Disclaimer: Still not mine
Chapter Two – Sinterra and the Ice Court
"Seriously. Who are you?" the fire mage repeated, shadows cast by the flames dancing across his face.
"I'm just a random person that was sleeping-"
"On the ground? Huh, I don't mean to call you stupid or anything but, on the ground you'll freeze. To death, maybe, since the weather's been quite cold lately." He finished mumbling.
"I was quite well sleeping before you came here with your warmth and woke me. This unbearable heat…"
"I'm sorry about the fire, I kind of… hey! What did you mean with that?" Natsu got up and patted his clothes, not looking at the pale person that was still lying on the ground. He turned and eyed the flames.
"Go figure. Just... you could've been a bit less bruising. Where the hell did you come from?" the dark haired man shook his head and sat up, elbows coming to rest on his knees.
The pink haired youth turned and looked at the man, hand rising to point distractedly in the direction he had just come from. "I came from… there, yeah. Over there." With a snap of his coat the fire mage looked longingly at the plumes of fire that danced all around them.
"So, you came from there and just set a fire here and woke unsuspecting people – rather rudely, might I add." The pale, dark haired man crossed his legs and let his hands rest on the grass in front of him. He frowned suspiciously as he spoke.
"Well, you see…" Natsu was feeling quite awkward, and the other man's gaze following him intently wasn't helping matters.
"Why do you have those dark threads coming off of you?" the other asked suddenly.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Natsu turned, trying to look over his shoulder and down his clothes.
"Those dark things." the one sitting looked up into the sky, and rain started falling, putting off the fires and plunging the pair to a semi-darkness.
"I don't-" the pink haired mage was startled and gave a step back when the other, suddenly was in front of him. There was a slight pressure against his shoulder and the dark haired one was holding a small, contorting line in his hand. Presenting it to him.
"This is what still clings to you." He let the line fall in his open palm where rain started gathering and immersing the thread. Soon after it was didn't move anymore. "Fortunately this rain will take care of them. It is cleansing, you know?"
"No I don't- wait a second. You still haven't answered my question. Who are you? And what were you doing out here on the ground?"
The other threw him a sour look. He bit his lip and scratched his head. Only then was Natsu able to notice a few things about his interlocutor. He had no shirt. Nothing was covering his upper body – which was a bit on the crazy side since it was the beginning of winter and the first fall of snow was imminent. At least on the bottom he had some black tattered pants and boots.
"And aren't you cold?" these last words left his lips and knew that he had said something wrong when the look turned into a glare.
After a forceful sigh, the other finally answered.
"My name is Gray. Gray Fulbuster, if you want to know. And I was sleeping. Until I got rudely awakened. Do you have no manners? Your clothes would make it seem that you're from good families but your attitude doesn't show." He ended up with an arched eyebrow.
"Don't you try to sidetrack me. And, yes, I do have manners. My name is Natsu Dragneel, from the Dragneel family, you know? It is fairly known." The pink haired mage wondered if he hadn't just met an enemy to the family, seeing the other's lips thin into a taut line.
"I do know… of it. The Salamander lineage, am I right?"
Natsu was surprised. Not many knew that – his family was more known because of their active works with renowned Guilds from several sides of the country, in the last couple of centuries. The Salamander roots were extremely ancient and mostly forgotten for most of the population and some of the family members.
"You are… How did-? Never mind. Nice meeting you," Natsu gave a slight bow. "Now that I've proved that I'm not an idiot, could you tell my why were you on the ground? It's not the most comfortable place to be…"
"You've hardly proven not to be an idiot…" Gray smirked. "However, I was here because I needed to think a bit. And in my town that wasn't going to work." He shrugged.
"And you're not cold?" the other's paleness had gotten quite ethereal while they were speaking, in a way that the other was easily noticeable even in the darkness of the forest.
"No, cold isn't a thing that I feel-" Gray closed his mouth abruptly and turned, back to Natsu. "I have to go now." And he started walking to the nearest tree line.
"No, wait. I… let me go with you." Natsu grabbed the other's shoulder only to let go with a surprised hiss. It was freezing.
"I don't see why I should." Gray added sternly, still walking ahead towards… a grey tree? And it was glowing softly too.
Natsu started running after him, crossing under the grey tree.
Waves of cold crashed against him and the trees surrounding him got a grey tinge too, creating a strange tunnel. Gray was walking ahead, seemingly not noticing any of this. Natsu gasped but still persisted in following the other, even while the cold wrapped tightly around him, freezing his limbs and slowing him down. Natsu's magic surged, then, and spread through his body, making him regain control of his limbs and hurry after the other.
A blinding light hit him alongside the coldest wave yet and he found himself in another place altogether.
It was… a few houses bunched together, as far as he could see… Could it be that this was the town the other was talking about?
Dark buildings lined the main road, pale glows appeared here and there and high torches gave the remaining lighting – which wasn't much. At the end of the street, a huge mansion stood, imposing and looming over the town, seemingly. Huge lines of glow seemed to highlight it and draw attention to it.
"What-where are we?" he finally asked.
"We're in – I mean, this is Sinterra the-"
"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy! You're back!" a high pitched voice said, while a pale blue ball of fur threw itself at the dark haired one.
Natsu blinked, and his eyebrows raised when he saw what the other was holding tenderly.
It was a cat. But it had come from the sky and, from where he was from, cats didn't fly.
Gray was laughing and answering calmly to the cheerful chatter that the fur ball was maintaining. Cats didn't speak either!
"-we were so worried, you weren't coming and, how did you wake? The whole-"
"Gray. Hm, what is this place?" Natsu was feeling strange, even if there was something here that smelt good and seemed to be appeasing his inner fire.
A crowd seemed to get closer to them and he could see the bunch of people – they were the townspeople but why were they here already?
The other stopped scratching the cat's head and nodding to the newcomers. He turned to the fire mage and answered, finally.
"This is Sinterra - and this is the Ice Court."
A/N: Second installment. Natsu meets Gray. I know that the dialogue was a bit awkward but, I did my best… the Muse isn't completely with me for this, it would seem.
Anyway, we finally got to a new place where the rest of the people finally enter. I hope not to bomb the other characters when they come… Oh well, I'm already making them sort of completely OoC so the others being OoC too won't matter that much either. xD
My most heartfelt thanks to the reviewers, you made me tackle this chapter today and I hope it was to your liking so far. :D
K, I still dedicate this to you. ^^
Still unbeta-ed, I'm in a hurry but, it will be beta-ed eventually. So, all the mistakes are mine, unfortunately… ^^
As usual, feedback helps a lot to update faster.