Disclaimer's on chapter 1

It didn't take long for Alastor to finish his business with Cana. Once that had been dealt with, the blue haired Wizard made his way upstairs to the Guild's upper floor where only Fairy Tail's S-Class Wizards and Guild Master were allowed to utilise although, in Alastor's mind, it seemed rather pointless as there were only a mere handful compared to the bulk of Fairy Tail's number and half of them were rarely seen if only to collect a new job or report one they had finished.

As such, the only S-Class Wizards in Fairy Tail right now, other than himself, were Erza and Mirajane who were sitting together at a table in the far corner with Guild Master Makarov, a small elderly man swathed in luminous clothing and smoking a pipe that was almost as long as he was tall.

"So, Cait Shelter have joined our little Alliance, have they?" The small man asked as Alastor sat down at their table.

"In a sense." Alastor began retelling the rest of the table about what had happened earlier today and why he had returned home with Wendy in tow.

It was the part about Cait Shelter wanting to send only Wendy that got the most attention out of his story.

"To send but a child to do battle against the Balam Alliance…it's inexcusable!" Erza remarked angrily wondering whether she should go to Cait Shelter herself and discuss their reasons as to why sending only a child to aid them - at the point of her sword.

"It could be they're just using this Alliance to get rid of her because of her Dragon Slayer powers." Mirajane pointed out sadly having experienced the pain of being cast out of the village because of her Take Over magic.

"Let's not get wound up about this. They have their reasons for doing this and until the time is right for them to explain, we can only wait patiently." Makarov said calmly exhaling several smoke rings before continuing. "In the meantime, we should focus on helping young Wendy learn all she can in preparation for the battle to come while trying to get more Legal Guilds to join the Alliance. Have you any thoughts on where to look next, Alastor?"

"Another Guild with Wizards that specialise in Support Magic." The blue Wizard replied instantly having thought about this during the trip back from Cait Shelter. "We don't know which Wizards Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus will be sending so, if we can get another Guild with Support specialists, it'll allow Wendy to focus solely on using Healing Spells without having to cast any Support Magic herself."

Makarov hummed and nodded in understanding at Alastor's logic. If this young girl was able to use actual Healing Magic then having more Support Magic Wizards would prevent her from using up her magic on other spells which would deplete her magic leaving her drained and unable to heal anyone until her magic replenished itself.

This was without factoring in her Dragon Slayer abilities which, if tied to Healing Magic, would allow her to continually cast magic so long as she could, for lack of a better term, eat some of her Dragon attribute. Hence why Alastor requested Wendy come along with him to Fairy Tail where Will and Natsu could help her in understanding the basics of offensive Dragon Slayer Arts.

"Leave it to Alastor to think of the bigger picture. It will indeed be better for her to focus on healing and not trying to juggle two tasks." Erza praised to which Alastor merely rolled his eyes. If Master Makarov said yes to anything, she would back his agreement vehemently.

"That or he's just trying to make sure his little sister is well prepared and has less to worry about come the day we go after the Balam Alliance." Mirajane teased all smiles and cuteness. A complete contrast to less than an hour ago when she was butting heads with Erza to put it lightly.

"At least he thinks about others unlike some people who think more about how they'll look in their next photo shoot in Sorcerer's Weekly." Erza shot at Mirajane.

"At least I'm not afraid to show off my body instead of hiding it behind clanking suits of armor." Mirajane shot back still all smiles but now had a dark aura surrounding her.

"Oh? Are you saying you're better than me because I rely on my armor instead of my own power?" Erza challenged now sporting a similar aura.

"Give it a rest, you two." Makarov ordered. He did not mind the odd squabble now and again but Erza and Mirajane's repeated scuffles over the years were more costly than any of the brawl-fests that happened downstairs. Were it not for their popularity, powerful respective magicks and job success rate, they would still be competing with the likes of Will, Natsu and Gray to become S-Class Wizards.

Thankfully, the two girls still listened to him and immediately stopped their hostile glaring match. They were not going to be giving up their rivalry battle though, Makarov knew that. He just hoped that they kept any collateral damage to a minimal- his coffers were already light enough thanks to Natsu's rampage in Hargeon this month.

At that moment, a winged Lisanna flew up to the upper level and soared over to them. Because only S-Class Wizards were allowed upstairs, Lisanna often played the part of messenger due to her Animal Soul Take Over Magic.

"Hey, Al. Farmer's here for his compensation for Natsu breaking his cart again." She reported cheerfully like it was a common occurrence- which it was.

"Only him? No Natsu or Will?" Alastor asked curiously.

"You would've heard him if he was back." Lisanna pointed out with a giggle before gliding off.

Crossing his arms in thought, Alastor tried to figure out why Natsu wasn't back and with Will and Wendy in tow. If all three of them were together now, where exactly were they?

"U-Um...This...really isn't what I thought you meant by hunting." In the woods of Magnolia, Wendy was sweating profusely. She was dressed in what looked to be a native American headdress with large feathers crowning her head with red and white face paint dotting her cheeks. She certainly wasn't expecting the outfit.

"Natsu...Why am I dressed like a bunny!?" Happy whined wondering why he was wearing in a plush, brown bunny suit with long floppy ears as he floated beside his best friend. The last thing the blue cat remembered was flying around searching for Natsu when a hand grabbed him around the head from out of nowhere!

"Because Rui and Carla wouldn't put it on!" Natsu replied as he crossed his arms looking like an animated bush dressed in leaves all around his body with brown and green body paint on the exposed skin of his arms, face, and chest. The leaves were mostly around his head and shoulders to hide his pink hair and trademark scarf. "The costume is really important to the training!" His methods were sound and they would get it when they actually started the thing.

"Is it? Because I'd like another run down of exactly what you mean by hunting." Will asked in a confused tone dressed similarly to Natsu with leaves all around the back of her body and head to hide her bright hair with green and brown body paint over the exposed skin of her arms, face, legs, and chest. She still didn't get his plan here. She may love Natsu like a brother but his brain seemed to run on a different track them everyone else's.

"I told you, we go running off in different directions and Wendy has to sniff us out. What part of that is hard to understand about hunting?" Natsu pouted when they didn't get his glorious plan.

"...So it's basically a game of hide and seek?" Carla asked with a raised eyebrow. She was also dressed in the forest camouflage like the other two dragon slayers but with a lot more body paint to cover her once pristine white fur. Safe to say she was really hoping this came off after all this barbarian's shenanigans were done with.

"It's nothing like hide and seek!" Natsu growled. He thought it up himself!

"Really? Because this certainly feels like hide and seek to me only you have us wearing these hideous colors!" Carla remarked disdainfully.

'I think you look better that way.' Rui complemented despite all dolled up in leaves and paint also just like Carla but not feeling as disgusted as her once white furred, fellow feline.

"Well, I find this and you repulsive!" Carla snapped back her temper getting the better of her.

"So… I'm the one doing the hunting...and I have to hunt you all down!" Wendy exclaimed brightly excitement building in her as she understood what Natsu was getting at completely unaware of the argument happening at her feet with the two familiars.

"Exactly!" Natsu grinned giving Wendy a big thumbs up. "Nothing like a practical practice to start practicing your Dragon Slayer training regime!"

"At least she's eager to begin." Carla sighed. This was all to help Wendy become a better Dragon Slayer. She just needed to keep that in mind and endure any stupid shenanigans the barbarian had in mind for just a week. In her mind, it was more like a year- especially with this tomcat staring at her all the time.

"Aye! Natsu's the best Dragon Slayer ever! He'll train Wendy into a powerful Wizard!" Happy assured Carla before adding shyly. "If you want… I could help you become a powerful partner for Wendy…"

Carla huffed and looked away causing Happy to drop to his paws in dismay once more. With Lucy out of the picture, he had been certain the pretty feline would have been purring at the thought of getting closer to a fellow flying familiar.

"Alright then. Everybody but Wendy, scatter and hide!" Natsu commanded taking a running leap and diving head first into the nearest bush disappearing from sight.

Taking his cue, Will ran off in the opposite direction while the three green cats took to the air with Aero Magic and flew off in different directions although Happy made to follow after Carla until Rui hissed at him in warning to which he quickly scarpered off the other way leaving Wendy all by herself.

"So...Do I start 'hunting' you all now?" Wendy asked only to hear nothing in response. "Natsu?"

Trying to look inside and around the bush Natsu had hid in, Wendy was surprised to find there was no sign of the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Will? Carla?" She called out nervously her voice becoming more quiet with each call as it finally sunk into her mind that she was now all alone in the forest.

Being all alone like this brought back memories of when she was younger and had been abandoned by Grandeeney, the Dragon who had trained and raised her for as far back as she could remember. All she could remember was waking up one morning to find Grandeeney had disappeared without telling her and never returned upsetting her greatly. Even the boy who found her as she looked for Grandeeney soon abandoned her also although he at least left her at Cait Shelter but even then, she was still alone until she had found the egg from which Carla had hatched from.

Shaking her head violently to remove those unpleasant memories, Wendy gathered her courage and marched off into the forest in search her 'prey'. She had been given a rare chance to train with real Dragon Slayers and wanted to make Grandeeney proud by being a real Dragon Slayer herself when she reunited with her dragon.

Sadly, no matter how hard or far she looked, Wendy could not find Natsu, Will, Carla or the other two familiars. All she had gained from her searching were some light scratches on her arms and legs and her once clean dress was now dirt stained and sporting a few small tears from where it had caught on branches.

Disheartened at her lack of progress, Wendy was about to call out to Natsu and Will that she couldn't find them when she heard the sound of a twig snap off to her right. Twirling round thinking that it was one of her friends, Wendy was about to call out only for her voice to catch in her throat at the sight of a huge, green furred monster staring right back at her with a very creepy look on his purple face.

"I was wondering what all the commotion was around here but wasn't expecting to come across a cute little snack." He leered as he stepped closer to the blue haired girl. "Might just pluck off those scrawny limbs and feathers before eating you, though."

Rooted to the spot with fear, Wendy could only watch as the monster stomped towards her. Just when it looked like it was about to reach out and grab her with one massive hand, the monster stopped right in its tracks as if time had frozen then began to walk back towards the treeline from whence it came but without looking away from her.

'No. It's not me he's looking at!' Wendy realised as she watched the monster continue to back away to the treeline before finally turning round and running off through the trees. Whatever was behind her, it had really spooked the creature and now she was worried that whatever was behind her was now going to be after her instead.

"Where are the others?"

Recognising the voice, Wendy turned round to see Alastor standing there with his trademark serious look making any happy thoughts dancing through her head to disappear as quickly as the monster had. She couldn't really blame him for looking cross. Her and Will were supposed to have gone to find Natsu and bring him back to the Guild not go frolicking in the forest.

"H-Hiding." Wendy answered shakily. "See, we found Natsu and Will told him they had to... 'work on my senses' I think she said? So anyways, they're off hiding somewhere and I supposed to hunt them down."

"Hunt? As in Natsu's 'hunting game'?" Alastor asked almost groaning when Wendy nodded in reply.

"Have you played this game?" Wendy asked curiously.

"Never. Never thought the moron still played it after last time too." Alastor muttered shaking his head.

"Last...time?"

"You're better off not knowing." Alastor told her sternly knowing how she would likely react.

Back when they were all kids, before Happy had entered his life and Will had shown up, Natsu had gone off into the forest with Elfman and Lisanna to play hunting where he would hunt down the two younger Strauss siblings to hone his senses while they used their Take Over Magic to keep away from him. Unfortunately, Mirajane did not like Natsu's game- or rather, she did not like her siblings playing with someone from 'Team Erza' and decided to 'hunt' Natsu herself- in Satan Soul form. Alastor had thought Natsu had been traumatised by the event but clearly the Fire Dragon Slayer still played it or still remembered how to play it anyways.

"So, you're the hunter yet the only thing you're finding is trouble rather than prey." Alastor stated shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah." Wendy nodded trying her hardest not to cry and ruin her face paints. "I've looked all over but I can't find anyone. Maybe I'm not supposed to be a Dragon Slayer."

"That's because you're not hunting like a Dragon Slayer." Alastor pointed out getting a confused look from Wendy. "You're treating this as a game of hide and seek- which it basically is but a Dragon Slayer style of hide and seek. Natsu never explained that, did he."

"Um… Well… Actually… No." Wendy eventually replied feeling more and more depressed as she curled herself up into a ball. "I thought I understood what I was supposed to do but... I never really knew how I was supposed to do it."

Alastor had a strong suspicion that the Fire Dragon Slayer was too impatient to begin the game and forgotten to explain it. He had to admit, the pink haired Wizard's game was good for honing one's senses but surely Natsu would have first thought to explain it to Wendy just what she would be doing. Then again, Natsu always did prefer action over words.

"So… Does this mean I'll never learn how to be a Dragon Slayer?" Wendy asked fearing she was going to be sent back to Cait Shelter the moment Will and Natsu returned.

"Don't talk nonsense. It's just a small mistake not the end of the world." Alastor told her off. "Everyone makes mistakes now and then, even me believe it or not. It's only if you give up after making a mistake that you'll never learn and I'm pretty sure you're not a quitter. Or was what you said back at Cait Shelter just empty words?"

While probably not the best at giving pep talks compared to others, Alastor's words seemed to encourage Wendy and make her stand back up as she wiped her tear stained face ignoring the mess it made of her face paints.

"Ready to get back to hunting?" Alastor asked seeing the determined look the girl had in her eyes.

"Ready!" Wendy answered without hesitation.

Natsu was starting to get impatient. Scratch that, he had been impatient ever since finding his hiding spot an hour ago. Maybe he shouldn't have picked a place to hide so far away from Wendy. She might be a Dragon Slayer like him, but he didn't know just how refined, or unrefined, her senses were. Then again, there was the possibility that Wendy was on the trail of one of the others who had gone off in the opposite direction and could no longer pick up his scent.

Now Natsu was in a pickle. Did he come out of hiding to go find Wendy or remain hidden in case coming out of hiding revealed himself to the girl? It could just be that he was the last to be found and didn't want to upset her by coming out of hiding. But what if she had just been wandering around aimlessly because she couldn't find any of them?

"Dammit, brain! Stop thinking!" Natsu demanded quietly in case Wendy was nearby and heard him.

The sudden snap of a twig fifty metres to his left had the Fire Dragon Slayer going stiff and silent. Focusing, he could make out the sound of a child's footsteps and they were coming towards him- straight towards him with no indications that whoever it was was going left or right. It was undoubtedly Wendy and it was all Natsu could do to not laugh out loud in the face of his 'Hunting' being a success.

Quietly he watched as Wendy kept coming towards him then stop briefly, tugging her head dress down over her eyes briefly before shifting it back to its former position and continue towards him. It confused Natsu slightly, especially when she did it again a few metres from where he was hiding, but that led to the confusion he was feeling by what happened next.

"Natsu's somewhere around here." She said to someone Natsu could not see from his position likely that white Happy she was partners with.

"What makes you so sure?" Asked a person Natsu had no problem identifying.

Instinctively, Natsu wanted to stand up and demand why Alastor was here and interrupting Wendy's Hunting training. Heck, how did he not even notice the blue swathed Wizard until now? It's not like he was being stealthy or anything so Natsu chalked it up to being too focused on Wendy to notice she was not alone.

"The smell of paint's strong here." Wendy answered pulling her head dress over her eyes again. "It also feels warmer, not noticeably warmer but I feel like I'm getting closer to a fire I can't see. And when you spoke up, I think his heart beat sped up."

Of course his heart sped up! Natsu couldn't help but be proud of his student for using her senses to figure out his general location. She didn't find out where he was exactly, but that was fine. He was getting bored just waiting and he wanted to hurry up to phase two!

"WINNER!" Natsu popped out of his hiding spot with a flutter of leaves making Wendy squeak as he jumped out of the bushes looking more like a woodland creature than a Dragon Slayer.

"Not bad! You didn't find out where I was exactly but you got close...Why he's here I don't care." He remarked happily kneeling down to Wendy. "You pulled the headdress over your eyes to make your other senses stronger?" That was actually pretty clever.

"Yeah. Alastor said I was relying too much on my eyes to find everyone so I first tried keeping my eyes closed but I just kept tripping and falling so he suggested I use this headdress every now and again." Wendy explained as she pulled the headdress down over her eyes again.

"He did, did he?" Natsu asked using the chance to glare at Alastor while Wendy wasn't looking. He only said that he didn't care about Alastor being here for Wendy's sake. He was actually a bit ticked off that Alastor was not only here but also interfering with Wendy's training.

Alastor merely ignored the glare sent his way having been a recipient of Natsu's glare for years now. He knew the pink haired teen well enough to know he was a bit angry at him for helping Wendy out but knew that, when it came to kids around Wendy's age, he would put it aside if it helped out rather than hindered.

Thankfully, any further conversation was put on hold as Wendy suddenly dashed off leaving the two Wizards starring after her for a moment before quickly following after her.

"I just heard a splash before Wendy took off in the direction of it. She might be thinking it's Will trying to hide under water in the river up ahead." Natsu explained as the two Fairy Tail Wizards followed after Wendy from a safe distance so as not to get in her way.

"Let her explain her actions. You've been caught now so no trying to help her out." Alastor told the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Says you. Telling her how to find me..." Natsu grumbled loud enough for Alastor to hear. "I'm the teacher here not you."

Alastor just rolled his eyes. He was already going to be chewing Natsu and Will out for not telling Wendy what to do and for not looking out for her without the charcoal chewer digging himself any deeper.

Wendy meanwhile was oblivious to what was going on behind her as she ran as fast as she could in the direction of the splash she had heard adrenaline pumping through her body as the sound of running water became louder with each step she took. Bursting through some dense foliage, Wendy was awarded with the sight of a large river before feeling her foot catch on something.

Time suddenly slowed down, it felt to Wendy, as she went head first towards the water and all she could do was stare at the flowing, reflective surface that was coming closer and closer to her. Just as she was about to hit the water, time seemed to literally stop for Wendy leaving her suspended just above the flowing river's surface. Despite her surprise at what was happening to her, she was further shocked to see the surprised face of Will staring right back at her from beneath the river's surface.

"I found Will!" Wendy exclaimed her excitement over finding another Dragon Slayer overcoming her shock as she looked round to Alastor and Natsu on the riverbank- the former having just managed to catch her with a levitation spell before she had literally hit the drink.

"Alright! Way to go, my apprentice! Good job!" Natsu applauded Wendy despite the fact she was hovering inches over the water.

Being the more stern Wizard out of the group however, not to mention taking things seriously, Alastor was not going to believe the mere words of a child.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" He called out to Wendy.

"Duh! Because she's a Dragon Slayer! When we look for someone, we find them!" Natsu defended irritated that Alastor was taking over his Hunting training.

Before Wendy could reply, Will's head resurfaced taking in a gulp of air to replace what she lost upon seeing Wendy hovering above her above the water's surface.

"See? She was there and Wendy found her." Natsu bragged proudly.

Responding with a roll of his eyes, Alastor brought Wendy back to the riverbank while Will waded out soaking wet while muttering under her breath about reckless young Dragon Slayers in training scaring their teachers. Back on her feet on dry land, Wendy immediately began apologising for suddenly running away from them.

"S-Sorry about that. While I was showing Natsu how I found him, I heard a splash and thought it might be Will because I know she's a Water Dragon Slayer and-"

"Don't sweat the small stuff. You found her and that's that." Natsu cut Wendy off waving a hand as if to say there was no need to explain anything.

"What the moron means is that you heard something and followed your instincts." Alastor corrected the Dragon Slayer.

"Okay. Why is Al here and why is he trying to steal our pupil away from us?" Will asked Natsu pretending that Alastor wasn't standing right there beside Natsu.

"Since her teachers were nowhere to be seen when she came face to face with a Gorian." Alastor replied before Natsu could get a word in. "Were either of you keeping an eye on her in case she ran into trouble or did you all just disappear and leave her to figure things out for herself, including how to play your stupid game?"

Despite feeling offended at hearing his training regime being called stupid, Natsu could only stare silently at the ground alongside Will. He had been so excited, not only about meeting another Dragon Slayer but also training them, that he had overlooked several details that had almost cost Wendy her life. Were Igneel around, the Dragon would beat and berate him to within an inch of his life for such sloppy standards in Dragon Slayer training of that he had no doubt.

"...I'm sorry." Wendy mumbled breaking the silence. "This is all my fault."

"No it ain't. This one's squarely on your teachers not you." Will waved off gently. "We were so in a rush to get you trained up in the basics, we didn't realise we were making a right mess of it."

"Yeah. If our Dragons could see us now and how bad we're doing, it'd make the beatings Erza and Mira give us look like we just tripped and scraped a knee." Natsu added.

"Considering how long Dragons are supposed to live for, to them you two are still kids learning the ropes yourself no doubt." Alastor commented dryly. "Now, if there's nothing more to be said, there's a hunter here who still needs to find three cats before the sun goes down."

"Ten Jewel that Wendy's cat kicks up a stink." Will commented while Wendy resumed her search for the remainder of her prey.

"You're on." Natsu agreed before the three Fairy Tail Wizards followed after the young Dragon Slayer in training.

"Where have you been, child?" Were the first irate words out of Carla's mouth the moment Wendy found her. "You took so long in finding me this horrid paint has dried into my fur."

Just like Will had predicted, Carla was in a foul state. It did not help that she had been hiding in the same spot for the past two hours while the paint slowly dried making her feel uncomfortable and sore in her more delicate areas coupled with the fact that she was the last to be found.

"Sorry, Carla." Wendy apologised although for once she was not being timid or sad like she usually was when Carla admonished her instead smiling happily from the feeling of successfully finding everyone and doing it all by herself- with the odd save from her clumsiness by Alastor or Will along the way.

Noticing this more positive aura coming from her friend, Carla found herself calming down much quicker than normal and even smiling a little much to the shock of Will and Rui.

"Well, it's not like I doubted you would succeed but I would appreciate if you could at least find me sooner if just so I can go home and wash this filth off while you found the others." Carla said a touch of pride in her voice despite still sounding like she was telling Wendy off.

"Blame Natsu. He forgot to limit the range to only a fraction of his usual hunting field." Alastor stepped in. "You're lucky he didn't have Wendy searching the whole forest for you and the others."

"The whole forest?!" Wendy exclaimed in shock paling at the thought of trying to find Natsu and the others in the entire forest.

"The whole forest and further when you get to our age so long as you keep training those senses of yours." Will told the younger Dragon Slayer picking up on what Alastor was doing. "Right Natsu?"

"Huh? Oh!- Yeah! You stick with you teachers and you'll be finding people miles away!" Natsu stated proudly coming out of the shock Alastor put him in with his veiled compliment.

"AYE!" Happy shouted in support.

"And now that you know how to properly use your senses, let's crack on with some actual-"

"Let's just call it quits for the now and get back to Fairy Tail." Alastor interrupted before Natsu could go any further. "She's here for a week so it's not like you have to cram everything into a single day."

"Says you." Natsu snorted. Dragon slayers had quite a bit more endurance to spare then normal mages. He could practice his senses and spar without breaking a sweat.

Before he could argue more or make his case, a loud noise reminiscent of thunder echoed through the area. All heads turned to Wendy, who was blushing heavily as she covered her growling stomach. It was early evening after all, and with all the excitement she had gone through this day alone it couldn't be helped if she lost track of time.

"...Fine."

Another chapter finally put up & just in time for my birthday. Anyways, review if possible &, until next time

Watch this space & peace out!