In the past fifty years a lot has changed in the land of Fiore. Magic seems to have become even more mainstream leading to more guilds, small, big, good and bad to pop up. One thing remains constant though, Fairy Tail is still a top tier guild. But with more and more guilds popping up seemingly overnight, another guild is slowly closing in on them. In the capital city of Crocus, Lions Mane is slowly building up to become a guild full of very capable mages that have just as much heart and determination as Fairy Tail. This story is about Lions Mane and the ups and downs of chasing big dreams.

"Were back!" Yells Nalien to the rest of the Lions Mane guild members in the main hall. Nalien Elvis is a 17 year old male mage with black hair that falls down to his mid-neck. You can recognize him because he is always in a white polo and flip flops, if he is in clothes. He has one green eye and one blue. "And I went on a date while we were gone." Nalien casually states as the whole guild just hung their heads and groaned.

"Must you be so loud?" Quatra groans as he follows Nalien in the guild. Unlike Nalien, Quatra Mikazuchi is 18 with spiky brown hair with a single black stripe across the side. Quatra normally wears black shorts, a black shirt, a white sleeveless hoodie, and black and white tennis shoes. Quatra always has his katana on his waist tucked into his belt.

"Why do you always follow me on my missions?" Quatra asks already knowing the answer. Nalien hangs around Quatra to pick up women. Thankfully, before he could answer they were interrupted by another guild member. Misha Pastalia is 16 with long light blue hair turned into two ponytails that go to her waist. She is always wearing a white short yukata with white gloves and black high boots. Her ponytails are being held together by two black ribbons.

"Hey Nalien, Master Crowne wants to talk to you" Misha says to Nalien.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure but you should go see him." She explained.

"Alright I'll go, but don't miss me too much." Nalien said while winking at Misha making her cringe.

"Quatra, how did the mission go?" She asked after he left. "Was the payout good?"

"The mission was weird, I thought the beast would put up more of a fight." Quatra says while sighing "they gave us 700,000 for it so I can't complain."

"Oh that's good. I'm gonna send you on another one, if your interested?"

"Whats the job?"Quatra asks.

"The job is to subdue a samurai a few towns over. Also, Leiko took the job a week ago and hasn't come back yet." Misha says with a worried look.

"Wait, the undead queen is having problems with a samurai, oh this is sweet." Quatra says with a grin.

"This isn't funny Quatra."

"Okay I'll go get her back and subdue the samurai."

"I wanted to get some sleep in my bed, but at least it's peaceful." Quatra thinks to himself as he walks to the train station. "I wonder what happened to Leiko? I know she can handle herself so whats taking her so long to do it. And who exactly is this samurai? If he is giving her trouble then he is a talented swordsman. I'm gonna have to tread lightly while I'm in this town." Quatra thoughts are brought to a halt while he pays for a ticket. "I wonder what style of the sword he uses? I've been at the guild too long, I'm getting worried about Leiko and excited about this fight all at once." As Quatra's train finally arrives he get on and sits down in an empty compartment. As soon as he sits down he falls asleep.

Quatra get off the train and looks around. "This place looks like a ghost town, that samurai must have really scared them into their homes. Guess it's safer that way."

Quatra remains lost in his thoughts until he reaches the police station. When he gets there he sees an officer standing there looking at him with fear.

"Oh My God its another samurai!" the officer screams. When he screamed it alerted an 17 year old girl with dark blue hair down to her shoulder blades to attack him. Quatra immediately recognizes the black coat and the sword she is using.

"Hello Leiko" Quatra says kind of bored.

"Hey Quatra, whats up?" Leiko says while turning her sword back into her bracelet. She then turns to the officer. "Show some backbone will ya, he's from Lions Mane too." she says playfully.

While she talks to the officer he gives her a quick once over. Leiko Archon has dark blue hair and Brown eyes with an average figure. Her charm bracelet has a single skull on it with ruby eyes. "She is covered in bruises and cuts, this guy must be dangerous."

"Are you alright sir" the officer asks breaking Quatra out of his thoughts. "Yes I'm fine. Leiko have you eaten yet?"

"No not yet" Leiko responds while holding her stomach.

"Lets go eat Leiko, we can find the samurai after."

"Are you paying?" Leiko asks at they walk out the door giving her signature smirk.

"Sure, I'm in a good mood" Quatra says giving in to her wish.

"You, in a good mood? Who did you kill on the way over here?" Leiko says playfully.

"How strong is this samurai you have been fighting?" Quatra asks changing the subject with a serious tone.

"He's not weak Quatra, he doesn't use magic but his sword style is flawless I cant find a weakness in it even when I use my magic he goes through my skeletons like a hot knife through butter. When I called Misha about it she told me to wait and that she would send backup. I've fought him twice and barely lived to tell about it each time. I honestly think that he is unbeatable even for you." She says calmly.

"Thanks for the info" Quatra says after taking that in "Now lets get some breakfast."

After Quatra and Leiko finish eating, they walk to the place were Leiko met the samurai both times. Sure enough the samurai was there meditating on a rock next to a waterfall.

"Aye Musashi, I'm back for another rematch" Leiko yells at the samurai.

"Are you sure? I have beaten you 2 times now, I must let you know the third time you die." Musashi warns.

"Well they normally say third times the charm so I'm hoping for a little luck." Leiko says while turning her bracelet into a sword.

"Relying on luck will get you killed little girl." Musashi say while drawing both his katana and wakizashi.

Quatra meanwhile stands out of the way and watches the samurai."This is bad. That stance, both weapons drawn, he is going for the kill." Quatra thinks to himself. As the fight starts Leiko uses Undead Revenge to summon forty skeletons to fight.

"This trick again, how many times must you do it before you realize it doesn't work." Musashi roar as he takes out each skeleton that appears before him.

Musashi has destroyed about 20 skeletons when Leiko decides to use Undead Revenge Hells Circle. A giant red glowing pentagram appeared under Musashi as skeleton arms tried to drag him through the pentagram to what one could only assume is hell. While the skeleton arms held him Leiko closed the distance going in for the kill. She took her sword and tried to ram it through his chest, but he was able to parry her sword then use the katana to cut her in the stomach. Luckily, since she was able to avoid most of the blade at the last second, it wasn't fatal.

"This is really bad." Quatra thinks to himself "With a cut that bad she won't last too much longer. I've got to intervene." Musashi goes in for the kill only to be blocked by Quatra who has drawn his sword to parry Musashi's katana.

"Who are you and why do you interfere?" roars Musashi.

Quatra picks up Leiko who has lost a lot of blood and starts walking away. "My name is Quatra Mikazuchi, and if you want a real fight I'll be here tomorrow at dawn. I shall be your opponent then."

"Good I was getting sick of a woman being the only one willing to fight me. Be warned Quatra Mikazuchi, I shall show no mercy." Musashi says with a grimace.

"Good, then I won't either."

When they make it back to town, Leiko is immediately given medical attention. "The wound isn't fatal but she will be out of action for a while, just let her get some rest for now." the doctor told Quatra who hasn't left Leiko's side since they got back to town.

"Thank you Doctor." Quatra finally said . "I going outside for some air." he says as he leaves the room. As Quatra starts walking down the street he sees two familiar faces walking towards him, and one of them was mad.

"Where is she?" Misha asks without looking at him.

"She is in the house at the end of the road, Misha are you okay?" Quatra asks out of concern, but she just walked by him without words.

"Wow, when the cop told us what happened she nearly beat the hell out of the cop for saying it." Nalien says after Misha goes in the house. "I wonder how she feels about you right now, Quatra."

"Stay with the girls I'll be back later" Quatra says as he turns and walks towards the woods.

"No problem man. Nalien is on the job." He shouts then walks into the house.

Quatra decided that meditation would be best but he wouldn't be able to do it at the house. After he finds a clearing in the woods he removed the sword from his belt and put it on the ground next to him, sits down with his legs cross and meditates.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Leiko woke up and found Misha next to her bed holding on to her hand. "What Happened?" Leiko asks her brain not yet registering the situation. "Where am I?"

"You are back in town. You got hurt fighting that samurai." Misha explained. "You barely made..."

"It out alive, I know this part already." Leiko interrupts Misha Leiko then sits up and looks around. "Where's Quatra?"

Misha's face hardens "I don't know where that arrogant bastard is?"

"Uh oh, what did that idiot do?" Leiko asks with a slightly annoyed sigh.

"What do you mean what did he do, it's what he didn't do. He let you fight the samurai alone knowing that you could die. He abandoned you and now look at you." Misha explained "I'm gonna report this to Master Crowne and …"

"I told him not to interfere" Leiko says interrupting Misha again. "but he still didn't listen." Before Misha could say anything Nalien walks in the room.

"Misha, you got the time?" Nalien asks as he leans on the wall behind her.

"its 8:30pm, why?"

"Quatra left in the direction of the woods about 5 hours ago." Nalien explains

"What do you mean the woods?" Leiko asks turning to look at him. She automatically starts thinking of bad things that could happen to Quatra while in the woods with Musashi lurking around "We have to go find him."

"Find who?" says a voice from the hall. "One should worry about themselves before worrying about others." Quatra states as he walks into the room.

"Damn Quatra, you look like hell." says Nalien.

"I just spent 2 hours meditating in the woods and another 3 practicing my form, again in the woods. How the hell am I supposed to look?" Quatra growls at him. "Get out for a minute I need to talk to Leiko alone."

"Why should we?" Misha says angrily as she walks over to Quatra. "You already left her alone once, can't you do it again?"

"Because I told him to." Leiko shouts finally having heard enough "If he had not been there I would have died. Now please leave"

"Fine" Misha says giving up "Come on Nalien." they both leave giving Quatra and Leiko privacy.

"How are you feeling?" Quatra asked after the door closed.

"I'm alright" Leiko replies not able to look at him.

"I guess your mad at me too?" Quatra asked as he leans against the wall next to her bed

"No I'm not mad. I'm just a little disappointed. I thought that if I beat him it would prove that I deserve to be S class." Leiko admits "So much for that, huh?"

"That's the reason? That is the most asinine thing I've ever heard" Quatra says coldly. "Just who were you trying to prove that to? You wanna know the best way to become S class? Just pass the exams in two days dumbass."

"To answer your question I was trying to prove it to you" She whispered "I figured that if I became S class you would learn to respect me a little more."

"Really? You think I don't respect you?" Quatra said while chuckling, confusing Leiko. "If this will put your mind at ease then I'll let you know that I respect you a lot for what you are. Now I'm gonna lay down in the other bed, Please let me sleep."

"what in the hell does that mean?... Quatra"

"Goodnight Leiko."

Quatra wakes before dawn to find everyone still asleep. Quatra crosses the room, grabs his katana that he left by Leiko's bed and discovers that her bed is empty. Quatra then looks down the hallway to see Leiko emerging from the bathroom too sleepy to be coherent.

"Please come back alive" Leiko lazily whispered as Quatra walks by.

"Dumbass, as if I could die by his blade. I'll be back by breakfast." Quatra says as he walks out the front door.

Quatra starts thinking to himself as he walk to meet the samurai "Just how good are you, Musashi? Which sword style to use? Do I let you live or do I kill you?" All these questions and more are running through his head as he reached the waterfall. Just like last time the samurai is on the same rock meditating.

" You made it after all" Musashi stated sounding amused. "I didn't think you would come. Tell me Quatra, How is that girl from yesterday? I did a number on her, didn't I?"

"No more talking." says Quatra coldly while drawing his blade. "I've made breakfast plans."

"Yagyu Shinkage-ryu huh" Musashi says noticing Quatra's stance. "I have killed three people from that school that were twice your elder. Do you think you stand..."

"I said there was no more talking" Quatra said as he stood right in front of Musashi, serrated blade at his throat. "next time I take off your head." Musashi backed up and drew his blades in anger.

"You should have taken my head when you had the chance." he barks at Quatra. "Come and get me, Quatra Mikazuchi."

Back at the house, Leiko still hasn't gone back to sleep yet. "I'm really worried about that idiot" is the thought that kept crossing her mind. Seeing as how she wasn't going to fall asleep she decides to go to the market to grab food for breakfast. As she opens the front door she is stopped by the pain in her stomach. "Dammit" She curses herself for being weak and continues on out of the house.

She finally makes it to the market and grabs everything that is needed for breakfast. She pays for it and starts to walk away.

"Are you going to need help getting that home?" asked a rather slender 18 year old girl with curly brown hair that goes down to her waist with chocolate brown skin.

"No thanks I'm fine" Leiko answered but as she turned, the cut stopped her movement causing her to drop the groceries. The girl then catches the bag.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" she said with a smug look.

"On second thought, since you offered. My name is Leiko and yours?"

"Sahara Su."

Meanwhile...

"Whats the matter, Quatra Mikazuchi?" Says Musashi in a condescending tone. "Where is all that fire that you had before. Did u really think that a sword style for disarming would beat me?"

"Then I guess I should change the style then" Quatra says still not worried. Quatra then takes a new stance where the sword is level with his head in a vertical fashion.

"Now its the Jig en-ryu style you truly are interesting now come at me" Musashi says. "You wanna know what the weakness is in the Jig en-ryu sword style?" Musashi says as he charges towards Quatra. "The Jig en-ryu is a one slash kill style. Which means..." Musashi is interrupted by Quatra who takes a killing swing only to miss. " all I have to do is avoid the first strike. And I can counter with a kill strike of my own." As Musashi went in for the kill he felt an excruciating pain going down his back. "But. How?" Musashi squeaks out as he finally realized what happened. Quatra switched styles at the last second to get around Musashi and slashed his back from shoulder to waist. As Musashi fell to the ground Quatra walks away.

As Quatra arrives in town he arrives to cheers from the early risers who apparently were watching the fight from a distance. Among the crowd were his three fellow guild members and an unfamiliar face.

"You're late." Says Leiko with her signature smirk. "Breakfast is ready at the house if your hungry."

"That actually sounds good right about now." Quatra say while returning the smirk. While they are walking back to the house, the mystery girl speaks up.

"Um. Leiko are you guys dating?" Sahara asks with an eyebrow raised.

"No we're lovers" Leiko says with a smirk causing the girl to stare at Quatra.

Sahara studies Quatra for a minute "He's actually pretty cute. Leiko you did good with this one."

"Me and Leiko aren't lovers." Quatra says in a serious tone. "And who are you anyway?"

"Sahara Su and you are?"

When they gets back to the house everyone, including Sahara Su, was treated to breakfast where Nalien attempted and failed to pick her up on three different. Misha and Quatra finally work out their differences, with Leiko's help of course. Leiko made a new friend in Sahara and attempted to offer her a spot in Lions Mane after finding out she was a mage. Sahara respectfully declines saying she belongs to another guild.

"I was actually on the same mission as you guys when we met" Sahara states " but I am glad that Quatra managed to clean up this mess before I had to do anything. I'm gonna go now I need to head back to my guild so hope to see you around Leiko."

"we have to leave soon too." Leiko says. "you wanna ride the train with us"

"No can do. I don't do transportation very well so I'm just gonna walk back to my guild besides its not that far of a walk" Sahara says with a laugh.

"Okay but be careful Sahara." Leiko says.

"Hey I may not look it but I am very strong" Sahara says while holding up an arm to reveal a very toned bicep. Sahara stops at the door turns to look at Quatra. "Quatra its not good to hide your true strength like that." she says than walks out the door. The rest of the group then turns to look at Quatra.

"What was she talking about Quatra?" Leiko asks. Quatra, who was sitting with his legs crossed in the corner finally gets up.

"Pray you don't have to find out." Quatra says then turns to Misha "We should get going the exams are tomorrow after all. And I think that the good doctor is sick of letting us use his house"

"Yeah we can talk about this later." Misha says with a smile.

"I wonder who Master Crowne picked to participate this year." Nalien says.

"Well lets go back now and find out" Misha says cheerfully. "Besides the train leaves in 20 minutes."

"What!" Nalien and Leiko yell.

"Why didn't you say that sooner?" Nalien continues to yell.

"God Dammit Misha!" Leiko chimes in.

"Getting mad won't help" Quatra says while walking out the door.

"19 minutes now" Misha says with a smile as she follows Quatra out the door. Leiko and Nalien look at each other.

"Wait for us."

Hey guys this was sort of a prelude introducing the main team that I think went kinda well for my first fanfic.

I will still accept OC's just PM them and if you don't like how your character is developing just PM me with a suggestion.

Thanks for the support and sorry it took so long. Read and Review I take criticism very well just don't be an asshole about it (TROLLS)

P.S. This will probably be the longest chapter I write.