A/N - And here's where we start to delve into the original stuff a bit. Quick backstory, in one of the very earliest outlines for this fic, I had intended for Brandy (who had still been Charmeen at this point) to in the search for Macao and for the reveal of her tattoos to be on Mt. Hakobe during the fight with the Vulcan. Before then, she wouldn't have taken her traveling cloak off, thus hiding that she had them. She also had a lot more tattoos in this version, and she didn't conceal them with the Magic Concealment Ink. This all was also before the rules behind her tattoos (and Construction in general) had been solidly established, so her tattoos were closer to Reedus's Pict Magic than anything unique. I decided to change a lot of stuff and shift some things in this sequence around for ease's sake. Partially because the establishment of how her magic work changed a lot of things, but mostly because Brandy didn't really need to be at Mt. Hakobe, you know? She's got her own stuff to do, and I think it's more important to get a better establishment of the original characters, as opposed to just rehashing stuff with characters we already know everything about.

Thank you to Drachegirl14 for reviewing! Heh, yeah, Fairy Tail is not shy about catering to a yuri-loving fanbase. I don't know if it's inclusivity or fanservice or just that Mashima wanted to draw some half-naked ladies getting all up in each other's business or what, but hey, I'm always eager to poke at cool new possibilities for character interactions, so if every girl in Fairy Tail is bi as hell, I'm cool with that.

Notes will be at the end of this chapter.

DISCLAIMER: Fairy Tail is the intellectual property of Hiro Mashima. I have no intention of monetizing my fanwork, and this is merely an enjoyable passer of time.

Chapter Six - Assessment

"There you go!"

Lucy turned her hand back and forth, admiring the freshly-stamped pink Guild Mark on the back of her hand with echoes of delight glimmering in her eyes. "Oh, man!" she squealed. "Brandy, look!" She waved her hand in front of Brandy's face, beaming.

"Oooh, looks cool!" Brandy said. "It's a really nice color on you." She lifted her mug of water (she couldn't actually drink alcohol for a variety of reasons, the second-biggest of which the need to keep her mind as clear as possible should she ever need to suddenly use one of her Constructions) to her lips and smiled against the pewter rim. "You know, I was actually a bit worried that you'd do a runner after seeing what an average day at the guild hall is like." She exchanged a glance with Emmett, who was sitting to her right, still nursing his mead. "I know we're not the most dignified of sorts, but…"

Lucy scoffed. "Are you kidding? I mean, yeah, I was a little freaked out at first because you guys are all totally insane, but Master Makarov's speech was just so amazing and inspiring that I know I made the right choice with this guild! Besides," she added, "I've wanted to join the Fairy Tail guild for ages now. It's basically a dream come true for me!"

It was Mirajane's turn to beam at that. Well, beam more than usual; her default mode these days seemed to be "delighted to see you." Probably came with being a bartender. "I'm happy to hear that!" she said. "As an official member of the Fairy Tail guild, you'll be able to take jobs from our request board as well as access our magical resources!"

"Eeeeehee!" Lucy bounded over to the job board in question, where Natsu was busy scanning over the request board for something to do. "Hey, Natsu, look!" she exclaimed. "Mirajane just put the official Fairy Tail mark on my hand!"

Natsu seemed profoundly disinterested. "Oh yeah?" he said monotonously, not taking his olive-brown gaze away from the various fliers and letters nailed to the board. "That's cool. Welcome to the guild, Loony."

"The name's Lucy!"

"You should be more welcoming, Natsu," Brandy scolded, taking a sip of water. "Weren't you the one practically dragging her to the Guild in the first place?" She wasn't surprised about his sudden lack of regard; Natsu tended towards erratic mood swings that made his disposition a bit hard to predict. It'd been that way since as long as she'd known him, since he'd joined the guild a mere year after she had. She suspected that it had something to do with his Dragon Slayer Magic. Certain types of Caster Magic had a tendency to affect a wizards personality in various ways, and little enough was known about Dragon Slayer Magic that it was very much a possibility.

Or maybe it was just Natsu being Natsu. She wasn't an expert on Natsu. No one was an expert on Natsu, and that was including Makarov. He was all but unprecedented; an orphan boy who had been adopted and raised by a dragon and taught how to eat fire the same way she ate a sandwich. Brandy had long since stopped questioning how he worked.

A familiar, slightly hoarse voice caught the attentions of both Brandy and Natsu, and the two turned to see Romeo Conbolt confronting Makarov, who was currently sitting on the counter and chugging a tankard of ale. "How come my dad hasn't come back yet?" the young boy with ink-blue haired asked. He was polite about it, but Brandy could see his hands shaking with worry. Romeo's father, Macao Conbolt, had gone off on a mission to clear out some Vulcans from Mt. Hakobe the week prior and hadn't returned.

Makarov let out a huff of annoyance. "You're starting to work my nerves, Romeo," he said. "You're a wizard's son, have faith in your father and wait patiently for him."

Telling a six-year-old to be patient was like telling a fish to learn how to walk on dry land: truly and utterly pointless. "But, sir," Romeo persisted, "he told me that he'd be back in three days! And he's been gone for over a week now!"

"If I remember correctly, he took the job on Mt. Hakobe," Makarov mused.

"That's right, and it's not that far from here, so why won't somebody go look for him?!"

Makarov's last thread of patience snapped like a long-dead twig. "Listen, kid!" he shouted, slamming the tankard down against the counter. "Your old man's a wizard! And like every other wizard in this guild, he can take care of himself! Now go home, have some milk and cookies, and wait!"

For a couple of seconds, Romeo didn't say anything, just rolled his hands into fists and stood there. Then, with a cry of "Jerk!" he punched Makarov square in the face, causing the diminutive guild master to topple to the ground. "I hate you all!" Romeo wailed through his tears as he ran out the door.

"That's gotta be tough," Lucy murmured in the ensuing silence, her voice thick with sympathy.

"Yeah," Emmett said. He'd been listening in intently, clearly no doubt hopeful for news on the fire wizard's whereabouts. In addition to being Romeo's father, Macao was one of Emmett's close friends in the guild, a long-time drinking buddy of the Construction wizard. "Macao's a single dad, you know? His ex-wife, Enno, left the guild - and Macao - a few years back. So he and Romeo only really have each other in terms of family." His gaze was transfixed on the swirling ripples of his half-finished mead. "I can't even imagine what Romeo's gotta be feeling right now. Being a wizard is dangerous work, even for someone as skilled as Macao, and given how long it's been since he left for Hakobe..." He sighed. "No wonder the kid's panicked."

Brandy understood exactly where Romeo was coming from. While he wasn't her father - her real father had died when she was barely a toddler - Emmett had all but stepped into the role when Brandy was a little girl, back when they were still members of Triad's Foresight. She wouldn't know what to do if he just up and vanished during a mission. Luckily, Emmett's nigh-unmatched talents in the art of Construction meant that he was never truly alone when he went on solo missions. But Macao didn't have that luxury.

Mirajane stepped in, clearly trying to do damage control. "I know it sounds like the master doesn't care, but he really is worried."

BAM! Natsu slammed his fist into the job board hard enough to put a sizable dent in the corkboard, as well as crumple the flyer calling for help against some bandits that he had been eyeing up just moments before. "Whattya think you're doing?" one of the resident Seith wizards, perpetual procrastinator Nab Lasaro, demanded. "You almost broke the board, Natsu!"

Oh, as if you were going to take a job anyway.

Natsu didn't say a word, an uncharacteristic silence trailing after him as he grabbed his traveling pack and headed out the door, Happy trailing loyally behind. Brandy grimaced as she watched him leave; Natsu was a man of many dispositions, and this quiet, stern-faced look he got when something was seriously eating at him was one of her least favorites. It was so… un-Natsu-ish; he was a man of hyperactivity and destructiveness, not brooding. It didn't suit him.

Nab groaned and leaned against the counter, where Makarov had resumed his drinking. "This doesn't look good, Master," he said. "You know how he can be. I bet he's going up to Mt. Hakobe to save Macao."

"When is that kid gonna ever gonna grow up?" Krov sighed.

"Who knows? Going after Macao isn't gonna do anything except hurt his pride," Nab said.

Makarov let out a low, contemplative hrmmm, the kind only and old sage of a man could convincingly pull off. "Remember, Nab," he said, "we can't choose another's path. Just leave him be."

Brandy turned back to her water, her frown reflected in the rippling surface. If only things were that easy for her. Her path had been decided for her a good eight years ago, when she and Emmett had been unceremoniously booted to Makarov's doorstep. And if she had learned anything from the incident and everything that came after, it was that the right to one's own path was hard earned and came with its own set of rules. Not to mention there was her mother, always standing over her shoulder in spirit and telling her what her fate would and should be.

She envied the other wizards for that, every day. They weren't bound to the rules of another. As much as she took pride in her own skills and abilities, she was still forced to toe a line carefully for fear of what would happen if she stumbled, even if that line had grown broader as she had grown older.

Her skin writhed ominously at the thought, and she promptly closed her eyes and focused on calming her nerves. Think of a winter day, winter day… freshly fallen snow on the ground… that cute little puff of fog when you exhale… Thinking about the cold always soothed her skin.

Lucy's voice caught Brandy's attention, and she turned to see Lucy staring at the still-open door, gaze locked on the minuscule, faded silhouette in the distance that was the departing Natsu. "Why did Natsu get so upset?" she asked.

"Probably because he and Romeo have a lot in common," Mirajane answered quietly. Her back was turned so that none of the people sitting at the bar could see her face, but Brandy didn't need to see her to know the tender expression she was no doubt currently wearing. "I think he sees himself in Romeo. Just because we're members of Fairy Tail doesn't mean we don't have our own personal issues. We've all had our fair share of suffering and loss." She placed the cup she had been cleaning down on one of the shelves lining the wall behind the bar. "Many years ago, Natsu's father left and never came back. Well, technically it wasn't his real father, but the one who raised him. He was actually a dragon."

Lucy flinched, jaw dropping at this new information. "Wha-? He was a what?! Natsu was really raised by a dragon?"

Mirajane nodded. "When he was a little boy, the dragon found him wandering the forest. He took him in, and taught him all about language, culture, and magic. But one day, the dragon disappeared and never returned."

Brandy could see the gears turning in Lucy's head as she began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "So… that dragon must have been Igneel!" she said, looking over at Brandy. "That's why you guys were looking for him!"

"That's right," Mirajane said. "Natsu lives for the day that he'll finally see Igneel again. It's kind of cute, don't you think?" Mirajane finally turned to face them. "Anyway, that's probably why he's gone off to find Macao. He doesn't want Romeo to feel the same loss he did, you know?"

Brandy noticed how Emmett had gone very still, but she didn't question that. She assumed it was probably just because of how Macao was his friend.

"I see." A spark of determination had flickered to life in Lucy's dark eyes. She got to her feet, pushing the stool she had been sitting on away from the bar counter. "I'm going to go with him," she said. "He can't just go running off to who knows where all by himself."

"He's not going by himself," Brandy pointed out. "He's got Happy."

"Yeah, but Happy's a cat."

"A cat with wings."

"Well, yeah, I guess that's a good point, but still. Besides, I wanna help that kid, too. It sounds like he's really worried about his dad, you know?" Lucy turned to leave. "Are you coming with? You were helping Natsu back in Hargeon, after all."

Brandy opened her mouth to speak, but before she could state that one "Natsu Trip" per week was plenty enough for her, Emmett's hand came down to rest upon her shoulders. "While I'm sure your eager to go running off to Hakobe, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put the kibosh in that," he said. "I've been meaning to take you out on a mission to assess your progress in forming your Constructions. Now's as good a time as any."

Note to self: thank Emmett later. "Well, you heard the mentor," Brandy said. "Don't worry; you three will be able to handle anything that Hakobe will throw at you."

"Okay, then." Lucy accepted that answer with a nod. "See you later!"

"Same!" Brandy waved her new guildmate a cheery farewell as the blonde headed out the door after their mutual fiery friend. Once Lucy left, she turned to Emmett. "So what sort of mission did you have in mind?"

"Well," Emmett stood up, heading towards the damaged request board, "this is an assessment mission, so it can't be something too high stakes, but it shouldn't be one of those missions that you can do in your sleep, either, you know?" His acorn-brown gaze scanned each and every leaflet and flier until he came across one he liked. "A-ha! How about this one?" He ripped the paper off the board and held it out to Brandy for her to read.

Brandy leaned forward and tilted her head slightly as she read the flier. Apparently, a group of miners working in the Ajisai Mountains had unearthed some sort of ruin littered with magical traps when working, and they wanted some experienced wizards to come in and see if it was worth investigating further. They were offering an additional jewel reward if the wizards identified and eliminated any threats within the cave, the exact amount to be negotiated upon completion of the job. "That does sound pretty interesting," she said. "I guess we could send anything we find over to Triad's Foresight and let the magical scholars over there take a look at it?"

Emmett nodded. "That's what I was thinking. I can think of a wizard or two in Ranuncolo who would be very interested in this place, even if purely from an archaeological standpoint. Besides, the town next to the mind is home to a pretty important metal mill that produces a lot of important metals for building and crafting. Iron, steel, copper, the works. It's not the only metal mil in Fiore, but it's important enough that a halt in productivity could cause a lot of trouble for the market as a whole. So, are you up for it?"

Brandy considered it for a moment. Most people wouldn't consider navigated a magically trapped ruin to be a low-stress mission, but most people didn't spend their Saturdays having to deal with the fallout of Natsu destroying yet another street or town district. Compared to that, magic traps were practically a cakewalk. And the two Construction wizards had both the wits and the spellpower to handle whatever the old caves could throw at them.

After all, they didn't call Emmett Torhearth Fairy Tail's Stone General just because it sounded cool.

(Even though it did sound pretty cool; way better than her epithet, at least.)

After a minute, Brandy nodded decisively. "Yeah!" she said.

"Great!" Emmett turned his attention towards Makarov. "Hey, Master Makarov! Me and Brandy are going to take the job out in the Ajisai Mountains, if that's okay with you."

Makarov nodded his assent. "Alright, but be careful. We've already got enough of our wizards wandering around mountains," he said, before downing the rest of his ale.

"Well, that settles it, then!" Emmett folded the flier up and tucked it into his shirt. "Let's get a move on while the sun's still shining, shall we? Don't want to keep the miners waiting."

A/N - The Ajisai Mountains continue the grand Fiore tradition of having everything be named after plants; Ajisai is the Japanese name for the Hydrangea flowers. I gotta admit, it's fun having pre-established naming conventions on place; it's a neat challenge to try and create original locations that still sound like they'd actually fit in the Fairy Tail universe.

There's something very relaxing about writing Emmett; he's a pretty easy-going dude on the surface, and I don't get to write many father figures, so he's a bit of a refreshing challenge. He's also pretty important, and this next mini-arc is going to be just as much for development as it is for Brandy's, in terms of both his personality and his capabilities as the Stone General of Fairy Tail. Not to say that there's not going to be plenty of development for Brandy in both those departments, of course.

Hm, there's not much to say about this chapter beyond that. It's pretty short (the shortest chapter so far, actually), and really only serves the purpose of pushing characters towards where they need to be for the next mini-arc. The woes of transitional chapters, I guess. Don't' worry, the next couple of chapters will have a lot more worth talking about. I've decided that I'm going to update Skin Deep three times and then Tempus Fugit once until I get the two at about an equal chapter ratio, then I'll switch between the two every chapter. So, chapter seven will be uploaded, and then I'll write TF chapter forty-six, and then work on Skin Deep chapters eight, nine, and ten, then write TF chapter forty-seven, and so forth.

So, with that in mind, chapter seven will be up soon! In the meantime, feel free to favorite and leave a review!

-Diana "Nocte"