Orange light from the early morning sun spilled into the medium sized room in Fairy Tail's guildhall. It was a room with which Erza was fairly familiar. The office of the guild's oldest member and master, Makarov Dreyar. The natural light almost made it unnecessary for the aging master to use a lamp but his eyes demanded otherwise. The red haired knight locked eyes with the man who was the closest thing to a father she had ever known. She took a breath through her nose and reveled in the smell of coffee and old texts with hints of cedar coming from the shelves. She shifted into a more comfortable position in the simple wooden chair that held her. On the opposite side of the desk littered with documents said Makarov as he pored over the latest news from the Council in between sips of coffee.

"So, Erza. How did the job with our newest member go?" Makarov asked. Hints of grogginess were still in his voice despite being on his third cup of coffee in three hours.

"Very well. There wasn't a single setback." She replied with satisfaction.

"And since you've seen his magic more than anyone else here, how much control does he have and how strong do you think he is?"

Erza raised a hand to her chin as she thought about the best way to answer the question. Control didn't to seem to be an issue at all. During the skirmish against the legion of undead guardians in the ruins she had been able to watch Kazro in combat without her view being obscured. He had been able to control his flames to an extent that would have impressed even the strongest of mages in the guild, Erza included. The question of power was a completely different matter. It had looked like Kazro was not even trying. All of his movements and attacks were effortless. It had seemed more like he was dancing instead of fighting.

"His control was impressive. I haven't seen a level of mastery like that in some time." She replied.

"And his strength?"

Erza shook her head before answering. "Hard to say. I don't think I saw anything close to the full extent of his power, but there is something I was able to learn about his magic."

"And what would that be?" Makarov made little effort to hide his desire to know more about the newest member of his guild.

"I think it shares similar traits with Dragon Slayer magic. On a handful of occasions I saw him manipulate fire in the same way as Natsu."

Makarov took a sip of coffee and brought a hand up to rub his temple. He loved the fire mage Erza referenced, but the last thing he needed was another mage that will cause the same amount of property damage. He took a moment to examine the scarlet haired mage's face. As she continued to recount events from the job with Kazro, her words and tone were indicating that she was more than satisfied with the skills of the newest addition to the family.

"As long as he doesn't destroy half of a town while he's out on a job, then that shouldn't be an issue." Makarov said with a chuckle. "So where is he now?"

"After he split the money with me and checked in with Mira, he left for his place. He said he would be back in a few hours if there's anything you need to talk to him about." She replied.

"Nah. I think the only time I'll need him in this room is if he wrecks the better part of a town." Another chuckle escaped the aged master.

A smile played across Erza's lips as she rose from the chair and saw herself out of Makarov's office. She paused outside the door and leaned against the bannister, looking down at the rest of the guild hall. Natsu and Lucy had just shuffled in together and were sitting at one of the tables dotting the floor and were joined by a girl with ocean blue hair and a shirtless man with black hair and a small scar over one of his eyes.

'Looks like Gray and Wendy are back from that job in Crocus.' She said inwardly.

Erza stepped back from the railing and made her way down to where the rest of her team was sitting and promptly waved for Mira to bring her something to eat as she took a seat. Her mind started to drift back to the mission with Kazro, namely the man he referred to as Torrin. She could tell that the two of them obviously had some kind of history, but it could not have been a good one based on how the Exorcist acted. What shocked her the most was how Kazro acted towards a person who supposedly represented the Magic Council. Not even the most unruly of Fairy Tail's members would speak that way to a Countil representative.

"Something on your mind, Erza?" The question was enough to jerk the redhead out of her thoughts as she looked over to the source of the question to see Lucy looking at her with mild concern on her face.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." She said with a smile. As she finished, a plate of food was placed in front of her by the always smiling Mira who was back at the bar before Erza could voice her thanks.

"Anyways, I still want to fight him." Natsu blurted as if he were oblivious to the Knight who had just joined the table.

"Natsu, we've been over this before. You can't just fight him for no reason. Besides, I don't think he's even in the building." Lucy chided.

Natsu's sulking was quickly interrupted by the arrival of a large tray with enough food to feed the entire table. The group ate in relative silence, looking up from their plates to wave at the occasional guildmate that entered the main hall. Some of the mages that entered the hall were still rubbing their eyes groggily as they entered despite the air outside still having enough of a chill to snap most people awake.

Erza was the first to finish and decided to break the quiet that had settled with the arrival of food. "So how was Crocus?"

Wendy was the first to answer. "It was horrible. That director made us rehearse the same scene over a hundred times and wouldn't let us take any breaks."

"I still don't see how he's able to sneak those 'jobs' of his in with the rest of them." Gray snorted.

"Don't tell me. It was the same guy that thanks people at the weirdest times." Lucy guessed without needing to hear the answer.

"The one in the same." The raven haired man grumbled in between sips of coffee.

Erza could not help but giggle at the interchange. It was not the first time someone from Fairy Tail had to go on a request from that theater director and the jobs had turned into something of a running joke that would usually include some kind of betting pool on whether the theater would be destroyed. As it stood, the stage would never survive the first show and nearby properties had been damaged on several occasions. She looked across the table to see Natsu nudge Lucy and jerk his head slightly to the bar. She followed the direction of his gaze and motion and saw Kazro talking idly with Mirajane.

"Ooh, is that Erza's new boyfriend?" The question from a furry blue cat was enough to send a small fit of subdued laughter to the rest of the table's occupants.

"It's not like that, Happy." Erza flashed a glare that paralyzed the cat with fear.

"Well, he isn't exactly bad looking." Lucy teased with a wink that seemed to dig playfully at the Dragon Slayer beside her.

"What the hell, Luce?" Natsu faked jealousy but seemed to have a general idea of what the blonde was trying to do. "I thought you only had eyes for me."

"But there's nothing that says I can't look." She stuck her tongue out at the pinkette as she finished this sentence and it had its intended effect: causing a slight hue of red to appear on Erza's cheeks.

Kazro had just taken a seat at the bar when he could hear bits and pieces of a conversation that had gotten rather loud. He looked over and found the source. The Knight who had to accompany him on his first job, a blue haired girl barely in her teens, a raven haired man whose name he could barely remember and the two mages he could have sworn were a couple. He grabbed one of the menus on the bar and tried to pop his neck but to no avail. The train he had ridden on the previous night was not the worst, but they always left something to be desired as far as comfort for sleeping. His sore neck was proof enough of that.

The table holding Team Natsu had finally calmed down to a normal volume. The ham-fisted attempt at getting a reaction out of Erza had apparently worked to some extent. There were still slight hints of pink on her cheeks. She looked towards the bar again and got a good look at who had been the subject of their conversation. Kazro's hair was lazily pulled into a relatively loose bun at the back of his head with a handful of stray locks, leaving the Fairy Tail mark on his neck fully exposed. His red and white striped t-shirt left just enough room for him to move around without it constricting him, but showed off his well developed arms. Her eyes trailed back up again. The tuft of hair that had been covering his chin was gone and left his squared jaw exposed to the elements.

"Stare any harder and you'll burn a hole through him." Lucy whispered while elbowing Erza in the ribcage.

Before the scarlet haired mage could react to Lucy's teasing, Natsu sprang over the table with his fist covered in his signature orange and red flames while issuing his challenge to the mage at the bar with his back turned.

"Oi, Kazro! Fight me!"

Natsu's punch was close to connecting with its intended target when his momentum was stopped by a hand latching onto his fist, extinguishing the flames and leaving the witnesses in varying levels of disbelief. Kazro turned his head to look at the semi-bewildered Dragon Slayer. The look on the Exorcist's face was one that reflected amusement more than anything else.

"Come on, Salamander. This early in the morning?" Kazro said while failing to stifle a yawn.

"Well, yeah." Natsu answered as he pulled his now unlit fist away from Kazro.

"Tell you what. We'll meet out in the East Forest at noon. Then we can have that little throw down you seem to want so badly." Kazro stated as a slight glint could be seen appearing in his eye.

"Sounds good to me." The pinkette responded with a flash of his canines.

Kazro stood up from the bar and made his way across the hall to the doors leading to the outside. As he traversed the hall, he looked over his shoulder and briefly made eye contact with Erza who was still trying to process what she had just seen. The Exorcist smirked at the redhead slightly and exited the hall, pulling the doors shut behind him.

Erza, on the other hand, was utterly confused. She had no idea what had made the man who had been so shut off and reclusive do a complete turn and agree to a showdown with one of Fairy Tail's most rambunctious members. She immediately threw out the idea that it was for a show of strength. It could not have been bonding either. She looked up to see Natsu approaching the table, beaming from ear to ear like a child on the morning of the winter holidays.

"Natsu, what are you even thinking?" Lucy asked without even trying to hide her frustration with the fire mage.

Natsu simply shrugged at the blonde and earned a collection of exasperated groans from her and the rest of the table's occupants. Their feelings of bewilderment and frustration towards the pink haired mage were quickly replaced by urges of curiosity. Erza was the only one who had even seen his magic, but her instincts were telling her that it was only a small fraction of what he could do. The bandits near clover were nowhere near the level of the majority of Fairy Tail's members and the undead guardians from the job she accompanied Kazro on were at a similar level of strength. All she could do at this point was scratch her chin and look back and forth from the doors leading outside and Natsu, who was beginning to work himself up over the fight waiting in the very near future.

"What's on your mind, Erza?"

Erza looked at the source of the question and shook her head with a slight smile. "It's nothing, Gray. I'm just curious to see how this little sparring match goes."

"So, how do you think the new guy will do against Natsu?" The question from the ice mage caused the Knightess to furrow her brow in thought.

"It's hard to say. If anything, it will be interesting." She stated in a matter of fact manner.

Gray shot Erza a sidelong glance before diving back into the food on his plate that was starting to get cold. Erza took the last few bites that remained before rising to her feet and walking across the hall to the staircase leading to the upper floors. The pace she had taken made her current intentions clear. The master needed to at least hear about the almost impromptu match that was just a couple hours from starting.


A great deal of the guild's members who happened to be in town were gathered on one side of a clearing in the East Forest. An area just over half the size of the arena used in the Grand Magic Games was buzzing with excitement from the collection of mages. The ones that were not talking about what they would see were getting odds and placing bets with the guild's heaviest drinker, Cana. Even the highly vaunted Thunder God Tribe was in attendance, although only Laxus held any kind of interest in the match.

The two fire mages that were about to fight were standing twenty paces from each other. Both faces were stoic as they looked up and down the other. Makarov stepped forth from the group of mages huddled around the betting pool and made his presence clear to all those in attendance.

He cleared his throat quickly. "Alright, you two. There fight will go one until one of you can not continue or until I say so. Otherwise, there will be a time limit of twenty minutes. Do you understand?"

Both the Exorcist and the Dragon Slayer nodded at their diminutive master and lowered themselves into fighting stances. Makarov raised his right arm over his head and a slight surge of magic power and increase in temperature could be felt coming from the two combatants.

"Ready?"

A larger buildup of energy and another jump in the temperature could be felt. All the spectators could feel sweat start to bead on their necks from the sudden change in heat.

"Begin!"

Both mages launched themselves at each other with brilliant flashes of flame as the two concentrated their infernos to their clenched hands.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Rulag mol sey'da!"

Both fists collided, creating an explosion of brilliant shades of orange and green. Several of the spectating mages in attendance brought their arms up to shield themselves from the sudden burst of heat and light as some of the others stared in disbelief.

"Another fire mage?"

"He's not a Dragon Slayer, is he?"

The thrum of conversation was quickly snuffed out by the rapid fire shockwaves from the two fire mages connecting their blows to the other. The two began to quickly exchange a flurry of blows, some of them finding their intended target, but the majority being blocked or parried. After a couple minutes of the rapid exchange, the two fire wielders pushed off from each other and landed thirty paces away. Another surge of energy could be felt as well as the accompanying rise in temperature. The more astute mages in attendance noticed that the chests of the two fire mages locked in combat began to take deep breaths

"Fire Dragon's..."

"Rulag mol..."

"Roar!"

"Tor viir!"

Torrents of flame spewed from the mouths of both mages and rocketed away towards the other. Both opposing torrents met in the middle, creating another explosion but quickly vanishing into the green column created by the Exorcist and continued to careen towards Natsu. The Dragon Slayer barely had enough time to brace himself for the impact of flames. The inferno made contact with the Dragon Slayer and created a flash of emerald and a rumble that was shortly followed by dirt and debris being kicked up into the air.

"What the hell was that?" Gray asked in disbelief.

Erza's eyes were trained on Kazro. The red and white striped shirt he had been wearing was starting to tear in places, most notably on his ribcage. Black markings could be seen through the small rips in the shirt. Her concentration on the Exorcist was broken by a trail of orange fire engulfing him.

The air around both mages finally settled, revealing Natsu breathing heavily with his vest missing and dirt and mud caked into his pink hair. Kazro's shirt had been blown away by the most recent blast and his hair had come loose, hanging down to his shoulders.

'He still has his old mark?' Erza asked herself as she glanced between Kazro, Natsu and Makarov.

Makarov had been thinking the same thing. His black eyes were moving back and forth between his newest member and one of the standard bearers of the guild. A slight smile found its way to the old master's face and a chuckle could be heard coming from his throat. The question about the mark could wait. This little match was turning out to be a lot more entertaining than he would have thought.. His eyes moved between the faces of both fire mages locked in combat. Natsu's face was one of excitement and happiness as was the case when he was pitted against an opponent of equal or greater skill. Kazro's face was slightly harder to read but a smirk could be seen through the little bit of dust that still hung in the air.

"Well your reputation is well deserved, Salamander." The words from Kazro pierced the sudden quiet that had fallen upon the battlefield.

"Thanks. So this is Exorcism magic?" Natsu spoke between ragged breaths.

Kazro nodded at the Dragon Slayer and opened his mouth to speak again. "So are we done with the warm-up?"

"Come at me!" Natsu exclaimed as fire began to swirl around his body.

Kazro lowered himself slightly as emerald flames began to swallow his limbs. Both fire users vanished in a flash. Every pair of eyes looked around desperately trying to find the sounds of blows landing, but were met by an empty clearing in the forest. An exclamation and a finger raised to the sky caused all in attendance to look up to the few scattered clouds. Kazro and Natsu were exchanging feet and fists as they careened through the air. Natsu could be heard yelling his spells and a trail of explosions trailed behind the two aerial fighters. One last spell could be heard coming from a booming voice. A brilliant flash of green appeared in the air and a head of pink hair could be seen flying at a breakneck speed to the ground before impacting and bouncing once before settling. Natsu was out cold with a handful of bruises being visible on his torso and a small trail of blood coming from his nose and lower lip. Kazro could be seen descending and used small bursts of fire to stabilize himself as he landed.

"And the winner is Kazro!" Makarov exclaimed with an arm raised.

Looks of disbelief were exchanged between most of the mages who had seen the fight. If anything, they had expected the fight to drag on for the full twenty minutes instead of ending in ten. Erza stared at the Exorcist with interest. His breathing indicated that he was not even close to being winded. Her eyes kept coming back to the same thing that caught her attention the first time she had met him. The mark of his old guild was on full display but it no longer had the emerald green hue that it originally possessed. By this point, the entire crowd had surrounded the two mages as Kazro woke up the unconscious Dragon Slayer and pulled him to his feet.

'So this is what Fire Devil Slayer magic looks like. I really hope he doesn't destroy half a town, but I probably shouldn't hold my breath for that." Makarov thought to himself with a chuckle.

He turned on his heels and started to make his way back to the guildhall. He wanted to beat his brats back so he could get the first crack at what Mirajane was making for lunch. Once some of the mages had seen Makarov leave, they decided to follow suit, not wanting to miss out on the food as well. Several of them shot quick glances at the Exorcist as he walked over to a pack he had left under a tree at the edge of the clearing. The only two that remained there after a handful of minutes were Kazro and Erza.

The Knightess approached the black haired man who had put his hair back into a loose bun and was rummaging around in his pack for an intact shirt.

"You held back, didn't you?" She asked without the aura of intimidation she usually kept up around the rest of the guild.

"Was it that obvious?" A slight grin had found his face.

Her eyes softened slightly as she chuckled. "Either way, thanks for not hurting him too much."

"I get the feeling that I'd have to worry about the blonde more than you if I had gone overboard."

Erza could not help but giggle at Kazro's observation. He was right, too. While Natsu and Lucy weren't officially in a relationship, it was more or less understood that the two were an item. Erza got one last look at the Shattered Grin mark on Kazro's rib cage before it was covered up by another shirt, this one being just a plain white t-shirt but the mark could just barely be seen through it. Kazro slung the pack onto his right shoulder and the two mages left in the clearing started the short walk back to Fairy Tail.

"Just curious, but why do you still have the mark of your old guild?" Erza asked while looking between the Fairy Tail mark on his neck and where the mark of his old guild should be on his rib cage.

"It's actually a physical tattoo. You probably noticed the color of it being different, right?" He received a nod before continuing. "Well only the green was magic based. Got any other questions for me?"

Erza blinked. This was the first time he had actually offered to answer some questions without sounding sarcastic or cutting the conversation short.

"What can you tell me about your old family?"

Kazro raised an eyebrow at the redhead before opening his mouth. "How much time do you got to stay here and listen?"

"Plenty." She replied with one of her rare smiles that exuded warmth.


A/N: Alright, dudes. Sorry it took me a while to finally upload this. I've been having issues with writer's block, as is tradition. Thanks for reading and leave a review.