Timeskip- July 20, Year 777

East Forest

Makarov Dreyar was heading back from the Magic Council meeting. He decided to take a detour through the East Forest because, really, nobody ever went there. As he was walking, he sensed a dark presence nearby.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" he barked, stopping and looking around. The daek presence vanished as soon as it came. Makarov glanced behind him warily. He could tell that someone was there. "I know you're there! Come out, before I make you!"

"Ha! You can't make me do nothing, old man!" a child's voice scoffed. Makarov jumped, not expecting an answer.

"Old man?! I'm the master of Fairy Tail!" he shouted angrily. The voice laughed again.

"You just look like a short old man to me!" At this point, Makarov had enough. Stretching an arm, he reached to the spot he knew the person was hiding. A small figure popped out from the bush and disappeared into the leaves of the tree beside it. Makarov glared up at the tree.

"Who's just a short old man now?"

"Still you!" the voice cackled. "Did you say you were Fairy Tail's master?" Makarov puffed out his chest proudly.

"The one and only!" he bragged.

"Hold on a second, I gotta think," the voice said. Makarov blinked in confusion.

"Think? Why?" he asked. The voice didn't answer. Makarov sighed, sitting down to wait.

"Hey, gramps?"

"Don't call me gramps!" Makarov growled.

"Do you think that I could join your guild? My... dad said I should try to join a guild someday, and your guild is the only one I've heard of this far." Makarov was confused again. Why did someone live in the woods with their father?

"What about your father, kid? What will he think?"

"My dad was murdered," the boy said bluntly. "And, besides, he told me to join a guild. So, what do you say, gramps?" Makarov was totally stunned. His father was murdered? Why?

"I guess you can join, but only if you stop calling me gramps!" he huffed, trying not to show his pity for the boy. He heard a small chuckle.

"Okay, old man!" The figure jumped down from the tree, landing on a bush. Makarov winced when he saw that the bush had thorns.

"Are you okay, brat?" he asked, slightly worried. A grunt answered his question.

"I'm fine." The boy clambered out of the bush, picking thorns out of a scarf wrapped around his neck. Makarov stared At the boy's hair.

"You have pink hair?" he questioned. The boy, who's eyes were closed, sighed.

"No, duh. What, is there a problem?" Makarov sensed the threat in his voice.

"No, not at all," he said quickly. The boy smiled.

"Good."

"What's your name, brat?"

"You can call me Zeref if you like. That's my nickname. I don't tell anyone my real name, for safety purposes." Makarov sighed.

"Why Zeref?"

"My village was very violent and thought I was a demon. So, they called me Zeref," the boy explained. Makarov nodded.

"Alright, let's go to Fairy Tail and get you registered!"

"Hey, Makarov! Who's the pinky?" Gray asked, taking note of the pink-haired boy behind the guild master.

"None of your business, stripper!" Zeref snarled, giving Gray a death glare. Gray either didn't notice or didn't care for the deadly aura surrounding the pinkette.

"I don't want him joining! He's a pansy!" Gray whined. This just got Zeref annoyed.

"Oh, really? So, having pink hair makes me a pansy?" He smirked devilishly, his hair covering his closed eyes.

"Yep! I mean, since when did a guy have pink-" Gray's breath left him quickly when Zeref delivered a punch to his gut. He flew into a table, crashing into Mira on the way. Mira yelped in surprise.

"What the heck, Gray?" she hissed. Gray looked up and pointed to Zeref.

"It was him!" he said quickly, not wanting to be the object of Mira's fury. Mira whipped around and saw the pinkette standing there with a toothy grin.

"Well, you were certainly all talk!" he scoffed. Mira got a dark aura around her.

"So, you were the one that threw Gray at me?" she asked darkly. Zeref nodded.

"The stripper deserved it. I mean, look at him! He doesn't even realize that he's stripping!" Gray looked down to see that he was down to boxers only.

"Again?" he growled, looking for his shirt. Mira glared at Zeref, not happy with his answer.

"Take this, pinky!" she suddenly roared, rushing towards him and swinging a fist. Zeref easily caught it and flipped her over.

"So, old man, when can I join?" he asked nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just flipped a girl at least five years older than him over his head.

"Right now, if you like. Erza, could you get the stamp?" Makarov asked the redhead. Erza nodded and went to the bar to grab the stamp. Zeref followed quickly behind her, not wanting to be there when Mira recovered.

"So, your name is Erza?" he asked. Erza nodded.

"Erza Scarlet. And you are?" She cast him a sideways glance.

"Zeref," he said simply. "Who's the stripper? And the white-haired monster?" Erza smiled slightly at the nicknames.

"The raven is Gray Fullbuster, and the monster is Mirajane Strauss. What color, and where?" She held out a stamp with the Fairy Tail insigna on the back.

"Red, and on my shoulder." Zeref felt a bit of joy when the mark was imprinted on his shoulder. Sadly, his joy didn't last when Mira came charging at him again. He sighed in annoyance, then got ready for a fight. But Erza stepped in front of him.

"Chasing after the new kid, white-haired bitch?" she hissed, putting her hands on her hips.

"You bet, thunder thighs!" Mira growled, stopping in front of Erza. Zeref felt a tug on his wrist, and looked to see a mini-Mira with short hair instead of long.

"You might want to move. Big sister Mira and Erza will probably start a fight again," Lisanna said, pulling Zeref over to sit with her and Elfman.

"I'm Lisanna, and this is my brother, Elfman," Lisanna introduced, sitting down."Mira is our big sister." The siblings looked at Zeref expectantly.

"Zeref," he said, sitting down next to Lisanna.

"Gray, God damn it! Get out of the way!"

"Ahh! I'm sorry!"

"ERZA!"

"Do you think we should stop them?" Zeref asked, glancing at the fight.

"They'll be fine. This always happens!" Lisanna said happily. Zeref sighed.

'Something tells me I won't fit in very well...' he thought.