A young girl is walking alone in the scorching heat. She is carrying a backpack that is about twice her size and wearing a cloak to mask her identity. It also gave her eyes relief from the sun's unbearable shine. However, her figure was easily recognizable, for being so young can only yield so much height. Suddenly, her stomach growled.

"I'm so hungry …" She said, placing a hand on her stomach. "But I have to keep going to …" However she just stopped talking to herself and continued her walking in the scorching heat. Even though she was passing through a small, isolated town, she didn't want to stop. She didn't want to fathom the stares she would have gotten, nor did she want to think about the whispers she heard as she passed by the townspeople.

"Hey, do you see her?" A voice called from the sidelines.

"Yeah, do you think it's her?" A girl responded.

"I'm hoping it's not her." The first person replied. "Let's just get out of here before disaster hits us." With that, the two walked off in the opposite direction. The girl had stood in place, listening to them, but then continued to walk on, tapping her wooden cane along the dry, dusty ground.

"Where do I belong ..?" She muttered to herself. Taking a break under a shady tree, she took off her backpack and settled it down next to her.

"Hey, you!" A grown man's voice appeared in front of them. He was carrying a shovel by the rung of its handle. The girl looked up at the person that was calling her name. "What's your name?"

"My … name?" She questioned.

"Yes, your name." The man replied, now in a more colder voice.

"Why do you need to know it?" She asked.

"Because this is my town, and you look an awful lot like a walking plague that I know of." He replied. By now, a group of people had come to see what all the commotion was. "I'll ask again, what is your name?" The girl stayed silent. "Well?"

"My name … right?" She replied, standing up and removing the cloak that she had adorned, revealing a huge scar that ran down from both shoulders to the top side of her hands. "Yumiko. Yumiko Kuwabara." At her reply, everyone took a step back.

"It …" The man said, stunned. "It really is the plague."

"Plague …?" Yumiko asked. "Do you really think that low of me?"

"You decimated your own town with magic!" The man yelled back, frantically.

"And where did you hear that?" Yumiko asked, now with a lot more anger in her voice. "Were you there to witness it?"

"If I was there to witness it, do you think I would have survived?" He replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Perhaps." Yumiko replied. "But let me just tell you this: not all rumors are true."

"What proof do you have to discredit this so-called rumor?" He taunted. He was getting to be really arrogant. With that, Yumiko fell silent and just gritted her teeth.

"So what do you want with me?" She asked. "I have done nothing wrong to you, I am just passing through."

"Oh, I know." He replied. "But, weren't you just going to take a small rest under this tree here?" He pointed at the tree by Yumiko's side.

"And?" Yumiko responded, getting annoyed.

"Beat it." He said with malice. "We do not want some hell-raiser resting in our town."

"Is that so?" Yumiko replied, trying not to sound hurt by his words. "I'm some demon to you then, huh?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." He replied, starting to get closer to Yumiko.

"Hmph." Yumiko grunted. "Suit yourself. But remember, and all of the people that are just standing idly by, remember, I did nothing to this man." With that, she turned to get her cloak when the man rushed in with the shovel, aiming for Yumiko's head.

"Die!" He yelled, swinging the shovel straight down on her head. It made a loud clunking sound, but it wasn't Yumiko's head that was struck like the old man intended.

"Huh?" Yumiko said, looking at the person standing in between the shovel head and her head. He had his arm up and blocked the shovel without any problems.

"Tch." He replied. His scarf was fluttering in the wind, and a warmth radiated from him. "What's wrong with you, old man?"

"Who are you?" The man holding the shovel asked, lowering his shovel.

"Natsu." The boy standing in front of Yumiko calmly said. "Natsu Dragneel." He moved his shoulder over to reveal a symbol tattooed onto his shoulder.

"Fairy Tail?!" The man yelled. "What are Fairy Tail's guild members doing here?" Suddenly, a few more footsteps trotted in and stood beside him; a girl with blonde hair and a cat with blue fur and a green scarf.

"We just so happened to walk through this town, saw this crowd and wondered what's up." Natsu said, clenching his fist. "Why are you picking on a little girl?"

"Are you alright?" The girl turned to Yumiko and asked. She looked away and continued to gather her belongings without saying a word.

"Tch," The old man grunted. "You don't know who she is, do you? She was the one that destroyed the next town over." The three of them turned around to look at Yumiko. She had put her cloak on, which was stained with blood and her face was covered in tears. As she was about to put on her backpack, she collapsed.

"H-Hey!" Natsu ran over to Yumiko and turned her around. She was red in the face, panting and shivering at the same time.

"She looks really sick." The girl said.

"The guild isn't too far from here. Happy, can you get her to the guild? We'll meet you there." Natsu said to the cat, which he promptly unfolded his wings.

"Aye, sir!" Happy said in a cheery voice. He picked Yumiko up and struggled a little, but managed to get a hold and flew ahead of them.

"Tch," The old man grunted once again. "You're making a grave mistake."

"That's for us to judge." The girl said.

"Easy, Lucy." Natsu said to the girl behind him as he stared at the old man. "She's in our care. Go back to what you were doing."

"Natsu, I'll grab her things." Lucy said. "We have to hurry."

"Yeah." Natsu agreed.


Meanwhile at the guild …

In the tavern-like estate, many merry men and women were drinking happily, and socializing. Some were strewn about a bulletin board, where requests and jobs were posted for those looking for some extra money.

"Gray-sama!" A woman clad in blue called. "Gray-sama?"

"He's out on a job, Juvia!" A friendly woman's voice called over. She was cleaning a glass at the bartender's station and was about to serve up an order for ale.

"Oh …" Juvia sighed, quietly and sadly.

"Don't worry! He left a while back, so I'm sure he'll be coming home soon!" The bartender said.

"Yeah, you're right, Mirajane!" Juvia called out, feeling a little bit better. She smiled brightly and served the ale to the waiting customer.

"Sure is quiet today." She stated. "With Natsu and Gray out on jobs, there's no arguments or entertainment."

"They shouldn't be providing this … entertainment in here, anyways." A woman in bright silver armor said.

"Erza!" Juvia called as she joined the two at the station.

"Oh, Juvia!" She called with a smile. "You're not going out on a job?"

"No." Juvia said and looked at the door. "Juvia was just waiting for Gray-sama to burst through those doors." Just then, the door bursts open.

"H-Help!" Happy called out. "Mirajane… help … she's … burning up!" Happy was panting heavily as Mirajane rushed over to where Happy was about to land.

"Happy?!" She called. "Who is this?"

"Don't know." Happy said, out of breath. "She was getting bullied by a couple of people and Natsu jumped in. She was about to leave, but then she fell down and started burning up like this."

"Okay, we have to heal that fever, quick." Mirajane said as a muscular man came over and picked her up.

"I'll carry her to the infirmary." He said.

"Okay, Elfman." Mirajane replied. "Juvia, can you come help us?"

"Yes!" Juvia said as she rushed alongside Elfman and Mirajane.


Back at the town …

"What a jerk!" Lucy growled. "He had no right to pick on that girl."

"I wonder what happened to him that caused him to be like that." Natsu said as he stretched while walking along the road.

"Still, her cloak …" Lucy said as she examined the piece of cloth that was in poor condition. "There's dried blood and holes everywhere."

"I wonder who she really is." Natsu said as he stretched.

"Natsu, let's get back to the guild, fast." Lucy said as she started to pick up the pace.


Author's Notes:

Hey guys! Thanks for getting through the prologue of my first posted fanfic. I would love to hear feedback from my readers if possible, so feel free to leave a comment or review if you feel so inclined! I do not own Fairy Tail at all; the only thing I own is the actual stringing together of the events about to come in later chapters.

Until next time,

Tetris The Fox.