Ok, so I know I said I was going to take a small break when I uploaded the last chapter. You may be wondering why I'm suddenly here with a new chapter now, less than a week later.

Well, there's a good reason for that. I mentioned in the last chapter that I was going to upload some polls for you to vote on so you could help influence the story. It took me a couple of days to do that, but I got around to it in the end. Unfortunately, I discovered that I can only actively display one poll on my profile page at a time. As I had three polls up and running, this was a bit of a problem.

So, I created a forum containing all of my polls. I figured the best way to let you guys know about the forum was to just upload a new chapter, hence this surprise upload.

For those of you who are interested in voting on my polls, you can find the link at the bottom of my profile page.

Anyway, onto something else:

I would like to say a huge thank you to you guys who left reviews after the last chapter- it was amazing to hear you liked it so much and honestly it means a lot.

Cake Dragon also asked me a very interesting question in his review and that was whether or not I plan on giving Natsu any other magics, or just sticking to his canon powers.

The short answer is, I had planned on expanding on the powers that he already possessed as a Dragonslayer and giving him new abilities within that type of magic, but I had not intended on giving him any other types. However, the question has intrigued me and I have consequently spent the last couple of days thinking up potential magics that I could give him.

If you want the long answer, I'll write it at the end to avoid making this intro too long.

Anyway, here's chapter 6.5 (a sorta bridge between chapter 6 and 7) and I hope you enjoy!

"Welcome to Fairy Tail,"

Those words filled Natsu with an overwhelming mix of emotions. Joy, hope and anxiety intermingled in an odd blend of emotions that left him questioning whether or not he'd made the right decision. But before he had a chance to back out of it, Makarov was already opening the guild hall's doors.

Instantaneously, a wave of sound washed over him. It was the sound of many people engaging in mad revelry, though he had no idea as to what their source of entertainment was. Natsu and Erza tailed Makarov as he entered the building, pausing just inside the entrance. The two of them took a good look around the room, trying to take it all in.

The room that they had just entered was similar to a large lunch hall consisting mainly of wood, with a brick-style parquet floor. Several large columns stretched upwards, supporting the high ceiling.

Against the far wall was a long bar, which was being tended to by several waiting staff.

To the left of the bar was a large notice board of some kind, while on the right was a doorway, which appeared to be the entrance to a corridor of sorts, though he could not tell what lay beyond.

Above the bar was a large mezzanine, which was supported by wooden beams. There appeared to be three staircases leading up to the mezzanine- one against the leftmost wall, one against the right wall and another behind the bar itself.

Additionally, the room was decorated with bookcases and sideboards against the walls, as well as several potted plants.

The room was packed full of people, many of whom were chatting enthusiastically and some drinking even more enthusiastically. Most of the people sat at one of the tables that were distributed evenly around the room, though some had decided to be general nuisances by standing, often in inconvenient places.

Makarov carefully led the two of them across the room to the bar, doing his best to avoid any obstacles. Some of the guild members glanced their way in interest as they passed- evidently they were intrigued by these two newcomers, who were both incredibly young. For the most part, however, the partygoers were too absorbed in their conversations to notice Natsu and Erza's entrance.

Makarov gestured to the bar, indicating that the two of them should take a seat.

"Wait here a moment, if you would," he said. "I need to go and prepare some paperwork to complete your registration. I will return momentarily."

The two of them nodded in understanding and climbed onto the stools, albeit with some difficulty due to the height of the stools and their own short stature. The old man turned to one of the young men working behind the bar.

"Roland, please take care of these two young ones for me for a bit. Be sure to offer them something to eat and drink... they look like they need it."

The young man replied in assent and Makarov disappeared down the corridor. The waiter bustled over to them a few moments later.

"Ok then," he said. "Can I get you anything?"

"Ooh ooh!" hooted Natsu enthusiastically, throwing one hand into the air. "I want meat! The bigger it is, the better."

Erza looked appalled at his lack of composure.

"Geez, there's no need to act like a starved monkey," she said, crossing her arms. "You need to learn to reign in your stomach."

At that moment, a horrendous sound similar to a dying animal ripped through the air. Neither Natsu or the waiter knew what to make of it at first and Erza didn't really react, except for a slight blush. Finally cottoning on, Natsu gazed at her for a few seconds in amazement, before bursting into a cheeky grin.

"Speaking of stomachs, I think yours is trying to tell you something," he said teasingly.

Erza cleared her throat, not bothering to offer a response.

"As I'm not particularly hungry-" she lied, throwing in a sharp side-long glace for added emphasis. "I'll just have soup or something just as light. And tea, if you have it."

"Sure thing," replied the waiter. "Coming right up."

Without further ado, he went off to inform the cook, leaving Natsu and Erza to chat awkwardly.

When the waiter said 'coming right up', he really meant it- the food was cooked and served it barely any time at all. The moment the steaming plate of food was placed in front of Natsu, his eyes glazed over. This majestic sight in front of him was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and the delectable scent alone was enough to make his tastebuds tingle, though he had yet to take a single bite.

"Hey, waiter... what is this thing?" he asked in a daze.

"It's smoked Bodhras ribs," came the answer.

Bodhras, huh? Last time Natsu had tasted this creature, it had been the most delicious thing he had ever eaten... but this dish had been prepared in an actual kitchen, by professional cooks who weren't limited to a handful of ingredients. The thought alone was already enough to make him salivate.

His thoughts were interrupted by Erza, who leaned towards him, tucking a napkin into his shirt.

"Jeez, if you're going to drool, at least make sure you don't get it all over yourself." she scolded. Then her expression softened slightly. "To be fair though, it does look pretty good." she conceded. "What do you say, should we dig in?"

Natsu did not need a second invitation- he ravenously starting tearing his food to pieces, while Erza elected to sip her soup in a much more graceful manner.

The meat did not last very long and was all but decimated within a few minutes. Before he had the chance to finish it off completely, however, he was distracted by a nearby conversation that started to flare up into an argument. He and Erza both turned to watch the two men, who were getting all up in each other's face, yelling loudly.

Erza had a complicated look on her face.

"This isn't what I was expecting this place to be like..." she muttered.

"Huh, what makes you say that?" Natsu asked.

She jerked in surprise- clearly, she had not intended to say that aloud.

"Oh, it's nothing..." she began to said evasively. Then she gulped.

"The truth is..." she said with difficulty. "I knew someone who was part of this guild once. It's because of him that I'm here today."

Natsu wasn't quite sure what she meant by that but could tell that she wasn't comfortable with this line of conversation, so he didn't push it any further. Meanwhile, the argument had turned into an all-out fight, which was starting to disturb others around them. Every time someone's drink was knocked or someone was bumped, the now-disgruntled partygoer would stand up and join in the fight. Soon, it seemed like nearly everyone had been drawn into this mad brawl and the entire guild had descended into complete and utter chaos.

Natsu couldn't help but grin at the sight.

"Well, this may not have been what you were expecting," he said. "But this is definitely my kinda place!"

He thought for a moment, before finally coming to a decision.

"Alright!" he said, leaping from his stool and cracking his knuckles. "I'm going in."

"What?! You can't-" Erza started to protest, but Natsu interrupted her with a 'wish me luck' and leapt into the fray.

Glancing between her food and the fight behind her, Erza was left to make to make a difficult decision. She put her spoon down with a sigh and climbed off her stool.

"Guess it's up to me to make sure you don't get hurt," she groaned.

She rolled her shoulders and neck in a basic stretch and chased after him.

Natsu dashed through the mob of people, throwing out strikes everywhere he went. People cried out as he flashed by them unseen, delivering pain with precision strikes. He grinned excitedly- it had been too long since he'd had a good fight and he definitely appreciated having the chance to fool around a little.

As wrapped up in the fight as he was, he got a little too distracted and something collided with the back of his head with incredible force. He toppled to the floor, face up and groaning in pain. Dazed as he was, he could just about make out another voice doing the same.

He flew back up, brandishing his fist in outrage and the young boy who lay sprawled out on the floor.

"Hey," he yelled. "Watch where you're going!"

The young boy in question- who looked to be the same age as him- gave him a distasteful look, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. He had dark spiky hair and his expression was stern, his dark blue eyes staring almost emotionlessly. Rather disturbingly, he only wore two articles of clothing: a pair of dark blue boxer shorts and a sword-shaped necklace. He bore the guild's emblem on his right pec in a deep black colour.

The boy stood up and squared up to Natsu.

"Watch where I'm going, huh?" the boy's eyes were far from expressionless now- instead they were filled with an icy rage. "How about you watch where you're going, Pinkie!"

'Oh, we are sooo not going back to that nickname,' Pinkie thought.

"Why should I? You're the one that bumped into me!" he argued.

"Well, I disagree. You're just too stupid to watch where you're going!"

The two boys butted heads, neither willing to back down from this standoff.

"Well, you know what they say..." said Natsu with a threatening smile. "When you can't settle an argument with words, use your fists."

"Couldn't agree more," the boy replied.

With these words, the two boys shoved each other, leaping backwards and dropping into a fighting stance. Natsu summoned his fire, enveloping his fists in flames. He enabled his Dragonsense, watching the boy and his magic very carefully.

His opponent turned side on, dropping down into a wide stance. He fanned the fingers on his left hand and- clenching his other hand- planted the knuckles of his right hand into the palm of his left. His hands began to glow with a soft blue colour and a cool breath of air brushed against Natsu's hypersensitized skin.

All of this was pretty impressive by itself- it was clear that this boy had a good technique and his magic itself was remarkable. However, it was even more so to Natsu, who was able to see into the magical spectrum through his Dragonsense. Magic was emanating from the boy's entire body, sweeping across his skin in waves and concentrating on his hands, where the magic pulsed outwards. He was clearly using some variety of caster magic, channelling energy through his body and then focusing it in his hands. Given the aura that he was giving off, he was most likely a practitioner of ice magic. No wonder the air was swirling around him- his magic was cooling the air around him and messing with the air pressure.

Fortunately, ice wasn't a problem for Natsu. Already sure of his victory, his grin widened further. He increased his flames and willed his body temperature to rise, then prepared to launch himself at his target.

But then a hand shot out and grabbed him by the hair, yanking him backwards. Yelping in pain, he tried to pry off the hand that held him with a vice-like grip. A face came into view- it was Erza's... and her expression made his blood run cold.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded coldly. "You only just got here and you're trying to start a fight? If I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to get kicked out."

He tried to protest, but in the face of all her anger, all he could do was swallow his words. He glared bitterly past her to the boy, who was also being held in check by another guildmate. A young girl had stepped through the mass of people and was now standing in front of the boy, telling him off in a stern voice. He clearly wasn't very happy to be berated so, but like Natsu, restrained himself from taking things any further.

"Gray, you really need to learn to be nicer to people," she said.

"Why should I?" the boy responded coolly. "He was the one who bumped into me."

"That's not the point! These things happen and you should accept that instead of fighting over an accident," she argued. "Now go and cool off, before you do something you'll regret later."

The boy named Gray tsked rudely, threw one last glare at Natsu, then turned around and walked away nonchalantly.

"And go put some clothes on!" the girl shouted after him.

Gray glanced down at his almost-naked body and nearly jumped out of his skin in shock- had he really not noticed he was wearing nothing but his underwear? He then ran off, presumably to try and find some clothes. Nodding her head in satisfaction, the girl turned towards them.

She began to approach them and as Erza finally released Natsu from his headlock, the two of them both turned to greet her.

The sweet-looking girl wore a sleeveless orange sundress and a pair of red sandals. She wore her dark brown hair in a ponytail, with two shoulder-length strands framing her face. She smiled at them apologetically, squinting her amethyst coloured eyes in an expression of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry about Gray, he can be a bit crabby sometimes," she said.

Feeling a little awkward that this girl was apologizing to him on someone else's behalf, Natsu shrugged it off.

"It's no big deal I guess. No harm done and all that," he said.

The girl smiled, clearly delighted that he had chosen to overlook the incident.

"I'm glad to hear it. My name's Cana- Cana Alberona. It's nice to meet the two of you."

The two of them didn't get the chance to introduce themselves, as at that point, Master Makarov entered the room again. The moment he laid eyes on the sprawling battle raging within his own guildhall, he froze. Natsu caught sight of the old man across the room and knew instantly that he- and everyone else here- was in grave danger.

It began as a quiet rumble- the ground quivered gently, but gradually the vibrations built up and built up into a violent crescendo. Dust rained from the ceiling and the building began to groan as it was slowly torn to pieces. The fight had ground to a halt, as the guild members were cowed into submission by this display of pure power.

The quake subsided and everything settled. All eyes were on Makarov, who remained motionless.

"Now, I see that I have your attention..." he said quietly. "Very good, as there is something that I'd like to say."

He took a deep breath, held it for a mere second.

"You're all nothing but a bunch of brainless morons!" he boomed. "How many times do I have to say it? No mindless brawls in the guild! I am sick of having to deal with noise complaints and costs for damages, it's enough to give me a migraine!"

Everyone flinched at the sudden outburst, half expecting Makarov to continue on a long tirade. Instead, he merely breathed in and out a few times, before visibly calming down.

"Now," he said. "On a more positive note, I am delighted to deliver you some good news."

He jumped, arcing through the air in an impossible leap and landed on the railing of the mezzanine. He pointed out Natsu and Erza in the crowd and declared:

"Please give a warm welcome to Natsu and Erza, the newest additions to the Fairy Tail family."

The rest of the guild finally became aware of the two kids and cheered enthusiastically. The two of them acknowledged the cheering awkwardly, both feeling uncomfortable about being the centre of so many people's attention. Makarov dropped down from the railing and walked up to the two of them.

"Now, I guess it's time for the two of you to introduce yourselves formally... but how about we spice things up a bit?" he said.

"What do you mean?" Erza asked, confused.

"It would be easy enough to introduce yourselves with words- a few scant sentences would enough to give someone a basic idea of who you are. But I feel that actions speak louder than words and the way a person fights will tell you more about them than a few words ever could."

He gave them both a serious once-over.

"Some come here to learn magic so that they might make use of it in their daily lives. Others come here with these skills already in hand, looking to expand their knowledge or to find a purpose for the skills they hold. I get the distinct impression that the two of you are here for the latter reason- there is an aura about you that is unmistakable. And if that is the case, perhaps you can show us what it is that you can do... so we might come to understand who you are inside. What do you say?"

Natsu and Erza gave each other a glance, conferring without words. Then together, they gave a nod.

"Excellent," Makarov said. "Let's go outside then, shall we?"

With those words, he led them out to the back of the guild hall, where there was a small courtyard. He turned to explain to them what he wanted them to do, while the eighty or so guild members present gathered around them in a circle.

"Right then. I shall pick out a partner for you each for you to have a little sparring match with. You won't need to worry about hurting them- I shall make sure to select skilled members, so just give it all you've got."

He turned to the curious onlookers, his eyes drifting over them thoughtfully. After a few seconds, he called out.

"Reedus, would you mind being the young lady's partner for this exercise?"

"Oui."

A balloon-shaped man stepped- or more accurately- forced his way through the crowd. The unusually tall and round man sported curly, light orange hair and wore a black pointy hat that bent over halfway up its length.

"It's nice to meet you, little lady," the man said in his unusual accent. "The name's Reedus. I use Pict magic, which means I can make my paintings come to life. Be warned though, while they may be paintings, they can still hurt you."

"Are our two combatants ready?" Makarov asked.

Erza gave a nod, while Reedus uttered a 'oui'.

Makarov counted down from three, then declared the start of the fight.

Instantly, Erza flung her hand out, fingers spread wide. In a flash of light, a simplistic sword sprang into existence, making the crowd cry out in astonishment. She dashed towards her opponent, readying her sword for a powerful attack. She was fast- but Reedus was even faster. Before Erza had the chance to close the distance, he finished the doodle he had been scrawling on his white shirt. The drawing disappeared a mere fraction of a second before a great mass hurled itself away, barreling straight towards Erza.

She dodged backwards, just about evading the attack from the monster that had appeared out of nowhere. She faced off against the figure that Reedus had brought to life- a great big bear-like creature. She held her sword ready, prepared for its next attack.

She didn't have to wait long. It charged towards her recklessly, which proved to be its undoing. She feinted to the left, slipped to the right and struck out at the creature's side. It simply wasn't nimble enough to outmanoeuvre her and her blow struck true, shearing it in half. Erza advanced on Reedus again but was intercepted once more by another of the man's drawings.

The rest of the fight continued on in a similar fashion. While it was clear that Erza had talent, she wasn't able to evade Reedus' paintings and strike at him directly. It wasn't enough to dispatch the paintings either, as, by the time she did so, he would have another beast at the ready. Erza continued on for several more minutes, before eventually growing tired. Makarov called for the fight to end and both combatants let go of their magic. The crowd cheered heartily- though Erza hadn't won the bout, she had definitely put a good show in.

"Excellent, excellent!" Makarov exclaimed. "Not bad at all. It's clear that you have a lot of potential."

Erza bowed her head, hiding her embarrassment. Though Natsu also had the feeling that she was disappointed in herself for not winning.

"Well then, should we continue with the second match?" Makarov proposed.

The crowd roared with approval and Natsu stepped up to the plate. Once again, Makarov glanced over the crowd, who hushed in anticipation. Just as he seemed about to pick someone out though, someone stepped forward.

"Pardon me, master, but could I fight the kid?"

"...Macao? I guess you can, but why the special interest?" the master blurted in surprise.

Macao turned to Natsu.

"I could be wrong," he said. "But I believe you happen to be a fire wizard too, am I right?"

Natsu nodded and the crowd murmured in interest. It wasn't often they got to see two wizards with the same magic fight each other.

"I see," Makarov muttered. "I would seem to be a good matchup then. Very well, I'll allow it."

"Thank you, master."

Again, the two combatants face off as Makarov counted down.

"Fight!"

Without hesitation, Macao shot of a purple projectile towards Natsu's face. More than prepared for the attack, Natsu dashed forwards and to the right, slipping past the attack. He analyzed Macao's attack with his Dragonsight, looking for insight and saw something peculiar. Rather than being a projectile as he had initially thought, the attack was actually more like a fire spear- even now, the fire was still in contact with Macao's fingertips. Additionally, while the attack had travelled directly towards him, the magic energy wasn't all travelling in one direction, but rather fluctuated up and down the length of the attack.

Suddenly sensing danger, Natsu leapt upwards, narrowly dodging the attack that had struck at him from behind.

'I see,' he thought.

It wasn't a spear, but rather a whip of fire. Though the initial attack had missed, Macao had been able to control the fire and make it snake around to strike Natsu in the back. Clever, if a bit sneaky. Not that such tactics would do him any good.

Natsu's jump hadn't been random, but instead perfectly calculated. Landing just within striking distance of Macao, he ignited his heel and with an arcing kick, severed the flame whip, before dropping a high kick down towards Macao's head. The man blocked the attack with his forearms, albeit barely, before forcing Nastu back. The boy used the force of the push to flip backwards and- still airborne- threw a small bolt of lightning. The attack struck the man, doing no damage, but causing him to flinch from the shock. Natsu exploited the opening mercilessly, throwing a flame spear of his own.

The attack rocketed towards Macao, who hastily raised his hands, conjuring up a flame shield. He was able to block the attack to some extent, but even so, he still sustained some minor burns of his hands. Wincing in pain, he nodded to his opponent.

"Not bad, kid," he said. "You've definitely got some spunk... but let's see how you handle this!"

He gathered a great ball of his purple fire in his hands and flung it out towards Natsu. The crowd's roars of enthusiasm turned to cries of horror as the boy was enveloped by the flames, disappearing from view.

"Oh no... what have I done?" Macao muttered miserably. "I might have just killed him."

He clapped his hand to his mouth, sickened.

"Oh wow... this is some pretty tasty fire you've got here!"

He looked up in shock, watched his flames disappear, revealing the young boy standing untouched within. Natsu sucked up the rest of the flames and belched loudly, much to everyone's amazement.

"That was a pretty tasty snack... now I've got a real fire in my belly." Natsu said, grinning widely. "Let's finish this."

He widened his stance, tilted his head back and inhaled deeply.

"Fire Dragon..."

His head snapped forwards, his eyes gleaming fiercely. And he cried out.

"Roar!"

He exhaled a great cone of fire, a pure tumultuous storm of destruction. Macao dodged the attack, barely, but the wall he had been standing in front of disintegrated before the explosive force of the spell.

The crowd went silent, shocked beyond all measure. Then they roared with applause- what else could they do? They had just witnessed something incredible.

As the crowd rushed to congratulate the boy, Makarov watched him with a grimace.

'A Dragonslayer, eh?' he thought.

Somehow, he just knew that this boy was going to cause him a lot of problems in the future.

And there we go for chapter 6.5... while it wasn't as long as chapter 6, it's still longer than chapter 5 at least. Not bad for something I threw together to act as a simple notification.

Unless you want to hear more about my ideas for giving Natsu some additional magic, that's everything from me. If you're interested though, feel free to read on, I'll give you an idea of my plans while trying not to spoil anything.

Ok, so I'm hesitant to just give Natsu more types of magic, because not only does learning them take a lot of time and effort- which will just make him less specialised and therefore weaker in areas of magic where he should excel- I feel that to be able to learn a certain type of magic, you must be able to adopt a certain mindset.

Natsu is very much a blunt force kinda guy, even in this story where he's a little smarter, so learning many types of magic or more intricate types of magic doesn't sound like it'd work very well. Maybe he can learn some very basics in other types of magic.

I also don't want to give him the same magic type as another wizard, particularly a Fairy Tail wizard. So yes, I COULD give him requip magic, but that's Erza's territory, so that's a no-go.

What I can try and do is give him some specialized Dragonslayer abilities, or a completely new type of magic. I've so far come up with about 15 types of magic that as far as I know, aren't included in this series, or any other that really comes to mind. So I may give Natsu one or two of these if I can find something that would compliment his current abilities.

Anyway, you'll just have to keep reading if you want to find out! Until later.