A/N: Another chapter down!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!

Chapter 8: The Cook

March X792

Wes Reed made his way into Carnelian late in the evening. It had been several months since he had been home, but the traveling had been worth it. He had collected new ingredients for his cooking and got to meet and talk to many interesting people along the way.

But still, it was nice to finally come back home.

He nodded hello to a few people, watching as they made their way into a bar or a restaurant. It made him think of owning his own place again. He had been thinking about that more and more lately, especially during this last trip. He enjoyed making food and having people enjoy his cooking, but the right opportunity just hadn't come up yet.

He readjusted the pack on his back and made his way towards his apartment. It didn't take long for him to get there and make his way inside. He dropped his pack to the floor before sitting down on his couch. He was happy to see that the place was fairly clean. Liam was still keeping the end of their long-standing deal.

There was a knock on his door.

"Speak of the devil," Wes said, running a hand through his hair, "Coming!"

He opened the door to reveal a man with dark purple hair and blue eyes.

"Welcome back," he said, stepping into the apartment when Wes motioned him in. He took a moment to look over Wes, "I see another gray streak has popped up while you were gone."

Wes knew he was talking about his hair. It had been black, but a few gray streaks had popped up the last few years. Wes had already gotten used to it and didn't react to the jab from his friend.

"Nice to see you, too, Liam," he said, shutting the door and taking up his previous seat, "I expected you to show up, but not this quickly. Did you miss my face that much?"

Liam laughed at that, taking a seat across from Wes, "In your dreams. But yes, I do have a reason for showing up before you could even unpack."

"Are you kicking me out of here or something?"

While Liam was a good friend of Wes's, he was also his landlord. The two had struck a deal for Wes to have a place to come back to after his long trips hunting and gathering ingredients. In exchange, Liam would get discounts and even free meals from Wes to make up for this potential lost income by holding the apartment while he was out.

"No, no, nothing like that," Liam said with a wave of his hand, "While you were out this time, a guild moved into town. They're called Vermilion Wyvern and have set up shop over in the empty warehouses on the mountain side of town. I thought you might be interested in knowing about them. Maybe even checking them out."

"Why would I do that?"

"Well, you're always talking about wanting to set up a permanent shop somewhere. I think they're your best bet."

"I want to have a restaurant, not be a mage."

"Yes, but you do use magic, and what a better place to have a constant influx of customers than a mage guild that could use your magic cooking?"

Wes opened his mouth to retort again, but he found he didn't have a response this time. He had been looking for a place for a restaurant, and he wasn't wrong that mages were a good source of income for him. It's not like the civilians needed his magic cooking, but mages…he could really sell it to them.

"I suppose you're right," Wes finally said, giving in, "It couldn't hurt to speak with their guild master in the morning."

"Perfect!" Liam said with a grin, "Now then, why don't you cook us up something for dinner and you tell me about the hunt for the elusive Moosesquatch!"

"You're not wasting any time on banking in on your free meals."

"You know how long I've been without your food? Of course I'm not!"

Wes just laughed at his friend, but he did start moving on making dinner for them.

. : + : .

Lenz could hear the beating of wings first. He knew that sound so well, and for a moment, it brought him some relief. It was a sound of comfort, knowing he'd be up in the air soaring soon enough.

But as quickly as that relief washed over him, it was gone. It was replaced with darkness and pain in his head. He thought he could vaguely hear someone shouting commands, but they were quickly fading, as if he was moving away from them.

Then there was just silence and darkness and the pain in his head for what felt like hours. He hated every moment of it. He hated the feeling of floating in nothingness, that there was nothing he could do but wait for it to end. And he hated the throbbing pain in his head. It kept growing until he thought his head would burst. And when he thought it really would, light exploded across his vision.

There was fighting all around him, and he was up on his wyvern again.

Had it all been a dream? Had the past nine months been nothing but a hallucination? It was odd to happen on the battlefield, but it wasn't the strangest thing to happen to a soldier. He looked around him and spotted the glinting red armor that belonged to his general.

It most definitely had to be a dream if General Ward was here with him.

But that hopeful thought was quickly washed away by a giant explosion of fire. Chaos erupted around him as wyverns scattered and shouting voices filled the air. Explosion after explosion blasted in a straight line, heading right for Lenz. He tried to get his wyvern to move, but it wouldn't. He looked down to see a long spike of earth had pierced through his wyvern and through his thigh. The pain that had been in his head was now in his leg tenfold. He watched as the large explosions raced closer to him. He started to move in panic, trying to pull himself off the spike. Every time he moved, sharpened pain traveled through his entire body. He did his best to ignore it and the blood pouring from his leg, but he couldn't free himself with only one good leg.

He looked around, searching for anyone to help him. He then noticed how quiet it was outside of the explosions nearing him. Everyone was gone. Both sides had dispersed, and he had been left behind. He looked up high to see a glint of red. He called and reached out for his general, but she did not look back.

"General! Wait! I can't move!"

She did not turn, and he could feel the deadly heat from the fire. He only had an explosion or two left before they were on him.

"Please! Rhia!"

Fire and burning earth burst all around him, enveloping him entirely and cutting off any chances of being rescued. He screamed as the fire raced across his skin and as he watched that hopeful dot of red disappear from the sky.

Lenz let out another scream of pain as he sat up in his bed, sweating. He panted heavily as he took a few minutes to ground himself again. He sat in the dark, but at least the moon and stars and clock in his room gave him some light to look around in. It wasn't the total darkness he had been floating in, in the nightmare, so that helped calm him a bit.

Once his breathing was back to normal, he threw the blanket off him. He was almost expecting to see a bloody, gaping hole in his leg, but everything looked normal. He let out a small sigh of relief at that and got out of bed.

He guessed that he couldn't hold off sleep forever, but he wished he could have. He hadn't gotten a decent amount of sleep since he got out of the hospital, mostly due to having those nightmares any time he did shut his eyes. He'd rather be irritated and tired as hell than have to go through them every night. But eventually, he'd pass out from the lack of sleep, and it never failed for him to have to relive through whatever trauma decided to make itself known that night.

He looked at the time to see it was two-thirty in the morning.

At least he had time to take a shower before he was supposed to meet Liv for their next training session.

He got the shower going and soon found himself standing under cold water. It wasn't his favorite way of showering, but he found that cold water worked best after the nightmares. It helped with washing away all the terrible thoughts along with waking him up. Though, there was a moment of phantom pain on his side where the scar was from that day with the explosions. He pressed a hand against it and turned the water a bit colder. Soon enough, the sensation had also washed away.

He soon finished up with the shower and got dressed for the training session, his clothes consisting of a sleeveless, skin-tight black shirt, white pants and brown boots. He made a cup of coffee as he laced up his boots, knowing the caffeine would help him to stay awake. He drank the cup in silence, still being too early for anyone to be heading into town and starting up their business for the day.

The silence was welcomed after his hellish nightmare. He did his best to ignore the flashes of fire and the smell of burning earth. They would fade away with time, at least until the next nightmare. His hand tightened around his mug at that thought. He then downed the last of his coffee, setting the mug down into the sink harder than he meant to.

He grabbed a black jacket and headed to the spot where he'd been meeting up with Liv. He would be a little early, but it was better than sitting in his house and thinking about the nightmare.

His house was placed in between the mountainous side and the forest side, so after locking his front door, he turned towards the forest side and made his way to a rather large tree that sat at the edge of the forest and a park. He was there fifteen minutes early, but he didn't mind. It was still a bit cold outside, especially so early in the morning, but the cold against his face felt nice and it was calming being outside.

He stared up at the glittering sky, wishing he could be up in it. He had mourned for his wyvern he had lost in that battle, as do most riders that had bonded with their wyvern. He missed being in the sky with it the most. It was the closest he had ever come to describing the feeling of freedom.

"You look serene this morning."

Liv's voice interrupted his thoughts and he turned to look at her as she came to stand next to him.

"Or maybe not," she said when she noticed the bags under his eyes, "Are you okay? Did you not sleep well?"

"Something like that," he said, "It's nothing to worry about though."

Liv was not convinced at all. She placed a hand on his forehead while feeling her own with the other.

"What are you doing?" he asked, feeling caught off guard by the action and trying to pull away from her.

"I'm just checking for a fever, calm down."

"Look, I'm fine," he said, pulling her hand away from him, "You don't need to worry."

Liv gave him a wary look, still not convinced he was doing alright, but he didn't want to get into anything at the moment. He didn't want to think about those nightmares, and he didn't want to talk to anyone about them.

"Let's get started with your training."

"Lenz," she said, catching his arm. A silence passed through them as he stared down at her hand holding him in place, "If you…if you ever feel like talking to someone, I don't mind listening."

He looked up from her hand to her eyes, seeing the worry still there, but also kindness. It was his turn to look away from her stare, not being able to hold it. She was intense in her own way, and Lenz wasn't ready for it after everything that had already happened that morning.

He simply nodded at her, wanting to give her an answer so she would let go of him. The nod must have been enough since he felt his arm go free.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?"

He was glad for the subject change.

He cleared his throat and turned to face her again, "We're going to start with stretching like usual, and then we're going to be doing a lot of running."

Liv let out a groan, "But whyyyyyy? Can't I hit like a punching bag or something?"

"You need to get your stamina and cardio up. We can worry about strength training later."

"You sound like this training is gonna go on longer than a week…"

"And what? Let you waste it all? I don't think so."

She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and tried to stare him down, but it didn't quite work when he was able to poke her cheek and make the air puff out.

"Fine!" she said, shooing his hand away from her face, "But after the week is up, I'm getting up at a normal time for training! None of this four in the morning bull crap!"

"Glad you see it my way. Now, let's begin."

. : + : .

Flick sat in Rhia's office that morning, watching as she pulled out some paperwork. His leg bounced from nerves. He had met with her yesterday and taken the night to make a decision on what he wanted to do. He did run into Liv again in the evening, and she had looked for a guild mark, but was sad to find that he didn't have one yet. He couldn't get her disappointed face out of his head, or how she smiled despite her disappointment. She was part of the reason he was here now.

The other part was the woman sitting across from him. He felt like he was going to have to be careful around her. She was much more observant than he anticipated, but she did appear to be genuine, much like Liv was. Again, he couldn't tell if it was a ploy to get him join, but the kindness they had shown him was nice regardless. It had been a while since kindness had been sent his way or that he allowed himself to receive. So, even if it was fake, it was almost becoming like a drug. He'd have to watch how much he let himself have, but for now, it was a lovely feeling.

Though, it still wasn't enough to shake the nerves coursing through his body. He hadn't made a decision this big in a long time. The biggest decision he made in the last several years was where to sleep and what little part-time job to take to make enough money to move onto the next town. It wasn't like him to dig in so deep, to decide to stay somewhere for so long, to be a part of something other than what could take his pain away.

'What the fuck am I doing?!' he thought, and he almost walked out of the place right then.

"So," she began, and that single word with so much calmness behind it stopped him from moving, "Will you be joining our ranks then?"

Her burgundy eyes watched him. Again, like Liv, she wasn't looking over his scars, but she was watching the way he moved, the way he sat, that damned moving leg, even the way his eyes would flit around, she was watching all of it. She had been trained to do so; he was smart enough to pick that up. He wondered if other people knew she was like this or if he just picked up on it more than others. Either way, it had been a long time since someone was able to pin him down with just their eyes and he was having trouble keeping up with it. He shouldn't have let himself get so rusty.

"I suppose it'll give me something to do," he answered, giving her a charming smile, "I need a better way to make money anyways."

"I want you to know that the people here are serious about this guild, and I did not make it to be someone's fancy of the week. So, if you are going to join my guild, please do it because you want to and because you will work hard here. Otherwise, don't waste my time or anyone else's here."

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?"

"No, I don't. I know my daughter has taken a liking to you. If you are here to hang out for a month or two before moving on, I would rather you didn't for her sake. She's had enough people coming in and out of her life and she doesn't need to add another one to the list."

"Daughter?" Flick questioned, lifting an eyebrow. He hadn't talked to very many people yet, but then it donned on him, "You mean Liv? She's your kid?"

"She is, and I don't take lightly to people messing with her emotions. So, if you plan on leaving in a month, please just leave now."

Well, Flick hadn't expected that. He hadn't put those dots together since the two looked nothing alike. But her honesty was appreciated. It made it feel like less of a ploy if she was willing to send people away, especially so early on.

He did take a moment to think about what she said before answering her. It was true that he didn't stay anywhere for long, and most likely after a couple of months, he would be on his way. But something had dragged him here, and for once, he wanted to see where this would go. He couldn't say why, but that empty feeling in his chest resurfaced, causing him to rub the spot despite those burgundy eyes on him. How long could a person go with feeling that empty? And was he willing to find out that answer? He didn't think so. Honestly, he was tired of feeling empty and something brought him here, so why not try to fill the void? Worst case is nothing changes, and he still leaves town, regardless of anything he leaves behind. It wouldn't be his problem anyways.

His leg stopped bouncing then and he gave Rhia the straightest, most honest face he could muster, "I want to be here. Is it a way for me to make money? Sure. But I do want to join your guild. I'm not here to mess with anyone or hurt anyone. I promise you that."

Rhia watched him again, and he made sure to stay as still as possible and to look her straight in the eye. She seemed to take his change in demeanor positively, nodding at him as she began to fill out some of the paperwork she had laid out in front of her.

"What is your full name?"

"Flick Bledsoe."

Her pen stopped moving as she looked up at him, "You're telling me that your given name is Flick?"

"Ah, yeah, no," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, "Sorry about that, it's just, that's the name I use all the time. My first name is Fletcher, but I can promise you I probably won't answer to that."

"Fair enough," she said as she continued her writing.

She asked him a few more things before giving him his guild stamp.

"It's official now. You're a Vermilion Wyvern mage."

He stared down at his left palm that now bore a sky blue guild mark and smiled at it.

"Glad to see you're happy about your decision. We'll go over how things work later this morning."

He closed his palm, forgetting that someone else was in the room with him.

"Sure."

"You're free to do as you like for now."

There was a knock on her office door before anything else could be said between them.

Cassie opened it, "You have another visitor, Rhia."

"We were just finishing up here, so you can send them on in."

Cassie waved up whoever was there to see her. A broad-shouldered and well-built man stepped into the office, taking up the doorway and blocking out Cassie.

"If you get more members like him, then we won't have to worry about me leaving," Flick said, a flirty smile taking over his face.

"Excuse me?" the man asked.

Rhia tried to hide a chuckle while Cassie laughed the entire way back down to the bar.

"I'll talk with you later, Flick," Rhia said, motioning him out of the office while having the newcomer take a seat.

She shut the door and took her seat behind her desk.

"My name is Rhiannon Ward, guild master for Vermilion Wyvern."

"Wes Reed. Nice to meet you."

"You as well. What can I help you with?"

"I'd like to join your guild, on a few conditions though."

Rhia quirked her eyebrow at that, "What would these conditions be?"

"I'm a cook and I've been wanting to open up a restaurant of my own, but I also have magic that I can incorporate into my food. It's called Chef Magic and it allows me to magically enhance food, which will benefit the eater depending on what it does, ranging from strength to speed to energy boosts and so on."

"That sounds very useful to have on hand here."

"I'm glad you think so too," he said, "I'd like to set up shop next door and open a restaurant. I would get a good flow of customers while I could give you discounts as well as the magic food to help with missions and such. I could even set up missions for the guild to hunt down ingredients I may need to stock the kitchen with. I could pay them with both gems and food."

Rhia thought over his proposal. It wasn't a bad idea, and it would draw in more people to their guild for missions or as possible new members if any mages show up. Plus, the added benefit of the magic food was hard to turn down. Really, she wasn't seeing a downside to what he was saying.

"Well, we would need to contact our realtor, Tonya Green, to see what she thinks and what would need to be done for a restaurant to be opened here, but I'm not against the idea. In fact, it sounds like a damn good idea."

"That was a lot easier than I thought," Wes said, smiling at her.

"Nothing is set in stone, mind you, but you seem to know what you want and what you're doing. I have a feeling you've thought about this a lot."

"Just a bit," he said, "But nothing as good as this set up has come up yet, and it seems like the perfect opportunity."

"Agreed," Rhia said, pulling out fresh paperwork, "I'll reach out to Tonya to get things started. I won't be able to help with the costs in a big way, but I'll do what I can."

"I have plenty saved up, if that's what you're worried about. I've been saving for this for a while, and I've been lucky to be in a living situation that allows me to put away a good amount of money."

"Seems like you have a good head on your shoulders. We need that around here," she said with a smile as she began going through the same questions she had asked Flick earlier.

In no time, the paperwork was finished and signed, and Wes had a green guild mark on his right forearm.

"Do you drink, Wes?"

"I most certainly do."

"Well, I know it's a bit early, but would you like one?"

"If you're offering, I'm not going to say no."

"Great, follow me."

Rhia led him out of the office and down to the bar area. She ordered a red wine from Cassie while Wes ordered an old fashioned. She watched as Liv saw the guild mark on Flick's hand and hugged him excitedly. Sano was back at the mission board, doing his best to get away with taking things off it. He was caught by Lucas, who was making sure things stayed clean, the blonde telling the younger boy off for making a mess with the mission papers. Weyland was chilling on a couch, and surprisingly, Lenz was at a table, reading over a book he had brought with him.

She smiled upon seeing everyone together.

"Looks like it's starting to fill up," Cassie said with a smile, her own old fashioned in her hand.

"It is," Rhia said with a warm smile, "I'm glad."

Liv looked up at Rhia, a big grin on her face, "Rhia! We need to take another picture!"

"Already?" Rhia asked, chuckling lightly.

"It's been a month since we've opened, and we already have three new members!"

"It's four actually," Cassie said, patting Wes on the shoulder.

"Four!" Liv repeated, "Even more of a reason for a new picture!"

"Alright," Rhia gave in, setting her glass down, "Let's set it up."

"Come on, come on!" Liv said excitedly, pulling Flick towards the bar. She then went around and pulled the rest of the boys to the bar as well, having to pull Weyland back to it several times. Once she had them all in place, Rhia had readied the camera to take a picture on a timer.

Rhia took her place back at the bar next to Cassie and Wes while Liv jumped in the front, Flick standing behind her with Lenz and Lucas on either side of her. Sano held Weyland in place on the opposite side of where Rhia sat.

"Okay, everyone smile!" Liv said.

The camera snapped a few seconds later, giving Rhia the second picture to hang up behind the bar.

A/N: There we are! Hope you enjoyed it!

Credits

Wesley Reed – Grimnack

And this rounds out the end of this first little arc! We've got four new members, and I hope everyone likes them/the characters are coming out the way their creators envisioned. I'm really liking all the interactions and how everything is coming together!

I've got 5 characters planned for the next arc and much more action will be going on, so I'm really excited into that and showing off everyone's skills and magic.

This also makes two chapters for the challenge! I'm hoping to get at least 1-2 more before it's over.

As always, thank you for all the great reviews! They are always lovely to read! So, thank you!

That's it for now.

Until next chapter!

MyDearWatson