Bughn

After Fairy Tail was gone, Wendy was at a total loss for what to do; she had no idea what to do with herself, especially as Natsu disappeared shortly after. Fortunately for her, Chelia had heard of Fairy Tail's disbandment, and came to offer Wendy and Carla places in her guild. Certainly not in a place to refuse, both girls accepted her offer, and became members of Lamia Scale. She tried to think of a new beginning, but it could be hard.

Lamia Scale was no Fairy Tail, but it had its own traits that made it fun for Wendy to be a part of, especially since she and Chelia formed the "Sky Sisters" team (though she could do without the routine song performances). She certainly missed her old guild mates, especially Natsu, but she had managed to adjust. Though it felt bad to do so, Wendy had to get rid of her Fairy Tail mark, and replace it with the Lamia Scale one. But nonetheless, everyone at the guild was nice to her and Carla, and they were never short for work. And that was exactly what the two were looking for as they stood in front of the guild's request board.

"Looking for a job?" Chelia asked, as she approached Wendy.

"Yes."

"Ideally, not one too hard," Carla said, as she floated beside Wendy, "We'd rather go there and come home in the same day." Chelia nodded in understanding, before she also looked at the board, before noticing.

"How about this one?" she said, as she took one off the board. It simply read "Blacksmith in need of assistance. Please help". There was on indication of a reward, though, aside from words that said "Reward to be provided by the employer".

"That's not very detailed," Carla noted.

"I wonder what he needs help with," Wendy said.

"Well, if you're up for it," Chelia said, "I'm willing to come with you for this one." Wendy came it some thought, as she looked at Carla, who just shrugged lightly.

"Well, why not?" Wendy said with a smile, unable to think of a reason not to do it.

"Then let's go now!" Chelia said, as she grabbed Wendy's arm, and all but pulled her out of the guild.

(~)

Thankfully (for Wendy at least), the town they had to go to wasn't that far way. It was a fairly quick train ride, but for the Dragon Slayer…. Let's just say Wendy now had a great deal more sympathy for Natsu and Gajeel now. She would've asked Chelia for help in that respect, though unfortunately for her, Sky God Slayer healing worked different to Sky Dragon Slayer healing.

Once they did get into town, they were told that there was only one blacksmith there, and that he lived up a winding road in the foothills. That seemed a bit strange that the smith was living so far away from the rest of the people. Maybe he was one of those anti-social types.

After some walking, the road eventually brought them to a small house; actually that was being generous, it was more of a "shack". Sitting beside the shack was what looked like a large forge (almost as large of the shack itself), and bending over the forge was a figure of sorts. The figure was male, and hunched over one of his fires, as he looked to be engraving something on some small item Wendy couldn't get a good look at. He was wearing a blacksmith outfit that covered his whole body, including a mask with goggles that hid his face. As the girls approached, he didn't appear to notice them.

"Excuse me," Chelia called politely. The smith did look up at that them at that.

"May I help you?" he asked. His voice was dry, and gravelly, and somehow reminded Wendy of the sound of a crackling fire.

"We're the mages from Lamia Scale," Wendy said, as she, along with her partners, showed their guild marks, "Were you the one who posted the request for help?"

"Ah, yes!" the smith said, as he stood up straight, showing just how tall he was, "Thank you for taking it."

"It's no problem," Chelia said, with a smile, "It's our job as guild mages."

"You just said that you needed help," Carla said, stepping forward, "So what help do you need?" The man was silent for a time, as he seemed to be staring at Carla for a time, apparently having never seen an Exceed before. To try and keep the conversation going, Carla assumed her human form, and cleared her throat.

"Oh yes," the man said, as he cleared his own, "What I need is assistance in obtaining something."

"Well, what do you need?" Wendy asked, "Is it some kind of magical artifact or plant." The smith shook his head slightly.

"I am merely a humble smith. There isn't much I need here, aside from more materials to use," he explained, "Specifically, there is a kind of metal ore that I recently heard existed in the nearby hills; I heard it is very easy to work with, and can make some fine works. Unfortunately, from what I've been told, there are some rather dangerous creatures in the hills. And I'm afraid I am not the most… physically adept." That surprised Wendy slightly; she always assumed blacksmiths to be quite strong, if only due to their profession.

"Is that all you need?" Chelia then asked.

"That it is."

"How much?" The smith reached down and procured a few average sized, cloth bags.

"Enough to fill each of these bags," he answered plainly. Wendy was a bit surprised by how much he apparently needed, but she wasn't a smith, so she figured it wasn't worth pondering over. Once they got the bags, the Sky Sisters struck into the hills to find the metal they were told about.

(~)

To their general surprise, said metal turned out to be very easy. It could be found all over the mountain, particular in one canyon in particular, where it seemed every where Wendy looked, she could see piles of it. It was certainly busy work, and not what the Sky Sister had been expecting, but she could appreciate the busy work, as she gathered more of the ore, and dropping it in her bag.

"How much do you have?" Chelia asked, as she came over, with a bag over each shoulder, each filled with ore.

"About the same as you," Wendy said, said, gesturing to her two bags, "Do you think it's enough?"

"Well, he asked to fill both bags, so it should be," Chelia answered, "I think we can head back to the forge, now." Wendy nodded in agreement, before she noticed Carla flying up to them, with her own full bag over her shoulder.

"You ready Carla?" the Dragon Slayer asked. The Exceed nodded, as she landed, before she frowned, looking around.

"What is it?"

"It's just, we haven't seen a single monster since we started," Carla said, as she looked over the area, adjusting her bag, "Actually, the most wildlife we've seen at all were just some birds."

"Well, I guess we were lucky," Wendy said, "I mean, no reason to complain about a job being easy, right?"

"No… I suppose not," Carla answered, as she looked around.

"Are you having any visions?" Wendy asked, her brow furrowing in concern. The cat-girl was silent for a time, as she looked briefly at the ground.

"That's actually the thing," Carla said, as she rubbed her forehead, "I haven't gotten any visions of the future. It's almost like something is… blocking it." The Sky Sisters exchanged looks at that. There wasn't much they knew that could affect Carla's magic like that

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing," Wendy said, with a smile, trying to be optimistic, "But we'll stay on our guard." Carla just slowly nodded in agreement, albeit apparently reluctant agreement.

(~)

When they got back, the smith was working on something else in his forge, hammering away at something Wendy couldn't see. Despite herself, the way he was beating the metal gave Wendy a slight chill; it looked less like he was shaping the metal and more like was trying to hurt it (not damage, hurt). His hammer looked crude, just a blunt black rock bound to a wooden stick, though Wendy could've sworn she saw some glow to it (perhaps it had magical properties she didn't know of). As the girls came up to him, he seemed to sense them, as he glanced up.

"Welcome back," he said, turning to face them, "I see you found my ore."

"That we did," Chelia said, holding up the bags.

"Outstanding," the smith declared as he quickly took the offered bags, and brought them to his forge, "You have my utmost gratitude for this."

"Of course," Wendy said with a smile, "We're happy to help."

"Unfortunately," the man continued, as he set the bags down, "I am afraid I have no money to offer you."

"Well, I mean it wasn't a difficult to task," Chelia said, "So I don't see.."

"Just one moment," Carla interjected, as she held up a hand, "Forgive me, for I certainly don't mean to be rude, but it bears mentioning the we are employed mages. Our guild needs some form of payment."

"Carla!" Wendy scolded with a frown.

"I'm merely stating the obvious," Carla said, "I'm not saying…"

"No, she's right," the smith said, holding up his hand, "What sort of employer would I be if I let your actions go unrewarded?"

"But I thought…," Chelia began.

"I said I have no money, not that I have no reward," the smith said, gesturing with his hammer, before putting it on his belt, and walking over to his forge. He then picked up a small wooden box, and came over to them.

"While you were gone, I forged these," he explained as he opened them, allowing the girls to get a good look at what was inside.

"Oh my," Carla said, as they all saw several rings sitting in a row. Each one was made of silver steel, with a smooth black rock embedded atop, that glittered in the light of dusk with the symbol of their guild engraved on it.

"You made all these yourself?" Wendy asked, in awe over the sight of them, "They're beautiful."

"And they are all your's," the smith said with a nod, to the girls' surprise.

"You're giving them all to us?" Chelia asked, "But there's only three of us."

"They are gifts to your guild for sending such skilled mages my way," the smith said with a nod. Wendy looked carefully at the rings; it wasn't an exaggeration when she said they were some of the most finely crafted items she'd ever seen. It almost surprised her that this man lived in such a humble abode, when he could probably be charging people thousands of jewels for these rings.

"We can't take all of these," Wendy said, shaking her head slightly "It's inappropriate."

"No, I insist," the smith said, stepping forward, pushing the ring box forward, "You simply must take them." Wendy opened then closed her mouth, as she looked down at the rings. She had to admit, they were some of the greatest works of jewelry she had ever seen, and it would probably be rude to refuse them after he went to all the trouble to make them all on his own.

"Well, I guess there's no real harm in it," Wendy said as she took one out, and slipped it onto her finger. Almost immediately, she could've sworn she felt a minor sensation. It was honestly kind of hard to explain, but the best way she could it was like it was kind of like a shock going through her finger, but in a good way, like a briefly feeling of ecstasy. The Dragon Slayer took a moment to savor the look of the ring, and at her face reflected in the stone.

"Try it," she said, holding out one to both Carla and Chelia, who took them, and put them on. Wendy could see the two visibly light up at the feel of the rings.

"Thank you, Mr…," Wendy trailed off, as Chelia took the box, "I just realized, we never heard your name?" Though she couldn't see his face, she sensed he was smiling, and she could've sworn an orange flash from behind his goggles.

"I have gone by many names, but you may call me, Annatar," he said kindly, leaning forward.

"'Annatar'," Wendy echoed, considering the sound of the name, before bowing briefly, "Again, thank you very much." Annatar just nodded, as the three girls took their leave. As they were going back down the road, Wendy found herself glancing back at Annatar, who went back over to his forge to continue his work.

"Everyone will love these," Chelia said, as she looked at ring.

"Yeah, they will," Wendy said, as she admired her own briefly.

Note: I'm not sure what motivated me to write this. Perhaps it was a craving to to do a Fairy Tail fanfic, and rewatching LOTR giving me some inspiration.

While I think Tolkein geeks may recognize the name, other's might not. So I will say here and now that "Annatar" was original name of the one and only Sauron; yes, the Sky Sisters just got a set of magic rings from the Lord of the Rings. "Bughn" is Black Speech for "beginning". "Mabrotnog a Bûrzum" translates (roughly) as "Reign of Darkness".

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