Fairy Tail Origins: White Eclipse

Chapter 3

"Mary this is boring!" Kuro whined out as he walked beside his mother figure and mentor. The two mages made their way into the closest unnamed town, Mary picking up a small basket as they walked through the market place.

"Be quiet, kid. We won't even be here long. Now, go find your noodles, while I get the rest of our groceries."

Kuro began running, only to have Mary stop him once more. "Kuro! Two packs, and that's it. We can't afford the usual this month."

Kuro waved, and then continued to run off towards the pasta stands.

Mary watched the young boy run off, and then turned to continue towards the nearest fruit stand.

The young fire haired Kuro skipped over towards the pasta stands, looking for his usual packs. Examining the stand he currently stood at, he spotted his favorite flavor, and immediately reached for it with a joyous expression. He picked it up, and with a smile, shuffled down the table line to look for one more pack before heading back to Mary.

Seconds later, a large, stocky male with a scraggly beard appeared beside Kuro. He turned his attention towards the table that the fire maker just left, noticing the empty slot of noodles. "Hey! Who took the last of the chicken flavored!"

Kuro was too busy shuffling through more of the pasta to recognize the giant male, yet the giant recognized the fire maker, holding what he was looking for. "Hey runt!" The male yelled in a sudden outburst. Everyone around the stand stopped immediately, and cautiously stepped away from the stand; not from the fear of the man's built. There was something about him that kept everyone away. Everyone but Kuro that was as he turned around with an innocent yet confused expression. The fire make student blinked a few times, then smiled. "Hey!"

The larger male snarled. "Is this a joke to you!?"

Kuro blinked again, unsure of how to answer. "...Were we playing one?" He blinked again, and then winced as the older male grabbed Kuro by the collar, lifting him off of his feet and to his eye level. "You know who's stand this is!? It's mine! And I want those noodles right there! So hand them over, or suffer the consequences!" All while the burly sized male made his threat, Kuro continuously flailed his legs screaming for the man to let him go. "So you're not gonna hand it over huh!? Very well!" He bared his teeth once more, and then turned it into a grin as he raised Kuro over his head. He was about to slam the young male into the ground. That action was halted, as a fist slammed into the man's jaw, causing him to let go of Kuro as he crashed into a wooden table in the stand. Everyone was speechless as Mary stood there, rotating her wrist with an angered look. "Picking on a kid? My student at that? You picked the wrong ones today, ugly."

As she finished her declaration, a group of shady looking men all slowly stood up from where they were sitting. Mary and Kuro took notice as they began to slowly surround them. Kuro ran over to Mary, but was quickly grabbed by one of the men. "Stop grabbing me!" He yelled, throwing weak punches towards the male who easily held him down. Mary turned to see Kuro in trouble once again, but as she did, the male she struck, slammed an elbow to the back of her head. Mary fell face first into the ground, groaning in pain as she struggled upward. "You don't know who you're messing with here huh?" The burly man spoke once again.

"Tell em boss!" The skinny man who was holding Kuro down spoke. At once, they all rolled up their sleeves, showing a signature mark on their arms. "Mage's Trap. That's right, we're mafia mages, and you're in our territory. Why do you think no one is helping you." He and the other mafia members began to belch out a laugh as Mary made her way to her feet, snarling lowly as she stood up against the male. "So now, we're going to pummel you and your kid over there."

{He's not my kid.}

"Wait..." Mary panted, holding the back of her head, hunched over a bit. "I'll pay whatever I have...or take whatever beating is coming alone. Just don't touch the kid...please..."

Kuro's eyes widened from Mary's plea as the male walked towards his teacher. He held his hand out, and Mary looked at it. A relieved expression came over her as she dug through her pocket, and handed him her wallet. He took her entire purse. "Forty thousand jewel? Nice." The burly man grinned, and then used his oversized hands to grab Mary by the face, and slam her through a wooden table, back first. Suddenly, that relieved expression was gone, as Mary laid there on top of the broken table.

"Mary!" Kuro yelled in horror, struggling to break free. It was no use, as the man picked her up again, and tossed her into the ground. Mary made it to her hands and knees, but that's as far as she got as the male slammed a kick into her abdomen. The force of the kick sent her into a stack of wooden crates. "Fight back!" Kuro yelled, tears quickly forming and falling from his eyes as he was forced to watch his teacher and mother figure take such a beating. "Sh-shut up Kuro...and stay put..." Mary sat up against the wall, holding her right arm as she shivered in pain. She winced, only keep one eye open as she saw a blurry figure walk towards her. "Oh? You're not hurt? Well then let me help ya!" Once again, the mafia member slammed an open palm into Mary's face, slamming her head into the concrete wall she leaned on. In that instant, Mary was out cold, her head leaving a small crater in the wall as she slumped over unconsciously. "MARY!" Kuro continued to struggle, finally breaking free due to the larger male snapping his fingers, causing the others to follow him away from the scene. Kuro slid over to his teacher, and immediately began shaking her, the tears falling continuously as he tried to wake her. "Mary! Wake up please! Mary!"

Finally, Kuro broke down, crying over his teacher as everyone around them did their best to ignore the two mages, going about their everyday business.

Finally out of the icy tundra that he called home, Waiston Tunundra continued his slow depressing walk westward, unsure of where to go. The only thing on his mind was where his dragon mother, Tunundra could of went to. With no clues he continued on, self loathing as he shuffled along the now dry plains of Fiore. Hours later, Waiston came across a man and a woman. The male was tall and built while the woman was of average figure. They both were sitting in their own carriage, devious grins plastered on their faces as they watched Waiston walk towards them, as if the young dragon slayer was their next victim. "Hey kid. Where you headed?" The male asked. Waiston looked up towards the two as he passed, shrugged, and then kept walking. "Hey!" The woman exclaimed. "No need to walk away. You look alone, have you eaten?" Waiston shrugged again. The woman grew a bit irritated, yet the male kept his cool as he hopped off his carriage in front of Waiston, and showed him a bowl of ramen. Waiston looked at the bowl, and then back at the smiling male who held it.

Now inside the carriage, Waiston had just finished the contents of his bowl. He then bowed, after sighing in relief. "Thank you..." The young slayer said as he bowed. The woman hummed. "You seemed really hungry! That was three bowls just now."

Waiston nodded. "So why are you guys out here in the middle of nowhere?"

The man smirked. He could see Waiston's eyes become heavy. "We're rare item hunters. We like to collect and sell things that you won't find in many places."

"Oh?" Waiston's only response as he began to yawn a deep yawn. "Man, what was...in that soup..?"

This time, the woman began to grin, absolutely sure that Waiston was just about to incoherent to properly respond. "We saw that jacket of yours. It's made of dragon scales right?"

Waiston nodded, unable to put two and two together as he slowly laid backwards, his eyes nearly shut. "Well, that's rare...and we'll be taking it."

Hours later, Waiston awoke in the grass where the carriage once was. He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he looked around. "Huh? What happened?" He yawned once more, and then attempted to slide his hands into his jacket pockets as he stood. He stood up completely, now in a panic as he desperately looked around. "...It wasn't a dream..! Those two stole my jacket!"

Waiston quickly leaned his head back, and began sniffing the air, hoping that their scent was still lingering even after all this time. It took him a minute, but he finally caught on to something, and took off in a dead sprint towards the north. All he could see was mountains over the horizon as he ran towards the two rare item hunters, following their scent.

"Stop crying kid, damn. You're not even the one hurt." Mary was awake, and the two of them were back home. She was sitting up on the bed, unwrapping the bandages that Kuro horribly placed on her just to rewrap herself expertly in her own.

"But...! It was my fault! I'm sorry! Now we're broke and we don't have much food left and you're hurt!"

"Not gonna tell you again, Kuro. Shut up." Mary winced in pain as she finished wrapping her left arm. She bit off the tape and tossed the roll off the bed as she stood up. She then looked at the sniveling Kuro, and sighed. "Look, if you feel so bad, go... go run around the shack one hundred times for punishment."

Kuro nodded, and then ran out the house, now running around it in a sprint to push himself for the punishment he believed he deserved. As he did, Mary watched from the window. She winced again, holding her arm from the injuries. "I'm gonna have to figure out how to feed us for another month.. I guess natural things will have to do. It'll be a good diet for him." She sighed as she placed her chin on her hand, continuing to watch Kuro as he already became tired from full sprinting around the shack twenty times. He panted, hands on his knees as he gasped for air. He then looked at Mary in the window. She twirled her finger, signifying that he was no where near done. He nodded while still panting, and then began taking off again, this time jogging instead of sprinting. "That kid. I have no idea why I let him stay with me and learn fire make. I'm usually never this nice. But..."

"Finished with the repairs!" Calium stood in front of the small house with a comical smile. His fingers were taped, signifying his inexperience with tools. "It took all ten of my fingers, but I fixed this place up! Finally I get to enjoy my peace and solitude! Twelve snowy mountains all to myself!" His ear to ear smile was followed with a light chuckle as he walked inside. "And they said Calium, you're too old to be on your own! No matter how strong you are, you'll die out there! Well look at me now!" He walked inside, then sat down on his single chair in front of his fireplace. He placed his staff down, and struck a match, throwing it in the pile of wood that he stacked inside the fireplace. The blaze was lit, and the elder rocked back and forth in his chair as he watched the endless snowfall from his lone window.

"Peace."