Fallen Star

Chapter One

The Cave

Natsu Dragneel yawned loudly as he went downstairs for breakfast. It was 9:30 AM. He wondered if his sister, Wendy and foster sister, Cana Clive were awake. They had all stayed up pretty late the night before.

As he stepped into the dining room, the delicious smell of bacon and eggs hit his nose and he grinned, feeling his stomach rumble.

Wendy Dragneel was a slender girl of fourteen with long, dark blue hair (which was currently in a high ponytail) and kind brown eyes. She was currently setting the table for breakfast.

"Good morning, Wendy," Natsu greeted his sister. He looked around and noticed that Wendy had set four places at the table. "Did Gildarts arrive already?" he enquired.

"Not yet, Natsu." Wendy replied. "I'm only keeping his place because he said he'd arrive in the morning.

Natsu nodded and sat down. He had hardly begun breakfast when Cana burst into the room, in her usual boisterous manner.

Cana was a tall girl of 17. She had long, wavy brown hair and striking violet eyes. Her skin was slightly tanned.

"Good morning, Cana," Wendy greeted politely. "Did you sleep well?"

Cana went over and ruffled her hair before sitting down. "Yup. What's cookin'?

Cana and Wendy exchanged some light conversation while Natsu silently ate his meal.

When he was done, he stood up with his plate. Wendy and Cana were still eating. Natsu went into the kitchen and started to prepare some coffee.

He took out a mug and kept it ready on the platform. When the coffee was done, Natsu moved forward swiftly to turn the stove off.

But then, all of a sudden, Natsu tripped over a plate which had been lying on the ground which he hadn't noticed. He waved his hands around wildly, trying to catch hold of something. One hand struck the coffee, sending it off the stove and all over the counter. Natsu's hand fell into stove, which was still on, heavily.

With a yell, Natsu pulled his hand back and lifted it to check for burns.

He gaped at it.

His hand was ablaze! And it wasn't hurting him one bit! It almost felt natural.

"Natsu!" The boy in question heard Wendy shout. "What happened?!"

"Nothing!" Natsu yelled back, waving his hand frantically, in an effort to get rid of the fire. It disappeared. Natsu heaved a sigh of relief.

There was the sound of flying footsteps and Wendy flung the kitchen door open and came in. "Natsu-what a mess!"

"Sorry, Wens," Natsu said sheepishly. "I tripped and-"

"Oh dear…." Wendy murmured. "This is going to take all morning to clean up…."

Natsu snapped to attention. "All morning?! But we were supposed to go explore that forest behind the house!"

Wendy shook her head sadly. "Not today, Natsu. Along with this, there are heaps of other chores to do.You know that. After all, we've just moved in."

Cana was standing at the door, observing everything. Then, she spoke up. "Ya kids can go do that spot of exploring ya wanted to. I'll take care of this mess."

Wendy immediately protested. "No….! We couldn't possibly-"

Cana bent down and flicked her gently on the forehead. "Go! That's an order."

And that was how, half an hour later, Natsu and Wendy found themselves entering the forest.

About nineteen years ago, Natsu and Wendy, were both left on the doorstep of an orphanage when they were just babies. They didn't stay there for long, however, for almost a month after, Gildarts Clive came there, seeking two companions for his 'baby girl' Cana and declared Natsu and Wendy to be perfect playmates for her.

He adopted them and treated them like his own children, lavishly showering them with love, affection and all the presents they wanted. Natsu and Wendy, who had no blood relatives to call their own, were immensely grateful for this. Gildarts had insisted on them calling him by his first name instead of 'Dad', because, as he decreed, they would one day find their real parents and it would be awkward for them to suddenly have two dads.

"But I'll always be your helper, mentor and guardian." Gildarts promised them.

So now, Natsu and Wendy walked in the forest, eagerly looking around for something unusual (although there probably wouldn't be) and Natsu was trying hard to get the morning's incident out of his mind.

As they continued, something caught Wendy's eye and she pointed. "Natsu! Look at that!"

Natsu looked, and was immensely surprised to see what Wendy had pointed out. There was a cave in the distance, which seemed to be quite ordinary. But what was extraordinary, was the immensely bright, light shining out of it.

Wendy's curiosity was ignited and she dashed forward and into the cave. Natsu followed closely behind.

They stopped short when they arrived inside. There were two women standing at the back.

The first was a tall, beautiful young woman with vibrant scarlet hair braided and coiled around her head and brown eyes.

But the second was far more interesting. Her bright golden hair hung down loosely, touching her upper back. Her cocoa brown eyes looked worried and troubled.

And, the mysterious, almost blinding light, was coming directly from her.

(A/N): Hello, everyone. Thank you for reading the first chapter of Fallen Star! Please stay tuned for the rest. I hope you'll enjoy this fic!