The sky was a bright blue, and there was a happy atmosphere surrounding the town of Magnolia. The townsfolk were hanging banners and balloons for the upcoming harvest festival. One lone figure though was different from the rest as he slid his way through the streets. He barely stayed in the same place for long before moving quickly forward. It didn't take long for someone to notice him, though. "Hey! Someone stop that kid!" A vendor shouted. The boy's eyes went wide, and he went off like a shot.
He rocketed past the few hands that went to grab him. Unfortunately, this boy was quite unlucky and soon found himself knocking over someone that was about his size. The man seemed old with his gray and balding hair. He had a bushy gray mustache as well. The man had been carrying a brown paper bag, and so its contents scattered onto the ground as well. The boy also lost something in the fall, a bright red apple and a loaf of bread.
The boy lay on the ground dizzy and tried with all his might to get his breath back under control. It wasn't working all that well as he continued to wheeze and cough. He did manage to push himself up into a sitting position and grab his stolen treasures. His eyes frantically looked around him to see a pretty white-haired girl helping the man he had knocked over. The people that had been following him were nearly upon him now, while everyone else was watching the scene with eager eyes.
The female had finished helping the old man get up and collect his things before the boy had managed to escape the area. In fact, the boy was still struggling to stand. He would get to his feet, shaking, and collapse back down or he would take a step only for his vision to swim causing him to plummet as well. The boy's fate seemed to be sealed. A hand grabbed his arm as he got to his feet. The boy yelped and tried to pull away from the hard grip on him. Tears were silently falling down his cheeks, as he continued to pull uselessly.
"Guild master Dreyar, I see you caught the little thief!" A vendor exclaimed as he made his way to Makarov. Makarov nodded. He stared at the boy in his hand. He had black ruffled hair that was flopping in front of one of his blue eyes. He wore a somewhat loose white long sleeved shirt with red accents and baggy blue pants. A cog shaped necklace dangled from his neck and a dented gray and green thermos was connected to a loose chain belt around his waist. The boy was covered in a dusting of dirt as well as what was most likely blood and grass stains.
"Let's give the kid a break, what with the festival coming up. I'll look after the kid until then and make sure he doesn't get in too much trouble. Here," Makarov states, as he tosses a few coins to the vendor. The boy in his hand stops straining against him and looks up at him with wide eyes. The girl goes over to him and looks him over.
"I'm Mirajane, what's your name?" the white-haired beauty asks. The boy looks up at her and shrugs. He stuffs the bread in his mouth as he grabs the thermos with a now empty hand. He lifts it, and it clanks against the chains that hold it in place. The bottom of the thermos is pointing towards Mirajane. She looks at it and sees a word. "Fenton?" She questions and the boy simply shrugs again before nodding his head. "Well, Fenton, how about I show you to our guild?" Mirajane suggests.
The boy looks at her with wide eyes and realizes that the old man had let go of him. He could run… get as far away as possible. Yet, her hand was waiting so kindly in front of him. He looks around once more with scared eyes. This could be a trap, but the people in this town were scary. They were quicker than all the other towns at noticing he was around. So with a shaky hand, he reaches up and grasps her hand.
Fenton sat silently in the guild. He watched as they rushed about getting ready for the festival. Mirajane had put a plate of food in front of him a while ago, and Fenton had been picking on it ever since. He found that the people within this guild were quite weird and funny. There was one guy who seemed to lose his clothes. Everyone liked to hit that guy because of it. Then there was this really round fella that drew the most amazing pictures. Fenton wanted to learn to draw from him. He saw a pretty blonde by the board with papers talking to a strange white creature. The creature couldn't talk back though. There were so many people here at the guild.
Fenton's favorite person though was Mirajane. She gave him food and tried to get him to talk. She also tried to get him to change his clothes once, but he had freaked out. He was afraid she would judge him. She seemed set on getting him to take a shower though. He wasn't sure what that was. Dreyar was nice too, Fenton supposed. The old man was always watching over him and had stopped the scary redhead from stepping on him. She had apologized right away, but she seemed to be lost in thought. Fenton made sure to get out of her way.
Fenton soon found his plate empty and sighed. What was he going to do? Fenton wasn't sure how long he should stay here. He had other things he was supposed to be doing, as well as certain things he was avoiding. "Fenton, I have some free time now, so how about I show you to the showers," Mirajane suggested while taking his empty plate from him. Fenton bit his lip before nodding. Whatever a shower was it couldn't be that bad. Right?
He was wrong showers were evil. Okay, maybe it wasn't the shower that was evil per say, but what had to happen to take a shower. Mirajane had told him to take his clothes off and when he shook his head no… she proceeded to help him. Once she managed to get his shirt off though, she had gone very quiet. Fenton was a blushing and shaking mess. She then went and lifted him up onto her hip and took him to Dreyar. "Makarov," Mirajane called. Dreyar turned around, and when his eyes landed on Fenton, they widened.
The two elders began to take care of Fenton, but they couldn't get him to tell them what happened. The boy had burn marks, bruises, cuts, and scars. They had no clue what happened to the boy, but it didn't look good. It seemed Fenton had tried to take care of himself as some of the cuts had cloth taped against them. Fenton was nervous and kept fidgeting while the two adults took care of him. Soon the eight-year-old was clean, wrapped, and taken care of.
This event though only made Fenton more dependent on Mirajane. He started following her around like a shadow. The only one to notice so far was her brother, Elfman, who had grown slightly attached to the boy as well. Fenton seemed to blend into the background as he followed the Strauss siblings. In a very short time, Fenton had found himself a small family within Fairy Tail.
The Day of the Harvest Festival…
The guild was loud. That was Fenton's opinion as he sat next to Elfman. A blue cat sat on the table and next to Elfman was a pink haired boy and the boy that lost his clothes a lot. "Why would you be interested in this?" The black haired mage asked. The pink haired mage remained quiet as he ate. Fenton snuck around Elfman to steal a piece of food from the pink haired one.
"He's a man!" Elfman declared. Fenton reached forward. His hand an inch away. Black eyes stared at him, and sharp canines flashed. Fenton let out a small whimper and banged into Elfman. Elfman looked at the small boy that was now in his lap, shaking slightly. "Natsu, leave him alone," Elfman ordered with a dangerous tone hinted in his voice. Fenton seemed to settle down as Elfman slipped the boy an apple. Natsu just went back to eating.
The cheering seemed only to get louder as the girls went onto the stage. Fenton just enjoyed the food Elfman provided him. He didn't really pay too much attention to what occurred on stage until Mirajane was up. Fenton was at rapt attention waiting for what she would do. Transformation magic was her specialty, so she said, so he was eager to learn what it was. He learned very quickly as she turned her face into those of her guildmates.
Fenton watched on amazed and slowly crept forward. The crowd was upset. Fenton did not understand why. She was so cool! He got on stage, and it grew quiet. Fenton pulled gently on her dress to get her attention. She looked down at him surprised. He never really liked the attention, so she was surprised he would get on stage. Fenton stared at her with wide eyes and then pointed at Elfman. She let out a quiet giggle and nodded her head. She transformed into her brother, whom only looked more devastated by these events, and Fenton smiled. Mirajane was so cool!
Mirajane transformed back to normal. "Now, head on back to Elfman, Fenton," Mirajane ordered. Fenton nodded his head with a smile and raced back to the man. Elfman looked despondent as he sighed, but the little boy soon got to him and jumped into his lap. Elfman sighed again with a small smile as he messed up Fenton's hair. More girls went on stage, but Fenton didn't care. He slowly started to fall asleep. Unfortunately, a tense atmosphere penetrated the air and woke Fenton up.
A woman in a green dress was on stage, but that wasn't what was bothering everyone. No, it was that all the girls that had gone on stage earlier were now statues. "Big Sis!" Elfman shouted. He felt Fenton move and quickly grabbed hold of him. "Fenton, no," Elfman whispered as the boy struggled to get out of his grasp to Mirajane. Fenton didn't stop though. He continued to struggle.
Fenton didn't know what was happening anymore. All the voices had dulled out, and Fenton only heard his own heart beating. It was beating faster than usual. Fenton wanted Mirajane back. She was so nice to him. She fed him and helped him heal. Sure, he didn't know her long, but that didn't matter. She was important to him. He had to get to her! He had to make sure she was okay! He just HAD to!
The boy slipped out of the big man's arms. "Fenton!" Elfman cried, as the boy ran towards the stage. He slid through the people, not even taking a second thought. Soon he was on stage, and a yellow-haired man was glowering upon him. Fenton felt the air around him get tense. He didn't care. Fenton slid under the man's massive legs and got next to statue Mirajane. She looked like she was surprised by whoever froze her. Fenton's hands landed on her hard dress. Was she okay?
Fenton was not a member of the Fairy Tail Guild. He had not gotten the guild stamp. Fenton was merely a kid taken in by a guild. He was too shy and weak to join a guild. He could not stand up for himself. Mirajane was a part of Fairy Tail. She was a long time member, with fantastical magic and great strength. Fenton not only relied on Mirajane, but he also admired her. Maybe that is why he decided that he would protect her. Yet, how could he protect her if she was a statue?
A crackling noise could be heard in the guild hall, and nervous energy could be felt in the air. "I won't stand for this!" Makarov declared as he enlarged. Fenton felt an electrical charge in the air, as his hair started to stand on end. He frowned. Fenton didn't like lightning; it tended to hurt. He looked up at Mirajane; she was helpless. Fenton was going to protect her. The only question was how. Then lightning struck down.
The room was quiet. Elfman looked to be beyond angry. He was shaking in a fury and was being held back by Gray, surprisingly. "Huh?" a voice echoed throughout the room and the blinding light from the earlier lightning faded. Makarov shrunk in surprise. Fenton was on his knees with barely open eyes as he gasped and wheezed, trying to breathe. There next to him, with the skirt of her dress clutched in his hands, was a no longer statue version of Mirajane. "Fenton!" Exclaimed in shock as she dropped down to his height. She helped him up into an upright sitting position and placed a hand on his back. A cough tore way from Fenton's mouth as he slumped against her, but his breathing started to even up. Mirajane picked up the now passed out eight-year-old and looked around. What in the world was happening?
Author's Note: Currently trying to best writer's black. A 2 Z