Author's Note
Second chapterrr! Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Please read! And review. That would be much appreciated~
"Gray, you bastard!" Natsu shrieked in fury, "I thought I'd told you to never touch my guild again!"
"Blaming me again? It was your guild who made the first move!" He yelled in response. Sometimes I just want to stop.
"My guild would never do such a thing!" Natsu growled at the insult.
"Ah, is that so? Then I think you'd better take another look at your guild!" What's the point of a petty battle like this? Hurting so many people, damaging so much. What does it all lead to?
"I don't need to. These bonds connecting us are stronger than any in your guild!"
"Heh, then I don't give a damn about what you think." Nothing. Nothing at all. So why do we fight? What is our purpose? What is the source of this unfounded hate? What can I do to relieve it?
"BASTARD!" He came running with fist aflame. This was the start. This was how it always started. This was how it started all those years ago. And it was never the end.
He felt his fist meet ice. He melted the ice. Turning his body, he swung out a leg. It was blocked by an arm. He landed on the floor and rushed again. No theory, no tactics, no plan. Just rushing in head on, burning everything and anything that lay in his path. He would blaze a trail through the darkness. He would be the fiery end to Railt.
He retaliated with a punch. Missing, he now aimed with his ice lances. Again, missed. Again and again he tried. Again and again he failed. With little thought, he fought. Fist to fist. Magic to magic. Rage to rage. They flitted about, entwined in battle. He would be the one to still them. He would be the freezing end of Fiarsin.
They each stood panting, a few feet separating them. Neither was backing down. Both were standing strong.
"Heh… Look at what happened, you flame brain. It's my win." Gray spat the words, standing a little straighter as he stared down at his opponent.
Natsu looked up in surprise and surveyed the battlefield. The street was filled with rubble. A nearby shop had been completely destroyed. Most windows were no longer intact. But the battle had stopped. At the front lines, a mage had collapsed and was now coughing up blood. She was panting hard, unable to stand. Another came running towards her, shouting worriedly. Natsu stared in horror. His flames died out in an instant.
The mage noticed Natsu. Trying to smile, she opened her mouth to speak, "Ma… ster… I'm… fi—" She was interrupted as she coughed up more blood. She covered her mouth but blood seeped from between her fingers, dripping onto the cobblestone. Her eyes slowly darkened, losing the fire that had once burned so strongly in her eyes. Her body trembled as she tried to keep herself upright.
He stood motionless as he watched her sprawl onto the ground. He slowly turned to look around behind him. All he saw was dark red. Several lay sprawled and others were kneeling from injuries. He found not a single one unscathed.
He was the head, the bright red commander, burning through all that stood in his path. But behind him was nothing more than the dark crimson of blood. Of injury. Of death. Burning upon their faces was suffering. Beneath the fire was a cold understanding and maturity. Eventually taking over. And everything would end in ice.
Flames licked up his arms, slowly growing. Bursting out from his body were flames, dancing wildly. They whipped around his entire body, shooting up high into the sky. He straightened then turned back to face Railt. Tears flowed from his eyes but his face was of pure wrath.
"You bastard…" His voice was deep and low. It came out hoarse and raw with emotion. Yet the shirtless man stood his ground.
Sneering he stated calmly, "Oi, oi… You know attacking will instigate the fight again. How many more are you going to injure? How many more are you going to kill? Your own guildsmen that is." He strode up to the flaming man and reached out, grasping his vest. Instantly, the flames dispersed. "I've already told you," he whispered menacingly, staring into his rage filled eyes, "It's my win."
Natsu collapsed, several emotions dancing upon his face. Was he afraid? With a scoff he questioned himself again. Afraid of what? Of hurting Gray? Of winning? What were these tears for? The damage dealt to his guild? Or his loss? Squeezing his eyes shut, Natsu finally came to a conclusion. I'm scared of facing him. These tears are tears of fear. I'm scared. Of fighting. Of taking responsibility. Of fighting him. Of losing everything precious to me.
"It's our win!" Gray turned to face his guildsmen, raising his right fist grandly into the air to punctuate his statement. "Let's go!" Cheers of victory followed. Several cries rose into the air as they rejoiced. Smirking, Gray strode proudly and shirtless towards his guild. Cheers followed in his wake. But the master himself wasn't rejoicing. It wasn't as if his guild had gone without damage.
The path towards Railt was streaked with blood. His own clothes were smeared with blood. Among the cheering were feeble cries and tears. But he focused his eyes forward onto the guild symbol hanging from the balcony of his guild. He ignored the splashing of blood as he walked, he ignored the moans of pain. Today was victory. Today was happiness. Today he was not allowed to let this jubilance disappear from his face. Even as his heart cringed in pain, today there was no pain.
He was the head, frozen blue commander, freezing all that stood in his way. But behind him was nothing more than false joy masking pain. Masking tears. Masking anything and everything. Frozen upon their faces were smiles. Beneath the ice boiled anger and hatred. Eventually bursting out in a flourish. And everything would end in flames.
"Yo, Natsu. Been a while huh? What's this, after being defeated are you going to come slinking to me for forgiveness? Or…" Gray leaned toward the pink haired man, staring him in the eye as malice danced upon his face, "Revenge?" Laughing, he leaned back and looked down upon the bowed head of Natsu. Glancing around he noticed that Fiarsin was quieter than usual. As if from intuition, Gray kept on taunting, "Ah, that's right. That mage of yours, how's she been?" When no response was given, the ice mage prodded on, "Has she die—" The man was interrupted by a sudden uppercut hitting him squarely in his jaw.
Stumbling back, Gray glared at Natsu, true malice coursing over his face now. But he was startled when he saw tears streaming from Natsu's eyes. The hatred disappeared as he stumbled backward. The two master's eyes locked. One of hatred and pain, the other of uneasy fear. "N-no way… S-she can't have really d-died…" Gray broke into an uneasy chuckle.
"Bastard…" The voice was deep and quiet, hoarse from raw emotion. Gray froze. His eyes widened and his jaw fell as he understood the meaning behind the dragon slayer's word.
Not so long ago he had been rejoicing the injury of that mage. Now, he was aghast. This was all just a petty fight between two mages. No matter how many times they had claimed they would kill each other, death wasn't a part of their fight. It just wasn't.
Taking a breath, Natsu wiped away his tears. Glaring up at Gray, something changed on his face. The immature, straightforward rage he had always met was no longer there. Now there was cold anger, the anger of someone precious having been hurt. He wasn't just simply fighting anymore, he was fighting with a purpose soaked in blood and stained with death. There was an acuteness to his fighting that had never existed before.
He pushed back Gray, overpowering him. Struggling to keep up, Gray tried to match his level. Yet there was no way. He could only merely imagine death. And his opponent had seen Hell. A sudden punch to the gut caused the raven haired master to double over as he coughed. He stared at the cobblestone beneath him, eyes even wider in fear. This was the true rage of the Fire Dragon Slayer, Salamander. It wasn't the fiery fury he had encountered time after time. It was this cold burning wrath. There was truly no ice in his heart.
Glancing around, Gray suddenly realized that battle had once again broken out. Behind Natsu were only grim faces. Behind him, Gray realized he heard laughter and joy.
Railt. A guild of power. And that was all there was to it. They were fighters and they loved fighting. That was why they had joined. With a start, Gray realized what a terrible guild he had raised. Although powerful, they would never achieve the same level as Fiarsin.
"Makarov, you should still be resting, you've only just recovered!"
"No. I've let them fight for too long. I have to stop them."
"It's not your fault, Makarov! No one knew it would get this intense."
"It's my fault for not stopping Gray when this all started. I have to go. Right now… It hurts just to imagine what those kids are feeling right now. So, sorry. Just this once… I have to go to them. I can't just abandon my brats."
"…Be careful… Please, Master."
"Yeah, Erza. It's a promise."
Gray slowly picked himself up, all emotion deserted from his face. Staring at Natsu, Gray flung his shirt into the frenzy roaring around them. Natsu tensed then shot a fist forward. Gray raised an arm to block. But neither punch nor block was followed through with. Both froze as a moan of pain wove its way through the crowd. And for an instant, their emotions matched identically as they stared into each other's eyes and saw their own emotions dancing upon the other's face. They feared. They feared, for they recognized that voice. And it was the one voice that they had never wanted to hear in pain.
Unable to understand their drastic other.
