Many years passed and in this same land there lived two young men. Natsu and Gray. Orphaned as children, they grew up alone on the streets with nothing and no one to take care of them. All they had were their quick wits and each other. In a way you could say they there were brothers and like most brothers they took care of each other but also like most brothers they rivaled each other.

"Second born! Second place!" Nastu taunted as he and Gray raced each other into town, with Natsu in the lead so far.

"Not for long!" Gray said before picking up his speed.

"I'm gonna win this!"

"No you won't!"

"I've already beaten you in arm wrestling of course it was very easy considering you're basically a twig."

"I'm not a twig! Have you seen me without a shirt?!"

"Pretty much everyday you pervert!"

"At least my brain isn't the same size of marble!"

"Admit it Gray! You know out of the two of us I'm the strongest, the fastest, and the most handsome!"

"Yeah right! Like I would ever admit to that! And most handsome? Please, have you looked in a mirror lately? Oh wait! That's right, the last one you looked into shattered!"

"Shut up wimp!"

"Make me idiot!"

"Alright I will!"

The race was then stopped and the two young engaged in a fist fight. But despite their many fights they loved each other very much and if it wasn't for the poverty they lived in, their lives would have been perfect. They were so very poor that sometimes they would have to steal what they needed like food. Other times they managed to earn money by selling chopped wood from the woods or coal from mines in town unfortunately they hardly made enough to feed themselves.

"How much did we make today on the wood?" Gray asked Natsu when he came back from the market.

"Only a hay penny."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope."

"But we gave that guy seven logs, cheapskate."

"So much for dinner." Natsu sighed as he stomach growled. "This'll be our third night without food."

"Not quite." Gray said looking over at the local bakery. The two peered through the window and saw that it was only the baker working today.

"Operation false customer?" Natsu said.

"Yep." Gray answered.

With a smile, Natsu walked inside the bakery.

"Excuse me sir." He said to the baker. "But I think that I would like to buy something from here. Something sweet."

"What would you like young man?"

"What have you got?"

While the baker was showing Natsu the goodies he could buy, Gray quietly slipped inside the bakery and started to stuff his satchel with a few buns. Then he went back outside and signaled Natsu that he successfully swiped some food.

"On second thought I've decided to get some fish instead. Have a good day."

He then ran out of the bakery and went to meet up with Gray at where they lived which was an abandoned stable. They didn't have anywhere else to go and the haystacks left in the stables served as their beds so that was home to them. Also it wasn't just them living there, a cat lived there as well and they called him Happy.

Natsu loved Happy. He always made sure that Happy was fed and had water, at night he would let Happy sleep on his stomach, and they would play together for hours. Gray on the other hand well... It's not that he didn't like Happy he just tended to get annoyed by him and he thought he was lazy.

"What did you get?" Natsu asked him.

"Hot buns fresh out of the oven." Gray said opening his satchel.

"Sweet. Did you get enough for Happy?"

"Yes." Gray groaned. "I don't see why you always insist we steal food for that good for nothing fur ball."

"He's not a good for nothing fur ball!"

"He's a lazy cat who doesn't do anything for us."

"That's not true, he's my best friend and he keeps nice and rats away from the stables."

"So why doesn't he hit the rats and mice?"

"He deserves a little treat now and then."

Natsu sat down and a little blue cat came up to him. Natsu pulled off a piece of his bun and fed it to him. Happy ate it in delight and purred against his hand.

"You know I don't like stealing from that baker." Natsu said. "He's such a nice guy."

"Oh no but it's nothing personal. We're just trying not to starve."

"So tomorrow are we working in the woods or in the mines?"

"It's the woods again." Gray answered.

"Do we have to? Can't we work in the mines tomorrow?"

"No way! I hear that some disease has been spreading around down there recently."

"But I...I think we should avoid the woods for awhile."

"Why?"

"Because I've been hearing the townspeople talk lately and...They say that a witch lives in those woods."

"A witch?"

"A mean, ugly one that turns guys like us into toads and snakes."

"Don't be stupid, there's no such thing as witches. It's probably just a senile old hag who goes off on people that come by."

"That's not what everybody else says."

"Natsu I thought you weren't afraid anything in this world."

"I'm not but a witch is not of this world."

"Oh brother." Gray rolled his eyes. "I'm going to gather firewood for tonight, talk to me when you learn not to listen to rumors."

"Fine! Call me crazy! But you never know what's out there!"

Gray just left the stables and started to gather some sticks from the woods. He gathered right many when suddenly he heard a noise. An unfamiliar noise that was very faint but he could tell that it was coming from deep in the woods. He started to walk in a little further, trying to make out what this noise was. It almost sounded like singing. Like there was someone deep in the woods singing.

"Hey Gray what's keeping the firewood? I'm freezing!" Natsu called as he walked over to check on Gray.

"Do you hear that?" Gray asked.

"Hear what?"

"I think I hear someone singing and it's coming from the deeper part of the woods."

"I don't hear anything. You must be imagining things."

"How would you know? You're deaf as a post."

"And you have no sense of smell. Come on it's getting cold and dark."

So the they took the firewood back to the stables where they started a fire. Both of them convinced that what Gray heard was just his imagination but they would eventually learn that it wasn't but we'll get back to that later.