Chapter Three: The Forest, pt. two
Juvia rounded a tree and Erza, Wendy, Mira, and Levy finally came into view. "Erza! Wendy! Mirajane! Levy! Juvia missed you!" She cried, going from jogging to running.
"Juvia! And the Exceeds!" Levy grinned.
"Carla!" Wendy called out, scooping her best friend up into her arms.
"We found you!" Mira smiled.
Erza just stared. "Erza? What's wrong?" Juvia asked.
"S-s-s-so sm-m-m-small." She squeaked, pointing a shaky finger at the newly arrived group of four.
"Yeah!" Happy spoke up. "Why aren't you guys small too?"
"Why are you guys small in the first place?" Mirajane countered, though it wasn't really meant as a counter, just a way of. . .well, thinking out loud.
"That's what we keep asking ourselves." Juvia looked on the verge of tears.
"Uummm. . . ." Levy said. "Let's go look for the others. Before Erza loses it." She whispered the last part.
"Yeah. . . ." Everyone agreed.
. . . .
"Faaangg!" Came a distant call.
Pantherlily looked up sharply, along with the other Exceeds and Wendy. "No one panic." He whispered. "But there's an unknown being that is capable of speech ahead. It may or may not be intelligent."
"It might be friendly." Wendy suggested. "It could even be human."
"Hmmm. . . ." Lily took a deep sniff. As a Exceed, he had a good sense of smell, though not as good as any of the dragon slayers. Even Wendy's sense of smell was better than his, and her sense of smell wasn't as good as Natsu or Gajeel's, or even Sting and Rogue's from Sabertooth. But his own was good enough to gather the information he needed right now.
"It's not entirely human." He started. "But could be half human." He sniffed again. "And there's another life form with him. It smells like. . .a dog? Oh!" He held his nose.
"What is it Lily?" Wendy asked, concerned. She took a sniff as well. "Urrgh!" She groaned.
Happy and Carla took deep breaths too. Their senses of smell weren't quite as good as Lily's, but it was good enough for this. They both turned white with shock.
"What? What?" Levy, Erza, Mira, and Juvia asked.
"H-h-h-h-horse p-poop!" Wendy squawked.
That's. . .not worth that much shock. The four with bad senses of smell thought, dropping sweat.
Erza was the first to overcome her shock. "We can take it, whatever it is." She declared. "Let's go." She stalked toward where they had heard the call.
"Yeah! After all, we've got Erza and Mira with us." Levy added, following.
"You flatter me Levy." Mira giggled, jogging after as well.
"Don't forget Juvia and Wendy and the Exceeds." Juvia muttered, as the last five brought up the rear.
. . . .
"Grrrrrr. . . ." Fang sniffed the fresh poop on the ground. Stinky! He thought. Yummy! No Fang. Hagrid will be mad. He scolded himself.
He barked at it one last time. Fang then proceeded to sniff the rest of the clearing. Suddenly, his head shot up. His tail stood straight on the air. "Woof!" He barked.
Something's there! He thought excitedly. He sniffed the air, and barked again. Hostile. Hmm. . .willing to be friendly, but doubtful of our intentions. Party of eight. Two little girls. One teenager. Two young adults. And. . .
"Woof! Woof! Woof!" . . .cats! Three cats! Three caaaaaaaaaaatssssss!
"What is it Fang?" Hagrid asked.
"Grrrrr. . . ." Fang growled lightly to show that
these new people could potentially be hostile and/or dangerous.
The first person burst out of the trees. She blanched at how big Hagrid was. Fang had always found people's reactions funny when they saw Hagrid for the first time.
Fang inspected the woman. She was one of the young adults. She had scarlet red hair. It wasn't flaming red, closer to an orange like the Weasly's. No, it was blood red. Her brown eyes held wariness and hostility, but also a look that seemed to hope for peace. She wore armor and held a small sword in hand.
"Who're ya?" Hagrid asked warily. "Wha's your business in the Fores'?"
"I am Erza Scarlet. Me and my comrades have gotten lost. We have no intention to harm any who are not hostile to us. However, should the need arise, we will defend ourselves to no end. Are you friend or foe?" The scarlet haired woman said. She had a powerful voice that demanded respect.
Before Hagrid could answer, another girl burst
out from the trees. This one had wild blue hair that was pulled back with a yellow headband. She wore a bright orange dress, but not a fiery orange, more like a bright sunshiny, orange like the fruit, orange. "Erza, what's going on?" She asked.
The lady dubbed 'Erza' ignored her. "Friend or foe?" She asked again.
Hagrid considered. "You're lost ya say? Lookin' for your comrades?" He got an idea. "You wouldn't, by any chance, be a group of twelve? Thirteen, actually, of you include. . . huh. I never did get his name."
Erza loosened up very slightly. "Yes we are a group of thirteen. How did you know?"
Hagrid grinned broadly. "I'm a friend!" He said. "That one old man, that I never did get his name, asked me to come look for his children. Actually he called 'em brats but. . .oh well."
"Sounds like Master." The blue haired girl said. "Hi. My name is Levy Mcgarden. Nice to meet you!"
"I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Call me Hagrid." Hagrid stuck out his dustpan-lid sized hand. "This is Fang. Fang, shake!" Hagrid ordered.
Fang panted loudly, his tail wagging. "Wooof!" He barked. He extended his front paw, which Levy shook. Meanwhile, Erza shook Hagrid's hand.
A white haired woman burst out of the trees, followed closely by two more blue haired girls and three cats.
Fang vaguely heard the girls introduce themselves as Mirajane with white hair, Wendy with the incredibly flat chest, and Juvia was the one with the hair that was tightly curled at the ends. But Fang wasn't focused on them.
Fang growled at the cats. They didn't smell right. They didn't even look right! One was blue, and the black one had a nasty looking scar and a sword on his back, and the white one was wearing clothes that looked too fancy for a cat. But. . .well, they were cats. Fang barked loudly, and gave chase.
. . . .
Happy screeched when he saw the big black dog run straight at him. He opened his wings and took flight. Behind him, so did Carla.
"Lily, hurry up!" Happy called, seeing that Lily had stood his ground.
Lily didn't respond. He waited until the dog was right in front of him. Suddenly he changed to his battle form. His battle form was barely half the original size, due to his being a kitten, but all the muscles and scariness was still there.
"SIT!" He roared.
Fang sat. He whimpered a bit. He slowly stood up, and then ran with his tail between his legs over to Hagrid.
. . . .
Hagrid stared in disbelief at the giant muscular cat- no, it was a panther- before him. And those cats, he thought, are flying? And that blue one talked. What beasts are these?
"Pantherlily." Erza said sternly.
"Sorry Erza." The cat said. "But all dogs need to be taught lessons."
"Yes, I understand, but still."
"What. . .what are you?" Hagrid asked hoarsely.
"I am an Exceed. As are these two." The cat answered, waving a paw at the cats in the sky. "My name is Pantherlily, but you may call me Lily. My white friend is Carla and the blue one is Happy." With a puff of smoke, he was small again. Happy and Carla flew down, and their wings disappeared as they touched the ground.
"What magic was that?" Hagrid asked, voice getting stronger.
"It was-"
"It wasn't really magic. Not spells, any way. It kinda came with the species." Erza cut in before Lily could answer.
"Yeah. . .yeah that's it." Lily said uncertainly. He knew that Erza had her reasons, so he didn't question the Great Titania, who really deserved the name, 'Demoness' from the way she acted.
"Anyways. . ." Levy spoke up. "We should get going. We still have to find the other five, Master, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel, right?"
"Yeah," Hagrid agreed, sensing he was getting into dangerous territory. "Bu'," he added, "we're only lookin' for four. Like I said, tha' one old man is the one tha' sent me, and I lef' 'im at my hut."
"Sounds like Master." Erza nodded, pointer finger and thumb on her chin as she nodded in a 'I'm a detective I know stuff but I'm actually kinda pretending' way.
. . . .
Lucy watched in fear as the giant shape emerged from the shadows. The man was a ghastly sight, with a huge scraggy beard and a coat with what was probably dozens of pockets. Not to mention his size! He was bigger than the master in. . .no, the Master's giant form was bigger. Master could pick them all up in one hand, while this man looked more like he pick one or two of them up at their new size, maybe about four if he tucked them under his arms. He was probably about the size of Elfman's muscly body, possibly bigger.
"Wh-who a-are y-y-you?" Lucy squeaked.
"Who're you?" The man asked back.
Lucy stayed silent. She didn't know who this man was, so she wasn't about to give anything away.
A small head peeked around the man's huge overcoat. Lucy immediately recognized the fluffy blue hair and bright smile.
"Who is it Hagrid?" Levy asked. Her bright smile got brighter as her eyes landed on Lucy. "Lu!" She cheered.
"Levy!" The two friends ran to each other, and met in the middle, hugging like they hadn't seen each other in years. Lucy still regarded the big man with suspicion. "Levy, who is he?"
"That's Hagrid." Levy shrugged nonchalantly. "He's a friend and has been a good help. More importantly, why are you so small?!" She held her friend at arms length, studying the tiny body. "It's like you're eleven again!"
"I think I am eleven again." Lucy huffed, puffing a cheek out. "So's Natsu, Gajeel, and Gray."
Levy noticed for the first time the three scowling boys behind Lucy. She made a 'trying really hard not to laugh' face, with the bugged out eyes, hand barely covering the mouth, raised eyebrows- the whole nine yards.
"Anyways," Levy recovered and shuddered a bit. "Erza's right behind me. We should get out of the way." She tugged Lucy off to the side.
And just in time, too. For then Erza stormed out from behind Hagrid, eyes blazing. Her eyes roved around the clearing. When they landed on Natsu, well, let's just say Natsu almost died and leave it that.
By the time Erza had finished with Natsu, Wendy, Juvia, Mira, and the Exceeds had joined the group. "The only one we're missing is Master." Lucy pointed out.
"And he is at Hagrid's hut." Erza said, taking charge. "Now, before we leave for there, we must acknowledge a more pressing matter. Why," she pointed at Juvia, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel in turn, "are you five so small?"
"That's what we wanna know!" Lucy and Juvia whined. The boys only shrugged, not really caring as long as they were still powerful and could destroy stuff.
Erza scowled. "We'll just have to ask Master then." She didn't look happy about having to wait for an answer.
"Well then, le's go." Hagrid grunted, then turned to lead them out of the Forest.
. . . .
"Master/Gramps!" Everyone jumped into the little hut with a cry of relief at seeing their master safe and sound. Not that they ever had any doubts.
"Gramps!" Natsu said again. He never had any doubts at all! After all, Gramps was Gramps! He kinda wanted to square off with him some time. He knew he wouldn't win (he knew he was stupid, but he wasn't that stupid), but just to see how long he would last.
"It's good to see you're safe Master." Erza wrapped the Master into a big hug that made his head go 'CLANG' against Erza's armor. Natsu snickered, he found it funny.
"Master?" The big guy muttered.
What was his name? Hag Ride? Natsu had forgotten.
"From the way he was talking, it sounded like he was you alls' Dad or Grandpa or som'in'." He continued musing to himself.
"Well," Lucy piped up. Natsu thought she was cute in her dress that covered her up rather than showing everything off like normal. Not that she has anything to show off anymore, he thought with a small snicker.
"He's technically our Master." Natsu was pulled out of his thoughts by Lucy's voice. "But we're all one big family in Fairy Tail, even if we're not blood related, and Master would be like the father of the family. So some of us call him Gramps, although others, myself included, call him Master because that feels more comfortable for us." She explained.
"Ohhhhh." Hag Ride said. "I guess that makes sense. But why do you call him either of those in the firs' place? Why no' jus' call 'im by his name? And wha's Fairy Tail?"
"Call him by his name?" Natsu was horrified. "That's disrespectful!" He quoted what Gramps had said when Natsu had tried calling him Makarov when he had been younger. Like, when he first joined the guild younger.
"That reminds me." Makarov scowled at Natsu, who was quick to pale. Erza had put him through enough torture already. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO US? IDIOT!" He reached an enlengthened arm out to slap Natsu across the face. Suddenly, he stopped just shy of Natsu's face. "Why are you a kid?!" His eyes bugged out. He looked at the the other turned four and his eyes bugged out more. "Why are five of you kids?!"
"Wait! They aren't actually kids?!" Hag ride asked, so surprised at that fact that he barely registered the reaching arm, which is really what he should've been asking about.
"You just now realized that?" Lucy muttered, a few beads of sweat dropping down her face. "You'd think you would figure that out from the way we acted, but I guess not?"
"Yes, Hagrid; Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Lucy, and Juvia should not be the age they they seem to be." Erza said. So that was his name. Hagrid, not Hag Ride. "Wendy was already the age she is now."
"Say, I never got your name. . . ." Hagrid pointed at Gramps.
"Makarov. Makarov Dreyar." Gramps said.
Hagrid turned white. "Come with me." He said. "I know someone who's been waiting for you."
AN: I feel like I made Hagrid's accent inconsistent. . . . I'm sorry about that! Please forgive me! *bows low* I think I'm going to give up on it until I reach the beginning of the school year amd can reference the book.
And that's another thing I wanted to say! Unlike The Dream of You, I will be following the books' story line, not the movies. This has to do with putting the characters in different situations so I'm not doing everything exactly the same. This is a fanfic where I took Starway1123's idea and gave them different situations and changed it how I think they would have acted here and what I think this person would have done in this situation. And with my few personal tweaks here and there.
Also, I hate the movies with the very depths of my soul and will fight anyone on this statement. *death glare*
Okee dokee! I will have a chapter or two (three if you don't use chronological order of the chapters) more with some very similar ideas and then basically everything will be different except somewhere around (prewritten) chapter fifteen.
Okay, that's all I have to say! REVIEWS HELP ME REMEMBER TO POST!!! (Need more hints anyone?)
Xiao!
- Ember M.
Edit: *five min. after initial post* I'M SORRY I FORGOT THIS PART! THANK YOU to TheAceReader for following amd favoriting! I encourage others to do the same!
Also, it says there are three favorites and follows, but I haven't been alerted as to who the third person was. To whomever it was, thank you, and if/when I find out your (pen)name I will mention you. But for now, thanks!
Lastly, to "Guest": TYSSSSSSSSSM FOR REVIEWING I NEEDED THAT! I don't even care that it didn't really tell me much! And as to what I have to say as a reply, well. . . read the AN above.
Kay, Xiao for reals and serious this time.
-Ember M.
