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After Erza knocked out Natsu and Gray for fighting again, everyone turned their heads to look at Ariana. Ariana seemed to be having a staring contest with Carla; they just stared blankly at each other, not moving, and not saying anything to each other.
"You're obviously no ordinary cat." Ariana stated, blinking a couple times. "Just what kind of cat are you?"
"I am an Exceed, there are two others in this guild as well." Carla responded, looking around the guild hall for the others. She spotted them at the bar, eating their respective favorite food.
Pantherlily heard the conversation and turned from his plate of kiwi to look at Ariana. "My name is Pantherlily, but everyone just calls me Lily most of the time." He then gestured to the blue cat munching on a fish, "and that is Happy."
"My name is Carla." The white Exceed said.
"Nice to meet the three of you." Ariana looked at the three Exceeds and smiled slightly. Then one after another, everyone started to introduce themselves to her. The only person left was the tiny old man.
"And I am the master of this guild, Makarov." He stated. "How would you like to join our guild?" Ariana looked at the guild master with a slightly shocked expression.
"Are you sure that you would want someone like me in your guild?" Ariana asked. "I've been alone ever since I was born on the mountain, and I'm not used to interacting with others, mostly humans. I've only ever had the snow and the animals I hunt for food as my companions."
"My dear, that does not matter. This guild is like a family, we all protect each other. Some of our members are like you and have been alone for far too long, and we all have personalities that make us unique." Makarov started. "Although the idea may seem foreign to you, I would be honored if you would join our Fairy Tail family."
Ariana wasn't sure what to make of Makarov's little speech. She was hesitant to join the guild, looking around the guild hall she saw many smiling faces directed toward her, with some emotionless ones as well. Just what do they expect me to say? I have been alone for 100 years, and have been content with that kind of life...can I really be welcomed so quickly into this wizard guild? Into this strange family of people?
Ariana thought it over a little more. She remembers how lonely life was for her on the mountain, with the occasional lost human running into her. Can I trust them? She wondered. Can these strange humans take away some of this loneliness I've felt for so many years? Her thoughts were cut when she heard the guild master speak. "So what do you say, will you join this guild, and become a part of our family?"
Going through her thoughts once more, Ariana realized just how alone she has been over her long span of life. She never recalled ever having someone take care of her when she was brought into the world. I was never even born normally, now that I think about it. I only remember waking up in the snow one day, with only my name to recall. It took me years to learn how to take on a human form, and never once did I ever stop to think about my life. I just let my thoughts and actions run freely, barely paying attention to the limited world of snow and mountains that surrounded me. Only in the last few years did I start to take control over my own actions and thoughts, which led me to where I am today. Away from the mountains, and into the lives of humans.
After gathering her thoughts, the werewolf decided that it would be good for her to try and be social, even just a little bit. With a determined expression on her face she faces Makarov to give him her reply to his offer. "I'll join." Makarov smiled, happy to have a new member added to the family, and motioned for Mirajane to bring the guild stamp over. The woman was more than happy to comply, rushing over with the stamp in her hands and a smile on her face.
"Where would you like it and what color?" Mira asked once she reached them.
"Left hand, icy blue...please." Ariana held out her left hand for the woman to stamp, and looked at the symbol that labeled her a wizard of the guild known as Fairy Tail.
"WELCOME TO FAIRY TAIL!" The entire guild shouted.
"To celebrate the new addition to the guild, LET'S PARTY!" Makarov shouted, earning loud cheers from all over the guild hall. Ariana had to clamp her hands over her ears to save them from ringing at the loud and almost deafening cheers of the people surrounding her.
The party was like any other in Fairy Tail, the only difference was they had a good reason to party this time. The newest member of the guild sat at a table with some of the girls, talking. "So, Ariana. What kind of things do you like to do?" Lucy asked, looking at the woman in question that was seated across from her.
"I've actually taken a liking to reading. These books that you humans write can be very interesting." The werewolf answered, poking at a piece of cake that Mira set in front of her only moments before.
"Anything else besides reading?" Levy questioned. She was pleased to find out that the wolf beside her had an interest in reading, but wanted to know a little more about her before asking the types of books that she's read.
"Not really. I do enjoy being surrounded by nature though, the natural sounds sooth me, make me feel at peace." Ariana replied. "What is this thing?" She questioned, poking the cake in front of her again with a fork. "It smells edible, but I've never seen this kind of food before."
"You've never seen cake before?" Erza questioned, with a slightly shocked expression. The scarlet haired woman then looked down at her own piece of strawberry cake and couldn't even fathom the idea of not having it in her life.
The white haired wolf stabbed her cake with the fork and shook her head. "I've only ever eaten meat, and vegetables every so often."
"Juvia thinks that Ariana should at least try it." Juvia stated. Ariana looked at the water mage for a moment before giving a short nod and placing a small piece of the cake in her mouth. Everyone watched her carefully, waiting to see what reaction she would make to the sweet.
A small smile appeared on Ariana's lips as she still held the fork near her mouth. "It tastes good." As she began to eat the rest of the cake, her tail was wagging slowly at her happiness of finding something new she could have joy in eating.
Erza nodded in approval of Ariana's reaction and started to eat her own piece of cake. The other girls at the table just smiled, then a thought hit one of them. "Where will you stay?" The one to ask this question was Wendy. All the girls, including Carla, looked at the young girl, realizing that she was right.
"She could always stay at the Fairy Hills dorm." Carla informed.
Ariana shook her head at the statement. "I've heard about these so-called 'dorms,' and the idea does not appeal to me." Once those words left her mouth, all the girls went into thought, including Carla.
"I know, you could stay with me for a while. At least until you find your own place, that is." The one to say this was Lucy. Everyone turned their heads to her as she spoke, and nodded in agreement at the end. Ariana also nodded, giving her a thanks at the offer, and told the blonde that she would try not to be a bother to her at her home.
Hours passed by as the partying continued into the night. Ariana managed to befriend most of the girls in the guild, along with a few of the guys, and the three Exceeds as well. When Lucy thought that it was late enough, she gathered Ariana and the both of them bid goodnight to everyone who was still conscious. On the way to her apartment, Lucy summoned Plue and he walked along beside them.
"What is that creature?" Ariana asked, looking at the odd shaking form.
"That's Plue! He's one of my spirits." Lucy answered with a smile.
"I see. So you are a celestial spirit wizard then. I've heard about that magic, not many people can use it."
Lucy nodded at her, and continued talking as they neared her home. "I have 4 silver keys, and 10 gold ones."
Ariana's face seemed to light up slightly at the mention of how many keys the young blonde had. "That's quite the accomplishment..Lucy, was it?" Lucy nodded her head as she opened the door to let them both inside the apartment and locked the door behind them.
"Would you like to take a shower first?" Lucy asked, as she set her keys and whip down on her dresser, along with the belt. "I'll look for some pajamas you can wear for the night."
"No need." Ariana stated, already starting to strip off her clothing. "I plan to sleep in my wolf form all night, so there won't be any need for me to wear anything during the night." Once that was said, she followed her nose to the room that had the scent of shampoo and other human hygiene products and closed the door to shower. Lucy was standing there stunned for a moment, before finally snapping back to reality and picked up the clothes that were on the floor and folded them neatly, putting them away for the night.
As Lucy waited for Ariana to finish showering, she decided to write a letter to her mom. Once written, she put it away with all the other letters and sent Plue back to the spirit world. Not long after that, Ariana came out of the bathroom as a wolf and walked over to where Lucy was. "Pick where ever you want to sleep for the night." She said to the wolf, gathering her pajamas and heading into the bathroom to take a shower.
Ariana looked around the small room and spotted a suitable place to sleep. She hopped up onto the armchair in the room and got settled for the night, her ears twitching slightly at the sound of the wind blowing gently outside against the window.
Lucy came out of her bathroom after a while and headed over to her bed, looking around the room and spotting a white ball of fur curled up on her armchair in the room. She smiled as she turned off the lights and crawled into her bed for some sleep. "Good night, Ariana."