FULL CHAPTER IS OUT! Finally after all this time the next official chapter of this story is out. Now this chapter is more filler, but I still like it and had fun writing it. I hope you guys all enjoy it and don't worry, the next few chapters and arc are definitely gonna be awesome.

"Zane's log, Entry 10: I am now continuing my journey through the wilderness. I have yet to find any traces of my guild or civilization in general. Luckily the isolation hasn't driven my insanity to the brink yet, but I'd best find my way home or to my guild before it eventually grips my mind and the isolation of the wilderness claims my mind." Zane narrated as he journeyed through the woods.

The other night after he and his guildmates defeated Eisenwald and the Lullaby Flute, the guild masters chased them for destroying the conference hall. While Zane did manage to get away, he also managed to lose his friend as well. So right now, he was focusing on either finding them, or a way back to the guild. He was sure his friends and guild master could easily take care of themselves, and they knew he could easily handle himself; it was still better safe then sorry.

Thankfully due to survival and manly lessons from his Uncle Elfman Zane knew how to survive in the while easily. Last night he was able to construct a small shelter, build a fire, and father food in less then an hour. And it was always enjoyable sleeping and eating under the stars. He didn't know why, but food taste so much better when you eat it outside. And Zane always had an interest in stars and just space in general. Once again, he couldn't explain it, but whenever he looked up at the night sky and saw the endless starry sky of space, he swore he heard something or someone calling out to him.

But he couldn't focus on that now. Right now, he had a simple mission. Find his guild and/or the way home. Although finding his friends was hard since he couldn't sense their energy anywhere. Luckily, once again thanks to Uncle Elf, he knew how to get around the woods. Like finding out which direction is which by where moss was facing on the tree.

He decided it was better to walk then to fly for one to save his energy just in case, and two so he wouldn't miss anything that could possibly help guide him to either of what he was looking for. Plus, he rather enjoyed a nice quiet stroll through the woods. Just appreciating the natural beauty of nature.

Taking in a deep breath, Zane simply smiled and looked towards the clear blue sky. "At least today's a good one." He whispered to himself as he stood in place just basking in the suns gentle and relaxing rays when…

GROOOOOOOOOWL

Zane's eyes shot open and, despite no one being present, blush in embarrassment from the sound that emitted from his stomach. It's been a few hours since he's eaten and it look like it was time to refuel. Patting his stomach, Zane sheepishly smiled as he said. "Guess I better find some food."

Zane then closed his eyes in concentration. He focused on his hearing and smelling trying to see if he could sense or hear anything that could feed him. Just then Zane's ears twitched as he felt like he heard someone. It was faint but noticeable. It sounds like something flowing…a liquid…a river! Zane opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound of moving water and licked his lips. "Time to fish." The monkey-tailed boy said before heading off in the direction of the water source.

After a brief job, Zane eventually came across a slow-moving river. He rubbed his hands together as he licked his lips again. He knew there would be fish here and if they were anything like the fish in the woods near the guild, they would be big and meaty. Just the way he liked it. Snickering to himself, Zane went over to the very edge of the land that lead into the water, turned around…and dipped his tail into the water. "Come on fishes, come and get it." Zane said as he swung his tail around a tiny bit inside the water.

Zane made up this trick himself, and it proved to be a very effective way to both fish and train his reflexes and patients. After only 2 minutes of slowly wagging his tail in the water, Zane looked back to see ripples in the water, slowly making their way towards him. Zane smirked as the ripples got closer, and closer, and closer, until eventually…

SPLASH!

Feeling a tug on his teeth, Zane quickly and strongly pulled up his tail with all his fight and a giant purple fish that was easily tens of times bigger than the 12-year-old came flying out the water. It had multiple whiskers, sharp teeth and yellow eyes. Zane responded quickly as he flew right above the fish and kicked the fish hard and sent it to the ground with a thud and killing it instantly. Zane then landed in front of his catch and dusted off his hands as he smiled widely. "Come to papa." Zane said as his stomach practically growled with excitement.

"Alright big guy," Zane said happily as he grabbed the tail of his catch. "Let's cook you up."

Later, Zane had constructed a large enough fire in an open area and set it up so it would risk spreading. He had set up the fist he got by stabbing it with a large stick and stabbing the other end into the ground so the fish would be right above the flames. It took around 20 minutes to cook up and once it was done, it only took 5 minutes for only bones of the river monster to remain. Once he was done eating, Zane put out the fire and rubbed his stomach in satisfaction. "Man, that was good, can't get much better than freshly caught fish. To bad Happy wasn't here, he would've loved it."

However, this brought a frown to Zane's face as he began thinking of his lost guild mates. "Man, I hope everyone's doing ok."

SOMEWHERE ELSE

With the group of Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, and Master Makarov, they were all together and walking through a desert-canyon area. They as well were trying to find they're way back, and currently…

"Ah man this is bad! This is really, really bad!" Natsu yelled in worry as his head as practically a blur as he constantly changed which direction, he was looking in. The reason why he was doing this was because he was looking everywhere, they went for Zane since they ended up losing him when running from the guild masters.

"Now, now Natsu Zane's perfectly capable of handling himself." Makarov reassured the Dragon Slayer with a calm tone.

"I'm not worried about him! I'm worried about us!" Natsu revealed as he stopped his constant head turning to look at the master with a terrified expression. "If Mirajane finds out we lost him we're dead meat!"

"I'm sure we'll find him…eventually." Makarov said as he tried to keep his calm demeaner, but in reality, he couldn't help but be nervous and a little scared. He may be one of the wizard saints and the master of Fairy Tail…but not even he would stand up to Mirajane when she was in Overprotective Mom Mode.

"We better, the last time something happened to Zane-" Gray was saying but was cut off.

"Don't…even…say it." Natsu said as he paled out as his all the courage in him was drained away. "I don't want that in my head again."

"Aye…" Happy said grimly.

However, Lucy couldn't help but be a little curious and asked. "What happened."

Natsu, Gray, and Happy lost all their color in response and even Makarov started trembling a bit. Before Lucy could ask again, Erza put a hand on the blond's shoulder, he eyes shadowed by her hair. "Hush my sweet summer child, we'd best not speak ill of those involved in the incident." Erza said with a normal tone, but the others could notice even she was lightly trembling.

Lucy flinched at her words and backed up a bit as some color drained from her as well. "Um…ok." The Celestial Mage squeaked out quietly. If what happened was horrifying enough to bring fear into Makarov and Erza, then Lucy didn't want to know anything at all.

The Scarlet Knight then cleared her throat to get everyone focused. "I'm sure Zane's doing fine. He's strong and resourceful enough to handle himself easily. For now, let's focus on finding the way home and finding him along the way. But first we must deal with the present issue…"

GROOOOOOOWL!

"Finding food." Everyone said in unison.

BACK WITH ZANE

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll doing fine." The young Strauss reassured himself as he stood back up and stretched out his body and sighed as some of his bones cracked from the stretching. "Well, time to get back on the road." Zane told himself as he went along with his journey home again.

Zane enjoyed a simple hike throughout the woods. So far nothing note worthy was happening. Just what you'd normally expect from a hike, but the 12-year-old was hardly complaining. He loved fighting, that much was obvious, but honestly, it was nice to just slow down and enjoy the simpler things in life. Just take break, relax, and enjoy a nice-

"Oof!" Zane grunted as he tripped, interrupting Zane's thoughts. Zane groaned as he got up and rubbed his butt. "Glad no one was around to see that." The monkey tailed child grumbled as he looked down to see what he tripped on. Tire tracks.

Zane gasp lightly as he saw them. They looked fresh. Looking in both directions, he saw that indeed the tracks went out on both sides, but it seems they were fresher towards the north. "Maybe theirs someone who can give me directions!" Zane said with anticipation as he started running at high speeds towards where he assumed the vehicle that left the tracks would be.

The woods around him practically became a blur as he ran. While he wasn't going at his top speed, he certainly would be violating most speed laws if he was in a town. But he wanted to catch up to whatever vehicle was in the woods as quickly as possible but without accidently passing it. As he was speeding forward, he narrowed his eyes as he started to make out something. It resembled a cart, but there was a group of something surrounding it, and when he got closer, he heard…

"BARK! BARK! BARK!"

"HEEEEEEEELP!"

Zane quickly heard the cry for help and narrowed his eyes as he sped up and reached the cart faster. Currently with the cart were two girls. One was about 18 or older and had lightly tanned skinned, green hair tied in braids, pink eyes, and she was wearing overalls with a beige undershirt, big brown cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. The other girl was about 8 years old and was similarly dressed to the older girl only without a hat and a yellow shirt underneath her overalls. She also had green hair, but it was all over the place and messy as well as pink eyes.

They were holding onto each other for protection as surrounding their cart was a pack of 5 wolves that were looking rather vicious. They wolves were circling the cart, obviously seeing the two girls as prey. The bigger girl held the small one close to her as she said in a southern accent. "Now you just stay close to me Whitney, I'll protect ya." She comforted the smaller girl named Whitney as the she shook in fear and dug herself into the older girls embrace.

"I'm scarred Alex." The younger girl said in her own southern accent.

Just then the wolves stopped circling as one of them looked right at the two and snarled as it showed his teeth. The two girls flinched in fear as it started to lean back…and lunged right at them. Alex clung tightly to Whitney, attempting to protect her from the razor-sharp teeth of the wolf…only it never came. Alex daringly opened her eyes and as soon as she peaked, they widened at what they saw.

A certain monkey tailed child effortlessly hold the wolf back by having a tight grip on both halves of the wolf's mouth with each hand. "Sorry to jump in unannounced!" Zane said with a smirk as he picked up the wolf and threw it over to a tree with enough force to snap the tree and causing to fall.

The other wolves, after seeing one of their pack being taken down. Quickly rushed in front of Zane and growled at him and showed off their teeth as they inched forward. Zane wasn't intimidated at all and simply crack his neck before making a 'come on' gesture with his hand. One of the wolves quickly lunged at Zane but the Fairy Tail member simply back flipped and landed directly onto the wolf with a thud making the wild animal whimper.

Two more of the wolves lunged but Zane simply caught them by their snouts and bashed their heads together before casually tossing them away. That left only one wolf that actually looked hesitant. It actually flinched as Zane made eye contact with it before the 12-year-old started cracking his knuckles. This caused the final wolf to quickly start running away into the woods whimpering. Zane simply smirked as he said. "Coward."

Zane then looked behind him to see that the two girls were now partially separated from each other were staring at him. Zane simply gave them a kind smile as he asked. "You two alright?"

Alex opened her mouth to say something but was stop when Whitney suddenly smiled widely as she jumped from Alex arms and off the cart and ran towards Zane and jumped on him to hug the 12-year-old. "Ya saved us! Thank ya so much!" She said as she hugged the young Strauss tightly.

Zane simply chuckled as he patted Whitney's head making the 8-year-old giggle. "Hey, it's no problem. Just doing what I'd do for anyone in that situation."

Just then they heard the sound of a throat clearing and both looked to see Alex approaching them with her hands on her hips. Whitney jumped off Zane and walked quickly back to the older girl and took her head. Alex nodded in approval at Whitney before looking at Zane and giving the boy a smile. "Well I reckon that was one mighty fine display there." Whitney complimented making Zane scratch his cheek.

"Ah it was nothing." Zane reassured them with a wave. "I just so happened to be in the area, and I couldn't just let you all become dog food."

"You were so cool!" Whitney said excitedly as she gained sparkles in her eyes. "You took them on 5 and 1 and downed them in one hit. You even made one run away! You were like woosh and waaah!" Whitney then proceeded to try and copy the moves Zane used against the wolves. The little display made Alex and Zane giggle a bit at the little girl's imitation.

"Well we can't thank ya'll enough." Alex said as she knelt down to Zane's level and put a hand on Whitney's head. "Mah name's Alex, this one here is mah little sis Whitney."

"Nice to meet ya!" Whitney said happily and with a big smile.

"I'm Zane Strauss." Zane introduced himself.

Just then Alex looked around the area before looking back at Zane. "So, we're mighty grateful and all, but are you here all by yourself?" Alex asked with some concern in her voice at the possibility of this child being all by himself in the woods.

"Hehe, yeah." Zane confirmed sheepishly surprising the two sisters. "We're traveling together, and then something happened and we ended up getting separated."

"That's awful!" Whitney said as she gave Zane a look of pity.

However, Zane simply gestured them to calm down and smiled. "Don't worry, I can handle myself and they all know that. It was just a little slip up is all. Right now, I'm just looking for them or the way home."

Both sisters still didn't seem at ease at this. Yeah, they did just watch him easily take down a small pack of wolves, but he was still a kid lost in the woods by himself. Just then the sisters looked at each other and smiled at each other and nodded as if they were agreeing on something. They both then turned to Zane as Alex spoke up. "Well Zane, why don't you come with us to town. Maybe we can help ya get back home."

"Really? Are you sure?" Zane asked as he looked up at the older sister. "I'd hate to be a bother."

"Aw pish posh, you saved me and ma big sister's lives. It's the least we can do." Whitney reassured the Fairy Tail member as she walked up to him and grabbed his arm. "I'm sure our towns sheriff can give you directions!"

Whitney then started to drag Zane to the cart they were in leaving the Strauss to simply chuckle and raise his free hand in surrender. "Alright, alright, you win I'll come with you."

"Good, now come on you two, towns only 20 minutes away." Alex said as she took the wheel of the cart again. She then turned back to look at Zane and Whitney and said. "Could one of you kindly activate that Lacrima Engine?"

Zane looked to the very back of the cart behind all the boxes stored inside the cart and saw a Lacrima Engine used for powering various vehicles. While not as efficient as an SE plus vehicle, for a simple cart like this, it was perfect. Zane stood up and grabbed the throttle of the engine and pulled hard and starting it up in one go. "Woo, nice grip you got there." Alex complimented as she started driving the cart again as it went at a steady pace.

As Zane settled down on got comfy by leaning on of the box in the cart, he looked to see Whitney starring at him and smiling. Zane looked around a bit and briefly glanced at all the boxes in the cart with them and decided to start some conversation. "So, what's in all the boxes?"

The question seemed to perk Whitney up as she eagerly answered. "That's produce from our farm!" The 8-year-old began to explain. "See ma family runs a farm at our town and once a week we go out to various surrounding towns to sell them!" However, after explaining that, Whitney's mood seemed to take a damper as she frowned. "We were supposed to sell our goods at Oshibana but some stuff happened there, so we had to cancel."

"Uuuuuuuh…probably for the best." Zane said awkwardly knowing full well what went down at Oshibana with Esienwald. Deciding to lift the mood, Zane asked another question. "So, what kind of stuff do you grow?"

This seemed to brighten up Whitney's mood as she started to list her families produce. "We grow all kinds of things! Carrots, potatoes, beets, cabbage, onions, we even grow some fruits like grapes and berries." Whitney explained as she reached into the box she was leaning on and pulled out some blue berries and handed them to Zane. "Here, try some."

Zane looked at the berries and shrugged before taking them from the younger girl and put one on his mouth. Zane's eyes widened as it hit his tongue. The juice, the texture, the taste. It was perfect! He quickly ate of the of the berries and savored the taste while Whitney couldn't help but giggle at him. "Slow down their partner, they ain't goin nowhere."

Zane blushed in embarrassment as he swallowed and laughed sheepishly. "Hehe, sorry about that." Zane apologized as Whitney only giggled. "But those were delicious!"

Whitney couldn't help but smile in pride as she put her arms to her hips. "Why thank ya kindly Zane." Whitney said in a prideful tone. "Ma family's some of the best farmers in the land. We work hard to make sure our crops are nothing but the best." After this, Whitney then noticed the Fairy Tail mark on Zane's arm. Whitney's eyes practically became sparkles as she let out a high-pitched squeal. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHH!"

Zane had to cover his ears as Alex was caught off guard by it and made her lose focus of steering. The cart swerved a little bit before Alex got control again and yelled. "Hey! Quiet down back their Whitney I'm trying to drive!"

"Does anyone else hear bells!?" Zane yelled while covering his eyes, the squealing briefly taking away his hearing.

"Are you part of a magic guild?!" Whitney asked in a tone that could only be described as beyond hyper.

"What?!" Zane asked back as he could only still hear the bells.

"I SAID! ARE YOU PART OF A WIZARD GUILD!" Whitney yelled back, making Zane wince but overall allowing him to understand as the ringing died down.

"Y-yes…I am." Zane slowly answered as he rubbed his ears. "Geez, you could probably break stone with that voice."

"I've always wanted to see a real magic guild in person before!" Whitney told him excitedly as she suddenly crawled closer to him and looked him in the eye. "What kind of magic can you use? What's your guilds name? How many kinds of wizards are there?"

"Whitney! Give him his space!" Alex scolded as she looked back at her little sister. "He's our guest, you can't just start asking him questions rapid fire."

"Sorry sis…" Whitney said quietly as she frowned and looked down at the carts wooden floor.

However, Zane then put a reassuring hand on Whitney's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile and a thumbs up. "Hey don't sweat. Just try to slow down is all." The 12-year-old reassured the young girl. Zane then stepped back as he leaned back against the box he was on previously. He then gave his own prideful smirked as he showed off the mark on his arm. "As for what guild I'm in, I happened to be part of the one and only Fairy Tail Guild."

Whitney let out a long gasp in response. "Thee Fairy Tail Guild?" Whitney asked with wide eyes. "The most famous Guild in Fiore that's always featured in every single wizard magazine?"

"You got that right." Zane said with nothing but pride in his voice. Zane may usually be humble, but when it came to his guild and his family, he can't help but show off a little bit of the pride he holds for them. "We're the strongest guild in the world, and don't you forget it."

"Ah hear ya'll are known for causing a lot of destruction." Alex stated as she looked back and gave Zane a teasing smirk.

"Uh, well, we just…kinda go overboard from time to time." Zane said quickly as his embarrassed blush return. "The point is, we always get our jobs down and don't let anyone, even the Magic Council themselves, tell us how we do things."

"That sounds so cool!" Whitney cheered. "What kinds of wizards do ya'll have in your guild?"

"All kinds." Zane started to explain as Whitney gave him her full attention. "Like magic itself, the kinds of wizards we get are near impossible to explain exactly. Yeah, theres tons of variety in the magic we use. Like Picto-magic, smoke magic, and card magic. But it's the people themselves that make Fairy Tail more then just a guild. We're a family and each member are always there for each other. We cry together, laugh together, and of course fight together. That's what makes Fairy Tail special."

When Zane was done with his explanation Zane had left Whitney with stars in her eyes as she let out a "Woooow…"

"Those are some mighty powerful words Zane." Alex said in approval as she glanced back at the two kids. "Guess you really take your guild and family seriously."

"Of course." Zane answered instantly. "I'd do anything for them."

This statement caused both sisters to 'aaaaw' at the statement making Zane sheepishly rub the back of his head while giving them his signature toothy smile. Just the Alex looked forward again and announced. "We're here."

Hearing this, Zane walked near to the front of the cart where Alex was driving and looked out to see the town where Alex and Whitney lived. It was an extremely simple town with only about 8 structures in it, all made of wood. He could see people wearing similar cloths, more or less, to Alex and Whitney. He saw people getting water from a well, children running around playing. Overall, a quiet but nice village. And out in the distance he could see a barn as well as a large amount of farmland which he could assume was where Alex and Whitney lived.

"Zane's log, Entry 11: After saving Alex and Whitney from a pack of wolves, they've taken me to their village where hopefully I'll get some information on getting back home." Zane said to himself but then quickly noticed Alex and Whitney giving him strange looks. "What?"

"Uh, who you talkin to there?" Alex asked in a confused tone with Whitney nodding silently asking the same question as her sister.

"Oh, it's something my uncle taught me." Zane told them. "He said that keeping a mental log of your journey's is a good way of remembering the adventure's you have while also keeping your mind focused on the situation at hand."

Whitney hummed for a bit before smiling. "That sounds fun! Ah might start trying it myself."

Alex then chuckled as she started the cart again. "Alright you two, we gotta head home first to let ma and pa know what happened, then we can take Zane to the sheriff's office. Alright?" The older sister explained to them as Zane nodded and got comfy again with Whitney following suit.

Just then Whitney started to ask Zane another question. "So, what kind of magic can ya use?" The farm girl asked with curiosity filling her voice.

Zane opened his mouth to explain…only to struggle to find the words. His magic was…complicated to say the least. No one else, not even Makarov, was able to identify it and not to mention he's got a majority of his techniques from his dreams. He's developed a few of his own such as the Light Dash and Light Tornado, but it was those dreams that showed him the power in the first place. "Well…it's kinda hard to explain." Zane told Whitney as the girl tilted her head in curiosity. "I can the best way I can explain is that I use my energy to create energy beams, blast, and can even manipulate it to let me fly."

"You can fly!?" Whitney said in amazement.

Zane smirked in response as he nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty cool."

Zane then watched as Whitney looked towards the floor and rubbed her finger on the wood, as if she was trying to draw an invisible picture. "Ya know, I always thought wizards were the dandiest people out there. Having cool magical powers, going on awesome adventures and meeting so many new people and seeing all kinds of beautiful places."

"You wanna be a wizard?" Zane asked with a raised brow, getting the hints at the way Whitney was describing the life of a wizard while talking in a dreamy tone.

"More than anything." Whitney said with a sigh as she looked outside the cart at the at the sky.

Zane then frowned as he guesses something else from Whitney's tone and body language. "I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"But magic's not the most common thing around here." Whitney answered. "Yeah, we have Lacrima's and such, but we don't have any real magic from a guild in such. I wouldn't even know where to start."

Zane then went deep in thought. He wanted to say something that would reassure Whitney and tell her she could reach her dream. And after a moment or two of thinking, Zane spoke up. "Magic lies in all of us. It's what makes up life itself." Zane explained as Whitney looked at him with a semi-confused expression. "Like the wizards that make up every guild, everyone is unique with their magic. yeah, some magic could be considered the same, but each person can make it their own by using it their way. No two people are the same."

"Just because you don't have any experience doesn't mean your hopeless. You just gotta find that spark in ya. Like when you find that power that lies deep within you that feels like an extension of your very body that you can bend to your will. That's the best way I can describe it. You just have to find the magic that's lying dormant in you."

"Dormant…in me…" Whitney repeated as she put a hand to her heart and looked down at it and felt her heartbeat.

"MA! PA! WE'RE HOME!" The sudden yelling of Alex brought the two kids out of their conversation as they saw Alex had stepped out of the cart and was parked in front of the barn he saw earlier. They all stepped out of the cart as they saw two adults approaching them. The male was dressed like any boy would. 10-gallon hat, vest, plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots with spurs on them. He had pure red hair and pink eyes. The women had a big poufy blue dress with white frills. She had a large amount of green hair with some of it tied into a bun but with larges pieces still hanging out as long bangs. She also had simple black eyes.

"Hey! How are mah sweet pea's doin?" The man asked as she approached the two girls and gave them both a hug.

"We're just fine pa." Whitney answered as she returned her father's hug. Just then she looked down a bit as she kicked the ground. "Although we couldn't sell any of our crops today."

"What? Why not?" The women asked with some surprise in his voice.

"There was an pretty big event goin on at Oshibana." Alex explained as she readjusted her hat. "From what we heard it was best to stay as far away from possible."

Both parents nodded in understanding, but just then the mother's eyes wandered over to Zane, who was been leaning on the front of the cart. The women seemed to gain a sweet smile when she looked at Zane and quickly went over to him and pinched his cheeks as the 12-year-old groaned in protest but did nothing to stop it. "Now who's this little cutie pie you have here?"

"Please stop." Zane groaned as everyone watching simply chuckled at the boys embarrassing expense.

"That there's Zane Strauss. He saved our lives." Whitney answered as both adult's gasp, with the mother ceasing her pinching of Zane's cheeks.

"What happened?" The man asked with concern evident in his voice.

"A pack of wolves jumped us like a flea on a sugar high." Alex told her parents as she went to over to Zane and ruffled his hair. "But then this one came in and gave them a beatin all the way to Sunday!"

Just then the girl's father walked up to Zane and looked him dead in the eye with a serious expression on his face. "Young man, is this true?"

"Yes sir." Zane answered with no reluctance. "I was out in the woods when I heard them cry for help and I couldn't just stand around and do nothing."

After Zane's explanation, there was a moment of silence as both males simply stared each other down as the females simply watched. Just then the father gained a grateful smile on his face as he took of his hands to take on of Zane's hands in a strong grip as he shook it up and down. "Well Zane, ah can't thank ya enough for saving my precious sweet peas!" He said as Zane simply chuckled in response as Alex and Whitney blushed at what their pa called them.

"Pa, come on, not in front of others." Alex groaned in embarrassment as their mom giggled.

Once the father was done shaking Zane's head, the mother came in and knelt down to Zane's level and wrapped him into a tight hug while burying his face into her rather large chest. "Thank ya so much Zane!" She said in a sweet tone as Zane's face went red from his head being buried in the woman's chest.

"Uh…yeah…no problem." Zane managed to squeak out despite the situation he was in. Yeah, he's been in this situation as Mira herself had quite the chest…but she was his mother! This was a woman he'd just met. He wasn't prepared for this.

Finally, the mother separated from Zane, allowing the boy the breath properly again, as the women gestured her hand to herself. "Well Zane, mah name is Grace, my Husband here's name is Philip."

"Howdy." Philip said while tipping his hat to Zane.

Zane in returned gave him a salute as Whitney spoke up again. "We took him with us so the sheriff can give him directions home." The 8-year-old explained as Zane nodded in confirmation.

"That so," Philip said in acknowledgement as he held his chin. "Well then what are we waiting for. Come on ya'll, let's get him to sheriff Willy." Philip then started walking to the town with the rest of the group flowing shortly behind. After about a 10-minute walk, the 5 of them made their way into town. Only something was…off.

Zane looked around and found…no one. There was no one in sight. Not a single person was around. Everything was silent other then the sound of the whistling wind. Just then a tumbleweed came rolling by causing everyone to eye it as it disappeared from sight as Zane pointed out. "Why do tumbleweeds just appear out of nowhere like that? There's not even any dead grass around."

"Eh, it's best to just roll with it." Whitney stated with a shrug.

"Hold on…if everyone's inside then that means…" Grace said with growing fear in her voice as Alex took her hand to try and calm her mother down.

"their here." Philip growled as Whitney suddenly went behind her father and clung onto his leg.

"Who's here?" Zane asked as he had no clue who or what they were talking about. And before the Fairy Tail member could question any further, a loud crash was heard as they saw someone being thrown out a closed window and land on the ground.

They all gasped as Philip called out. "Sheriff Willy!" The father yelled as he quickly went over to the sheriff to check up on him. Sheriff Willy was wearing a black vest and black cowboy hat and boots. His shirt was red plaid and had jeans similar to Philip along with a black belt with a gold buckle and a classic Sheriff's badge. "Come on Willy, speak to me!" Philip pleaded with the fallen law enforcer.

"There…there back…" The sheriff groaned weakly. "The Red Hood guild is here."

"What?!" Philip yelled in shock as Alex and Whitney gather around their mother.

Zane in particular recognized that name as his eyes widened. 'Red Hood…that's a dark guild!'

Just then the sounds of the doors to the Sheriff's office opened up and they saw three figures come out. They were all wearing red hood, preventing their faces from being seen, but he could see their guild mark which they all had in red on their upper left arm. The dark guild symbol appeared to be a red paint brush next to a skull. Fitting the theme to their guild mark, they all had what looked like sketch pads on them as well as pencils in their hands.

"I knew this town was garbage, but this is just sad." The first dark guild member said as he held up a burlap sack that looked to be not even 1/4 full.

"I gave ya'll what you asked for." Willy growled back as Philip helped him up.

"We asked for you to pay your debt, not to give us some chump cage." The dark guild member, who seemed to be female, stated in a cocky tone.

"We don't have much money is this town, you know that." Willy stated as he struggled to stay on his feet without the support of Philip.

"Yeah…you're right." The member in the middle agreed. Just then he looks to the two members to his sides and gave them one order. "Burn down the town. Theres nothing here for us anymore."

"WHAT?!" Everyone yelled in horror as the dark guild members were about to walk past them, as if they didn't even matter.

However, just then surprising everyone, Whitney quickly glared at the three Red Hood members and ran in front of them. "You can't burn down our town!"

The three dark wizards did stop and look down at her. But, this was only so the middle one could smirk at her and say. "Go home kid." Just then, he kicked the girl in the stomach, sending her back a bit as she clenched her gut as she was frozen in pain.

"WHITNEY!" Alex and Grace yelled in great concern as they rushed over to check on the 8-year-old.

Just then Philip felt his face go red in anger as he charged at the three dark guild members. "I've had enough of you three terrorizin our town!" He yelled at them as he was prepared to fight them three on one.

Just then the Red Hood member to the center ones right simply brought up his sketch pad and pencil as he spoke in a raspy sounding voice and began quickly drawing. "Picto-Magic Rocket Fist!" Just then a big red colored fist with a rocket booster attached to it came out of the sketch pad and struck Philip right in the face, causing his nose to bleed and sending him to the ground.

At this point Zane felt his anger reach a boiling point. Just then he stomp on the ground hard, causing a small earthquake and bringing everyone's attention to him. The Red Hood members flinched as they saw Zane giving them an intense death glare. "That's enough!" The Strauss boy growled as he started the dark wizard's dead in where their eyes are under their hood.

The one member with the raspy voice got over the glare Zane sent them and stated. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it kid? Shouldn't you be in bed?" He said in an extremely cocky tone.

"And shouldn't you be delivering a picnic basket to grandma's house." Zane retorted with a snarky tone and grin.

"What did you say?!" The dark guild member yelled back at the insult.

"Alright kid, time to show you your place." The female one said as she got ready to use her own picto-magic. "Pict-"

But just then Zane was right in front of her in the blink of an eye and delivered an uppercut to the Red Hood member. It had enough power to practically launch her into the sky and eventually falling to the ground with a thud and completely unconscious. "You were saying." Zane said as he looked down at her unconscious body.

It was then that the two remaining members surrounded Zane. The main member that seemed to lead the other two stepped in from of Zane and said. "Alright you little bastard, it's time you knew the true power of the Red Hood Gui-"

THWAK!

And Zane proceeded to fly up to be eye level with him…and punched him dead center in the face.

"AAAAAAAAH!" He screamed in pain as he held his face. "You. God damn brat! You punched me in the-"

THWAK!

"AAAAAH! YOU DID IT AGAIN YA-"

THWAK!

"AAH! STOP IT! STOP-"

THAWK!

"PISS!" He screamed once again. 'Oh, what did the master tell us to do in this situation?' He asked himself mentally as an imagine of his guild master came to his forehead.

'Lucas, if you ever find yourself being punched repeatedly in the face always remember to-'

THWAK!

"AAAH! HE CUT OFF THE MASTER!" The dark mage, now known as Lucas, shouted as his memory was cut of my Zane once again nailing him in the face.

"You know you could just dodge these." Zane stated with a blank face.

"Oh, that's what the master-"

TWACK!

Lucas once again shouted in pain as this last punched was finally the one to knock him out and send him to the ground with a very bruised face, bloody nose, and swirls in his eyes. Zane smirked and chuckled in amusement, but just then he noticed a small spike in energy behind him and saw the last standing red hood member was finished with a drawing as he shouted. "Picto-Magic Tiger Storm!"

Suddenly a swarm of tigers came flying at Zane, but the 12-year-old remained calm as he cupped his hands together and charged one of his attacks. "Galick Gun…FIRE!" Shooting the purple energy beam from his hands, Zane easily overpowered the magic created tigers and the Red Hood member was unable to react as the attack hit him dead on with a large explosion. When the smoke cleared, it showed the last Red Hood member without his hood laying defeated on the ground.

Zane simply blew the smoke of his hands as Willie, Philip, Grace, Alex and Whitney could only stare, they were completely stunned. The dark guild that has been terrorizing their town for months…was taken down single handedly by this child they all met today. Finally, the silence was broken as Whitney, who had now recovered, started laughing gleefully as she suddenly jumped hugged Zane from the back, taking him off guard as he was sent to the ground. "You beat em! You really beat em!"

"Eh, it was nothing." Zane said modestly as he stood back up with Whitney still clinging to him.

"Nothin? That ain't nothin boy! That their guild's been terrorizing us for over half-a-year!" Alex told Zane as she was still shocked by the events that still transpired.

"So…that's what a wizard can do." Philip said quietly in amazement.

Just then Grace quickly zoomed over to Zane and gave the boy another hug similar to earlier but this time while planting a few kisses on his cheek, leaving some lip sticks marks on him and causing Zane's face to go fire red, practically letting the lipstick blend in. "Ya'll are a hero!" Grace said in an incredibly grateful and sweet tone that only a mother could give.

"Hehe…thanks." Zane said as he couldn't help but see a bit of his own mother in Grace…minus the southern accent.

"Son," Grace then separated from Zane and went back to her daughters as Sheriff Willy stepped up to Zane. Zane wiped off the lipstick that Grace left on him and looked up to see the sheriff take off his hat and hold it to his chest. "You just save our town. Those varmints have been terrorizin us for months, demandin money, with us not being able to fight back from our lack of magical skill. But then you came along and showed those dark wizards what for. How can we ever repay you?"

Zane however gave the sheriff a simple smile and said. "Ain't nothing to it Sheriff, I just saw some evil wizards hurting others and I couldn't just stay back and do nothing. I'm more than happy to help."

"But still," Sheriff Willy insisted. "If theirs anythin we can do for ya, just name it."

Zane was about to say that, once again, everything was fine. But then he remembered why he came with Alex and Whitney to that town in the first place. "Actually, could you give me direction? The reason I ran into Alex and Whitney in the first place is because I got lost and I'm looking for a way back to the Fairy Tail Guild."

"Fairy Tail Guild huh?" Willy said with a kind smile. "That's explains why your so tough for your age son. Just wait here, ah have a map in mah office." Everyone then watched as the sheriff went back into his office and due to the broken window, they could see him open up his desk and pull out a piece of rolled out paper. Willy then came back out and opened up the paper to show it was a map and gave it to Zane. "Magnolia's ain't to far away from here. Just cut through the forest to the east of here and it's a straight line."

"Thank you so much." Zane said as he tucked the map away in his pocket. "I better get going, my mom's probably worried sick."

"Well better not keep her waiting." Willy said as he tipped his hat to Zane. Zane nodded and was about to run off but was stopped by Whitney.

"Wait Zane!" Whitney said as Zane turned his head back to see her. "Do you mean what ya said earlier? Do you really think I can unlock magic and become a wizard?"

Zane simply gave her a smile as he nodded. "Absolutely. You stood up to those guys regardless of the risk. You got guts, that's one of the most important parts of being a wizard. Bravery."

This statement caused Whitney to blush a bit but shook it off as she nodded with a determined expression on her face. "Ah promise the next time you see me, I'll be a strong wizard with awesome magical powers!"

Just then Zane narrowed his eyes at her and smirked. "Well then I'll hold ya to it." But then he really brought down a bombshell with this. "And if your looking for a guild, well, Fairy Tail's always opened up to taking new members."

Whitney silently gasp as Zane's offer. Just then the boy made a 'see ya' gesture and took off running and then proceeded to jump into the air and covered himself in a white aura and flew off at high speeds. There was some backlash, but everyone simply watched with a smile on his face as he took off.

"Now that's a wizard!" Philip complimented.

"Come back anytime!" Grace yelled as she waved to his disappearing form.

And as everyone started to leave, with the Sheriff starting to tie up the unconscious Red Hood members in magic canceling binding, Whitney simply starred into the distance before Alex took her hand and brought her out of her thoughts. "Come on Whitney, let's head home."

"Alright sis." Whitney said as she started following her family as she looked back at where Zane disappeared. "I promise Zane…I'll be a Fairy Tail Wizard."

STRAUSS HOUSEHOLD

It was currently sunset in Magnolia. Mirajane was sitting alone at the dinner table simply starring at the food she just got done making…but wasn't eating. Her face was in a sadden expression as she found herself not having an appetite. The reason for this was because Mira had one person on her mind. Zane. She heard about everything that happened during the Lullaby mission. The Eisenwald guild. The flute becoming a demon. And of course, her son and her other Guild members running away and getting lost. Especially since Alzack and Bisca found their footprints when they went out to look for them.

She was worried sick. Her son was out their lost and she didn't know if Zane had any food or water, or…or. "Oh Zane." Mira quietly wept as she buried her face in her hands. "Please be ok."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Huh? Mira hummed as she wiped the tears that were building up in her eyes away. "Who could that be?" She questioned as she got up and headed over to the door. Elfman was away on a job, and she couldn't think of anyone who would stop by. She then put her hand on the knobbed and opened up the door. "Hello, how can I hel-" But Mira stopped as she saw who was at the door.

"Hey mom…I'm home." Zane said as he looked up to his mother.

Mira quickly broke down as she fell to her knees and hugged her son for dear life as he immediately returned it. As Mira had some tears of joy escape her eyes, she muttered one thing to her son. "Welcome home sweetie."

"Glad to be home mom." Zane said in response as the two simply enjoyed a quiet embrace.

After a few minutes, the two separated as Mira gave her son a smile and asked. "So how did it go?"

"It went great!" Zane said enthusiastically. "We took down Esienwald, I beat Erigor, and we fought a demon!"

Mira couldn't help but girl at her son's excitement as she stepped aside to let him in. "Well you can tell me all about it over dinner. I made Cumin-Sichuan Peppercorn Beef."

"Alright!" Zane cheered as he quickly rushed into the house as Mira laughed, happy to have her son back home. But as Zane sat down at the table, a thought crossed his mind. 'I hope the other's are ok.'

WITH NATSU AND THE OTHERS

With Natsu's group, they were all slouched down as they weakly walked through a desert area. Clearly exhausted.

"We're lost…" Lucy groaned.

"Our feet are sore…" Makarov added.

"We can't find Zane…" Erza also added.

"And most importantly…" Happy, Gray, and Natsu began when…

GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL!

"WE'RE STILL HUNGRY!"

Yeah, like I said mostly filler but I enjoyed waiting a chill chapter like this. Kinda a nice break after all the action. And don't worry, I like to keep my filler short and sweet. Not making it last for about 50 episodes and have it not even have any connections to the main plot and when it's finally over you forget what the actual plot was and have to go back and re-watch the previous arc again after waiting so long for the actual story to continue...looking at you One Piece.

But enough about that. Remember to fav, follow and review and stay tuned for the next chapter...

S-Class