Ok, just want to clear up a few things. The story is set during the five-year time skip, after the cadets graduate from the 104th Training Corps. Natsu's age is close to everyone else's. My arm is aching pretty bad because of a small accident I had while in Ohio, so it's making this story writing a bit more difficult. I, however, am devoted to make sure you guys have what you want. Ok, enough.
Let's do this...
Natsu wasn't exactly appreciative over the uniform he'd just received. Shadis gave it to him after screaming in his face the day before. Natsu was pissed at the whole situation. He missed the final match of the Grand Magic Games fighting the Executioners, spent most of the night battling dragons and Future Rogue, then Acnologia showed up, Natsu battled him, got sucked into some different world, found out he couldn't use his magic, fought against TWO humanoid giants trying to eat him, spending the day trekking across land until he reached a city to seek answers as to where he was, as well as food and shelter, and what happens?
He's enlisted into the military. Just great.
Natsu sat in the mess hall, away from everyone else. The place was big, and filled with people. He grumbled at his new outfit. The jacket, the pants, the boots, he hated it. It looked so tacky compared to his own clothes.
Shadis immediately tested him on the Vertical maneuvering gear. Natsu easily mastered it, and also discovered that his motion sickness was gone, so that was ONE good thing about the situation.
He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't noticed the person sitting next to him, until they tapped him on the shoulder. He jolted from his thoughts, and turned to see who it was.
There sat a boy, with dark hair and green eyes. He had a friendly look on his face. He noticed that he wasn't one of the people he saw with the other cadets. In fact, he seemed older than the cadets. Everyone here did.
"Hey," he said, "I haven't seen you around here."
"I'm not from around here," Natsu said. "And you weren't with the other cadets yesterday."
"We've already graduated," he said."
"Gee, thanks," Natsu groaned. "My name's Natsu, by the way."
"Eren," he said. "What military branch are you gonna join?"
"Miliarty branch?" Natsu questioned.
"Yeah, when you graduate from the cadets, you can choose between the Miliatry Police, the Stationary Guard, or the Scout Regiment."
"I don't really know about this stuff," Natsu said, "Like I said, I'm not from around here."
"So if you're not from around here, where did you come from?"
"Somewhere outside the wall," Natsu shrugged, "I woke up in a forest."
"Wait, what?" Eren exclaimed, "You came from OUTSIDE the wall?"
This shut everyone up in the building, and caught their attention.
"Yeah..." Natsu said, "Is that a problem?"
"It's just that, the rest of mankind had been hiding behind these walls for a hundred years. We're what's left of the human population. After the titans destroyed Wall Maria, anything beyond this wall is Titan territory!"
"Wait, so those two things I killed are called Titans?" Natsu asked.
"So you're saying that you killed TWO Titans?" Jean snorted, walking up to them. "With what weapons?"
"I didn't use any. I punched their skulls in," Natsu answered. The crowd let out gasps of shock, murmurs of disbelief, and gazes of awe.
"It's startling to know that there's life beyond our walls," Mikasa said. "Did you stay behind in Shiganshina after it was destroyed?"
"I don't know anything about what's going on. I woke up in a forest yesterday, killed two Titans, and made my way here. I don't know the history of this place."
"Hey!" Jean shouted, walking up to him. "You bumped into me earlier. I didn't like that!"
"What, are you angry about that?" Natsu said, giving him a annoyed look. "If I did, it's not that big of a deal."
"Yeah, I am angry! And I wanna kick your ass for it too!" Jean challenged. "So why don't you get your ass over here to face me?"
"Are you sure you want that?" Natsu growled.
Just before things could get any uglier, the door creaked open. Levi stepped in, and immediately spotted Natsu.
"Natsu Dragneel, come with me," he said.
Without hesitation, Natsu got up from his seat. He walked past Jean, and the two locked eyes as he passed. The tension only lasted from a moment, but was heavy enough to crush a building.
Levi and Natsu left the building, leaving the rest of the teen bewildered. Natsu let out a silent sigh, taking in the night air. Levi led Natsu down a few streets, and into a very dimly lit alley.
"Ok," Levi said, "consider yourself graduated from the training corps."
"Huh? Why? You just put me in there yesterday?"
"What's the name of the land you come from," he inquired.
"Um, Fiore..." Natsu said, wondering why Levi was acting so strange.
"Alright, that's all I need to know," he said, before walking away.
"Hey! What do I do for now?" Natsu called after him. "Since I'm not training anymore, what do I do?"
Levi turned and gave Natsu a look, as if thinking about what to say. After a moment, he said, "I'm sure you've met Eren Jaeger. Stick around him for the time being."
Levi left the alley, leaving Natsu extremely bewildered. Nothing was making any sense.
Natsu left the alleyway and retraced his path back the mess hall. His mind was searching for any possible explanation. Natsu entered into the building, and all eyes were on him as he passed. Jean jumped up from his seat and stood in his path.
"So, where were we, pinky?" Jean said.
"What is with you," Natsu questioned, "and you are you calling PINKY?"
"Look at this," Jean laughed, grabbing one of his pink locks. A few stifled laughs came from the crowd, but most were silent.
Natsu grabbed his arm to remove it, and that's when Jean threw a punch. It collided with Natsu's face. Although it didn't hurt that much, Natsu had reached his limit of tolerance. As soon as he did, he grabbed Natsu by the scarf fiercely.
'He did NOT just grab my scarf!'
Just as Jean was rearing for another punch, Natsu fiercely head-butted him. Jean shrank back, rubbing his forehead. He then assaulted Natsu one more time. Natsu gave a hard sidekick to Jean's abdomen. It sent him back a few feet, leaving him unable to breathe for a few seconds. Jean lay on the ground, gasping.
Natsu walked over to him, and kneeled down. He brought his face to Jean's, and looked him dead in the eyes.
"I have no idea what you against me," He growled, "But you WILL not toy with me! And NEVER touch my scarf like that again! Is that clear?"
Jean gave a shocked look, before puffing, "Yeah, fine. Whatever."
Natsu stood up, and reached his open hand down towards Jean.
"What are you doing?" Jean asked with surprise.
"Now that I've made that clear," Natsu answered, "Maybe we don't have to be enemies."
Jean sat there, wondering why in the world Natsu was doing this. Not many wanted to be his friend, or even TALK to him. After clearly pissing him off, here was Natsu offering to be his friend.
Reluctantly, Jean took his hand and stood up. Embarrassed, he walked past him and left as fast as he could without breaking into a run.
"Well, that was weird," Natsu said, before noticing all the eyes that stared at him. There was only dead silence.
"What?"
~The Next Day~
The sun rose over the horizon. Fresh air filled Natsu's lungs, and he sighed a deep sigh. He stood on top of the 100-meter wall, the cool breeze washing over him.
"Hey, Dragneel," Reiner called, "I know the view's breathtaking, but we got work to do." He was holding some metal bars in his arms, that looked extremely heavy. Of course, Reiner's body was built like a iron wall, so he looked pretty able to withstand anything.
"Maybe I'll spar with him," Natsu thought.
"Well, let's get busy," Eren said. "First, we have to check the cannons and make sure they're armed properly." Eren pointed to the large iron machines that lined the top of the wall.
"Cannons," Natsu questioned, "I don't remember seeing these in Magnolia."
"Magnolia," Sasha Blouse said, walking up to them, "Is that where you come from?"
"Yeah," Natsu answered.
"Oh, you're real lucky," Connie came in, "You're homeland was probably peaceful and stuff."
"Yeah right," Natsu scoffed, "tell that to the 8 dragons that attacked Crocus before I woke up here."
"Dragons?" Eren asked, "I've never heard of such a thing."
"Yep. Our guild was in Crocus for a competition, then 7 gigantic dragons showed up, destroying most of the city. Just when it seemed like everything couldn't get any worse, the king of them all appeared. His name is Acnologia."
The small crowd gasped, and Eren asked, "What in the world are dragons?"
"Truly terrifying creatures," said Natsu, "Giant monsters that unleash devastating waves of fire from their mouths. Most of them look like giant lizards, but a few were extremely different. One looked like it was made of stone, and another was made completely of fire. They have powerful wings that they use to fly and create destructive winds that can level buildings."
More shocked gasps responded.
"So, what about your guild?" Mina asked, stepping into the conversation. "What happened to them?"
"Well," Natsu answered hesitantly, "A lot of them died in the fight. Around 20 of my old guildmates were killed, but I lost contact with the rest of them when Acnologia showed up, and I fought him alone."
He didn't want to tell them about the past where he was sucked into a magical gate and ended up here. He also didn't want to speak on his relation to Atlas Flame. It seemed that the people here hadn't heard of the word 'magic'. Natsu also wasn't trying to make people look at him weird by just up and saying, 'I'm a fire dragonslayer, but my powers are gone because I got sucked into this world by some kind of portal.' Despite what everyone at Fairy Tail said, he was not THAT dense.
"How did you fight that beast," Eren asked. "What weapons did you use?"
Natsu paused, being careful to choose his words. Although he didn't particularly like to lie, it seemed to be the best choice for now. Finally, he answered, "It was a big sword, coated with a special dragon poison that can easily kill lesser dragons. To kill it, I had to strike it in the heart, which is what I was trying to do. During the fight, I fell unconscious and woke up here."
He added in as much as he could so no one would ask any more questions. He turned to the cannon, ignoring the people that looked on with pitying looks. He bent the truth as much as he could, but the part about lot of his friends dying was very true. He could sense around 20 dead, because he could sense their energy. When he couldn't feel them at all anymore, they were dead. This was why he believed Lisanna to be dead, when the fact was that her energy vanished from Earthland when she ended up in Edolas.
"Ok, that's enough questions for him," Reiner said, relieving Natsu, "I don't think he wants to relive that terror."
He was right about that. Natsu had never been so terrified in his life than fighting Acnologia. Also, the full weight of loss for his fallen companions was starting to crash down on the boy's heart, though he chose not to show it. The small crowd dispersed, leaving Natsu and Eren.
"So, how do you work this thing?" Natsu asked walking up to it.
"Well, he have to check it and make sure it's fully operational," Eren said, kneeling down to it, "So you do it like this..."
~A Few Hours Later~
"Let's eat!" Natsu chattered excitedly he finally finished his task. It was a few minutes before lunchtime, and everyone was wrapping up their work.
Sasha looked about ready to swoon at hearing the word 'food.'
"Hey!" He called over to Reiner, "After lunch, I wanna fight you!"
"What?" Reiner asked, walking over to him, "Why do you wanna fight me?"
"I just wanna see how strong you are," Natsu grinned.
Reiner chuckled at seeing the boy's cheerful attitude. "Ok, whatever you say. Though, I won't hold back, since you look like you're pretty strong."
"Hey," Mina called over, "Let's go, it's time for lunch."
Natsu walked to the edge of the wall, and without hesitation leapt from it.
"Hey!" Eren called, his voice growing distant by the second as Natsu plunged to the ground. As he fell, he kicked off the wall to propel himself towards the city. He expertly made use of his gear to latch onto two nearby houses. The steam propelled him forward. He detached the grappling hooks from the houses and neatly landed onto the street below, skidding as his boots made contact with the ground. He slid for a few seconds then came to a complete stop.
He turned around to look up at everyone else still on the wall.
"There are less eccentric ways of getting down from there," a female voice sounded from behind him.
Startled, he whipped around to see who was behind him. It was girl about his height, chin-length black hair and dark colored eyes. The most notable thing about her was the red scarf around her neck.
"You're Mikasa, aren't you," He asked, recognizing her from last night.
She simply nodded, before pointing over to the wall. He turned, seeing everyone on top of the wall was heading to what looked like some makeshift elevator. The teens were lowered down in threes or fours.
"Not my style," Natsu laughed, scratching his head. "That'll take too long."
"You're a strange one, aren't you?" Mikasa cocked her eyebrows.
"If you see me that way," Natsu shrugged, before walking past her towards the mess hall.
"Hey! Wait up!" Eren called, running from the bottom of the wall towards them.
"He's weird," Mikasa said as he reached her first.
"Yeah, I know. But give him a break, he's been through a lot d before he woke up here." Eren said.
"He's been through a lot?" Mikasa asked.
"I'll explain it to you later," Eren said, taking off after Natsu.
They made it to the mess hall. Inside, Natsu sat down with his plate of food. He only thought he would be sitting with Eren and Reiner, but was surprised when more came to sit at his table.
Natsu was the funniest person any of them had ever met. After they ate, he spent most of the time making them laugh their asses off, telling jokes or making faces. Even some of the quieter ones were giggling. Just before he forgot, he said to Reiner, "Ok, let's fight!"
Reiner was taken aback at the boy's enthusiasm at wanting to fight, but he was more than willing to accept. "Alright, let's go."
Almost as quickly as he said it, the whole table got quiet. Natsu and Reiner got up. They walked to a small area where the tables were far enough for a good fight.
"Hey!" They're about to fight!" Someone from Natsu's table yelled, silencing the entire lunchroom as the two stared down each other. Immediately, teens got up to witness this. A crowd gathered, and since there were no adults present, things would go much more smoother. They stood a safe distance away, knowing that the match was going to be an intense one.
Murmers ran though the crowd, such as 'who's gonna win,' or 'it's about to get epic.' Many crowd members began voicing their opinions on who would win.
Just as the two were getting ready to throw the first blows, a sudden and loud scoff came from the crowd, which was followed by, "Fools." Whoever said it made it seem that they were TRYING to be heard. Reiner turned to the crowd and said, "What's wrong with testing someone's strength?"
Someone stepped out of the crowd. It was a tall girl with blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed to peer straight into Natsu's soul.
"What's really smart about fighting like it's a hobby?" She said. "It's stupid."
"I fought a lot in my guild," Natsu said in a matter-of-factly tone.
"Besides, I remember you challenging ME to a fight a short bit ago," she said, walking straight up to Reiner, "So why not now?"
"Hey!" Natsu yelled, "So you're just gonna bust in right in the middle of our fight?"
"Middle of your fight? You haven't even thrown a single punch yet," she retorted.
Natsu growled fiercely, before walking away. This girl was getting on his nerves, but at the same time she had completely charmed him. Natsu never imagined that a girl could charm him and piss him off at the same time.
"You're walking away?" The girl called after him, "Not very manly." The crowd responded with a "Ooooh." Natsu froze, and turned around to looked at her.
Her eyes stared straight into his, and her eyes were the most intense and beautiful he'd ever seen. Also incredibly intimidating. She had the beauty of Lucy, the seriousness of Erza, and the cockiness of Cana. Nevertheless, he would not back down. Her walked towards her until they stood face to face. Both were exactly the same height.
Reiner had backed away, knowing that a fight was about to erupt.
"What's you name?" Natsu asked with a grin.
"Annie Leonhardt," she answered, "And I hear that you're Natsu."
"Natsu Dragneel," Natsu confirmed, "And I hereby take you up on your challenge."
"Very well," Annie said, before suddenly throwing a fast punch. It connected with Natsu's forehead. It hurt more that Jean's punch. Instinctively, he leapt back to recover. Annie, however, was already upon him.
She came in with a hard roundhouse kick that fiercely connected with Natsu's ribs. She raised her foot above him and brought it down hard onto Natsu's head, bringing him to the ground. As soon as his body hit the ground, he spun around and knocked her down with a sweep kick.
He leapt into the air and came down towards her. She rolled away as he brought his knee down, and smashed the piece of ground were she previously lay. Everyone thought that he would've broken his knee. They were amazed when he jumped back up without injury. As soon as he did, Annie's knee slammed into his jaw, knocking him down once more with a yell of pain. She straddled him and brought her fist straight down onto his face, bringing more pained sounds from him. After a few more extremely hard punches, he flung her off.
Natsu and Annie stood off once more, taking note of each other's posture. All was silent, until Annie launched at him again. She aimed for his ribs, seeing that they were open. However, at the same time, Natsu ran forward and met her halfway. He shot his fist forward, and Annie crossed her arms in front of her chest to shield herself. The blow was a hard one, sending her back a few feet. Her arms almost felt like they were broken.
She took out a wooden knife, on of the one's used for training. Natsu looked at it confusedly for a second, before realizing that he had to disarm her.
She took a sideways glance at the crowd, immediately spotting Eren. Instantly, a memory was brought to her. She remembered when she flipped Eren while they trained. 'I'll try that...'
He raced towards her with blinding speed. She stretched her foot back, and brought it forcefully towards Natsu leg. She succeeded in connecting it with his leg, and he responded with a hiss of pain. She took this moment to grab his shoulder and sweep his feet out from under him.
For the faintest moment, she thought she had won. Natsu twisted in the air, landing on his hands. He used his hands to propel, and he slammed both of his feet into Annie's stomach. She let out a yelp of pain mixed with shock as she fell back. Natsu flipped back onto his feet and raced towards her. She regained her footing and jabbed at his chest with the wooden knife.
He shoved her arm out of the way, wrapped his leg around hers and pulled. The move cause her to lose her footing once more. As she fell backwards, he snatched the knife away from her grasp. As soon as her back hit the ground, she felt the blade at her throat.
He straddled her waist, held both of her arms above her head with one hand, and held the knife at her throat with the other. He had subdued her completely.
Annie stared up at him, and she could not help but blush. Natsu's face was the most gorgeous she had ever seen. He gave a smirk that made her blush a little more. She couldn't believe she actually felt bad for punching him so hard, seeing a bruise or two on his face, and a small trickle of blood from his mouth.
Natsu stared down at her, she had to be the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her eyes glistened from the sunlight that flooded through the windows. He blushed a little as well.
Annie gave a defeated sigh. "I submit. You've won."
Natsu stood up and threw the knife away. He reached his hand down. She hesitated before accepting his hand. The two stood staring at each other, the sound of cheering teens seeming to be muffled in the background.
"Well, that was fun," Natsu said with a big toothy grin. "Let's do it again sometime."
Annie simply nodded, before pushing past him and rushing to the door and exiting the building. She wanted no one to see how madly she blushed.
