Realized after I wrote this chapter that I forgot about Lector and Frosch... Oh well, let's just say they're staying with Yukino or something...

I honestly have no idea where half this chapter came from. There's an entire scene I didn't even plan originally...it just kind of happened. I blame these two fluffy dorks for being so damn cute.

Enjoy the second chapter! Next chapter will truly kickstart the plot as well pile on more fluff, so be prepared!


~Black Dawn~

-Chapter 2-


"Morning, Sting-sama, Rogue-sama," smiles Yukino as the Twin Dragons enter the Sabertooth Guild Hall that morning.

"Morning," they reply as they make their way into the already packed guild. To no one's surprise, it was already 10:34 and the Dragon Slayer duo had just arrived. Because Sting tended to be a huge sleepyhead, they had a copy of the guild key made for Rufus, the earliest riser of the guild, so he could he open it for the rest.

Sting surveys the building, making sure nothing was out of place, especially since some of their newest members enjoyed playing pranks. He greets Rufus with a smile, fist-bumps Ogra, salutes Minerva, and says a quick hello to Dobengal. Beside him, Rogue remains silent, simply nodding the general direction of anyone who greets him. Sting heads towards his office with the intention of starting some paperwork when Rogue stops him.

"Wait, Sting. We need to take a job today. Rent's due soon, remember?"

Sting whirls around in a flash. "Right!" he says with a smile, rushing towards the request board. His dark blue eyes scan each job quickly yet carefully, trying to find the perfect one for him and his dark haired partner. "No jobs for two?" he groans. "Man, we need some S-Class jobs. There's only one up there and they're requesting a single female wizard. Why they couldn't have just said Minerva I have no damn clue, but it sure as hell doesn't help us."

"Just because you are able to take S-Class requests, Sting, it doesn't mean you have to," Rogue comments drily. Being an A-Class wizard, Rogue technically wasn't supposed to even go on S-Class jobs, but ever since Sting became Master the rule about that practically vanished. "Have you even checked to see if they sent in any new requests?"

Sting rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, no..." Rogue sweatdrops as Sting heads into his office. The Guild Master emerges after a moment of rummaging, carrying a very small stack of papers. "Aha! There's a perfect one for us right here, Rogue!" A huge grin lights up Sting's face as he reads, "Pair of strong wizards needed! I need some help dealing with some thieves that have been stealing from my church. Please help, I will provide plenty of food and board. Reward is 40,000 Jewel!"

"40,000 for a simple thief job?" Rogue asks, feeling a smile creep on his lips. It's as if Sting's smiles were contagious. "That's fairly high. This should be a pretty laid back job."

"And there's free food!" Sting cheers, fist-pumping. He grabs Rogue by the wrist, laughing as he pulls him out of the guild. "C'mon, let's go let's go let's go!"

"H-Hold on," Rogue stammers, feeling slightly embarrassed. He knew that the whole guild was watching the pair of them, and that made him a bit nervous. "We need to get some things for the road-"

Sting ignores him, simply picking up the pace as he shoves the guild hall doors open. Rogue sighs, giving up the protesting, and instead just allows himself to be dragged through town. Many people greet them as they pass, to which Sting grins and says hello in return. It's a sunny day, with almost perfect blue sky and a slight breeze keeping things at a comfortable temperature. Once they're out of town, Sting slows to a walk, slightly out of breath.

"Whew," he turns to look at Rogue, his smile still glued to his face. "That was fun."

Rogue smiles back, "Yes, it was..." He takes a slow, deep breath to give his lungs more oxygen, enjoying the rush of fresh air. Today was simply so peaceful and tranquil. It was these kinds of days that were Rogue's favorite. These days were the days where Rogue was glad to be alive, happy, and have someone as wonderful as Sting by his side. Snapping out of his thoughts, he turns to his partner with a quizzical look on his face. "So, where's the job located?"

"Ehh, pretty far from here," Sting shrugs nonchalantly. "Not really a hundred percent sure where to be honest."

"What?!" Rogue cries. "You took a job that you didn't know where it was?!" He takes a step closer to Sting, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Why didn't you look at a map before we left?!"

Sting takes a step closer as well, close enough so that their foreheads are touching. "I didn't think about it, okay?! Everyone makes mistakes, even Guild Masters!"

"Be more perceptive next time!" Rogue shouts.

"You could've said something!" Sting retorts.

"I tried, but you pulled me away before I could do anything!" Rogue's own voice rings in his ears, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. They stand like that, both breathing heavily as they stare into each other's eyes. Rogue felt his cheeks heat up, realizing that they were standing extremely close together... Quickly he jerks his head to the side, trying to hide his flaming red cheeks behind his dark bangs. "Let's get going. We can ask someone for directions."

Confused by his partner's sudden mood swing, Sting simply shrugs. "Okay." He starts walking on the dirt path that led to the nearest town, turning his back to Rogue. The Shadow Dragon Slayer hurries to catch up, then matches Sting's even stride.

They arrive in town where their client lives after five hours of walking, as neither of them felt like taking the train and dealing with motion sickness. The walk went by surprisingly fast. They arrived in town around 3 in the afternoon, the sun high overhead.

"Man, I'm starving," Sting whines. "We never got lunch."

"Can you wait until we get to the church?" Rogue asks his partner as the two of them step onto on of the main streets in town. "I don't have much money on me." Sting, being the childish dork that he was, rushes towards a caramel apple stand, grabbing Rogue's wrist and dragging him towards it. Sting looks up at Rogue with wide blue eyes, a hopeful expression on his face. Rogue sighs, realizing that Sting wasn't going to take no as an answer. "Alright," he groans, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. He turns to the vendor. "We'll take one."

The man nods, reaching for one and passing it to Sting. "Thank you," Sting grins, biting into it. He closes his eyes as he chews, obviously pleased. A smile makes it's way onto Rogue's lips, his fondness for his partner overwhelming his usually stoic face. They walk together in silence, Sting enjoying his treat as the two of them admire the sights. "Want a bite?" Sting suddenly asks, extending the apple towards Rogue's face.

Rogue feels his cheeks heat up, unsure of why this is making him so embarrassed. "Ah, it's alright. I'll pass."

Sting raises an eyebrow. "You sure?" He moves the apple a little bit closer, as if trying to get Rogue to smell it.

"I said no." The sentence comes out a little harsher than Rogue intended, and Sting's cheerful face falls.

"Okay." He looks away from Rogue, his shoulders slumping. It was as if Rogue had slowly yet the air out of Sting's happiness, like a balloon. Inside, Rogue mentally curses himself for being insensitive...again. For the most part he was supportive of his friends and partner, but every now and then he slips back into his old personality: the one he had during Jiemma's reign over Sabertooth.

Back then he cared about nothing but staying in the guild, becoming stronger, and beating Gajeel. To him, Sting had been...necessary. He'd been closer to him than anyone else, but there hadn't really been much communication about anything personal. They had a mutual understanding, but it had been simply for fighting.

They had some sort of connection, but never acknowledged it. When Sting became Guild Master, one of the first things he did was tell everyone in the guild to work with who they enjoy working with, and not stick around with someone just because their magic was compatible. At first, Rogue thought Sting was telling him that their partnership was over. However, Sting eventually admitted that he was actually worried that Rogue didn't want to work with him anymore, but felt obliged too because of their compatible magic. They'd shared their first real hug that day, with Sting smiling into Rogue's shoulder, glad that they were still a team.

Finally, Rogue snaps out of his thoughts, realizing that they'd walked quite a ways through town. Sting's apple was half-way eaten, although the White Dragon seemed to have lost his appetite. Rogue's heart sinks. "I'm sorry," he blurts. "I didn't mean to be rude. I-I just thought it was awkward."

A small smile creeps onto Sting's face. "Apology accepted." He looks Rogue in the eye. "And what exactly is awkward about sharing food?"

"No idea," Rogue mumbles, looking away. For some reason he felt extra jumpy today, especially when it came to Sting. Wondering if it was because of what he overheard last night, Rogue turns the street corner, heading to the church.

"Wow," Sting breathes as the church comes into view. "It's huge..." The church was tall with many stained glass windows. Each and every detail on the entrance's surface was intricately carved with extreme accuracy. Sting finds himself wishing he had fifty more eyes as he enters the building with Rogue. The Dragon Slayer duo makes their way towards the pulpit where the preacher normally stands.

"Hello?" Sting calls out. "We got your job request. We're from the Sabertooth Guild."

"Ah, hello!" another voice replies. A middle-aged man in a pastor's outfit comes forward from the back rooms, a wide, welcoming smile on his face. "I am Pastor Alden, and I preach here at Azmarin Church." He pauses for a moment, studying the pair's faces. "You both seem very familiar... I apologize for not remembering your names..."

"I'm Sting Eucliffe," grins Sting, extending a hand. "I'm the Guild Master of Sabertooth."

"And I'm his partner, Rogue Cheney," Rogue adds.

Alden shakes Sting's hand, smiling wildly. "Of course! You two are the Twin Dragons, correct? I've seen you in the Grand Magic Games before."

"Yep!" Sting's chipper attitude is back in full stride. "So, what exactly do we need to do?"

Alden's smile fades, but only slightly. "A small band of thieves have been robbing from small businesses, orphanages and shelters, and my church. I caught sight of them about a week ago. I'm not sure how many there actually are, but I saw four at the time. I don't think they use any magic, but I'd be careful just in case."

"Sounds fairly simple." Hearing details of their mission helps Rogue feel more at ease, preparing him for what was to come. "Around what time do they normally appear?"

"I'd say around 11 o'clock at night," Alden replies. "I know it's a long time from now...if you need something to do, I could give you a tour of Azmarin."

Sting opens his mouth to say something when Rogue cuts in, "As much as we'd appreciate that, I'm afraid Sting and I should probably do some planning. Maybe later this evening?"

"Oh, c'mon Rogue, lighten up," Sting nudges the Shadow Dragon Slayer in the shoulder. "I've been working my ass off lately with all the damn paperwork that's been coming in... It'd be nice to have some time to just relax." Sting looks Rogue straight in the eyes, silently begging him to say yes. He was hoping that they'd tour with Alden for a while, then break off and have some time alone. Sting was determined that sometime in the next few days, he was going to come to a conclusion about how he felt about Rogue. And if that was going to be the case, they'd need some time just the two of them to just talk.

Rogue's shoulders slump in defeat. "Fine," he sighs, a smile sliding onto his face. "I guess that'd be okay."

Alden's friendly smile returns. "Wonderful! Shall we get going then?"


After many hours of wandering the town of Azmarin, Alden left the duo alone, telling them that he had some things at the church to attend to. To Sting's surprise, he looked directly at Sting as he spoke, as if somehow he knew that they needed that time. The sun was already setting, bathing the streets in beautiful pink, gold, and red light. The few clouds that had formed earlier in the day were now streaked pink in the painted sky. The view was absolutely breathtaking.

And yet, Sting could look at nothing but Rogue. His blue eyes focused on the way the golden light touched his partner's soft features as he gazed at the sky above them, a genuine smile on his face. "Look, Sting," he says softly. "There's a bird up there."

Sting squints, trying to spot the small animal. "Where?"

To his shock, Rogue grabs onto Sting's arm, guiding it upwards towards the sky. "There," he says softly. "Right where your hand is."

Sting hoped that Rogue didn't notice his flaming cheeks as he replies, "Oh yeah, right there." The bird was white, but the fading sunlight cast a beautiful pink glow on the bird's wings. "It looks so free," Sting adds quietly, slowly removing his arm from Rogue's grip. Slowly he sits down on the curb, Rogue following suit. "Sometimes I wish I had wings so I could just fly away..."

"We have Lector and Frosch," Rogue points out, turning to look at Sting.

"Yeah..." Sting gazes upwards at the expanse of sky above them. "But it's not the same, you know? There's not as much freedom."

"I know what you mean," Rogue replies gently, turning his head towards the sky as well. "Maybe some day, however, we should fly with them during a sunset... Really, really high up...like we could touch the colors..."

Sting smiles, looking back towards Rogue. This moment reminded him of a moment they shared about a week before joining Sabertooth. The two of them had been sitting out on the curb, gazing at the stars above them. They'd both gotten pretty emotional that evening, talking about things they'd never mentioned before. Neither one of them had ever brought up that talk again, as once they'd joined Sabertooth, those kinds of things were discouraged.

Thinking back on it now, Sting realized that evening had been necessary. If it weren't for that talk, Sting doubted the two of them would've ever gotten this close. For some reason, courage builds up inside of the White Dragon's chest. This whole moment...was perfect. There was a sunset, they were alone, and the scenery was beautiful.

A small cry of alarm escapes Rogue's lips as Sting suddenly places both hands on Rogue's shoulders. His blue eyes were wide with determination, staring straight at Rogue with an unreadable expression on his face. Speaking slightly loudly, Sting blurts, "Look, Rogue, I just wanted to say that I l-"

"Well, wouldya look at that, we found them already." The Twin Dragons freeze, turning to look up at the newcomer. A group of eight men stand before them, all wearing clothes fit for thieves. One of them stood in front of the others, a twisted smirk on his face. "I knew the old man was gonna send someone, but I didn't expect two wizards. There's no damn way you can beat us by yourselves."

Sting's eyebrow twitches. Rogue recognizes the look as his 'you just fucked with the wrong person' face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man's smirk only widens, "did we interrupt some important romantic moment or something?"

Sting snaps. Instantly he was leaping forward, hissing, "White Drive," under his breath as he slams his fist into the man's face. His Dragon Force activates right then, an explosion of white light crashing into the thief. The man coughs up blood as he falls backwards to the ground, the cobblestone beneath him cracking from the impact. Rogue's red eyes widen, wondering what exactly they said to piss Sting off this badly.

"Ahhh!" one of the men shrieks. "Who the hell is he? He's so strong!"

The dust clears, revealing Sting's white Sabertooth guildmark to the thieves. One of them screams, his eyes widening. "Oh shit! It's Sabertooth's Guild Master! White Dragon Sting!"

"We're so dead!"

"Boss, we need to retreat!"

An low growl escapes Sting's throat as he takes a step closer to the gang of thieves. His magic radiates off of him, creating a white aura around his entire body. "You're not going anywhere."

Rogue takes a step forward towards the group, preparing to fight. To his surprise, Sting sticks out an arm in front of Rogue, holding him back. "No." Sting's voice is dangerously soft. "I've got this." Rogue hesitantly nods in reply, stepping backwards towards the curb once more.

"It's not just him!" cries another man. "It's the b-both of them!"

"The Twin Dragons, huh?" coughs the leader from the ground. Slowly he makes his way to his feet, wiping blood off his chin. "Interesting. I've heard many stories about you... How wonderful that I get to see you in action."

"You won't be seeing anything but black once I'm done with you," Sting snarls, charging towards the leader again with his fist held high. To his surprise, the man holds up an arm in an attempt to block the attack. Sting plows through, putting all his weight into his punch as he knocks right into the leader. The leader cries out in pain, his blocking attempt failing to prevent much damage. He looks up at Sting, who's absolutely seething.

"What's wrong?" The leader spits a bit of blood out of his mouth, trying to force a smirk back on his face. "Too scared that something's gonna happen to your precious partner to let him get involved?"

"Shut the fuck up," Sting hisses. "Say whatever you want about me, but if you insult Rogue, I'll tear your stupid smirk right off your goddamn face."

Rogue takes another step back. He's seen Sting get worked up about these kinds of things before, it was just in his nature to get pissed off when people insult those he cares about, but this was a whole another level. 'Maybe it has to do with whatever he was going to tell me earlier,' Rogue thinks. 'It must be important, otherwise he wouldn't be this upset about it...' He watches as Sting slams a foot into the leader's stomach, who topples back onto the shattered cobblestone. 'But what could it possibly be?' Rogue's eyes widen, his mind conjuring up a possibility. 'No. Don't be stupid. It can't possibly be that...' He shakes his head, trying to clear his mind of his nearly impossible daydreams.

"What's going on here?" a very stern voice shouts. Rogue whirls to his right to face an officer holding his badge in his hand. He flashes the badge in front of Rogue's face, then continues. "Is that man your accomplice?" He points to Sting, who's used his claw attack to place a paralyzing stigma on the gang leader and is beating him into the ground.

"Yes, officer," Rogue sighs. "I apologize for his actions, I'm not sure what got over him."

"He's beating civilians up in the middle of the street and you don't know what happened?" the officer says angrily.

"No," Rogue shakes his head, "that's not a civilian. Sorry, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Rogue Cheney, Sabertooth's Shadow Dragon Slayer. Sting and I are actually on a job right now. Those men are the band of thieves that have been robbing the nearby church."

The officer relaxes. "Oh, my bad. I'll arrest those men immediately. Apologies, Shadow Dragon." He bows slightly (which makes Rogue feel slightly uncomfortable) and then walks over to the gang men already on the ground. Rogue follows the officer, readying a shadow in his hand in anticipation that they may try to fight back. The men are quickly restrained, leaving just Sting and the leader.

"Do you want me to calm him down?" Rogue says slightly nervously, not liking the brutal way Sting is screaming at the gang leader.

The officer looks just as nervous as Rogue feels. "That would be great."

Slowly Rogue approaches his partner, being cautious as to not alarm him. He places a gentle hand on Sting's shoulder, and simply takes a step back when Sting whirls around to face his sudden 'attacker'. "Sting," he says softly. "Please calm down. I've got the authorities here, and they're going to arrest him. We've done our job, okay?"

Sting looks Rogue straight in the eyes, his expression deathly serious. "But he said-"

"I heard what he said." Rogue keeps his voice even and calm, hoping that it works in soothing his partner. "I don't care what he thinks of me, Sting. He's going to hate me simply for existing, all because I'm part of a legal guild and I'm trying to stop him. It's not an insult to me personally, but simply that he doesn't want to be caught."

"I'm in a legal guild!" the gang leader spits.

"Liar!" Sting snarls. Rogue grabs onto Sting's arm, holding him back from attacking him again. Sting blinks, turning to look at Rogue in surprise. Rogue simply looks back at him, a calm, controlled look on his face. Sting's tense muscles relax ever-so-slightly.

"I'm not a liar, I'm part of a treasure hunter guild," the leader says, interrupting the Twin Dragons' silent conversation.

"Then why the hell are you breaking the law?" Sting asks angrily.

"I may be part of a legal guild, but that doesn't mean I can't have relations with dark guilds," the man replies. "I work under a guild that constantly wants new treasure."

"Why listen?" Rogue asks softly. "Can't you just tell them you can only get treasure legally?"

"Hell no," the man snorts. "They'd kill me."

"What guild are you from?" Rogue questions, persisting on before Sting has a chance to say anything more.

The leader opens his mouth to speak when the officer marches right up to the three young men and takes the leader in handcuffs. "C'mon, you. Time to bring you to where you belong."

As the officer drags him away, the man smirks at the Twin Dragons. "I know your secret," he says loudly. "I swear, Sting Eucliffe, you better watch your back! My bosses are gonna be real pissed off at you!"

Sting's eyes widen, then narrow. "Hmph." He folds his arms across his chest, suddenly relaxed. Raising his voice, he calls out to the leader, "What secret?" The leader ignores the question and simply lets himself be dragged away to prison, leaving Sting with an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. He turns to Rogue, unfolding his arms and shrugging slightly. "I don't know what he could possibly know that'll be of any use to him. Besides, I doubt the guild he works under will care that I beat his ass."

"We can only hope that's the case," Rogue sighs. Gazing upwards towards the almost-dark sky, he grabs Sting's arm once more. "C'mon, it's getting dark. Let's head back to the church and get some rest for the journey home tomorrow."

"Right," Sting replies, following Rogue down the cobbled streets towards the church. Even though he was exhausted, the White Dragon doubted he was going to get much sleep that night. He had so much on his mind that he was certain that it wasn't going to clear up anytime soon.

Little did he know that the leader of the treasure hunter guild had a trick up his sleeve, and his bosses already knew exactly what Sting's weakpoint was, and exactly how to exploit it...


Well dang this was a long chapter...over 4,000 words O-o I actually had to move a scene to next chapter even though I really didn't want to...

That aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for more very soon!


~ForeverDreamer12, signing out!