The lamp had turned off a long time ago. The room was mostly dark, with the only means of light being the sunlight going through the blinds and providing enough light to tell that morning had come.

Craig groaned, slowly beginning to come around. Once his sensory was kicking into activation, his throat emanated a harsh growl, and his eyes began to slowly open. Craig adjusted his head so that it was craned up towards the headboard. 'The damn world awakes me again. But why do I feel so…so…?' It was hard for Craig to explain, but for some reason, he wasn't at all in pain, and his head wasn't throbbing from one of his usual nighttime mind-scarring flashbacks he always has. Also, there was something else wrong as well. 'Hold on, am I dry?' He put a hand to his cheek, rubbing it gently to confirm one thing: there was no sweat. We always awoke with a pant, and his eyes would be stained in tears. 'What's going on?' His eyes narrowed at his own inquiry. "What happened last night?"

"Ngh. Keep it down…trying to sleep…" The voice trailed off behind him; in fact, it was indeed behind him, very close. It was a voice so close that the breath was against his own neck. He noticed how something was breathing directly onto him, smoothly and calmly. Not harsh like a hungry animal sniffing out his blood. He also recognized the voice, no matter how groggy or soft it was, no matter how tiresome as well.

'What…?' He tried to move, but he found himself unable to. An arm was draped around his waist, holding him and his bare upper body. As shocking as it also was, his body wasn't cold. It was warm, like a sun was radiating his back in the depths of a winter. The pieces of the puzzle began to piece themselves together, and when it struck him like a bolt of lightning, Craig's eyes widened. "Hold on. Is that who I think it is?"

He looked over his shoulder very slowly, and with his eyes still wide. Cana groaned as her eyes opened up as well, a harsh groan coming from her own throat. She craned her neck up to find something looking at her. Her vermilion eyes also widened, realizing that she and Craig had both awoken, the morning bringing dawn to something going in 3…2…1…

"Brownie?!" Craig jolted up, sitting up in his bed and forcing Cana's hand to drop from his waist. He covered his upper body with his blanket, realizing his monstrous scars were visible. He looked to her with surprise before looking startled with a mix of confusion. "You mind telling me why you're…I don't know…in my house?! More specifically, right beside me?!" He lowly exasperated.

Cana yawned up to the ceiling, lasting long enough to leave Craig to growl in frustration. The brunette sat up as well, her brown hair silky and somewhat messy at the same time. "Ugh, well good morning to you too." She grumbled, looking at him without any fear.

Craig scooched away half a foot, near the edge of the bed. "What the hell is going on here? If this is some nightmare come to life, I've already had to deal with that." He retorted. It was another unspeakable event that transpired long ago. It was shown in the thousands of images Cana had to see, but there were so many it was hard to keep track.

Cana sat up, groaning as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "If it were a nightmare, then wouldn't you be sobbing your ass off or something?"

Her rhetorical question was met with Craig staring at her with begrudging inquiry. She wasn't wrong, but the fact a 'nightmare' – to his spiteful aspect – was sleeping and holding him, was still disturbing. What she said though did make a valid point. For the first time, Craig actually felt…lively.

Still, he was not a morning guy.

"Alright, so what is it?" Craig asked low to accommodate the booming volume from before.

Cana could see Craig calm down, and thus she did as well. "I guess you forgot, huh?"

Craig looked down at his legs, still beneath the blanket. The soft blanket over his feet tickled some. He could only remember so much from last night, let alone what happened after he barged home. He threw a tantrum and demolished his own furniture for one, and then he recounted yelling Cana. After that, he only remembered crying to sleep.

The brunette looked at his face with eyes half open. "Guess you did. To put it short, I stayed and I guess I saw you cry to sleep."

Craig supported his chin with a hand, his head turned away with eyes shut. "A little creepy to be watching me fall asleep. Didn't know you were a stalker type…" He sarcastically joked.

Cana groaned and rolled her eyes away. "Ha-ha. Anyways, guess I was thinking for a little bit, working out the numerous regrets with my decision and…" Her head drooped. "Guess I stuck onto ya."

Craig opened his left eye and turned back towards Cana. "You should've left me alone from the start. I knew you were dumb, but what honestly was going through that empty noggin?"

Cana's eyes narrowed as she looked at him in hefty exasperation. "Cranky, I honestly can't disagree."

This time, both of Craig's eyes opened.

"I slept with a so-called monster. This was one of my more dumber choices in life…" She looked back down at her legs, her eyes again half-open. "Look, you were a jerk, but you were one for a reason. I didn't know you were dead inside. I honestly felt hurt when I saw those images of you crying. I never saw any human being so heavily in shambles and unable to be fixed." Her eyes shut as she hunched forward, hands cupping her head. "Craig, I owe you an apology. You were just doing what you could to keep yourself hidden, and now everything pretty much screwed you over. Now I'm the real jackass here, ironic much?"

Craig blinked. He was trying to process what she was saying. The morning was irritating still, but not as much as it was over the last four years. In honesty, he actually felt good. His mood was lightening up some. It's true he was a jackass, since he's come to despise people and wished to be alone, but last night when he poured it all out onto Cana, there was like a wall had been broken down. He honestly didn't know what to feel about the brunette. She was a long-lost childhood friend for one thing, and it was another that she ended up sleeping and holding him like a stuffed bear. He had nothing bad to say about Cana's actions; in secrecy, he was a little happy, because he slept like a baby and woke up without being sweaty. Out of all the years, no one did that for him.

He turned his head towards Cana, scoffing with a small smile. "Thanks…for everything…and for last night." He muttered.

Cana flashed her own scoffing smirk. "Don't mention it." She frowned. "But really though, if this was a nightmare, someone please wake me up, because I actually made a sleeping beast feel wanted."

"Please, I'd rather go vegetarian than spill these beans." Craig noted. "Which reminds me, why'd you stick around again? My mind's still foggy." He said that in a snappy tone too, which made Cana wanna choke him if she had the strength.

The Card Mage huffed, again rolling her eyes. "Guess I'd be wanting hugs too if I was desperately crying every single night. I just didn't think I could forgive myself if I left you alone again." She looked at him, her gaze hardening. "I hate you, but I couldn't leave you in pain like that. I'd probably be dead." She shook her head. "I don't know how you do it, but in a way, it's for your friends…I'm sorry for what happened to them."

Craig's face fell terribly. He felt sad, but at the same time he knew moving on was all he ever did and could do. He closed his eyes and managed a smile. "I miss them every day." He looked towards Cana, seeing as how the morning sunlight was making her background flashy to the point where she was borderline angelic. He looked unfazed. "Brownie, I hate you, and I might go blind if I look at you too long…but you're alright."

Cana smirked as she raised a brow. "There, see? We're getting along already."

"Shut that trap before I knock you off with a pillow." Craig sneered.

"…you know, I forgot how much you suck in the morning." Cana sneered back.

"That's because I hate waking up in mornings. And you. And your morning breath."

"Your breath is another story. It's making my eyes water."

"Good, that gives you a reason to never look at me."

"You shouldn't be looking at me anyway!"

"Because you actually care about that one bra?"

"No, because a repulsive carnivore may be looking at me like he's gonna eat me!"

"That's the usual stare guys give you. And I ain't that repulsive."

"You killed a rabbit!"

"Well be glad you're not a rabbit then, huh?"

Their bickering went on and on as the sun went up that morning.

The day trekked on. Once Craig and Cana got some parts of their bickering out of their system, they got out of bed and Cana allowed Craig to shower, in which he declined and had Cana go first, which led to another bickering argument about how badly the other smelled. Craig went on how Cana smelled like booze, and Cana told he smelled like decay and moldy onions.

After that, they each showered – individually – and Craig slapped on some black sweatpants and black t-shirt, again tying the same thin jacket around his waist. He put on his ankle weights and kept his armbands on. Cana took delight into making Craig growl by borrowing a pair of black sweatpants and the sea green t-shirt he wore in the beginning.

Eventually, they made it to downstairs, where they were in the kitchen. Cana was looking around Craig's fridge, finding surprisingly little food. "A little light on your diet I see." She said.

Craig walked on the other side of the island table that sat in the middle of the kitchen. He had a glass of water in hand. His pacing was so lethargic that he wasn't even moving two miles an hour. "Ha…ha…" He muttered in spite.

Cana looked over her shoulder, her brow raised. "Geez, can you walk any slower?"

Craig stopped and looked over his shoulder. He looked at Cana with a smirk. As he looked, he moved lethargically yet again, this time, much slower. He bounced with every heel he pressed against the hardwood floor. He paced so slow that it would take hours for him to get to the living room. Cana groaned, pressing her head against the fridge at Craig's spite.

"You can either have fruit or eggs. Other than that, it's really all I have." Craig sipped from his glass, swallowing.

"May I ask why you have so little?" Cana questioned.

Craig grinned. "Nope."

Cana opened the fridge again, pulling out a couple oranges. "Well, too bad, because I'm asking anyway. Why you have so little food?" She questioned again.

Craig looked away as he resumed his small trek across his hardwood kitchen. "Well I got a crazy stomach, so sometimes I eat, sometimes I don't. But most of the time, I wake up and I tear a deer or rabbit's neck off. Some days I go for the fish because of their nutrition. Doesn't hurt me in the slightest." He sipped from his glass of water again, almost completely depleting it.

Cana looked over at him. "How's that?"

"Long story." Craig said bluntly. He looked at his glass and saw no water left. With another half-hearted stare into the blank airspace ahead, he reached over and began to place the glass over the garbage can.

Cana again raised a brow. "Uh…"

Craig looked over at her and then back to his arms. Once he realized what he was doing, he reeled back his arm, clutching into the glass still. "Oh, thanks…" He mumbled begrudgingly and turned towards the sink.

"Someone's a little too spacey to know what they were doing." Cana smirked.

"Ha-ha. That was so funny I forgot how to laugh." Craig exaggerated with a snipe in his tone. He dropped the glass in the sink, grinning with his neck craned away.

"That spiteful tone isn't the best way to go about society." Cana chimed.

"If I learn to give a damn about society and authorities in the remote slightest, you'll be the first to know." He growled as he set himself off towards the living room.

He mozied on over towards the couch, in which was turned over upright as of earlier. All of the glass was picked up last night thanks to Cana, but that was the least of the mess Craig had to clean up. He put everything back, disregarding a few shredded fragments of the stands and possibly any lamps still intact after the breakdown as of last night.

He sat himself on the one end, kicking up his feet and lying across the couch. Surprising as it was, his home, despite the shabby appeal, had what looked like a cozy fireplace on the other side of the living room. On the stand beside him, there was a small plate of fruit; some peaches, banana slices, strawberries, and so on. Clearly he looked like he wasn't going anywhere.

Cana walked on towards the opposite side of the couch, her footsteps so soft that Craig could barely hear. She pivoted around the armrest and fell onto the opposite end. She kicked her own legs up, settling them so that they weren't touching Craig's.

She looked over towards him. "Hey, you don't happen to have any adult beverages in here, do you?"

Craig sat his elbow on the armrest and had hand to his cheek. "In your dreams. You ain't drinking under my roof."

"Way to be a buzzkill." Cana retorted.

Craig flashed a smirk. "It's what I'm good at." He stopped for a moment to look back at Cana, noticing something off. "…you still here?" He sniped.

Cana looked away with a chastire smirk. "Like you know it. Are you still here as well?" It wasn't necessarily a stupid question, but at the same time it was a logical one at that. Normally Cana would've gone to the guild to drink every drop, and Craig probably would've gone elsewhere to do whatever however he pleased, possibly eat up a wild fish. But today was a special case.

Craig looked off towards a random direction while picking up a banana slice. "After the Hell that went down yesterday, I think it's best that I rather not see their faces…and vice versa" He spite aloud and flicked the banana into his mouth.

"So, you're basically hiding from the world because you think we will have a mixed and appalled opinion of you." Cana, much to her own beliefs, did know that this was true.

Humans are basically judgmental, and they always judge, even though they say they don't. She knew that even though the Master was appalled and scared of Craig now, he did mean it when Craig was to remain in the guild, but only because he was thinking about the world. Odds were that Craig wouldn't listen to him anyways. Everyone was afraid of Craig, and he gave up his humanity, dignity, and shamed himself for the sake of the world in the past and future. If Cana was like the others, she'd stay away and possibly never look him in the eye again. However, due to her time with Craig ever since that day, she's come to want to help him. So if she wanted to stay, she will, and she'd look him dead in the eye.

Craig cascaded his glare to the tan carpeting. "Yeah." He crossed his arms and laid his head on them, his legs shifting some yet still not touching Cana's. "Can't even look at myself in the mirror at times. Mirrors hold windows, windows to world that show your reflection; in some cases, an opposite. What could've happen, that's something I never consider. What happens transpires for a reason. I see myself in too many angles. I scare myself when I look in a mirror." He admitted.

Cana looked away. "I don't blame you. I wouldn't wanna look at my reflection either."

Craig looked back at her. "So rather than deal with those selfish wannabes. You'd rather sink and stick with your chances with me?"

Cana looked back at him and smiled. "Actually, I'm taking a gamble and spending the day with you. It's no fun being alone, but you're no fun at all. You can use some livin' up around here."

Craig looked at her, seeing that her intentions were as pure as her tone. She was going to take the day off and do as she pleases so long as she kept Craig company. How was he supposed to feel about this? Normally his day would be comprised of nothing but wandering aimlessly and doing the unthinkable in so many ways, but now that Cana was here, that was another story.

"I'm flattered." Craig exaggerated with the right amount of sarcasm.

"Oh please, flattery isn't getting you anywhere." Cana said.

Craig turned his head, laying on his side with head against the pillow-like armrest. "I'm not going anywhere to begin with, and it ain't gettin' me up from this couch."

Cana stretched her legs and arms out, getting a strong feel on her arms and back muscles. "It's about time you learn to take a load off."

Craig's only rebuff was a small. "Pff." Blowing her off.

Cana looked over at the fireplace, noticing that it had a lacrima-vision set on the mantle. She looked intrigued. "You have lacrima-vision?"

"Yeah, but I haven't used it once." Craig mumbled, giving no damn as usual.

"So you basically watch nothing?" She asked.

Craig looked back at her, this time, his set of sea blue eyes had a sense of seriousness. "Nothing good comes from watching something that hurts you more." The words were true to the heart in a way. If Cana knew anything about lacrima-vision, it's that it had a number of shows, but otherwise it may as well be movies, movies that could very well relate to Craig and his little…history.

It's like he said, a mirror that reflects your own.

Cana complied and kept herself away from the remote, which was beside her on the round stand beside her. His house, his rules. "Okay, but you know, don't you think it's unwise to keep that thing there if you're never gonna use it?"

Craig rolled his eyes, shifting his legs. He lethargically got to his feet and slouched. "God, making me get up. You're worse than that redhead, and she set that bar high."

"Why I'm so honored." Cana rolled her wrist, her sarcasm showing.

Craig got to the fireplace and looked up at the lacrima. He stared at it despondently, looking like he was rather thinking of falling and sleeping on the spot. He reached and picked up the artifact, walked slowly over towards Cana's side of the couch, grabbed the remote, and carried both over towards the kitchen. Cana looked over her shoulder to see Craig hauling the garbage can over beneath him and did the most enigmatic scenario…he raised both objects to his mouth and snapped his jaws down, shattering both items into tiny pieces that sprinkled into the trash can.

Cana just stared at him with a blank look. "…really?" She despondently asked.

Craig mozied away and back to his spot on the couch. He pivoted and sat himself in the same position as he did before he got up. He got comfortable and gave a continuous despondent look until he closed his eyes.

The day went on quite pleasantly to Craig's liking. As much as he resented the idea – borderline loathe to the point of thrashing – he actually enjoyed Cana's company. It was like he could actually relaxed for once, and not worry about the strength and the wills that everyone pressed onto him, and onto himself. SO many died – some by his own hands – and he cries all the time. If Cana wasn't around, odds were that he'd probably he crying and recollecting another memory. As of now, there was no momentum for that. With Cana around, he was sound.

The rest of the day seemed pretty relaxed as far as Craig and Cana's snarking back and forth went. Cana had the audacity to ask Craig of his stories. As shocking as it may have been, Craig was willing to share maybe one or two of his tales, but on the conditions they were kept brief so that he wouldn't go into a hysterical crying and mourning of someone who died.

In one tail, he told of the reaches far from the Pergrande Kingdom, uncharted waters and lands, where there were towns and cities with different kinds of technology and resources. He told of this one time where he ended up – accidentally – fighting in some hundred-foot-tall robot against an equally tall beast that was unleashed from an open fault in the dark seas of Earth Land. As dumb luck had it in for him, his improvising in the suit made him a beast. Of course that was only a couple of times before he and two associates in a single suit went into the depths of the dark seas. The giant robots were naturally waterproof, so Craig was good to go…but the other two died when their robot's atomic bomb went off, blowing away several megatons of water and Craig and the robot. \It was harsh, but Craig had to fight the two-hundred-foot sea beast queen with what his robot could supply in terms of remaining weaponry. Of course his robot had the atomic pod setting too, but he was reluctant, and then used the only escape pod and escaped, leaving the hundred-foot-robot behind in the depths to decimate and completely destroy every single one of the sea beasts…along with itself.

And when Craig said he'd be blunt, he was too engrossed with every detail that he didn't shorten it, leaving nothing out. Cana was baffled, but she could possibly remember two other guys dying, and then a large robot.

As the tail ended, of course Craig tried to hold back a few stray tears, but otherwise nothing seemed to have deterred him from reliving another of his many, many, many tales of thrill, suspense, and sadness with lives lost.

Cana looked over at Craig as he finished, looking down at the carpet with a sad gaze. She smiled. "So you basically saved an entire ocean's worth of life by destroying freaky things born from magic within trenches…I'm sure those three would've been very proud." By three, of course she meant the robot. From Craig's standpoint, he's literally battled and been that thing's head. And it was sentient, believe it or not.

Craig looked back at Cana and saw her smile. It wasn't at all exaggerated, and he was pretty shocked. He turned away. "Thanks." He muttered.

"But now, I wonder where you got those from." She pointed to his waist, more specifically, his swords. Craig looked down at his arms and saw his swords still held by the jacket he had wrapped around his waist. "And you keep it on ya even when relaxing. You're worse than Erza when it comes to security…but I guess I don't blame ya."

"Shut up already." Craig looked away from her and cascaded his attention over towards the window. He stared out at it, looking a little lost as the stained salt running down his cheeks seemed oblivious. The memories were as crazy as his imagination, along with himself. Tough to say, let alone admit, but Craig knew how to answer such a question. As he looked outside, he could imagine long and serpentine. "I learned the sword arts from a dragon."

The world itself stopped as Cana seemed baffled. She gawked at Craig with bewilderment. "A…dragon?"

"Well, not 100% a dragon, but for the most part at least." He cascaded his look down at the carpet for the umpteenth time. "Where do I begin…?"

"Maybe where you actually met the dragon?" Cana suggested for starters.

Craig sat back, getting comfortable. "Whatever floats your boat."

3 Years Ago

Water. That's all that Craig could see. Bubbles shot up, and the wayward man had a hard time maneuvering through the passage. It was terrible enough that he couldn't hold his breath for very long, but it was insult to injury that he was a terrible swimmer. His saving grace was that little spout of hot air that shot him like a missile through an open hole within the confines of the volcano he had the audacity to trek through.

'I see the light!' Literally, Craig could see moonlight from underwater. His lungs were so out of breath that he was unable to see straight. He was only twenty feet below the surface, so he had to move fast. Swimming and lunging up from the depths that carried him this far, Craig swam high, hurrying for oxygen.

When finally reaching the surface, he was hit with a wave of cold, night air. His fingers and hands spouted out first, and by chance the water felt much warmer. His head finally popped out, and mouth widened and a monster gasp nearly yelped out. His lungs took in fresh, cool air. With a cough, and spitting out water, his head craned down and noticed how the moonlight made the location more recognizable.

He paddled on over to where he could get some traction. His hands clutched the sloping land rock and he hoisted himself up, breaking into a mini-tumble. He sat up, body shivering from the night air. His sharp teeth gritted and chattered.

"Geez, it's freezing." Craig noted, and not just because it was October and the water from the nearby volcanic atmosphere was more appealing.

However, the location Craig found himself drawn too was by far secluded. It was a hidden grove, with lush bushes and greens. Water flowed from an upscale waterfall, and all around was nothing but cliffs and drenched plains.

The cool night air wasn't so bad once Craig stood up, getting his jacket on and making sure his three sheaths were attached by a sash. "Well looky here. Paradise for something that's supposed to not exist at this point in time." He looked around, seeing the water flow. His eyes narrowed. "Well looks like that old sushi guy wasn't lying when he said that I'd find myself in a land of wonder. Not that I was to begin with."

He looked over, seeing something that looked to be carved. His inquiry besting him, Craig went over to where the large black was beneath a bed of wines and bushes. He saw it, the massive cave. However, the two-story cavern looked odd. Craig twisted a brow, realizing that the edges of the cavern looked to be scratched into, and the cavern itself was peculiar because of the air. As Craig rolled on in, he was taking in very sharp breaths. Every breath was like it could suffocate him. It was as though oxygen was cut down. As he stepped inside of the darkness, the vines behind shut him off from the outside world.

He looked back, seeing how very little light could pierce inside. "Okay…" He felt as though he hit a wall. "Ow!" He reeled away. Craig held his hand to his face, feeling the sensation of blood pouring out. "God, what is this thing?"

He pulled out one of his swords, the dark red one to be more precise. He held the blade up to the area ahead, where he poked the tip towards the wall of toughness. The sword bounced off, shimmering some. Craig narrowed his eyes. "Hard as steel…and when I bumped into it…" He recounted how his face bled a little, and that was just from a little bump into it. "Wait, that geezer told me that you'd get cut just from looking. A breath that slices up skin, and eyes that make you go blind." He grew despondent. "Well It'd be nice to know that I'm getting somewhere!" He mockingly yelled.

He felt around with his sword, feeling several other uneven appendages in his space, He tilted his sword, moving them slowly back and forth, up and down, and felt the churning of what felt like knives. That's when the knives and the wall itself began to moves. Craig backed away, barely evading the long knives on the wall moving like they were part of a serpent.

His eyes slowly widened when it came to realization, He nearly hunched over, hearing the sound of blades churning against rock, prying through it like scissors on paper. "…oh crap."

Craig saw some light flourish. It was like a shimmering silver that outlined the moving wall of what was revealed to be massive spinal knives. They were all at least ten feet long, and Craig dared not move as the long, sharp body moved, for is he did, the odds of him losing an arm or his neck would be too grand.

The silver outlining revealed sharp scales, and a moving head that was by far massive. No wings it seemed, but from head to tail, scales as sharp as blades stretched. Get too close and you just might end up decapitated. All along the serpentine body, the shimmering glow was like blood, bringing life into the beast. Its gray body was extremely serpentine with spinal knives protruding on each side. The head gave off a menacing growl that sent a chill down Craig's spine. The eyes were like two bright flashlights, as was the open mouth, which the razor-sharp teeth could perhaps tear onto mountains. One the sides of its mouth were two humongous axe-like appendages. A single turn of the head would maneuver these axes to chop a forest right in half.

Craig stared up, his sword grip so loose that it was close to dropping out of his hands. "God, just how ancient are these things?" He muttered.

"I heard that." The beast sneered. He let out a snort, exerting a hot draft from his nostrils to some boulders. The dragon turned and saw Craig, the silver eyes brightening Craig up, but left the mentioned a little blind as the dragon lowered his raised head.

Unable to tell, but keeping a guard, Craig had his dark red sword up. "I'm warning you! I have a sword!" He tried to sound intimidating, but it turned out he was the one truly intimidated.

The dragon looked down at Craig's sword, and back up at him. "…your technique is crap."

Craig's eyes opened up, the insult hitting him hard. He pointed the sword angrily towards the blinding light. "Your attitude is crap!"

"Watch who you're talking to, boy! I am over 400 years old!" The dragon snapped.

Craig craned his head. "You don't look a day over 300."

"Who dares to trespass with their life?" He questioned.

"I dares."

The dragon's silver eyes narrowed as he lowered his head at Craig yet again. His mouth opened, and a large wave of hot dragon breath exerted. The entire grotto shuddered as the dragon roared. His bellowing reached throughout the cove. Craig stood stiff, his eyes blank as he was roared right in the face. His eyes weren't even wide, but he did look a little stiff with the passing breath being so sharp that his arms and parts of his face got instant cuts. The rock beneath the dragon sliced into fragments.

Once the roar settled down, Craig squinted. He used his spare hand and touched where his cheek sustained its umpteenth cut. He looked at the blood and gave a sneering look back at the dragon as he flicked the blood off.

"I can see we're at a very low tide when it comes to negotiations." Craig noticed.

"Who are you, pest? Less' you wanna get out alive." The dragon warned.

Craig put a hand to his hip. "Craig, and who the hell are you calling pest? Just because I disturbed your supposed slumber, doesn't mean I'm a cockroach you can step on!"

"Grrr! That makes no correlation!" The dragon exclaimed.

"I know, but I don't see you coming up with anything to say on the spot!" Craig stared at the silver-eyes dragon hidden away in the dark, the beast in turn glowering down at him with a sense of ill-integrity. Integrity was apparently inexistent. Craig took a longer pause as he looked up at the dragon. "Okay, let's just simmer down just a little."

"Tch, typical for a human to wanna start and end ridiculous conflicts." The dragon snorted.

Craig had it. His fists clutched. "Then I guess we're doing this now!" Along with his dark red sword, he pulled out his gold sheath, taking the two ends off. He put the odd blade into his mouth, using his jaws to hold it in place.

The dragon's eyes widened. "What…?"

Craig put the gold sheaths back behind him, and then pulled out his blood red sword. All three or four kinds of blades were out and ready for quarrel. He held them up, barely maintaining himself enough to wobble. He faltered some, but getting his footing spread he glared at the dragon.

"Guess I'm gonna have to earn your help it seems." He sneered in a muffle.

The dragon, however, didn't seem appealed. He snorted at Craig, making the 15-year-old nearly fall backwards. The scaly, sharp-edged beast had seen a lot of things in the past, including numerous swordsmen who had the audacity to challenge him; those who claimed to slice boulders in half, and those all failed to even touch him. They all had styles of swordsmanship, but what he saw, for some odd reason, the dragon that could blaze through a mountain's top clean was…intrigued by Craig's bizarre swordsmanship.

"Boy." The massive beast said. "You have a peculiar ways of wielding that mouth sword, do you not?"

Craig turned his head off to the side, positioning the left end of the mouth blade and his dark red sword at the dragon. "Yeah, who wants to know?"

The dragon's eyes narrowed further, his long, serpentine figure maneuvering about. The harsh spinal knives sliced along the cavern walls, carving crevices into the earth and walls alike.

"Me. Your blade style, it's of relevance." The dragon looked a pause and glanced at his own axe tusks and back at Craig. "I am Slicerax, the Blade Dragon. I ask again, why are you here…?"

"And I guess that started it all." Craig shrugged.

Cana raised a brow. "So…let me get this straight. You met an actual living dragon, which is far over 400-years-old, badmouthed it like you do everything and everyone else, and you learned a thing or two from it?" She summarized.

Craig kicked his legs up and closed his eyes. "Seems about right. All in one night. He was a damn old geezer dragon, but he sure as hell knew sword arts when he did."

"But wouldn't that make you a Dragon Slayer if you learned and got powers from that guy?" Cana questioned. "And how was there even a live dragon to begin with?!"

Craig opened his eyes and leered at the brunette. "You have a walnut brain or something? I told you, I can't use magic; and even if I did, he only told me steps rather than teach me. Words from crabby beasts are wiser than you think." He answered. It was true that Slicerax and Craig had known each other for only one night, but the dragon did give Craig ways of using the blades, the blades that were given the wisdom of a dragon who could decapitate or shred Acnologia's wings. He frowned as he looked off to the side. "As for your second question, you're asking the wrong guy."

"Huh?"

"I learned that you can never question the universe and all of its wonders. You can question how screwed up it is, sure, but anything else, that's another story. I've been on the back of an island turtle that carried an entire country on its back for two thousand years. And that thing was bigger than Fiore." He closed his eyes. "I don't know a dragon's lifespan, but to have been far away and hibernating for centuries just to wake up and pass on a little knowledge is another unfathomable concept I had to process. I'll tell you this: There are games with different rules out there."

Cana remained silent, processing Craig's own wise words, surprisingly. A dragon that was so old and died that night as it was knowing Craig, and what Craig learned from him was the true secrets of the blades, the power to dice through the greatest mountain in the world.

Craig and Cana continued from that point telling stories. Cana told her fair share of more than a few jobs with tales of her own cards working, and Craig would provide commentary whenever he felt like provoking her, which succeeded. Cana and Craig thus decided to pool their jewel for that night and sought to maybe getting some sort of dish. They hurried to the market and back, with Cana doing the cooking mostly with Craig doing as he pleased, and in which led to another meal in which Cana berated Craig as he sank his jaws into his share, devouring it, and almost the plate included.

After cleanup, Craig got up, looking over at the window. "Geez, where'd that time go?" Looking out, he noticed how the sun had started to set. "Looks like the day got it in at long last."

Cana looked out the window as well. "Yeah…"

Craig stared ahead briefly. He was looking to have a number of things going about inside of his mind, many that were unexplainable, but perhaps one could say that as Craig stared at the sunset, he was seeing another day come to a close, and that would lead to another night of…events that could lead him to his usual mornings that would involve sweating, sobbing, and more traumatizing memories.

He was hoping that sharing some of his adventures with Cana would alleviate any insecurity, but even as he told of his stories, he was on the brink of sobbing when telling of the sacrifices made. He only told maybe three or four stories that were in his memories Cana saw, but those stories and Cana's wasted the day. A day Craig desperately needed. At least he was able to get some pain off of his chest thank to Brownie…but all good things must come to an end.

Craig began to turn away, remaining steadfast on his lethargic course upstairs. "Well I guess it's late. You'd best get home and do whatever you do. Drink yourself into a coma, throw panties around, who cares."

Cana leered at him. "Panties? Really?"

Craig craned his head. "Whatever. Look, the truth is…" He looked away, his gaze narrowing. "Thanks, for sticking your neck out for me."

Cana smirked. "Hey, what are friends for, right?"

"But I'm still smarter in every way." Craig went and shattered the moment, his trademark quality. When he heard Cana emit a low growl, only then did he sneer in success. He trekked up the stairs, heading off towards his room. Begore he got to far up, Cana called up.

"Cranky." She saw Craig glance down at her. "Are you gonna drop by the guild tomorrow?"

Craig stared at her, perhaps maybe a couple seconds. He closed his eyes and turned back ahead. "Guess I'm done recuperating. Let's see how they like me tomorrow. Later."

Craig went up the steps and made it to his bedroom, where the door shut. Cana looked up at the second floor, staring at the lighting at the far ceiling. As she looked up, she was starting to ponder about, looking for some excuse as to why she needed to leave. However, there was that one thing that did compel her to remain put. The memory, to her, was as dark as Craig's morbid nightmares.

What she recalled was not his history, nor his attitude – though the reasoning was all too clear at this point – but in truth…that face last night. When he prodded his sword into the wall, the brunette's heart sank when she saw then venom of stockpiled torment and anguish, a pain that made Craig hollow and broken right in front of her. She couldn't deny that it was one of the saddest things sought, but what may be the equal kicker to her pants was his crying. He cries in his sleep every single night, because all he dreamed about was death of friends in the past.

Cana wanted to leave, she honestly did, but her gut and brain told her to not. She honestly felt sorry for Craig, and as much as she resented the concept, she actually learned a few things of the pain and hectic battles he had to fight all alone. It ate at her, consumed her from inside, like a virus. This was what guilt at its worst felt like.

Her mind bounced back to last night, where Craig was crying his butt off, kicking in his sleep. Her head drooped, her gaze sinking to the ground mournfully. The guilt of leaving a person still keeping themselves together by a loose thread was like snipping it. She gave in, and knew what had to be done.

Night fell. The door creaked open, and the split image of the Alberona girl slipped in. She peered inside, looking to find that again the lamp was on. "Cranky?" She whispered. No response, but she saw a struggling figure under the thin covers. She recognized it all too well. Her frown was evident as Craig was tossing and turning, growling in anguish and torment, no doubt from another of his episodes. The image was still painful to see alone. The brunette wanted to choke herself and slap herself in the face for doing something dumb for a second time, but the benefits far outweighed the risks. She would have to pray that Craig doesn't try and eat her in her own sleep. She closed in on the bed, seeing Craig whimpering as he clutched a pillow tight, as it were about to fade away as well.

Another morning arose, and Craig found himself lying comfortably again. His eyes half-opened, the sense of evident sleep apparent, but somewhat lacking. With a moan, he tried to turn, but something was off. "Huh…?" He mumbled. He felt something against his back, a breathing and the same bind as was the same as yesterday. For reasons he found incomprehensive, he somehow knew by instinct what was holding him.

In bed was him, and though he had a shirt on this time, it wasn't sweaty. His back was warm, with another body and what felt like large melons pressed against his scarred and messed up body. As he craned his neck to look over his shoulder, he saw Cana holding onto him, her face so…peaceful.

"You again?!" Too bad peaceful wasn't in Craig's vocabulary.

The brunette stirred awake, her eyes groggily opening back up. "Huh?" She looked up as Craig shifted his body, jerking and sitting up to look at the tired girl in cargo pants and a bra. "Cranky…" She yawned, her morning breath bellowing to his stomach area.

"What is it with and being in my space? Do you just go and sleep with guys when you just feel like it?" He instantly berated her. However, despite not being up for more than ten seconds, the brunette had fire.

"Funny, real funny. And how many guys did you think I slept with on purpose? Hmm?" She asked.

Craig rolled his eyes away. "Forget it. Just, what is it that you're doing in my bed?" He questioned properly, his tone dialing down to a warm calm. The Alberona girl sat back against the headboard, her arms supporting the back of her neck as she looked up at the moving ceiling fan. She was just waiting for Craig to catch on, because she knew by fact that he wasn't stupid. Craig's eyes widened. "You stayed, all along."

Cana looked at the window, seeing the blinds no different from yesterday morning. "Hit the nail right on the head."

Craig's gaze grew despondent. "You seriously trying to bug me two days straight or are you just doing this out of pity?"

"Ehh…yes." Cana smirked.

"Ugh, you're despicable." He sneered.

"Suck it up." She shot a glance at Craig. "You were sleeping like a little baby."

Craig's cheeks turned a small tint of pink. He growled.

"It's true." She continued in a chime. "You stopped kicking and whimpering when the little angel came and decided to help you on your quest to conquer sleep. Please, no thanks are necessary. Your flustered and angry expression is more than rewarding."

Craig stared at Cana, his cheeks' temperature beginning to settle down a few notches. He looked away, a harsh snarl towards the wall. While he did bare fangs against her, she wasn't wrong when Craig had a good night's sleep as the brunette held him in her arms last night. The passively aggressive man couldn't argue against the fact that last night was equally as warm as yesterday's wake-up call. Her body was so warm, like a sun against his rugged mountain-like body deprived of any nice temperatures. Cana was a saving grace apparently, and he can't lie when it felt better the second time. But the thought of him snuggling himself up to Cana was giving him a headache, and wanted to throw up.

His eyes leered at her, and then he relented. Taking in a deep breath, he exerted a sigh and slumped back against the pillows, his head resting against the soft fluffiness. "Thanks." He bitterly mumbled.

"The baby need a morning kiss?" Cana teased.

"Say that one more time, and I'm barging into your home and throwing away any and all booze and adult beverages you can hide." He threatened. "I can, and will, find it all."

Cana frowned and leered back. "You suck still."

"You suck by just being in my space." He scorned.

"You suck for having a space!"

"I've been violated in more ways than one in the last two nights!"

"It's nit my fault you needed a shoulder to cry on!"

"It's not my fault that you are such a pushover when it comes to my lack of ever getting sleep, Brownie!"

"Too bad! I helped you, and I would gladly do it again to see that stupid tint on your face, Cranky!"

"Sleep with someone else why don't ya! This is my house!"

"I didn't see a lock."

"…" Craig looked away. "Safety is overrated. Nobody is truly safe." He squinted at her. "And apparently I'm not safe from a space violator who just loves preying on sleeping vagabonds! Brownie!"

And with that, another morning between the bickering duo had begun.

Walking down Magnolia's streets. Craig and Cana were making way for the one place that they knew would spell crap, in Craig's case that is. It was still early, and with Cana's casual attire washed, and with Craig adorning another pair of black pants with a dark blue shirt, the duo set off, closing in with every step.

"So, ya ready?" Cana asked.

Craig raised a brow as he grinned. "Nope."

Cana rolled her eyes. "That's a yes. I gotcha."

"No you don't."

"Shut up. We're there." Cana directed Craig towards the doors, where they were shut. She looked back at Craig, seeing that even though he looked laid back, he was ready to face judgment. But even so, odds were that he was gonna fight back, no matter what was to be said, and honestly, she can't blame him. She may be the only exception to violating his large quantity of space.

"Alright, let's do this…" The brunette slowly pushed open the doors, making way inside. When they made it, they saw…nobody. The guild hall was empty. It was like a ghost town, but only in a guild hall.

Cana and Craig looked around, seeing the entire guild vacant. "Hello?" Cana called out, only for her voice to reverberate back to her. "Hey! Anyone here? Mirajane? Lisanna? Hey!" She got no response again. She put a hand to her hip. "I wonder what happened?"

"Well it's obvious that they're not here, but if something happened, I would've suspected they'd probably leave a note or something to inform of its other members out on jobs." Craig figured.

The two looked around some more, but their luck only seemed to thin out. They lethargically went about, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. Cana looked over at the bar, seeing a lone booze bottle with a note on it.

"Oh? What do we have here?" The Card Mage walked on over, picking up the booze bottle. To her exasperation it was completely empty, a heavy downer. "Damnit." She muttered. "And this was one of my favs too."

Craig snapped his fingers. "Hey, get with the program."

"Right, right." She picked the note off the bottle and began to scrutinize its contents. She looked at each word carefully, and as she went on, Craig saw her face was completely serious. Her vermilion eyes widened by the time the end came. As Cana stared, she looked a little surprised, shocked even.

Craig raised a brow. "Everything…?"

Cana passed him the note. "Read it. We gotta go."

Craig could feel the haste in her words. He understood. It was an emergency just from her quickened pace. He looked at the note, hurrying his wording as Cana began passing him.

"Cana,

If you're reading this, it's probably because you found the booze empty. That was just to get your attention, sorry about that. Anyways, this an emergency. The Master declared a level red emergency, and he gathered all of Fairy Tail present as of yesterday to ready for a battle against the Silver Cauldron Guild. Their fellow scouts came to the guild hall after you left, and after interrogation, we found out that they learned about all of us from someone they captured. It was Laxus, and now we're probably over there fighting to get him back. Hurry, we may need your help!

Sincerely, Mirajane"

After finishing the note, Craig looked and saw Cana running out of the guild. "Saving one of your own, huh? Typical." He hurried along and followed behind her.

"So, you mind telling me about this Laxus?" Craig asked, jumping over a bush.

Cana followed right beside him zipping past a tree. "Yeah, he's one of our S-Class Mages. You've never met him. He's been out on a job with the Thunder God Tribe as of late. They're one of the top in our guild's ranks, and they got power to boot. Laxus also happens to be the Master's grandson."

Craig shifted and dodged a tree, and jumped over a rock, landing in the green grass and resuming his running. "Guess he's got a lot behind his reputation then, is it?"

"Something like that. I don't know how those Silver Cauldron bastards got to him, but if they're able to hold him captive, then we've got a big problem on our hands."

Craig and Cana simply followed the note's instructions. They picked their feet up and they had to trek abut thirty miles south. A tall order, but within a few hours of running and hurrying, they managed to get closer it seemed. All around was lush forest, a perfect cover if you wanted seclusion to operate. On the back of the note that Cana carried, there was a small map that told her, and Craig, where the exact spot was located.

Up ahead was an opening in the woods. "There!" Craig shouted. Both made a break for the opening, their speed taking them far up to where they made it.

When both arrived, they were perched on a cliff that slopped downwards to open, rocky land. The rocky plains were apparently sprawled with what looked like mages doing battle. A number of spells were being unleashed, and a number of assaults and attacks were being used on a number of Fairy Tail Mages that were on the defensive. Craig and Cana frantically looked around, seeing a large amount of numbers against the hundred or so Fairy Tail Mages.

Far up ahead looked to be a secluded building, one that seemed run down, and seemed to resemble a small castle with a black flag on top, with the same insignia Mystis had on his forehead, only this one was pure silver.

"Man, this is Silver Cauldron's forces? All of them?" Cana questioned, barely catching her breath.

"That's gotta be at least 700." Craig counted. In the back, he could see Erza fighting two at once in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. Nearby he also saw Natsu at work, both seemed to be fighting on, but even his perception could trace their worn down figures.

Cana looked at him. "And are you sure you wanna do this?"

Craig looked at her, his face showing hefty amounts of seriousness. "Look, I'd rather not get into for pathetic little melee. That stuff with Essence, all that fighting, that was all my sake, got it? I'm helping out this time, but only because I know what it means to save your own. I'd sooner be damned by the devil a second time than see a struggle and come out empty-handed with a comrade unattainable."

Cana grinned. "That's the spirit." She smirked as she flashed her cards. "Better leave some for me!"

Craig unsheathed all of his blades, his jaws snapping down on the mouth blade. Even with a closed mouth, one could see the grin. "Yeah, right. If I feel like it, I'll leave some scraps for you to clean up." Craig looked back down, seeing the many mages on the run and some standing their ground. Battles left him with the one emotion he always knew best: Irritated.

His stance adjusted. "Come on, Brownie! Time to show what violence really means!"

New chapter update! I managed to get this up in the morning, that way my pacing wouldn't be slowed down throughout the day. Anyways, all I really did was get Craig and Cana a little closer, get a small sense of bonding going. As for the whole dragon ordeal, like Craig said, he isn't a Dragon Slayer, though probably he could kill one with his superior blade wielding, but no, he isn't like the others in any way. More will be explained about that history in particular at a later date.

I've been thinking about this for some time now, and I think I'm making this story an AU. With the way the canon is currently going, It'd be hard-pressed for this story to keep up, so this is all an alternative.

Anyways, comment and tell me what you thought of this chapter! Thanks for reading! :)