Author's Note:

For anyone still confused, Ysmir is a Nord; the same one that shows up in the game trailers. Also, it seems I made a mistake about Wendy's Exceed's name. Apparently, according to Wikipedia at least, her name is Carla, not Charle, so that's what I'll be going with from hereon.

-STORY START-

Wendy looked around at the guild, smiling as she watched the constant, boisterous celebration that Fairy Tail had once been renowned for. Though seven years had passed, and though the building in which their guild now resided in had changed, the return of the core members of Fairy Tail from Tenrou Island had served as the spark that relighted the fiery spirit of the guild. But besides the change of years and residency, there was one other difference – one that was sitting by himself in the corner of this rundown tavern, staring listlessly into a mug of tepid beer with an expression more suited for that of a dead fish than a living human being.

"He's rather depressing, don't you think?" Carla commented from where they watched Ysmir at a separate table.

"It can't be helped," Wendy said, a faint tone of rebuke in her voice. "You can't expect him to be fine after he learned that everything he knew and love, all of his friends and family, his entire world, was destroyed."

Still, Wendy frowned, Carla had a point. Ysmir's current behavior could not be allowed to go on for much longer. It had been a little over a week since they had returned to Magnolia, and in that time Ysmir had slept very little, ate even less, and drank only enough to barely survive – perhaps less. For all intents and purposes, he may as well have been a statue, seeing as how he hardly ever moved from his seat. A living, breathing, and slowly dying statue.

Many Fairy Tail members had already tried speaking with him. Erza had attempted to strike up a polite conversation in order to try to learn more about Ysmir and see what she could do to help the time-lost man. Ysmir did not simply ignore her. He reacted as if he did not even notice her; that is to say, he did not react at all.

Master Makarov had also attempted to converse with Ysmir. The master, Wendy knew, was a good man who would not be able to bear watching such a young man (based on appearances, Wendy judged the man was likely in his mid-twenties) so clearly and obviously give in to despair. Like with Erza, Ysmir ignored Master Makarov as well.

And then there was Natsu. Of all those who tried to talk with Ysmir, he was by far the most prominent. In the Fire Dragonslayer's case, he had been insistent on finding out what Ysmir knew about Igneel. Ysmir did not so much as spare Natsu a glance, angering Natsu and forcing Erza had to step in to stop Natsu before he tried to fight with Ysmir. Natsu was simply too stubborn, though, even amongst the notably stubborn guild, and he continued to try to speak to Ysmir almost every day. By the fourth day, he was the only one who continued to try to speak with Ysmir. The rest of Fairy Tail had already realized that Ysmir simply did not want to speak with any of them, and so they quietly left him in peace. And though Ysmir had been left in peace by Natsu for one day, it had only been because Natsu left with Lucy (or rather, because he followed her) to visit Lucy's father. Once they returned, he had resumed trying to talk to Ysmir.

Yes, this definitely could not be allowed to go on. Somehow, someway, Wendy thought, she needed to snap Ysmir out of his funk. Of that she knew for certain. If not, she had a feeling he would continue to allow himself to slowly wither away like dust until he died, something he was currently making steady progress in. Already, heavy bags had formed underneath his pale blue eyes, which were bloodshot and sunken from lack of sleep. His dark brown hair had become matted and dirty and his face had lost its hale color and was starting to become gaunt from hunger and weakness. Additionally, the strange armor of bone that he wore seemed to weigh down heavily on his body, further proof that he was becoming too weak to bear the weight of that armor. All together, he gave the impression of a young man who had just aged several tens of years in the matter of only a few days. The change was visible, and extremely worrying.

Wendy clenched her small hands into tiny fists. Though Ysmir was a stranger, he had saved her life. How could she simply stand by and watch as her savior simply allowed himself to waste away in such a miserable manner? Wendy stood up resolutely. She could not. She absolutely could not allow that to happen.

"Wendy?" Carla said, looking up at the Sky Dragonslayer.

With determined steps, Wendy walked over to Ysmir, and she heard the noise around the guild slowly dim down to a more hushed tone as they watched the latest attempt at conversing with the ever-silent stranger. Like with the others, Ysmir made no move to show an acknowledgment of Wendy's presence. Wendy sat herself down across from Ysmir at his table.

Wendy wondered briefly about what to actually say. She had gotten this far, but she had not actually made a solid plan of what to do from here. She hesitated for only for a moment, though, before electing to simply say whatever was on her mind.

"Hi, my name is Wendy Marvell," Wendy introduced herself.

No response.

"I never thanked you for saving me back on Tenrou Island," Wendy continued. "So I wanted to do that now: thank you, Ysmir, for saving my life."

Ysmir stirred slightly for the first time, causing the already hushed sound of the guild to lower to an absolute silence as they watched with bated breath. However, the motion was only enough for Ysmir to briefly flick the gaze of his tired eyes at Wendy, before returning to stare at his drink.

"You know, you really do need to eat and sleep," Wendy said with concern. "It's not healthy for you to keep going as you are."

Silence.

"Please say something," Wendy pleaded. "Are you trying to die? Don't you want to live?"

"... No," Ysmir whispered hoarsely.

Wendy's eyes widened. Finally. Finally he spoke. From all around the room, her friends and comrades were now watching with keen interest. But... his answer was not one that she wanted to hear.

"Why?" Wendy said. "Why don't you want to live?"

"There's no point anymore," Ysmir replied quietly. "Now please leave me alone."

"But-" Wendy began to say, when she suddenly heard heavy stomping sounds approaching them. Turning towards the source of the noise, Wendy saw Natsu coming over. And he was absolutely furious. That was evident from the wisps of smoke that was being emitted by his body, a common trait for the Fire Dragonslayer whenever he was sufficiently angry, and the expression on his face, which was twisted with rage and anger. "Natsu?" Wendy said in surprise.

"Hey, you bastard," Natsu said as he slammed his hand down on the table and glared down at Ysmir. "So what? Because you lost against that dragon you're just giving up? Are you that much of a coward that you want to die because of just one failure?"

The light of hellish anger flashed in Ysmir's eyes as he stood up and, being taller than Natsu, glared hatefully down at the young Dragonslayer.

"Watch what you say, you brat," Ysmir snarled. "What the hell do you know about me?"

"I know that you're moping pathetically," Natsu said, not budging an inch. "I know that you're trying to die in the lamest way possible. There's no point in you living? Don't fuck with me. You're just trying to run away because you're scared of that dragon. You're just a coward."

Something in Ysmir snapped, and he swung his fist, catching Natsu squarely across the face and sending him stumbling backward a few steps. But after his week-long period of near starvation, Ysmir simply did not have the strength to do more than that. Natsu, having suffered far stronger attacks before, looked nearly unfazed by the sudden assault.

"You don't know anything!" Ysmir shouted furiously. "Everyone was counting on me! My friends! My comrades! Even my enemies and those who have never heard of me! Millions of unborn lives! Entire civilizations, countries and continents! They were all counting on me to kill Alduin to save them all, whether they knew it or not! And because of my mistake, that damned dragon got the better of me! Because of my failure, they all died! All of them! An entire world! What the hell do you understand!?"

Quietly, Natsu stepped up to Ysmir, and for a moment, Wendy feared he was about to hit Ysmir back. Given Ysmir's current physical weakness, Wendy wasn't certain he would be able to handle such an assault, especially from Natsu who had a notoriously hard time holding back his strength. In fact, it was simply more accurate to say that he did not know how to hold back . Wendy moved to stop the conflict when she suddenly felt a metallic hand placed on her shoulder. Looking up, Wendy saw that it was Erza that had grabbed her. Silently and slowly, she shook her head, telling Wendy not to interrupt.

Instead of attacking, Natsu spoke in a calm manner entirely unusual for the normally hot-headed man.

"If I were in your shoes," Natsu said, "I wouldn't give up. Your world is dead? Fine. Then take revenge on that dragon. And if you need another reason besides that, then look around. We're here. We're alive. Even if the world you knew is gone, there's a new one now. And if I were you, this time I wouldn't let that dragon destroy it again. Letting that happen would be the true failure."

Ysmir froze, his jaws clenched tightly and his hands tightly balled into fists. For a moment, he trembled visibly with anger. Wendy fidgeted nervously, hoping that a fight wasn't about to break out. Then Ysmir sighed and relaxed his body, allowing the trembling to stop.

"You're right," Ysmir breathed as he collapsed back into his chair and leaned his head against his hand. "Yeah, you're absolutely right. Precisely because I've already failed once, I need to make sure I don't fail again." As if in response to its master's sudden newly found will, or perhaps simply due to the physical effort of moving in such a violent manner, Ysmir's stomach growled loudly, permeating the silence of the room. Ysmir grinned sheepishly and looked around the room. "I don't suppose I could get some food, could I? I'm feeling hungry."

The room burst into laughter as a smiling Mirajane quickly appeared bearing a large plate of hot food and a mug of cold water. Ysmir began digging into the meal voraciously, and as he ate the rest of Fairy Tail began gathering around.

"Hey, Ysmir," Levy said. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Go ahead," Ysmir answered as he chewed on his food.

"When you and Acnologia – I mean, the dragon you called 'Alduin' – were fighting, it seemed to call you something," Levy said. "'Dovahkiin,' I think it was? What does that mean?"

Ysmir swallowed his food before answering.

"It's a word in the language of dragons that refers to what I am," Ysmir said. "'Dovah' means 'dragon' and 'kiin' means born. Thus translated, it means 'Dragonborn.'"

"Dragonborn?" Natsu interjected. "Is that like a Dragonslayer?"

"Dragonslayer?" Ysmir cocked his head. "Well, I do kill dragons, so I am a dragon slayer, if that's what you mean."

"Dragonslayer refers to a person who uses a special type of magic made specifically for killing dragons," Levy clarified. "It's a lost magic, and really rare."

"Oh," Ysmir said. "Then no. I am not a 'Dragonslayer.' I've never even heard of such a magic."

"I see," Levy muttered as she jotted down some notes in a notebook. "So Dragonslayers didn't exist in your era, eh?" Levy looked back up at Ysmir. "What's a Dragonborn then?"

Wait a minute. Wendy brought a hand to her temple as her thoughts raced through her mind, and the world seemed to freeze around her as something finally began to click in her head. Dovahkiin. Dragonborn. She knew that term. She was sure of it now. She had heard of it once before. But where?

Muu... Wendy screwed up her face in concentration.

In the deep recesses of Wendy's mind, she tried hard to recall the long buried memories. Dovahkiin. She knew that word because... Of course, Wendy realized. Because it was a word in the language of dragons. And if it was about the dragon language, then she most probably heard it from Grandine herself. When? Why?

It was... a story, I think? Wendy thought. A story about...?

And then Wendy finally remembered.

"Dragonborn!" Wendy suddenly declared. "The one the dragons fear!"

"Wendy?" Levy said. "You know what a Dragonborn is?"

"Yes," Wendy nodded. "Grandine told me the story about it before, but because she only told it to me once a very long time ago, I had forgotten. According to her, a long, long time ago there used to be a special type of human who, though they looked like humans, were actually dragons, and that this being was the one that all dragons feared above all else. At the time, I thought she was just talking about Dragonslayers, but now I know that's not the case."

Natsu whirled around to stare intently at Ysmir. "You're a dragon?" he said incredulously. "But... you don't look like a dragon."

"Well, yes and no," Ysmir said, looking amused by the question. "Specifically, being a Dragonborn means that I have the body of a mortal, but the blood and soul of a dragon. That characteristic is what makes me the only one that can kill dragons permanently by eating their soul."

"You eat dragon souls?" Natsu cried out in shock. Then he paused, and leaned in as if he was about to discuss an important secret. "Does it taste good?"

"It was a figure of speech," Ysmir chided. "More accurately, I absorb the soul in order to gain some of its knowledge and power."

"Then, do you know about Igneel?" Natsu said enthusiastically.

"And what about Metalicana?" Gajeel said, slamming his hands on the table.

"And Grandine?" Wendy asked. "Do you know where Grandine might have gone?"

Ysmir shook his head. "I have never heard of any dragons go by those names," Ysmir said. "But about that... Are you certain those are their real names?"

"Of course those are their names," Natsu snorted. "Igneel told me his name himself."

"Who are they to you?" Ysmir asked the three Dragonslayers.

"Igneel is my dad," Natsu said.

Ysmir blinked. "A dragon... is your father?" He looked at Gajeel and Wendy. "And you two as well? This 'Metalicana' and 'Grandine' are you parents?"

"Yeah."

"Yes," Wendy said. "Though, they're only our adoptive parents."

"This is rather... strange, then," Ysmir said as he rubbed his temples. "Not even Paarthurnax would have taken a human as his child, and he is the most human-friendly dragon I've ever known. And the names are also abnormal. Things must have changed much more than I thought since my era."

"What do you mean?" Levy asked as she continued frantically writing in her journal that held notes about everything that had been said so far.

"The names of all dragons are made up of three words," Ysmir explained. "For example, Alduin is a combination of 'Al,' 'Du,' and 'In,' which means 'Destroyer,' 'Devour,' and 'Master' respectively in the dragons' language. Even the name 'Dovahkiin' follows this rule. 'Dov' means dragonkind; 'Ah' means hunter; and 'kiin' means born. Together, they mean 'born hunter of dragonkind.' But Igneel, Metalicana, and Grandine? None of those names follows that rule. So either those are false names, or the way dragons name themselves has changed a lot since my time."

"What? So you don't know anything?" Natsu sighed, depressed. "Damn, just when I thought I had found a clue about where Igneel is..."

"My apologies," Ysmir said sympathetically.

As Ysmir and the rest of Fairy Tail continued to talk and become better acquainted, Wendy let out a sigh of relief. Thanks to Natsu, Ysmir seemed to be back to normal. And if not, at least he regained his verve and will to live. That alone was good enough. However, there was one other thing that Wendy was curious about.

"Hey, Ysmir," Wendy said. "What do you plan on doing after this?"

"I'll chase Alduin and kill him for certain this time," Ysmir answered promptly.

"Do you know where he is or where he might have gone?" Wendy asked.

"I..." Ysmir paused, and then admitted a little sheepishly, "No, I don't."

"What? You were going to go on a wild goose chase without even a clue of where to begin? How reckless," Carla scoffed. "Well, I suppose in this case, the term would be 'wild dragon chase.'"

"I suppose so," Ysmir agreed. "Last time, I had the help of several comrades and mentors who were able to help point me in the right direction. Unfortunately, this time I'm on my own."

"That seems like it'll be difficult," Wendy frowned. "I mean, you don't know anything about the world anymore, do you?"

"No. No, I do not," Ysmir said with a rueful sigh.

"I know!" Wendy said. "Why don't you join Fairy Tail, then? Joining a guild is the best way to learn more about the world and to gather clues, after all."

"Join... Fairy Tail?" Ysmir frowned, brows furrowed.

"Oh! Good idea, Wendy!" Natsu said enthusiastically.

"I agree as well," Erza said.

More sounds of general agreement came from the rest of Fairy Tail. Ysmir looked around at the guild with a hesitant look on his face.

"Thank you for the offer," Ysmir said slowly, deliberately, "but I really cannot afford to allow Alduin to remain alive for even a second longer than I must. Even if I don't know where he is now, I'm certain that if I travel enough, I'll be able to pick up his trail. Therefore, I must decline your offer."

"Hm... Well, wait a moment," Makarov said, approaching the Dragonborn. "If that's what you truly wish to do, I won't stop you, but I do ask that you think it over a little more carefully. With not a clue of where to begin, how do you plan on beginning your journey? Without comrades, do you plan on fighting on your own?"

"Even so," Ysmir said. "I cannot simply allow Alduin to roam free. Who knows what destruction he is causing even as we speak."

"Yes, I understand that," Makarov nodded. "But do you mind if I ask you something? Do you know a guild is, Ysmir?"

"A guild?" Ysmir echoed, puzzled by the strange question. "That's an organization of people who share a common interest."

Makarov shook his head. "It's much more than just that. A guild is a family; a place where comrades forge bonds stronger than that of even blood. The pain of one member is the pain of all its members, and the joy of one is the joy of all. In a guild, we work to help each other through thick and thin, no matter what we are up against. I understand that you wish to hunt down Acnologia – I mean, Alduin – but whether you decide to pursue that path on your own or with comrades at your side is a choice that you have."

Ysmir bit his lower lip in thought for a moment, before nodding once. "You're right. And it's true that there is little sense in journeying aimlessly. Then, if you will allow, I would like to join Fairy Tail."