The next day Natsu was looking appraisingly at the apartment he was in and then said, "I don't like it."

Kagura groaned from next to him, "This is the third one today! You have to pick one eventually. You are not staying with me again!"

Natsu grumbled as they left the apartment and walked back out to the street, "I still don't see why not."

She took her sheathed sword and smacked him with it, "Because it's improper, like I have already told you."

The pink haired boy rubbed his arm where she'd smacked him and whined, "Come on Kagura, please? It's not like I have any of these jewel things to get an apartment anyways."

Kagura looked thoughtful as they walked along, "Hmm, that is a good point. We must go on a job then, to get you some money."

Natsu asked, "Is that what you were doing when I met you?"

The girl nodded, "The job was to take out those bandits that you helped me defeat."

Natsu grinned, "So if we take jobs, then we get to fight people?"

Kagura shook her head, "Not necessarily. Sometimes clients want mages to find something that's difficult to find, or to help research something."

Natsu said, "Those sound boring. Let's find a job where we get to fight something strong!"

Kagura laughed at him as they walked into the Mermaid Heel guild. They walked through the small anteroom and into the much larger common room. Large circular tables were scattered about the room with Mermaid Heel mages sitting around them chatting. A large chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, sending light to every corner of the room. The walls were a pleasant off white and opposite the entrance was a small bar doing brisk business.

When the two of them entered all eyes were trained on them and Natsu grinned and waved, "Hey everyone!"

Half of the women in the guild immediately turned their backs, some going so far as to turn their chairs around to face away from him. Some just went back to talking as if nothing had happened. A few waved back at him and he got some small smiles. One woman stood up and walked over to Natsu and Kagura. It was the same woman who'd spoken up for Natsu the day before while the guild was voting. He got a better look at her now as she strode towards him and Kagura.

She was quite small, only a little bigger than the Master although she seemed to be around Natsu's age, and wore a knee length green dress. She had shoulder length blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief and her lips seemed to be on the verge of breaking out in a grin as she reached the two and said, "Don't mind them. They're just mad because they didn't get their way."

She put out a hand to shake and said, "I'm Riley."

Natsu stared at her hand for a moment and then used it to pull the girl in for a bone crushing hug. When he let her go he grinned, "I'm Natsu."

The girl was trying to get her breath back when Kagura hit Natsu on the head with her sheathed sword, "Didn't I tell you not to randomly hug people! You were supposed to shake her hand."

He rubbed his head and said, "Why would you want to shake a hand?"

Both of the girls gave him bemused looks as Riley said, "It's… It's just a thing people do when they meet each other."

Natsu grumbled, "Jeez, humans are weird."

The blonde girl raised an eyebrow and said, "You know… you're a human too."

Natsu waved it off nonchalantly, "Nah, I'm more of a dragon. Well… I'm a dragon in the body of a human."

Riley looked him over curiously, "I heard you say that to Layna when you guys fought. Why would you say that?"

He grinned, "Well, I've lived with Igneel, who's a dragon, for the past twelve years."

She gaped at him and turned to Kagura with wide eyes, "Is he serious?"

The dark haired girl nodded, "If I hadn't seen the dragon with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it either."

Riley turned back to Natsu, "So Igneel was a fire dragon, and taught you fire magic?"

He nodded, "Yep, I'm the Fire Dragon Slayer. What kind of magic do you use?"

The girl held out a hand and sparks began to fly between her fingers and over her palm, "I use lightning magic. I can show you if you want."

The dragon slayer eagerly nodded, not noticing Kagura shaking her head frantically. Riley grinned and pointed a finger at Natsu, zapping him with a small bolt of lightning. It made him jump and then rub his arm furiously where it had struck him, "Ouch that was pretty painful. I bet you'd be fun to fight. Want to?"

Riley laughed easily and said, "No thanks. I saw how you destroyed Layna and don't exactly feel like having the same thing done to me."

Natsu shrugged, "If she hadn't underestimated me I might have had a harder time. She was way too overconfident."

The blonde laughed again, "Either way, she's still stuck in the infirmary wrapped in bandages so I think I'll pass on the fight."

Natsu smiled at her, "Well anytime you change your mind, I'm definitely up for a fight."

Kagura jumped in then, "Come on Natsu, we need to pick out a job so that you can make some money."

He pumped his fist in the air and said, "Right! Money means a house, and a house means a bed!"

Riley gave Kagura a bemused look, "What's with his obsession with beds?"

She only shrugged, "He's never had a bed and he slept in one for the first time two days ago, apparently they're the best thing in the world now."

Kagura turned to Natsu and said, "Go pick a job, the boards over there; I need to go talk to the Master in her office for a moment."

She walked off and Riley followed her. Natsu looked over to where Kagura had pointed and walked to a large pegboard with numerous pieces of paper stuck to it. He examined a few of them and figured out rather quickly that he wasn't going to be able to understand a single word. He grumbled under his breath, "I can't believe she made me do this when she knows I can't read."

He looked over all of them and finally spotted one with a picture of a dragon and some unintelligible words. He grabbed it and then turned around to look for Kagura. She wasn't in the large room and he didn't feel like waiting for her to come back. Natsu walked over to the table nearest to him and politely asked one of the women sitting there, "Where is the Masters office?"

The women glanced at him and then pointed a finger at him. A jet of water shot out of the tip of her finger and blasted Natsu in the face. He stood there blinking his eyes as water dripped off of him and his wet hair stuck to his forehead. The woman said, "Go away."

A kindly looking older woman gave her a dirty look before saying to Natsu, "It's down that hall, second door on the right."

He nodded to the woman in thanks and then let out a burst of heat to dry himself and his clothes. It had the added effect of causing the woman to topple out of her chair in surprise and spill tea all over herself. Natsu walked down the hall the woman had pointed too and could hear the laughter and angry murmurs that came from behind him.

The dragon slayer found the second door on the right and walked in to find Kagura and Riley talking to the Master who was sitting behind a desk. The two younger women turned when Natsu walked in and Kagura asked, "Did you pick a job."

Natsu grinned and gave it to her saying, "It looks awesome! It has a dragon on the front."

She quickly read it over and then said dryly, "This is a job researching dragons. The client wants mages to come sort his collection of books and find the ones dealing with dragons. Then he wants you to read them, pull out the pertinent information, and prepare a report for him."

Natsu blanched and snatched it back, "No way. That sounds way too boring. They need to put more accurate pictures on these things."

Kagura gasped, "I'm so sorry Natsu! I forgot you couldn't read!"

The Master raised an eyebrow and said, "Really?"

Natsu nodded with a resigned look on his face, "I didn't need to read when I lived in the woods. Igneel never taught me to."

Riley tried to suppress chuckles as the Master said slowly, "Well, that's something you'll need to learn if you're going to live in human society."

The dragon slayer scuffed his feet on the ground and muttered, "I should have just stayed in the forest when Igneel left."

Sensing the dragon slayers mood Kagura said, "But if you'd stayed in the forest think about all the fun fights you'd have missed out on."

He thought about it for a moment and then grinned, "You're right. Now, go pick a job where I get to have more fun fights!"

All three of the women laughed and Kagura replied, "Alright Natsu. Get your guild mark from the Master and I'll be right back."

She left and Natsu asked, "Guild mark?"

Riley turned around and lowered the right strap of her dress until he could see the Mermaid Heel symbol on the back of her shoulder, "This mark denotes that you're a mage in our guild. Wear it with pride because you're probably the only man that will ever receive it."

The Master smiled warmly at him and pulled out a stamp from her desk before coming around to stand in front of him, "Where do you want it?"

He thought for a moment and then turned slightly, presenting his right arm, "Right here."

She pressed it to his arm and he felt a warm sensation as the magic within it imprinted the mark on his skin. After a moment she pulled it away and he had to twist his head a little to see, but he saw the Mermaid Heel mark standing out in bright pink on his arm. Riley couldn't help but laugh, "Don't you think pink is just a bit non masculine?"

He slowly brought up a hand to point at his pink hair, "Well my hair is pink so… no. Second, I keep saying I'm a dragon, not a man, so I don't need to worry about things like that."

Riley gave him a dumbfounded look but the Master sighed, "Natsu, you're a man like it or not. Your joining has had very real implications and ramifications for our guild that we haven't even begun to figure out. Now more men will try to show up, men with much less character than you, and we will have to turn them away which will cause large amounts of trouble because we made an exception just for you. We have, perhaps, lost our identity because of the fact that you joined our guild and may have to carve out a new one."

Natsu looked at her for a moment and said, "Alright. Slower, and with less big words please."

She sighed again, "You're a man. Deal with it. We're glad to have you in the guild."

The dragon slayer grinned, "Well, I'm glad to be in the guild, but I'm still not sure about this being a man thing."

Kagura walked in the door and said, "Are we still on this? Natsu, you and I are going to have to have a talk."

Natsu replied, "We're talking now aren't we?"

The girl smacked him with her sheathed sword and said, "It's a figure of speech, it means we're going to talk about a specific subject later. Here, I've got a job request that might appeal to you. We're going to escort a convoy from a bank here in Rose town to a town a few days away. There's a very high chance it will be attacked because it's carrying gold and rare gems. The reward is enough for you to buy a nice house and an even nicer bed, so come on."

Riley dashed forward and snatched the request from Kagura, "Hey, I've had my eye on that request, mind if I tag along?"

She hesitated, "Well, this is mostly a job so that Natsu can get enough to buy a place to live, if we split the reward three ways I'm not sure it'll be enough."

Natsu interjected and slung an arm around Kagura's shoulder, "Don't worry about it. If it's not enough I can always stay with Kagura until I do have enough."

A moment later he found himself glued to the ceiling by Kagura's gravity magic and she was saying, "What have I told you about getting to familiar with people!"

He groaned from the weight of gravity pressing up on him and said, "Don't do it."

The force suddenly let him go and he fell to the floor. He stood up and rubbed his head while Kagura said, "Good. Now, let's go. Riley you can come if you want to."

The dark haired girl strode out followed closely by Riley and Natsu muttered to the Master, "I think I'm more scared of her than I am of Layna."

The Master let out a laugh, "Don't tell anyone this, but I think one day Kagura is going to surpass Layna. She has a lot of untapped potential. Now go on, you'd better catch up or Kagura might unleash that sword of hers on you."

At this the dragon slayer jumped and ran out to catch up with the two girls leaving the Master behind. The small woman chuckled and then went to sit back behind her desk. She picked up a stack of papers and looked over them muttering, "I think things are about to get a lot more lively around here."

A form caught her eye and she picked it out of a pile and read it, "An invitation to join a regional guild meeting, from Makarov himself? My, my, it seems we are moving up in the world."

Natsu caught up with the two girls just as they exited the Mermaid Heel building. Kagura was saying to Riley, "We'll probably need to pack for about a week; we'll meet at the bank in two hours to start the job."

The blond woman nodded and headed off to her home to start packing. Kagura looked at Natsu and said, "We're going to have to get you some more clothes, because there is no way you're staying in those for an entire week."

He looked down at his clothes and said, "There's nothing wrong with them. I'll just go jump in a stream and that should clean them just fine."

Kagura sighed, "No. I'll buy you a few new sets of clothes and you can have my spare backpack."

The dragon slayer pouted but relented, knowing that he probably wouldn't win the argument. He followed her back to her house where she packed a few things into a backpack and threw him one. She then dragged him to a clothing store where she quickly picked out a few sets of clothes that pretty closely matched his own. He didn't understand all the weird looks he was getting in the store though so he asked Kagura, "Is it my hair? Everyone is looking at me funny."

The girl grimaced, "It's because you're a guy with a Mermaid Heel mark. You're unique and it's bound to draw some attention."

When she tried to buy him a new scarf he said, "No, I don't need a new scarf, this one is fine."

She questioned, "Why? It seems pretty old and worn."

He said quietly, "It's the only physical thing Igneel ever gave me, so I'm keeping it no matter what."

Natsu could see the chagrin rising in the girl so he said, "Come on let's go! I want to fight somebody strong!"

Kagura smiled at him and agreed. They began heading towards the bank and Natsu was drawing more and more stares and whispers on the streets. He could hear all of them with his enhanced senses. Most of them he didn't understand which was probably a good thing. He still didn't understand it when two old men sitting at a café on their route shouted out to him, "They're letting men into Mermaid Heel now? How much are you getting there youngster?"

He crinkled his nose trying to think and then leaned down to a heavily blushing Kagura, "What do those guys mean?"

She shook her head and squeaked out, "I'm not telling you. But you're not getting any of it."

He shrugged and kept following her to the bank where they only had to wait a few minutes for Riley to arrive. The first thing he said was, "Some old guys asked if I was getting any in Mermaid Heel and Kagura won't tell me what that means. Will you?"

Riley's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she slowly said, "If you have to ask, then you don't need to know."

Natsu shrugged and then grinned, "Alright! So… what now?"

Kagura replied, "We have to go meet the client and then we'll head out with the convoy."

Natsu nodded and shouted, "Alright, I'm all fired up!"

Riley laughed, "I think you're a bit too fired up."

When she said that he noticed small jets of flame shooting out of his mouth and hands and he quickly brought his excitement under control, "Heh, sorry about that. Let's just go."

He followed the two girls into the bank and they met the client. The banker was a fat old man in a suit and Natsu honestly didn't pay attention to anything that was going on. After a few minutes they were done talking and so the dragon slayer followed all three of them out a small side door where he saw five large wagons. The banker said, "Four of these contain the cargo that we're transporting. The fifth is for you three. They all have drivers so your only task will be to protect the cargo if it's attacked."

Kagura nodded, "Of course sir, you can count on us."

The banker looked at his watch and cursed, "Damn, they were supposed to leave twenty minutes ago. You had better get going."

Kagura and Riley both nodded and immediately headed to the wagon at the end of the line, Natsu followed but with some trepidation. Both of the girls climbed in but Natsu stood just outside. He could hear the wagons at the front of the line start rolling away and Riley said to him, "Come on, get in Natsu."

He said, "I don't know. Last time I was on something like this it was not fun at all."

Kagura chuckled, "Come on, I told you that was probably a one-time only thing."

He grumbled, "Alright, I'm coming."

The dragon slayer cautiously climbed in and sat next to Kagura before saying, "Alright. This isn't so bad."

The wagon lurched and began moving and Natsu immediately regretted his previous statement. His stomach began roiling and his face turned a sickly green color. He slowly keeled over and said, "You were wrong Kagura. I really don't like transportation."

Riley scooted over to him and glanced over his sickened form before saying to Kagura, "What exactly is he talking about? He looks terrible."

The dark haired girl sighed, "The same thing happened to him when we took the train back to Rose Town after I met him. He got extremely motion sick while we were riding the train. I figured that it was a one-time thing since he'd never been on something like transportation before. I guess I was wrong."

Riley chuckled, "Well, I guess we found his weakness."

Natsu groaned, "Next time I'm picking the job, one that doesn't involve transportation. Now I'm going to take a nap."

He tried to get comfy and finally found a spot that didn't make his stomach quite feel so terrible. In a few moments he fell asleep.

Hours later the dragon slayer groaned when the wagon hit a bump. Riley said quietly, "Did he wake up?"

There was a rustle of movement as Kagura checked him, "No, but he's been groaning in his sleep for a while. Poor guy, I feel sorry for him."

The blonde chuckled, "You can say that again. It's been pretty quiet though, I doubt we'll have much trouble."

It was Kagura's turn to chuckle, "Don't say that, you'll probably jinx us."

Riley replied, "It might cheer Natsu up if I did. He really wants to have a fight."

Kagura sighed, "He's so childish. The only things I've seen him get excited about are fighting and food, and having a bed."

Riley shrugged, "There's nothing wrong with that. Hell, what do you think he did out there in the woods with a dragon for twelve years? I bet there was nothing to do but train and eat."

This drew another sigh from Kagura, "I understand that. He's going to be living as a human now though; he's going to have to learn how to act in a human society. He can't even read!"

Riley chuckled, "He's been out of the forest for what, two or three days now? You have to give him some time to adjust. Besides, you're going to teach him to read aren't you?"

It was Kagura's turn to shrug, "If he wants me to. I think I'm pretty much stuck teaching him everything about society. He's a nice guy, just supremely ignorant."

Riley suddenly shifted topic, "So is what Layna said true? Is he your little boyfriend?"

Kagura laughed, "Not at all. I'm just being nice. I'm much too young for any of that, and I highly doubt he understands what a boyfriend is anyways. The first night I was with him I tried to explain that only couples in relationships slept together in the same bed and he asked what a relationship was. No, he is definitely not my boyfriend."

Riley glanced slyly over at him, "He's pretty cute, maybe I'll take a pass at him."

Kagura groaned, "Didn't you hear him going on about not being a man but a dragon? If you try something like that it will probably confuse him."

Riley chuckled again, "You're probably right. But look at him; he is definitely a good looking guy."

Kagura said dryly, "If you wanted good looking guys around all the time you shouldn't have joined an all-women's guild."

The blonde said softly, "You know why I joined the guild Kagura. Layna is right about some things; deep down all men are pretty much the same; despicable. They only want one thing from you and they'll do anything to get it. I've had less bad experiences with men than her, so I don't hate them; I just find them extremely distasteful."

The dark haired girl replied in the same soft tone, "Then why are you being so nice to Natsu. It was probably your little speech that convinced the guild to even tie in the voting to let him in."

This drew a chuckle from the lightning mage, "Kagura, I meant what I said. Layna went too far when you brought him back. Plus, he wanted to join not because we were a guild full of women, but because his one friend in the world was there. I don't think he even understands all of the implications of a man joining an all-women's guild. I think I can be nice to this one man."

Kagura smiled, "Well at least someone other than me and the Master can be nice to him. People voted for him to be let in, but I think a lot of it was a reaction to what you said and because of Layna's craziness."

It was dark now and Riley stuck her head out the back of the wagon to check the sky before saying, "We're probably going to stop and make camp soon."

Her prediction was accurate when a few minutes later the wagons found a small clearing on the side of the path and all parked there. The horses pulling them were fed and picketed by the drivers who all quickly settled down to sleep in their own wagons. As soon as the Mermaid Heel mages wagon stopped Natsu opened his eyes and said weakly, "Are we there yet?"

Kagura smiled at him, "We're making camp for the night."

Natsu hopped up and dove out of the back of the wagon, landing on his stomach on the ground and saying, "I'm so glad to be back on real ground, I'm never leaving you again."

Riley climbed out of the back of the wagon and gracefully dropped down next to Natsu, "Well, until tomorrow when we have to keep riding."

Natsu rolled over and popped up to his feet, "Oh no way, I'm never getting back in one of those things again."

Kagura had hopped down by this point and she said, "Oh yes you are. Now come on, let's find a place to sleep, and we'll need to figure out who's going to take watch during the night."

The moon gave them a good bit of light to see by and the dragon slayer followed the two girls to a sheltered spot between two large trees. Both of them pulled sleeping bags out and lay them on relatively flat spots. Kagura then looked at Natsu standing there watching and said, "Damn, I forgot that you didn't have one. You should take mine and I'll just sleep in the grass."

Natsu shook his head and said, "I've been sleeping for the past few hours so I'm pretty awake. You said we need to keep watch, well I'm definitely the best for that."

Riley glanced at him curiously from where she was now sitting on her bag, "Why do you say that?"

He grinned and tapped his nose, "I'm a dragon slayer. I may not have the senses of a dragon but my nose and my ears are much better than normal humans."

The blonde continued, "How much better do you think they are?"

Natsu shrugged, "Can you identify people by smell?"

Both of the women looked shocked. Kagura said, "Of course not. Are you saying that you can?"

The dragon slayer grinned, "Yeah. Every person I've met so far has a distinct scent, and even when they're covered up by sweat or dirt I can smell that scent."

Riley asked him, "That still doesn't explain why you're the best at taking watch."

He said, "I'll smell them coming and I'll hear them coming. I could hear some of the women whispering about me from across the hall today. One of them said some mean words about me and another said she'd like to play my abs like a piano, whatever that's supposed to mean."

Both girls glanced at each other and then giggled in unison before Riley said, "If you have to ask Natsu, then you don't need to know."

The dragon slayer grumbled, "There seems to be a lot of that going around."

The blonde replied kindly, "There are just some things you pick up once you've been around people long enough. I'm sure after a while you'll get it."

Natsu looked at her hopefully, "Really?"

She nodded but Kagura cut in, "Don't go teaching him things like that, before we know it he'll turn into a pervert and turn out like Layna thinks he will."

Natsu scratched his head and asked, "What's a pervert?"

Riley burst out laughing and it echoed throughout the woods, "I don't think we have to worry about that anytime soon. Let's just get some sleep and let Natsu keep watch tonight."

Both of the women crawled into their sleeping bags and got comfortable while Natsu leaned up against a tree next to them. Kagura said softly, "Goodnight Natsu."

He looked down at her and grinned saying in the same tone, "'Night Kagura. 'Night Riley. I'll be around if you need me."

He looked up and then suddenly jumped up into the trees and disappeared from the girls' sight. They both closed their eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep, much in the way Natsu had done earlier in the day, just without the crippling motion sickness.

Sometime in the middle of the night both girls awoke with a start at the sound of a huge explosion. They both shot out of their sleeping bags and looked around just in time to see the fading glow of a giant fireball a hundred yards away. Kagura and Riley looked at each other and said, "Natsu."

The girls were about to go charging out to find him when dark shapes began to detach from the darkness and take the form of men surrounding them. The girls got back to back and Kagura muttered, "Take these guys out now, worry about Natsu later."

Riley replied tersely, "Agreed."

Kagura drew her sword and lightning began to flicker around Riley. A moment later they both let out a shout and charged at the enemy surrounding them.