Chapter 9 Lucy
Natsu, Wendy, Happy, and Carla all sat on the train. Natsu had to keep his mouth closed in order to avoid losing his lunch (or in this case breakfast).
"I could cast my troia spell on you, big brother!" Wendy offered. "That would keep you from getting this motion sickness!"
"If I have to rely on that spell, I'll never overcome this!" Natsu objected. "I just hope this Salamander we heard about in Hargeon actually turns out to be him!"
"You really think it could be Igneel?" Wendy asked.
"I seriously doubt it," Carla said. "The thing we heard is that a salamander was passing through here! Not a dragon! Word would spread all over Fiore if there was a dragon simply walking through towns! If you ask me, this is someone trying to impersonate you, Natsu!"
"Well either way I'm gonna find this Salamander, if it is Igneel… I'm gonna give him a good smack for leaving me then hug him and ask him what happened!"
"Well that's one way to greet your father!" Happy said.
"I doubt it would really hurt him, since he's got thick scales!" Natsu said. "And maybe he'll know where Grandeena is?"
Wendy smiled hopefully. "I hope so," she then looked down. "Do you think that, maybe he wouldn't mind having me in his family? I never got the chance to meet him but… I'd like to think I have a father as well."
Natsu managed to fight off the motion sickness enough to pick himself up and put his arm around her. "I'm sure he'd love you once he gets to know you!"
The train suddenly stopped moving and the intercom spoke. "We have arrived at Hargeon! Please enjoy your stay!"
….
The port town of Hargeon was mainly filled with fisherman. There was only one magic shop in the entire port to serve the wizards through. A young blonde woman with a curvy figure approached the counter.
"Excuse me," she asked. "I'm looking for Celestial Spirit gatekeys?"
"Hmm… gatekeys? Now that's are a rare request, I only have one in stock," the shopkeeper said.
He showed her the gatekey. She gasped, "It's the little doggie!"
"Not really a doggie, Nikolas more resemble tiny snowmen. They're not really fighting spirits but they work as pets," the shopkeeper said.
"I'll take it!" the blonde said. "How much?"
"Twenty thousand jewel!"
She frowned at him then sat on the counter and ran a hand through her hair in a seductive manner. "Come on, surely you can cut the price a little bit?"
…
She exited the shop with a frown.
"That damn shopkeeper! My sex appeal is worth more than just one thousand jewel!" she hissed.
Suddenly a pair of girls her age ran past her.
"He's really here! Salamander?" she asked her partner.
"Yep, its him alright!" the other said.
"Salamander?" The blond said as her eyes lit up with stars. "The famous S class wizard from Fairy Tail who uses Fire Magic that can't be bought in stores!"
She followed the two girls to where a crowd of females had gathered to see the Salamander. Immediately she saw a man who was doing tricks with fire magic. The blonde's heart began to race as she looked at wizard. He was so handsome!
"Wow, is this love at first sight?" she wondered aloud.
"You are amazing Salamander!" many of the woman cried out.
"Excuse me, coming through," a young voice said next to the blonde who looked and saw a little blue haired girl stand beside her.
"Alright you lovelies! Thank you for being such a wonderful audience! I'm having a party aboard my yacht tonight, and you are all invited!" the Salamander said.
The blonde slowly approached him. "Excuse me, Mr. Salamander?"
He looked at her. "Yes?"
"You're a wizard from Fairy Tail aren't you?"
"Uh… yes," he said.
"Do you think I could join the guild?" she asked.
He grinned, "Well, I think I can make that happen!"
"Oh, can you?" a voice called out.
Wind suddenly began to pick up and the other girls began to stumble back. The crowd parted to reveal the little girl facing Salamander with a fierce look in her eyes.
"You claim to be a member of Fairy Tail!" she said pointing at Salamander. "And that you are Salamander! But you are neither of those things!"
Many of the girls in the crowd got angry at this. "You dare question the great Salamander?"
"Now now ladies! I'm sure this little girl is simply mistaken!" 'Salamander' said.
"I'm not. I know he is not from Fairy Tail, because I am a Fairy Tail Wizard myself!" the little girl said, pulling off her jacket and revealing a blue emblem on her shoulder, as well as the fact she carried a dagger on either hip. "I've never seen you before! Also, I'm the little sister of the real Salamander!"
This caused the crowd of ladies to gasp while 'Salamander' looked shocked. He growled and then shouted.
"Get them men!"
Suddenly the handful of men in the crowd began to grab as many of the girls as they could. While 'Salamander' threw a fireball at the little girl, who yelped and sent out a gust of wind to protect herself, but she was still thrown off her feet.
"No!" the blonde yelled as she saw this before one of Salamander's men suddenly had her wrapped in ropes.
"Damn you little girl, you might have ruined everything! You better hope your brother pays ransom for you!" Salamander said as he approached her. "Ehh! I'll just sell you like all the others!"
"Oh no you won't!" a demonic voice said. "No one hurts my little sister!"
'Salamander' turned and saw a young man with spiky pink hair and a scaley scarf.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm the real Salamander!"
The blonde and many of the other woman gasped. The two Salamanders then began to fight, both using fire magic. Buildings caught fire as the two wizards dueled, but it quickly ended as real Salamander defeated the fake by eating the fire magic he threw at him. The real one then sent it back at the fake with a roar.
"Ah! Run for it!" one of the fake Salamander's crew screamed.
All the would-be kidnappers ran off, leaving the girls they'd captured behind.
"You okay, Wendy?" the real Salamander asked as he ran over to his sister.
"Yes," the little girl said. "But I could have handled him myself!"
"I think you should let Wendy fight her own battles every now and then Natsu!" a female voice said from above.
The captive woman gasped at the sight of a pair of flying cats with angel-like wings.
"That opponent was too weak to stand up to you," the white cat, the one who had spoken before, continued. "Wendy needs to learn to defend herself you know."
Salamander snorted. "Well, lets get all these girls freed. Hand me one of your daggers Wendy!"
"We can help with our claws as well," the blue cat said.
With the four of them working together, they quickly freed all the girls.
"Thank you, Salamander!" they said to their savior.
"No problem. We heard there was a Salamander here and I knew it had to be fake!" he said holding the defeated phony up by the collar.
The white female cat put her nose in the air. "I'm one who knew it was likely a fake! You thought it was going to be Igneel!"
"So, who is this guy anyway?" the blue cat asked.
"Bora of Prominence, he's a dark mage," the white one answered. "Known for kidnappings, human trafficking and all sorts of other despicable crimes. Last I checked the wanted posters there was a huge reward for his capture."
The real Salamander looked at the cats. "Happy, go get the military!"
"Aye sir!" the male cat said before flying off.
Around ten minutes later, a squad of soldiers ran up. Most of the woman left satisfied once they saw Bora getting cuffed and dragged off. Though the blonde stayed.
"Thank you very much for stopping him Mr. Salamander!" the captain of the squad said.
The Fairy Tail mage grinned. "No problem!"
"Here's the reward for catching Bora," the captain said giving Salamander a few bills. "Two hundred Fifty Thousand Jewel. Though I'm going to have to take a bit back for the damage to the buildings in this area."
"That's okay! I'm just glad my little sister is safe!" Salamander said putting an arm around the little girl.
The military squad inspected the damage and- "Sorry sir but I'm afraid the damage is greater than the reward. No jewel for you!"
"What?" Salamander exclaimed. "Come on!"
"Feel lucky we don't arrest you on the spot!" the captain said. "Come on men lets go!"
Once the squad left with Bora, the blonde finally took the opportunity to speak to the real Salamander.
"Oh, hi!" he said as she approached.
"Thank you for saving me," she said with a grateful smile. "Are you really a Fairy Tail Wizard?"
"Oh yeah, all of us are! I'm Natsu by the way," he pointed to himself. "This is my little sister Wendy!"
"Hi, I'm Lucy!" the blonde said extending her hand to shake.
Natsu took it first. Then Wendy came up.
"Nice to meet you Lucy," she said.
The two flying cats then came down and perched on the shoulders of their partners. Lucy looked at them in awe.
"What kind of cats are those?" she asked. "I've never seen flying talking cats before!"
"We're exceeds if you must know!" the white one on Wendy's shoulder said. "We come from a far away land. I'm Carla by the way, Wendy's partner. The silly blue tomcat is Happy."
"Hi!" Happy said waving a paw in a manner that befitted his name.
"Wow, I'm actually speaking to a group of Fairy Tail Wizards!" Lucy said.
"Are you a wizard?" Natsu asked.
"Yes, in fact I was hoping to be able to join Fairy Tail!" Lucy said.
"Really? Well, why don't you come back to the guild with us?" Natsu suggested.
"Isn't there like a test or an application to get in?" Lucy asked.
Natsu shook his head. "Just ask Gramps if you can join!"
"Gramps?"
"That's what the master sometimes likes to be called by!" Natsu explained.
"Others prefer to call him Master," Carla said.
"Well let's head out!" Natsu said raising a fist.
Only for his stomach to growl. He sighed in embarrassment.
"Sounds like we need to stop for lunch first," Carla noted. "Why am I not surprised?"
Natsu took out his wallet. "But we don't have any jewel!" he cried. "We left in such a hurry to find Igneel we didn't think of that!"
"Oh, that's okay. I can pay," Lucy offered. "Think of it as thanks for saving me!"
"You already thanked me," Natsu said as they began to walk to a restaurant.
"Yes, but I owe you!" Lucy insisted.
"Alright, I won't say no to a free meal!" Natsu said.
They headed into the restaurant.
"So you came here thinking there was someone else here called Salamander?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, we heard from someone in our guild a salamander was passing through and thought it might have been Igneel. My father," Natsu said.
Lucy looked from him to Wendy. "Don't you mean 'our father'?" she asked.
"No, we're not blood related," Wendy explained. "Natsu took me in when I was five years old. We found each other in the forest after... after we both lost our parents!"
Wendy started to sob as she said that. Natsu immediately put his arm around her and ran his fingers through her hair. Lucy's eyes widened at the sight.
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that!" she said.
"I told them, if it were Igneel, people would reported seeing a dragon!" Carla said.
Lucy was confused. "So this Igneel looks like a dragon?"
Natsu shook his head. "He doesn't just look like a dragon, he is a dragon!"
Lucy gasped.
"So is my mother Grandeena!" Wendy said, now easing her light sobbing. "We both have dragon slayer magic!"
Lucy was astounded. Fairy Tail Wizards, flying cats, and dragons? What sort of other things would she encounter in Fairy Tail. She would soon find out as Natsu and Wendy lead her to the train taking them back to Magnolia.
Authors Notes: Well here is where the Smart Flame ended. I know its not marked as complete but it hasn't been updated in five years. Hate to say it but I think something happened to the author or they just got too buried by life. Ah well, I will be working to finish this fic. Though I don't know how long it will take. Of course I worked on my MLP story for one year and four months. Hopefully this won't take that long but we'll see. I aim to complete my stories.