Author's Note: Well, I have no Idea where this story came from; I suppose it popped into my mind after I started reading Fairy Tail Zero and I thought it would be fun to write a story like this one as in: What would it be like to hang around these characters? But anyways, this story has an OC character just as a head's up. For this chapter I also tried to get the characters right based off of what I could glean from the manga.

And Let it be known that I do not own Fairy Tail in any way shape or form. I only own my OC.

*edited 7/19/17*

Chapter One: Starting Off on the Wrong Foot

...

"I can't stay with you guys anymore."

"What?! Wait a second—what do ya mean, Finn?!" The blond haired teenager next to me asked with his brows furrowing in confusion.

"I mean exactly what I just said." I responded quietly. "I won't be troubling you anymore."

"Does this mean that you remember something?" The younger girl asked with a curious tilt of her head; she was definitely more perceptive than your average thirteen year old.

"I guess I can't hide that from you, eh Mavis?" I said with a dry laugh.

"I don't understand. Why does this mean that you have to leave us right now?" The other teen asked.

I opened my mouth but I was unable to find any words to respond with.

"After all the trouble we've been through, you're not just going to leave on the eve of a fight are you?" The man in the cloak said sternly. I stopped and glanced at the wooden floor. I knew that I couldn't afford to stick around with them for much longer; who knows what I could have changed at this point already.

But...

"No," I said with a defeated sigh, "I'll stay with you guys until we free Magnolia from Blue Skull, but after that, I'm gone." I needed to stay away from all of them—all of the people who had become my friends in such a short time, no matter how close to family they all felt to me. It hurt, but it was something that needed to be done; I needed to get back home before anything drastic happened—I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something did.

I cringed as I heard the door slam shut; the boy had left in a fit of anger...or maybe it was disappointment.

"Yuri…" I mumbled sadly as I cast a small glance at the door.

I never asked for any of this to happen, but it just did.

...Present Day

The first thought in my mind that day?

My head was throbbing—no, my whole entire body was aching.

The first realization I had?

The world itself was upside down. Or perhaps it was me who was upside down. Upon opening my eyes, I found myself staring off into an endless brush of densely packed trees, each filled to the brim with rich emerald-colored leaves. After a few seconds, I also finally noticed that I was dangling by my ankle from one of those very same trees and that I could feel the blood surging to my head and hear it thrumming in my ears. The first thing I managed to conclude was the fact that I wound up walking into some random rope trap in the middle of some random woods in the middle of the daytime. All of that sounded right in my head until I began to wonder something else.

what was it that I was doing before I ended up where I was?

Unable to answer that question, I tried glancing around to figure out what else was going on. There were birds. Maybe a few squirrels. Bringing my gaze down (or up, depending which way you looked at it) I studied what I wore. It appeared practical for the most part. I could easily distinguish black pants and feel how clunky the brown hiking boots on my feet were. The shirt I wore on the other hand was snuggled up uncomfortably close to my chin, and the sting of the cold breeze was only slightly dampened by the short compression top underneath.

I thought for a moment and then thought some more.

None of it rang a bell for me.

Unable to do anything else, my gaze was drawn to my ankle and the rope coiled around it. The rope wasn't rubbing my ankle, instead turning the skin around it an uncomfortable purple. The wheels in my mind were slowing, but it was then that I decided I needed to find a way out. Trying to shake off the disorienting fog surrounding my head, I glanced around once more. Nothing was within my reach for use. Unable to do anything else, I tried to gather my strength and force myself upright. In a painstakingly sedated motion, I used my free leg to swing a little. The branch swayed, but it was too thick of a branch to break so easily. I grunted, gaining some momentum before reaching out and grabbing onto the rope that ensnared my ankle. No sooner had I done that, I felt the pressure ease off of my head and paused. The relief was not to last, however.

Within a few seconds, a burning sensation began to stretch across my stomach and along my arms. Quickly, I set to work attacking the thick rope, trying to pry my ankle loose. The knot was putting up a fight with my fingers, proving to be far more complicated than it looked. My feeble attempt at escape was ended with a sudden pinch in my thigh. Releasing my hold, I fell fast and my fingers brushed the ground. My eyes watered and I grimaced at the new pain in the side of my leg; a cramp. Dark brown hair was plastered in my face as I felt the headache returning with full force. In a matter of seconds, an inky blackness began to cloud my sight and I felt my focus slip.

If I blacked out again, I couldn't tell. But as soon as my eyesight went dark, there were voices. There were three of them. Distant, but there. And then closer. Silently, I felt fear spring up in the back of my mind. Who were they? Were these voices the reason why I ended up where I was? They...didn't sound familiar, even if it was hard to tell with how muffled they sounded. As if someone flipped a switch, the world came back into view, the sun's warm rays pouring down onto my face. I squinted my eyes shut and asked myself a simple question: Where was I again?

The tree.

I was tied up.

It was difficult to maintain the train of thought.

The sound of twigs snapping and the leaves rustling around me reminded me that I wasn't alone anymore. The air went quiet suddenly, and I felt the sunlight replaced by a cool shade. Peeling open my eyes once more, I found myself in a staring contest. A pair of eyes stared back, and I struggled to register what I was seeing. Their color was an uncommon green, almost like the tree leaves. Seconds seemed to tick by, but I couldn't be so sure. Whoever it was in front of me didn't say anything, only blinking once.

"Um," I began slowly, "Hello?"

The eyes in front of me widened in surprise and the person jumped back. The pair of green eyes I had been staring at belonged to a young man with sandy blond hair wearing a worn leather jacket of sorts. I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything else to him, a grumpy voice carried over the silence, one that didn't come from the person in front of me. "Rather than stare at her, you should probably untie her." I couldn't follow his movement, but the man sprang to life.

Oh! Yeah, sorry about that!" His voice has somehow ended up right next to my ear, and I winced at the sudden outburst.

"It's fi—" I started to respond.

Snap!

Suddenly the pressure that held me up had disappeared and I noticed how fast the ground was approaching; the rope that was holding me by the ankle had been cut and everything seemed to be moving a lot slower. I could see the oncoming impact and bracing myself I shut my eyes tightly. But much to my surprise, I felt a pair of strong arms halt my descent and I snapped my eyes back open. "Hey Precht, that wasn't too polite you know?!" The blond shouted out in protest. Despite the appearance of a lanky frame, he was the one that had caught me. Owlishly, I stared back up at the tree where I could see the glint of the metal knife that was lodged in its trunk. Someone literally decided to cut me lose. Aside from the fear I felt seeing the knife, I was at least happier now that I could feel the blood rushing back into my limbs.

"You were taking too long. Couldn't you see the girl was disoriented from hanging upside down for so long?" The grumpy voice replied. I craned my head a little to see an older man with dark blond hair standing not too far from where I was lying on the ground. He was wearing an odd looking cloak, definitely not something I saw every day. The look in his eyes told me he wasn't too happy with the situation and the fact that he even threw the knife supported that fact. Then, I briefly noted that the two men did not appear related, even if their hair color was similar.

"Why don't you two just calm down a little; there's nothing to be arguing about right now," A third person said making his presence known. Stepping into my line of sight, I saw yet another man with black hair whose face was rather rectangular in shape. He was starkly different from the other two in that his frame was rather muscular.

"Is there a party going on that I didn't know about?" I asked sarcastically, causing the three men to realize that I was still there. I slowly sat up from the ground and started rubbing my sore ankle.

"So, what brings you to the Woodsea?" The blond asked kneeling down at my side.

"Woodsea?" I questioned in confusion. "What's that?"

"This forest," The cloaked man responded with an uninterested face.

My brow furrowed in contemplation. The Woodsea was the name of a forest, though it wasn't a name I was familiar with in the slightest. "Wait, where is this forest?" I asked again tilting my head up to look at them. The third man was standing to the side quietly observing our conversation while the man in the cloak gave me a scrutinizing glare. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable with the way things were going. I had no clue what they were even talking about. What in the world was I doing out there in the first place? The only thing that didn't unsettle me was the fact that the people standing around me didn't appear to understand either.

The blond in the leather jacket shifted, a skeptical look on his face. "Hold on," he voiced his thoughts, "you're telling me you have never heard of the Worth Woodsea? One of the largest forests in Fiore?"

I stared back blankly.

"Come again now?"

The cloaked man let out an irritated huff. "We need to get moving now before the sun sets. We still have a lot of ground to cover and don't have time for this," he said in annoyance. The man turned with a flourish of his cloak and began to walk away. The muscled guy with the black hair shot me a pitying look before following after him.

"Come on Precht," The muscled man started. "It seems like this girl's a little confused. We should probably help her out. After all, it is kinda our fault that she got stuck in the tree in the first place." The man identified as Precht gave him a sidelong glance. Before they could exchange any more words, I interrupted them.

"Hey, can you give me a hand up?" I asked outstretching a hand towards the blond. Without even thinking twice, he nodded his head and grabbed my hand, pulling me up with ease. I stumbled forward a bit, but managed to catch myself without any help. Back on my feet, I stopped myself from breathing a sigh of relief, quickly dusting off my cargo pants and straightening the sleeveless shirt I wore. "I would really appreciate it if you guys didn't leave me out here, um..."

"Oh yeah, we haven't introduced ourselves." Without having to say anything else, the young man sprang into action, pointing out each of his companions, much to one's annoyance and the other's amusement. He started with the dark haired muscle man. "That's Warrod Sequen. And that stick in the mud is Precht Gaebolg," He finished pointing to the man in the cloak. Finally, he jabbed a thumb at himself, smiling confidently. "As for me, well you can call me Yuri—Yuri Dreyar!"

I couldn't help but return that broad smile. "Warrod, Precht, Yuri," I repeated in acknowledgement. "It's nice to meet you all... I guess?" The set of circumstances was odd. I still had no clue what was going on, but at least the sense of unknown was quietly fading away. Standing in silence, I glanced between the three men. They all looked back at me as if waiting for me to say something more. In a moment of realization, it dawned on me. "Oh! Um, sorry about that," I said rubbing my head awkwardly, "my name is…"

I hesitated for a moment.

"..."

What?

"Hmmm..."

It should be...

"My name is…"

I opened my mouth to say what should have been the most simple answer in the word, but to my dismay, it didn't come to me. I scowled in frustration. I tried digging into my mind, searching for my name, but it felt kind of weird as if something was distracting me from finding the answer I sought. Panic rose up in my chest as almost a minute passed and I couldn't find what I was looking for; I didn't have a name at all. It was gone, all to be replaced by a niggling feeling that something was completely wrong with where I was.

"Okay, now it seems like that could be a problem," Yuri chimed.

"Do you think…amnesia?" Warrod suggested quietly.

His words hung on the air and they all came to the same conclusion. I don't know how, but I managed to keep my fear from surfacing. How did something like this happen? Did something terrible happen to me? Did my family know I was missing? Did I...even have a family? Precht finally turned around to face me fully. Still with the same look on his face he stepped forward looking me in the eye and asked me another simple question.

"Where are you from?"

I found my gaze drawn to the ground.

"I…I don't know, do I?"

Everything was blank in my mind; hidden behind a wall and unreachable. But I knew that there was supposed to be something there. All I could find though was emptiness and it scared me a little. I felt my headache start to come back again.

...

"Why is the air so humid?" I complained under my breath as I kept walking.

"Humid?" Yuri asked overhearing my statement. "It seems pretty dry to me."

After pulling myself away from a near panic attack I ended up tagging along with the the three men through a great expanse of forest, which was the strangest thing I had ever done (not that I could recall anything else). As hard as it was for me to come to terms with it, they were the only people that I could say that I knew now. And I was absolutely torn as for what I had to do. But rather than say anything about it, I simply followed the trio all while gazing in wonder at the surrounding woods. We had been walking for what felt like an eternity, when in reality, it couldn't have been more than an hour. Warrod and Yuri didn't appear to mind, but it looked as if Precht was miffed by my presence.

"You don't feel it?" I said turning to him. "When I breathe in, I feel as if I'm practically drinking the air." And while I did remain quiet for most of the trek, there was that one thing I couldn't ignore; it was the fact that the air around us was unbearably heavy, thick like pea-soup. It formed a massive blanket and was almost suffocating, but as strange as it sounded it wasn't muggy or hot. Every breath I took in weighed heavily in my lungs before I expelled it again and it almost felt sickening.

"Perhaps you're still experiencing shortness of breath from being upside down for a while? it's actually rather cool out." Warrod suggested from my side.

"Maybe…" I said unable to respond anything else.

As the shadows of the trees grew, the sun had begun to fade off in the distance. The forest floor was dotted by the numerous specks of light seeping through the tree leaves overhead. I never actually realized just how fast the time had passed when we were walking; the day was already over. Ahead of us, Precht stopped walking before he turned around to face us.

"We should camp here for the night." He said.

"Great, I'm starving!" Yuri added.

"I saw some pretty good mushrooms back over that way." Warrod said thoughtfully. The three men set down their stuff on the ground and I watched Warrod walking straight back into the woods and out of sight. Precht set to work clearing out a small space and Yuri was tying together a fishing pole. I glanced back and forth between the two with my hands fidgeting slightly; I had no clue what I was supposed to do.

"Hey, uh, Yuri?" I finally spoke up. "Can I go with you?"

And within about ten minutes I found myself sitting by the edge of a small nearby stream watching Yuri attempt to fish. With the hastily made rod in hand, he was sitting impatiently next to the edge of the water as he waited for the fish to bite. All around us, the noise of crickets and frogs could be heard. I didn't notice it before, but the woods were actually pretty noisy.

"You don't have the patience for this, do you?" I wondered aloud as I watched him.

"Well," Yuri said with a small shrug, "It's not really my thing."

"Hm. That's cool," I replied simply. There was the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I didn't like fishing either. I looked over into the water and began to get lost in its rippling surface with my grey eyes staring back at me. I didn't know what to think right now. I was lost and far away from home, that much I was certain about. Not a clue floated through my mind as to where I needed to begin in order to find my way home and then my identity itself was still missing.

"So..." Yuri cut into my thoughts. "I guess we need to come up with a name for you."

I raised an eyebrow.

How we had been thinking the same thing was beyond me.

"Why?"

"It would be a lot easier than having to say 'hey you' or 'girl'."

He had a point, though I didn't like it. Having my name would make things much easier, but there weren't any clues for where to start. Searching my pockets earlier, I only managed to uncover a cell phone with a drained battery and a digital wrist watch with its time and date stuck at 7:07, July 7th. I even tried showing my phone to Warrod at one point who had been watching me and he didn't even know what to make of it. In fact, it looked like he had never seen a cell phone at all in his life. That was one of the signs that told me I was very far from home. Another sign might have been the fact that the date wasn't anywhere near July at all. When I had asked, Precht had been the one to respond. Pushing those details aside, I figured it was best not to dwell on it; the more I got concerned over the small things, the worse I was going to make it.

"Gotcha!" Yuri shouted suddenly, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I snapped to attention to see him pulling on the rod with all of his might, trying to reel in the fish that was on the other end. Staggering onto his feet he was struggling with the line. Fighting against the catch, I watched in faint amusement as he stumbled back and forth, edging towards the water and then taking a few steps back at a time. He really didn't know how to fish. "What's the matter," I began saying jokingly, "You're acting as if a shark is—"

"Ah ha!" He shouted triumphantly as he yanked the pole back.

A massive fish the size of a cow came flying out of the water. I stared in amazement, any words I had dying at the tip of my tongue. The creature landed with a solid smack against the rocks, and I was baffled. I felt my mouth drop open as I watched the fish writhing on the ground with it's scales reflecting the remaining sunlight. Yuri in the meantime was looking quite pleased at himself. The stream we were fishing out of couldn't have housed a jumbo-sized purple fish, let alone one the size of a cat. "How is that possible?" I said awestruck.

"That's just how it's done," Yuri said flashing me a grin and a thumbs up.

"Uh huh, sure." I said eyeing the fish wearily. I reached out a hand to touch its unusually colored purple scales. That was when it started flailing around again, nearly swiping at my fingers with its tail.

"Careful!" Yuri said snatching my hand away from it. "You don't want to touch the fins—they can be pretty painful you know."

Fin.

Finn.

"Ah!" I said with my eyes lighting up. "That's it!" I cried.

"That's what?" Yuri asked.

"My name!" I said clasping my hands together.

"And that is?" Yuri said leaning forward a bit with interest.

"Finn. My name is Finn." I smirked victoriously. It clicked in my mind, something with a sense of familiarity attached to it. And it easily put me one step closer to finding out who I was and where I was from. For the first time that whole day I felt pure happiness well up inside of me with such a small accomplishment.

"Finn...Isn't that…A boy's name?" Yuri stated plainly. I gawked at him. "You sure you don't want a different one?"

"Is not! It's a perfectly girly name," I said defensively.

"Sure it is," He mumbled with a laugh.

"Okay, fine then girly-boy—Whatever you say." I sneered in turn. Yuri did have rather long eyelashes and they did look a little feminine…Not that I was jealous or anything.

"Hey!"

"Nope—not talking to you anymore. I'm gonna go and introduce myself and my wonderful name to the others if you don't mind." I said getting up from my spot next to the water. "Have fun hauling that fish back on your own, sucker." I said to Yuri over my shoulder as I left him behind with the cow-sized fish at his side.

...

With a little insistence I ended up helping Precht with the fire and Warrod returned from his gathering soon after. That was when I finally told them that I remembered my name. Warrod was the only one of the two who seemed happy at the fact while Precht himself remained indifferent. I sat around the campfire with my new companions, munching on a small meal of roasted wild mushrooms and fish. The forest was shrouded in darkness now with nothing but the stars and the moon to provide light.

"You're sure you don't recall anything else?" Precht asked. "Any sort of useful information?"

I glanced up at him and shook my head.

"No, sorry."

"No need to apologize for something you can't help." Warrod said reassuringly. "One step at a time is good enough."

Over the past hour, the trio had been telling me about Fiore and some of its history and trying to jog my memory. They were hoping that maybe a single word would catch my attention, anything that might give me a little kick. As they spoke, I couldn't help but be amazed. Absolutely none of it sounded familiar. And at one point I even thought that they were pulling my leg when they were trying to convince me that magic was real, something that I knew was logically impossible.

But apparently it was real.

"So you three said you're treasure hunters, right?" I asked trying to change the topic.

"Yeah, you bet!" Yuri said.

"And we've traveled to many different places too." Warrod added.

"That sounds like it's a lot of fun," I said thoughtfully.

Exploring new places, going in search of treasure—it had to be some kind of a bedtime story. All of it was too far fetched, but in a way almost seemed fun. Something told me that this kind of stuff was something that I wasn't familiar with before. "It's not just fun and games," Precht cut in as if reading my thoughts. "It's very dangerous and not to be taken lightly." He turned his head slightly to look directly at me. "As soon as we reach the next town, we'll be leaving you in the care of the locals; they should be able to help you from there."

"Oh, um, okay." I said not sure of how else to respond to his words. I wasn't about to argue against it simply because the group had been very nice to me. I'll admit though, the idea of leaving them, regardless of how short a time I've known them, was a little scary and maybe a bit…sad.

"That being said, we should all get some rest. We've got a lot of distance to cover tomorrow." Precht stated as he leaned against the tree behind him.

I merely nodded my head in reply as I leaned back against the ground. It wasn't too comfortable, but after everything that had happened today, I wasn't about to complain. Staring up at the many stars in the sky, my eyes began to close on me.

Soon, I entered a deep dreamless sleep.

...

The next morning seemed to fly by quickly.

The four of us got up and broke camp and we set off at a breakneck pace through the woods with the morning sun in our faces. Only hours later, we made it to the town that Precht was talking about and I found the only three people I knew were leaving me with other complete strangers. It had only been a little over a day with them, but it felt like all the security I felt was going to walk away with them. I was going to be back at square one.

"It was nice meeting you Finn. Hopefully we can meet under better circumstances next time," Warrod said to me as we shook hands. He appeared to send a wayward glance in Precht's direction, but the man hardly budged, keeping an unreadable face the entire time.

"Yeah, see you around I guess," Yuri added. Without uttering a word, Precht was the first to walk out the town gate along the dirt road with Yuri and Warrod following suit behind him. As I watched their retreating figures, I felt my gut knot up. Something was telling me that what I was doing right now was wrong. I needed to stay close by them and not wander off on my own. Even if I had only known them for a day, I felt safe around them.

I didn't want them to go.

I had to go with them.

"Is something the matter, child?" an elderly woman asked me. "You should probably head inside and get washed up. You're not going to get your memory back by sitting here."

I lingered on the woman's words. They held a truth in them. If I knew that I wasn't from around there, what good would it do for me to stay put in a small town? I needed to find things to jog my memory, something that I wasn't going to find by moving into a town in the middle of nowhere in the woods. And I found myself itching to go somewhere, itching to follow the very group that just left...Or, who was I kidding? The real reason why, was because I wanted to see all of the things they had told me about. I needed to see it with my own eyes.

In that moment, I wasn't concerned with anything else. I couldn't remember anything, but it wasn't the first thought in my mind. I didn't know where I was from, but I couldn't bring myself to care. My gut was telling me that I needed to go with them. It was something that I had to do, but I couldn't answer why. It was an odd thing for my mind to be throwing around: traveling with some strangers across lands that I knew nothing about.

But maybe I was meant to do that.

"Thanks for being willing to help me, but…" I trailed off as I turned my head back in the direction the treasure hunters went. "I don't belong here." On an impulse, my feet sprang to life and I found myself bolting away from the small nameless town. The elderly lady let loose a cry of surprise, but I didn't look back at all. Kicking up a trail of dust behind me, I set off fast down the dirt road, hoping to catch up with the group. The only way I figured that I could get my memory back was if I stuck with them.

Sprinting over what seemed to be the distance of a football field, I could once again see the backs of my companions.

"Hey!" I shouted with the air I could spare. "Yuri! Warrod! Precht! Wait up!" I saw the three of them turn around to look back at me before they stopped to wait. Moments later I found myself standing in front of them. all had a look of surprise on their faces. Still catching my breath, I started to explain myself. "Look, I don't care about the dangers, I most certainly don't give a rat's ass about the treasure, but I'm coming with you guys!" With that said, I straightened myself and found a smile working its way up to my face. Turning, I began to walk in the direction they were heading; that was when I finally realized that they weren't following. I turned around to find all three of them looking at me questioningly—well, Precht may have been rather irritated.

"What?" I said to them. Their faces remained frozen in the same expression and I shrank back slightly. "Okay, okay, I know it seems a bit forceful, but something just tells me I need stay with you guys. I think that I would have a better chance at remembering things than if I stayed in that old town back there. It might be a long stretch, but let me prove to you that I can carry my on weight. Hell, maybe I can even help you guys out with your travels? I'll stay out of the way of your treasure hunting of course, but I suppose the choice is up to you..."

I scratched the back of my head in nervousness. It never occurred to me that my offer might be rejected, but now that possibility sat at the front of my mind. I hadn't known them for that long yet there I was basically imposing myself on them. The chances that they would say yes were very slim at best. I looked at them as silence settled over us.

"Eh, it would allow for quicker set up at camp," Yuri said with a shrug. "She could also carry extra supplies."

"We would need to gather more," Precht noted sourly.

"And she could watch the camp. It would be easier for us to get stuff that way," Yuri countered. The two men debated back and forth for a few minutes, leaving Warrod and I on the side, our heads going back and forth between who was speaking. A good sign was the fact that Warrod nodded his head now and again to what Yuri said.

Finally, Warrod turned to Precht and cut into the conversation, adding his own input. "I think it's fine if she comes along. There doesn't seem to be any harm in it." The two men stared at each other in silent conversation.

"Fine," Precht grumbled before he started walking again. "As soon as something goes awry, we're leaving her, and that doesn't include another courtesy drop off at another town."

"Yes!" I said pumping a fist. "I won't let you guys down!"

…

And that was the beginning of the long journey that was to come.

...

One final note: And that's the first chapter. Please let me know your thoughts about it so far and leave a review or comment!

~BlueCampanula