts? I'm better now. We earned our money by taking on some jobs to hunt various monsters. Of course, making money as a mage apart from a guild is tough, so I learned other stuff too, but that doesn't matter."

Erza expected more, but Axel stayed quiet.

"So a dark mage was your master?" Erza finally asked. Axel shrugged.

"Former dark mage," he corrected, "but yea."

"Explain the official. Quickly," Erza ordered, expecting her brother to have taken a job to murder the man.

Axel sighed. "He was extorting money from several groups of magic researchers, and had enough connections to the Balam Alliance to keep the dark guilds off his back. So I killed him."

That answer did not satisfy Erza, and she crossed her arms with a scowl on her face. "Who paid you?"

"Nobody," Axel answered with a sigh. "I got a tip from one of the research heads, and I promised I would handle him. I rifled through his office to recover the documents he was using to blackmail the people, as well as several magic spells and items. That is when he walked in. He tried to kill me to protect his secret. I don't like people trying to kill me."

"So you killed him," Erza said.

"Yep," Axel responded. "Still gonna try and take me in?"

"Are you going to kill anymore people?" came Erza's reply.

"Not planning on it," Axel said. Erza sighed. Axel stepped backwards towards the shadows, anticipating a negative reaction.

"Don't go," Erza pleaded quietly. "The Council is flat on their backs right now. It's amazing they even got the job request out."

"What do you mean the Council is down?" Axel asked. Erza scowled again.

"Jellal used the Council to fire Etherion so he could activate the tower," she explained. Axel's eyes got wide.

"He actually finished the damn thing?" he asked with brow disappearing beneath his hair.

"Yea, but we stopped him from using it. Well, Natsu pretty much defeated him on his own," Erza said.

"The Salamander?" Axel asked. Erza nodded, then made a double take.

"Wait, you've heard of Natsu, but not me?" she questioned. Axel rubbed the back of his head with a cheeky grin.

"Yea, well I've gone behind him before and helped clean up. People talk about the guy who destroyed half their town. All of it, in some cases. And I have heard of Titania of Fairy Tail. I just didn't know that you were Titania," Axel said.

"Fair enough," Erza granted.

"So where were you going with the Council being down?"Axel asked, getting them back on topic.

"Well, their description of the criminal is vague. I've been tracking you for weeks, and you ended up finding me," Erza said. "I would suggest getting rid of the hood." Erza smiled wryly. "Besides, technically, I should have turned Wally, Milliana and Sho in for their crimes. I didn't. None of us did."

"They're alive too," Axel said. "Wait, what about Simon?" Erza's face told him everything he needed to know. "Oh."

"You wouldn't believe how different everyone is," Erza said after a moment. "And Simon was so tall. What I can't believe is that you are at least as tall as him."

"What? Did you think you would be taller than me forever?" Axel asked with a smirk.

"One could hope," Erza said.

"How did he die?" Axel asked quietly. He was very close to Simon, more so than anyone else.

"He saved me from a killing blow Jellal sent toward me," Erza breathed. Axel rubbed his face. He was instantly reminded of Uncle Rob.

"How am I going to tell Kagura?" Axel asked himself.

"Kagura?" Erza asked. Axel nodded.

"Simon's sister. I don't see her often, but I know how to contact her. She is searching for him, hoping that he escaped like we did," Axel said. Then he laughed. "She tried to get me to take her to the tower. Even if I knew where it was, I would never have gone back. I knew that Simon probably would have hated me if I had let her go. I still don't know how I convinced her to not go there herself."

Erza's tears had finally dried, and she now sported a smile, despite the heavy conversation. Her brother had survived. Axel sighed as he walked around a bit.

"So what now?" Axel eventually asked.

"You should probably see your master, then come visit Fairy Tail in Magnolia Town. I'm sure you could join if you want," Erza suggested.

"Damien is dead. Master Hades decided to send someone after him. Fortunately, Damien managed to warn me before I got involved. I'll just come with you," Axel said.

"Lose the hood," Erza said.

"But I like the hood," Axel whined. Erza glared, and Axel decided to keep his hoods off for a while.

"How old are you anyway?" Erza asked. "You hardly whined at all when you were younger.

"I'm hurt that you don't know," Axel said, holding his hand to his heart dramatically.

Erza rolled her eyes, and smiled a bit. "Seventeen now, right?" Axel nodded.

"Eighteen months younger than my big sis," he said. "Well, lead on."


Axel stood in front of the guild hall next to his sister and just looked at the immense building. "It's big," he said.

"Yes, it is," Erza replied. "Let's go in."

"Wait a minute," Axel said. "I wanna look at it some more."

Erza ignored him and, rolling her eyes, dragged him into the guild. "I have to explain what happened to Master Makarov, and you will be coming."

"What? You'll tell him?" Axel asked incredulously.

"I'll tell him what the Council will hear," Erza said. "He will know the truth, especially after meeting you. The master is wise." Axel could tell Erza respected this man greatly. He looked all around him, taking in his surroundings and evaluating escape routes and hiding spots. His instincts demanded he be prepared for anything. He did notice everyone seemed upbeat.

"Why is everyone excited?" Axel whispered. Erza had no idea why he was talking so quietly, but answered anyway.

"The Magnolia Harvest Festival starts tomorrow. Fairy Tail always puts on a beauty pageant and our famous Fantasia parade," she said. "It's a big deal for us. People from all over come to see it. Why are you whispering?"

"I'm not comfortable around people," Axel said, still quietly. Erza looked back at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Since when?"

Axel gave her a slightly dirty look. "Since I fell out of a boat and spent nearly eight years around a man with questionable sanity and his pet bird, away from any other people."

Erza tried to respond, but Axel gestured for her to not bother.

He smiled at his sister, and followed her as she walked up to a short old man sitting on the bar. Several people greeted her, and openly asked each other who he was. "So you're back for the festival," the old man said.

"Yes, Master Makarov," Erza said. "I deemed the mission impossible. There was not enough information to pursue the Hood, and nobody would be able to find him based on the description given. I followed dozens of leads, to no end."

Makarov stared at Erza for a moment, knowing she was saying something without saying it. The old man turned his gaze on Axel then, and his eyes seemed to pierce through the hunter.

"I suppose finding a hooded man with a bow could be rather difficult with that vague a description," Makarov said. "You've already sent a report to the Council?"

"Yes, and they were not pleased," Erza said. "Still, I doubt any other mage would take the job now that the dust has settled."

Makarov hummed. "Yes, several research groups claim he had been extorting money from them based on blackmail he never possessed," Makarov chuckled. "Quite the egg on their face, especially at a time like this. Now, who is this young man?"

Erza smiled as she pushed Axel forward to introduce himself. Clearing his throat, Axel said with a slight bow, "I am Axel Jaeger, the Hunter."

Makarov cocked an eyebrow. "Well, good for you, I suppose. Erza?"

"That is what he calls his requip magic," Erza explained, glaring at her brother for his suddenly tight lips. "Axel is my brother. He and I escaped the Tower of Heaven together, but he fell from the boat and I thought he was dead."

Nodding his head slowly, Makarov seemed to reach a conclusion about Axel, just as Erza prophesied he would. Makarov figured out that Axel was the Hood, and trusted Erza's decision on the matter. "Well, it is good to meet you, boy," the guild master said. "I am Makarov Dreyar, and this is Fairy Tail." Makarov swept an arm across the room.

Erza looked at Axel expectantly, but he refused to say anything. Erza sighed again, then said, "He wants to join the guild, and, apparently, act as if he is mute."

"I'm not a talker," Axel said.

"Certainly talked my ear off on the trip," Erza grumbled. Makarov had never seen Erza act so relaxed and casual, but he was glad for it.

"Quiet or not, you are welcome here, Axel. We would be happy to welcome Erza's blood to the Fairy Tail family," Makarov said with a smile. Axel noted that the murmuring behind him had gotten louder as they passed his identity around the room to those who could not hear for themselves.

His sister then dragged him, though not literally anymore, the few feet toward the white-haired woman everyone called Mira. "Where is the stamp?" Erza demanded.

Mirajane giggled a bit, and produced it seemingly out of thin air. "Here you go," she said as he handed to Erza. "I didn't think you would let me stamp your brother. You do know how to use it?" Erza turned a piercing, scary glare on Mira, but the mage only shook her head and gestured for Erza to get on with it.

"What is this?" Axel finally asked.

"This is to put the guild stamp on you," Erza said. "Where?"

"Huh?" Axel asked. "Oh, um, here." He pointed over his back to his right shoulder blade. Quickly taking his shirt and hooded jacket off at his sister's order, Axel winced when he felt several people's eyes upon him. Scars were a source of pride to Axel, to be sure. But, some of his old wounds were fairly grievous and attention-grabbing. He did not want attention.

He felt the magic tool stamp the Fairy Tail emblem on his back, and quickly pulled his shirt back on, tightening several of the laces at the neck again.

"The stamp is red," Erza mumbled to him. Axel saw the unspoken question in her eyes, and her remorse at failing to protect him.

"Thanks," Axel said, having to stop himself from pulled his hood on reflex. "Too many stories can be found in the skin. In a few words, some prey is capable of hunting you. Every hunter can become the hunted," he explained quietly to his sister. Erza knew some of those scars came from his time in the tower, but those wounds she thought so nasty when she was young were mere distractions to some of the scars her brother sported.

"I-" Erza began before realizing she had nothing to say.

"Yea," Axel said, smiling sadly at her.


AN: Well, there is a chapter for you guys. I hit a wall with the fourth chapter of my other story, The Crimson Wolf (- shameless plant), and I got an idea I wanted to shoot out. Now that I got this off my chest, I will, hopefully, be able to get The Crimson Wolf's next chapter up.

Any thoughts, comments or suggestions? Do you have a question? Is there something you want to see in this story? Leave a review, or PM me, whichever is easier for you, and I will be happy to have a conversation about it! Until next time!