Authors Note: Hello everyone, and welcome back. For those who have already followed and added this story as their favorite, thank you! The support really helps.

Fairy Tail does not belong to me, but it belongs to its creator, Hiro Mashima.

Chapter Two:

A Request for a Snake

The night sky was absolutely brilliant; the stars were shinning bright, and the moon gave off a light that could let anyone see for miles. The wind blew just slightly during the warm night, giving off a nice, cooling breeze. The trees swished around them, and the animals were active all around the forest.

A medium size group of travelers could be spotted hanging around the middle of the forest, and circled around a fire that illuminated the little opening they were camping in. Small chatting could be heard among the members while some just listened to the conversation, and one was getting changed in her tent.

These independent mages were from the independent guild, Crime Sorciere, or the guild made up of mages who used to be Dark Mages. Now they're doing their best to correct their past, repent their sins, and stop the dark wizard from rising once more.

The newest members in Crime Sorciere, the old members of Oracion Seis, are now apart of the guild with the same goal as the three original founders. All of them slowly integrated themselves in with the two founders that are left. The original leader was killed by his adopted son before the two members of Crime Sorciere found them. Brain was his name, and he wanted them as his pawns, but none of them were pleased by this truth. Content with the choice of joining Crime Sorciere, they felt at peace.

One member of Crime Sorciere listened to the world around him with his enhanced hearing; in fact, all of his senses are enhanced. He could hear an Owl making noise a few yards to their west, and he could hear the prancing of a small herd of deer trotting through the woods to their south. He could also hear all of the member's thoughts, and he smirked at some that were not said with his sharp canines showing from under his lips. Even with only one black eye with a black slit as his pupil, he could easily see the world around him; a scar is running vertically down his right eye.

He leaned back against the tree stump he found when they entered this part of the forest, and rested his hands behind his head after he moved a hand through his spiky, upward-style, maroon hair. He closed his one eye as he let out a sigh of content, making the other members turn to look at him with understanding glances. Like him, they were beat from taking down another dark guild connected to the Evil Wizard, Zeref. For now, they could relax.

The leader of Crime Sorciere, Jellal Fernandez, walked back into camp with his cape blowing behind him, and blue hair blowing over his brown eyes that were searching over the other members of the independent guild. When he found an open spot near the fire, he sat down on the grass, and watched the fire crackle before him in deep thought. He then moved his eyes away from the fire to look at the one-eyed member resting against the stump, with the reflection of the fire dancing off his dark tan skin.

"Cobra, is there anything or anyone I missed when searching the perimeter?" Jellal finally asked him, but when he saw the said person smirk, he felt a little annoyed that he didn't say anything before he asked.

Cobra just smirked to himself when he heard all the questions go through Jellal's head until he finally picked one.

"There is nothing that my senses can pick up," Cobra finally answered, hearing his comrades voices become silent. "As of right now, we're the only humans in the forest,"

Although Jellal just nodded his head and thanked him, Cobra could clearly see that something was bothering the leader and co-founder of Crime Sorciere. Therefore, he did the logical thing, which is to act as if he is trying to fall asleep, but is actually trying to get into the thoughts of the blue haired man.

Cobra could find many thoughts going through Jellal's head. He is still upset about all the sadness and destruction he caused in his past, to how he misses and wishes to see Erza Scarlet before they go off to destroy another dark guild, and how he is concerned about the fact that Zeref could always rise into power. Hearing all the thoughts gave the maroon haired wizard some respect for the leader, but also understanding of where all his worries come from; they all come from a past that is connected with darkness and the evil wizard.

Then he found a thought going through the leader's head that made his ears twitch a little. Jellal felt a magical presence in the forest as he searched the perimeter, and he had trouble identifying whether it was good or bad.

As Cobra opened his one eye back up, it locked with Jellal's eyes and stayed there. Jellal had a look that Cobra knew all too well. He then heard the thought directed at him, and Cobra nodded with understanding.

Stay on guard, Cobra, for someone is near, but not making his presence known. Jellal thought.

Just as the two men's eyes tore away from each other, a female voice entered everyone's ears as she exited the tent she was changing in. Meredy walked out of her tent with her long, wavy pink hair in two braids going down her shoulders, and green eyes looking bright. She plopped herself down next to Jellal, and greeted everyone with a smile.

"It's getting late, you guys," She exclaimed as she leaned back on her hands. "I suggest hitting the hay if we don't want to get caught by any of the Magic Council's soldiers,"

As much as the old Oracion Seis members hated being told what to do, they knew the young girl was right, and they didn't want anything to do with the Magic Council.

Each member sighed and stood, and got all their sleeping gear ready for bed around the little opening in the forest.

Cobra grabbed his pack, threw it over his shoulder, and started to walk towards an area that isn't far away from their source of heat. Jellal, however, stood up next to the other member, and the ex Oracion Seis member stopped right next to him. Their shoulders were aligned perfectly, and the two titled their heads only a little to face each other. Cobra felt Jellal put his left hand on his shoulder, and noticed his words that were only meant for him to hear.

"Stay on your toes."

Cobra just smirked and nodded towards his leader, and slowly walked away when Jellal took his hand off his shoulder.

Jellal, looking a little more serious, walked past the other Crime Sorciere members towards his tent. After Jellal entered the tent, Cobra looked over at him one last time before lying down on his sleeping bag for the night.

Crack! Is the sound a pair of ears picked up in the middle of the night, making one eye shoot right open.

The material of a sleeping bag fell onto a man's lap as his upper body shot right up, and his eye scanned the surrounding area.

The members of Crime Sorciere were still fast asleep in their sleeping bags and tents, and the fire died down into the embers, giving very little light in the opening. All around him the nocturnal animals were moving around, and making noise in the background. Fireflies were busy flying around the forest, creating little dots of light in the area. On any other night, Cobra would have stayed up to see nature at its best, but not this night.

Something, or someone, is wondering around his guild's campsite.

Slowly, but very surly, Cobra got out of his sleeping bag, and stood up. His average height could be seen as the fireflies flew around him, but no one could hear him as he moved around the outline of their campsite. His eye bore into the forest as he searched for the intruder near them; his nose could only pick up one scent, and it smelled vaguely familiar, yet he couldn't place it.

He knew that Jellal was right when he heard something fly behind him, creating wind filled with the intruder's scent. He breathed it all in, and he moved stealthily as he followed the intruder. His one eye then turned to look at the place where the scent stayed, and landed on a shadowy figure standing a few yards away from the campsite.

It was a man, not much taller than he was, and the outline of his hair could be seen as the wind picked up again. Cobra saw him turn his head to look right at him, and the Crime Sorciere member felt himself stop right in his tracks as he watched a single piece of parchment paper fall onto the ground, barely making a noise.

Just like that, the man then vanished from Cobra's vision.

The independent mage could only blink his eye as the man vanished, leaving only the piece of paper; however, something inside him told him to go and investigate what was left behind.

He walked the few yards away from the campsite, stood right where the intruder stood, and looked down at the parchment paper on the ground. He bent down and picked the paper up with one hand, and the paper slowly crimpled in his one hand as he scanned the words on the paper.

His eyebrow raised when he figured out it was a request.

Creatures along with dark spells have disturbed my land, and people keep going missing. Please, help me put a stop to the terror that is rising. Meet me in Hargeon in a few days for more information, and be prepared to work with another wizard.

Reward: 100,000 Jewels

Cobra inspected the paper once more, front and back, and saw no picture or name to help him find who sent this; moreover, he wanted to know why the person sent it out here in forest located near the old Rosemary Village, and how he knew there are people.

Cobra's eye found the reward, and his interest was peaked even more, but he inverted his eye to look at the request information once more. Now reading it over with a clearer mind, it dawned on him that this is a request for help.

While Cobra was busy scanning the request, Jellal entered the campsite, and spotted the other member a few yards away reading a piece of paper. As Crime Sorciere's leader walked towards the other member, he saw him just glance at him before holding out the piece of paper towards him.

"Jellal, you were right," Cobra told him as Jellal took the piece of paper from his hand. "There was someone wondering around the forest, and he did enter the campsite while we were all sleeping,"

Jellal looked up from the piece of paper, and looked at Cobra with raised eyebrows. "He? Did you see what he looked like?"

Cobra shook his head. "No, but his scent is familiar to me… I just can't place it…" He started to become frustrated with how he couldn't put the scent with the person.

Jellal saw his comrade's frustration, and gave him an understanding look before reading over the piece of paper once more. His eyes slowly widened as he read over the request, and looked over it to see if there is a name or picture. He did know, however, that this request wasn't something to be ignored.

Cobra just stared at the leader as he just crossed his arms over his chest, and started to organize Jellal's thoughts in his own head.

"You want me to do the request?" Cobra asked, looking at Jellal with his one eye wide.

Jellal stared at the man surprised since he is still not used to the man reading his thoughts, but nodded his head nonetheless.

"This request cannot be ignored, for the person still found out where we are, and for the fact that it could possibly true," Jellal informed Cobra. "It also seems that the man knew you would be the one to find it, and there is a reason why. It appears that he knows you, too," Jellal put a hand on his chin as he thought about the request some more, and Cobra stood there listening to him. "Do the request, get the information out of the person who sent it, and report back when done. It could be of importance to all of us,"

Cobra nodded his head, understanding his orders.

"And please, keep the identity of Crime Sorciere a secret. We do not want other people sending us requests, and alerting the Magic Council," Jellal quickly added, looking at the wizard next to him with a stern look. "If I were you, Cobra, I would head out tonight. Rosemary Village to Hargeon is a long distance to travel,"

Cobra just nodded his head once, walked over to his sleeping bag and army sack, and started to pack everything up quickly, but also silently to not wake everyone up. Jellal followed close behind him, and stood there as he watched his comrade finish packing everything.

Cobra lifted up his cloak, swiftly put it on, and put his hood up once everything was in place. Lastly, he lifted his army sack up, and put the strap over his shoulder. He turned to look at Jellal, who just patted him on the back with a determined gaze.

"Stay safe out there, Erik," Jellal told him using his real name. "I'll also inform the others of what is going on," He also added, handing him the request paper, which Cobra took.

The Poison Dragon Slayer folded the request paper, and safely put it in his pocket. He was never really one for thanking verbally, so he nodded at Jellal as he started to walk away from the Crime Sorciere campsite.

Jellal watched his comrade walk through the forest until he slowly became a shadow, and then disappear from his sight. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and scanned the campsite once more before heading back into his tent for the night.

Cobra, or Erik, has been introduced into the story at last, and now we will move on to everyone's favorite Celestial Spirit mage in the next chapter.

Is Cobra too in character, or is he too out of character? Please, leave a review to let me know what I need to change. Also, help with spelling and grammar would nice. If you enjoyed the chapter, and want to continue reading it, please review, favor, and follow. Have a wonderful day or night, everyone!

Coming soon:

Chapter Three: A Request for a Star