Cana I

The first thing Cana felt before waking up was a very pleasant warmth, like she was next to a hearth. The next thing she felt was something soft, and that was what ultimately woke her up. The mage opened her eyes to see a stone ceiling, and when she sat up, and looked around, she saw she was in a small room, lying on a bed just large enough to fit her (insofar that if Cana were slightly taller, her feet would dangle off). The room was homely, filled with small chairs and desks, with a fire pit off to the side.

"Rest, my dear, you are still weak." Cana turned, to see a woman coming through a door, towards her, but she was unlike any woman Cana had ever seen. It wasn't that she was short, it was that she was also very stocky, with a large nose, and hard features.

"Where am I?" Cana asked, looking around.

"In our house, where else?" the woman answered, as she adjusted what Cana assumed was a teapot.

"'Our' house?"

"My husband, Gorik, and I," the woman elaborated, "My name is Gunti."

"Cana," Cana introduced, "How'd I get here?"

"I was hoping you could tell us," Gunti answered, as she poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Cana, "Gorik was scouting out the mountain top, when he found you half buried in snow. Its a miracle you didn't freeze." Cana rubbed her aching head; all she really remembered was being sucked into the vortex in Fairy Tail, and that was it.

"I really don't know," she finally answered.

"Can you at least tell me where you're from?"

"Magnolia," Cana answered easily. The woman blinked, apparently not recognizing it.

"In Fiore."

"Is that in the Empire?" Gunti asked.

"The 'Empire'?" Cana asked, cocking her head curiously.

"You mean to tell me you know not of the Empire?" Gunti said with surprise, "Are you not a human?"

Last I checked," Cana asked, as she lifted herself out of bed. As she did, the door opened, and a man came in. He had the same short, stocky build as the woman, but what distinguished him was the massive beard he had. It was neatly kept, and fell down to his chest. Cana imagined this was Gorik.

"How is our guest?" he asked.

"Better," Cana answered, as she slowly stood up, nearly bumping her head on the ceiling as she did, "I owe you my ass." Gorik chuckled at that.

"Imagine my surprise, as I was flying over in my gyrocopter and saw a young human woman sprawled on the mountain top," he said.

"And not to sound ungrateful or anything, but I need to find my friends," Cana said, "Was there anyone else you found with me?"

"I'm afraid not," Gorik answered, "You were alone." Cana cringed at that.

"Where exactly is this place?" she asked.

"Zhufbar," Gorik answered proudly. Cana had never heard of such a place, but considering how proud these two were apparently were of this place, she decided not to say it out loud.

"How about you show her around, Gorik," Gunti suggested, "Perhaps she can figure out what to do if she knows more about where she is."

"Fantastic idea," Gorik answered, before asking Cana, "Would you be willing?"

"I guess so," Cana answered with a shrug. With that, Gorik lead her out, into the streets; though it wasn't really outside, as Cana soon found out. Rather, she saw that they were in a massive cave, with a ceiling so high Cana thought she could see clouds.

"You're not hallucinating," Gorik said, "You are in a mountain. And those clouds are from the great forges."

"So its smoke?" Cana asked, "Is that healthy?"

"We dwarfs have withstood much worse than a smokey room," Gorik said, waving his hand dismissively, "Besides, if you cannot take a little smoke, than you can certainly not handle this world." Cana hesitated to call this "a little smoke", but she figured that if it was a problem, people probably wouldn't be here now, and considering how old this placed looked to be, these dwarfs must have been here for a long time.

"Well, this is all amazing, really," she said, "But I really need to find my guild mates."

"Ah, you're in a guild," Gorik said, with a smile, "What kind?"

"Um, a mage guild." The dwarf cocked his head curiously at that.

"First I've heard of a mage guild," he said, "Didn't realize humans have those."

"Uh, yeah we do," Cana said, "Where I'm from we've got tons of mage guilds."

"Now there's an image," Gorik said, with a longing smile, "Pity that we dwarfs have no mages to enlist in our guilds." Cana tried not to judge, since it wasn't like every race could use magic as far as she knew.

"Do you maybe have a map I could use?" Cana asked, "I need to start looking for my friends. They could be danger." Gorik made a face under his beard.

"You may not want to leave right now," he said.

"What?"

"The gates of Zufbar are currently closed, with the vampires out and about," Gorik explained, "Their corruption can seep in like…"

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Cana said, waving her hands, "You said 'vampires', right?" She'd heard of vampires yes, and admittedly read some pretty crappy romance novels featuring them. But as far she knew, vampires were still just fictional; though the master once told her that vampires did at one point exist, but had since been wiped out.

"Of course. In fact, I first thought you were one when I found you, before I noticed you were warm to the touch." Cana rubbed her head. It had been sometime since she got any booze, and things were making too much sense without it. Vampires, dwarfs, giant industrial cities inside of caves? Of all times, she really needed some.

"Look, I could really use a drink," she said, "Do you guys have anything alcoholic at all?"

"Do we have alcohol?" Gorik asked, almost looking insulted, "My girl, for you to not drink dwarfen ale would be a sin in of itself."

"That's what I like to here," Cana said, before she was guided to what she hoped was a tavern. She wouldn't be able to find her friends in her current status.

Note: Cana going with the dwarfs is a given when you think about it, not much to really explain here. But Cana's presence, like other characters, will begin to have a profound effect.

Depending on how things progress, next chapter may or may not be another introduction, and may instead see us continuing a character's journey.

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