Chapter 1

Natsu bent over his breakfast at the Fairy Tail guild hall, gobbling down his food with inhuman speed, as usual. He paid attention to nothing but his meal, until a few words came floating into his consciousness, making his ears prick up with curiosity.

"Rumor…fire…slayer."

He whipped his head around, mouth still full.

"Huh? Another dragon slayer? Where?"

A small group at the end of the bar composed of Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Mirajane looked at him incredulously. Gray scoffed.

"Weren't you listening, greedyguts? Maybe if you got your face out of your plate, you'd be able to keep up!"

Before Natsu could retort, Lucy stepped quickly between them and explained, trying to prevent a fight too early in the day.

"Erza just returned from a solo job near the woods surrounding Magnolia. She heard a rumor from her client that there might be a fire wizard of some kind running around burning and causing trouble. That's all."

"Who said slayer?" Natsu asked, whining a little and glaring at Gray.

"I did," said Erza. "I went to have a look and see if I could track down the perpetrator, but the trail went cold. However, I did find one of the burn sites. It was near a small farm but, strangely enough, barely missed any of the property. What surprised me most was the extent of the damage. I doubt it was any ordinary fire wizard who did it. I was suggesting that it could be another dragon slayer."

"We do know of another fire dragon, Atlas Flame. Natsu, do you know if there were any other fire dragons who had human children?" asked Mirajane.

"I don't think so. Igneel never said anything. But who knows? Maybe we can go find this guy and ask him!" Natsu replied excitedly.

"I came back to ask if you wanted to help me find him and find out why he's randomly burning sections of the forest." said Erza.

"Awesome, I'm in!" shouted Natsu. "Let's go!"

"I might as well go, make sure hot stuff doesn't end up helping this rogue wizard burn down the forest instead of stopping him." drawled Gray.

"Shut up, Snow Queen! I could take him and you!"

"You wish, flamebrain!"

Bickering, the two rivals and Erza walked across the guild and out the front door. Lucy looked after them fondly.

"Aren't you going with them, Lucy?" She glanced up to see Mirajane smiling at her.

"I don't think so. They don't really need me for this kind of job. It's not even a paying job. It has nothing to do with me, and I'd only get in the way."

A pink head suddenly popped back into the doorway. "You coming, Happy?"

"No. I promised Wendy I'd help her and Carla around the guild today." said the blue Exceed, blushing slightly.

"Okay, little buddy." There was a pause. "Lucy? Whatcha doin'? Get your big butt over here, we've got work to do!"

Lucy looked up. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" She yelled, running out after a grinning Natsu. Mira chuckled and turned back to serve the other guildmates.

~.~

About an hour later, Makarov came downstairs with his grandson, laughing. Laxus had a small smile on his face, a rare but pleasant sight. The guild master of Fairy Tail plopped down on a bar stool and sighed contentedly.

"Now where's Natsu? I had something to talk to him about." Growled the old man. Mira handed him his favorite mug of beer as she replied.

"Erza heard a rumor about a fire mage running amok in the forest, and Natsu and the others went to investigate."

Makarov tensed suddenly, his smile disappearing.

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to him about. I was afraid of this."

"What's wrong, Master?"

"The last time I ran into Porlyusica, she told me the same thing, and it is no rumor. Apparently, this wizard is extremely powerful, but has little to no control of their power. Beyond that she wouldn't say, but she warned me to not let any of the children near them. I should've found Natsu sooner."

"Don't worry. Natsu has always pulled through, and everyone has been working so hard, they're stronger than ever. I'm sure they'll be fine." Reassured Mira.

"You're right, of course. I just hope they don't hurt themselves too badly. They're far too reckless for their own good." But he chuckled as he took a gulp of ale.

Laxus, standing beside his grandfather, stared hard at the door, then turned and sat down.