HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS! I hope everyone had a really good holiday season! I took this break as an opportunity to write fanfiction, as well as get tons of much need sleep! And, as you can see, I'm finally getting around to posting another chapter! This one is a fairly lengthy one, so I hope that's a good enough excuse for its tardiness :P I'm really excited to share this one with you guys. I'm introducing a totally new character who I absolutely love. Also, please forgive any grammar mistakes; I usually take a lot of time to edit and proof-read my chapters, but I wanted to post this as soon as possible. I hope you like this chapter! Comment, favorite, and follow! .
Chapter 10: In Which Dresden Has a Conversation with a Beast
The unwanted wizards wasted no time the next morning. They woke early and ate a small amount of their packed rations for breakfast. As Natsu handed the bartender the key to their room, she asked what they intended on doing.
"We're heading back into the forest to learn more about this monster," Natsu replied. He then gave her a long, scrutinizing look, and asked slowly, "You haven't, by any chance, heard of anyone called the Disciples of Aeternum, have you? We heard that we could find them in the Waas Forest."
The barkeep laughed roughly. "If you wizards are looking for something in those woods, you really are crazy. If the monster doesn't kill you first, then you'll get lost in the forest's tangled maze of underbrush and vines."
Natsu smiled knowingly. "You didn't answer my question."
"Let's just say the people of this town, myself included, don't get involved in the petty conflicts between wizard guilds."
Dresden pushed her way past Adam and her father to face the woman at the counter. "First off," the archer began tersely, "the Disciples of Aeternum aren't a guild-they're a freaking cult of kidnappers. And second, this isn't some petty conflict. These people took our family, and if you have any information about them we would really appreciate it if you shared it with us."
The woman sighed and set down her dish rag. "Listen, all I know is that there has been recent activity in the west parts of the forest. I swear, that's the only thing I've heard."
"Thank you," Natsu said with a grin. "Let's go kids." The seven teenager followed the dragon-slayer out the door.
"Beware the beast!" the barkeep called after them.
The Waas forest was a lot more welcoming in the daytime. The sun shone between the canopy of leaves above, dappling the leaf-covered ground in shadow and sunshine. Naru noticed that everyone was in a considerably better mood than they had been last night.
Adam was surprisingly chipper, and kept asking Naru all about his time away from the guild. "So you've never been on job?" he asked, some unmasked surprise in his voice.
Naru shook his head. "This is my first time away from the mountain since I left Fairy Tail."
"Whoa. I can't imagine being able to do that," Adam admitted as they walked side by side.
Naru looked ahead of him at his sister and Ellura, who were laughing and giggling with each other. Lucky was napping atop Dresden's bobbing head.
"There were some people that I needed to protect," Naru explained.
Adam nodded. After a few seconds of amiable silence between them, Adam said, "Well, after all this is over and we go home, the first thing we'll do is go on a job together with the others."
Naru smiled. "I would like that." It was a strange, but nice feeling to have friends.
Thinking on this, Naru took the opportunity to talk to some of the others. However, he eventually resorted to walking in silence and enjoying the scenery. Despite the terrible situation that Fiore's guilds were in, Naru was somewhat glad to have this time to explore the world away from the mountain.
Naru suddenly caught an odd scent on the wind. He stopped in his tracks, looking at his dad, Dresden, and Monty. It looked like they hadn't sensed it. Naru took a deep whiff, puzzled. It was very faint, but there was definitely some sort of strange smell in the air. He couldn't quite place the scent, but whatever it was it smelled dangerous-poisonous.
"I'll be right back," Naru said to Adam.
The requip wizard looked confused but nodded. "Ok, but don't lose sight of us."
Naru lifted his head to find the scent again, and began to follow its trail into the trees. As he followed it, he became so focused on finding the source that he lost track of time. He hadn't really meant to disregard Adam's instruction to not lose sight of the other wizards, but as the young dragon-slayer looked at his surroundings, he realized just how deeply he had traveled into the forest. He stopped sniffing; the scent was so near that it was almost overpowering. Naru examined the area in which he stood. He was in a clearing, yet he still couldn't see anything. Puzzled, he leaned his back against a nearby tree.
He would have been content to rest there for awhile, but chips of tree bark began to rain down on him from above. Naru didn't even have enough time to look up before he heard a loud 'CRACK', and then a shrill, "Oops!"
"What the…?" Naru was suddenly flattened to the ground, as an immense force landed on his back and knocked the air out of his lungs. Groaning, he craned his neck, trying to see what was still sitting on top of him. The last thing he expected to see was a teenage girl.
She let out a knowing chuckle and looked at him directly. "That tree has had it in for me for a loooong time," she said with raised eyebrows and an amused smile. "Lucky you were able to catch me in time!"
Although in excruciating pain, Naru managed to get a good look at his accidental attacker. The first thing he noticed about the girl was her big, round, dark blue eyes; they sparkled with laughter, and maybe the tiniest hint of crazed lunacy. She had shoulder length, brownish-blonde hair, that was pulled halfway up into a short pony tail. Naru groaned again, and the girl had the decency to finally get off of him.
"That tree is very, very bad," she said, pointing to the oak that she had just fallen out of. "But I love him all the same!" She skipped to the tree's trunk and threw her arms around it with a giggle. "His name is Albert!"
"Uh…" Naru managed to stand. "What?"
The weird girl's face whipped around to face the pink-haired boy. "ALBERT!" she called, as if speaking to someone who was hard of hearing. "A-L-B-E-R-T. Albert. But don't ever call him Al. He hates that name!" A thought seemed to dawn on her, and she suddenly removed her arms from the tree with a gasp. "That's why you let me fall?! Because I called you Al one time?!" Her eyes widened and her voice dwindled into a whisper. "Albert you have betrayed me." She sunk to the ground with a soft, "Nooooo!" She lay there with her eyes closed. A few seconds passed.
Naru wasn't quite sure what to say, or if he should say anything at all. "Uh...Miss?" He tentatively approached the girl. "Would you like some help?" He had never seen anyone act so bizarre. It was true that he had been away from civilization for a decent amount of time, but he was pretty sure that this behavior was considered strange. "Are you lost, ma'am?" Naru tried again.
"I got lost once," she replied without opening her eyes. "I was so, so, SO hungry that I ate some funky moss. I should have known not to eat the moss. I mean, there are so many bad mosses. Especially yellow-mottled moss. I should have known that it was yellow-mottled moss; I mean, I do know my mosses. I know all about moss. For instance, moss is technically a land dwelling algae, adapted to life on solid land. It has no root system, and tends to live in very moist places. Oh!" her ocean-colored eyes shot open. "Moist!" Her lips curled up into a long grin. "That is an interesting word, isn't it? Haha! Moist. Moist." She let her voice linger on each part of the word, and Naru began to feel uncomfortable.
"I just want to make sure that you're...okay…" He trailed off and stared at her as she began to move her arms and legs up and down in the leaves covering the forest floor.
"I am 'A-OKAY'!" she replied with enthusiasm. "Look! I made a leaf-angel!"
"Rrright…" Naru began to slowly back away. This poor girl had clearly gotten lost in the woods, and was in shock. Naru needed to find his guildmates before the monster came and attacked them both. "Why don't you stay right here while I go get some help."
"I wish I'd had some help when I was puking up my yellow-mottled moss!" she called after him as he disappeared in the direction from which he had come.
The fire dragon-slayer ran quickly through the trees, trying to catch the scent of one of his fellow wizards. At last the familiar scent of his friends caught his nose, and he veered sharply to the left. As he ducked under a low-hanging branch, he silently prayed that he'd be able to track that strange girl down again. She was clearly unwell.
Naru suddenly tripped and found himself tumbling into Sheng and Monty. The three mages landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs.
"Geez Naru, what's the idea?" Monty grumbled, picking a cluster of leaves out of his long blue ponytail.
"Where have you been?" Sheng asked, helping the pink-haired teen to his feet.
"We'd all like to know that," Dresden said. She and the other two girls looked at Naru with expectant glances. Ellura's eyes met his, a hint of worry in her expression.
"You said you wouldn't lose sight of us!" Adam crossed his arms grumpily.
"We thought you'd been eaten," Lucky piped up. The white and blue striped exceed has found a new resting place on Natsu's shoulder.
"Well son?" Natsu's inquiring, green eyes appeared more amused than anything else, so his son relaxed a bit.
Naru sighed. "I thought I smelled the monster," he finally admitted, "so naturally went to go check it out."
"Naturally," Lizz agreed sarcastically.
"Naru, you could have been seriously injured," Adam scolded.
"Well, did you find any monsters?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not exactly sure." Naru was unsure how to begin. "I followed the trail, but it led me to a girl."
"A girl?" Ellura asked, confused.
"Yeah," Naru said with a shrug. "She was just on her own in the middle of the woods. She actually fell on top of me, from out of a tree. And I think she might've hit her head, because she was acting very peculiar."
Natsu was actually speechless for a few seconds. "Sooo…"
"We should probably go back and help her," Naru explained.
Most of the others has doubtful looks on their faces, but Lizz spoke up. "Perhaps this odd girl has seen something. Maybe she knows something about the Disciples of Aeternum." Natsu and Adam both slowly nodded in agreement.
"Well, you'd better track her down again," Natsu told his son. "If what you say is true, she may need our help."
It seemed as though Naru's nose had been stuck in the air, sniffing away for hours. Dresden watched along with the others as he scurried to and fro, desperately trying to find the scent of his odd "mystery girl".
Ellura had folded her arms and slouched grumpily next to Dresden. "Why is he so obsessed with finding this crazy chick anyways?" she asked.
Lizz cocked a sharp eyebrow, and gave her brunette friend a surprised glance. "Are you...jealous?"
"No way!" Ellura's grey eyes shifted to one side uncomfortably. "I'm simply curious."
"You've been around my twin for less than three days, and you already have a crush on him?!" Dresden asked incredulously. "What happened to liking Captain "Dreamy-Eyes"?"
"Captain who?" Adam had chosen the wrong moment to begin listening.
"Captain Fallon. The Magic Councilman who first informed us about the wizard kidnappings," Lizz explained. "Before she totally sassed him out, Ellura kept giving him the googly eyes."
"Gross Ellura!" Adam said in disgust. "That guy was a total prick."
"It's ok," Lucky spoke up. "She gives Naru googly eyes now." He looked up at Ellura innocently with his enormous eyes. Ellura groaned and slapped her forehead.
"Ellura's in loooove!" Monty teased, appearing next to her.
The water-phase wizard grabbed him by his long, blue ponytail and yanked it downwards. "Not so loud," she hissed. She looked up to make sure Naru hadn't overheard, but he and Natsu were still scampering around the forest trees trying to find the strange girl's smell.
"Well I think it's precious," Sheng said with a wink. Ellura gave him a slight smile.
"No one cares what you think," Lizz said coldly.
"And also no one actually knows why you're here, Sheng," Adam added.
Sheng gave them both a wounded look, but continued. "Love is a beautiful thing!" He blinked his sky-blue eyes dreamily, but Lizz just shoved him aside and kept walking.
Ellura hastily stepped in front of her five friends, and glared at them sharply. "Not a word of this conversation reaches Naru, understood? I swear I will end you all if you talk about it again."
"Understood," Dresden agreed with a smirk. "But you'll never live down the googly-eye display that you gave Captain Fallon." Ellura shot her friend a murderous look, but otherwise stayed silent.
The teens and Natsu continued to follow Naru, but it quickly became apparent that the young dragon-slayer had no idea where he was going.
Finally, he looked up at his dad and his friends, a defeated frown on his face. "I can't find it. I don't know why, but the trail is gone."
"Great," Lizz muttered sarcastically. "We just wasted another day chasing an imaginary girl."
"I swear she's out there somewhere!" Naru looked at them all pleadingly. "I saw her!"
Natsu rubbed his forehead with a sigh. "We believe you Naru," he said. "But it looks like we need to refocus on locating the Disciples of Aeternum."
"Who knows what they're doing to all the wizards that they've taken," Adam added. "We need to find everyone before someone is hurt, or worse."
Naru nodded. "You're right. Our guildmates need our help."
"I'll scout ahead," Dresden offered. "I'll signal if I see anything suspicious. You guys should keep scouring the woods for evidence of their hideout." Natsu gave a nod of approval, and Dresden bounded off into the trees.
As the blonde archer ran, her sharp green eyes scanned the branches and bushes that flew past. Everything seemed normal. She began wondering if the Aeternum hideout was being hidden by some sort of magic shielding spell. She figured that Lizz had already come to the same conclusion, and that she was probably already thinking of a way to counteract it.
Dresden smiled. Although Lizz had the combined magic abilities of both Mirajane and Laxus, the white-haired girl was constantly reading about all types of spells and enchantments. Lizz spent long hours, studying with Monty's mom, Levy, in the library. If anyone could figure out how to locate the hideout, it was Lizz.
Dresden had gotten a bit lost in her thoughts, so she barely noticed the faint scent of poison in the air. Immediately, Dresden skidded to a halt. The smell was gone, and Dresden was about to dismiss it as her imagination, when her keen ears suddenly heard something. Someone, only a few yards away, was humming.
Dresden furrowed her brows, and walked silently in the direction of the tune. She was careful not to step on any twigs or branches as she made her way into a clearing. There, sitting on a rock, with a book in her hand, was a girl. She was just as Naru had described her: dark-blonde hair, enormous blue eyes. The only thing that was missing was the strange behavior that Naru had talked about. The girl seemed normal enough, despite that fact that she was wearing slightly odd clothing. Her full-length skirt was comprised of long strips of multicolored fabric, and she seemed to be wearing peach-colored pumps. She was hardly dressed appropriately for traipsing about a forest. Dresden decided that she would proceed with caution, even though she appeared harmless.
Dresden cleared her throat. "Excuse me?" she called.
"Did you know that armadillos almost always give birth to quadruplets?"
Dresden blinked in confusion. "Pardon?"
"Armadillos," the girl replied. "They live in hot, desert-like places and eat bugs."
"Yes, I've heard of them, but why would you randomly say that?" Dresden asked, taken aback. "Haven't you ever heard of simple greetings, like "hello" for example?"
The girl looked up at Dresden with her round eyes and smiled. "Excuse me, I was just so excited after reading about Armadillos in my book." She closed the book and set it in her lap. "Hello!" she finally greeted.
"I believe you met my twin brother earlier," Dresden began. She could see what Naru had been talking about; this chick was obviously a little off. "He has big brown eyes, pink hair, and doesn't like to to talk very much."
"Oh yes! He was very nice. He made an excellent cushion."
"I'm Dresden Dragneel." The archer approached the strange girl and stuck out her hand.
"I'm Hana," the girl replied, tilting her head and looking curiously at Dresden's outstretched hand. "What are you doing?"
"Haven't you ever heard of a hand-shake?" Dresden watched as Hana's eyes widened even more.
"Oh! I have heard of them before!" She clasped Dresden's hand and shook it firmly. There was a surprising amount of force in her grasp. "It is a form of friendly greeting in many cultures."
Dresden cocked an eyebrow. "Yeaaah...So...what are you doing out here all by yourself?"
"I'm not by myself," Hana replied with a wide smile. "All of my plant friends are with me."
"Plant friends?"
Hana ignored Dresden's confusion and kept talking. "Besides, I'm not allowed to go into the village. My guardian told me that the people there would hurt me. He said that, they would attack me because they are afraid of me."
"Wait, what?" Dresden suddenly looked at the girl in a new light. Was she the one who had given off the strange, poisonous scent?
"I actually shouldn't be talking to you. I need to go." Hana stood up to leave.
"Hold on!" Dresden held her hands up. "Are you the monster that the townspeople want to kill? You're the terrifying beast that has been terrorizing Mireglade?" Dresden couldn't believe this, but as Hana turned to go, the Fairy Tail wizard was able to ask one more question. "Do you know anything about Aeternum?"
To this question, the mysterious girl turned to face her. There was a dangerous glint in her dark-blue eyes. "I know that they've been hurting my trees," she responded darkly. She thrust a hand upward towards the trees. A thick vine shot towards her and wrapped itself around her wrist. "And I know that they have made Albert and me very, very angry." With that, Hana was whisked away, and disappeared into the treeline.
"Wait!" Dresden called out in confusion. "Who the heck is Albert?!"
Soooo? Did ya like it? I hope you guys love Hana just as much as I do. I wanted to create a totally insane, crazy, spunky character for my fic. I have a lot of fun writing her dialogue because she literally just spouts random crap. Is there another kind of character you'd want to see in this Next Gen fic? Comment and tell me! Also, who is your favorite character so far? Do you ship any couples yet? Lol I know I do...*snickers internally and feels no shame for shipping my own characters*
Unfortunately since school is about to start up again, Chapter 11 may take awhile for me to get to. I am so sorry if it takes a long time, but I hope it's worth the wait in the end! We're getting really close to the climax of this arc of my story, so hang in there guys! Like I said before, I plan on continuing this fanfiction, so after this plot line, these guys will still have many more adventures! Don't forget to comment and ask questions! Seriously, I would love to hear from you all! Favorite and follow if you liked it! Thanks so much for reading guys; I really appreciate the fact that someone actually is taking the time to read my stuff. Watch out for chapter 11 and have an awesome weekend ;D