A/N: Boom! A new chapter!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!

Chapter 4: A Perfect Beginning

November X791

It was at the end of November that the first snow had come to Carnelian. Liv woke up to it, digging herself out of the mound of blankets she had buried herself under for the night. She looked around the room while shoving her messy hair out of her face. Rhiannon was, of course, already up and out of the room. Cassie was still there, sleeping the morning away. They did have a rather late night since the Moreno family wanted to have a game night. She figured the woman would be asleep for another hour or two when she saw that it was nine in the morning.

Liv normally would have slept longer from the late night, but there she was fully awake. She wasn't mad about it though, especially when she saw the snow falling outside. She fully dumped the rest of the blankets off her as she got up and moved towards the window.

A thin blanket of snow covered the ground while big fat snowflakes continued to fall. Deciding to take advantage of the early morning and the glittering snow, Liv moved to start getting ready. She was glad she had been smart and taken a shower the night before. She quickly got dressed and did a few other things before sneaking out of the room with a worn backpack over her shoulder. She made sure to quietly make her way to the front door and slipped on a pair of boots before opening the door as softly as she could. She held her breath as she slipped outside, letting out the breath when she successfully shut the door behind her. She had greatly been enjoying her time with Cassie and her family, but she wanted to get out on her own for the morning, and she knew that if anyone in the family had seen her that morning, she wouldn't have a chance to get out until the next day.

She took a deep breath of the cold, crisp air, smiling up into the falling snow. She had always enjoyed the snow back home. It meant that one year was ending and a new one was starting. She had always liked the idea of having a new slate to start with and this year would be an entirely new slate for her with a new town and a new path ahead of her. She had never put a lot of thought into becoming a mage, but it seemed interesting enough and she liked the idea of helping people. It was better than finding some random job in town or becoming like her father.

"No, I'll never be like that."

With new determination, Liv stepped forward and made her way into town.

She had found that Carnelian was a lively town no matter the time of year. Smoke drifted from the tops of roofs, showing that shops and restaurants were in full swing. A few people waved to her as she passed by their shops, and she took in all the good-looking food displayed in front windows. She felt her stomach rumble when she passed another café that had scents swirling out of its front doors. She figured it was time to find a place that she could settle into and get some food from.

As she began looking for a café, she swerved around a group of girls who looked only a couple years younger than herself. She did her best to look friendly and smile at them, but she felt the anxiety she knew too well creep up from her stomach into her throat, creating an uncomfortable lodge there. The girls looked at her and then down to the weird half-smile she knew must have been on her face, and she felt her entire body cringe when they started giggling among themselves.

'Even in a new place,' she thought, looking down at her feet as she moved past them as quickly as she could, 'It's still the same. I still suck at this! Why is it so hard?!'

Liv had always been terrible at making friends. There were reasons behind that back in Alexandrite, but out here in a new city, she was still just as bad at it. It had been easy with Cassie's family because she knew them. And it wasn't so bad with Lenz, at least when he was around, since Rhia had introduced them, and he gave everyone that same grumpy look. But completely new people, its like all the bad thoughts came to the surface all at once.

Why would they like you?

What do you have to offer?

Look at you, you're so desperate. They can smell that on you.

You're worthless.

All those thoughts bubbled up and would immediately ruin any chances of Liv making friends. She put herself down before they could, it was how she protected herself back in the capital. She thought with a new place, things could be different. That she could be more confident and start to make some actual friends, but it seemed like things weren't going to change here in Carnelian either.

She sighed heavily at that thought as she finally looked up from her feet. Snow began to fall harder, seeming to reflect the feelings swirling around in her chest.

"Better find a place soon," she mumbled, looking across all the signs hanging above doorways. Her eyes finally landed on one that read 'The Magic Bean' that had a cup of coffee with little sparks above it pictured on it. She decided that was good enough and made her way to the end of the strip she was on and entered the place.

A little bell chimed when she walked in. She looked around to see only a few people dotted around the café, none of them looking up from their business to watch her. It made her feel just a little relieved. After the run in with those girls, she wasn't really in the mood to have more eyes on her. The place was cozy without being too tight, tables and chairs spread out just right to give people spaces to talk in while also allowing people to have some privacy. Colors of coffee brown, cream and dark chocolate filled the place while paintings and drawings filled the walls, ones that looked like they were created by patrons of the café.

"Good morning."

A low and velvety voice cut through her observation. She looked towards the front counter to see a young man in a mocha-colored apron staring at her. His hair was the color of a dark matcha and fell across his forehead in a handsome mess. His dark eyes watched her for another moment longer before he gave her an easy smile.

"Would you like to order something?"

His mellow demeanor eased her further and finally got her feet moving forward towards the counter.

"Good morning," she greeted back as she glanced over the menu. She'd normally go for a cold coffee drink, but considering the amount of snow coming down outside, she opted for something hot this time, "Could I get a dark mocha and an orange scone for here?"

"Of course," he answered, "Sit wherever you like. I'll bring it to you when it's ready."

Liv nodded at him and turned to find a seat. She spotted a table in the corner next to the window that was open and private from the few others that dotted the café. She made a beeline for it and began unpacking her things.

She let out another sigh as she settled into the seat and stared outside, a sketching pad and some pencils out in front of her. The snow was still heavily falling, but it didn't seem so bad now that she was inside a warm place. She tried to let the earlier incident with the girls fall away, but it was still too fresh and continued to make her internally cringe.

This time she let out an embarrassed groan as she covered her face with her hands.

"You okay?"

She looked up to see the barista who took her order standing in front of her table. She flushed lightly as he set down her coffee and scone on the table.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, thanks!" she said quickly, wanting desperately to find a rock to crawl under.

He gave her another look before he sat down across from her, "The name's Niall, by the way."

"Liv."

"Cool name," he said as he gave her another easy smile, "You new around here?"

"Yeah, I moved here back in August."

"Surprised I haven't seen you before."

"The family we have here keeps us pretty busy, so it's hard to get out to explore sometimes. But the snow was so pretty this morning that I had to make my way out into town."

She finally let a smile escape at the thought.

"Ah, so you do know how to smile."

Liv flushed again at that and looked down at the table, "Yeah, well, I had an unfortunate run-in with some people this morning that it put me in an…off mood." She was trying to explain her situation without giving the guy across from her too much information. Who would want to hear her woe-is-me story anyways?

"Well, for what it's worth, you seem pretty cool, and I'm personally welcoming you to our little town, so…welcome."

Liv gave a little snort in laughter as she finally picked up her coffee to take a sip of it.

"Thank you, and it seems like you make a pretty good coffee."

"I try," he said as he glanced down at her sketchpad that had drawings and stickers across the front of it that included a few band names, "So, you draw and have good taste in music? You really are cool."

A new customer walked in, catching Niall's attention.

"I have to get back to work, but you should come here more often. Kali and I like most of those bands and she loves art," he said, motioning back to the front where a woman sat behind the front counter with teal-dyed black hair. She gave a quick, singular wave to Liv.

"Y…yeah! I would like that!"

It was Niall's turn to laugh at her excitement, letting out a small chuckle as he made his way back to the front counter.

Once he had turned away from her, Liv did a little dance in her seat, the negative feelings from earlier stamped down completely. She was sure they would be there later, but for now, she was in a much better mood.

She flipped her sketchpad open and flipped back to the pages she had been working on. She contemplated each picture until she felt that nagging feeling that someone was staring at her. She looked around the café until she stopped on blue eyes at the front counter.

The pair stared each other down, one trying to figure out how of all the places they could have gone it was one with someone they knew in it, and the other just happy and excited to see them there.

"Don't-"

"Lenz!"

He dropped whatever else he was going to say and let out a sigh instead. He had been spotted and he knew he was going to have to go say hello at least.

"She looks excited," Niall said quietly as he set a hot chai latte on the counter.

"Tell me about it," Lenz answered with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, since you seem to know each other, maybe go a little easy on her. Seems like she had a rough morning."

Lenz quirked an eyebrow at the barista.

"Can't say what happened exactly, but she came walking in here looking like someone had kicked a puppy. I'd hate to see her leave the same way."

"Just don't be an asshole to her, is what he's really saying," Kali added in, glancing over the top of the book she was reading.

"Kali, really?"

"I feel like he and I speak the same language. You're too nice about it, Ni."

Niall sighed, but Lenz agreed.

"She's right. You were being too nice," he said before taking a sip of his drink, "But don't worry. I'm not a complete dick. She is my commander's daughter, after all."

"Commander?" both baristas questioned.

"Sorry, old habits. She's my guild master's daughter."

"Lenz! Come on!" Liv called out, patting a spot on the table across from her.

"Thanks for the drink. It's good," was all Lenz said as he dragged himself over to the table.

"Ah, that's right, there's a new guild that's settling in here," Niall said as he watched the pair.

"Looks like these are some of its first members. I think things will start getting interesting around here," Kali added, flipping a page of her book.

"It was starting to get boring around here."

"Agreed."

Lenz settled into the seat across from Liv, giving her a quick nod.

"Good morning!" she said, her smile bright. Even if Lenz wasn't super talkative or always wore the same grumpy face, she was just happy to have someone around that she knew.

'I'd rather have his crabby attitude around than face any more people like those girls. At least he seems honest,' she thought, watching him stare outside with a straight face.

"I didn't think I'd run into you here. You're usually out of the house most mornings until the afternoon," she added, hoping he'd have a small conversation with her.

"I'm used to getting up early."

It was all he gave her, but at least it was something.

"Rhia is the same way. I suppose it's a military thing."

Lenz only nodded at her again, causing her to sigh. She figured then that he wasn't up for talking and opted to focus on her coffee, food and drawings.

Lenz would have been fine sitting in the silence, but he felt eyes glued to his back and knew at least one of those stupid baristas was watching him. He figured Liv had been nice enough to him and he could throw her a bone just this once.

"Your last name is Holt, correct?"

Liv looked up at him in surprise at first, caught off guard that he was the one starting a conversation this time. Then she realized what he had actually asked her, and her face fell. She supposed there would be people with enough knowledge about the military, especially someone with Lenz's background. She wondered, for a moment, how many people would be joining the guild like him and Rhia, people that would know her family name.

"It is."

Lenz was the surprised one now. She had sounded so clipped and guarded when she answered. It was the first time he had seen her so serious since that first night they had met and stood outside together. For a moment, he thought maybe he should drop the subject, but he had started the conversation and figured he should see it through.

"Are you related to the Royal Knight, Theodore Holt?"

"He's my father."

Lenz figured as much. Rhia had talked about Liv a number of times during their time in the military, the woman having mentioned that her father was a royal knight once, but she never went into detail about it. Lenz didn't have much information on Theodore Holt. Aaron didn't talk about him much either, even though it seemed both Aaron and Rhia had been friends with him at some point. Something must have happened that neither wanted to talk about, and it seemed like Liv didn't want to talk about it either.

"Look, I'm pretty sure you don't mean anything by asking about him, but my father and I currently have a tense relationship. He's a good royal knight, but a shitty father, at least for the past eight years anyway. I don't want to get into it any more than that."

"Fair enough," he said. He then looked down to see what she was working on, noticing all the different wyvern sketches she had across the pages she had open, "What are those for?"

Her eyes lit up and the guard she had thrown up was quickly torn down, "I'm so glad you asked! It'd be great to get another opinion on it!" she said as she flipped the book towards him, "Rhia asked me to come up with the guild mark. It should be something with a wyvern, obviously, but I haven't been able to narrow down what I should do, so I've just been scribbling down everything that comes to mind. What do you think?"

Lenz took a better look over everything. He definitely wouldn't call them scribbles as they were all well done. She had created a few different wyvern eyes, some wings, even a few fangs and claws. They all looked like the real thing, but he was sure she had Calypso to thank for that. He flipped to the next page and one picture immediately stood out to him.

"This one," he said simply, pointing down to it.

It was a simple silhouette of a flying wyvern, its wings fully spread out to soar upwards.

"I did like that one!" she smiled as she turned the book back towards her, "I was worried it was too simple, though."

"I like it. It's clean and immediately tells you who it belongs to, considering the guild's name."

She smiled brightly at him, "You're right. Thank you!"

The two fell into a comfortable silence this time, Lenz enjoying his drink and the quiet and Liv working on making a larger version of the silhouette. Things stayed this way for about twenty minutes, but the gods above must have enjoyed toying with Lenz as he was the first to notice it.

A large figure had stopped right in front of the window they sat next to. Lenz slowly looked over to see the dark, looming form, its eyes in the form of sparkling stars staring down at them. He felt his face fall as Liv looked up from her drawing. She was trying to figure out why it had become darker, and then she saw the look on Lenz's face. She then looked towards what he was staring at to see the huge, dark form pressed against the glass.

"I'm so happy!" it bellowed, thick streams of tears beginning to fall down its face, "You actually made a friend!"

"Oh my god…" Lenz sighed.

A loud, happy squeal erupted from Liv.

"Oh my god." Lenz repeated louder.

"AARON!"

"OLIVIA!"

"Oh my god!" Lenz now shouted.

Aaron then ran into the shop, Niall and Kali giving the man a strange stare, but otherwise let things happen. Things were already more interesting than they had been in years.

"Good morning to both of you!"

Aaron greeted them, smacking Lenz hard on the back before giving Liv a big hug.

"It's good to see you again! It's been a while!" Liv said, laughing over the fact that she was completely off the ground from the hug. She had forgotten how big the man was, "What are you doing in town?"

"I finally got the time off I needed to come out here and begin work on the house for Lenz. I'm surprised Rhia didn't mention it since they offered me a place to stay at the house you're currently staying at."

"She probably wanted it to be a surprise! That's awesome!"

'I'm going to kill the general!' Lenz thought, wanting to slam his head into the table at the thought of another person in that house, let alone it being Aaron of all people.

"Don't look so upset, boy," Aaron said with a laugh, "The next few months are sure to fly by!"

"At this point, it would almost be better to sleep out in the stall with Calypso."

Aaron simply ignored his remark and smiled down at Liv, "I'm glad to see Lenz is making good friends already! And that you got to meet this kid of mine finally."

"You do talk about him a lot," Liv laughed.

"What have you talked about?!"

"Nothing bad!" both Aaron and Liv answered, giving Lenz no comfort.

"You should be meeting Lili next. I'm certain the two of you will be fast friends!"

The thought of Lili and Liv meeting gave Lenz even less comfort. It would be a chaotic disaster.

Lenz soon felt the start of a headache coming on, "I'm heading back to the house."

"Good, I'll come with you! I need to let Rhia and her family know I made it into town. And then I can show you the space I'll be using for your house. Are you coming with us, Olivia?"

"Nah, I'll be hanging out here a bit longer. Have fun with the Moreno family!"

Lenz narrowed his eyes at her while she only laughed in reply. Aaron just stared between them, not understanding whatever silent conversation they were having between each other.

"Let's get this over with," Lenz said with a sigh.

"You sound as if this is going to be the worst thing ever. You should be more appreciative of their hospitality."

Lenz just stared up at Aaron. He didn't want to be disrespectful to the man, so he opted for just keeping his mouth closed and letting Aaron experience things himself.

As they walked out of the coffee shop, he couldn't help the angry twitch his eye made when he heard a singsong 'Good luck!' come from Liv.

. : + : .

December X791

It was a month later at the end of December when a new person stumbled into town. When people tried to greet him or wave to him, his face was shoved into a worn notebook that was filled with chicken scratch writing in multiple colors. Lines of the same colors crossed the pages and circled or crossed out other things. It seemed almost impossible to read, but the young man's eyes poured over them with ease as he mumbled to himself and crossed something out in a bright red pen.

"Things seemed normal in Alexandrite, but I shouldn't cut it off completely, I suppose," he said, pulling out a light blue pen to scratch over the red line he had just made. He then pulled out a yellow pen and made a large circle around the word 'Carnelian', "A new town though! Hopefully something will come to light here! Lokhod spoke of the guild and guild master here. Even Karn agreed that this Rhiannon Ward was someone I should speak to. I wonder how much longer until I'm there."

As if to answer him, he slammed into a building, his thick braid flipping over and smacking him in the face in the process. He tossed his brunette hair back behind him and finally took a look around him to see that he was in a bustling town.

"When did I get here? And where is here?"

"Excuse me, young man, but are you alright?"

"Ah, yes, thank you," he answered, closing his notebook and shoving both it and his pens into his brown travel bag, "May I ask where I'm at?"

"Carnelian."

His entire body seemed to light up as he clapped his hands together, "Perfect! I made it a few days earlier than planned. Could you point me in the direction of Vermilion Wyvern?"

"They aren't quite up and running yet, but you could head towards the guild. The woman that will be running the place is there most days working on things."

The old woman pointed the young man where to go and he was off.

Though, he was soon twisted around on where to go since his big brown eyes continued spotting new things that sparked his interest. A new town always tended to keep him busy for days since he wanted to explore everything.

He eventually came out of a pizza shop with a large slice in his hands. He had just taken a bite when he heard a loud roar above him.

"Hmm?" he hummed as he looked up, a string of cheese from the pizza hanging out of his mouth. It was then he saw a large wyvern sitting at the top of a cliff with a waterfall that overlooked the town. He was worried for a moment, thinking the creature was there to prey upon the town, but then he spotted a blonde woman sitting on its back with reins in her hands. The wyvern then took off from the cliff and he watched as it soared down towards some warehouses.

With a wave of new interest ignited, he headed that way to investigate, completely having forgotten why he had come to the town in the first place.

He had shoved the last piece of his pizza into his mouth by the time he made it over to the warehouses. It wasn't hard to find the one he wanted, considering the black wyvern was perched on top of one of the warehouses. Once he was in front of the building, trying his best to ignore the creature eyeing him from above, he saw that it had been painted a bright red to have it stand out amongst the other buildings. And right above the doors was a large metal sign that read 'Vermilion Wyvern' with the silhouette of a flying wyvern between the two words. It also had a black metal sign of a flying wyvern jutting out from above the door, swaying slighting in the light breeze blowing by.

"Ah, right! I was looking for this place! Perfect!" he clapped his hands together, having remembered his real reason for being in Carnelian. At the sound of his clap, the wyvern above snorted in response, but did not move from its spot, "You seem a rather interesting creature. Will you allow me a closer look at you?"

The wyvern stared down at him for a long moment before turning away to curl up in a ball for a nap.

"I see, another time then!"

With that, he knocked on the door before pushing it open. The inside of the place still seemed like it was under construction, considering there were no tables or chairs to fill the empty space. And what looked like a long bar was in the middle of being built.

"Hello?!" he called out, his voice echoing through the building.

The sound of someone moving around upstairs followed his voice, a door opening to reveal the blonde woman he had seen on the back of the wyvern.

"I'm sorry, we're not quite open yet," she said as she came down the stairs, giving him a warm smile, "But if it's something that can wait a month or so, I'm sure we'd be happy to help. I can take down your information if that's the case."

"Well, I was told I should come here by both Lokhod Coalmace and Karn Cobbletop. My name is Sano Cobbletop."

"Ah, yes! The ambassador did mention you coming to join the guild. I'm glad to see you made it here safely. Though, I was expecting someone more like…"

"A dwarf," Sano said bluntly.

"Well, yes. Not that there is any problem, I'm just a bit surprised is all."

"I get that a lot, if people know the background. I was taken in by the dwarves at the Adamantine Mines."

"I see, that makes sense then. They are good people, so that bodes well for you. Will you be joining the guild, then?"

"Do you not have any members yet? And things seem a little…lacking here. Will you be opening soon? Can't really make any money with a closed guild. And I was told you could possibly be of help for an item I'm looking for – the first miners' crown. I've been on the hunt for a few months now." The words poured out of him one after another, making it hard for Rhiannon to keep up with him. She then watched him pull out a worn notebook that clearly had been used…a lot, "I have some ideas to go off of here in my notes, and-"

"Okay, let's hold up for a moment, please," Rhiannon said with a small laugh, "First off, my name is Rhiannon Ward. It is nice to meet you."

She held her hand out to Sano, the boy looking down at it for a moment. He then realized how overbearing he must have sounded at that moment. He shoved his notebook back into his bag and then shook her hand.

"Sorry about that. I tend to get carried away."

"You're fine. I'm happy to see how passionate you are."

That took Sano by surprise. Most people he met thought he was just annoying and wanted him to shut up. He knew exactly how he could be, but it was just how he was. So, it was comforting knowing she wasn't shooing him away yet.

"Aside from myself, there are two other people that will be part of the guild once it opens. Everything here should be ready to go by the end of January or the beginning of February, so no need to worry about that. And yes, the ambassador also mentioned you were looking for something. We can eventually sit down and talk about it more, and I will do my best to help you find this crown you're looking for."

"I do believe that was all my questions. You're very good," he said, staring at her for a moment, "If I join, will I be able to get a close up look of the wyvern on the roof?"

"Of course."

"Then consider me your third member," he said, sticking out his hand for another handshake.

. : + : .

February X792

Rhiannon stood proudly in front of the Vermilion Wyvern guild hall. It was finally completed. Everything had fallen into place so nicely in the last month. The guild had been completed. It wasn't anything luxurious, but it had everything they needed for a solid start. The apartment building was ready to go. Her and Cassie had found a house of their own. Even Lenz's house was ready to go. Everything was ready for this new chapter to start.

"It came in, just in time!"

She turned to see Liv and Sano running down the street with a box in her hand. Lenz and Aaron were just behind her, speaking with Cassie and Tonya, the realtor having just handed the keys and finalized paperwork to her.

Liv handed over the box once they stood in front of Rhiannon. The older woman easily opened the box to reveal the magic guild mark stamper.

"Well, I suppose we should try it out, yeah?" Rhiannon smiled at Liv and Sano. The rest of the group came over to see what was going on.

Rhiannon set the stamper to the color she wanted and pressed it down on the top of her left hand. She then lifted it up to reveal a dark red guild mark of the silhouetted wyvern Liv had created.

"It's perfect," she said, smiling warmly down at the mark. She then looked to the trio who made up her first members, "Are you ready for your own?"

They all gave her the affirmative, and in a matter of minutes, they all had their guild marks – Liv with a lime green one on her lower right stomach, Lenz with a blue one on the right side of his chest, and Sano with a yellow one on the top of his left hand.

"Time to properly commemorate this moment," Tonya announced, pulling out a camera, "Let me get a picture of you all together!"

"Let's do it!" Liv said, pulling both Lenz and Sano with her to stand in front of the guild. She put an arm around each of them, not giving either a choice of where they stood.

Rhiannon, Cassie and Aaron laughed together as they gathered in behind them. There was a heavy thud next to the group as Calypso jumped from the roof and landed next to them, tucking herself in next to Rhiannon.

"That looks perfect," Tonya said, preparing to take the picture.

Rhiannon looked around her before looking up at the camera with a bright smile.

"It is!"

A/N: And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Credits

Sano Cobbletop – Origm2012

Ugh! I'm sorry for taking so long to put this out but thank you all for being so patient and supportive. You all make me want to continue putting out content and everything, so again, thank you all!

I loved this chapter so much! From Liv and Lenz interacting, to Liv and Aaron interacting, to meeting Sano and then that last scene, I just loved it all so much, so I hope you all enjoyed it too!

Thank you to everyone for your awesome reviews, feedback, favorites and follows! They are all very appreciated, thank you so much!

This is the last intro chapter, so we get to move into the first arc I have planned out and I'm very excited! I have the next few people who will be joining the guild figured out and I hope you all will enjoy meeting them as we move forward!

That should be it for now!

Until next chapter!

MyDearWatson