It was what should have been a quiet evening in Hargeon. The sounds of rolling waves collided with the port as a cool ocean breeze flowed through the town. This serenity fleeted quickly when a large torrent crashed into the docks, carrying with it a party boat and destroying many of the nearby buildings and vessels. Townspeople sprung from their houses to investigate the origins of the loud noise they heard whilst those close by ran in fear. The party boat soon erupted into flames which was then followed by several buildings being demolished further up from the shoreline. This was soon followed by the single, loud, toll of a bell. As the dust settled, as buildings burned and the panic subsided, residents changed their attention to saving either their own or their neighbour's homes and businesses. Footsteps echoed through the air as soldiers decked out yellow and blue stripped uniforms with shields and spears in hand pursued a trio in relation to their part in the disturbance. The first of which was a boy with spikey pink hair and a white scarf that looked like scales. Under that were a pair of white trousers and on his feet were black sandals. He was pulling a blonde girl, wearing a beautiful maroon dress, with him. The two ran just ahead of a small blue cat who wore a green backpack and had angel-like wings protruding from his back.

"Where the heck are you taking me?" The blonde asked, in a panicked state as they ran.

"You said you wanted to join the Fairy Tail guild didn't ya? So let's go!"

The blonde, now running on her own smiled at the boy, the guards closing in.

"They're catching up. Should we stop?" She asked as the trio continued onwards.

"Just keep running, they'll tire out!" The pink hair boy grinned as the cat sharply turned into another street. "Or we can just follow Happy," he said watching the cat fly overhead before following him into the next street.

"Hey, wait for me!" the blonde continued to run with them.

As the two turned the corner, the soldiers still in pursuit and yelling for them to stop, they saw Happy dive for an alley and quickly followed. The soldiers missed the trio's sudden turn as they proceeded forward in what was now a wild goose chase. Meanwhile, the alley that the trio found themselves in was cramped, dark and damp. It was dimly lit by the occasional crack in the ceiling that gave way to moonlight. The trio took this chance to catch their breath.

"Nice save, little buddy," the pink haired boy smiled.

"Actually." As Happy began to speak, he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering the alley behind them. The sounds seemed to be walking towards the trio, a puddle on the ground rippling in a crack of moonlight.

The blonde felt chills run down her spine as she cautiously turned towards the sounds, only to see nothing. "W-who's there?"

Natsu also turned in that direction as a young man, a year or two older than him, materialised from seemingly thin air, half of his body concealed in the darkness surrounding them. He had neck-length black hair from which under his amber eyes seemingly glowed. He wore a caramel-coloured shirt underneath a basil-green travel vest, the right arm long sleeved, and a matching glove at the end. His pants were long and matched his shirt. He wore what seemed to be custom ordered combat boots and over his back was a black, very dirty, yet well-kept rucksack.

"Rue, what are you doing here man?" Natsu grinned.

"Passing through back to the guild," he glanced at the other two before looking back at Natsu. "Are any of you hurt?"

"I think we're alright," the girl responded, breathing a sigh of relief that Natsu and this new face knew each other.

"We were heading back too," Happy explained. "Then Natsu went and picked a fight."

"He said he was a member of Fairy Tail!" Natsu snapped back.

"Hey, quiet down before the army finds us!" the blonde raised her voice slightly in an attempt to shush him.

"Your friend is right," Rue stated, glancing at her before looking at the three of them. "After that scene, they'll be looking for a while."

"Well, since we're heading the same way, let's head back together," Natsu suggested.

Rue thought for a moment before shrugging, "Fine with me." He turned and walked towards the alley's entrance, peaking outside before signalling back the coast is clear.

"Let's go!" Natsu ran out of the alley.

The rest would follow as Rue asked "Where are we heading?"

"Back to the guild, where else?" Natsu said.

"How are you getting back at this hour?" Rue enquired. Trains won't be running."

"Then we just walk back," Natsu said.

"Definitely not at this hour!" the blonde protested.

Rue was about to say something but was interrupted by loud rumbling coming from ahead of him. "… Maybe we should eat, rest and head back tomorrow?"

The blonde would look towards the two ahead, "I guess it can't be helped after tonight. Were you guys planning to stay somewhere?"

Natsu and Happy looked between each other, obviously not having thought that far ahead. They were close to broke after paying for a return train fare.

"There's an inn on top of the hill," Rue gestured upwards. "We could rest there for the night," he then glanced at the broke wizards and then to the girl.

The trio agreed, Natsu and Happy thinking about stuffing their faces first and foremost, and with a destination in mind, began heading that way. Upon arriving at the inn, they settled in for the night, each retiring to their rooms.

After a few hours of sleeplessness due to Natsu's snoring, Rue dressed himself, grabbing a coat before heading outside to get some air. As he walked out, he headed towards the nearest railing and looked down at the rest of Hargeon. Townspeople were still cleaning up from what Rue could only piece together as another instance of Natsu causing thousands of jewel in property damage. Any remaining fires were extinguished now which enabled him to breathe a sigh of relief. Feeling a small chill, Rue pulled his jacket up as he heard a yawn coming from behind him. "Couldn't sleep either?" he enquired.

"Huh?" the blonde woman said tiredly and yawned again, "Oh, Rue was it?" Lucy walked over and joined him. "Yeah, I'm too excited. It's been my dream to join Fairy Tail since forever. Oh, my name's Lucy, I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier," she introduced herself.

Rue would nod, glancing towards her. "Rue. Rue Severam," his introduced himself before his glance fixated on the town below, "Those two are a good indicator of what the guild is like."

"What do you mean?" Lucy enquired.

"You should find out for yourself," Rue responded. "It's better to experience something firsthand."

Lucy would think about his words before looking at the town too. "You're right," Lucy smiled before breathing out. "I wonder what kind of jobs I'll go on, how much money I'll make, my dream's coming true, it's almost nerve-racking." She then glanced at Rue before back down to the town.

"You're very determined," Rue stated, an eye briefly glancing towards Lucy. "There'll be a lot of both… and it'll be a lot of hard work."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Lucy smiled confidently, "You're talking to Fairy Tail's next famous wizard."

"Don't get too overconfident," Rue advised.

"I'll try not to," she replied, sheepishly.

'She'll fit in with the others,' Rue thought to himself. Finally feeling sleepy, he yawned, covering his mouth. "Rest well, Lucy," he said before turning and heading back into the inn to sleep.

Hello Reader, thank you for taking the time to read Chapter 1 of my first fanfiction project. I hope you enjoyed. Truth be told, I was not sure how to begin this at all so I decided to go with the start of the series. I hope this serves as a nice introduction to my character, Rue. Whilst this chapter may seem contrary to the blurb, I promise that is not the intention. Thanks for taking the time to read and please feel free to leave feedback as that will only help the work in future.

See you in chapter 2.

Chapter Updated: 30/08/2021