Enjoy.
"You know," a fist that flew past turned to grab at his head, "you act as if you never get winded."
Sasuke gave him a weird look, because what a time to start a conversation, and lept backwards, "You act as if it is strange."
The two gave pause after that, with Gildarts shrugging. It was too hot to continue the spar anyway. Plus he was pretty sure he had a nasty bruise forming on his arm now.
He sat on a nearby tree stump, with a sigh of relief. "You don't pull any punches, do ya kid?"
Said 'kid' watched him from afar, with another odd gaze. It always creeped Gildarts out, a bit. He used it the time they met, and almost every other day afterwards. The wizard doesn't honestly know what it could mean.
"Am I supposed to?" the child murmured, furrowing his brows.
Was he supposed to act like other children his age? To react in sudden bursts of emotions like an immature brat did? Thinking and strategizing ways of victory before even learning a person's name? To have the power to knock several experienced mages off their feet with a single spell? Not to mention, the freaky, red eye that constantly spins-what does it do? Makarov made it clear to avoid asking those kind of questions.
Gildarts waved a hand in dismissal, to clear both his thoughts and the inquiry away. "Everyone is different, so I wouldn't worry about it."
Sasuke nodded, a bit hesitantly. He didn't move other than that.
"So," Gildarts heaved himself up with a groan, I'm getting so old, before grabbing his duffel bag, "I guess we end this one at a draw."
Instead of agreeing, Sasuke eyed the green luggage with disinterest and relaxed his shoulders. "The master has given you another job?"
"Considering the title you're being given, and with me being the only active S-class," the older man replied, "it brings the guild more money and less taxes if I do more jobs." He knew the boy already had knowledge of how a basic guild works. But that may not have been what Sasuke was asking. So he continued, "Master Makarov wants Fairy Tail's name out there, ever since he took the title, so we gotta follow his wishes."
"I see," Sasuke responded. "That will get the council's attention."
He winced a little at the mention of them, and scratched the back of his head, " well, I think master is prepared for that." I hope he is, anyway, that went unsaid.
When Gildarts left Magnolia later on, he wondered what the hell Sasuke did when he was alone.
"I'm going to take a gander," Makarov giggled into his whiskey at the word. Who really uses gander anymore? "And say you're a little drunk, master."
"And you're Gildarts!"
Said person grabbed those papers from the master's grip, "that's an awful joke-have you been making those all evening?"
Sasuke looked down from his perch on one of the guild's beams. "Yes."
"He's been drinking since this afternoon," Someone chimed in from his spot of the poker table. "Wouldn't really tell us why."
With a groan, Gildarts pinched the bridge of his nose. He's only been gone for a few weeks, and kind of expected this to happened when he returned. He ignored the look Ivan gave him-a told you so-and took a seat at the bar. Things have been tense lately and all it takes for Makarov to break out the alcohol was a little bit of family drama.
"You've drenched the council's letter in booze!" Gildarts knew he was complaining to nobody. They were all interested in watching the master dance with his whiskey. He sighed, reading what he could of the smudged ink.
They were official papers, he knew that much. Written elegantly by one of the numerous frog-servants that work for the council. It reeked with such a horrible stench from the alcohol and was crinkled. Probably due to Makarov treating it like a napkin for his drinks.
"It was a bill."
Gildarts didn't flinch-much-from the sudden voice. A few months with Sasuke meant expecting the boy to come from nowhere. Because seriously that kid performs fucking magic sometimes. No pun intended.
"A bill?" He lifted his head to see the raven-haired behind the bar, staring at the arrangement of drinks, "and don't make me drag you back from those-you're too young to be getting anywhere near alcohol."
Sasuke turned around, facing him, "they were angry when half the building collapsed."
Building? The only places Sasuke has been besides Fairy tail was-... "you destroyed the magic council's castle?"
"They were insistent with seeing the power master told them about."
Gildarts pinched the bridge of his nose again. "That doesn't mean pissing those people off because they wanted proof!"
The boy shrugged, and pointed to the fore-head protector-the one covering his eye. "They tried to take this off."
"Oh."
The only time Gildarts has seen Sasuke angry was when he had jokingly tried to swipe said headband away from the kid. Admittedly, Gildarts was also very drunk, and not thinking straight at all. He had just shown a few women a good time after a mission, returned to Fairy Tail and went upstairs to nap off the alcohol. Sasuke was reading a strange, black book, and he had wanted to see. Gildarts is a nosy drunk, that's for sure. Yet one thing led to another and his hand almost grabbed the fore-head protector. That earned him one hell of a kick to the jaw.
That also broke his jaw.
Gildarts suddenly wondered why the council would be so forceful. The boy was young, yes, and for sure the youngest to ever be a Wizard Saint candidate. However, that didn't mean he was anywhere near stupid.
"They don't know that." Sasuke said suddenly.
Oh. Gildarts hasn't even picked up a drink yet he's still speaking his thoughts aloud.
"Well," he grunted, crumpling the papers and with a small amount of Crush, they disintegrated. "Seems like you got their attention."
Sasuke nodded, his eye intently watching his magic before looking up again. "Master wasn't prepared."
Gildarts threw his head back and laughed.
"That technique looks really dangerous."
Sasuke shook his hand, sparks of electricity jumping before fading. He observed the burns and cuts heal rapidly before turning to the voice.
"You're back."
Gildarts grinned, his face bruised and exhausted, "mission successful thanks to those notes you sent me."
"Hn." He replied.
"Speaking of which," the man hummed, taking a seat on a tree stump. This forest never ran out of places to sit, thanks to it being Sasuke's training area. "How did you know of the mirror spell?"
The boy stared at him for moment, "it's a trick, designed to puzzle the victim within it."
"Oh?"
A gentle wind danced through the trees, circling the two, before leaving. It brought the smell of a heavy rain, and Gildarts looked up. Dark clouds were a few miles out, inching closer and promising a good storm.
"You described the user to run between each mirror."
Gildarts blinked, his focus shifting to the other Mage, and then realised he was being asked-not told. "Uh, yeah I did." He felt kinda stupid with that answer, and the look he was given made him chuckle. "The guy would trap you in it, wear you out by making you dance like a monkey and then make his escape."
Sasuke nodded at the description, seeming to be satisfied. He was a genius, and it didn't take many interactions with him to realise it. Gildarts once thought he was arrogant, refusing to acknowledge anyone he thought beneath him. The boy only expecting praise, knowing it was no doubt due. Then, Gildarts met Sasuke's eye for the first time, seeing the pain.
Loneliness.
War.
The kid had an air of pride and indifference-sure. But he was merely doing it for show, to hide. Gildarts treated Sasuke a little more kindly after that, and actively agreed with the master's "request". He also may have started to train with him because Sasuke was akin to a chameleon-never the same fight twice.
"I didn't know you could use lightning magic."
Sasuke shrugged, looking at his hand again. "I like it."
He likes a lot of odd things, Gildarts realises, like tomatoes which is one hell of a weird fruit. The Crush Mage shook his head, going back to the conversation. So far, that makes four different elemental affinities Sasuke can use.
'There's probably more,' he grumbled with a pout, but he still grinned wholeheartedly when the raven-haired glanced up. "That's great! Is it your favourite spell?"
At the confused expression, Gildarts flailed his arms a little, "c'mon, you have to have a go-to attack every time!"
Sasuke gave a tiny frown, before lifting the same hand from earlier. "My teacher taught me something when I was very young."
"The lightning you had earlier, was that it?" Honestly, Gildarts didn't have a clue who could be this kid's mentor. Some days, Sasuke has lost his patience when Gildarts couldn't hit him in a spar. Sasuke also seemed annoyed every time his weapons were Crushed in a-again-spar. "I haven't you seen you use that against me yet."
The raven-haired shrugged, "If I hit you with it, even without the intention of killing," he flexed his fingers. Gildarts furrowed his brows at the mention of ending his life, "It would destroy nerve endings in the area of effect."
"So I would lose feeling of, say my arm if you hit me there, then?" At the nod, he whistled lowly because that would actually suck. "Well, guess I need to see for myself then."
Gildarts tried not to grin at Sasuke's startled twitch.
"You should try that new bakery out in town." Gildarts said to him one day, a month or so later.
Sasuke looked up from his letter after a few moments, which, okay. Master confirmed the boy actually had a teacher in this dimension. The same one who had taught him that lightning technique that nearly nicked his knee at some point. That same teacher knows where Sasuke is, according to the boy himself, but hasn't come by yet.
That's kind of stupid, in Gildarts' mind. Those two are the only ones from their dimension and probably went through a lot of Hell. So for Sasuke to be going through all this alone, knowing full well there was someone else didn't make any kind of sense. Also, what kind of mentor just let his student do that?
"I don't like sweets." Sasuke murmured, re-rolling the little scroll before popping it out of existence.
Another thing Gildarts will never get used to. Sasuke said it wasn't magic, a friend taught him how to seal basic things like weapons and scrolls.
"I'm not as advanced as he is," the raven-haired admitted, that day. "He's taught me more than I care to know."
"So it's a lot like dimension magic?"
"I suppose."
Gildarts leaned forward in his chair, humming, "to each their own I suppose," he said, "but they sell more than that."
The other eyed him for a brief second, and then nodded. He assumed that got the boy curious enough to check it out. Sasuke spent more time around the guild or on missions than actually in Magnolia. The townspeople love their guild and wizards in it. Especially Makarov and Sasuke, the former often volunteering around town and getting to know people.
The raven-haired didn't. Master told him not to push it, so Gildarts tried to be subtle about things like that. Makarov was usually right when it came to Sasuke—and Gildarts learned that the hard way.
'A few too many broken bones' hard way.
"How's your teacher doing?" He asked, settling into a chair.
Sasuke gave him a sharp glance and frowned, "why would you want to know."
Yikes, incredibly responsive to that. Gildarts is honestly not too surprised. "You looked worried when I came up here," he pointed to the mission board across the room, "and I'm here to let you know about your first job."
"So soon?"
"Well," he shrugged, "Makarov was going to try and get you one sometime next week, but the Council has other plans."
Sasuke nodded seeming to look a little annoyed, "I will speak with master when he returns from the meeting."
"Good idea," Gildarts yawned, standing and heading to the stairs, "I'm going to go sleep off the last of that paralytic attack you used on me," he waved haphazardly.
After feeling his energy leave the guild and into town, Sasuke opened the letter again.
"You know," Gildarts started off, staring at the dragon blankly. "When I pictured us going on a job, I'd be the one saving you."
Said dragon's claw came crashing down next to the two, disrupting the stability and starting a rockslide above them. It's wings beat fiercely, shuddering the air as they kept the creature above them.
Sasuke readjusted the grip on the other wizard's arm, and leapt to another rock edge. "Then get better."
"Yeah, I also would've said that you."
A large ball of energy headed their way, and with it hit the duo with an extreme amount of force. Taking it in stride, Sasuke redirected the lightning to the sky, and shouldering it from hitting his liability.
"Look," Gildarts continued, nonchalantly, "I didn't know that the huge mountain would be a fucking dragon."
The raven-haired rolled his eye, and they disappeared into a whirl of leaves. "Then get smarter, dumbass."
"Point given, but I also take it away because of your originality."
Ignoring the jab, he had them reappear behind the beast. Then sliced his thumb with a canine. Dragging it down his busy arm, over a seal, he waited.
"Also, you could've told me," The limp mage muttered, "before its tail got me."
Sasuke sighed, dropping the man on his back—much to Gildarts' dismay—and watched the dragon give a deafening roar. It destroyed the mountain as it hunted for them, making earth fly everywhere.
"You practically ran into it."
Since Gildarts has no argument, because he couldn't clearly remember, he just settled with a groan.
With a great screech coming from the sky, Sasuke whistled. Soon, a shadow flew over, before a beat of wings. A great hawk landed before them, eyeing them suspiciously.
"We need to leave," he spoke, and once Garuda nodded, he heaved the broken body of Gildarts on its back and followed it. "Hurry and fly low—the dragon won't follow under the brush."
Just when he felt another the beast turning around, his summon took off into the trees. With another sigh, this time in relief, Sasuke guided Garuda to the closest village.
Gildarts would be fine, he always was. There was only one person Sasuke truly worried about anyway. However that didn't mean the man isn't going to hurt for a few days—and complain about it the entire time. That was more terrifying than facing any dragon, in his opinion.
"You know we have no choice—I wouldn't—…"
"Do what you have to do, dead last."
Blue eyes, so fucking blue, glittered in light. The light given by a bloody moon, a sign of times changing.
"I'll go with you—you c-can't be alone—!"
He grabbed a bruised hand with what unbroken fingers he had left, "stay here, and don't be an idiot."
"...I'm guessing you had a bad morning, huh?"
Sasuke blinked a few times, seeing a world of cobalt slowly deteriorate into white. Sounds of screaming and desolation faded away, bringing the songs of birds and beeping machinery.
He was in a hospital.
Gildarts watched, creeped out, as the boy's red iris faded into black. That never happened before. Also Sasuke blanking out randomly was quite odd too.
"Uh," he said intelligently, "Sasuke?"
The actual normal looking eye peered around the room before meeting his. Gildarts took that as a: what?
He cleared his throat, "I was wondering what kind of morning you've had."
"Hn."
"You always give the best replies," Gildarts huffed, and let the room fall silent.
The doctor told him he'd be here until noon tomorrow. The resident healer fixed the broken bones and concussion but there was still bruising of the ribs. After that, Gildarts would head back to the mayor, and inform him of the job. Sasuke will head back to Fairy Tail, probably, to let the master know of the dragon.
From what the calendar across the room depicts, they've been here for a week or so. Far longer than what was planned. Gildarts frowned, and tried not to think how mad Makarov was going to be when they got back.
Let me know of any mistakes. I do not have a beta reader.