Disclaimer:

I do not own anything but my own storylines.

Sorry about the first time I posted this story. I accidentally posted the wrong chapter. But, thanks to DestinysRequiem I noticed the mistake and I got that all fixed and sorted out and now here's the second chapter. Enjoy!

The Pirate Basics

"Hey, everyone!" Natsu yelled. "This is Romeo Conbolt, our new crew member. Be nice 'cause he's gonna be my apprentice." The last statement was added with a warning glare.

Romeo took in the entire ship and its members. They seemed friendly enough. They were most likely all mages. They didn't wear the stereotypical pirate outfits or talk like them, which Romeo thought was kind of different. A good different. There weren't that many, about a little more than twenty. He guessed if it got too many then it would become a problem, since they were practically always at sea.

Four pirates stepped up. The raven haired guy smirked, "So you got us a new recruit, flame-head? Seems unlikely of you. I'm Gray. Gray Fullbuster."

"Hi," Romeo greeted. "Why are you half-naked?"

Gray looked down and shrieked, "Oh, shit! Where did my shirt go?" He frantically looked around the deck while the others laughed at him.

"Ignore that stripper," a scary looking guy with piercings all over laughed. "Gajeel Redfox is the name."

The big, buff blonde introduced himself. "I'm Laxus Dreyar. So do you use magic, kid?"

"Sure do," Romeo answered proudly. "I use Purple Flare and Rainbow Fire magic."

"No wonder Natsu choice you," Laxus grinned. "That idiot's a fire freak."

"Let's fight!" Gajeel proclaimed along with Gray who suddenly popped out. But Natsu quickly punched each in the head before anything else happened. "No one is going to fight him until I say he's ready!"

"What, is he gonna be your successor or something?" Gray shouted.

"That kid can use fire magic better that any other kid I've seen. Other than me, of course."

"Seems to me you're challenging us, Salamander?" Gajeel challenged.

"Today's the day I will beat you, flame-brain!"

"I'll take you both on, metal-face and snowman!"

Romeo watched wearily as the trio fought right on the ship deck. Isn't this dangerous? A blue-haired man with a red tattoo under his right eye answered his thoughts. "Don't worry. This happens all the time. I'm Jellal Fernandes by the way."

"Shouldn't someone at least stop them before they destroy something?"

"Would you want to get in the middle of that?" Jellal asked rhetorically. Romeo noticed that no one else on the ship would either. He guessed they didn't want to get caught in a between the explosive attacks of three great wizards.

Jellal turned to Laxus. "It's your turn. I did it the last time and that made them quiet for way too long it got creepy."

Laxus rolled his eyes, irritated. "Fine. At least I'll get some energy out." He lazily raised a hand and shot out a beam of electricity effortlessly. Immediately, the cloud of dust that was the battling pirates zapped and were all smoked.

"Whoa," was all Romeo could let out. "You guys are all crazy… But still cool!"

"Well," said a quickly recovered Natsu, "I guess I better show you around and explain how things work if you're gonna be my apprentice. First off, I'm the captain, but you don't have to call me that. And these idiots here," he gestured to Gray, Gajeel, Jellal, and Laxus, "are my top team."

...

"So for starters, I'll explain how everything works," Natsu started the next day. He was giving Romeo a tour of the ship. "There are four main jobs. A small group share the same job led by one of my first mates." As they walked around, everyone was hard at work. Natsu explained each one as they passed. "Gajeel and his team are in charge of ship maintenance, making sure everything is in tack. It's split up between taking care of the ship wood, sails, and ropes. They also make sure we have enough supplies."

They passed the lookout post where someone on duty waved down at them. "Up there is our lookout. He's under Jellal's order. He and his workers are navigators. There's only three: the lookout, the one on the wheel, and Jellal himself who's our actual navigator. He's my most dependable guy."

"Hey, what about me? I am your main first mate, ain't I?" Gray suddenly came out of nowhere, swinging done from a rope. "Sorry, kid. You may be his apprentice, but I'm this flame-brain's first mate. Also his best friend." He fist bumped Natsu. Romeo admired how the two got along so well even though they constantly fight.

"That may be so, ice princess. but Romeo's my little bro," Natsu pointed out. Then he explained to Romeo, "Gray's my second-in-command. He oversees things when I'm not around or busy with something else."

"You'd be lost without me," Gray grinned. "Anyway, I came to give you a report. Our supplies are all good thanks to the stop at Hargeon. However, Gajeel told me that one of the sails needs fixing and we have to make another stop."

Natsu sagged, not wanting to make another stop. "Do we have to?" He whined.

"We're also almost out of ginger tablets," Gray deadpanned.

At that, Natsu straightened up, looking alarmed. "Tell Jellal to set a course to the nearest port right away! But I want only just enough time to fix it and one person to get the tablets. No one else is getting off so we don't attract too much attention." Gray nodded and went on his way.

"Ginger tablets?" Romeo asked, curious to know why that one thing made Natsu alarmed.

Natsu grinned, "The most important supply we need! It's a Dragon Slayer thing."

Romeo thought through about Dragon Slayers that he had read about. Ginger, huh? "You have motion sickness?" Romeo realized, half amused that someone so strong could have such a weird weakness.

"Hey, it's perfectly normal, Romeo," Natsu defended. "Besides, it's more pathetic when someone like Gajeel or Laxus is bent over, gagging." He let out a snicker.

"I heard that!" Gajeel called over from the other side of the ship.

"But it's true, metal-face!" Natsu shouted back. "Luckily for us, we're making a stop." Gajeel just showed a thumbs up and got back to work.

After first seeing Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel brawl it out the very first meeting, Romeo was kind of surprised they can still keep the ship afloat. "I find it funny how you all are always at each other's necks and yet still work together as a great team," Romeo commented.

Natsu grinned but with a serious look. "I only got one rule here, Romeo, and it's the most important one. Everyone on this ship is family. Every person here has carried some kind of darkness with them on board. Everyone bonds so that we can help each other and leave no one behind. We all treat each other like friends, comrades. Like family. You do that and we won't have any problems."

Romeo nodded, ingraining Natsu's wise words in his brain.

Continuing on, "Over there are our gunners. Laxus is our master gunner. They're in charge of all weapons. We have cannons, guns, swords, and knives."

"I thought you guys fight with magic."

"Most of us do. Some aren't mages, so we have normal and magical weapons. Some of us even use both magic and weapons. It's up to you."

They went around and got to know the other crew members when Jellal reported, "We will be arriving in about 10 minutes, Natsu."

...

As soon as they arrived at a secluded port with hardly anyone around, Natsu jumped off the ship followed by Romeo. "No one's leaving unless you're either coming to get me or buying something important. I already sent Max for the tablets. Gray, you're in charge. Jellal and Laxus, guard-duty. Gajeel, you have until sunset. After that, lights out and we'll be leaving at dawn. Romeo and I will be out at the forest nearby to train. We'll be back before sunset."

With all his orders given out, Natsu led Romeo out into a dense forest that was near the port. "Does this place feel funny to you?" Romeo suddenly asked. He noticed how some of the pirates were looking around the area, eyes narrowed as if weary of something.

"You feel it too, huh? Good, that's a start," Natsu nodded in approval. "You're still a kid, but when you're a mage, you have to start learning how to feel magical presence early. As you develop your magic and experience, you'll be able to sense more and narrow it down."

"So what do you feel?"

"If I tell you that wouldn't be learning, wouldn't it? A pirate, or mage for that matter, has to be able to trust his instincts. So tell me, what do you feel?"

"Well," Romeo thought, thinking how the very few people living here looked miserable. "It seems…quiet. Almost too quiet. The people here look emotionless. The ones that looked over at us didn't seem to care. It makes me feel…out of place, you know?"

Natsu nodded again. "When you're a pirate, you travel around to a lot of places. You get to know the story behind every town and water body. I've been traveling these seas for seven years, and I know it like the back of my hand. There are stories to everything. Reasons for everything. One of the things my crew does is whenever there's trouble in an area we're at, we go to investigate and stop the problem. It makes good money considering we're also mages. And gives the Rune Knights a reason not to arrest us."

Natsu looked up to the sky with a distant look on his face. "The City Without Sound. The story to this place is that there was a spell cast over this place that made everyone invisible. They tried to get people who visited to help but they got spooked and left. Soon no one came. My crew and I lifted the curse about two years ago. But by then, the town had already collapsed economically."

"So why are the rest of you kind of on edge?"

"Who wouldn't be with this environment? We did lift the curse, but we never found out who put it there in the first place, and no one likes talking about it. It makes you on edge and weary…Anyway, let's not talk about that anymore. What's more important now, is that we get you trained and stronger."

Romeo suddenly perked up at the news. "Great! Let's start!"

"You'll be training with my other first mates for other skills and techniques. But it will mostly be with me. So let's see what you got!"