Hey Guys!

Sorry for the longer than usual wait, this weekend has been mental. This chapter has the S class test for Natsu and Oro and will move us into the start of the Lullaby Arc. We won't see any evidence of it here but I have decided that Lucy will be more competent than in Canon, I like her character generally but what with the brothers and Gray being more powerful, I think it would be incongruous to have her be so much weaker and allowed to be in the team.

Anyway hope you all enjoy chapter 4!

Behind the guild hall a large construction made of stone and wood rose out of the ground, it must have been at least sixty foot tall and it stretched out into the forest around Magnolia. Oro and Natsu were stood outside the entrance with a small crowd of onlookers sitting down and getting ready to watch the action on large television lacrimas. Natsu was wearing a sleeveless vest with white baggy pants while Oro had his long sleeveless coat with similar trousers to Natsu. As they entered the building light lacrimas began to glow and illuminate as the walked leading them further inside. The tunnel continued for what felt like hours, simple stonework followed simple stone work. It was seemingly endless and the boys had become bored. After an hour or so they stopped and looked around. Oro palmed his own face and groaned

"We really are idiots Natsu"

"Speak for yourself!"

"What can you smell?"

"Nothing wh-" it suddenly dawned on him, this was the first time in his life his nose wasn't being bombarded by thousands of different scents.

"And I'm guessing that the only reason that I'm not freezing cold right now is because you're stood right next to me"

"You mean Gray did this? How? It looks so real"

"I got no idea, we'll just have to ask him once you've melted the ice. That won't be a problem for you will it?"

Oro raised an eyebrow at Natsu as he teased his brother.

"You might want to back up a bit bro"

Orange Flames encased Natsu's body and began to expand outwards, the colour getting lighter as the heat radiating off his body increased. When he was wrapped in his white fire it blew outwards melting the ground he was stood on, there was a shimmer before the fire died down and the two boys found themselves in the middle of a forest pools of water from the melted ice surrounding them. Oro was sweating profusely and used some of the melt water to cool himself down. The distant sounds of cheers could be heard from their guildmates. As they looked around a large number of assorted weaponry struck the ground around them forming a large circle that completely encompassed them. Equipped in her normal armour Erza stepped into the middle of the circle and looked at them with a determined look on her face. Oro grinned and shook his head slightly,

"I don't think you thought this through Erza"

Time Dilation

Four of the spears embedded in the ground flew towards him hovering in the air around his shoulders while two swords flew over to Natsu. Taking the swords he coated them in an orange flame and the two brothers ran towards a stoic Erza. Natsu aimed the blades towards her lower body while Oro sent the spears towards her chest

Requip

There was a bright flash followed by cloud of dust. As it cleared Erza could be seen, her scarlet hair flowing past her shoulder holding a long spear. Thirty feet away from her and lying on the ground were Natsu and Oro. They got to their feet slowly both smiling at her

"What the hell just happened?"

"You tried to use my weapons against, me. When I requipped they were sent back to my pocket dimension"
"So it was a dirty trick?"

"Not really. It takes more than brute strength to be an S class wizard, you also have to be able to strategize and take advantage of your opponent's weaknesses." She appeared behind Oro striking his back with the flat of the blade causing a painful ache to erupt across to his shoulders.

"Your's is that while you are strong you are better from a range and when your enemy attacks with energy based magic. Mine isn't and I'll be staying up close."

"Hey don't forget about me!"

Fire Dragon's Scorching Ray

A large red magic circle appeared in front of Natsu and he slammed his fist into the circle causing a wide beam of fire to rocket towards Erza, who spun her spear and deflected the blow away.

"This spear resists fire, you are gonna have to do a lot better than that to beat me." Natsu growled and leaped towards her, as she moved behind Oro, she was keeping Oro between them causing Natsu to roar in frustration as he couldn't land a blow without hurting Oro. Oro Meanwhile was barely keeping up with Erza's speed, he had cuts across his forearms where he had blocked her attacks. He however was grinning wildly, drawing a smile from Erza in return. Looking at her attack, both fast and deliberate he was in awe, sparring with Natsu for years had developed his strength and taught him to improvise against an instinctual and unpredictable opponent but this was something new. Strength and Intelligence in equal measure, while dodging her attacks he couldn't help be find her graceful movements beautiful, he studied her movements looking for a pattern and struggling to discern one.

Infinite Dragon's Quantum Burst

Oro was wrapped in Purple energy and then he suddenly disappeared, Natsu grinned

"Run away from this!"

Fire Dragon's Roaring Inferno

Fire wrapped around Natsu pulsing into a bright blue light and quickly expanding into a searing hot inferno completely enveloping Erza

Requip

As the bright light faded Erza was revealed still standing but panting heavily, her fire empress armour all but completely destroyed she look surprised and was panting heavily

Such heat, just how much raw power does he have? To overwhelm my armour so completely…

She didn't have much time to think as beads of purple energy flew towards her, she managed to deflect most of them with her sword but a couple grazed her legs causing them to shudder with pain and she had to take a moment to calm and steady herself. As soon as she stopped moving the ground beneath her feet seemed to melt and then harden, trapping her in the ground. She looked down and couldn't help but admire Oro's thinking, she was sure Natsu had more raw power, thinking about it actually caused her to shiver as it seemed endless, but it was Oro's mind that she admired the most. She had planned against them and on what she had known about them had come up with a strategy. He hadn't been able to do that, but on the fly had come up with a solution that both hindered her and allowed Natsu's power to drastically shift the battle in their favour, he truly understood how to work with his brother as a team. Still, she had planned for this, bracing herself she requipped into her purgatory armour the shift of size and power breaking the earth around her feet as she brought her maul up to block an attack from Natsu as they stopped in a stand still. Natsu pulled back, quickly thrusting his arm into the ground.

White Tremor

Ground quaked and broke into cubes that floated into the air.

"All yours Oro"

Natsu whispered with a sly smile, Erza was shocked, she hadn't realised that Natsu also understood his brothers strengths and weaknesses, she couldn't help but inwardly smile at the realisation, these two were going to be great additions. But she wouldn't give up just yet.

"Thanks for the toys brother"

Time Dilation

Twenty of the blocks began to swarm around Erza flying towards her with increasing speed, she managed to break a few of them and dodge the rest, but as soon as one was broken it was quickly reformed and resumed its attack. Instead of focusing on the blocks she ran at Oro as fast as she could, as she got within striking distance she brought her mace down with all her might, as it was about to connect she felt an incredible heat

Fire Dragon's Flaming Wind

In an instant Natsu was stood in between them

"I thought I already told you, no one hurts my brother, I won't let that happen EVER AGAIN!"

Fire Dragon's Iron fist

As he caught her mace with his left hand crackling blue energy cut across it and it shattered. His right fist, enveloped with red flames suffused with force energy, connected with her abdomen sending her flying. After the dust settled she rose to her feet, wearing a white blouse and skirt, cuts and burn marks developing across her body, she smiled at the two brothers and bowed.

"Congratulations, you have passed my trial, I wish you luck against Mira's" she turned to walk away "Not that I think you will need it" Natsu turned to look at the bleeding Oro

"You ok? She was tougher than I thought" Oro was staring at her retreating figure

"That brother, was amazing"

"Oh got a crush bro?"

"Shut up Natsu. (sigh) guess there is only one test left" As they began to look around for a sign of Mira and their final test they heard a loud explosion and a large column of fire erupting through the trees

"You think that's-" A high pitched scream cut Natsu off and they saw a small girl running for her life as a large monster came crashing after her

"No, screw the trial we can get back to it, we have to help her"

"Agreed"

Fire Dragon's Flaming Wind

Infinity Dragon's Quantum Burst

In an instant Natsu was stood between the girl and the monster, it was large, maybe 20 feet tall, twisted black horns crested a black haired and grotesque head. Each of its muscled arms long enough to drag along the ground. Oro appeared next to the girl and quickly scooped her up before sending small balls of purple energy at the creature's legs. It wouldn't be enough to immobilise the monster but it should give him enough time to get her out of there while Natsu took it on.

"Get her back to the guild Oro, I'll be able to deal with this guy"

"I'll be back soon Natsu, be careful"

Oro took off as fast as he could towards the guild hall. Natsu would be ok, he was sure of it, besides being this far away from the town meant he would be able to go all out, but Oro couldn't help but worry. Something had seemed slightly off with the whole situation.

"Ok ass hat, I don't know what you are doing here but I'm sending you back where you came from"

The monster roared and swung a massive fist at Natsu

Iron Will

The fist collided with Natsu's defensive barrier and it howled in pain.

I've just got to wait a little longer, Oro should have her safely out of range soon.

Natsu continued to block and evade the monsters attacks until he felt like Oro would have gotten far enough away.

Fire Dragon's Scorching Ray

The beam of fire crashed against the monsters left leg leaving the a disgusting smell of burnt hair and flesh, having got the feeling back in it's legs from Oro's attack the monster leapt at Natsu bringing both fist's downwards to make a hammer blow.

Iron Will

Once again Natsu's spell absorbed the attack but it wasn't quite strong enough to stop it completely as a shock wave broke through and forced Natsu backwards into a tree.

"Ok fair play, I wasn't expecting that,"

Fire Dragon's Infernal Sabre's

Natsu pulled his hands down in front of him in an x shape forming two sabre's made of flames that burnt with a blue light. He lept forward closing the Gap between them quickly and began leaving horrible cuts and burn marks across the beast's body forcing it backwards and all most defenceless, seizing this opportunity Natsu pressed his advantage

Fire Dragon's Infernal Wind

Natsu's body became Blue fire, the air shimmered as raw power began to flare and burn the surrounding area. He moved with incredible speed, never once relenting with his sabre's striking blow after blow. He roared as both swords struck across the monster's chest sending it downwards into a large crater caused by the sheer power of the blow. He stopped to see if it would get back up while panting heavily, he had expended a lot of energy between this and Erza's trial. As he looked down at the monster he heard footsteps running his way

"STOP!" he turned to see Mira running towards him, he was about to speak when she flew right past him and down into the crater, he didn't fail to notice the tears in her eyes.

She began to cradle the monster's head while crying

"I'm so sorry Elfman, I didn't realise he would be this fast, I got her as soon as I could." Natsu looked down confused as the monster began to reform into one of the guild members he had seen before.

"Wha?"

"It was the third trial apparently" Oro had appeared next to him glowing in purple light.

"I'm not sure I follow, I thought Mira was supposed to be in charge of the trial"

"Apparently she underestimated how strong your desire to protect people was. She thought we would just focus on getting the girl away"

"But if you just leave a Monster running around it might hurt someone else!"

"I know, guess she figured we would go to get help with it"

"Yeah I guess we could have, but big brute monsters like that are my forte" Natsu grinned and walked down to Mira

"Hey Mira, I'm sorry, If I'd realised I wouldn't have attacked it so hard"

She shook her head

"No it's my fault, when you didn't immediately attack back I thought you were scared of him, so I let the fight go on too long, It was only once you powered up that I realised you had been stalling to give Oro enough time to get the girl to safety, then you moved way faster than I thought you could" She looked down at Elfman who was breathing heavily and was quite seriously injured.

"Well at least let me help with him" when she looked up confused Natsu enveloped his hands in a warm golden glow, this fire wasn't very hot, it radiated the same amount of heat as a small campfire and he bent down and let the flames cover Elfman's body. Mira gasped and was about to stop Natsu when she felt Oro's hand on her shoulder

"It's ok, these are the flames Igneel used to heal me when Natsu found me. Natsu spent years practicing it so that he could heal me if anything happened to me again" Mira tried to respond but was stunned as Elfman's breathing relaxed and the cuts and burns began to heal over. When he was finished Natsu easily picked up the larger man and began to walk up the crater.

"The wounds are healed but it will still take some time for his mind to heal, it still think's he is hurt, he should be fine in a couple of days though" Mira cried in relief and gave Natsu a small hug. It was the best she could do while he was carrying her brother.

They arrived back at the guild to see everyone looking at Elfman with a hint of worry,

"It's ok, Natsu healed him and he is going to be ok!" Mira explained to them and they let out a communal sigh of relief. While Mira ran Elfman to the infirmary to rest the two brothers were swamped his congratulations and hugs. After a while Makarov walked over to them with a large smile,

"Well done my boys, you have passed the trials. You were able to see through an enemy's tricks, able to quickly formulate a strategy in order to counter an enemy who had stacked the odds against you. But most importantly showed that you have the heart to look after those weaker than yourselves. You have earned the title of S-class"

"Thanks gramps but I still feel bad for what I did to Elfman I'm not sure I deserve it"

"Nonsense, my boy, that's our fault for underestimating your pure power, we also assumed it would be Oro who stayed to hold the Monster off with his defensive capabilities, we assumed to much"

"Well I would have stayed if the attacker had been an energy user, but against a brute type like that monster Natsu is always our best option, pound for pound he is the better fighter"

"Well I see that now. I think it's time to celebrate don't you?"

Everyone cheered and led the brothers back into the guild.

The next day the brothers sat at the bar quietly laughing at the members all nursing hangovers.

"Hey you think Happy and Lucky will be here soon?"

"They should be, hopefully they haven't spent all our money on fish"

"They better not have we are gonna need that to get a place sorted"

"Who are Happy and Lucky?" Erza had just walked in and taken a seat next to Oro.

"Oh right you guys haven't met them yet, When we decided to join the guild we sent them to get all of our money so we could buy a house. But they aren't back yet and they really should have been." Natsu explained

"Why the weird names?" Gray had also arrived and was stood in front of them one hand resting on his head, he had gone a little bit overboard last night. Oro laughed

"Oh they aren't human, they are…actually what are they Natsu?"

"Umm, cats?"

"You asked a couple of cats to get your money?!" Erza was shocked while Gray just winced at the volume of her voice

"Well they aren't regular cats, they are smart, they talk and can fly. We found them while we were looking for my dad."

"Well where were they getting your money from?"

"Oshibana" both boys replied nonchalantly.

"Well that isn't too far away I'm sure they will get here soon." The boys nodded in agreement

"By the way there is something I wanted to ask you both" Erza blushed slightly as she felt Oro's eyes on her

"I would like to take the two of you with Gray and myself on a job. With Natsu and myself up close and Oro and Gray from range we should be able to deal with any situation we find ourselves in so I was thinking of us all making a team, think of this as a test run"

"Yeah sounds good to me"

Just then Lucy walked into the guild hall and gave them a wave as she headed towards the job board.

"Oh we totally have to bring Lucy too" Oro raised an eyebrow at his brother while Erza and Gray looked confused

"Why she isn't s-class and I doubt she is close to it"

"Well that was rude Gray" Erza chastised her team mate "But I suspect he's right it would be too dangerous for her to come on jobs with us

"No way! Her magic is really cool, I want to see what other crazy stuff she can do with it." He wasn't sure why but Natsu felt the need to defend the blonde mage.

"You did say this was a trial run right? Why not give her a chance?" Oro added while inwardly sighing

You owe me for this brother, and you had better be right about her.

Natsu smiled at Oro

Thanks bro, I know you won't regret it

There was a pregnant silence before Erza sighed, not because it would mean having to look after Lucy but because she had realised she wasn't going to be able to deny a request from Oro. It confused and frustrated her no end.

"Fine, but you two are responsible for her. Got it?" They nodded to Erza who stood up, "Be at the train station in an hour."

She headed out while Natsu ran to get Lucy. Gray looked at Oro with a questioning look

"Hey, I've never known Natsu to be wrong about someone before, he has a nose for this kind of thing." Oro tapped his nose as he finished his drink

"You better hope he's right this time, she could get hurt, or worse"

"She won't get hurt, Natsu takes his responsibility to protect people very seriously"

"I know, that's what I meant. Will he be able to deal with the guilt if it goes wrong?" With that Gray headed out of the door

He's not wrong Natsu, I'll help you but be careful

Just over an hour later Natsu and Oro were lying prostrate looking up at the roof of the train carriage. Neither of them were good with transport, they had learnt to get better over the years but they still weren't exactly comfortable and laying down seemed to help. Gray, Erza and Lucy were watching them with some mix of amusement and worry. Erza had just finished explaining that they were looking into a dark guild who were rumoured to have been operating in the area. Lucy was both excited and worried, she was happy that Natsu had wanted her to come along but she wasn't really sure she was ready for something like this, despite his assurances. Erza and Gray didn't appear to be convinced either but at least his brother had offered her his support. Erza seeing Lucy watch the two brothers, with a small blush, felt a small pang in her chest

Which one are you looking at?

Quickly dismissing the feeling as unusual and silly she looked at the boys as well. Both of them were trying to regulate their breathing with strained looks in their eyes. Each held their hands over their stomachs which was a shame as she was unable to see Oro's chiseled muscles. Unbeknownst to her Lucy was having a very similar thought about his brother.

"Say Natsu, what is it that makes you think Lucy is ready for this? No offence Lucy"

"Oh- er. None taken I guess Erza"

Natsu groaned slightly as he moved to sit up having to use the bench to lift himself up and he sat next to Lucy.

"Well...you know when you asked us what you guys smelt like right?" Both Gray and Erza nodded while a very confused and slightly scared look crossed Lucy's face

"Well Lucy smells like Vanilla, Starlight and strength" Everyone except Oro was surprised by this, most of all Lucy

"When the hell did you smell me!"

she had a bright blush across her face, that was easily one of the nicest things anyone had ever said about her, but she didn't want to admit the colour of her face was because she was embarrassed, choosing instead to hide it with mock anger. Erza Looked down at Oro who shrugged slightly and nodded in confirmation

"It's true"

"Of course it is why would I-" He was interrupted as the train hit a bump in the tracks causing him to groan and fall over. This wouldn't have been much of a problem if he hadn't fallen sideways with his head landing on Lucy's lap. Lucy panicked not knowing what to do,

What the hell! What should I do? I could push him off but I'd feel bad, I know he's feeling unwell and didn't do it on purpose. Maybe I can move to the other side and leave him on the bench? He's really warm and comfortable though… No. No Lucy don't think like that you'll just have to move

Erza chuckled slightly at her discomfort, happy that Lucy was clearly looking at Natsu and not Oro. As Lucy was trying to find a way out of her situation the train pulled into the station. Using this as an excuse she lept to her feet toppling Natsu onto the floor on top of Oro and quickly led the way off the train her face a bright red.

"Hey Lucy wait! You don't know where we are going." Erza shouted and ran after her with Gray following closely behind her.

"Smooth brother real smooth" Oro groaned as he moved Natsu off, only to find the train moving again.

"Shit" He pulled himself up onto the bench and laid down with Natsu climbing up onto the other side.

"We'll have to get off at the next station"

"Gonna have to run back I don't think I can deal with another train ride right now" Natsu sniffed the air

"You smell that right? I can't tell what's worse the train or that brutal stench"

So ends chapter 4.

Truth be told I'm not that happy with the way this chapter turned out but i couldn't stomach yet another rewriting, i guess I'll just have to edit it in the future after I've had time to think about how to improve it. That being said I hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 5 will probably be the entire lullaby situation finished, I have an original adventure to follow that I'm pretty excited to get too as it should set up the over arching story I've got in mind.

Once again please reveiw

Thanks