Magnolia, Year X782 - Two years before the Tenrou Island Incident
The rain continued to fall.
Natsu finally broke the long silence when he spoke up. "I'm sorry…"
Mirajane continued to hug herself, and didn't look over to acknowledge him. Her eyes remained focussed on the gravestone.
Another long period passed by, with both of them staring downwards with intense scowls.
Eventually, she spoke up, her voice quiet and cold. "There are many reasons why this happened. You are not one of them."
It had been weeks since that stone had been placed there, but Mira and Elfman's grief had not shown any signs of improvement.
Natsu sighed quietly, before allowing yet another silence wash over them. The sound of the raindrops hitting the trees of the surrounding woods was all that filled the air. He looked over at her, and still received no response.
Mirajane had bullied him often when they were younger. She was an intense, loud, unpleasant teenager for the most part. She was infamous in Fairy Tail for never getting along with anyone besides her siblings, and it showed in the way nobody ever went out of their way to speak to her other than her family members. Even in their grief, nobody besides Elfman ever came to talk to her. Some were tempted, but most of them kept their distance, figuring she either didn't want to be around anyone or that she would turn violent if they approached.
Natsu wasn't usually the sharpest tool in the Fairy shed, but he could tell that she needed the distraction, if nothing else. He was a caring person, and he knew she was hurting. She wasn't the only one grieving for Lisanna, plus he was all too familiar with the pain of losing what little family you have left to hold onto.
He was also aware that Mirajane held him in slightly higher regard than most anyone in the guild. She had always made a point to patronize him for being a cute victim when they were younger, and once they'd both matured a few years, he became one of the few people she didn't mind hanging around.
As they continued to sit in silence, Natsu decided that he would not leave anytime soon. They had plenty more to talk about.
The Mountains North of Clover Town, Year X791 - Present Day
With panicked, ragged breathing, Donny Deadeye rapidly tore through the forest. He sprinted along the faintly worn paths and occasionally hopped from branch to branch with deft agility. He was the fastest man he knew. There was no way that he could have been followed.
Eventually his frantic footsteps brought him near to his destination. The path opened up to reveal a steep incline before him, where the hillside was lacking in trees, replaced by disturbed earth and gravel instead. At the top of said hill was the sheltered ledge where he and Mudbear had decided to take up residence for a few weeks. The place had proven a great location for their hideout. It was a secure, defensible spot, far away from the beaten track of any travellers or hikers in the area. It was situated just beneath a narrow pass between mountains, and the rock formations wrapped around it, almost completely obscuring it from outside view, unless you were looking straight down from the sky.
Deadeye grimmaced and started ascending the steep mountainside. His stamina had already been intensely tested by the fight he was just involved in, not to mention the long distance he had just run. The damage he had sustained from Natsu's fists weren't to be taken lightly either, having caused extensive swelling on the man's face already, beneath his mask.
As he ultimately reached their hideout location, Donny all but collapsed in front of Mudbear from the exhaustion. The burly accomplice had been busying himself by standing in front of a stolen mirror, wearing all of the jewelry they had recently pilfered at the same time. It was quite the sight to see the 6'8'' man daintily holding his wrist up to his reflection and marvelling at his sparklies.
"Welcome home, dear!" The enormous man cooed in a facetiously high voice.
"We've got trouble…" Deadeye gasped, going down onto all fours and hyperventilating from all the exertion.
The two men had spread out various pieces of stolen furniture at the campsite, making the hidden ledge seem like an oddly placed yardsale up on the mountainside.
"Trouble?" Mudbear grunted, immediately shifting his demeanor and looking pissed off that anything might interrupt him while he was revelling over his new shinies. "And you led it here?"
Deadeye took a few moments to get some of his breath back before responding. "I wasn't followed, but it looks like somebody in the town must have enlisted the help of a magic guild..."
Mudbear frowned and turned around, folding his arms. It was an odd contrast, seeing the mean look on his face and his intimidating appearance while all of his pearls and chains jingled with every movement. "How many?"
"I only encountered two wizards, but they weren't push-overs." Deadeye kept his head down, not wanting to move and see the damage caused to his face yet.
"You did kill them though, right?" Mudbear asked, his disapproving glare already fixed on his partner in crime.
"No… they were… too much for me." He grumbled out of the side of his mouth.
Mudbear let out a boisterous, rumbling laugh. "Wow! Look at you all meek and cowering. Looks like I might need to find a new partner! Maybe one who doesn't wet his little pants when any two guild wimps come after him."
"Oh yea? Did you manage to steal a dress in your size yet? You know, something that will go well with your earrings?" Deadeye quipped.
This just made Mudbear just stare at him, coldly. "Too mean." He didn't take any of the jewelry off, though.
"Whatever. Regardless, I think it's time to send the Clover authorities a little message. Let's see how well they can solicit more wizards to help them after their garrison's forces have been massacred."
"THERE! DOWN THERE!" Natsu yelled, after sniffing the air one more time for good measure.
"Amazing..." Mirajane's demonic, echoing voice stated (with a surprising amount of genuine wonder in her tone.) She was still in the Satan Soul form, and holding onto Natsu's shoulders while tearing through the sky at an astonishing speed.
"DROP ME, NOW!" Natsu instructed, pointing to the campsite in the distance.
Mira immediately did as she was asked, and dropped her payload without question. Natsu started plummeting towards the earth, and spread his limbs out to direct his descent. He bore down on the camp like with furious determination in his eyes.
"Careful now…" Mira muttered, pausing for a moment before swooping down to follow him.
"Think you'll be able to do it without running away and pissin' your pants in fear again?" Mudbear bellowed with a boisterous laugh.
Deadeye just shook his head, and slowly rose to his feet. "Laugh it up while you can, big fella."
A faint, unfamiliar sound then permeated the air, and was only noticeable after Mudbear stopped laughing. "What was that?"
Deadeye held up a finger to hush his enormous accomplice and listened.
"Fire... dragon…"
The sound of Natsu's ballistic yelling became louder and louder. Both men slowly looked up.
"WING ATTAAAAAAACK!"
BOOM!
The dragonslayer's attack landed directly on top of Deadeye's back, sending a violent shock wave of flames and force in all directions. Mudbear had to brace himself as the wall of flame hit him, but he was far enough away to avoid taking any serious damage.
Deadeye, on the other hand, lay unconscious and completely charred beneath Natsu's sinister crouched form. It was amazing that the attack hadn't been immediately fatal, a testament to Deadeye's own resilience. He was most definitely out of the fight, though.
When the smoke and dust cleared, Mudbear looked up and saw Natsu standing there with a maniacal grin. The young man's knuckles lingered on the ground, and his eyes seemed to glow red with the intense passion of his righteous fury.
"Your murdering days are over…" Natsu muttered, before finally standing up straight and igniting new flames in his hands. The words of Master Makarov on the day they assaulted the Phantom Lord guild hall echoed in his mind, and he repeated them with a loud roar, "FAIRY TAIL HAS COME CALLING!"
It proved to be the perfect distraction for Mirajane to make her entrance. Now it was her turn to play.
A/N: Seven chapters in seven days! From now on, I probably won't be updating quite so frequently, but don't despair! I am having a blast writing this story, and don't have any intention of stopping with it anytime soon!
Also, thanks for hanging in through the action parts. You'll be rewarded a big fluff pay off soon enough!
