Author's note: Hellloooo fantastic readers! How's everyone doing? So I've kinda fell in love with this story and its only on the first chapter! I hope you come to like it just as much as I do! At some point I have a few other stories, but for now, I'll focus on the ones I have uploaded here. (mostly so you wont kill me for having like a hundred unfinished stories.)
I just wanna say thank you to some people for helping me with this! I was really torn on which story to write, and thanks to you I decided on this one! You know who you are ;D
Alright, please enjoy chapter two of Dragon Tamers!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
"Hearfilia, is there any particular reason as to why you decided not to check into your dorm and also skip your first day of classes?" I heard an angry voice bark at me. I sleepily opened my eyes to see a giant, muscle clad blonde man standing in front of me, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "I swear, the entire staff goes crazy looking for you and when I come to fetch my dragon in order to do an aerial view, I find you asleep in here!" The man said gruffly. I looked around at my surroundings. I was still in the stable with Celeste. Celeste looked from the man to me, and then back up at the man. Getting bored of that she laid her head back down, uninterested.
"Wait what? What time is it?" I asked groggily. I guess I must have fallen asleep here last night. The man made an angry click with his tongue.
"Almost nine o'clock." He told me. "Now if I were you, I'd hurry off to your next class before you decide to sleep through that too!" He yelled at me. After being yanked off the ground and practically shoved out of the barn, he called. "You're class is in the Fairy building so hurry up!"
Yesterday Master had told me there were four main buildings for classes. The Pegasus building, Saber tooth building, Mermaid building, and Fairy building. Mermaid was for years one and two, Pegasus for years three and four, Saber tooth for years five and six, and then Fairy held years seven and eight. Master also told me there was a fifth building, but it had burned down last year after a… series of unforeseen events. I was curious, but I didn't question it.
After jogging down the path the angry blonde man told me to take, I realized I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday. I did a quick time check, only 9:00. I could probably find my dorm and then make it to class on time. Most likely. I quickly changed my path and made my way to the dorms. It was only my second time visiting them, but I remembered my room number. After climbing the stairs to the second floor, I ran down two hallways till I finally found my room. I unlocked the door using my key and stepped inside.
It was a nice room, a soft pink color on the walls, with white carpeting. There were two beds, one for me and another for the roommate I hadn't met yet. Master told me it would be someone in my class, but I since I never came back last night, I hadn't gotten to meet her. My bed was on the right side of the room. It had its own desk and a small closet to store clothes. The room kind of reminded me of a hotel.
I quick dug through my drawers, pulling out the school's uniform. A white button down shirt and s blue plaid skirt. A simple, stereotypical school uniform, but what can I say, I looked good. I tied part of my hair up with a blue ribbon and did a quick spin in front of the mirror in the bathroom. I did another time check. 9:20. If I ran, I could probably make it to class on time. I threw open the door to the room, and ran smack into a short blue haired girl. She 'eeked' and fell on the floor.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I asked, helping her up. She laughed slightly.
"Yeah, I'm good, just a little surprised." She said rubbing her arm. Her eyes did a quick once over on me and she smiled. "I'm guessing you're my new roomie?" She asked.
I looked at the door and then back at her. "I mean yeah, if you live in room 208. I'm Lucy Heartfilia." I said, introducing myself.
"Levy McGarden. 7th year. Well, you probably already knew that since we're room mates." She joked casually. "I forgot my notebook for Dragon Studies and Ms. Orlando would murder me if I didn't have it." I froze in my step. Right, school supplies. I reopened the door and followed Levy in, grabbing my own bag in the process.
"How long have you been going here?" I asked Levy after we left the room.
"Uh since my second year, so like, fivish years?" Levy estimated. "I met my dragon, Libro, when I first got here. He's a water type. Do you have a dragon?" She asked me.
"Yeah, since yesterday. An air type." I told her. We walked down a hallway and finally exited the door building. There was a dorm for boys and girls and they were on opposite sides of campus from each other. After hearing some of Levy's wild stories of the boys, I was glad we were so far apart.
"Oh an air type? How cool! Their a lot rarer than water types." Levy said. "But I'm happy with Libro. I can't tell you how many hours me and him have spent hours reading together by a stream." I perked up, reading?
"You like to read?" I asked her excitedly. She grinned.
"Of course! Heck, libro means book in Spanish! I spend so much time reading! That's partially why I was sent to this school, so I would spend time doing anything other than reading!" Levy said with a laugh. After crossing a courtyard we were standing in front of the Fairy building. "Well this is it! Your educational home for the next two years!"
I looked at the building in awe. It was tall, that was for sure. Levy said it was only four stories, but it seemed huge. It was like most school buildings, a concrete block, but the students had decorated it with designs and pictures. It looked like a work of art.
"Every year, the graduating 8th years add some kind of mural on the building. Its tradition." Levy explained to me. I just nodded my head, in awe of the building. Levy did a quick look at her watch. "Crap! It's 9:30! We're gonna die!" She yelled and then ran through the doors. I followed her and we dashed inside the school. We ran up a flight of stairs, and then stood panting in front of the door. Levy peeked inside and then sighed with relief. "She's not here yet. We're so lucky!" Levy cheered.
"McGarden. I figured of all people, you would have been smart enough to realize that not getting caught only works once you've actually entered the classroom." An icy voice said behind us. Levy paled and I spun around to see a tall, extremely beautiful woman standing behind us. She wore a black pants suit, her hair down with the exception of two small buns on either side.
"Ms. Orlando." Levy whimpered. The woman, Ms. Orlando, glared at the two of us.
"Go sit down McGarden. Heartfilia, don't move." She ordered and then walked in the classroom. Levy walked in and gave me a helpless look. I stood there dumbfounded, confused as to why I was being forced to stay out in the hall. Shouldn't I be inside, uh, learning?
"Now class, I have someone very special to introduce to you all. Of course, Mr. Lates should have been the one to do this, but our new… friend found it more preferable to sleep in." I heard Ms. Orlando say and the class laughed in response. I felt myself go red. Oh great. Great first impression. "This new student also finds the stables much more preferable to dorm rooms, so please go easy on her. She obviously isn't used to… civilization." Ms. Orlando continued.
What the heck? What have I ever done to this woman? I ground my teeth, trying to calm down so I wouldn't barge in the classroom and punch the obnoxious lady.
"Now I want everyone to keep an eye on her. We don't know when she'll start to go tribal and attack us." Again more laughter. "Or she may just fall asleep on us." I clenched my fists. No way was this worth this. I was going to march down to the Master's office and- "tfilia? Hearfilia? You can come in now. Jeeze you must be deaf too." The snide voice said. I realized the door was opened and Orlando was instructing me to come in.
I stiffly walked into the room, flashed a smile, and dropped down into the closest desk. I could hear some of the kids whisper about me. I turned around and made eye contact with Levy, she gave me shrug. 'What can you do?' Her eyes said.
Orlando sat down at her desk and put her feet up on it. "Alright, just do the pages I told you to do for homework, since I'm positive everyone expect Scarlet didn't do it." Orlando said gruffly. Scarlet. I remember that name. I looked around to see the earth tamer from yesterday huff and sit back in her desk, obviously disappointed. Nonetheless, she caught my eye and gave me a small smile.
"She's a bitch." A deep voice said next to me. I jumped slightly and turned to the boy next to me. He had long black hair, held back by a thick headband and his face was covered in piercings. I shivered. This guy looked pretty scary.
"Who is?" I asked timidly. Was it me?
"Orlando. Think she's so great cause her daddy pays money to the school. That's the only reason she's a teacher." He said gruffly. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean come on, anyone could teach dragon studies."
I nodded, only semi understanding the point he was trying to make. Was he trying to make me feel welcomed?
"Well, I know I deserved some kind of punishment, but now everyone thinks I'm some hick who doesn't know how to sleep in a bed." I complained to him. He chuckled under his breath.
"Well, coming from someone who is a hick and prefers to sleep on the ground under the stars compared to a bed, let me be the first to say you were not anything like how she was describing." He told me. "Anyone could tell you are obviously a princess over a country girl."
I frowned at him. Well excuse me for looking nice and… bathing. When was the last time this guy had a bath?
"I'm Gajeel. Earth dragon tamer. Third year here." Gajeel said, introducing himself. "I saw you come in with the Shrimp, so any friend of hers is a friend of mine." He told me. I raised an eyebrow. Oh, well hello Mr. Levy's boyfriend, I can't wait to interrogate her tonight.
"So have you always been in the same class with all these people?" I asked him. There were quiet a number of characters in here. A boy who wasn't wearing a shirt, a girl who was practically drooling over him, Erza who was vigorously filling out paper work, some kid who kept yelling 'man', and a kid with bright pink hair who was asleep on his desk, plus a few others. And hey, if this guy could sleep in class, why couldn't I show up late?
Gajeel nodded. "Yeah. We're all about the same age too."
"So does everyone have a dragon?" I asked, curious. Again Gajeel nodded. I noticed that his hair seemed to bounce whenever he nodded. I wonder if he noticed that too. If I had hair like that, I'd probably play with it all the time and- wait, I should pay attention.
"Yup, all different types. You'll probably get to meet some today too. After school we train. Most people work together. Have you been sorted into an element yet?" Gajeel asked me.
I shook my head no. "Well, my dragon is an air dragon, but I don't know what it means to be sorted into an element." I told him honestly.
"Basically you'll work with other air dragons and their tamers. There aren't any others in this class, but there are a few below us. Plus you can always work with the Big Four." Gajeel said.
"Big four?" I asked him.
"There are these four 8th years, extremely talented tamers with even more powerful dragons. Each one has a different element. Basically, if anyone needs help or anything, we go to them. Nice people too." Gajeel explained. "You'd be working with MiraJane. If you've been with Master like I'm sure you have been, he's probably mentioned her."
I told him that yes, Master had mentioned her. I did another quick look around the class. Orlando seemed to have fallen asleep. Most of the students didn't even have a book open and just casually chatted with each other. "Is this normally what happens during class?" I asked Gajeel.
"You have a lot of questions, you know that?" Gajeel said and I just shrugged. "And only for Orlando's class. And most the time we do stuff. But sometimes, when she's in an especially bad mood, or hung over, this is all we do."
"Hung over? Its only Thursday!" I said incredulously.
Gajeel picked a piece of lint off of his pants. "Well, yeah but that's Minerva Orlando for ya." Suddenly a loud clamor of falling desks filled the room.
"Say that one more time Gray! I dare you!" The pink headed boy shouted. The boy on the other end of his wrath, Gray, was sitting in his desk, half naked, a bored expression on his face.
"I'm just saying Natsu, it's impossible for you and your fire dragon to win against Wendy and her air dragon. Heck, you'd probably lose to an earth dragon." Gray shot back. The pink haired boy fumed.
"Oh please! Igneel and I could take down anyone, even an air dragon! We're the strongest and fastest!" The boy boasted. "Why don't we go outside and I can show you!"
Gray scoffed. "Frost and I would run laps around you, and water dragons aren't even made for speed!"
Natsu smirked at him. "Yeah, the only thing water dragons are good for is for making ice cubes to go in my drink." He said. Gray slammed his hands on his desk and stood up, coming face to face with the other boy.
"Well at least my water dragon doesn't burn down buildings!" Gray shot back.
"That was one time! Why won't anyone let that go?" Natsu whinned.
"Because you two almost destroyed the school!" Gray said, shouting now. "If it wasn't for the Big Four then-"
"Oh come on, I'm just as strong as the Big Four, I could take down any one of them." Natsu said proudly. "Actually, Igneel and I could probably take down two at once."
Gray rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, please challenge Loke again. It worked out so well last time."
"It was one time!" Natsu cried again, his voice raising an octave. Ah. So this must be the reason why there were only four buildings and not five anymore. Behind the two arguing boys, I could see Erza fuming, her fist clenched and crumbling the papers she had been working on. Levy caught my eyes and rolled hers, before going back to her book.
"Everyone seems pretty calm about this crazy kid and a half naked kid screaming at each other." I observed.
"Yeah, this happens everyday. Gray makes a comment, Natsu reacts, and then back and forth and back and forth until… wait for it…" Gajeel trailed off. I looked at him questioningly until I heard yelling cut off into whimpers. I turned to see Erza holding Natsu and Gray by the top of their heads.
"How many times do we have to go through this?" She barked at the two of them. "Why can't you just get along?" Erza asked, banging their heads together. After earning a jumbled mess of apologizes from the two boys, she let them go and returned to her seat. Gray sent a glare Natsu's way and returned to his seat.
"Juvia thought that was very brave." I heard a girl whisper to Gray, but he ignored it. I recognized her as the girl who had been with the water dragons yesterday. She followed Gray's every move. Like a puppy.
"I think…. I think I've missed out on a lot." I said dejectedly and lowered my head to my desk.
"Gee-hee, don't worry, you'll get caught up soon enough." Gajeel said. By this time, most everyone was putting their books away. Funny cause it's not like anyone actually opened them. A few minutes later the bell rang. Before you could even had time to say 'lunch', all the students were up out of their chairs and clamoring to get out of the room, pushing past one another to get out and go to lunch.
"Lu-chan! You don't mind if I call you that, right?' Levy said, coming up to me. I shook my head no and she continued. "I'm going to go have lunch; do you want to come with me? I'm going to visit Libro in the stables."
"Sure, sounds nice. Then I can visit Celeste too." I agreed with her.
"Alright. Good thing the cafeteria is on the way to the stables then." Levy said as we walked down the hallway. "But it's almost all the way across campus from our dorm!" She complained.
"Well at least this way we wont be snacking at night?" I offered. She thought for a minute.
"That's true. They have amazing brownies, so it's a good thing they aren't in reach!" Levy said with a laugh. We continued chatting like this until we reached the cafeteria. Well it wasn't a cafeteria as much as a food court. There were all types of foods there, even kinds I had never heard of before! "People come from all over the world to train here, so they try to accommodate to everyone." Levy explained.
"Well, as long as they have pizza, I think I'll be happy!" I told Levy and she grinned.
"Well of course. But if you don't feel like making the trek over to the food court, there's also a kitchen in the dorms we can cook in. Now, do you have any more questions?" Levy asked me as we stood in line for food.
"Yeah, you and that Gajeel guy." I said and Levy turned bright red. "He seemed to mention something about 'a friend of Levy's is a friend of mine.'" I said, deepening my voice to imitate Gajeel.
"T-that's just Gajeel being friendly! He's a nice guy! Usually!" Levy said, stuttering through her words. I cut my eyes over to her.
"Uh huhhh. Alright then." I said, dropping it. I could get information out of her later. We would be living together for the next year. I had plenty of time to catch up on gossip.
"So have you heard anything about the races?" She asked me after we had gotten our food.
"Er… Master mentioned something races and events, but I really wasn't paying close attention. I was more focused on… not falling off a dragon." I responded. Levy snorted, choking on her drink.
"Sounds like you're not a big dragon rider." She said, coughing.
I handed her a napkin and she wiped herself off. "Nah. And drink much?" I teased.
She laughed at that. "Only sometimes. Now come on, I have to introduce you to Libro!" She exclaimed and we made our way out of the cafeteria. "Now he's usually a good boy, but sometimes he can be a little moody."
"Moody? I thought water dragons were affectionate?" I questioned.
"Well yeah, overall he is an affectionate thing, but he can be moody too." Levy told me. She opened the door to one of the bigger stables. "This is the seventh year stables. You'll probably have the one on the end. And remember Lu-chan, all dragons have their own personality. Although yes, water dragons are affectionate, you still have difference between dragons. It's like people." She clarified.
"Right, like people." I repeated. She led me over to a big blue dragon, probably twice the size of Celeste. "Oh my god Levy! He's humungous!" I said in awe.
Levy grinned proudly. "Yeah he's big. Strong too, except when he's in one of his moods. Then he just whines." On cue the dragon started a low, throaty whine. The big dragon was a dark shade of blue, with orange stripped markings on his legs. He nuzzled up to Levy's hand and in return she gave him a carrot. "He's a big plant eater. Carrots are his favorite."
"Is that why he's orange?" I teased.
Levy rolled her eyes. "Ha ha." She said sarcastically. "He's twenty-two years old. Like a teenager basically. I met him when I first came to school." She told me and Libro happily munched on his carrot. "Alright, well let's go meet your girl! We can move her into the empty stall too, since we have time." Levy suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." I agreed. We left the stalls and made our way to the smaller one where Celeste was (probably) still sleeping. On our way over we saw a boy holding what looked like a Frisbee and was playing with a small dragon. The dragon soared over his head and dove down to try and grab the Frisbee, but always missed.
"Romeo! Don't tease the poor thing!" Levy scolded the boy. He looked our way bashfully and hid the Frisbee behind his back. The small red dragon made a final dive for the Frisbee and snatched it from him.
"Hey! Flame! Give that back!" The boy shouted, chasing after what I assumed was a baby dragon. Levy laughed as the dragon now played keep away with the boy.
"That's Romeo. He's in year four and this is his first year too. Unlike you though, his dragons only a baby." Levy told me. "Recently hatched. Romeo just happened upon the egg with his dad and then the egg hatched and… well the rest is history." Wendy said with a wave of her hand.
"I didn't know you could have a baby dragon." I mused.
"Well, every trainer learns on their own dragon. It's just a different experience." Levy said. We said goodbye to Romeo, who still hadn't gotten the Frisbee back, and continued on our way to the other stables. Finally we got to the stables.
"Celeste! I'm back!" I announced to the stables. I heard creaking and then saw my dragon's head pop up from the stable. She grinned at me happily and her tail banged against the wooden frame. Now that it was light out I finally got to see Celeste in all her glory. Pure white with yellow markings around her eyes, feet, and tail. Small in stature, but built for speed, as far as I could tell. Levy whistled when she saw the dragon.
"Jeeze. She's beautiful." Levy said in awe and I felt my heart fill with pride. I felt like a mother.
"Yeah, she's gorgeous alright." I agreed. "But… She's a little unpredictable. I think she likes to tease me." I told her. Levy laughed at that and held out her hand to Celeste. To my surprise, instead of sniffing it like I expected, Celeste blew out air, pushing Levy back and away from her. "Celeste!" I cried. "Levy are you okay?" Levy wobbled slightly but gave me a thumbs up.
"I'm good. Luckily she's not a fire dragon, right?" Levy joked. "Guess she's not exactly a people person, er dragon, but that's okay, I'm used to it cause of Libro." She grabbed what looked like a halter off one of the hooks on the wall. "Here, she's probably not going to like it, but hook this on her head. The metal part goes in her mouth." Levy instructed me. "Since she's young and untrained, we can't just let her roam around expecting her to follow us." I slipped the lead over Celeste's head and silently thanked her for being compliant.
"Is this right?" I double checked. Levy nodded and opened the stable door.
"Yeah, looks right. Hold her tight. Actually you may want to ride her, just so you have full control. We have time, and I could teach you basics for mounting if you want." Levy offered. I gulped and looked between them. It would be nice to learn how to actually ride Celeste, but actually riding my dragon seemed like an impossible feat. Levy seemed to acknowledge my look of apprehension. "Or if you want, we could ask one of air dragon tamers to help. That way if something goes wrong, they could help calm Celeste?" She asked.
"Yeah, that sounds safer. Not that I don't trust you, it's her I'm worried about." I told her and ruffled Celeste's spikes. She blew out a breathe and walked forward, pulling me along. "I guess that means we're going!" I called over my shoulder. Levy laughed and ran to catch up.
"Goodness! She's fast when she's walking! I bet she's even fast than Grandine!" Levy told me, wide eyed.
"Grandine?" I asked.
"One of the fastest dragons on campus. Her trainer is a little 4th year girl. Sweet thing, but practically unbeatable in races." Levy updated me. "Hey! Once you get going on Celeste, you should enter races!" She said excitedly. I immediately shook my head.
"Oh no. I'm already not loving the whole being around dragons 24/7, no way am I going to do something dangerous like that!" I told her sternly.
Levy made a face. "Oh come on, there's only been like one death, and that was almost twenty years ago! Plus it was the trainer's fault! I'm sure if you practiced everything would be fine and you'd kick some butt!"
"Levy, I'm not doing that." I said seriously. By this time we had gotten to the bigger stables. Levy humphed and crossed her arms, but didn't press the matter. Walking inside we saw there was one open slot.
"Oh this will be good for Celeste." Levy observed. "She's next to Aqua, a water dragon with a sweet temperament. They'll get along fine." She checked the name plate of the dragon across since the owner had taken it out. "And Igneel's here. I'm sure that should work out fine. Air and fire dragons usually co-exist well." Levy shook her head. "But oh, put a fire with a fire and they'll be hell to pay."
I laughed. "Thanks for that lesson professor Levy." I joked. "So it's good for Celeste to be here? This stall doesn't belong to anyone?"
Levy shook her head no. "Nope, these stalls are for 7th year dragons only. Our whole class is here, kinda like a… bonding thing? I don't really know. They want us to be close I guess." She shrugged. "You get to see the real side of people when their with their dragons."
I hmmed. Celeste walked into her stall and watched me expectantly. She tilted her head to the side and opened her mouth. Her tongue lolled out to the side and she stared. I snorted. "Oh real lady like Cel."
"Have you learned how to groom a dragon yet?" Levy asked, elbows propped up on the stall door. I looked at her, exasperated.
"Levy-chan! I haven't learned anything yet!" I whined to her. She laughed and walked away towards a box hanging near the door. She came back with a few supplies; a hard wired brush, a towel, and a few other things.
"Alright. Well, allow me to teach you!" She handed me the towel. "First, it's always important to wipe down your dragon first. After a day of flying around, their probably sweaty and dirty, so this is a fast way of getting some of the filth off." I did as she instructed, wiping Celeste down from top to bottom. Celeste started squirming once I hit her underside. "Oh, she must be ticklish!" Levy said laughing.
"Alright, next you need to take this spike brush-" She handed me what looked like a enlarged, longer version of a tooth brush, "-and go in between her spikes. It's kinda like flossing, but dragon form." Levy said next.
"What's the point of this?" I asked her curiously.
"Uh, it's kinda like washing between your toes. Dragons don't have very sensitive skin, but if too much bacteria builds up, they can still get sick and get infections." Levy informed me. "Alright next is the scales brush. This is basically what is sounds like. Just give her a once over scrub with this and your done. I usually only do this once a week." After following her instructions, she nodded, content. "Alright, that's basically it for grooming. Each type of dragon has a different kind of maintenance but air dragons are relatively simple." She made a face. "Unfortunately, my water dragon that is almost always damp because of something, requires a lot more." Levy did a quick look at her watch. "It's 11:30, do you want to start walking back towards the classrooms?"
"Sure. What class is next?" I asked her. Levy grinned evily.
"Oh, only Erza's favorite class- and make sure to ask her why by the way- but it's dragon care. Basically more in depth of what I just taught you." Levy told me. I looked at her questioningly. "Trust me, you'll see why."
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And during that class I learned, that even the most level headed, cool girl can turn into a babbling idiot in front of the guy she liked.
Mr. Jellal Fernandez, twenty four years old, dragon tamer extraordinar, alumni of DTS, and a first year teacher was the heart throb of many teenage girls. Oblivious to all their advances, even I could see that he and Erza Scarlet had some kind of thing between them. What though, I was exactly sure yet.
It was obvious almost five minutes into dragon care class when either made eye contact with one another, a blush would spread across their faces. And of course when Mr. Fernandez asked her to read aloud, the mighty and confident Erza barley managed to stumble and stutter her way through the passage. I would definitely have to reread the difference between spiked tails and thronged tails tonight along with my homework.
Either no one in this class noticed this exchange other than me, or they were all used to it. At some point, I just gave up on following the exchange and tried focusing on what was being taught. After about thirty minutes of lecturing, Mr. Fernandez assigned us pages to read.
"Lucy, will you come here for a few minutes?" I heard Mr. Fernandez say from his desk. I rolled my eyes as someone, a boy, 'oooohhed' and walked up to his desk.
"What's up, Mr. Fernandez?" I asked and he chuckled.
"Oh please Lucy, this class is much more informal than the others. Call me Jellal, everyone does." He said, a kind smile on his face. I nodded my head and he continued. "I'm sure you've heard about the races and events our school has to offer, haven't you?" Jellal asked me.
"Yes, I have, but I don't plan on taking part." I told him seriously.
He smiled warmly. "Well, yes, you don't have to participate in the weekly races or anything like that, but we do have an event that all students have to participate in, aka, it's mandatory." My palms went clammy and I rubbed them on my skirt. "At the end of every trimester, we have and inter-house challenge. You will be partnered with someone in this class, or one of the 8th years and then compete in a series of challenges."
"Look, Jellal-" I started. His smile, looking a little more chilling than before stopped me. I twisted a strand of my hair, and changed my approach. Guys always fell for the innocent act. "I'm just… nervous." I did my best to sound cute. "I can't even ride a dragon, whoever has the misfortune of partnering with me would just end up losing and I don't want to disappoint anyone like that." Unfortunetly, his smile just widened, his eyes creasing at the sides.
"Oh! I'm glad you think that way! I was planning on partnering you with one of the 8th years! That way he or she can walk you through everything and train you better! You can learn from them!" He said excitedly. I sighed in defeat.
"There's no way I can get out of this, is there?" I asked, annoyed.
"Sorry, nope." He shot back. "Anyways, I just wanted you to be aware. The list will go up tomorrow morning, so be prepared. You'll have the weekend to work and get to know your partner. You can go back to your seat now." He finished, with a flourish of his hand. I trudged back to my seat to see a smirking Gajeel.
"So the princess doesn't always get what she wants?" He said slyly.
I crossed my arms on my desk and laid my head down, roughly for good measure. "Shut up." I grumbled back. I was screwed.
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As it turned out, my fourth period class was taught by the man who so rudely woke me up this morning and the Master's grandson, Laxus Dreyar. A very authoritarian man, he commanded the attention of everyone in the room, even the most rambunctious boys. It was a nice change from the loud, fighting group from before. The down side was he actually made us do work. And being a new student didn't exempt me from tomorrows quiz.
"This is so much work! And it's only my first day!" I complained to Levy once we were back in our dorm rooms. Levy was sprawled out on her bed, holding a book high above her head.
"Oh don't worry, it gets worse once it gets closer to the competition dates." Levy responded, her voice level. I was laying on my bed too, stomach down with my head propped up by my hands. I held a pencil in my mouth, trying to entertain myself while looking for important terms to underline.
"So does this competion have a name or is it just 'the events?'" I asked her. She looked up in thought.
"Uhh…" She started. "I'm sure it has some kind of formal name, but we all just call it the DTS Cup, or just The Cup." I slammed my book shut, I couldn't take any more of this, and I loved to read!
"So how exactly does this work?" I asked Levy.
"Uh, there are different challenges. Races, battles, games, talented based competitions, things like that. You earn points based on how well you do. If you do badly, you can get kicked out. Whoever has the most points at the end, wins a great award. It changes every year, but last year it was a scholarship to a DTS school across the ocean! I don't remember which one though. Something foreign." She said with a shrug. "And it's different the higher house up you are. The younger kids in the Mermaid house get smaller rewards, like private lessons with Laxus while the upper house, Fairy, gets things like the scholarship." She finally turned over and looked at me, her brows furrowed. "You ask a lot of questions, you know that right?"
I giggled into my arms. "You know, Gajeel said that to me today too." I sat up in bed and swung my feet over so that they touched the floor. "Speaking of Gajeel, who do you want for your partner?" I asked her. Levy turned bright red. It was so easy to make her blush.
"Gajeel has nothing to do with that!" She sputtered. "And like anyone else, I want one of the Big Four!" Levy said defesivley. I shyly raised my hand, another question ready. She sighed. "Yes, Lu-chan?"
"So who exactly are the Big Four? I know they're a big deal, but who are they." I asked her.
"There's always a Big Four in the 8th year. They're in charge of helping the younger grades and they're the leader of their respective element. This year's Big Four is kind of a big deal because all of them are extremely powerful, not just one or two." Levy explained.
"So is that why our class fights so much? Because they all want to be apart of the Big Four next year?" I questioned.
Levy scoffed. "No, that's just our class being full of idiots. Alright, but back to this year's Big Four. First you have Lyon Vastia and his water dragon Sleet. Sleets still a young dragon, but really powerful already, and will continue to get stronger. Next are Loke Leo and the fire dragon Regulus. Regulus is one of the oldest dragons here, actually I think only Mavis is older." Levy said thoughtfully. "Moving on is MiraJane Strauss and the air dragon Lucifer. Why an air dragon is named Lucifer, I don't really know, but he has incredible strength, which is uncommon for an air dragon. Finally you have Cana Alberona and the ground dragon Joker. I don't really know much about Cana. I've never really heard anything that makes her stand out as a tamer, but Joker is the largest dragon in the area, and his size alone terrifies all the other dragons into submission." Levy finished. My head spun from the impromptu history lesson.
"I wish I knew what they looked like… They sound like people to avoid." I said, a little frightened. Levy laughed.
"Oh no! None of them are more terrifying than Erza." She said positively. "Although… You really haven't seen the scary side of Erza." Levy added. She got up and turned off the light over her bed. "And before you ask me about Erza and Jellal, I'm going to bed!" I rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to ask about Erza and Jellal… tonight.
"Night Levy." I said, turning off my own light. "Goodnight to you too Celeste." I whispered into my pillow. I knew she would know I was thinking about her, and I hoped that would help her sleep well tonight.
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The next morning, everyone was tense. I could tell it was going to be a long walk to class. Getting dressed, Levy would barley say a word to me. Her fingers shook as she tried to put on a pair of knee high socks to go with our uniform.
"That's different." I observed from my spot on the bed.
"It's tradition." Levy responded. When I opened my mouth to ask another question she sighed and continued. "I don't know why we do it, but before every big... event, girls wear knee highs. Like for good luck or something like that." She took out another pair and tossed them to me. "You do it too." She ordered.
"How come? I don't really know enough to know if its good or bad." I argued but she rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Lu-chan." She said childishly. "Don't be a party pooper." I grinned and slid on the socks. Well, I could practically pull off anything so it wasn't that big a deal. Not orange though. But to be fair, nobody looked good in orange.
We left our dorm room a few minutes later and did the ten minute walk to class in silence. Even the younger girls who usually skipped to class and sang noisily walked slowly, whispering things to one another.
"If this happens three times a year, why do people get so worked up about it like it's a once in a life time thing?" I asked Levy.
"You know, I'm going to limit you to three questions a day from now on. That was number one." Levy said. "And it gives us more time to spend with our dragons."
"Oh, so this is a dragon training school that doesn't let you spend time with dragons?" I joked.
"I'm counting that as a question." Levy deadpanned. Soon we got to the door of the classroom. I heard a boy comment on how he 'loved knee high days' and rolled my eyes. Typical boy.
At eight o'clock on the dot, every one was in their seats, waiting for Mr. Lates to come in. Everyone was making nervous eye contact with one another, and finally, Mr. Lates, along with the small 8th year class shuffled in. Mr. Lates took his place at the front desk.
"Good morning everyone, now I know that you all are so anxiously waiting to start today's history lesson-" cue groans from the class "- but that's going to be put on hold for a few minutes." He said with a grin. "In my hand I hold the partners for the first of the DTS Cups! I'm going to tape it up on the board here, back away, and all will come up and find your name- in an orderly fashion!" He added quickly.
After what seemed like an eternity, he taped the paper to the board and then leaped back from it. And good thing he did, because before you could even blink, almost the entire room had flooded the front half of the room. I blinked in surprise and looked towards Gajeel, who shrugged.
"Shall we?" He asked.
"Yeah, but I'm afraid of being trambled." I said with a nervous laugh. He rolled his eyes.
"Alright, well I'm going." Gajeel said as he stood up. I sat at my desk for a few more minutes, watching the reactions of others.
"What the hell is this?" A voiced screamed. "Why am I with the ice princess?"
"Well it's not like I want to be with you either!" Another voice yelled back. I sweat dropped, it must be those two boys from yesterday.
Finally, when a path was semi-cleared, I decided to go check out my name. My eyes scanned down the list until I cam across my name. Next to it was the word air, and then my partner's name.
Cana Alberona, earth.
I blinked. It still said Cana Alberona. So I blinked again, but nothing changed. I was with one of the Big Four. I was going to cause one of the Big Four to lose and they were going to kill me. I backed up away from the board. In the middle of my mental breakdown, I didn't realize I backed into someone.
"Hey! Watch it blondie!" A guy yelled. I spun around, preparing to apologize when another person grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the dude.
"Trust me, you don't want to stick around for that. Lyon's pissed enough. I'm doing you a favor." A girl with long brown hair said. "I'm Cana by the way, nice to meet you, partner." She said with a grin on her face. From Levy's speed lesson last night I remembered that Lyon was one of the Four and specialized in water. Cana, my partner, was ground.
"Uh, Lucy!" I told her quickly, as we struggled to get away from the mob.
She laughed good naturedly. "Yeah, I know. You're kind of a big deal. Its not every day a seventeen year old becomes a brand new air dragon trainer. And the whole transfer student thing but that's beside the point." Her laughing face turned serious. "How early do you wake up?" She asked me.
"Um… 7?" I responded.
"Okay, great, then meet me in the back field behind stable two tomorrow at 7:30." She said as she hurried out of the room. "I won't tolerate lateness so you better show up on time!" She called over her shoulder. I bit my lip. Oh no, what was this school getting me into?!
Author's Note: Long chapter yaaaay! I just got so excited, and so I wrote this! Next chapter will be some NaLu! I wanted to include it in this but... Ah it would have been so much longer. Haha this bit of Nalu is the first thing I wrote in this story, before I even had a plot figured out!
Well I hope you enjoyed! I introduced a lot of characters this chapter plus their dragons! I'm sorry if its difficult to follow! I really dislike stories that have a lot of OCs cause it just gets so hard to follow... but now I feel like a hypocrite because even though they aren't people... their still kinda OCs... oops...
After I get more characters solidified, I will post characters, their years, and their dragons. And please don't be upset if your favorite character isn't in this yet! Most likely they are in a lower year, but don't worry! They will come in time!
Anyways, that's all I have to say about that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading! I can't wait to read your reviews! If you have any ideas, I still need dragon names for: Chelia, Hibiki, Flare, Jellal, Freed, Milliana, and Master Bob. (That's like the most random bunch of characters, haha oops.) See you next time!
and on a side note... DID ANYONE SEE THE TWEET?! I'M SO NERVOUS/EXCITED/TERRIFIED FOR TOMORROW'S NEW FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER!
