Natsu's POV:

"Then she started to threaten us with that damned whip of hers and she kicked us out!" Natsu finished complaining, taking a swig of the sweet tasting fire Mirajane had given him.

"Lucy is always so mean to us in the morning, I wonder why." Happy added, his voice muffled due to the fish he was currently stuffing in his mouth.

Everyone around the two of them sweat dropped. Erza crossed her arms, giving them both a hard look, making Natsu panic slightly.

"Natsu, even though the two of you are partners the line needs to be drawn somewhere. You can't just climb into a young ladies bed without her permission and expect her to be happy about it. Not to mention you could easily be giving her the wrong idea." She pointed out sternly.

Natsu stared at Erza, his eyes blank. "What do you mean by wrong idea?"

Gray scoffed beside him, shaking his head and smiling in amusement. "What an idiot." He said just loud enough for Natsu to hear.

Natsu stood up and head-butted him. "Do you wanna go, Snowflake?" He growled.

"Bring it on you little flicker." He growled right back.

Before the usual and inevitable fight could break out, in which Erza would have put both of them in the hospital for it, Natsu suddenly reared back, looking at the guild doors with a somewhat surprised expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Natsu-san?" Wendy asked in a quiet and curious voice.

"There's and odd scent coming towards us." He murmured, not looking at them.

Erza moved a hand slowly towards the hilt of her sword. "Is it a threat?"

Natsu didn't know, but there was definitely something different about it. "I don't recognize it, but it smells…" He trailed off, groping for a word to best describe it, "dark."

Not a moment later, a shadow spread across the floor from the guilds entrance, and a teenager soon followed. The guy was tall, maybe even taller than Natsu himself, and he had dark brown hair that went a little past his ears and looked messy like he ran his hands through it every so often. From what he could see, this new guy had dark blue eyes that were looking around the hall with something like surprise and amazement in his eyes, his white teeth showing a grin of excitement.

"So this is Fair Tail." Natsu's advanced hearing picked up his breathy words.

"Yo, Mira, who's that?" Gray asked the white-haired takeover mage.

Mirajane looked up from the cup she was cleaning and gave him a surprised once over. Finally she put the cup down and walked around the bar, making her way up to the stranger with her well known friendly smile.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail! Is there something I can help you with?" She asked kindly.

His eyes widened slightly when he looked at her. "Oh wow, you're really Mirajane! It's amazing to meet you in person!" He said swiftly, and then his cheeks turned a little pink in embarrassment.

Mira laughed softly, trying to reassure him is what Natsu thought.

"Actually there is something. I came here to join your guild." He said quickly, almost tripping over his words.

Natsu and Gray shared a look of shock, and he noticed that Erza still hadn't moved her hand from her weapons hilt. He could understand her tension, there was something slightly off about the guy. Maybe it was just him being paranoid but he decided not to drop his guard.

Mirajane beamed at him. "Of course you can! Anyone is welcome to our guild. Just make yourself and home while I go fetch the master of Fairy Tail to welcome you." With a final smile she turned and walked down the hallway that led to the Masters office/hide away.

"Did he even say anything about himself to Mira?" Erza asked them.

Wendy shook her head. "All he really did was gush over Mira and ask to join the guild. You would think that he would at least tell her his name." She whispered in surprise.

Natsu was still staring at him. The guy looked a little awkward, pulling at the bottom of his white V-neck t-shirt. He had on long black jeans that went a little over his black running shoes. Natsu had to admit that he probably had girls all over him, but that only added to his suspicions.

"Well, I don't like people hiding things, especially if they try to join our guild." Gray muttered, and then raised his voice, "Hey!"

The guy looked up in surprise, and then a look of relief crossed his face as he made his way over to them at the bar.

"What's your name?" Gray asked, and Natsu notice Wendy flinch a little at his bluntness.

He gave Gray a nervous smile. "My name is Cole Skia; it's really an honor to meet all of you!" He said, eyes suddenly filled with excitement, "the four of you really became famous throughout Fiore since the Grand Magic Games!"

Wendy face flushed a little. "I really didn't help out that much though."

"Don't be so modest! Your magic is so cool, especially how you stood up to that girl from Lamia Scale so well!" He said energetically.

Okay, now he's laying it on a little thick. Natsu thought, starting to get annoyed. Even Happy looked at Cole funny, exchanging a quick look with Natsu before going back to inhaling his fish.

"What kind of magic do you use?" Erza asked him, her voice still guarded.

Cole didn't seem fazed by her tone though. He put a hand on the back of his neck and smiled a little sheepishly. "Although I really don't like the name of it, I use Shadow Magic." He told them.

"Shadow Magic? That's pretty rare." Gray noted, "The last person I remember having that kind of magic was that Kage guy from the dark guild we defeated over eight years ago."

"Don't forget about Rogue from Sabertooth!" Wendy added, "But I guess it's his dragon slaying magic, so it's a little different."

Cole laughed a little awkwardly. "I've heard of both of them, and my magic is slightly different. I can't actually turn into shadows sadly, but I can requip shadow weapons like a sword or a bow." He explained.

"Oh, so you have magic similar to Erza's" Gray over-simplified, and Wendy laughed a little.

"Except that my magic is nowhere near as powerful as hers." He agreed.

Erza raised an eyebrow, finally moving her hand from the hilt of her sword. "By shadow weapons do you mean that they are completely made out of shadows?" She wanted to clarify, and Cole nodded.

Their conversation was interrupted as Mira came back to the bar and Master Makarov called Cole over to speak with him.

Natsu hadn't said a word to him through the entire conversation, and it didn't go unnoticed by him that Cole didn't directly confront him either. He still couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that was telling him that he couldn't trust this guy. Natsu watched, still silent as Gramps welcomed Cole and then marked him with the crest of the guild, leaving a black Fairy mark on his upper left arm.

Cana stumbled up to them, unsurprisingly having a drink in her hand. She leaned against the bar and whistled, eying Cole appreciatively. "He sure is one hot piece." She said with a glint in her eyes.

Natsu only grunted in response, making Cana eye him suspiciously.

"What's with you?" She asked him, taking another swig of her drink.

Natsu shrugged, finally looking away from the Shadow mage and turning his attention back to his glass of fire.

"Do you still have a bad feeling about him?" Erza piled on, obviously annoyed that he wasn't giving them an answer.

Natsu stayed quiet for a moment longer, and then finally looked up at them. "I just keep getting a weird vibe from the guy is all." He admitted.

Mirajane gave him a sympathetic look. "That's to be expected. After all, the last two people who suddenly appeared at our guild had been Mest and Michelle. Mest turned out to be Doranbolt, a member of the magic council that infiltrated the S-Class wizard exam, and Michelle had turned out to be a member of the Oracion Seis and we almost lost Lucy because of that." She looked over at Cole, her eyes softening, "But I think we should give him a chance. There is something in his eyes that makes me believe that he is sincere in wanting to be a part of our guild."

Natsu huffed, downing the rest of his fire. "Well, I don't want to wait for him to end up turning against us. I say we question him or at least dig up anything we can find about this guy."

Gray nodded in agreement. "For once Flame-Brain has a point. I'll talk to Levi when she gets back from her job with team Shadow Gear and ask her to help us."

Natsu's mood instantly improved when the familiar scent of vanilla and strawberries wafted around him. He swiveled in the bar stool to watch as Lucy walked in, a bag slung over her shoulders and her keys shinning in the early sunlight. Her hair was pulled back and it made her face seem softer for some reason, bringing out her big brown eyes. Even though he was still annoyed with what happened this morning, he felt a grin spread across his face at the sight of his best friend. She seemed to be looking around the guild for someone, and Natsu notice her spot Cana beside him and she started walking over. Natsu raised his arm to wave her over in welcome.

"Yo, Luce!" He called, then paused.

She wasn't looking at them anymore; instead her eyes were glued on Cole as he was welcomed by a few members of the guild. Cole looked up and spotted her, a grin spreading across his face and his eyes widening slightly. Natsu dropped his arm and his smile fell off his face when he saw her cheeks go pink and she smiled shyly back at him.

"Looks like Natsu's got some competition." Cana snickered, and Gray grinned at him in amusement but Natsu ignored them both.

He felt anger growing inside of him as he watched Cole walk up to introduce himself. Lucy seemed a little flustered but she talked easily with him, giving him her smile that Natsu liked so much. He glared daggers at Cole, deciding then and there that he could not be trusted, and he'll be damned if he lets this playboy hurt Lucy.


And here is the second chapter! Thank you to those who wanted me to continue to write this story, you guys are awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't like the idea of being sued so I'm just gonna quickly say I don't own Fairy Tail, I'm only responsible for the plot of the fan fiction and any original characters.

Please review and tell me what you think, all comments are welcome! Also if you think the chapters should be longer or shorter just tell me, I still haven't decided how long I want each one to be.

Thanks and have a great day!