hear me, for I have found opportunity for some discussion. A couple, I believe literally two, have expressed some opinions of Mira and Erza characterization, namely how much they aren't fans of them. It makes sense, I haven't given you any reason to like them, especially when leaning heavier on Natsu's perspective more than anything. That was a choice and you don't have to like them, but I want to mention something else I saw. "No reason" was something that lingered with me, that those two have no reason to act that way toward Natsu.

Here's where the discussion comes in for me. Is that true? Maybe. They are abrasive personalities with rough edges, clearly, but I think there is some perspective needed. Their only exposure to the guy are years worth of rumors that tell of him massacring dark mages with impunity. Now that person is in their guild and around their family. I'd say that's a reason to act more combative toward someone, maybe you don't think it's a great reason, but it is a reason.

I'm not defending these characters for my sake, if you don't like how they're written, that's fair. But, I think saying there's no reason for the attitude misses the mark a little bit. Or I've missed the mark. Who knows.

Enough of that, more story.


Chapter 8: Fighting with the Dark

The familiar sensation of flames enveloped his hands, the crimson glow bathing the clearing around them with the only light they had available. Shadows danced and crawled with the flicker of Natsu's magic, creating the illusion of dancing darkness around them. In truth, that wasn't as much of an expression as it should have been. Although his eyes couldn't see them, although his ears couldn't hear them, Natsu could still feel their hunters prowling around amongst the darkness his fire projected around them. Hungry aggression practically filled the air, saturating it as thickly as the flickering embers in Natsu's hand…

A sudden jolt of inspiration hit Natsu.

Without a warning to his companion behind him, Natsu doused the magic that burned in his hands and covered the entirety of their small clearing in a thick blanket of darkness. Pinholes of light still sparkled in the sky behind sheets of clouds but did little to show anything that surrounded them. Sounds of the forest seemed to mute themselves just the same, leaving only the small whispers of wind the blow leaves and tickle the ear. With all else gone, Natsu allowed himself to feel what he felt around him. Ignoring the irritation that permeated from behind him, Natsu only focused on the raw aggression that was stalking them. He let his body turn with the tightly coiled movements of a predator preparing to lunge at its prey.

"Are you trying to get us killed, you idiot!?" Mirajane called from his back, irritation dripping in every word she spoke. He could have warned her before he snuffed out their light, he probably should have, but after many years of doing things alone it was hard to get out of the habit of simply doing. Natsu was someone that relied on his instincts, practically leaning on them in every fight he's ever been in, and he couldn't do that if he was consulting someone else. Something told him that he was better off not seeing anything, he was better off not getting lost in the tricks that were being played on his eyes.

Before he could try and explain any of that, Natsu's attention was pulled to the pull to his right and the growl that flooded his ears. His body simply moved. No thought, no conscious strategy, just action. An explosive push upward sent Natsu drifting backward and his legs hanging high above his head in a slow, loose backflip. The beast charged further, Natsu's skin crawling in phantom touches that would never be as his right foot bathed in crimson flame. Where the start of his backflip was loose, the back half of it was swift and controlled as his right foot was propelled in a pendulum's swing that met the beast flush on its jaw sending the creature sprawling back where it came from. Unlike the first strike he landed on the beast, Natsu didn't let it scramble away from him. Screeching whimpers echoed out from the burning of Natsu's magic, the lingering embers clinging tightly to the creature's body making it easy to track as Natsu landed and hurriedly crossed the distance between himself and his target.

"Fire Demon's Savage Fist!" A burning red magic circle exploded to life in front of his flaming fist as it lashed out, expanding the furious crimson into a powerful burst that exploded across the beast's face. Pained howls ripped through the beast's throat, passing through the countless rows of teeth and rattling Natsu's ears. Shadows seemed to explode off of the creature before being swiftly replaced by the shadows dancing around it. How much damage he did was impossible to tell, but that didn't prevent him from throwing another punch into the grounded beast, or a third. No matter the number of strikes, the shadows clung to the hefty body of the beast below him. It was almost as if the darkness and the beast acted as one.

In his violent observations, Natsu let the world outside of himself and his target fall away until he was almost too late. There was no feeling to lean on or guide him, not one that he was listening to, but a massive body flying toward him with its claws splayed and ready to dig into his flesh. Mirajane's voice called in warning, he registered that much, but his eyes and ears were only enough to slide himself mostly out of the way of the lunging beast. A sharp trail of pain still crawled from his wrist toward his elbow on his right arm, the ripping of his tightly wrapped bandages following closely behind.

The second shadowy body continued to drift behind him, but Natsu paid it no mind. A mere glance showed the brewing purple magic of his companion and reassured him enough to keep his focus on the ailing body in front of him. It was clear that more was needed. These were tough, durable creatures that would take more than a few quick shots to be put down for good. Lashing out in a burst of motion, Natsu bent down and scooped a hefty scrambling hindleg that was searching for purchase in the overgrown grass. The shadows hanging closely to the beast's flesh ceded some and the flesh underneath hissed at the flames bursting from Natsu's palm. A strong explosive movement had the heavy beast lifting into the air in an aggressive toss. With a single arm, Natsu couldn't throw the beast too far, or high, but all he needed was enough height to take a breath.

"Fire Demon's Rage!" A magic circle flared to life in front of his face as Natsu's lungs filled greedily with as much air as they could, and with a mighty exhale a burst of deep red flames spun and twisted in a tight spiral that slammed into the flailing body of the creature and pushed it roughly into the base of the nearest tree. Red flames voraciously feasted on the grasses standing tall from the ground, the dead wood littering beneath it, the brush of the trees the Rage was sent into, and most of all the beast that sat at its center. Whatever cries the beast would have made were drowned by the dull roar of twisting flames and the crackle of burning kindling around it.

"Evil Explosion!" A burst of purple magic filled the area just as the flames stopped spilling from Natsu's mouth. A rush of air and a pained squeal rushed past his right shoulder before the second creature joined its pair in a heap amongst crackling embers that seemed keen on feasting on the vegetation around them. It quickly became a pitiful sight. Despite the spells they endured, the shadowed beasts still stubbornly clung to life with mewls that came with every rising movement before falling back to the ground. Natsu simply looked at them, watching as the blankets of darkness that paraded across their surroundings from the dancing flames unnaturally shifted to envelope the two beasts' sprawled forms. The crunching of grass that approached him from behind warned Natsu of Mirajane's approach, though he made sure to raise an arm to stop her from advancing toward their downed targets. He felt her stare at the side of his head but didn't address it. He really couldn't. There was something that he didn't trust, despite how injured the creatures were.

Natsu's hesitance only lingered for a moment or two longer before he brought his hands together and cupped an invisible sphere between them. Sparks of embers snapped to life before growing turning into a full fledged flame moments later. Magic was poured through his palms to explode the fire out from the confines of his flexed fingers as an intense growl emanated from the bursting embers that whipped through the gaps in his hands with increasing intensity. For a moment, Natsu was sure that it probably looked like he was losing control of his magic at the wild display, but then it all suddenly stopped. The fire in his hands then became a small sphere that safely fit within a single palm with a clenched fist. "Fire Demon's Nether Flare." With a leisurely toss of his arm sideways, the sphere of flames seemed to laggardly carry itself through the air toward the steadily rising creatures near the tree line as if it were guided by a line or rope before speeding up and detonating directly between the two. The explosion was a mighty discharge of magic that swirled and expanded at an incredible rate. It was an explosion made up of smaller explosions that grew until it completely swallowed the shadow creatures and their immediate surroundings. The darkness lifted around them, the sky was alight for the briefest of moments, and Mirajane seemed much more comfortable putting Natsu between her and the flames.

Then, as quickly as it started, it was over. All the flames that latched onto plant life, the flames that crawled up the trunks of the trees that surrounded them, and the fires that ate at the beasts before them all died out to shroud them in darkness once again. It may have seemed unnecessary or overboard, but he couldn't help but think otherwise. With the silence that now reigned around them, the harsh whimpers of the creatures quieted, Natsu approached the remains with his hand acting as a torch once again.

Unmoving, splayed, and smoking, Natsu couldn't help but notice how different they looked without the shadows to shroud them. Their bodies, although showing some harsh burns, were still muscle-bound and lean. Claws and fangs glimmered in the crimson flames that bathed Natsu's hand, each long and lethal as they protruded menacingly. However, instead of a blank slate of blackness shrouding them, Natsu crouched and saw the burnt and damaged hides that bore thick scales, spines that crawled down their backs, up the arms and hindlegs, and smoothed flesh where eyes would have been on a normal creature. Staring at them, looking at what they truly looked like, something seemed to have clicked in Natsu's mind.

"The hell are these things?" Mira said quietly, likely more to herself than to him despite saying it out loud. Her foot lazily kicked at the extended foot of one of them to his right, watching the dead appendage limply recoil from it. "I've never seen or heard of anything like these."

"Shadow Crawlers." Natsu supplied absentmindedly, his mouth moving before he could really think about it. The name escaping his lips seemed to unlike knowledge that seemed just as keen on flowing right out of him. "Loosely akin to demons. Not from Zeref's Books, but from the earth. Birthed in shadow and lived in shadow." Fingers trailed over dangerous claws as he looked at the Shadow Crawler.

"How do you even know that?" She asked from his side, exasperation clear in her voice as was the annoyance. Natsu rose from his crouch and gave the woman a glance before turning his gaze outward around them, searching the darkness.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully, his voice flat in a relenting acceptance that came naturally to him now. There was a time when Natsu would know something without reason and only a fiery anger followed, but now there was enough experience with random knowledge that it was the norm. There was no way to explain it outside of just accepting that he knew things that even he doesn't know. "But these aren't fully grown. They must have just formed."

Many creatures of magic were formed in magic. They didn't need parents or a living creator for them to come to be. The first demons, dragons, and the like were much the same. Why did these Shadow Crawlers form? While they weren't small, the size of a large man when fully splayed out, Shadow Crawlers could get twice the size. These things formed so recently didn't sit right with Natsu. Understanding why it didn't sit right wasn't something he could audibly explain right now.

"Fully grown or not, they're dead now. We should bring at least one back with us as proof of the job being done." Mirajane bent down and tested the weight of an arm of a Shadow Crawler closest to her before quickly hoisting it onto her shoulder with a small grunt of exertion. Natsu, however, turned his gaze outward again.

"We were never given a number, right?" He asked her rhetorically, already knowing the answer. Still, Mirajane nodded with a furrowed brow that was either directed at his question or the limp beast draped over her form. "If there's more we would still have to take care of them. Shouldn't we stay out here until we know there aren't anymore?"

"How would we know that? It's a large forest at the base of a larger mountain, anything could come wandering down." Even though she was arguing against staying out, Mira's words were calm and contemplative as she, too, began searching around through the crimson haze around them. After a moment of pause, a relenting sigh came from the mage next to him as the heavy thump fell between them. "We can stay the night, wait for something to come. If there's any more they'd come here for the magic we threw around or for these guys." Another kick went to a limp body before Mira walked away and back toward the center of the clearing where the dead trees lay.

Natsu only had to watch the woman maneuver one of the grounded trees for a few moments before he followed suit. Between the two of them working through the timber and debris of the clearing, working in the red hues of Natsu's light, it took no time at all for something of a camp to start sprouting around them. Two trunks were positioned around a bundle of broken down brush that wrapped around a shortened portion of a thick trunk. With a snap of his fingers, a bolt shot from Natsu's hand and ignited the gathered kindling so that the pair didn't need to rely on Natsu's hand to be their torch. In what couldn't have even been a half hour, Natsu and Mirajane had made two benches and a fire that would last them through the night as they sat and sorted themselves after the brief encounter with the Shadow Crawlers. Only the steady crackle and popping of the fire before them filled the air between the two mages that seemed comfortable sitting on their respective hunks of wood across from each other.

After retrieving the bandages that were stripped from his arm by an errant claw, Natsu retrieved the wrappings while they were situating their camp and was now trying to rewrap the arm with the remains. A fairly long gash extended from just above his wrist and ran up his arm before curving off as it came to an end near the elbow. It wasn't terribly deep, some blood leaking out in thin rivulets, and Natsu knew better than to be concerned about it. A simple cut wasn't why he was concerned with trying to tie off the many straps wrappings the bandages were reduced to from the clean cut of the beast's claw.

"What are those?" Mirajane's voice surprised Natsu almost as much as the roll that landed in his lap while he struggled to tie his tatters with a single hand. Looking up, Natsu saw the curious blue gaze of Mirajane shimmering with the crimson light of the fire he had started. It was off-putting. There wasn't suspicion or an underlying discomfort in her eyes as she asked the question, simply open curiosity. It took a moment for Natsu to gather himself before he tore off his pitiful work and began rewrapping his arm with the new bandages Mirajane provided him, perfectly covering the black markings that crawled up his arm like the darkest of ink.

"They've been there for as long as I can remember," he began as he started his wrapping just above his elbow joint and slowly unwinding it down as it shrouded the marks that climbed his arm like wild flames curling and twisting across his skin. "When I woke up they were only around my wrist." By the time he reached the end of the roll Mirajane gave him, Natsu was spinning the remains of the roll around his hand and between his fingers to cover the flare of black that jutted over the back of his palm.

"Why are you covering them?" Again, it was simple curiosity. Unlike their talk on the train, there was no accusation in her questioning. When Natsu looked up from his arm he watched as the woman slid off of her trunk to sit on the ground as her back leaned against the dead tree. She was more hidden behind the crimson flames and slowly deteriorating kindling, but her eyes still peered through the dancing flames.

"I don't like looking at them. It's connected to my magic, somehow." A heavy sigh blew from his nose and Natsu turned his gaze to the ground in front of him. As long as it's been, sometimes he still found himself frustrated at how little he knew about himself. Taking another breath to settle himself, Natsu returned his gaze across the fire and shrugged. "It's just easier if I don't see them."

"What about the cut? Shouldn't you, I don't know, clean it?" Natsu heard Mirajane shift around from the other side of their fire but couldn't see exactly what she was doing through it. "It'd be pretty stupid if the big bad Akuma got done-in by an infection." Her quiet chuckles to herself reached his ears and her words brought a curl to his lips. After all the fights and battles he's gotten himself into, an infection killing him wasn't even something that's crossed his mind before. Those things fell to the wayside when fighting demons, beasts, crazed zealots, and murderous mages on a regular basis.

"It'll be fine by the morning." Natsu followed Mirajane's lead and slid himself to the ground so he could lean back, letting his eyes climb upward to look at the sky as sheets of clouds drifted across it. Pinhole sparkles twinkled idly between the gaps, peering down at him as he stared right back. There was so much he didn't know, so much he wanted to know, but sometimes it felt like all those answers were as reachable as the stars above him. Close enough to see, close enough to know that they're there, but forever unreachable.

In what seemed like an instant, the fire before him was nothing but smoldering embers and the draping darkness of night was slowly relenting to the hazy grays that betrayed the coming dawn. Natsu's eyes were still glued to the sky as he noticed this and he forced himself to pull them away as he sat himself up from the trunk he leaned on and tried to regain some awareness of his surroundings. On the other side of the ashes and charcoal was the sleeping form of Mirajane who found comfort laying atop the thick grass that was tamped down from their rough construction of camp. Around them was unchanged from how they left it. The bodies of their Shadow Crawlers were lumped together near the tree line to his left and nothing else joined them in the clearing.

Standing from his rough seat, Natsu made his way over to the two dead beasts. The burns were significantly more obvious with the mounting light around him than they were with Natsu's magic as their only source of light. Where the flames of his Nether Flare enveloped the creatures was twisted, dried, and shrunken compared to the rest of the flesh that was only moderately burned in comparison. Ugly wounds marring already ugly beasts. The flames of a demon were unforgiving and rarely showed a pleasing sight afterward. Natsu has had his fair share of experience against other fire mages over the years. Some flames were explosive and mighty in raw power, others were nimble in their usage, but none could touch the heat that his could. Even the mage from Grimoire that held golden flames in his hands couldn't show Natsu a flame hotter than his own. More destruction and explosiveness, maybe, but not more heat. That was clearly seen here on these Shadow Crawlers after a relatively simple spell.

It took some balancing and effort, but Natsu was able to hoist the less than pleasant smelling bodies on his shoulders while peeking through the small gap that was left for his own head between the draping bodies. With some unsteady steps to start, Natsu turned around to walk back to Mirajane and the smoking charcoal only to be halted by a smirk and twinkling eyes.

"You got that, Pinky?" Mirajane's voice was filled with mirth as she crossed her arms over her chest. Natsu grunted as he continued his walk, changing his trajectory from the makeshift camp to the approximate direction the Cecelia would be. "Infection and suffocating yourself with dead bodies, it's a wonder how you've made it this long on your own."

Natsu rolled his eyes, not trusting himself to be coherent between the shoulder and rib cage that surrounded his face, as he was now realizing that her joking and taunting was going to be sticking around. Accepting that he would have to wait for another time to defend himself, Natsu shrugged his shoulders to better position his cargo as he made toward the town and deliver their mission's end. If he was able to sit and stare at the sky while Mirajane slept through the night, it was safe to say that the immediate area was clear of more Shadow Crawlers. He wasn't sure what else there was to finish the job officially, but he was sure that the beasts on his shoulders were proof of a job complete.

As he was lost in thought, and concentration of his own movements, Natsu was almost too late to notice the lightening of his left shoulder as the body that draped over it was pulled off of it. Seamlessly, the Shadow Crawler he once held was thrown over Mirajane's shoulders with relative ease outside of the grimace that came with the heavy smell that followed the corpse. Not another word was spoken as they trekked through the woods and directed themselves back toward Cecelia.

By the time they reached the town once again, walking in along the faded trail from the west of town, the sun was already poking above the horizon before them. The orange glow of morning was warming the air and bringing the start to the day. While it was still early, it seemed Cecelia was a place of early risers that all conglomerated at the center of town without any reason obvious to the pair of Fairy Tail mages. It was only when they got close that they heard the raised and stern voice of Alton addressing the few scores of people gathered before his hall.

"Yes, they are out there right now searching for them." Only the back end of his words reached Natsu, but it was clear that Alton was trying to calm his townspeople. By the disbelieving grumbles that grew immediately after, Natsu would say that the townsfolk didn't share Alton's confidence. It was only when some poor older woman turned and caught sight of Mirajane and Natsu did their arrival become apparent, a quick terrified shout ending all other discussion immediately. "Well, it seems that their search has already ended. Welcome back, you two!"

Alton seemed as happy to see them as his people seemed terrified of their arrival. Only when the limp bodies of the Shadow Crawlers were dumped on the ground and put on display for the townspeople who had been worried themselves sick at what was harassing them did they truly begin to calm themselves. Once the inspection of the charred beasts was concluded, all else fell to the wayside as a zealous eruption of thanks was thrown at Natsu and Mirajane. It seemed like everyone in the small town made it a point to share their appreciation of the Fairy Tail mages. Natsu tried his best to let Mirajane and Alton handle the talking and acceptance, but Mirajane made it a point to always drag him right back into it with a certain deviousness lingering in her eyes as she did so. He tried his best to accept the gratitude, but it was obvious to even Natsu that he did a poor job of it. Fortunately, Alton recognized that neither could linger too long and quickly called to give them space so he could pay them for their work.

Two hours passed before they could properly set out for Fairy Tail once again. After the townspeople said their thanks, Alton paid them for the job, and a hearty breakfast was provided, the morning around them had been set into a full swing. The sun was beaming in its rise into the sky when the bag of jewel for the completed job was stored away by Mirajane in a flash of light. There had been a lingering promise of return should more Shadow Crawlers find themselves lingering too close, but as Natsu walked down the path away from Cecelia and back toward the train station they came into he knew that he probably wouldn't see the place again. That was the sentiment he usually felt after he uprooted a dark guild he found lording over some small town or village. He would do what needed to be done and leave without anything else needing to be done or having to to come back. The payment was different, the gratitude more so, but this feeling of leaving it all behind him once it was finished was more than familiar. Comfortable even.

"As fun as this was," Mirajane began after they put some distance between themselves and the town of Cecelia, "We need to hurry up so I can get home, make sure my idiot brother didn't burn down the place, and shower off the forest floor." True to her word, Mirajane began walking at a more urgent pace than they had the day before. She never broke out into anything faster than a walk, but the steps were taken with marked intensity. Natsu didn't argue against it, nor did he have trouble keeping pace. He could only roll his eyes when blue eyes cut over to him in challenge when he fell into step with Mirajane, only for her to quicken the pace a bit more to pull ahead once again.

Whatever hope for a fast, uninterrupted travel was dashed within their first hour of walking. When the figures first appeared on their path ahead of them, neither Natsu or Mira paid them much thought. The path they walked was rarely traveled and it was still early in the day for people to be deep into their travels. Yet, the closer they got the more clear the figures became and the more obvious it was that it wouldn't be something to simply ignore. No more than a shaky glance from a distance was needed to see that they were mages. The center mage wore a gaudy orange jacket over his long lithe frame with plush fur bursting from its collar that sat atop a white undershirt and black pants. His bright blonde hair burst around him in gleaming spikes. To the right was a man with a light white cloak wrapping tightly over his form, showing only a loose pair of gray pants that peaked from the bottom of the cloak. Similarly, the sharp face of the man was mostly hidden beneath the draping pale hair that came down in silky sheets. Filling the other side of the trio was a woman that draped herself in an airy dark blue tunic that bore a gleaming scale pattern over it and white leggings that extended from the tunic's bottom. Dark hair draped over her shoulders in tight ringlets filled with gleaming pearls. All three were dressed so differently, but the one similarity was the symbol that each bore on their person, be it on their neck, the back of their hand, or proudly displayed on their clothes. A coiled tail that released into a spiked half-circle surrounding a point at the center, almost like it was making a creature that was staring outward with an unclear form.

The closer they got, the more Natsu and Mirajane slowed. Before long they were within shouting distance and Mirajane took full advantage. "If you're going to the Cecelia job it's already done." Her voice clearly cleared the space between the two groups of mages but there was no answer returned until they were standing across from each other. Before anything else was said, Natsu was given a look of warning from Mirajane. While Natsu couldn't claim that they were close, the look was all he needed from her to know what she meant. She was taking the lead when it came to talking, something that didn't need a look to establish.

"You two are just coming from there?" The question from the man in the middle seemed more rhetorical than anything. There wasn't much else this way than Cecelia, and that wasn't much of a natural draw itself. The man seemed normal enough, his brown eyes considerate as he thought of his next plan of action. Natsu didn't know the protocol if two guilds accepted the same job. "I suppose there's not much that can be done," it looked like he was about to say something else before his eyes drifted downward, specifically at the white guildmark on Mirajane's left thigh. In an instant, the face of the man hardened itself as a foreboding grin set itself between his ears in an eerie attempt to connect them.

"Think about it carefully, kid." Mirajane's voice came with a warning as cold as ice and as hard as any metal. The temperature around them dropped and the tension mounted in an instant. There was something he was missing, that much was clear, but none of what he was missing involved his readiness for a fight. His eyes shifted between the trio before them, watching as the woman shoved her hand in a pocket sewed into her tunic and bore a sapphire inlaid ring around her middle finger when it came back out. Arms shifted beneath the draping white cloak of the pale haired man that set bright blue eyes on Natsu and his right shoulder displaying the Fairy Tail guild mark. Despite their subtle movements, it was the man in the center that garnered the most of Natsu's attention. The way his eyes narrowed and hands clenched at Mira's stern warning told all that needed telling. He didn't need to feel their hostility that broiled the moment eyes landed on their guildmarks, or the hate and disgust that came shortly after.

"Sea of Fire!" Not even a dozen yards separated the two groups of mages, but when the orange magic seal flashed before the blonde haired man the entirety of that space was saturated with orange flames that exploded upward before collapsing down toward Natsu and Mirajane. To his left, Natsu saw Mirajane preparing herself to evade the cascade of fire that made to consume them like a cresting wave, but he would intervene before she had to.

Unmoving, unflinching, Natsu stared up at the enclosing flames and simply opened his mouth. A single deep inhale was all that was needed to halt the spell in its tracks. The collapsing wave of flames suddenly surrendered itself to an unseen current that flowed directly into Natsu's open mouth. Greedily, Natsu slurped and drank at the flames that he removed from the air. All things considered, the flames were rather underwhelming as his body absorbed the magic and quickly converted it into his own. They were cold, half-baked, and overextended, but suitable to feed his ever-hungry magic.

Within moments the air was cleared of fire and four pairs of eyes stared at Natsu with shock clear in each of them. The magic he ate filled his body with a desperate energy that needed to be released, an energy that fueled the flames that burst to life in his hands and exploded from his body as he rushed forward to cover the distance between himself and the mages across from him. A burning fist pushed itself into the fire mage's jaw in the next moment, driving the man straight down with a fresh burn sprouting immediately on his face. From either side of him, a call of spells came together upon him immediately.

"Spiraling Wave!"

"Razor Wind."

From the glimmering blue ring on the woman's hand came a burst of magic that emitted a spinning torrent of water that intended to drill into Natsu and sandwich him with the spinning blades of wind that meant to cut him into ribbons. There wasn't even a conscious thought in Natsu's mind before he sent himself into action. Flames covered his body in a heavy cloak of crimson as he quickly slipped from between the two spells, the lingering flames behind him contacting the coming water with a hiss of steam rising into the air. When he was clear of the momentary danger, Natsu sped forward and met the woman as her feet met the ground from her fleeing leap to the side. She took a quick swipe at him, her clenched fist brushing past Natsu's cheek, and the flames bursting from his leaning head angrily snapped at the exposed flesh immediately as a gasp escaped the woman's throat immediately. His hand gripped her extended arm before it could retract, the other hand finding purchase on the fine scaled fabric of her tunic's collar, and Natsu's adversary could only widen her eyes as she felt her body get lifted from the ground.

The wind and water behind Natsu collided in a burst of energy, kicking up mist throughout the otherwise eventless field around them. By the time Natsu turned around, there was a clear sight of the advancing wind mage that seemed to glide over the ground with his wind magic propelling him forward. The fire mage was still gathering himself under Mirajane's watchful eye, leaving only the pair of dark mages for Natsu to deal with. Torquing his body in a powerful burst of strength, Natsu tightened his grips on the woman and threw her roughly toward her partner. Being so dead set on the charge at Natsu's back, the wind mage didn't have time to do anything else but brace himself to catch his airborne partner.

Whatever the wind mage did to try and brace himself for the catch was little help once the force of the flying body was truly felt. The widened stance of the man was broken and uplift as his arms parted the enclosed cloak and tried to grab the woman, the pair of them flying backward as Natsu let his lungs fill themselves with a deep breath. The fire that cloaked him gathered within his lungs, stealing the oppressing heat from the air and containing it within himself. It was already over and a tickle of satisfaction sat at the back of his mind for subduing another pair of dark mages.

Just before he could unleash a Rage toward his foes, a figure suddenly appeared before him with a heavy frown and a heavier glare directed at him. A left hand circled itself in deep purple magic and blue eyes showed no lack of resolution within themselves. Natsu didn't need to think to tilt his head up and eject the rush of flame into the air without even a spell spoken or magic circle created. Heat washed over their small portion of the field they walked, a brief light joining the sun in the sky before it dwindled into nothingness. When he returned his gaze to Mirajane, the severity lessened in her own and the magic in her hand tapered off just as the golden transformed claw faded into her fair skin.

"These aren't dark mages. These mages are protected under the laws of the Magic Council. You wouldn't be able to hide behind Master if something happened to them." Surprise settled itself in Natsu's mind and was likely painted across his face as he let his eyes dance between the scrambling mages behind Mirajane and the still grounded fire mage to the right of her. If they were legal mages, why attack them? His mind tried to make sense of it but their foes didn't seem to care about his confusion or Mirajane's warnings to him. The wind and water mages found their feet and seemed keen on retaliating in some fashion before Mirajane whipped her body around to address them, too. "Don't even think about it! I saved your sorry asses once, it isn't happening again."

The warning was caught, heard, and received with a paralyzing understanding. If the words and intonation of Mirajane's warning weren't enough, surely the freely flowing dark purple magic was more than enough to convince the mages to withhold from further fighting. Even the fire mage, who finally found his way to his knees, seemed keen on staying silent in the wake of Mirajane's warning.

"Come on, Natsu. If we have to take a later train because of these assholes I'm going to break something." Mirajane was already walking down the path again before she even finished speaking. "And if you Phantom Lord mages follow us, I'll make sure nothing gets in between Pinky and you three." She never turned back around, simply throwing the words into the air and seemingly not caring if they reached anyone's ears, as one would toss out an afterthought. The three Phantom Lord mages looked toward Natsu with visible trepidation that Natsu met unflinchingly before turning to catch up to the woman walking purposefully away from them.

"Why did they attack? I thought legal mages were supposed to…follow the rules?" Natsu asked with a hand awkwardly scratching the back of his head in thought after some time of walking in silence in-step with Mirajane. They had long left the three mages behind them without another thought needed for them specifically. Still, Natsu's curiosity got the better of him and broke the silence. He didn't know much about the legal world of magic, but he was sure that following the laws of the Magic Council was the main idea of it. As Makarov said to Jellal, guild conflicts weren't something that's been around for a long time.

"They do…some more than others, but anything that would cross the line gets handled by the Council pretty quick." She explained, not breaking her impatient pace as she did so. "Still, not every guild is buddy-buddy with each other. Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail have had their beef for as long as they've existed, and every time we cross paths with them there's a good chance of something happening. Raven Tail is another guild that does what it can to be a thorn in our side, picking fights whenever they can. Then there are guilds like Sabertooth who don't like us because we're strong, but don't actually have a genuine issue to pick a fight over. It might not be the same in-fighting that you see with dark guilds, but legal guilds have their pissing contests, too."

There was something that felt off in hearing that. Natsu liked to think that the world outside of his own, outside of the dark guilds, demons, and zealots, that there was a sort of order. It made him feel like he was helping the darkness of the world from seeping into what was otherwise good. To protect innocence from the darkness of the world. It was another whisper that helped guide him. Another piece that he would desperately cling to, but if the chaos of the darkness was mirrored in the light, then what was he doing? The more Natsu thought about it, which was constant over the past few days, the less sure he became of everything. Of himself. Of what he is, or was, doing. None of it made much sense anymore.

The rest of their trip back to the train station was uneventful. Small words were shared here and there but no other mages interrupted their trek. The small town they entered in the day before was just as empty as it was then. Few walked onto the platforms, fewer walked off when a train pulled in, and it was a peaceful wait for the Fairy Tail mages' train to take them back to Magnolia. Fortunately for Mira's temper and close by inanimate objects, the brief delay of Phantom Lord mages didn't delay their return to the guild. All seemed to have slowed down for the pair…until a voice made itself known.

"Look what we have here. Now we all get to go home together." Faux excitement riddled with sarcasm filled the otherwise quiet train station. A droning sigh tore through the throat of the woman on Natsu's left, her eyes practically rolling into the back of her head as she turned to greet the newcomers in the station.

"For fuck's sake…"


This is chapter 8, I'm currently writing 21/22 right now. I think I need to assure, in case there's some misunderstanding, that we are peeking right now. Peeking into the characters, peeking into the world, peeking into the larger plot. This is not something that will be over in 100k words. I know that because I'm at like 140k right now. It will get faster, we will build up pretty soon, but I always preferred stories that go a little slower in certain aspects at the beginning to ease into the larger scope of things, which is why I chose to write like this. We will see more sides of all these characters, but it will come in time. If that's not your thing, well I'm glad you got this far despite not really feeling it. There's something to be found in that.