The 'Blood' Dragon Slayer

"Well, I think we can safely say that job went well," Gray said.

"Well! How does destroying an entire village and nearly ending up dead constitute as well?" Lucy asked furiously.

"Cos, we totally pummelled the guy!" Natsu added.

"Aye sir!" Happy said as he popped up behind him.

"We were supposed to deliver a vase to a museum!" Lucy retaliated.

"Enough already. The important thing is that the job is complete. Now let's move on," Erza said sternly. Everyone was instantly quiet. The only sound was the sound of Erza's cart holding the masses of suitcases she always brought with her. After a few moments Lucy spoke.

"So, what do you guys think of that new girl, Sienna?"

"She seems alright. Why do you ask?" Gray questioned.

"No reason, but..."Lucy recalled the moment that she tried to ask her to go on a job with her, and she refused rather harshly. "Doesn't she see seem a bit distant?"

"I guess, yeah. Since she arrived here 2 weeks ago, she's never in the guild hall and when she is, she's looking at the request board, taking up jobs," Gray said.

"So the girl likes to work hard. So what?" Natsu asked impatiently.

"I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with being a hard worker, but it does seem a bit odd that she won't even tell us what kind of magic she uses," Erza added.

"What's she like in the dorms?" Lucy asked Erza.

"To be fair, there's not really a whole lot of difference. She prefers being on her own, and she doesn't like people trying to see her. It is certainly strange," Erza said tailing off.

"Hmm," Natsu grumbled.

"Natsu?" Happy said.

(Back at the guild...)

"Master?" Gajeel questioned as he walked up to Makarov who was sitting on the bar.

"Gajeel,"

"I take it you know what this is about,"

"Yeah," he said with a tone of exhaustion. "I spoke with Gildarts. He said he had heard rumours on his way back to the guild, fitting the description. How did you and Pantherlily do in the archives?"

Lily floated in front of him. "We found a little bit more about the description of it, but, not a whole deal more than the rumours,"

The master let out a sigh. "OK. Gajeel, her latest job has taken her up to the village of Darts, up north. The job entails that a ghost has been stalking the villagers, and they need a wizard to stop it. I want you to follow her. She left a while ago, so you shouldn't be noticed." Gajeel paused for a few moments before answering.

"Fine then. Lily you stay here. I'll get going right now." He walked away before he stopped when the master started talking to him.

"Gajeel. Just make sure you don't tell Natsu. I don't think that he would react very well to it. Gajeel nodded. As he walked out of the door, he passed Natsu, Gray, Erza and Lucy.

"Hey, Gajeel! Where you going?" Natsu asked.

"None of your business," he said grumpily.

"Jerk," Natsu muttered to himself.

"Master, we're back," Erza said.

"I can see. Did it go well?" The rest of their conversation was blanked out to Natsu, as he lost in thought.

"It's weird. Why does her presence seem so familiar? Should I force her to reveal her magic...?"

Gajeel was couched behind a rock, in the dead of night, still in pursuit of Sienna. Her job had taken her up to the rocky, mountainous region that was west of the village. The so called "ghost" had actually been a hoax, designed so that people would be too terrified to return to their homes, leaving the culprit time to rob their houses. Sienna had discovered this and chased the man, who turned out to be a wizard that had left his official guild years ago, though his only apparent power was magic that allowed him to trick people. Now, she was standing face to face with the wizard.

"So, you think you can stop me, huh kid?" he asked with a sneer on his face. Sienna stayed silent but continued to glare at him.

"What you don't feel like talking. Well, that's fine. We can just move right along to the part where I beat you to a bloody pulp!" His sneer on his face grew.

"Just who the hell does this guy think he is?" Gajeel thought "That stupid trick of his isn't exactly impressive: if this girl is who I think she is, then he's through!" He continued to observe.

"You want me to talk?" she asked darkly.

"Whoa! The brat talks at long last," he said chuckling.

"Well fine!" she said as she raised her head up to look him straight in the eyes.

"Here goes!" she said almost shouting. She took in a huge breath and then:

"ROAR OF THE WATER DRAGON!" she screamed. In the same instant Gajeel looked on with a face of shock and interest. The vortex of her breath sent the wizard flying into a large rock that stood not 50 metres behind him. As the wizard crumpled to the ground, it became obvious that not only had the impact against the rock hurt like hell, but her roar had caused him to become grazed all over, tearing up his clothes. She walked over to where the man was and grabbed him by the collar.

"And I was holding back. You really are pathetic," she said with a mean look in her eyes. The wizard managed to make a groan, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Now you listen, you twerp! Say one word about this to the knights who come pick you up and I swear you'll live to regret it!" she said her hand clenching harder on the collar. He just managed to make a small nod. She dropped him and let him fall into a mess on the ground. After a few moments she turned around to the place where Gajeel had been crouching. She walked over the rock, bracing herself, but as she turned the corner, she found no-one there.

"Guess it must have been my imagination, huh?" She was about to return to the wizard when she heard the 'THUMP' of her heartbeat inside her head, accompanied but the unmistakable force pressing down upon her, and the almighty cackle from a deep, dark voice.

"Damn it! It's here!" she thought to herself panicking. Her body trembled all over as she placed her hand to cover half of her face. The already dark night, now seemed to consume her and everything else faded into it.

"C'mon give it up! You can't stop me and you can't contain me. You're just not strong enough!"the dark voice said again, and chuckled.

"Go away! Go away! GO AWAY!" she screamed inside her head, trying with all her might to push the force away from her. She struggled against the almighty force insde for a few seconds more, before the dark voice spoke again.

"Fine, you win. But believe me, next time...I WILL CONSUME YOU!"the voice cried as its hysteric laughter faded away, along the blackness the surrounded her. She fell on to her hands and knees, panting, and sweat dripping off her face.

"Why?" she asked clenching her fists. "Why did it have to be me?" she thought as tears began to well from her eyes.

A now fair distance away, Gajeel was running. He made sure that the route he took meant that Sienna couldn't see him in the night. However he was still pretty shocked about what he just saw.

"Damn! She really is the one! Something tells me this is gonna get messy!" he thought to himself as he pressed harder on his way back to the guild, in the dead of night.