Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, How to Train Your Dragon, or anything relating to the crossover characters in this story.
Warning: obvious hints of slash/yaoi (between Jack and Hiccup)
Enjoy!
The first thing that Erza did once the partying ended (and it had taken a while) was go down to her favorite shop, not counting the bakery of course.
Heart Cruz, where she had bought all of her favorite outfits and most of her battle gear.
The old man who ran the shop glanced up as he heard the bell, and froze as he got a look at her, eyes widening in shock.
"Miss Scarlet?!" he yelped.
The redheaded beauty smiled at him and nodded, earning a beaming smile from the man, who quickly came around the counter to hug his favorite customer, who hugged him back just as fiercely.
He had been like a third grandfather to her growing up, not counting Rob and Makarov. Even when she had no money, when she first joined Fairy Tail, he had traded her some of his wares in exchange for her doing a few chores for him, which she hadn't minded in the slightest.
"It is good to see you alive." The old man said. "Your young friend ensured that none of us gave up hope, but I wasn't sure I'd still be around to see you again. You haven't changed a bit."
Erza hugged him even tighter, closing her eyes as they began to tear up. "We were more or less frozen in time. It is slightly jarring to come back to see everyone seven years older even though to us it feels like no time passed at all."
The old man smiled sympathetically, before patting her on the shoulder. "I can only imagine. Now, would you like to see what I've got?"
"Of course." Erza agreed, eyes brightening in excitement.
And that was that.
"RYDER!" the old man bellowed suddenly, and Erza startled.
She glanced at the old man in confusion, only to raise her eyebrows as she heard an unmistakable voice coming from the back of the shop.
Moments later, a young man came out, wiping his hands on a rag, and glanced at the two of them.
Erza didn't recognize him.
The young man had messy auburn hair, the length almost reaching his chin. He had large, expressive green eyes, freckles spattered across his face, a slightly large nose, and a small white scar on his chin. He was lean, standing at 6"1.
He wore leather armor with padding, covering pants and a tunic. The armor had a lot of buckles and straps, wires and what looked to be hidden compartments.
However, there were two things that really caught Erza's attention.
First was his left foot, or lack thereof. Where the foot should have been was a silver prosthetic, which was clearly well-made.
The second thing was the fact that he had a green Fairy Tail emblem painted on his shoulder pads.
"Hello…?" the man greeted her awkwardly in a slightly nasally voice, before glancing at the old man.
"Ah, right, introductions." The old man muttered. "You are in the same guild after all."
"Wait, what?" the younger male asked, confused. He glanced curiously at Erza, who pulled up her left shirt sleeve to show her own blue Fairy Tail mark, and his eyes widened.
"Erza Scarlet." She greeted, shaking his hand.
"Ryder Haddock." He returned, shaking her hand firmly. "So…you were one of the members who went missing, right?"
Erza nodded.
"Got it. Nice to meet you." Ryder said with a smile.
"May I ask what you are doing here?" Erza asked curiously.
Ryder gestured towards the older man. "He's getting on in age, so whenever he gets a big project that might give him trouble, he has me come by and do it for him."
"Best decision I ever made." The old man said with a nod, smirking at Ryder's slight blush. "At this point he just comes over whenever he's in town, does my work for me, and I pay him for it. Good deal if you ask me."
Ryder rolled his eyes. "And I appreciate the fact that you let me use the workshop for my own projects."
The old man's eyes lit up, and he turned to Erza.
"This kid is a natural-born blacksmith, I'm telling you!" he enthused. "Slightly more archaic than most people are used to, but damn if it isn't better!"
Erza held back a chuckle at Ryder's mortified (yet pleased) expression.
The old man ended up following the two around the shop as Ryder and Erza discussed what was for sale, some of Ryder's projects, Erza's battle tactics, Ryder's love for dragons (or wyverns, since they weren't like the ones Wendy, Gajeel, and Natsu were raised by), and he even caught her up a bit on current events.
All in all, a productive visit.
"C'mon, Hiccup!" a voice whined. Gajeel turned towards the guild hall door, not recognizing the voice, to see two men walk in, and a small black…dragon (?!) trailing behind them. He glanced around, noting that no one else was freaking out, so he decided not to say anything.
The one who had spoken was a guy around Gray's age, and Gajeel was reminded strongly of the Ice Make mage because the new person brought with him an aura of cold. He had silvery white hair, ice blue eyes, and pale skin. He wore a blue hoodie with frost decorating it (and not thread made to look like frost, but actual frost), brown pants, a weird Shepard's crook, and he was barefoot.
"Stop calling me that, Jack." The first figure sighed. The man was about six feet tall, with a lithe figure and lightly tanned skin. Gajeel couldn't see where his guild mark was on his skin (or the white-haired one, for that matter), but the symbol was in green on the shoulder plate of the strange armor he was wearing.
However, what really caught Gajeel's attention was the fact that instead of two legs, the man had a metal stump for a left foot. He looked closer at the stump, eyebrows furrowing as he noticed that it was actually very well-made, and looked like it held a few interesting surprised.
Lastly, he analyzed the draconic creature. It was pretty small, especially compared to Metallicana, but it looked really fast, and was probably very stealthy when flying at night, if its color said anything. It had green eyes, a similar color to 'Hiccup's', and was moving like a feline as it followed the two boys.
"Sorry, Ryder." Jack said with a grimace, knowing that his friend didn't like being reminded of his time living in his old village.
"Eh, it's okay." Ryder muttered, slightly distracted as he noticed the unfamiliar people in the guild. "It looks like the group from Tenrou is back…"
At that moment, the white-haired guy jumped, perching on his staff, toes gripping the wood.
"What—" Gajeel muttered.
"He can fly when he has that staff." Levy's voice suddenly sounded from beside him, and he had to force himself not to jump. Was he so occupied that he hadn't heard her coming? "I asked Kinana about the types of magic all of the 'new' guild members have. Well, or I asked them myself."
"He reminds me of Ice Block." Gajeel muttered, slightly confused.
"Well, yeah, he would." Levy agreed. "The Shepard's crook is kind of like a holder magic, allowing him to fly, but he also has something called Winter magic. It's like snow, ice, and wind combined. And he can make himself invisible if he wants."
"Gihihi." Gajeel smirked. "I wonder how he'd measure up against the Stripper."
"Well, with the way our guild is with brawls, maybe we'll find out!" Levy pointed out cheerfully.
"Maybe." Gajeel muttered. "And the guy in leather? And the…dragon?" His fist clenched unconsciously.
"A different kind of dragon than the ones you, Wendy, and Natsu were raised by, I'm afraid." Levy said sadly. "His name is Toothless, a Night Fury."
"He has teeth." Gajeel pointed out, staring at the dragon's mouth.
"They're retractable." Levy explained. "I asked. Apparently Ryder, the other guy, thought the name was ironic. I actually didn't get an answer about his magic; I'm not sure he's a mage. But he's a good fighter; he fights on Toothless' back. And he's an inventor—he's the one that forged that leg, the gear on his dragon's tail, the saddle, a light but very durable shield that doubles as a crossbow, a flame sword with a retractable blade, and made his armor."
"Damn." Gajeel muttered, impressed. The leg, as he'd already noted, was exceptionally well-made, but the rest? He would have been annoyed at the impressed look on Levy's face if he wasn't the same.
"I am a mage, actually." A slightly nasally voice spoke up from behind them, and Levy and Gajeel both spun around in surprise. There was Ryder, rubbing the back of his neck with a slightly red face, with Jack right behind him, smiling a bit. "Nothing as fancy as most of the others in this guild, though."
"Sorry!" Levy apologized, blushing slightly. Not because she was attracted to him, though he was very attractive (she liked Gajeel after all), but because they'd just been caught talking about him.
"Gihihi." Gajeel chuckled darkly. "If you can make stuff like that, you don't really need a really flashy kind of magic."
"True." Ryder muttered, almost to himself, before he grinned awkwardly and stuck out a hand, shaking both Levy and Gajeel's. Gajeel was surprised at the man's firm shake, since he was rather thin, but what kind of fighter could he be if he didn't have any muscle on him? "I'm an empath."
Levy's eyes brightened in intellectual curiosity, and she began asking him questions about how his power worked, with Ryder answering to the best of his ability.
Jack laughed at the interaction, before introducing himself as well, and sat down with Ryder, Toothless lying on the ground behind them. The four mages talked for hours about magic, past experiences, and Gajeel asked Ryder's opinion about where the other dragons might be. Ryder didn't know, but was eager to help if he could.
During the conversation, Gajeel and Levy raised their eyebrows as they noticed the vibes coming from the two boys when they interacted with each other. Sneaking glances at each other, Jack kept ruffling Ryder's hair or leaning over him, blushing and looking down when the other caught them staring…
Interesting.
Please review!
The last part is mostly the same, but the first is entirely new. I realized that Erza would be curious about a guild mate who also happens to be gifted with forging things, including weapons and armor, so there you go.
