"Wow that was a long walk!" Lucy said.
"Better than a train ride!" Natsu said dashing toward the guild which was now only a few dozen feet away.
"Not really," Lucy said.
"We better get this girl to the master," Erza said gesturing to the girl tied in ropes.
They lugged her inside. More than the usual amounts of people were gathered inside the guild. Everyone stared at the sight of the team.
"What's this?" Mirajane asked.
"We found her along the way, Mira. She seemed to have gotten herself into a fair bit of trouble," Erza explained.
"Why didn't you untie her?" Mira asked.
"We couldn't. The ropes seem to be magic proof or something," Lucy answered.
"Where's Gramps?" Natsu asked.
"The master's upstairs," Mira said.
"Gramps!" Natsu yelled trying to get the master to hear.
"Come down, Gramps!" Gray yelled.
"One minute!" The master yelled.
` Slowly the master came down the stairs. He was expecting the team to have been a little beat up, but it was just a normal request. He was surprised to see the girl tied up.
"What! Why is there a girl tied up in the guild?!" The master almost exploded.
"We couldn't untie her, Master," Erza quickly explained. "We thought you would know what to do."
"Right, right," He said. "Have you tried untying the ropes with your hands?"
"Yes…" Gray said.
"Good. Did Erza try one of her swords?"
"No, but my magic was pretty drained. Natsu did try to burn the ropes, though," Erza said.
"Um, let's see… Do we have any normal candles, Mira?"
"Yes, downstairs, Master."
` "Go get them,"
Mira went and grabbed the candles. She was back in a few minutes in which Natsu was very impatient for. She also had a box of matches when she returned.
"Are you sure this will work?" Lucy asked as the master took a lighted candle and held it to the ropes.
"Hopefully," He said.
"Hopefully?!" Lucy said.
` To the shock and surprise of everyone in the guild the candles melted the ropes. The girl shook them off and sat up, relieved to be freed of her bonds.
"Thank you!" She said removing the rope from her mouth.
"Don't thank him," Gray said pointing at Natsu. "He was going to leave you there."
"Well, he didn't. None of you did. So, yeah, thanks."
"No problem," Lucy said.
"What's your name?" The master asked.
"My name's Ella," The girl said, "and this is Fairy Tail, right? I saw the sign when I was brought in."
"Yes. And what were you doing in the forest?" The master asked.
"Oh, um... Just taking a walk. Walking to a town. You know, boring, unimportant things."
"Do you have anywhere to go?" Lucy asked.
"Um, well, no," Ella said after thinking a moment.
"Are you going to stay in town?" The master asked.
"I guess so. I don't want to return to Hargeon." Ella said. "I was actually hoping to join this guild…"
"Can she, Master?" Lucy asked.
"Aye, Sir?" Happy said.
"You're a wizard?" The master asked.
"Yes, Sir," Ella said nervously.
"What kind of magic do you use?" Gray asked.
Wind and air magic," Ella said.
"Interesting," The master said quietly.
"What, Gramps?" Natsu asked.
"Nothing," He said.
"Are you okay?" Erza asked.
"Mirajane, give her a guild mark,"
"Okay," Mira said picking up a sheet the mark is on. "Where would you like it?"
"Right here," Ella said lifting up her hair and pointing to the back of her neck. "What color will it be?" She asked as Mira placed the mark.
"I don't know. It matches the color of the person's soul," Mira said.
"Oh. Is it changing color yet?" Ella asked.
"Yeah," Gray said. "It's changing color… a lot!" He said.
"Is it supposed to do that, Mira?" Lucy asked.
"It hasn't done that before," Mira said, "but I don't think we should be worried."
"I'm worried!" Ella said.
The mark was almost settled on a cheery yellow before turning to a stormy blue-gray.
"This is very strange," The master said. "It appears-"
"What it, Gramps?!" Natsu cut him off.
"If you would just let me finish!" The master said. "It appears that it is changing color with your mood."
"It's not supposed to do that?!" Ella said.
"Well, you are different… in more ways than one," The master said very quietly. Just quietly enough that no one heard anything, no one except for one very unique wind wizard that didn't understand what he meant.