hapter 1: First Encounter
"Hmmm… What to get for dinner tonight…"
A young girl with long, red hair, and emerald green eyes, wearing a black sleeveless vest that looked almost military-like over a dark blue long-sleeved shirt that had a strange symbol on either shoulder, black bands around her wrists, a black leather belt around her waist (underneath her vest and shirt) that was holding a large key ring that had strange keys on it, a black backpack that only had one strap that wrapped around her body, dark blue jeans, and black, knee-high leather boots was walking through a small store, holding a small basket that was quite full. She was looking at potential dinner options while walking along, idly muttering to herself-
WHAM!
"Ow!"
"Whoa!"
She soon found herself on her rear, knocked to the floor. She rubbed her head, and looked up to see a young man with arguably the strangest cat she'd ever seen (a blue humanoid? And that shade of blue?)... and dear god, was that shade of pink his natural hair color?!, also in a similar position. Clearly, they'd hit each other… and then she saw that the impact had knocked the contents of both their baskets out.
"No! No! My comic books! Ah, no, I can't let them be ruined!" She said in a panicked tone, rushing over to clean up the illustrated books.
"Hey, I'm sorry. Let me help."
She looked over to see the young man gathering some of the comic books, and bringing them over. She took a stack from him, and it didn't take long for the two of them to clean up their messes.
"Uhh, thanks… And I'm sorry for bumping into you like that…" She apologized, dusting herself off and standing up. The young man laughed as he stood up.
"Hey, it's fine! No one got hurt, it was just an accident! It happens!" He said.
"Aye!"
The young girl jumped back, letting out a yelp.
"What the hell?! The cat can talk?!" She screamed, hands raised in a defensive posture.
"Yup! This is Happy! He's a friend of mine!" The young man introduced.
"Aye! It's nice to meet you-ooh, I smell fish!" Happy said, immediately darting off in the direction of the fish scent. She sighed.
"Of course the cat gets distracted by the smell of fish…" She droned.
"Well, he'll be back. So, anyways, who are you?" The young man asked.
"Oh, me? My name's Natalie." She replied.
"I'm Natsu! It's nice to meetcha, Natalie!" Natsu said. She nodded.
"It's nice to meet you too, Natsu." She said. The two continued on walking.
"So, whaddya doin' in Magnolia?" The pink-haired boy asked.
"I'm traveling around… Because I want to be a mage-"
The moment the last word slipped out of her mouth, she covered her mouth.
"Huh? You wanna be a mage?"
Natalie looked at Natsu, embarrassed, but nodded.
"Y-Yea, but I don't know what guild to join or anything like that…" She stuttered, scratching the back of her head.
"What do you think about Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked.
"F-Fairy Tail?! That's the strongest guild in all of Fiore! They have all sorts of powerful and legendary mages amongst their ranks! There's no way I'm strong enough to join them!" She replied in a stuttering rush, as if she were embarrassed or something.
"What makes you so sure of that? Have you even tried joining?" He asked, arms folded. Natalie looked down sheepishly.
"Well…. The truth is… I'm scared." She admitted.
"Scared? Of what?" He asked, confused.
"Being rejected… Being rejected for being too weak." She replied, her tone quiet and admitting. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"You won't know until you try, right? You should at least try!" He encouraged. She smiled sadly.
"Thanks… Well, I should get to my hotel room. I'll think about it." She said, before seeing Happy return, paws full of fish.
"Come on, Natsu! If we don't get back-" The cat began.
"Aw, crap! Well, gotta go, later!" Natsu said in a rush, darting off. He ran so fast that he didn't realize his scarf had come off of him. Natalie ran and picked it up.
"Natsu, your scarf-!" She tried, but he was already gone. She sighed.
"I guess I'll have to chase after him… He seems like a crazy guy, but seems nice too." She mused. She then took off after the pinkhead, hoping she wouldn't lose him.
