"I smell magic" Shiki sniffs and walks in the direction of the source. We come out at the ocean where a girl is sat watching the wave's crash against the sand just below the spot where she is sat, her feet dangling down "HEY" he shouts making her jump as we stop and stand to either side of her.
The girl jumps from the shock as she didn't hear us approaching "where is your family?" she flinches and strokes the little fox that's curled up on her lap without answering "alright kid if that question is a no-no then where is your home? Where do you live?" I pick the small fox up by the scruff of its neck and hand it over to Shiki "now answer me."
Clambering up onto her feet she glares at me, her height not that much different to mine "my dragon disappeared" she whimpers with tears in the corner of her eyes "this place is where Aurora looked after me. She taught me how to read, write, speak and even how to use magic" at that she looks up to the sky and blows a love heart made out of water into the air.
Quickly I turn to Shiki who shrugs his shoulders in response. He hands the fox back to her and wipes the tears from her eyes "my name is Shiki and that is my twin sister Ikish. We are travelling to a guild named fairy tail in Magnolia if you want you can come with us. Oh and I believe we may only be a couple of years older than you" he smiles at her warmly.
She looks from us to the fox in her arms then back to us with a smile from ear to ear "I'll come with you. My name is Rima Kisa Aria and I'm 10 years of age" she bows her head slightly in respect "nice to meet you" lifting her head back up she spots two creatures, one resting on each of our heads "what are those?"
Looking up I see two baby dragons one of them is now floating over my head. The one floating is a white dragon named Kuro while the other one on Shiki's head is black and named Shiro "these are baby dragons. We found them two months back" I say patting Kuro on the head. "Now lets go" I say turning and heading back into the forest with Shiki beside me and Rima not far behind us.
After three days of travelling a boy in his teens named Laxus Dreyar finds us on the outskirts of Magnolia and takes us with him back to his grandfather's guild 'fairy tail' which is where we were heading too anyway. "We haven't had anyone new in the guild in a while; maybe this is a good omen" he says with a smile.
Walking through the front doors all eyes turn on us until an old man smaller than us stands in our way, he's surprised when he sees Laxus stood behind us smiling "are you wanting to join our guild?" we nod in sync and he smiles "alright. I am Makarov Dreyar the current guild master and we are fairy tail, now one by one come up to me for your guild mark."
Me and my dragon Kuro step forwards first, I get an orange guild mark on my right knee cap; Kuro gets a black guild mark on his forehead. Next is Shiki and Shiro, Shiki gets the same orange guild mark as me but on his left knee cap; Shiro gets a white guild mark on his forehead. Rima and her squirrel Aurora who shares a name with the dragon who abandoned her go last, Rima gets a purple guild mark on her right shoulder while her squirrel gets it on its top right stomach.
The old man like he said earlier is master Makarov Dreyar the third guild master fairy tail has had. "Welcome to fairy tail" he says before showing us around the guild with Laxus by his side.
Within a month of us joining two interesting children show up and join fairy tail. The first a boy known as Mystogan whose magic no one really knows. The second a young boy who looks round about our age, is a dragon slayer and is known as Natsu Dragneel. When we had finished our tour of fairy tail on the first day master Makarov had introduced us too Gray Fullbuster an ice-make mage and Erza Scarlet whose magic is known as 'the knight' they were to be our partners and friends in the guild although we were to bunk with Laxus for the time being.
We'd been in fairy tail two years and we have already made a name for ourselves in the magic world, there is no one in Fiore who doesn't know of us. Me, Shiki and Erza are now S-class mages which means we can access the harder missions on the second floor alongside Mirajane who past at the same time as Erza, Laxus and Gildartz Clive the other S-class mage Fairy tail has; some people are in the middle of the test to become a S-class mage right now. That includes Rima, Evergreen, Freed, Macao, Kana, Elfman and Lisanna. Two years later Rima and Mystogan are also an S-class mage after it being called off two years before to mourn Lisanna's death.
"So you're not coming back for how long?" Laxus huffs one night as we pack up what little we have and flyers (jobs) selected from the S-class board are stuffed into our pockets. At the shrug of our shoulders he speaks up again "if you do this you'll have to find a new place to live as you won't be staying in this room anymore" he says hoping that the piece of information he had just given us would make us stay.
Turning round and facing Laxus with a smile we say "we're sorry Laxus but we need to do this. We'll be back in three years' time we promise you that much" picking up the bag with our stuff in we leave the room and say goodbye to everyone including Rima, Mystogan, Erza and Natsu. Gray didn't come in today and neither did some of the others including Cana and Elfman because saying goodbye even if isn't for good is really hard and the one thing fairy tail doesn't do is goodbyes.
"Farewell brats" master Makarov says from where he is sat at the bar. Gildartz heads out at the same time as us "don't die Gildartz. Come back alive all three of you" he says as Laxus appears and mouths the words 'bring me back something when you return to us safe and sound.' And then the doors to fairy tail shut for the night leaving us to walk in silence. The city watches as we depart our path cleared of obstructions because of the clumsy and destructive Gildartz Clive.
Three years have passed since that day and we have arrived back in Fiore, better yet we have arrived in the port town of Hargeon that is just west of Magnolia. The past three years have been spent by first completing the jobs we brought with us and then travelling around EarthLand. Our form is that of an 20 year old adolescent that oozes power. The two of us have grown to the height 6'2. Our eyes are still the same midnight colour with specks of white, ears are now slightly pointed, my black hair reaches just below my ribs while Shiki has jaw length black hair. The most changed part of us is our right cheeks that have turned to hardened black scales and the soles of our feet that have hardened and turned grey.
Armed with a pair of simple black shoes, loose fitting black trousers, plain white t-shirt, necklace with a fairy tail guild symbol pendant with inscription 'SILK, even if you don't see us in the darkness we are still there walking with you down your chosen path' we got them made several months back while thinking about Rima and Laxus and to complete our look we wear a simple blue jacket.
"Kuro, Shiro" I turn and look at the two dragons that are now over two metres high and over two metres long. I smile taking several steps back "both of you fly home, fly to fairy tail." Shiki claps twice and they growl slightly but when it doesn't faze us they reluctantly start to flap their wings.
With what seems like a nod of their heads they fly off in the direction of fairy tail. "Let's grab a bite to eat first" Shiki says grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me to the Hargeon restaurant. We sit down at one of their booth styled tables and a waiter instantly appears with two menus but before he can go and serve someone else Shiki grabs his wrist and keeps him there "yes we'll have this, this and this" he says pointing at random things on the menu for the waiter to see. He lets go of the waiter's wrist and focuses on the scales on my right cheek.
The bag we had when we set off was swapped for two bags that can be carried over the shoulder. Split between the two bags is 32 million jewels (Fiore currency) that has been gathered over the last three years. "Thanks" I mumble watching as the door to the restaurant opens and closes. My jaw drops as two familiar faces appear in the doorway one is Natsu and the other is Happy his flying cat born from an egg and behind them is some random blonde girl. "HEY NATSU" I shout shocking everyone but Shiki.
The pink haired black eyed boy scans all the tables on our side of the room until he makes eye contact with me, a smile appears on his face "Shiki, Ikish you're back" he says running up the aisle and taking the seat next to me "have you just got back?" we nod and he beckons over Happy and the blonde girl.
The girl sits beside Shiki openly gawking at my right cheek while I casually work through the food Shiki ordered for us "instead of gawking at it why not ask about it?" I say wiping my mouth with a napkin before turning my head to look at Natsu "how's home?" I question him and he answers with a wide childlike grin.
Shiki finishes his food and turns to face Natsu awaiting his answer but the girl goes first and answers my question "forgive me for asking but how did you get that mark on your cheek?" at that Natsu looks from my right cheek to Shiki's right cheek.
Quickly I pull a roll of bandage from my pocket and cover up my right cheek that is now black scales before facing her and passing the roll of bandage to Shiki "ah so that's what everyone was staring at on our way in. It's a burn we received a couple of months back" Shiki lies shoving the roll of bandage into his jacket pocket.
Natsu frowns at that but smiles when remembering what I'd asked him "home is home. It's still really fun" he laughs as Happy sits in between us spouting out the occasional 'aye' to whatever is said.
During the next half an hour we find out the girl is called Lucy no last name, 17 years old and a mage. She goes on and on about what mages are, what guilds are and the fact that she wants to join the guild fairy tail. As far as I can tell she thinks the three of us are normal humans and that Happy is just a cat that instead of meowing says 'aye'. "Bye Natsu, Happy we'll see you back home" we go our separate ways after leaving the restaurant; him to loiter in Hargeon a little while longer and us to get the next train into Magnolia.
Hoods pulled up we make our way from Magnolia station to our home, the guild of fairy tail. Stopping we look up at the sign with a smile 'fairy tail' is printed in bold letters above the entrance. "I'll go first" Shiki says taking the first steps into the guild we class as home, the home we haven't returned to in three years. Ignoring everyone's stares we walk up to the bar, sit down and pull down our hoods with a smile "we're home" he says to master Makarov who sits on the bar in front of us.
At the hoods being removed the old man smiled "welcome home brats. Now then, as you are members of fairy tail that haven't been seen in a while I have two things to ask of you" sticks up the first finger "take your bag upstairs and go say hello to a certain grandson of mine" second finger "and secondly to enjoy yourselves tonight. Now go" he says raising the cup up to his lips.
Getting up onto my feet I bow slightly "yes master. It's good to be back" I run with my bag slung over my shoulder straight up the stairs and into a small room that includes two small beds, a chest of drawers and an en-suite bathroom. Setting the bag down on top of the chest of drawers I notice that the room has never changed "oh where, oh where, oh where is Laxus" I chant sitting down on my old bed.
The bathroom door flies open to reveal a shocked, dripping wet Laxus Dreyar "Ikish" he whispers my name walking into the room and sitting on the bed opposite me while making sure his towel round his waist doesn't slip "three years you've been gone" he says looking me up and down "you've changed. Welcome home" he says jumping up and giving me a one armed hug while the other hand holds the towel in place.
Pushing him away I tut and shake my head "we'll continue this once you're wearing trousers" after I say that he walks back into the bathroom "bring a towel back out with you" Laxus is quite possibly the person I've bonded with the most in fairy tail followed by Rima. I smile while realising the first condition was meant for me while the second was meant for Shiki. Laxus reappears wearing a pair of dark blue trousers and carrying a towel in his left hand, motioning for him to sit back on the bed opposite with his head arched forwards I push up my sleeves and rest my elbows on my knees. He does as I say. Taking the towel from him I notice how much he himself has grown during my absence and that he has grown into an even greater S-class mage. I quickly and quietly towel dry his blonde hair and while his eyes are closed I pick the gold chain with the inscription and black fairy tail guild symbol pendant out of my pocket and fasten it round his neck "it suits you."
He sits up straight and examines the chain and fairy tail pendant "'SILK, even if you don't see us in the darkness we are still there walking with you on your chosen path.' you remembered me asking for a gift?" I nod and he hugs me properly this time "thank you I thought you would have forgotten about the gift, about me and about fairy tail" he says before pulling back "I'm glad you came back. Your brother Shiki also as he's like a brother to me too."
The secrets that I've kept under lock and key threaten to be blurted out so instead I push him away, kick of my shoes and socks, peel off the bandages that where covering my right cheek and how him "Laxus, this is what happens when I lose hope in humanity when I feel like humans have lost their way and only live to fight." I sit with my back against the wall so he can see the soles of my feet "would you still love one who is no longer human?" with that I throw my jacket to one side and slip under the quilts not really wanting to hear the answer.
My view of the ceiling is obstructed when Laxus stands over me with a hand to either side of my head, his orange eyes bore into mine "you're a dragon slayer I know that and that means nothing to me. Not in the slightest. And if it's you losing hope in humanity that's doing this to you then I will only let you think good things about humanity. I don't care if you're eighteen or one-hundred and eighty, I wouldn't even give a damn if you were Zeref's subordinate" he stops talking and kisses my forehead "sleep tight" then he is under the quilts in the other bed. My mind becomes hazy and soon I fall asleep with the understanding that Laxus sent an electric current to my brain to put me to sleep. Shiki creeps in late into the night on my bed, on top of the quilts.