FT: Next Gen - The Dragon Slayer Arc

A quick rundown of characters:

1. Nashi Heartfilia - 16 years old, a Star Dragon Slayer, Celestial Spirit Mage (owns Nikola, Crux only), lives with her mother, hates her father for leaving them at her young age.

2. Lexi Dreyar - 19 years old, a recent S-Class wizard, Lightning User, Take Over Magic User, Leader of Team Hope

3. Emma Redfox - 20 years old, Solid Script User, Bookworm, the top S-Class wizard candidate this year (lost to Lexi the previous year)

{Year X814}

The landscape was every vivid colour, every one of them looking as fresh as a new painting. The trees were deep with late spring foliage and the flowers rioted in the jubilant way that only the most divine of blooms can. The brilliant greens banished every dark thought and the sky lifted the eye in a way that brought the Wizards to admire the strands of drifting white clouds. This group of Wizards in particular were from the No.1 Guild in the Kingdom of Fiore, Fairy Tail. They were on their way to meet the client of the job they bravely took up. A high reward-high risk job, an S-Class Job. And it was their first job of such high caliber.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Nashi asked her teammates, sitting down cross-legged and cross-armed. They gazed in admiration at their tranquil surroundings, something that was lacking back at the boisterous and brash Guild Building. "I miss this feeling... I used to go to the nearby fields of Magnolia with Mum everyday." A gentle smile crept on her face. "I never knew I won't get bored even till today."

"That's nature for you." Emma replied. "We better get going though. Or else we might be late to meet the client."

Nashi acknowledged and got up. She stretched a bit to ease the tension in her muscles, then she proceeded to get back onto the 4-wheeled carriage powered by a purple-haired pig. Soon, they set off to continue on their journey along. The dirt path they followed was as straight as dried spaghetti. It took seconds for the eye to travel it's length across the landscape until it melted into the blue grey horizon in the far distance.

…

[At Client's Place]

A short, stumpy old man was lounging on his lumpy couch. He looked as though a puff of wind could blow him down. He had a hand tremor and was constantly bobbing his head. Beside him was his wife, who offered the young Wizards a cup of tea to drink.

"T-T-Thanks for co-coming. I-I really appreciate you all f-f-for taking th-this job-b-b-b." The client stuttered.

"Anytime, Mr. Mayor. So, will you care to explain to us in detail about this demon terrorising your cattle?" Lexi asked with great professionalism. It was her first S-Class job so she's handling the conversation with importance.

He wheezed for a moment. Then he started explaining the grave situation he and the townspeople were in. "H-He takes one c-cow every s-so often in the mid-dle of the night-t-t. The town h-has l-lost a few good c-cows f-f-for w-weeks now."

"Do you have any idea how it looks like?" Lexi further asked to get some physical details on their target.

"Y-Y-Y-Yes. It-t is black in c-colour. Er… And had d-d-devilish r-red eyes."

Lexi could sense the fear this demon gave the mayor and it's people. She stood up and brushed off the dust collecting on her skirt. She smiled towards the old couple to calm their trembling fears. "It's okay. We will do everything we can to destroy this demon." Thus, she headed out. Nashi and Emma followed right behind. "Alright girls! Let's head out to the fields. Maybe we can find some clues there."

…

[At the Fields]

The gentle breeze fluttered around. The girls stood at the peak of a hill overlooking a vast expanse of rich, undulating grassland, on which it was filled with grazing cattle. However, onto their left, they saw many black patches of what used to be green grass covering the valley over there. They walked closer.

Emma crouched down to carefully analyse the burnt ashes, making sure not to blow away the samples. She looked up to see the rocky mountain range in front of her. "Hmm…" She wondered. She walked nearer to the mountain range and so up a hill she went. She took a glance at the landscape of the leeward side of the hill. Her eyes and her mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise.

"So, what did you find, Emma?" Lexi called over from afar.

"Erm… I-I-I think you should see this, girls…" She stammered.

The two arrived to where Emma was. But to their horror, the whole valley beneath them was entirely burnt black, with hints of flames that still burned in the wind, like as if it was the land of Hell. The gentle breeze was no more, replaced by the stillness of the atmosphere and their hearts.

"The demon did this?" Nashi asked, stunned by the awfulness of the sight.

"It's safe to say so..." Lexi replied in disbelief. Slowly, she eased her shocked expression to a more serious one. "Emma… Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"The pattern is too vague to say for sure. However, the density of burnt grass here is denser than the density nearer to the client's place. Definitely denser."

"Which means that the demon is living at the mountain range, I presume."

Nashi asked "How are we going to find this demon?"

"We wait for it to come to us. We will set up camp at the village barn and prepare a stake-out." Lexi instructed.

"Yes!" They replied.

…

The dark clouds above them scattered across the night sky, reducing most of the visibility offered by the moon and the stars' radiance. They stayed there by the window ledge for hours, peering out into the open field to catch their target in action.

"Lexi…" whined Nashi, deliberately rubbing her eyes to keep herself awake through the night. "I'm so sleepy~"

"Shush. You might ward off our target!" Lexi reprimanded softly.

Nashi slumbered into Lexi's voluptuous body, resting her head into Lexi's chest. Lexi retaliated by thrusting her elbow into Nashi's back. Nashi violently woke up from her dazed state as she flailed her arms in pain. "Ow! Ow! Ow! That hurts Lexi!"

Emma was out on the rooftop under the night sky, taking notes of all the minor details across the valley; number of cows, their locations, etc.. Underneath her were the other two bickering. "Quiet down you two!" She complained.

Lexi protested. "Nashi wants to sleep!"

"Then let her sleep!" Emma protested back.

Lexi sighed as she unwillingly allowed Nashi to rest onto her chest. Shortly afterwards, Nashi was sound asleep.

"Truth be told, I'm also quite sleepy." Lexi added. "Ugh! When will this demon pop out?"

They stayed awake, forcibly opening their eyes passed their limits. Slowly and surely however, one by one, they fell into the hands of the Sandman and slept peacefully until morning came.

…

Lexi woke up in a hurry, realising that she had slept on accident. She tried to get up but Nashi's head was in her way, as Nashi drooled all over Lexi's top. She pushed Nashi away with no regard for safety whatsoever. Thud! Somehow, Nashi's 'dead' body was unperturbed by the involuntary movement.

At least Lexi was able to stand up properly now. She rose up and carefully stepped over the window ledge and onto the roof. She glanced over her shoulder to see Emma wrapped up in profound sleep. "Dammit!" She thought. "We all fell asleep. Did the demon attack the cattle last night?"

Lexi scanned over the horizon, her face aglow with the morning sunshine. A faint wind brushed against her skin, the breeze ruffled the stillness of her hair. The cows were still doing their daily routine, grazing about from sunrise to sunset. She walked over to the other side of the roof and saw the townspeople already doing about their daily businesses. She heaved a sighed in relief as it looked like nothing had happened last night.

She couldn't see it though. Why this quest was considered S-Class. Reminiscing back a few days ago, this job was tagged as a normal job that anyone could have taken and they had accepted it. But prior to leaving for the job, her mother, Mirajane Strauss, notified them that the job grade was changed to an S-Class instead. Which they still wholefully accepted.

Lexi pondered for abit. "Something strange is going on here… I gotta ask Mum." She went back into the barn to collect the communication lacrima they had in their supplies. Lexi waited awhile until the lacrima had established a connection on the other side.

A familiar face with long, white hair and a short, upward ponytail to match along with her large blue eyes and tender smile, appeared on the lacrima. "Hello, baby! How are you doing so far?"

"It's been great, Mum!" She lied.

A surprised expression formed on Mirajane's face. "You're done already? I know you could do it! I'm so proud of you!" She squealed in delight.

"No No. We haven't completed it yet. I just want to know why was this job considered S-Class."

Her delight turned into slight embarrassment. "Oh… My bad! Apparently, this job listing was out 2 months ago. I've heard many wizards from other guilds attempted to catch the demon, mostly non-S-class Wizards. But to no avail. All were even greatly wounded when they did fight with the demon."

That sent a cold shiver down Lexi's spine.

"Eventually," Mirajane continued, "the Magic Council decided to change the job grade to a more accurate one."

"I see…" Lexi muttered worrily under her breath. The lives of her comrades, her best friends meant so much to her.

"Anyways, I know you and your team can do it! Make me and your daddy proud! We love you! And also tell Nashi and Emma that their parents love them too! Bye!~" Mirajane was seen waving goodbye as the connection shortly ended.

A slim figure crept up on Lexi. "I've heard about the high possibility of getting severely injured. But it'll be alright, Lexi." Lexi turned around. She was stunned to see Emma's worried face.

"Although we're not S-Class… You don't have to worry… We are still able to fight no matter how strong the enemies are. You can count on us!" Emma's expression changed into a more positive one as she gestured the guild's signature hand signal.

Lexi smiled. "Right!"

…...

Time flew by as the Wizards took in the magnificent scenery given by the natural wonders of the world. The sun sets, and the moon took its stead, balancing the chaotic realm they shine upon on. They waited till past midnight. Fully alert this time, they were ready to burst into action whenever. They will catch demon tonight, or so they believed. They lay in wait patiently.

Streams of moonlight sank into the valleys bleeding silver. This gave them ample visibility in the night. Other than that, they were completely in the dark and mostly had to rely on Nashi's sensitive nose to sniff out the incoming intruder.

They waited. And waited. And waited.

"It's not coming now, is it?" wondered all of them as 4 hours or so has passed since midnight. Nashi's stomach growled frustratingly. "I'm famished- eh?" Nashi sniffed out the air more. The wind was blowing towards them for once, allowing Nashi to smell something peculiar. Thinking it was the demon itself, she quickly alerted the other two and then they ran off stealthily with Nashi leading the way. They were wary with each step, so as to not alert the target with their presence early. The scent slowly only grew stronger as they neared the mountain range. They went past the burnt blotches from before and to the hell-stained valley.

Nashi gestured them to stop before the hill, pointing out that the target was on the other side. Lexi and Emma acknowledged and they all began to crawl up. Once at the peak, they stumbled upon a black figure at the hell-stained valley beneath them. "It's the demon!" They whispered.

The demon was standing there before the boundary that separated the grass and those already burnt. The slither of moonlight just allowed the girls to see somewhat what the demon look liked. Its face was bony; devil-like sharp horns on top of its head; tattered clothes too big for its frail body; half its body, arms and legs were fully covered in black, with 10 sabertooth teeth-like claws for hands; and a pair of large wings to top it all off. The only saving grace was its still human hair and the other half of its body. The girls were rendered speechless by the demonic sighting, which was much scarier than Mirajane's own demons.

In a flash, the demon was gone from sight. They were highly concerned about the sudden absence of it. And in a flash, the demon reappeared in their sight. In front of their faces. Its eyes were glowing blood red, with every intention to eradicate the girls. They could see no empathy.

They shrieked at the top of their lungs as they narrowly dodged the attack from the demon. With one swipe, the demon was able to blow out a large conical area of grass. Lexi now was separated from the rest, while the demon chased down the other two.

"Lightning Discharge!" Lexi shouted as she attacked the demon to draw its attention towards herself. She succeeded in doing so and was now being chased instead. But in no time, the demon was able to catch up to Lexi and it grabbed her by the waist, its sharp claws made long cuts to her right abdomen. It then proceeded to throw Lexi across the hill towards her comrades. Nashi and Emma tried to cushion Lexi but were too weak to do it, hence they were flung from their positions instead. All of them shouted in pain.

Lexi couldn't get up. The cuts were too deep. Emma rushed over to Lexi's side while Nashi engaged the attacker.

Nashi took a deep breath. "Roar Of The Star Dragon!" The breath attack hit the demon. "Yes! You better not mess with Team… Hope…" Her voice trailed off. Her blue pupils had shrunken into the sea of white. "It had no effect?"

The demon grinned in delight, his teeth jagged everywhere. It said in a dark, raspy voice "I love seeing people be frightened of my profound power. I warned the last wizards who came near me to tell others. I guess they didn't." He chuckled evilly. "Now, begone!"

The demon swung his arm, a wave of fire followed suit. "Eek!" shrieked Emma and Lexi. Nashi dodged it well, and was preparing a counterattack. "Do not think of us so lowly, demon! Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Orion Starburst!" Seven glowing balls radiated from the sky above, and rained down on the demon. Dust rose from the attack.

"Did that did it?" She wondered. Suddenly Nashi felt a slight presence behind her back. She glanced back, only to see the demon cocking back his flame-covered arm.

Nashi screamed in agony as the punch connected onto her back. She was supposed to fly far from the impact, but the demon managed to hold her left leg and swung her downwards. Boom! She laid still on the cracked ground beneath her. Her eyes closed to suck herself into a deeper place to cope with the pain. Her whole back muscles was spasming. Lexi and Emma rushed to Nashi's rescue. "Give back our friend!" They shouted in unison.

"Stormbringer!" "Solid Script: Lightning!"

The two-pronged lightning attack missed its target as the demon flew high above. This allowed Lexi and Emma to gather around and protect the heavily wounded Nashi. "You're not going to touch her!" warned Emma, standing her ground.

A gentle smile formed on the demon's face which highly contrasted its demonic demeanor. "Friends huh… It's been 15 years since I saw them… You're the first batch of wizards I've seen in a long time who treasure their own comrades. It brings me back memories…" It looked up into the stars, remembering all those that it had hold dearly before the incidents happened. He looked down at Lexi and Emma. They were fiercely ready to fight and protect Nashi at any cost. Anyone could have sensed the tight camaraderie they have with each other.

"I will leave you be." The demon offered. "For you have shown me the deep bonds between your friends. But, don't ever come back again!" It growled before turning around to go catch a quick snack.

"...No…" A voice panted in pain.

Lexi and Emma looked at Nashi, who was trying her best to get up on her feet by herself. She rubbed off her blood leaking from her mouth. "We won't just give up! We are guild wizards and we won't be done in like this! We will defeat you!" She proclaimed, standing proud and tall.

The demon stopped in its tracks. It suddenly backflipped in mid-air which turned into a dive towards the girls, like a peregrine falcon diving at full speed.

"Dodge it, everyone!" Lexi instructed. The demon swooped in and got hold of the injured Nashi.

"Solid Script: Iron!" A word 'IRON' appeared above the demon. Clang! The heavy weight dropped on the demon, forcing it to let go of Nashi whilst mid-air. Lexi rapidly transformed into her Lighting Body to catch Nashi.

"Thanks, Lexi. I owe you big time!"

"Not now. We got bigger problems." Lexi reinstated. They landed unharmed on the ground with a soft thud. "We gotta figure out this demon's weakness! Any ideas?" She called out.

Emma grinned. "Solid Script: Water!". Suddenly water splashed on the demon's body. But the demon shook off the water droplets left on its body. "Uhm… I got nothing!" Emma hastily said. The confidence in themselves were shook. The demon swooped in to attack Emma but she managed to dodge it.

Out of nowhere, Nashi exploded right into the demon's face. "Why not the direct assault? Roar Of The Star Dragon!" The demon was blown away, but it wasn't injured in any , from both sides, Emma and Lexi followed up with their own attacks.

In the end, it was of no use. The demon was still not harmed. "Our attacks don't do any damage?!" They were flabbergasted by his defensive strength.

"Give it up. You're exhausted from the lack of sleep. Leave me be and you'll be alive to fight another day."

"That won't do it for me at all!" exclaimed Nashi. "We will take you down!"

At that instant, the thin twine of patience snapped for the demon. "Begone! Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"

Those words shocked Nashi. "It's a dragon slayer?"

The demon swiped its arms in a circular fashion, creating a powerful torrent of flames that barraged the entire area. Nashi and the rest were blown away easily. They screamed in agony from the massive burns they received.

The demon left them there on the field, alive but unconscious, as the morning rays started to creep onto their faces slowly.

Thanks for reading this general plotline of what I planned for the future. I might have grammar mistakes, might have missed out a few details but I guess this is the first chapter for The Fire Dragon Slayer Arc!