To begin with, I would like to give a big thank you to my latest patron. They are also the reason this story got two quick updates in such a short amount of time, as it was my way of saying thank you, since they wanted this story updated. After this though, prepare for more TTONU. Once again though, other stories will be updated sporadically, but TTONU will be updated consistently. About half of a chapter for AMH is written and I made a brief start on another chapter for HOD, but that is all so far. I've finally gotten a boost for TTONU, so I will be writing more for it as well, as the first two chapters I wrote were a bit of an effort to write, considering I've been reading close to zero Naruto fanfics lately. I'll also try and get a few updates for WHBTS, as it has received pretty good reception and I do enjoy writing it quite a bit. I also might switch over to AJPD for a bit as well, as I have a really good idea for it that is just begging to be written. The others are kind of lower on the priority list, but I do want to update TBTB soon… In any case, back to WOF. I'm working my way through their childhood and the time-skips will start next chapter. There will be a skip to the S-Class trials (the ones in X779, not X784), then to X781, after both Mira and Erza are S-Class. On that subject, I mistakenly referred to Mira and Erza as S-Class mages in the last chapter, when they are not. I've changed it now, so if you didn't notice that, don't worry, but now it is correct. After that, I'll be playing out my original pre-canon arc, which will also explain more about Natsu's past and how he knows/has, the various things that he does. With that said, I'd say we will get to canon by maybe… chapter 10… give or take a chapter or two. I'll try to keep things brief, so as to not bore you with pre-canon stuff, but some things need to be shown, as they are important to the story. Well, with all of that said, enjoy the chapter!
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Fairy Tail anime/manga. All I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
*expression*
FlashbackTechniques
Chapter 4 – Feeling is Believing
The Natsu Search Party had put in a hard day of training after their lunch and then went their separate ways. Natsu had told the others to be back again at nine sharp and if they were late, they would help him with shooting practise. Needless to say, everyone was there by nine.
'Okay Lisanna, now it is time for me to help you use Maker magic without hands.' Said Natsu happily.
'And I say flame brain is off his rocker.' Added Gray.
Mira, meanwhile, was helping Cana with her Explosion magic and Erza was coaching Elfman on how to control his telekinesis. Happy was simply sitting on Natsu's head, taking a snooze.
'Just trust me ice cube, I know what I'm doing. Okay, Lisanna, first thing I want you to do is watch this.' Said Natsu, holding his left hand out in front of her.
Lisanna stared at Natsu's hand in confusion, before it was engulfed in flames.
'That is fire magic which is similar to Fire Make magic, but not the same. The idea is the same, using your imagination to control your magic, but you mould your magic differently. Maker magic uses a magic circle, but this way, you don't need the magic circle, which is why you can use it without hands. I call it: Elemental magic.' Said Natsu proudly.
'So it isn't maker magic then?' Queried Gray.
'Well, aside from not needing to use your hands, it is basically the exact same thing.' Answered Natsu.
'Ok then Natsu, how do I do this then?' Asked Lisanna cheerfully.
'Firstly, imagine there is a fire in the pit of your belly… it helps if you close your eyes.' Said Natsu.
Lisanna promptly closed her eyes and scrunched her nose up in concentration.
'That's it.' Said Natsu softly, moving closer to Lisanna and setting his hand on fire.
Gray saw Natsu nearing Lisanna and was about to speak, before Natsu quickly rounded on him, almost knowing he was about to speak and used his left hand, which wasn't on fire, to bring his index finger to his lips in a silent shushing motion. Natsu slowly placed his right hand just over Lisanna's navel, just barely avoiding her clothes.
'I feel it.' Said Lisanna.
'Okay, now, here is what you do. Focus on the fire, feel it flowing throughout your body, your arms, your legs, even along your fingertips. Feel it wash over you.' Said Natsu almost hypnotically.
Lisanna did as Natsu said and felt the heat spread around her, all the while, Natsu was slowly moving his right hand, which was now aflame, around her body.
'Now, here is the tricky part, control the fire. Form it into a line of fire and push it through your mouth. Just imagine the fire rising from your belly, up your throat and out of your mouth.' Continued Natsu, moving his hand to just below Lisanna's chin.
'Control the heat, control the fire and expel it.' Said Natsu, as he quickly moved away from Lisanna, defusing the flames around his hands as he did so.
To Gray's shock, Lisanna then opened her mouth and shot out a small stream of fire.
'Awesome work Lisanna, you did it!' Cheered Natsu.
Lisanna opened her eyes and noticed the trunk of a nearby tree was charred.
'I did it?' Asked Lisanna in surprise.
'Yep, you really did it!' Exclaimed Natsu.
'That's so cool Natsu. You're a great teacher.' Praised Lisanna.
'Thanks, but you're a quick learner. You controlled that fire like a professional. Now all you have to do is experiment with it.' Said Natsu happily.
Natsu then walked away, making his way to Mira and Cana, only for Gray to follow him.
'What the hell was that flame brain?' Whispered Gray harshly.
'Magic is believing Gray. If you feel something and think it is yours, you magic won't deny it. Magic resonates with other magic, all you need is imagination and a little bit of belief to control any magic. Mages aren't restricted to one type of magic after all. The important part is not blocking things off in your mind. You'll never learn fire magic, because you know ice magic and you won't believe you can learn it, so you won't. Lisanna on the other hand, didn't believe either way, so I just gave her a push.' Explained Natsu calmly.
'How exactly do you know that?' Asked Gray suspiciously.
'Igneel told me of course. How do you think a Dragon Slayer learns their magic? It all comes down to your belief. If a dragon tells you that you can learn its magic, you will. Especially if you don't know any other magic before that. Dragon Slaying magic works by being like a dragon, eventually, with enough time and interactions with an actual dragon, you'll pick up the magic, if you try hard enough. The trick is finding a dragon that won't outright kill you, or just leave you.' Answered Natsu.
Gray just looked at Natsu in confusion, before wandering off to Erza. Natsu then made his way over to Mira and Cana, who looked to be discussing something.
'Hey Cana, how's it going so far?' Asked Natsu, only for Mira to answer.
'Turns out Cana is a natural at this. She'll be better than me at this rate.' Said Mira in surprise.
'Really? In that case, why don't you let me take over for now?' Asked Natsu.
'You… okay then, let's see what you can do.' Said Mira in disbelief.
'Okay, firstly, what do you understand about Explosion magic so far?' Asked Natsu.
'That you gather your magic and destabilise it to produce a burst of energy.' Said Cana simply.
'Right, now here is the tricky part: how do you control the explosion?' Asked Natsu, getting confused glances from both Mira and Cana.
'You don't control an explosion, Natsu. That defats the point of it being an explosion… what are you, stupid?' Mocked Mira.
'That does sound weird Natsu.' Added Cana in agreement.
Natsu grumbled in annoyance to himself before walking over to a tree and slapping his palm against it.
'Okay then. Now then, Mira, since I'm sooo dumb and you're sooo smart, explain how to do a time delayed explosion?' Said Natsu grandiosely.
'You can't that's the…' Started Mira, before Natsu flared his magic and the tree behind him exploded, sending woodchips and dust flying into the air.
'…point.' Finished Mira in shock.
'You were saying?' Teased Natsu, with a cheeky grin.
'How the hell did you do that?' Demanded Mira.
'Guess.' Said Natsu seriously.
Mira just looked at him in shock, opening her mouth a few times to speak, only to close it when she had no answer.
'Cana? Any ideas?' Asked Natsu, only for Cana to shake her head, causing Natsu to sigh.
'Fine, I'll explain. Now, you both understand that an explosion is caused by destabilising magic, right?' Asked Natsu, only for both of them to nod.
'So if magic destabilising causes the explosion, keeping the magic stable prevents the explosion.' Said Natsu.
'Well obviously, but how does that apply here?' Asked Mira.
'What I did, was inject magic into the tree, but not destabilise it right away. There are two ways Explosion magic can be used. The first, is with a time delay, the second is with an instantaneous burst. I want Cana to learn the instantaneous one because even though she could, say, place magic in her cards and then cause them to explode, it isn't all that different to what Cana can already do. Add to the fact that channelling magic into a person, is much harder than channelling it into a card or a tree, so it won't really help her for close combat fights anyway, unless she is willing to possibly take a hit or two. In any case, the time delayed explosion works by keeping a living link to your magic once it leaves you and then destabilising it after some time, when you want an explosion.' Explained Natsu.
'That sounds really complicated, Natsu.' Pointed out Cana.
'I know, which is why I don't want you to bother with it. Not that you couldn't do it if you wanted to, but I just had something different in mind.' Said Natsu.
'What then?' Asked Mira.
'This.' Said Natsu, rearing his fast back and slamming it into another tree, which exploded once Natsu struck it, getting gobsmacked looks from the other two.
'It is way easier to channel your own magic and simply destabilise it on the point of impact.' Said Natsu cheerfully.
Mira was the first to regain herself and shook her head for a moment, before adopting an outraged expression.
'How the hell do you know all of this stuff anyway?' Asked Mira.
'Well, I had a friend in the past who used time delayed explosions and I had a long discussion with him on why instantaneous explosions are better. He didn't listen to me, but I still beat him when we fought.' Explained Natsu happily.
'How did you do all of this stuff? Aren't you like twelve?' Asked Mira.
'Just because I look like I'm twelve, doesn't mean I'm twelve. You're thirteen aren't you? Well you still look like a little kid as well.' Said Natsu indignantly, sticking out his tongue.
'Why you… little brat.' Growled Mira.
'What's the matter Mira? Want to help me with shooting practise?' Asked Natsu in faux ignorance, pulling his guns out of… somewhere and levelling the right one at Mira.
Mira glared at the weapon in annoyance, before pursing her lips.
'No.' Said Mira sourly.
'In that case, I'll keep explaining Explosion magic.' Said Natsu happily.
'Now, to do this, Cana, you first need to recognise the flow of your magic. In order to destabilise it, you need to go in the opposite direction of this flow, which is the hard part. The explosion works like this. First, you flow the magic to the point of impact normally. Secondly, you make the magic at the point of impact flow in the opposite direction, back against the flow of your magic. Lastly, this is the tricky part too, you need to expel the magic flowing in the opposite direction, along with the magic flowing in the normal direction, together. This way, the two blobs of magic mix in the outside and cause a big explosion. If you can do that, the whole thing becomes really easy. You'll probably end up wasting a lot of magic at the start though, but that's what the band is for.' Said Natsu calmly.
'Oh, I forget to tell you guys!' Shouted Natsu suddenly, gaining everyone's attention.
'You can also change the bands to your liking. I just keep mine like this because I think it looks cool. All you have to do is focus on the band, use a bit of magic and it will change to whatever you want.' Said Natsu.
Mira looked at her wrist and the band instantly warped into a metal band. Cana looked at hers and turned it into a metal bracelet.
'I'll keep mine like this, it was a gift from you after all.' Said Lisanna happily.
'As will I. A gift from a friend should be kept as it was from the beginning.' Added Erza.
Gray changed his into a metal bracelet as well.
'I'll keep it like this as well I guess, I'm not very creative.' Said Elfman.
'Alright, with that out of the way, anyone want to help me with target practise?' Asked Natsu cheerfully, only for everyone to avoid his gaze.
'Aw come on. Please! I'll make the bullets really, really weak.' Whined Natsu.
The group continued to avoid his gaze.
'Fine then, Happy, let's go train, you can help me.' Said Natsu, to the drowsy cat on his head.
'Natsu! You can't shoot bullets at our son like that! It's dangerous!' Said an alarmed Lisanna.
'I'm not going to shoot at Happy, I'll get him to fly in the air and drop things for me to shoot. This way he can get stronger at carrying things too. What do you take me for Lisanna? I'm not going to hurt my friends.' Said Natsu in shock.
'Oh, okay then.' Said Lisanna happily, causing the others to look at them weirdly.
'Let's go Happy! We can get fish after this as well!' Cheered Natsu.
'Aye sir!' Cheered Happy energetically, before the duo headed off, leaving the others.
'So, are you two afraid of Natsu now or something?' Asked Lisanna mischievously, looking to her sister and Erza.
'Hah! Me? Scared of Natsu? Don't be absurd Lisanna.' Scoffed Mira.
'Of course not.' Added Erza.
Lisanna kept her playful expression. After a moment, a gunshot was heard followed by a bang and both Mira and Erza flinched.
'Oh, you two really fooled me.' Giggled Lisanna, with an impish expression.
-line break-The group of six mages and flying cat had continued their training for the next few months and all had found themselves growing stronger and unknowingly, much closer with each other.
Erza and Mira still fought, but it was more playful than anything… at least until the insults started flying.
Gray had also mellowed out, but still didn't believe Natsu could be this smart.
Elfman had also started to gain more confidence in himself and had started to try and better himself, as a man.
Lisanna was still as mischievous as ever, but could now shoot fire from her mouth along with her sass.
Speaking of shooting, Natsu had absolutely impeccable aim now, able to hit a falling stone, dropped by Happy, hundreds of metres away, right in the centre.
Happy had also gotten a lot stronger and a little bit bigger, now being able to carry Natsu himself for a few minutes.
Lastly, Cana had finally gotten the hang of Explosion magic and could now shatter a tree with a single hit, just like Natsu had done months ago. All in all, the group had flourished in their training, something their secret observer, Makarov Dreyar, was very happy about.
It had been another good day of training for the group. Mira, Lisanna and Elfman had left ten minutes ago, heading home, so Mira could get started on dinner.
Gray had left a few minutes after that, wanting to take a nap, having tired himself out a lot that day.
Only a minute ago, Erza had headed back to the guild, wanting to go on a quick job to earn some jewels, for a new set of armour that had caught her eye.
This left Natsu alone with Cana and Happy, who was contently dozing on Natsu's head, as the two had finished their training and Natsu was just examining Cana's magical output when she used her Explosion magic.
'I've got to say Cana, you've gotten really good at that. You don't waste any magic at all anymore, which is awesome, considering you only started learning it a few months ago.' Praised Natsu.
'It was either that or repeated magical exhaustion.' Muttered Cana quietly, unaware that Natsu had heard her anyway.
'In any case, let's call it a day and go fishing.' Said Natsu happily.
'Mmm, Natsu, I want fish.' Mumbled Happy sleepily, not quite awake yet, but starting to stir at the mention of fish.
'Again? Sure, why not.' Said Cana, after some thought.
'Awesome. I even got a new bunch of spare fishing rods this time as well.' Said Natsu proudly.
'How many did you get this time?' Asked Cana curiously.
'Eight. One for each of us, just in case.' Said Natsu happily.
Cana merely smiled in amusement, before following after Natsu.
'So, do you think you've gotten stronger now, Cana?' Asked Natsu, as they walked through the forest.
'Sure, I guess, why do you ask?' Questioned Cana curiously.
'Well, what do you think about having a chat with Gildarts?' Asked Natsu.
Cana didn't respond for a while, causing Natsu to look at her curiously.
'I want to be S-Class first… like him.' Said Cana quietly.
'*sigh* You know, you are just making it harder on yourself.' Said Natsu, causing Cana to look down slightly.
'But, I said I'd help you and I will, until you feel ready to tell him yourself.' Finished Natsu, causing Cana to softly smile at him.
'Thanks Natsu.' Said Cana.
'What are friends for?' Questioned Natsu rhetorically.
'Well, as far as friends go, you doing an awful lot. Most people wouldn't put in this much effort into things.' Pointed out Cana.
'Well, I'm not most people, am I? After all, how many people can eat fire like nothing?' Quipped Natsu.
Cana nodded her head in agreement.
'Good point.' Said Cana, just as the two finally reached the same fishing spot as before.
The two sat down on the side, and threw out their lines, waiting for the fish to start biting.
'So Cana, what do you think about your new magic?' Asked Natsu, making conversation as they waited patiently.
'It's pretty interesting. I never did think about close combat magic, but I can't deny it is useful. That being said, how do you know about all of these different types of magic?' Asked Cana curiously.
'That's part of the secret.' Said Natsu impishly.
'Really? Must be some secret then.' Said Cana in surprise.
'Believe me, it is one hell of a secret.' Snickered Natsu.
'Well, secret aside, if you knew all of this stuff in the past, why'd you always act so naïve?' Asked Cana curiously.
'Well, that is also part of the secret… but I can say a little bit I guess.' Said Natsu, getting Cana to look at him searchingly.
'Well?' Prompted Cana.
'Think about it like this, if I was a dragon, but didn't want people to be scared of me, wouldn't the best way to do so, be to act nothing like a dragon?' Questioned Natsu.
'I guess, but you're not a dragon… are you?' Replied Cana.
'No, I was just using that as an example. Anyway, the point I was making, was that if I acted like those stuffy adults, I wouldn't be able to have fun with all of you. Maybe I was a bit too cheerful, but that's just the kind of person I am.' Elaborated Natsu.
'Why don't you just act normal?' Asked Cana.
'Cana, when it comes down to it, what is normal? I mean, we use magic. That alone already makes us abnormal. Normal is boring and life should be fun. That's why I want to help you talk to Gildarts because once you do, you'll be a lot happier.' Said Natsu, giving a fanged grin.
Cana was silent at that and Natsu didn't speak further, allowing their conversation to come to a halt, as they continued to fish in silence. As the sun started to dip below the horizon, Natsu pulled his line out of the water.
'Well, we might as well eat a few of these, before it gets too dark.' Said Natsu, referring to their recent catches.
'Fish!' Exclaimed Happy happily, before jumping off Natsu's head and grabbing a fish.
Natsu grabbed a few sticks from the ground and placed a few in a pile in the centre, while impaling some of the fish through their mouths with the others, placing them around the pile, embedding them into the ground. Natsu then gave a quick exhale, launching a small stream of fire at the pile, causing it to burst into a crackling fire, which slowly cooked the fish.
The group ate in silence, until Happy passed out from gorging himself on fish again.
'So Cana, do you think you'll get recommended for the trials this year?' Asked Natsu.
'Probably not. I know we've improved a lot, but we still aren't strong enough. Besides, it'll probably be Laxus this year, he's gotten really strong as of late.' Said Cana.
'Yeah, that sounds about right, but I'm sure next year will be your shot for sure. Laxus might be strong, but you have a lot more range. Besides, if we keep the training up, you'll be really powerful soon enough. Explosions are powerful after all.' Said Natsu thoughtfully.
'What about you, Natsu? Do you want to be S-Class?' Asked Cana.
'Eh, not really.' Said Natsu, rubbing his chin in thought.
'Why not, didn't you want to be the strongest? Being S-Class means you are recognised as being strong?' Asked Cana inquisitively.
'I see… so that's why you want to be S-Class.' Said Natsu, causing Cana to giggle slightly.
'Yeah, I guess you caught me, but still, why wouldn't you want to be S-Class?' Asked Cana curiously.
'Okay then, how about this? I'll become S-Class when you do, sound fair?' Proposed Natsu.
'But Master only ever has one mage become S-Class each year.' Pointed out Cana.
'Well, I'll just have to change his mind when the time comes then.' Said Natsu optimistically.
'If you say so.' Said Cana in amusement.
'Just you wait Cana, we'll be the first dual S-Class mage graduates in Fairy Tail history!' Exclaimed Natsu brightly.
'Ah, now you've even got me believing you. All right then, we'll do it together.' Agreed Cana happily.
"Hmm, maybe I can make one exception when the time comes." Thought Makarov happily, observing his two mages from a distance, with a content smile on his face, at the deepening bonds of friendship between them.
Now, considering I'll be starting Uni by the time of my next update, which hopefully won't take too long to come out, I've decided on a nice little Kyuubi's corner, as I prepare to focus more on reading, than writing, in the coming months. Just quickly though, don't mistake this for me not writing anymore, it just means given how much time I'll spend on public transport and studying, I'll have a lot more time to read than I will to write. Anyway, the issue this time is… the mind numbing Fiore/Magnolia opening. To begin with, we've all seen the anime (or at least one episode). We know Fiore is a neutral country. We know it has a population of 17 million. We know it is a land of magic. We know some people use this magic to earn money. Blah, blah, blah, we know. It was bad enough the anime kept putting this in for the first few episodes, but do we really need to read about it, in the first chapter of hundreds of fanfics? I mean, a line or two, something along the lines of "Fiore, a land of magic, the home of Fairy Tail and the place where our journey begins." is enough. I get the need for a brief intro, but rehashing the anime opening intro is just tedious. I mean, anyone reading fanfics has at least seen a few episodes/chapters of the original media, so the same opening from the media is wholly unnecessary. It adds literally nothing to the story, aside from a couple of words. No new information. No indication on what path the story will take. Nothing. Now, if you want to start the story in Bosco, or Alvarez for example and then have the character go to Fiore, then the introduction would have some use, especially if you described Bosco or Alvarez previously and are now juxtaposing the two. That would be the appropriate thing to do… but for stories that start in Fiore and stay in Fiore, it is just pointless. In any case, any story that starts with this intro, sucks just a little bit of my enthusiasm for the story, right out of me. Sometimes, the story is great and sometimes it isn't, but reading the same thing hundreds of times over and over really gets tedious after a while. Well, that wraps up this edition of Kyuubi's corner. See you all next chapter.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.