Hello my readers, I finally finished chapter one of Advent of the Stray! I know, I know, why did it take so long? The reason it took so long was because I was having trouble writing one particular scene the way I wanted it and it was driving me crazy. But, after a long and strenuous mental battle with myself, I think I'm finally satisfied with how it turned out. Anyway, now that this chapter is out, I don't think you'll have to wait so many months for a new update here. I thank you all for your patience and hope you continue to be patient as I see this fic to the end. But enough of my rambling, on with the chapter!
Chapter One: Water Meets Fire
It has been three days since Kren and Han had met Lubo and were sitting in the back of his carriage as they peacefully made their way to the port city of Hargeon. To pass the time, Lubo started telling his passengers funny yet ridiculous stories of his experiences traveling around the kingdom of Fiore. Kren, however, forgot one important detail that didn't make the journey comfortable in the least for him. The blue haired teen didn't remember until after the carriage started moving that he suffers from a severe case of severe motion sickness and that no medication he has taken helped.
"Everything alright back there?" Lubo asked holding the reins looking to the back of the carriage to Kren and Han.
"It's a bit cramped, but we're fine." Kren replied weakly with a hand over his mouth struggling to fight off the urge to vomit when the carriage rocked a little. Swallowing the bile that was fighting to get out, Kren addressed Lubo. "Not that we don't appreciate the lift, but are we close to Hargeon yet?"
Han sighed at the sorry state his owner was in shaking his head with a paw on his forehead. 'How does one forget that they have motion sickness?'
"We're almost there." Lubo replied facing forward to see the port city in sight before looking back to his passengers. "By the way, what were you two doing on the side of the road where I found you?"
"Uh…" Kren said nervously trying to think of what to say that would explain they're situation without sounding crazy. He looked to Han who shrugged mouthing out to wing it. "We're traveling and thought we'd visit Hargeon for a few things, but the transportation lacrima I bought shattered and dropped us where you found us."
"Ah, rookie mistake." Lubo laughed looking back to the nauseous teen and his feline companion. "I take it your a new wizard?"
"Something like that." Mizuki replied figuring a half truth wouldn't hurt as he fought off another wave of nausea. "I just started a few days ago and I thought I'd see if I can find a magic shop or something in Hargeon."
"Well, then your out of luck, I heard Hargeon only has one magic shop and the goods aren't that great." Lubo said pulling on the reins of his horses telling them to stop before turning to Kren and Han. "We're here."
Kren quickly jump out of the carriage with Han behind him feeling a lot better now that the carriage stopped moving before turning to bow gratefully to Lubo. "Thanks for the ride, we really appreciate it."
"Think nothing of it." Lubo waved Kren off smiling when he had a sudden thought. "If you're a new wizard, might I suggest you decide what magic you want to learn before you go looking for a guild to join."
"I'll do that." Kren nodded as Han jumped to hang on his shoulder before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Though it might be difficult for me to choose just one."
"That's how it is for everyone starting out." Lubo nodded in understanding adjusting his grips on the horse's reins. "Just be sure that when you do decide on a magic you want to learn you'll give it your all."
"I will, take care, Lubo." Kren waved to Lubo before turning to walk into the port city of Hargeon marveling at the sight of the buildings that they walk past. "I can't believe I'm actually in Hargeon!"
"Well, believe it." Han said equally as astonished as his human companion. "It looks way more amazing in person."
"You're right, and it has a nice atmosphere to it." They stopped at the port and Kren closed his eyes taking a deep breath of the salty air as a smile etched itself on his lips. "I just love the smell of ocean air."
"So you've told me countless times." Han rolled his eyes but had a small smile on his face. "If you could, you would probably marry the ocean."
"Ha ha, very funny." Kren rolled his eyes as he walked along the port watching the many boats and ships glide across the ocean surface. "It sucks that I have motion sickness, I would have loved to ride one of those ships."
"I'm sure you will." Han said patting Kren's shoulder reassuringly. "We just need to find the medication that works for you first."
"That wasn't very reassuring." Kren muttered placing his hands in his pockets and stopped walking when he caught sight of a familiar looking yacht. "Is that what I think it is?"
Han nodded in confirmation as he stared at the yacht. "Yup, that's Bora's yacht." He looked to Kren who had a speculative look on his face. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing much." Kren replied absentmindedly, his eyes roaming around taking in all the details of the yacht in front of him. "Just thinking of a way to prevent that yacht from leaving port."
"You do know that's close to impossible, right?" Han looked to his owner then to the yacht. "The only way I can think of that might work is ripping the rudder off."
"That, or somehow punch some holes in the haul." Kren muttered walking closer to the yacht lightly knocking on the wood. "Problem is that we're in broad daylight and by the time night falls it'll be too late."
"Like what you see?"
Kren turned to face the voice to see a relatively tall and slim man with dark blue mildly short, spiky hair jutting outwards, with a long fringe left hanging over the upper left part of his face standing there. He wore a dark high-collared cape almost reaching down to his knees, possessing a lighter inner part and light edges adorned by a pattern consisting of many rhombs lined up one after the other.
"Can't say I'm surprised you're impressed." The man said pompously with a smirk on his face. "After all, it belongs to none other than I, the great-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Kren gave him a powerful kick to the crotch getting a high pitched painful shriek and falling to his knees holding his damaged goods with both hands. "What was that for?"
"Your face just pissed me off." Kren replied with a bland look on his face as the man slumped forward before looking back to the yacht. "It's a shame that a yacht like this belongs to a scumbag like him."
"Really, Kren?" Han gave his owner a half-lidded side glance before looking down to the man who was twitching from the pain. "That was your reason for hitting him in the goods?"
"That wasn't my only reason, Han." Kren replied before turning his attention back to the now unconscious man. "It was also so I can do this without him fighting back." He knelt down to the man and removed the two rings on his right index and middle fingers. "Now Bora can't do his Salamander scam."
"What are you going to do with those rings?" Han asked as Kren aimlessly walked through the streets of the port city of Hargeon.
"Probably sell them for travel money." Kren replied thoughtfully as he tossed and caught the rings he stole. "We do need currency from this world after all."
"I see." Han muttered looking back to the port with a thoughtful look on his face. "And what are you going to do when Bora wakes up and notices his magic rings are missing?"
"We'll be long gone before he wakes up." Kren replied casually shrugging and placing the rings in his pocket as he walked through the streets of the port city. "After we sell these rings, then we'll make our way to the nearest town."
"You're not planning on meeting Lucy or Natsu?" Han asked in confusion thinking that his owner would jump at the chance of meeting the main characters of his favorite anime.
"Where's the fun in meeting them right off the bat?" Kren smirked petting Han on the head who purred at the touch as they entered a park and walk down the stone path. "Wouldn't it be more fun to see how far I can go without relying on them?"
Han just stared at Kren for a moment after he removed his hand before sighing with a resigned look on his face. "We're dead."
Kren just chuckled at his feline companion's response shaking his head. "O ye of little faith."
"Need I remind you we're in a world full of magic?" Han deadpanned as Kren rounded a corner walking by many shops looking over the items sold behind the windows. "What would you do if you were about to be struck by lightning or a fireball?"
"Two words, four syllables." Kren replied calmly, his voice filled with confidence getting an inquisitive look from Han. "Running away."
Han fell off his owner's shoulder at the stupidity of the blue-haired teen's response before climbing back up looking to see that he was serious. "Running away?"
"Not like I can fight back." Kren explained reaching a hand into his pocket where the rings were and lightly gripped them. "I don't know if I'm able to use magic, so the best option is to run until I confirm that I can."
"Then why not give one of those rings a test run?" Han suggested as Kren pulled out the said rings with the contemplative expression on his face. "You should be able to use a magic item if you have magic power in your body."
"I guess it couldn't hurt." Kren muttered eyeing both rings before putting on the one with the sleeping crescent moon on his right middle finger and pocketing the one with the heart. Kren looked at the ring in confusion flipping his hand to inspect it from all angles. "Okay, now what do I do?"
"Try snapping your fingers." Han shrugged while Kren raised an eyebrow at the feline thinking that it couldn't be that easy. "Just do it."
Kren looked doubtful but complied and positioned his finger to snap them before lowering it. "This is stupid, there's no way it's that easy."
"You never know until you try." Han pointed out jumping off his owners shoulder skillfully twisting his body so that he was facing the blue-haired teen when he landed and placed his paws behind his head in a laid-back manner. "Like the saying goes 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained', right?"
"Come on, you can't be serious." Kren crossed his arms looking his feline companion in the eye. "This is magic we're talking about here, you can't honestly expect me to believe that using it is as simple as snapping my fingers like so..." He raised his hand that had the ring and snapped his fingers to make a point. "And that it... would... actually..." His words began to slur as his eyelids started to feel heavy before they fully closed and he fell flat on his back to Han's surprise.
"Kren?" Han had a worried look on his face as his owner laid motionless on the ground before the sound of light snoring reached his ears. Han walked over to Kren seeing that his chest was slightly rising and lowering before looking to see that his owner was indeed asleep. He waved his paw over Kren's face and shook his shoulder to wake the teen only for him to remain asleep. "Damn, he's really out like a light."
"Is he alright?" The voice of a young woman asked.
"He's fine." Han replied, not turning to face the source of the voice as he continued to attempt to wake his owner. "He just put himself to sleep with his first attempt to use magic."
"His first attempt?" The voice repeated in surprise. "Is he a new wizard?"
"Something like that." Han replied, letting out a frustrated sigh when Kren wouldn't even stir crossing his paws. "I forgot how much of a deep sleeper he is, makes me wonder how his mom gets him up in the morning."
"Do you need some help?"
"Nah, I'll think of something." Han turned to face the person he was talking to only to gasp in shock at who was in front of him.
Standing over him was a young woman with brown eyes and shoulder-length hair tied in a small ponytail to the right side of her head by a clue ribbon with the rest of the hair loose. She is wearing a white shirt with blue trimming on the collar and blue stripes going down the middle and across her buxom chest forming a cross, a thigh-high blue skirt with a brown belt, and a pair of knee-high boots. On the belt were a whip with a heart-shaped end and a ring that held six gold and silver keys and on her right wrist is a black wristband.
"Is there something on my face?" She asked, confused about Han's reaction before feeling her face for anything sticking to it.
"No!" Han quickly replied breaking into a nervous sweat giving the sleeping Kren a side glare. 'Of all times to fall asleep, why did Kren choose now when Lucy freakin' Heartfilia is right in front of me?!' Thinking quickly, Han looked back to Lucy with a nervous smile. "I was just shocked at how beautiful you look."
"You think so?" Lucy asked smiling brightly with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Thanks for noticing!" Her smile then turned into a frown crossing her arms in irritation. "That stubborn old geezer must be blind!"
'Ah, we must be close to the magic shop.' Han sweatdropped as he listened to Lucy rant about how her feminine wiles only got her a 1000 jewel discount. 'The price is a bit ridiculous. If I did my math right, 20,000 jewel should add up to 200 dollars in our world.'
"There you are!"
Han jumped at the familiar voice and turned to face it to see a not so happy Bora marching towards them. Han stood protectively in front of Kren, who was still under the effects of the sleep spell, and hissed threateningly at Bora.
"Do you know that guy?" Lucy asked in confusion at the feline's behaviour.
"You could say that." Han growled out flexing his paws to bring out his retractable claws.
When he reached them and noticed that Kren was asleep, a devious smirk etched itself on Bora's face. He quickly composed himself and gave Lucy a charming smile. "Pardon me miss, are these two friends of your?"
"Not really." Lucy replied looking down to Han who was glaring daggers at Bora before looking back to the man blue haired man. "I noticed this cat was having trouble waking up his friend, so I thought I'd see if I can help."
"Good thing I showed up then." Bora had a sinister smirk as he looked down to the sleeping Kren. "You would have been in danger if I didn't."
"Why would I be in danger?" Lucy asked in confusion warily placing a hand over her keys.
"These two have quite the reputation." Bora continued to smirk as he looked back to Lucy. "The boy pretends to be a new wizard who accidentally put himself to sleep while the cat lures in unsuspecting women to help." He gestured to the ring with the sleeping crescent moon on Kren's finger. "Then, when they least expected it, the boy puts them to sleep and they carry the women away to sell as slaves."
"Are you serious?" Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she looked down to Han and Kren before backing away from them.
"Yes." Bora nodded glancing over to see that Han's jaw dropped in disbelief and continued before the bipedal feline could process what was going on. "In fact, I've been after these two for quite a while, but they always gave me the slip." He let out a dramatic sigh running a hand through his hair, shaking his head in disappointment. "It shames me that they always seem to get away from me, Fairy Tail's Salamander."
"How awful." Lucy took another step back from Han and Kren before her eyes widened when she processed the rest of what Bora said and looked to him in surprise. "Wait, did you say Fairy Tail?"
"I did." Bora faked a surprised look on his face. "I take it you know Fairy Tail?"
"Of course I know Fairy Tail!" Lucy said with an excited smile on her face as she clasped her hands together. "Fairy Tail is the guild I want to join!"
"Is that so?" Bora grinned with a gleam in his eyes. "How about this then, you help me catch these two and I'll put in a good word for you at the guild, what do you say?"
"You got yourself a deal!" Lucy turned to Han who started to sweat nervously as he watched her take off the whip on her waist.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Han quickly said waving his paws frantically. "That guy's lying to you!" Han's words were ignored as Lucy cracked her whip towards him and the bipedal feline jumped to avoid getting hit. "What's with human women and never listening to both sides of the story?!"
"What's with all the noise?" Han's ears twitched at the drowsy complaint and looked behind him to see that Kren was sitting up rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "I was having such a nice dream."
"You can dream later!" Han shouted, jumping up to scratch Kren in the face who let out a painful shout placing a hand over the scratch marks. "Right now, we have a problem!"
"What problem?" Kren removed his hand from his face and looked around to see a smug Bora standing next to Lucy in front of a fountain with the blond holding her whip in both hands. "Oh, that problem."
"Prominence Whip!" Bora made an arched movement with his arm creating a red magical circle that released a number of fiery, curved purple beams is fired towards him and Han. Kren let out a yelp as he quickly scooped up Han into his arms before jumping over the beams.
"Okay, what's going on here?!" Kren shouted as he continued to dodge more beams of purple fire and Lucy's whip. "One minute I'm trying magic for the first time and the next minute I'm being attacked!"
"You put yourself to sleep with that ring!" Han explained pulling his tail close to his chest when a beam almost touched it. "Then Bora tricked Lucy by saying you were the one that was going to sell women as slaves!"
"I would never do that!" Kren looked down to Han as if he was insulted. "Why would Lucy believe him?"
"He also said he was Fairy Tail's Salamander." Han growled as he looked back to glare at Bora who released more fiery purple beams towards them. "He said he'll put in a good word for Lucy if she helped him catch us."
"That scumbag." Kren's gritted his teeth in anger as he tightened his hold on Han as he ducked and rolled to avoid the flames. "Using a girl like that is why I can't stand people like Bora."
"He's quite nimble." Lucy muttered as she holstered her whip when she realized that her attacks weren't connecting. "I don't think I have a spirit that can hit him." She heard the sound of running water behind her and looked to see a fountain then down to her keys and smiled when one stood out. "That's it!"
"Kren." Han said nervously looking to Lucy as she turned to face the fountain and pulled out a gold key.
The bow is designed similar to that of an upside down urn with two handles on either side. The center of the bow is white, stamped with two blue parallel waves and a heart on its base. The blade of the key is designed similar to that of a mermaid tail, with "fins" sprouting out of either side of the base of the bow, and four more at the tip, curling towards the center.
Kren started to sweat nervously when he noticed the design of the key in the blonde girl's hand. "Please tell me she's not doing what I think she's doing?"
Lucy dipped the tip of the key into the water and twisted it to the left as a blue magic circle formed beneath her. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"
There was the sound of a doorbell ringing before a woman resembling a royal blue mermaid appeared in a flash of light. She has a long, blue fish-tail, light blue hair that reaches up to her waist, and a large bust. She has blue eyes that seem to have no pupils. The mermaid was wearing a revealing dark blue bikini top and on each arm, she has a golden armlet and bracelet. She also has a headband, three piercings on her tail, and a golden belt at her waist and light blue crystal earrings. A dark blue tattoo resembling the Aquarius zodiac symbol rests right under her collarbone. In her hands was a light blue urn.
"She's a celestial wizard?" Bora's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the mermaid spirit float over the fountain.
"Alright, Aquarius." Lucy said pointing towards Ken and Han. "I need you to use your powers to capture those two." The mermaid spirit just clicked her tongue which made Lucy look at her with a tic mark on her head. "What's with the attitude?!"
"My, you're still as noisy as ever." Aquarius said moodily as she rested her urn on her waist. "So, do you have a boyfriend yet?"
"That's none of your business!" Lucy turned and pointed towards Kren and Han again. "Just catch those two! They were going to kidnap and sell girls as slaves!"
"Is that so?" Aquarius scowled as water rose from the fountain and entered her urn.
"You got it all wrong!" Kren said waving his hands frantically as the mermaid spirit held her urn up with both hands. "I was trying to stop the REAL culprit!"
"Save your excuses for when you're in hell!" Aquarius yelled as she swung her urn releasing giant waves of water that towered over the three humans and bipedal feline. They could do nothing more than scream as the wave came crashing down and washed them away.
"You were supposed to get them, not me!" Lucy shouted as she tried to keep her head above water.
"What was Lucy thinking summoning Aquarius in the middle of a park?!" Han yelled clinging to Kren's head as the blue haired teen swam over to a tree and held on to it tightly.
"I don't know." Kren replied, trying to keep a level head as the water level began to get lower. "She probably thought Aquarius was her best bet of hitting us."
"You're still alive?" The ill-tempered spirit raised her urn over her head again and began to suck in the water. "This time I'll drown you for sure!"
"We got to stop her!" Han exclaimed as Aquarius prepared to swing her urn. He looked down at Kren who was deep in thought. "Can't you use that ring to put her to sleep or something?!"
"I still don't know how to use it properly." Kren muttered as he looked at the ring in question on his finger. "Besides, I'm not sure if it's strong enough to put her to sleep." Aquarius swung her urn once again releasing giant waves of water that towered over the trees. 'Come on, Kren, think.'
"Eat the water."
Kren's blinked in bewilderment when he heard a voice in his head. The voice sounded soft and gentle, like a lullaby. It sounded sure that Kren knew what it was talking about and that he should too. Before Kren knew what he was doing, he removed Han from his head before setting him down and running towards the giant wave ignoring his feline companion calling out his name.
"What's he doing?" Bora muttered to himself as Kren stopped running to face the wave tightly clenching his hands into fists.
"He's going to drown!" Lucy said in concern for the other teen. She may be the one that summoned Aquarius, but she didn't want to kill anyone.
Kren closed his eyes as he took deep breaths and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He blocked out all other sounds, just focused on his breathing and the sound of the waves as they got closer and closer. There was a sharp stabbing pain in the back of Kren's head, but he ignored it before he opened his eyes and mouth as wide as he could.
"That is it, Kren, just like that."
Suddenly, small tendrils of water left the wave and began to be sucked into Kren's mouth shocking Han, Lucy, Aquarius, and Bora as they watched the blue haired teen continue to suck in the giant wave of water. After a few seconds, Kren was able to suck up all the water from the mermaid spirit's attack causing his stomach to bulge before it returned to being flat. Kren stared at his stomach with wide eyes as he patted it with a hand. He didn't feel full at all, in fact, he felt rejuvenated and stronger. He could feel something course through his body that he never felt before.
'Is that magic power I'm feeling?' Kren looked down to his hands as he clenched and unclenched them feeling the power course through his body again before settling. After he finished processing that he does indeed have magic power in his body, Kren eyes widened when he realized what he just did. 'Wait, I just drank a tsunami's worth of water! Does that mean I'm a…'
"Did you see that, Natsu?!" Kren jumped when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "He drank all that water like you do with fire!"
Kren turned to face the voice to see a young man with spiky salmon pink hair and a scaly white scarf around his neck. Standing next to him was a blue cat standing on its hind legs like Han with a green bag tied around its neck.
"Yeah, I saw, Happy." The pinked haired teen said as he eyed Kren curiously. "Do you think he's one too?"
"Aye, he's gotta be." The blue cat replied. "Maybe he'll know if Igneel passed by here."
"Only one way to find out." The pink haired teen, who Kren knew was Natsu, walked over to the blue haired teen. When he was standing in front of Kren, Natsu looked him in the eye with an intense look in his coal black eyes. "Hey, do you know where Igneel is?"
"N-no." Kren took a step back, still caught off guard by what was going on with him. "I-I don't know where he is."
"Can this wait until later?" Han asked as he walked over to them with Lucy by side and she was looking anywhere but Kren. "We still have one problem to deal with."
"Right, Aquarius." Kren nodded and turned to face the mermaid spirit again only to blink in confusion when she was nowhere to be seen. "Huh?"
"I closed her gate." Lucy explained holding up Aquarius' gate key before bowing lowly to Kren. "I'm so sorry!"
"Huh?" Kren was once again caught off guard by the blonde's sudden apology that he took a step back. "Sorry about what?"
"Han explained everything to me." Lucy said as she straightened herself and Kren could see just how genuinely guilty she felt. "He told me everything from why you took that guy's rings to him lying about being in Fairy Tail."
"He what?!" Natsu shouted as he glared towards Bora who was sweating profusely at having his cover blown.
"That's right." Han nodded crossing his arms, happy that he cleared his owner's name. "Kren and I just happened to be walking by the harbor when we heard Bora talking to his goons." Naturally, that was a lie that Han came up with to cover how they knew of Bora's plan. "He said that he would pose as Fairy Tail's Salamander and use a charm ring to make women fall for him where he would invite them to his yacht for a party."
Kren nodded in agreement reaching into his pocket to pull out the aforementioned ring. "He was then going to use the sleep ring to put the women to sleep where they would ship them to Bosco to sell as slaves."
"That's horrible." Lucy had a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes when she heard what Bora was planning. She looked towards Bora in anger that she was used to attack an innocent person. "You're the worst wizard alive!"
"And what exactly are you kids going to do about it?" Bora smirked as he stretched his arms wide open to his sides as another magic circle formed in front of him. "Prominence Typhoon!" spiraling column of fire was released and sent flying towards the three humans and two talking cats and engulfed them. Bora started to laugh triumphantly as the fire continued to burn brightly. "Not so tough now, are ya?!"
"Man, this stuff is nasty." Bora stopped laughing and looked to where the three teens were and saw that Natsu was sucking his flames into his mouth to his shock. After Natsu ate the last of Bora fire, he smirked. "It may not be good, but now I got a fire in my belly."
"You too?!" Bora exclaimed in shock at seeing his flames being eaten. "What the hell are you two?!"
"Heh." Natsu continued to smirk as he adjusted the scarf around his neck. "That's simple." He removed his coat to reveal a red fairy-shaped guild mark just below his right shoulder. "My name is Natsu, and I'm a Fairy Tail wizard!" He jabbed a thumb in Kren's direction. "Him, I have no idea. But one thing's for sure, we're both dragon slayers!"
"Dragon slayers?" Lucy repeated in confusion and shock to learn that the pink haired teen is a member of the guild she wanted to join.
"It's a type of magic to fight dragons." Happy explained. "His and the other guy's brand of magic is one that allows his body to take on all the qualities of a dragon. It's an ancient spell that's rarely use anymore."
"That's right." Han nodded as he glanced over to Kren who looked as astonished by Natsu's words as Lucy is. 'But why is Kren able to use dragon slayer magic?'
"I have no idea what a dragon slayer is." Bora gritted his teeth as he formed a giant ball of purple flames over his head. "But I'm not gonna lose to you!"
"Time to breathe like a dragon, Kren."
Once again, Kren felt a sharp stabbing pain in the back of his head when he heard the voice again. He looked over to Natsu who was looking at him and grinned before pounding his fists together. Kren knew right away what Natsu was going to do and could feel the magic power inside him waiting to be used. Kren nodded before facing Bora and pounded his fists together like Natsu did.
"First, focus your magic power into your lungs."
Kren followed the voice's instructions and concentrated on having his magic power gather in his lungs. His body shivered at the unfamiliar feeling of Magic filling his lungs as he and Natsu crouched down slightly.
"Fire Dragon…" Natsu took a deep breath as his cheeks bulged and he positioned his hands like a trumpeter.
"Next, when you gather enough magic power, take a deep breath."
"Water Dragon…" Kren didn't know why he said that, but it felt right to him as he took a deep breath like Natsu and positioned his hands like a trumpeter as well.
"No way." Han muttered in disbelief at what he was seeing. "Is Kren really going to…"
"Take this!" Bora threw his ball of flames toward Natsu and Kren.
"Finally, you release the magic power you have gathered in one shot."
"Roar!" Red and Blue magic circles formed in front of Natsu and Kren respectively as a powerful torrent of flames was released from Natsu's magic circle and a vortex-like blast of water was released from Kren's.
The two breath attacks connected with the ball of flames and a power struggle began as they push each other to gain the upper hand. Eventually, the combined fire and water breath attacks broke the ball of flame apart and collided with Bora who screamed in pain as he was sent flying and crashing to the ground.
Kren was breathing hard as he stared at what he just did. He actually used a dragon slayer's breath attack and ate a large amount of water. He looked down to his hands in awe when it finally hit him. He's able to use magic, not just any magic, dragon slayer magic.
"Man, that felt great!" Natsu suddenly looped an arm around Kren's shoulder with a grin on his face. "I never thought I'd do something like that with another dragon slayer!"
"Me neither." Kren said with a nervous chuckle. 'I don't even know how I did all that or that I could do it in the first place.'
"Kren!" Kren looked over to see Han running over to him with a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Han." Kren gave a reassuring smile to his feline companion as he looked to where Bora was. "He's still alive, right?"
"Yeah." Natsu nodded, looking in the same direction as Kren. "I can still hear his heart beating."
"That's good." Kren sighed in relief at knowing he didn't kill anyone.
"By the way." Kren looked to Natsu who was staring intensely at him again. "Who taught you how to use dragon slayer magic? Was it Igneel?"
"Uh, no, it was, um." Kren said nervously as he wrecked his brain to come up with how to explain how he's able to use dragon slayer magic.
"Aquacia!"
Kren's eyes widened when he heard the voice of an excited child instead of the soft and gentle voice from before. The image of a serpent-like dragon whose body was covered with smooth glistening blue scales. its lower body, specifically its stomach, the inner portions of its long tail, and legs, are white in color. The had a triangular and flat head, round eyes with blue sclera, and a single horn pointing upwards just above its nose. On the sides of the dragon's body are a pair of arms with three-fingered white claws. Additionally, the dragon had a pair of wings that resemble a bat with ripple tips attached to her wrists that are twice the length of its forearms.
"Aquacia." Kren muttered before he even realized his lips were moving. "The Water Dragon."
"Aquacia, huh?" Natsu sighed in disappointment as he removed his arm from Kren's shoulder. "Another lead that was a dead end."
"Cheer up, Natsu." Happy said as a pair of white feathered wings formed on his back and he floated up to the pink haired teen. "I'm sure we'll find Igneel someday."
"Yeah, you're right, Happy." Natsu grinned as he went to pick up his coat. "How about we head home now?"
"Aye sir!" Happy said happily before flying over to Natsu and landed next to him while making his wings vanish.
"You guys coming?" Natsu asked as he looked to Lucy, Kren, and Han who looked surprised.
"Really, we can come with you to Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked barely able to contain her excitement about genuinely joining the Fairy Tail guild.
"Of course." Natsu replied with a grin on his face. "Despite the misunderstanding, you seem nice." He then looked to Kren and Han. "You can come too if you guys want, everyone will get a kick that I ran into a fellow dragon slayer."
Han looked up to Kren who was deep in thought as he carefully weighed the pros and cons of accepting Natsu's offer. Kren looked down to Han, silently asking for his feline companion's opinion. "The choice is yours, Kren. Whatever you choose, I'll be there with you."
Kren smiled gratefully at Han before taking a deep breath and looked to Natsu. "Where and when do we sign up?"
Now unto the reviews that you were kind enough to leave for me to read.
foxchick1: Sorry for the wait, but I hope it was well worth it.
Zephyr47: I'm glad that you think so and that it intrigued you. Well, you have your answer as to what magic Kren uses. Don't worry, I won't put too many OC's as that would let to future problems I don't feel like dealing with at the moment. Sorry for the wait, but I hope that this chapter was to your liking.
Guest: Again, sorry for the wait. Pair Kren with Lucy? I already have someone in mind for a pairing, but I'll Lucy under consideration if I change my mind.
PhantomGalaxy13: Glad to be here. So true, that's why I decided to take a crack at it. Again, so true, and I have quite a few things planned that are waiting to pop out. I'll be very careful as you can probably guess from the intro I had problems. But it should be smooth sailing from here on out.
Thank you for your time and patience and I hope to see you all again soon.