Disclaimer: The characters belongs to Hiro Mashima
Couldn't let the Stingue week pass by my side, right?
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POWER
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Year x784. Fiore's Country side.
"I'm better than you" the kid said, a teasing grin on his face while he walked backwards to watch his friend. His arms were crossed behind his head, his hands tangled in his messy blond hair.
"This again?" Came the answer, a bit of exasperation tainting the otherwise nonchalant tone. "I thought we settled this months ago."
The first kid frowned, his smile faltering when an embarrassing memory came to his mind.
"You cheated." He pouted, his arms falling down and crossing over his chest. "It wasn't a fair fight."
"You keep saying that," the second kid said, while he carefully took off the hood that had been covering his head. He had short black hair and there were two small cats sleeping in the hood's now empty space. "but I remember teaching you how to do that move and you still never asked for a rematch."
The cats shifted in their sleep, probably disturbed by previous movements and the sunlight hitting them now. The kid who carried them stopped his walk to give them time to settle, and so did his friend, waiting for them all.
"It's no fun if you already know it's coming." He said, kicking a non existent pebble on the dusty ground and causing a small dirty cloud to rise from it. "I need a secret weapon."
"And yet, you complain about me cheating." The other one was still motionless, wary of any tiny gesture waking up the cats. "Very consistent."
"Shut up, Rogue, you know what I mean." The blond kid said, while a blush covered his cheeks.
"I know you are a whiny baby, yes."
The blond one grumbled, but didn't say anything else for a while, lacking an appropriate answer to what his friend said. He couldn't really say anything else without exposing himself to bigger teasing. It probably was his fault for starting a battle he couldn't win. A word battle, he meant, he could beat Rogue in a fist fight any day. He was just waiting for the right moment.
It took them some minutes to get back on track, but they still managed to get to the next town before dusk. Things had been better for them since they got old enough to get a room at an inn without people asking about their parents. While they still got some weird looks, innkeepers assumed they were running some errands for a guild. In the unusual case some of them asked, Sting had perfected a fake history for them both, and Rogue just nodded along with it. Since the green Exceed had also learned to agree with them, no one asked about it too much. No one asked about how they got money either. Thankfully.
Today was no different, usual routine settling as soon as they got their things in the room. They asked for a single bed, as always, because they were used to sleeping together, even when things had gotten more crowded since the Exceeds joined them. It was still nice though. They traveled light, so it didn't take them too much time to get comfortable in the small room. Once the cats were awake and they counted their money, the kids went downstairs alone, to get something to eat.
The inn's dining room was full, due to the nights getting longer and too cold to camp outside. Not that they wouldn't do it if needed, but it was nice to have a roof and a warm bed from time to time. And besides, it was a good place to get news about the magic world. Inns were a meeting point for wizards from all over the country, either those we were doing jobs close to town or those that were just staying the night to continue on their journey the next day. And adult wizards were prone to talk about themselves. They loved to tell histories about how amazing they were at this or that job, how many monsters they beat and how far they had traveled.
It was easy for Sting to get them to talk, faking just a bit of admiration was usually enough. Rogue found it very funny to watch. They were always so full of themselves, and a lot of them weren't that powerful either. Both kids knew when one of them was lying, but liars talked a lot, and amidst all the bullshit they said sometimes useful things appeared.
This time, however, wasn't a good night to get information about what they wanted to know. The only thing that everyone talked about was Fairy Tail's strongest wizards being dead now.
It came as a surprise to both of them but it seemed the news had been going around for a while. Everyone else was busy discussing the topic, like if they had done it once and again, different versions and details falling from all mouths at rapid fire speed. It wasn't a nice night to be a Dragon Slayer with heightened senses. Even less if the news hit close to home.
It was kinda stupid, Rogue thought, to get worked up about strangers dying. He might had been training with Gajeel for some time, but he couldn't say they had gotten closer. At most, he guessed the older man saw him as a tolerable bother. So, hearing he had died shouldn't be that important to Rogue. It shouldn't. The Iron Slayer had been almost like a hero to Rogue, but he didn't really know him, they weren't friends. And yet…
Sting's case was even worse. He hadn't even talked once to any of them, he shouldn't be affected by it. Rogue didn't blame him though. He knew how important Salamander had been for the blond. The fire mage was some kind of inspiration for his friend and he dreamt of beating him in a battle when he was old and powerful enough.
It didn't take them long to get back to their room. They weren't hungry anymore. Once they closed the door behind them, Frosch jumped on Rogue's arms while Lector greeted them.
"You're back early! Did you get good news?" The cat was well-meaning but he wasn't very good at reading the mood. Anyway, their tense silence made him notice something was wrong. "Something happened?"
"Fairy Tail died." Was all Rogue said, sitting on the bed and petting Frosch, who looked at him with wide eyes. It was an almost absent action at this point, his mind far away from the motion, but it still worked to relax the green cat. Rogue was already used to doing it anytime they were close enough.
"They can't be dead." Sting was pacing in the room, anxiety rolling out from him at every step. "They were stronger than everyone else. The strongest mages in the country. They can't just disappear."
"It seems they did." The black haired kid didn't like the idea, but most stories said the whole island had vanished, what were they supposed to think? Frosch was still looking at him with those big eyes, and Rogue tried to keep himself in check. No sense on disturbing his younger friend over something they couldn't change.
"What did you hear?" Lector asked nervously, floating on the air over the bed. It was weird for him to be worried about it, although it was likely he was more worried about his friends' reaction than the death of a guild he didn't know.
Sting told the cat everything they had heard downstairs, while Rogue didn't add much. He was pensive and sad, and felt like he had to help his friend in some way, because the blond only seemed to be getting more and more worked up retelling the story. The kid wasn't sure what to do, and so he waited for the other one to finish before he tried to settle him down.
"You are going to dig a hole if you keep walking in circles." His teasing was weak but at least it got Sting to stop and face him. "Come sit here. It's late."
"I don't want to sleep yet." The blond argued, but he did sit on the bed near Rogue.
"I understand, but I think you're going to feel it soon." Just as he said that, a yawn took over his friend who rubbed his eyes with his hand. "I'm pretty tired too. Let's go to sleep, we can think about this tomorrow."
"I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight." Sting played with a loose thread from the blankets, probably trying to distract himself from whatever his mind was focusing on.
"Just lay down, okay?" Rogue said as he got under the blankets with Frosch, the Exceed nuzzling at his chest as soon as they settled down. Lector followed them, looking at Sting with pleading eyes, while Rogue added. "It's warmer at least."
The blond nodded and took his usual place at the left side. As Rogue had guessed, he was way more tired than he thought and it didn't take him long to be softly snoring. The black haired kid was still awake thirty minutes later, looking at his friend's resting face.
"Is he going to be okay?" Lector asked from his place, between both of them. Rogue sighed, wondering the same, but not wanting to worry the Exceed more than he already was.
"I don't know. But I think he will. He's strong, even if he sometime struggles a bit." the kid closed his eyes, snuggling closer to Frosch, who was already sleeping. Lector didn't say anything else, and soon Rogue fell asleep, a bit of anxiety still rolling on his chest.
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It was weird for a while, but Rogue had been right. Things eventually got back to normal, once the first shock passed. The world kept going around and so did they, day by day. Their goals didn't change, even when it was sometimes weird to think that the mages they used to admire weren't there anymore. It was weird to think they would never catch up with their heroes.
However, it didn't mean they were going to stop. They still needed money, and still wanted to get better and stronger. There were a lot of things they wanted to do, and besides they now had two more friends to care about. And so, fate found them a few weeks later, at a different inn, at a different town.
It was there where a man they had never seen before approached with an unexpected offer. He was the guild master of a recently created guild and he was interested in them joining their ranks. There was a new tournament being organized by Fiore's king and the man wanted his guild to win it. He needed the strongest people in all of the country, he said, and he judged them powerful enough to be part of his team. Also, it would make a statement to have the only Dragon Slayers left in the whole country.
Rogue wasn't sure how had he gotten that information, but Sting seemed pretty excited about what the man said, and it was a surprise when he told him they needed time to think about his offer. Rogue guessed he was just playing hard to get to make himself seem more interesting, or maybe he actually wanted to ask Rogue his opinion and not force him to do something he didn't want. Both options were equally likely.
The man said it was okay, but he seemed annoyed. It was a bit unsettling, but Rogue didn't read too much onto it. He guessed the man had been waiting for them to say yes with no doubts. The older mage left and said he would return in the morning to know their answer. Some people followed him with their eyes, surely because of his body size and the powerful aura surrounding him. It took a few minutes for the inn to settle down and not long after that, the kids went to their room.
"I'm not really sure" Rogue said, as soon as the door closed behind them. He wasn't exactly against joining a guild and the man said they were powerful enough to be part of one already. Since they were still young, it was flattering at least to get an offer like that out of nowhere. It was just his cautious nature which made him doubt a bit. He just wanted to be sure they both knew what they were getting into. That, and he didn't want to lose a chance to argue with Sting a bit. It was funny to see him stumble over his own words when he was trying to prove a point.
"What?! How are you not sure?" And surely, the blond was already gesticulating with his arms, trying to make his opinion clear enough."We can't say no! It's a great chance!"
Even if he looked ridiculous, almost like a bird flapping his wings, Rogue resisted the temptation to laugh. It was a serious topic after all, and Sting did also have a point.
"Can't you lower your voice a bit? Frosch is sleeping." The small Exceed was, indeed, fast asleep. He was still very young so it made sense he would sleep more than Lector, who was outside looking for a shop he wanted to visit the next day.
"I'm sorry. But I can't believe what you said!" The blond's whisper-scream was barely better than his previous loud voice but Rogue let it go for once. They had important stuff to discuss and Frosch didn't seem to care.
"Isn't it a bit weird though?" He mused, sitting on the bed and looking at the ceiling. "How did he find us? How did he know about the dragons?"
"I guess we're not subtle enough anymore?" Sting seemed pensive, but not really worried. He was relaxed and sitting on the floor near the door, looking through the window. He was probably wondering when his Exceed would come back. "Lector found me because he knew about me fighting for money."
It made sense. If a single Exceed could find them based on rumors, surely a grown up man with a guild behind him could as well. Rogue sighed in defeat.
"For the record, I still think it's a bit weird." Sting beamed at him when he heard it.
"Does that mean we're going to officially join his guild?" he was leaning a bit towards the bed, like a puppy waiting for a reward. It was ridiculous.
"I guess so" Rogue looked at him and smiled. "You weren't gonna let me rest if I said no anyway."
Sting cheered and jumped on the bed, trying to tackle Rogue by surprise. He saw him coming and caught him, both of them falling to the ground and wrestling until Lector came back and knocked at the window. Frosch didn't even notice.
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Next morning, when the big man came, they told him it would be nice to join Sabertooth and, a few hours later, they left the town with him.