"You know she is gonna be mad right? Like... Really mad if we do this."
"Yeah but she's been sleeping in too long anyway and we we're told to do this so it's not like we're gonna get in trouble."
"I dont think this is what she meant when she told us to go wake her up."
"Too late!"
Water splashing down on someone could be heard followed by an angry scream inside of the small wood cabin the three people stood in. After laughter broke out from one of the people he was soon kicked through the door breaking it and out onto the ground outside. "Totally worth it..." He said in a soft groan as he pulled himself off the ground and stood up. Black boots with metal lining, brown cargo pants and a black tank top. His hair black spiky hair that reached down to his shoulders having a bit of dirt in it. He stared at the broken doorway before hearing footsteps and only grinned at seeing her.
A girl with long pink hair, appearing spiky at the top but turning less and less spiky the longer her hair went. She stood there soaked in water in what used to be dry pink pajama bottoms and top. "I'm gonna kill you!" She yelled with the top of her head even catching on fire. Her soft brown eyes holding fiery anger in them as the boy soon put his fists up ready for a fight.
"Bring it Dragneel!"
"You're dead Redfox!"
"No fighting!" The two halted as a blue haired girl quickly rushed out of the cabin and stood between them. A raindrop clip in her light blue hair that was contrasted by dark blue eyes. She wore a pair of black pants along with a white shirt that was being covered up a dark blue zipped up hoodie. "Nashi I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen. But fighting isn't going to solve anything, so why don't we sit down and talk this out? What do you say Firro?" She looked back and forth between the two but watched as Nashi still lunged at him past her tackling him down.
As the two rolled around in the dirt trying to hit the other Navi stood there in defeat and watched as her friends rolled around fighting. "Firro! Did you forget what we were even supposed to be waking her up for?" She called out as Nashi continued punching at his now metal face.
"Oh right. Hey hothead Wendy said that if you're not at practice that you are stuck on cleaning the guild for a week." He said with his eyes staring at the flaming head on top of him. He watched as she looked down at him with a nasty glare before finally standing up and walking back into her cabin. Navi walked over and helped him up watching as his skin turned back to normal. "I totally won that f-"
Navi gasped as he suddenly fell to the ground unconscious and saw a hairbrush on the ground next to him after it had collided with the back of his head. "Bullseye!" It was none other than Nashi who was standing in the broken doorway with a large grin over her face. "Navi! Can you drag him back to the guild for me? I would do it but I'd probably just end up throwing him over the cliff!"
The bluenette quickly nodded and grabbed his foot before dragging along the dirt trail as he muttered something. "Why did you have to go picking a fight with Nashi?" She complained but knew letting Nashi handle his unconcious body could lead to them finding him burried underground or hanging by his feet up in a tree.
"Totally owe you one!" Nashi called out before shutting the door, quickly realizing there was no door to shut though she groaned and hung up a blanket in the doorway for privacy. Even though she never looked forward to the day she attempted to change quickly, sliding off her pajamas and slipping on her black pants and white zip up vest that went all the way up to her neck with red flames lining the vest. She slipped on some blue boots to finish it off and looked in the mirror before letting out a soft sigh. "Okay Dragneel, day started off bad but how much worse could it get?"
"Oh I dont know Dragneel you have to deal with annoying people all day and a woman who thinks she knows everything."
"Good point Dragneel, good point indeed." Nashi rolled her eyes as talking to herself in the mirror made her feel better but at the same time made her realize how she was losing it. Pushing her new blanket door aside she stepped outside and picked up her hairbrush before throwing it inside. She walked down a dirt road passing cabins on each side of it and within a minute found herself staring at a large two story cabin that everyone liked to call the guild. She stared at it for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and walking inside.
"And with that I win again. That makes it 5 to 1, do you wanna play again?" Nashi immediately recognized the familiar voice and walked over to a pair of young children sitting at a table. Her arms wrapped around the winner from behind and with one hand ruffled up his blonde hair.
"Hey there little buddy, you beating her non stop again?" Nashi asked the young blonde, his blonde hair appearing more wavy than spiky with a familiar piece of attire wrapped around his neck. A simple yellow t shirt with a dragon on it and tan shorts along with sandals being his attire. He held a happy expression while looking across the table at a short girl with messy short black hair, a headband keeping her hair back. A simple light blue dress on that was partially covered by a black jacket.
"I've only won once and I know that's because he let me." She stated with narrowed eyes as he shook his head.
"You won that fair and square, now lets play again." He said setting up the checkers board again as Nashi grinned at the girl.
"Come on Gale you know cute adorable innocent Fugo here wouldn't be so cold to an adorable girl like you." Nashi teased with a smirk only receiving an unammused look from her.
"Still can't beat up my brother though can you?" She quickly replied with her own smirk watching as the pinketes head caught on fire once more.
"Didn't Navi have to drag his unconcious a... Behind here? Who do you think did that to him?"
"A girl who needed to throw a brush at the back of his head while he wasn't looking." The two girls stared at each other with narrowed eyes as Fugo simply reset the board and soon made the first move.
"Okay Gale your turn!" He said cheerfully as Nashi walked away.
"Fugo totally let you win!" Gale simply rolled her eyes at Nashi's attempt to win their argument and turned her attention back to the black and red board in front of her. Nashi let out a small huff having lost an argument to an eleven year old and continued on towards the back of the so called guild. Walking through the kitchen she opened the back door only to see both of her friends get knocked onto the ground at the same time. "Glad to see you woke up just to get your butt kicked again"
Firro scoffed as he looked up at the pinkette seeing her suddenly begin to float up in the air and fly past him. "Sky dragons grasping claw."
Nashi flew a few feet before suddenly being flipped upside down and came to face with another blue haired female of the guild. Except this one was much older and had a noticeable angry look in her eyes. "You're late. Again."
"Well when the class is basically getting our butts kicked by you every morning why bother to show up?" Nashi replied with a grin before suddenly falling down to the ground. "What was that for!?" She yelled quickly jumping to her feet and glaring at the other dragon slayer.
"You were being a smart mouth again and you know I hate when you do that. We have simple rules here Nashi and I would appreciate it if you could actually follow them." Wendy stated placing her hands on her hips with anger in her eyes.
"Maybe I would follow these dumb rules if they were worth following. Daily combat training? A curfew? No leaving the island?" Those were just a few of the established rules for the children living on the island, many having forgotten what life was truly like outside of the island. It may have healthy green lands and a bright blue sky with a matching ocean but no matter what a certain pink haired dragon slayer couldn't stand it.
"Nashi you know why we have those rules, you know whats out there anyway. What do you expect to find if we suddenly left?"
Nashi stared up at Wendy with the top of her head catching on fire again as she let out a small huff and turned around to begin walking away. "We aren't done here young lady!" The young lady in question didn't stop and continued walking and when Wendy had had enough she had had enough.
Firro and Navi both stepped out the way of Nashi's path and for good reason as a strong gust of wind suddenly flew towards her, she quickly turning and countering it with a fiery fist. "I've been itching to kick your ass and now is the perfect time!" Holding both her fists up they ignited into flames only for her right hand's flames to quickly go out. "Whatever"
"Why can't you simply behave like everyone else? Why do you always have to start a fight?" Wendy slowly approached her and watched as the fire used lunged, starting off with a high kick that seemed to catch on and off of fire. Raising her hand wind quickly blew against Nashi slowly her speed enough for Wendy to grab her ankle and throw her onto the ground, using her sky magic to soften the blow. "That is enough Nashi."
Not listening Nashi took a deep breath and prepared a fiery roar only for Wendy to hit her chin upwards, shutting her mouth and causing a small boom in her mouth. Nashi soon coughed out some smoke before growling and attempted to throw a punch that was simply caught. "Enough, before someone gets hurt."
Her her hand grabbed and Wendy on top of her Nashi took another deep breath but went for a simple headbutt instead that seemed to work. A grin on her face as Wendy stumbled back but her victory did not last long as the older and more experienced dragon slayer growled and the air in the area began to feel thin. It became harder to breath and Navi and Firro even began to feel light headed as the air was drawn towards Wendy. "Enough Nashi, this is my final warning."
She stared up at her caretaker and even though she could feel the magical pressure building and her body shaking some she grit her teeth and jumped forward. The next thing she knew she was waking up in bed to the sight of a fan slowly turning above her head. Nashi sat up to see herself in her bed and looked around spotting her brothers bed on the other side of the cabin but when looking next to her bed saw a still mad Wendy. "I'll get you next time."
"Cleaning duty, rest of the week. Sweep up the guild hall and wash the dishes for today." Nashi nodded seeing Wendy not in an eager mood but before the Sky dragon slayer left the room Nashi sat up and looked at her.
"I know what you think of me Wendy, about what I did. Bet you wish I wasn't one of the ones stuck here on this island with you huh? That maybe I hadn't gotten saved by-" Nashi didn't get to finish however as a strong blast of wind her face sending her back into the headboard of the bed. She grabbed her cheek feeling a bruise and looked over to see Wendy staring at a new door to her cabin.
"I think of alot of things here on this island Nashi, you and me may not get along too well but don't go thinking stuff like that. Even if you think that about yourself don't ever doubt the love I feel for you or anybody else here." And awkward silence filled the room as the two sat and stood there listening to the soft breeze blow outside.
Nashi rubbed her cheek and looked away before feeling a small flame pop up on the top of her head. "Sorry... I'll go clean the guild hall" standing up she put her boots back on and made her way to the door before noticing Wendy still simply standing there. She didn't feel right asking her to move or simply moving past her but she didn't have to wait long
"I'm sorry too... You just... Remind me so much of your parents. I always wonder what they would think if they saw how I was raising you, would they be proud? Mad? Maybe even sad? It feels like just yesterday I met them..." A sniffle could be heard and Nashi watched as Wendy wiped her cheek before finally turning to face her. "Lets both try to be better from here on out okay?" Wendy asked showing a cheerful smile.
Nashi felt her lips twitch some but she looked away before speaking softly. "I guess that's best... It's what they would want..."
Wendy knew Nashi wasn't one to easily open up but nodded and wrapped her arms around her for a one sided hug. "Come on no hugs..." Nashi muttered into Wendy's shoulder feeling the urge to hug back but her mind stopped any of it from happening.
"Okay okay, but you are still on cleaning duty. But maybe if you're good I'll cut a few days off your punishment. Now get to work." With a smile Wendy left the cabin leaving Nashi there alone and twiddle with her thumbs.
"Dammit... Why do you make it so hard to make you hate me..." As the pinkette fiddled with her thumbs the color red caught her eyes. Laying her hands down on her lap she let her left finger feel the palm of her right hand. It always did intrigue the girl how something could be so permanent on her skin but never felt any different from ordinary unmarked skin. On her palm laid a pink guild mark of the Fairy Tail guild. Many considered the palm an odd place for a guild mark but Nashi felt it helped show others something important. "Come on Nash... No time to be getting sentimental..." It was hard to get those words out but closing her fist she knew she was ready for the day.
It was nothing but silence however as she went through with her punishment, sweeping the guild hall floor while Wendy took everyone else out fishing to the beach they had on the island. "Don't know why Max loved these things so much, maybe it was because he used sand and it was kind of like dust?" Nashi said outloud and continued sweeping the small pile of dust she had collected towards a nearby bench. "Either way, job well done." Reaching down she lifted up the bench and swept the dust underneath it with much more dust collected and stored down there.
"I dont think that's how Wendy wanted you to clean up and wow how long have you been doing this?"
At the sudden voice behind her Nashi let go of the bench and was ready to turn around with her fists up but in releasing the bench she felt a sharp pain in her foot. "Ahh! Fu-"
"Nuh-uh! Bad words equal an extra day of cleaning and we don't want that." Looking forward Nashi saw a blonde haired girl in a black skirt and a white blouse. She would yell at her but not only was a bench still on her foot but the blonde was also covering her mouth. "Now, I'll remove my mouth but only if you promise not to say that word anymoooowwww! Let go! Let go!"
What the blonde didn't count on though was Nashi suddenly biting her hand, and with sparkling white sharp teeth she wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon. As the blonde tugged and pulled she eventually pulled Nashi's foot out from under the bench but found teeth still sinking into her hand. "Nashi! Nashi please let go! Pretty please!" She pleaded and it was only because her jaw was starting to hurt that Nashi obliged.
"Don't cover my mouth ever again Melody." Nashi stated with narrowed eyes as she looked at the blonde clutching her bitten hand.
"Geez... Best friends dont bite each other Nash! And I just didn't want you cussing." Melody said narrowing her own eyes at the pinkette.
"How many times do I have to tell you we're not best friends? And what are you even doing here? Didn't Wendy take all of you out fishing? And one more thing, where were you during morning practice? Why aren't you being forced to clean up!?"
"First off, we are totally best friends." Melody stated with a smile coming over her face as she pointed back and forth between the two to them. "And secondly I decided to stick around after I saw you were stuck on cleaning duty like usual. And finally, I asked Wendy if I could skip practice because of an upset stomach and she said fine."
Nashi couldn't help but growl at her friends cheery demeanor and didn't even notice when her head caught on fire once again. "Oh I'll take care of that for you." Melody said and leaned in before blowing out the small fire on her best friends head. It was only for a second however as the fire soon reappeared leaving Melody to simply shrug before returning to eye level with Nashi.
"I hate you, I hope you know that." Nashi coldly stated with a scowl towards the smiling blonde.
"And I love you, I hope you know that. This is just some friendly back and forth between best friends." Melody replied before leaning in to hold her fingers between their faces. "Guess you could say we just kind of have that spark?" At that a small spark of electricity went off in her fingers leaving the blonde very amused with her joke.
"Whatever." Nashi rolled her eyes and walked over to sit on the bench that had been previously crushing her foot. She laid her arms down on the table and rested her head on them as Melody took a seat across from her mimicking her actions to be eye level.
"Sorry if you're having a bad day Nash, did you accidentally light your bed on fire again? You really need to get a hang of your magic huh?" Melody questioned only receiving a growl from the girl across from her. "Okay okay I'm sorry." Melody quickly stated still holding a smile.
"If you can tell I'm having a bad day then maybe you should just-" It quickly turned quiet as Nashi stopped talking only for her friend to raise an eyebrow confused. Opening her mouth to talk it was quickly covered by Nashi who shushed her and looked around the empty guild hall with keen eyes, sniffing the air and taking in any sounds heard. A twig snapping far off in the distance before quick footsteps took off. "What the hell is that!?"
"What is what?" Melody called out watching as Nashi leaped out of her seat and through the nearby window into the forest surrounding the building. Melody watched her run off and couldn't help but smile as she usually did and leaped through as well. "Right behind ya!"
Nashi didn't pay much attention to her friend though as she ran in the direction she heard footsteps, not to mention an unfamiliar scent. She had lived on this island long enough to recognize an unfamiliar scent skulking around. It wasn't easy but Nashi kept up with the sound of footsteps and the persons scent with her hightened senses. She pushed through leaves and branches which went on for miles but she was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Pushing through some bushes she soon heard leaves rustle above her and jumped out of the way as a person jumped down from the trees with a blade drawn.
Rolling away Nashi soon gained her footing and saw a boy not too older from her standing there with his black hair held back by a tied off headband and what appeared to be light armor. Small plates of armor all across his body covering it being held together by leather straps. A long kitana in his right hand with a magic circle on the handle, as well as his gloves and boots. "First time in years I've seen a new face so why don't you give me your name before I burn that pretty headband off?" Nashi asked smugly as she raised up her fists, both catching on fire with her left fist's flames soon going out after a few seconds. 'Not now!' She quickly thought to herself
"Your stance is good but you leave too many openings, your reaction time was also dull. If I had comrades or even laid down some traps you might already be down." He said with his eyes focused on Nashi, watching as she ran towards him only for her foot to be caught in a rope trap pulling her upside down into the air. Her neck now a mere inch from the tip of his blade. "You also shouldn't believe your opponents every word."
"Look at you sweeping me off my feet even though we just met." Nashi replied with a smirk even though she was examining the situation from a number of angles right now. Her foot lighting a small flame only to feel the blade press against her neck. Nashi stopped what she was attempting to do and simply stared into his eyes with a scowl before leaning her head back exposing more of her neck as a smirk crossed her face. "Go ahead and do it."
"I will" he replied but it was at that moment a bolt of lightning struck him and Nashi punched him in his face sending him to the ground. Another bolt of lightning flying out burning the rope and freeing Nashi who looked over to see Melody smiling at her with a thumbs up.
"Totally got what you were saying!" Melody yelled and Nashi couldn't help but smile and nod before turning towards her attacker.
"You should have done it when you had the chance." Nashi stated and grabbed his blade tossing it aside before pressing her foot down on his chest. "Now why dont you tell us where you came from before I decide to wring you up and beat you like a piñata?"
"No one is wringing anyone up! Get your foot off of him!" Nashi's eyes widened as she turned to see Wendy walking through the forest towards them with a scowl on her face.
"You gotta be kidding me! He tried to kill me! Are you seriously gonna take this dudes side over mine?" Nashi quickly asked with her head catching on fire again as she looked back at Wendy with a scowl.
"You were never in any danger but I will say that the blade to the neck was a bit excessive." Right behind Wendy walked out a blue haired man with a red tattoo over his right eye and an eye patch covering his left eye. "Elio I want you to apologize to Nashi here, this is the first time you're meeting her and you attack her?"
Being pushed off by the boy Nashi stepped back but watched him carefully with his fists ready for a sneak attack. He quickly stood up and his blade suddenly flew back into his hand before he sheathed it at his side. Walking over and untying his rope from a nearby tree trunk before placing it into a small sack behind him at the waist. "I wanted to see her fighting capabilities and she appears to have potential but lacks the will or discipline to do well."
"What you say? Bring it!" Nashi yelled only to be held back by Melody who simply smiled at the boy.
"Elio was it? Well since Wendy isn't attacking you I'm guessing you're one of the good guys? My name is Melody and this here is my best friend Nashi, sorry for surprise attacking you." She held a soft smile on her face as Elio looked at the two girls before letting out a soft sigh.
"I apologize for attacking you, it was a bad way to introduce myself but I hope you understand that it was necessary given the recent losses-" A hand was placed on his shoulder with Jellal shaking his head as Wendy walked over. Both girls having caught notice of his words before Nashi quickly stepped forward.
"Where is Fugo?" She asked with Wendy shaking her head.
"Everyone is fine Nashi there's no need to worry. They're already back at the guild with Firro and Navi watching over the younger ones. I'm sure you both recognize Mr Jellal although he didn't have an eye patch the last time you two saw him. Jellal I'm sure you can tell by their hair who these kiddos are" Wendy stated with Nashi staring at him before simply shrugging while Melody gasped and ran over for a hug.
"You were always with Ms Erza whenever you showed up at our guild! Mama always teased her about how you two were like a married couple! Were you two married? I can't really remember." Jellal simply smiled and patted her head before pushing her back some.
"We can save all the questions for later, and you introduced yourself as Melody? I thought it was Allo." He asked which seemed to finally draw the smile away from Melody. Wendy quickly taking notice and placing her hand on Jellal's shoulder shaking her head. Melody quickly went quiet with Nashi taking notice and knew why. It was almost as if all her emotions had been sucked out as she stood there looking at the ground, her blond locks blocking her vision some. A sudden slap to her back bringing her back however as Nashi smiled at her and wrapped her arm around her shoulder.
"Come on! He just messed up your name, nothing to fret about. What do you say we head back to the guild huh? Bestie?" She asked with Melody quickly showing a smile before letting out a small laugh.
"Sounds so weird when you try to be nice... Makes me smile" Melody soon began walking and pulled Nashi along by her hand with Elio following behind them as Jellal looked over at Wendy.
"I don't recall it being that severe. I am sorry for bringing her up."
"Its alright, it's just been a while since shes heard that name, she really does miss her. And it's nice to see you again but if I'm not mistaken its because of her?" Wendy asked with the atmosphere around the two changing drastically, the shadows seeming to overtake the light coming in through the branches as Jellal nodded in agreement.
"Not many stations like these remain and our camps are dwindling quicker and quicker, with every attack she grows stronger. I was hoping they would be strong enough to make a difference but it seems we'll need to activate it."
"If we do this theres no going back, its taken years and we're not even sure if it will really work. Lack of magic, no one on the other side, forcing open a gate?" Wendy asked with worried eyes only to receive a nod in response.
"It's either that or we watch the world come to its end."
"Fine, I'll take you to it tonight while the kids are asleep so you can look it over. But I truly hope this works" Wendy said as she watched the children walk away, oblivious to a certain someone eavesdropping.
'And just what are you doing Wendy?' Nashi asked herself as her ears seemed to twitch with every word that she heard.