First Job
Soler doesn't know how he got in this situation but his nerves couldn't be any more on edge. Soler was sitting next to Erza with Gray and the man called Gildarts sitting across from them on a train going to his first job. He was still trying to process everything that happened and was happening since he was training at the guild not but an hour ago.
***An Hour Ago***
Soler had finished his solo training routine when Master Makarov walked to him followed by a rather large man. Though this was his first time seeing the man he could feel that he was strong.
"Sorry to interrupt your training lad but I'd like you to meet one of our stronger members of the guild." The burly man stepped forward with his hand extended and smile on his face,
"Nice to meet ya. The names Gildarts." he said. Soler hesitantly took his hand and shook it and he wasn't surprised to find out Gildarts grip was incredibly strong,
"N-Nice to meet you Gildarts." Soler responded,
"Likewise. Master's told me a bit about you and from what I saw walking up he was telling the truth. Your definitely growing into a splendid wizard." His praise brought a faint blush to Soler's face,
"Oh w-well thank you sir." Soler stammered.
"Well now that you're acquainted let's head back into the guild. Erza and Gray should return shortly and once their back I've got a job I want you to go on Soler." Makarov instructed. Soler looked at Master with a mixture of bewilderment and fear,
"W-What did you say?"
***Present***
Now he sat quietly his nerves bounced everywhere much like his mind was,
"Hey, everything alright?" He jumped as Erza's question brought him out o his scattered thoughts. Seeing she spooked him she immediately went to apologize,
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you. Being on your first job can be nerve racking." she responded with a gentle smile. Her smile and tone calmed him a bit but she was right his nerves were definitely racking. Gray snickered at the sight of Soler,
"Jeez he's shaking like a baby. Not even Natsu's that bad." he taunted. Soler's neck flared with embarrassment from the comment,
"Please Gray. I've heard the stories of how scared you were on your first job." Erza started gaining the floor, "If I remember right the others told me that you were such a nervous wreck that you accidentally created a ball of ice that crashed right into a cabbage cart. I believe the man was so devastated that you destroyed it he took part of the money from your pay for repairs." The ice mage quickly grew flustered and decided to just look out the window mumbling to himself. Erza giggled from her victory and then turned her attention back to Soler,
"See Soler even someone as cool as Grey gets nervous. So it's alright if you are just remember that we're all here with you." she said. Soler felt her words resonate within his heart. She was right that the others were there with him. But the lingering thought of him messing up, or worse getting in Erza's way kept that fear and nervousness with him. Erza must've felt that he was still nervous decided to hold his hand which took him by surprise and caused his heart to do that thing again.
"E-Erza what are you doing?" he faltered. Witha kind smile did she look to him,
"I'm holding your hand. I know that words don't always resonate quickly so physical contact is the next best soother. So I'm holding your hand to help calm your nerves." she answered back. Soler felt that she said those words a bit top loosely but the warmth of her hand holding his was working. He eased more in his seat as he let enjoyed the sensation of handholding. Even a smile spread across his face,
"Thanks, Erza." he said quietly. She simply grinned and held his hand a bit tighter,
"Sure thing." Once they had settled the ride quickly grew quiet. Though he was Gildarts had watched the whole thing mainly paying attention to Soler,
So his energy does spike with his emotions. Master was right. He thought as he remembered his talk with him before they left.
***Before they Left***
"The kid definitely has talent." Gildarts commented as he and Makarov watched Soler practice.
"Who's been training him?" he asked,
"Surprisingly Erza has." Makarov answered. Gildarts looked at him curiously,
"Erza really? Well ain't that interesting." he commented.
"Yes she's taken an attachment to the young lad much as he has to her. But let's save that later. Right now I need your help in drawing out Solers hidden abilities." The larger man looked to Makarov with a quirked brow,
"Hidden abilities? What do you mean?" asked Gildarts.
"Well I've taken notice of the boy's energy these past few days and I've noticed that his energy spikes with different emotions. When he's hyper his energy is everywhere but when he's down his energy starts to dwindle. I know that there are certain magic that grow in power based on emotions but Soler doesn't have much magic in his body. So since this energy seems to flux with his emotions there could be dangers if we don't figure out what all it is he can do." Makarov explained. Gildarts nodded understanding,
"Right though he is a youngin the fact that this energy isn't magic could be a bit troubling. But the kid is apart of Fairy Tail do you really think he'd be that much trouble?" Gildarts questioned a smirk forming. Makarov sighed rubbing his temple,
"It's because he's in Fairy Tail that makes me worry. You know as well as I do the amount of damage this guild does. I rather not have another reckless member taking more years of my life." he complained. Gildarts laughed knowing exactly what he meant,
"Fair enough. So what job do you have set up for us to go on?" Master Makarov didn't reply but instead just handed him a paper. Gildarts took the paper and began to read it,
"Protection for a construction company. This doesn't sound to tough let alone strange enough that a construction company needs protection." he answered.
"Don't take it at face value. That particular company took the job to build a public hospital for a small town. It sounds simple enough but that town lays in the shadow of a rich mogul that's been trying to increase the value of the land so it can be sold. Of course the town itself is an eyesore to him but if that hospital gets built then he can kiss selling that land good-bye." Gildarts nodded as the picture was being formed,
"Ah so if he wants that hospital stopped so bad he might just hire some wizards to keep it from being made. Alright, then this might not be so simple then." Master sighed,
"Exactly. I want you to take Soler, Erza, and Gray on this job and complete it as requested. But keep an eye on Soler while on the job. See if any new abilities may show up." Makarov explained.
"Alright simple enough. But why take Erza and Gray?" Gildarts ask. Makarov chuckled from the question,
"Gary to keep him away from Natsu and as for Erza. Well even though they don't see it the two have formed a tight bond as you would say. Plus we both know a guy will do anything to impress a girl." Gildarts laughed knowing that to be true.
"Ok now let's go get you two on your way." Makarov started to walk down towards Soler with Gildarts in tow,
"Oh and this is Soler's job by the way. I know if I just sent him on a job with you leading it then he'd probably just sink back and let you do most of the work being to afraid to do anything. Now let's get this show on the road."
***Present***
Gildarts watched the kids all get comfy as they went off to sleep for the night on the train. Gray was posted against the window while Erza and Soler fell asleep still holding hands. The sight was overwhelmingly adorable but the man had other things on his mind besides the kids. His thoughts laid on the job at hand and as the train grew closer to their destination he couldn't help but wonder just how far this greedy man is going to go to stop that hospital from being built. The job itself was posted with a massive reward attached so he could only guess that anyone that rich would pay far beyond what their jobs reward was to stop them. But the second thought of this construction company also came up. Who were they and what was their angle in all this? He sighed at the many questions he had. But knew they would be answered one way or another. Glancing back at the sleeping kids a smile formed on his face,
"If only things could stay as peaceful as tonight." he spoke to no one as the train rode in the night.
Soler awoke to the jumping of the train as it sped to closer to their destination. The bright sunlight on his eyes easily kept him from drifting back off to sleep. Though as he woke he couldn't help but feel a weight on his side. A quick glance and a mountain of red swiftly filled his vision. It took him but a moment to put the pieces together and once he did he nearly fell out of his seat. Well, he would have if there wasn't a sleeping Erza on his shoulder. He had never been in a situation like this before but his instincts were telling him he shouldn't disturb her.
"Good choice lad." Soler's head whipped up to Gildarts who was looking over at them with a sly smirk on his face.
"It's never a smart idea to wake a woman from their sleep so suddenly." he teased. Soler didn't have time to think on his words since the lady of the hour was stirring awake. Erza began to slowly sit up letting out a cute yawn followed with a stretch. It took her few moments for her to gain her composer,
"Morning all." she spoke,
"Morning Erza. Did ya sleep well?" Gildart asked.
"Yes I slept quite well." she answered with a smile. The sly older man couldn't lose that smirk of his as he glanced over the blushing Soler.
Man, this kid has it bad for her. He thought,
"Well, that's good to hear. We're almost at our stop so we'd best wake up Gray and get ready." Speaking of the ice mage he was waking up himself and had the most grumpy look on his face.
Well, I know someone whos, not a morning person. Soler thought looking at the grumpy Gray. The smooth ride of the train suddenly came to a slow and lurching stop. Soler looked out his window to see they were at a station. Gildarts stood up first gaining everyone's attention,
"Alright, its time to get started. Get your things and let' move out. Time so start Solers first job."
The group left the train station and began their short walk to the small town since it not being too far from the station. As they grew closer they could easily make out what looked like a villa that sat on top of the hill in the background. The small town itself didn't come into view until a bit further into the walk and the site of the place wasn't a pretty one. From the decaying and rotting wood from the buildings to the overabundance of weeds and plant life It was evident the town wasn't the wealthiest around. As they walked into the town they took notice of the foundation of a building. That building must have been the hospital. They stopped by the foundation to get their bearings,
"Well, we've found where they started working. But where's the crew?" Gray asked
a bit annoyed. Erza on the other hand been looking around with a concerned look,
"I think the better question is where is everyone?" she added and it was true it was a ghost town around here with not a soul was in sight.
"Y-yeah shouldn't there be someone around?" Soler chimed in feeling a bit uneased. Moments, after he asked a small child, poked their head out from behind a building looking at them. A small boy who looked no better than he town around them,
"Hey there's a kid over there." Gray pointed. Once the group noticed the boy he got scared and ran off into a nearby building.
"Well that could have gone better." Erza said flatly,
"Maybe but we at least have a place to start looking." Gildart said. He took the lead and led them over to the building the boy disappeared into. There was nothing extraordinary about the building besides the fact that it looked a bit more spruced up than the others.
"Let's see if anyone's home." Gildarts knocked on the door heavily each knock echoing through the entire town. Silence followed after not a single noise was heard. Soler was worried that maybe something was wrong but then he felt something coming from within the house. He felt the energies of several beings inside the building.
"There's people inside." he said mumbled. Gildarts looked to him,
"What was that lad?" the boy jumped thinking he was caught,
"O-Oh I was just saying that I felt other presences in there." He quickly replied. Gildarts looked at him curiously,
"You feel other people in there?" Soler nodded nervously. A thought accrued to Gildarts had but shelved it and trusted Soler. He went back in to knock again.
"Hey we know there are people in there. Were mages from the Fairy Tail guild and are here about the job you posted." Gildarts said this time. Silence followed again but it ended quickly as shuffling could be heard behind the door. Soon enough the sounds of unlocking were heard and the door creaked open showing nothing but darkness on the inside. Then half of a face peeked from behind the door,
"If you're from Fairy Tail show us you're guild mark." the male voice said shakily. Gildarts looked to Soler motioning for the door. Soler understood and showed the back of his hand to the man behind the door. The man saw the mark and his eyes widen,
"You are Fairy Tail. One moment." he closed the door and the sound of multiple locks could be heard unlocking. Soon after the door opened up for them and a scrawny man motioned them inside. The group went inside quickly and once inside the man shut the door behind them. Inside the building, lights were turned on revealing what looked like the entire contents of the townspeople. From men to children everyone was in this room and all looked worse for wear. Well, they all did except for a group of men that were wearing construction gear.
"Well glad to see our post made it to a legit guild." a scruffy voice said. Out of the construction group, an older man walked forward. He was a big burly guy with grey hair and a full beard.
"Nice to see we got such a capable wizard." he walked up to Gildarts and extended his hand, "The name is Roger Mills and I'm the head of this whole thing." Gildarts took his hand and shook it,
"Nice to meet ya Roger names Gildarts. But I'm not the wizard who picked up your job. It's the young lad here." he said motioning to Soler. Roger looked down at the boy who was looking at him slightly trembling with nervousness. The man then bellowed with laughter making Soler jump slightly,
"Are you serious? This trembling mess is the one who picked up our request? He doesn't even look like he could handle shooing off a stray dog let alone fight other wizards. Which will be a requirement for this job." He let go of Gildarts hand and walked in front of Soler intimidating the boy immediately,
"Tell me. Do you think you could fight off other wizards?" he interrogated him. Soler's mind went blank as he gawked at the bigger man. Could he fight other wizards? He's never been in a real fight before and the thought of having to be in one was working to add fear into him. But luckily Soler was saved by Erza who stepped up to defend him,
"Soler is more than capable of completing your job request. Even if it includes fighting off other wizards he's more than ready to do so." she challenged with the utmost confidence. Roger stared at Erza for a few moments then glanced over to Soler who was standing behind her,
"Letting a girl fight your battles? Ah well beggers can't be choosers I guess. Plus we need all the help we can get." he backed off from the two letting Soler exhale the breath he was holding.
"So what is it that's going on here? I have a feeling it's more than what the job described." Gildarts asked. Roger went and plopped down on one of the stools letting out a groan in the process,
"Welp when me and my crew heard about this place we knew we had to help them. So when we got here we immediately saw how bad shape the town was in and went straight to work trying to fix it up and build that hospital. But the master on that hill doesn't want this place to be around anymore. Says it's a sore spot on this land and wants it gone so that something better could be placed here. Well me and the guys got started right away and things were going fine until some wizards showed up and started to retrash the place. We did our best to fight them off but they are to tough for us to handle. So we've been reduced to hiding and protecting the people until they leave. Now those bastards come back every other day and you can guess how much work can be done in that amount of time." he explained. Glidarts nodded with understanding,
"So you put up the job request to finish your work. Makes sense but do you know the name of the guy that owns the estate?" he questioned. Roger shook his head,
"Can't really remember the guy's name but that doesn't matter. Are ya here to help us or not?" he quickly urged. Erza was quick to step up again,
"Of course we're here to help. With us around those wizards won't interfere." Erza proclaimed. Roger chuckled,
"The little lady has some spunk to her. If you all can keep them away from this place then it'd be appreciated. It should take us around four days to get the hospital together. But to fix up this town might take a while longer."
"We could easily help out with some tasks around the town." Erza declared. Gildarts gave her a wary glance,
"Well, we'll at least try. But first, let's get that hospital done first. Do you have any rooms for us to stay in? We should get set up and then so you guys can work on that hospital." Gildarts said. This time a woman stepped forward from the town,
"Yes, we have a room upstairs for you all. But it's a single room sadly." she replied. Gildarts gave her his best charming smile,
"Don't worry about it were more than grateful. Alright kids let's get unpacked we got a job to do." he ordered. Roger stood back up at that,
"That's good to hear. Me and my crew will get back down to the hospital and continue. We'll be waiting for you all." Roger barked at his crew and the group left the building in a hurry ready to work. With them gone the woman then led the mages up to their room and left them to unpack.
"Well, it seems like we might have our handsful this time." Gray said.
"I agree. This place in way worse for wear than I originally imagined. I couldn't imagine leaving this place in this type of condition." Erza commented a bit sadden.
"The whole places need more than a patch job." Gray added as he examined the room,
"I feel the same you two but besides the protection of the crew helping the town is up to Soler since this is his job." Gildarts responded. The three looked to the boy in question who was gazing out of the window looking out onto the town. He watched two kids play around in the dirt and it made him have memories and the felling with them. The feeling of having nothing and being forced to live scared. His heart immediately felt for the whole town. He hated seeing people living like this and the urge to help them flared within. Soler was so deep in thought it took to be touched by Erza to snap him out of his thoughts. He looked to the red who was giving him a concerned look,
"You ok? You kinda spaced out back there." she stated. Soler nodded,
"Yeah, I am. I was just thinking is all." he replied,
"Well now that our out of your head, we were wondering if It'd be alright if we helped the town out while we're here too." Gray popped in him quickly getting annoyed at his spacing out act. Soler looked to him confused,
"Wait why are you asking me?"
"Because lad you're the one who got the job. So we follow your call." Gildarts answered. Soler glanced from all their faces and could see they all wanted to help the town as much as he did. So with a grin, he nodded,
"Yeah, we'll help the town and the crew." he said. Erza gave an approving nod,
"That's great! Now to do both tasks efficiently I suggest we split into two teams and rotate. One team goes and watch over the crew while the other does task around town. How the teams split well that's up to Soler." she said. All eyes were yet again on Soler who began to sweat slightly from the sudden pressure
"U-Uh well for teams then um why don't it be Gildarts and Gray on one team and Erza and I on the other." he offered a tinge of pink on his face. He was expecting there to be some disagreement but they all just agreed,
"Alright then. With teams made let's have Gildarts team be guard first while Soler and I help around town. We'll rotate at noon and vice-versa." she explained. The others agreed to the plan and with that part settled they left to go to their tasks. Soler and Erza watched Gildarts and Gray go off towards the construction workers leaving the pair alone in the middle of the town. Erza let out a breath as she took in the state of the town. It was going to require a lot of work,
"So where should we start Sol-" she stopped her question as she noticed Soler was glaring up at the estate on the hill.
"What's wrong Soler?" she asked. Soler eased his glaring at her voice and sighed,
"I'm just upset that there's people in the world that could be so cruel to other people. It makes me so mad." he said with a huff. Erza smiled and patted him the back a bit harder than he was expecting,
"I know exactly how you feel. But that's why we're here to bring some good to these people and to other people who need it. That's a part of being in Fairy Tail so it's good to see the guild rubbing off on you." Erza boasted with a prideful smile. Soler smiled too feeling glad he was in this guild.
"Now then let's get to work on the town." she said and with that, they went to work helping to repair or clean whatever they could around the town. Time passed quickly and it was time for the two teams to switch jobs. Soler and Erza stood guard near the entrance of the town yet close enough to the construction going on. Speaking of the construction Soler was impressed at the rate that the crew was working. When they first go to the town the building had only its base foundation done but within the course of half a day, the crew had gotten the framework done for the base level and were almost done with the second level. Soler watched them with amazement until Erza nudged him snapping out of his daydreaming.
"Come on Soler this is no time for daydreaming. We have to stay on guard for those wizards." she told him. He chuckled with embarrassment,
"Yeah, you're right Erza. Sorry." he responded. Erza only smiled and the two went back to their jobs. The rest of the day rolled along with no sign of trouble much to Soler's enjoyment. As the sun was setting Soler took another look at the building and now the framework for the entire building is completely done. They really did work fast and It looks like it's going to be a two-story building. They watched as the workers were starting to pack up for the day. One of the workers came jogging over to the two,
"Hey, the boss wanted me to let you know we're done for the day. We got a lot of work done thanks to you guys." he said with a smile. The two nodded and the man went back to rejoin the rest of the crew. Soler and Erza watched them make their way to the building they are staying in. It looked like the first day was going to end calm and uneventful. Well until Erza's combat senses kicked in just time as she tackled Soler to the ground narrowly avoiding a fireball that landed with an explosion behind the two. The stillness was shattered at the sound of the explosion the peacefulness was gone and with the quick action. Soler and Erza recovered and looked at where the attack came from. Walking towards them was 15-20 men all carrying different assortments of weapons from staves to swords. Both Fairy Tail mages stood with Erza glaring at them. The leader was a sender man walked forward with a sinister smile,
"So the town got some new mini protectors eh? Well, I guess we'll just have to take you two down with this place then." he taunted. Erza didn't flinch instead she pulled out her sword ready to fight,
"If you want to harm this town or its people then you'll have to get through us first." she declared. The group of men all laughed at her clearly not seeing either of them as a threat.
"The little girl there has some serious rocks on her if she thinks they could handle us." one of them laughed. Erza stood her ground with her sword drawn ready for combat. She glanced over at Soler and her heart twinged at the sight of the trembling boy. He was trying to hide it but his eyes spoke for how afraid he was at this moment. This was going to be his first real fight and he had to battle so many opponents. She felt for him but she couldn't do anything about it since it seemed like they were gearing up to attack.
"Soler listen. I know this is scary but we can do this. You just need to have the courage to fight. If you don't have any then you can take some of mine." she said. Soler looked to Erza and her eyes spoke volumes for what she said. She stood strong, weapon out, and ready to fight while he could barely keep himself from trembling.
She's right. I have to- his thought was cut off by a shove from Erza which sent him to the ground. Another fireball had been cast and she saved him again by getting him out the way. But this fire attack was different than the last as this time a wall of fire had separated the two from each other. Soler got up and looked through the fire to see Erza had entered combat with one of the men and it was a fierce fight. Soler had the urge to help but that quickly vanished as he finally noticed a rather large man looming over him. With the sun having fully set and nighttime beginning the fire was the only source of light around and its light was revealing how the man's eyes resembled that of a wild beast. He wielded a massive spiked club and was rearing up to crush Soler's head with it. Erza saw this but couldn't go to his aid her being too preoccupied with her own opponents. Soler was frozen in fear from the man unable to move an inch. All he could do was watch as the man swung down with his club with full intent on ending his life.
And cliffhanger. Ok so first I gotta apologize to you guys. This chapter took way too long to finish and it's mainly because as soon as I got the story going life wanted to kick back in by giving me a hell of a lot of things to do which kept me busy and unable to type a lot. This was going to be longer but I felt I had to cut it a bit early so that I could get the next part done. Plus come on who doesn't love a good cliffhanger. I swear I had more to talk about but it's escaping me at the moment. So anywho tell me what you guys think of the chapter with a good old fashion review! So this has been Solerwolf...later!
(This has been slightly edited. Going to take the rest of the early chapters when I can!)