AN: Hey look, it's time for another update! Hooray! I hope everyone enjoys. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to fellow OC-lover M0M3NTAI as thanks for the reviews, and in honor of the new OC's. Once again, thanks so much for reading, and any reviews would be greatly appreciated.
Now, another thing to note: during this chapter there will be introduced an OC whose name, while I think fits them perfectly, is extremely close in spelling to that of a prominent regular Fairy Tail character. Just warning you. I'll have more on this at the bottom after the story.
Notice: I don't own Fairy Tail, or any of its characters, settings, etc. HOWEVER, this fic does contain numerous OC's. These, and these alone, are mine.
Chapter 5: The Hydra Claw Guild
Gray opened his eyes as the circular rune of his Ice Make magic appeared before his interlocking fists. "Ice Make Hammer," he said in a confident tone.
"Gyaaah!" the bandit exclaimed as he went down under the force of Gray Fullbuster's ice-fashioned hammer. Gray noticed Erza making short work of the other bandits around him.
It was nice to go on another solo mission with Erza. While their mission wasn't too difficult- just take care of some bandits- it was reassuring knowing he had the power of the Great Titania by his side. He felt somehow incredibly at ease just fighting alongside her. It was difficult to explain.
They finished off the remaining bandits. For a second, Erza and Gray simply stood around and admired their handiwork, until they realized that the bandit leader was still standing. Standing, and grinning.
"Well, it was nice that you took so long getting rid of my underlings," he said as he pulled away the curtain covering the back of the bandit gang's cart. "I look forward to blasting you fairies off the face of the Earth!"
Gray noticed in horror that sticking out of the back of the carriage was a fully armed, ready-to-fire mini-Jupiter Cannon.
He barely had time to yell a warning and pull Erza to the ground. But she stood steadfast and requipped into her Adamantine Armor. Joining her two shields together with a defiant yell, she stood her ground. Gray knew she would be able to resist the Jupiter Cannon, too. He'd seen her do it before.
But just as it was about to fire, a small, light blue disc spiraled forward and sliced the cannon's head off, causing it to explode in the bandit leader's face. When the smoke cleared, he lay on the ground, unmoving. But Gray didn't really think too much about that, because it was then that he noticed the five wizards standing in a horizontal line above the bandit leader's body, staring him and Erza down.
The man on the far left was of average height, with golden-brown skin and yellow eyes. He wore only a simple cotton tunic, exposing his arms and legs, which looked to be made of nothing more than skin and bone. His head was wrapped in a white turban, smattered with brown specks. A short snake was coiled around his neck and shoulders, and as he stared intently at Gray with his menacing yellow eyes, specks of dirt began to lift off the ground and swirl around him.
Second from the left was a young girl about thirteen, with wavy blond hair tied back behind a silver tiara. Her pale skin seemed to radiate silver in the moonlight. Slung over her back were a bow and quiver, and although her foot was tapping impatiently, her face remained calm and serene.
On the far right was a boy of smaller stature, although his face revealed that he had more years under his belt than his size let on. He had bright red hair close-cropped neatly to the sides of his face, the color of which stood out glaringly from the cool blue tint of his armor. His armor in itself was mesmerizing, as it was composed of seemingly infinite interlocking circular plates that reflected the light of the moon in an interesting pattern. Even more intriguing about him were the two mechanical-looking slots in his wrists, from each of which the tip of another disc seemed to protrude. From each of his ears dangled a small, disc-shaped earring. He glowered at the two Fairy Tail members as if they had just eaten the last cookie without his permission.
Second from the right was an absolute beast of a man. He stood at about seven feet tall, with a mess of dirty blonde hair and a body (wearing only a loincloth) absolutely racked with muscles. But that wasn't even the scary part. No, that honor went to the man's face, which was stretched impossibly, cartoonishly wide to account for his enormous mouth. Seriously, his mouth must've taken up at least a third of his entire body's surface area. His teeth looked like the kind of spikes a five-year-old would draw: ridiculously long and sharp and positioned at strange, random angles. Small streams of drool came out of his mouth as he focused intently on Erza with small, beady eyes.
Finally, Gray focused his gaze on the boy, about seventeen, standing in the middle of the company. His jet-black hair was teased in a pointed spike straight into the air over his forehead, and was close-cropped in the back. He wore black jeans and a loose-fitting, brown cloak over his body that barely concealed the close-fitting shirt that pronounced his abs. Attached to his belt was a scabbard, which was for some reason empty, as if there only for decoration. He would've had an extremely handsome face; even Gray would've had to admit, if it weren't for one glaring imperfection. Two, actually; down his face ran two bright red scars that intersected on his nose, forming a perfect X. Despite the ugly face-markings, Gray could tell by glancing at Erza that she couldn't take her eyes off his devilish smile. The realization made Gray sick. At this point, Gray was pretty sure he knew why.
Gray recognized the boy, and he was sure Erza did as well.
Certainly she did, since they had both read the top story and front cover of today's edition of Sorcerer Weekly magazine.
The boy was Ezra Mathin, known as the "Steel Whirlwind," of the newly formed Hydra Claw guild. He was an S-class wizard, conqueror of five dark guilds (at the same time), and as of last week, a newly inducted member of the Ten Wizard Saints.
Gulp.
Sooo, yeah. His name is Ezra. Since he and Erza will interact a lot (wink wink) I'd REALLY like to know now if people think that's a problem. Everyone who reads PLEASE leave a review about whether or not you think his name is to similar to Erza's. If there's a problem, I WILL change it.
But seriously, it brightens my day every time I see a review, a follow or even my views going up. I hope EVERYONE who reads enjoys it, and if you didn't, I would love to know why so I can fix it. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a nice day.