July 7th, X384

The Fire Dragon King, Igneel, stood alongside his brethren - the Sage Dragon Belserion, the Iron Dragon Metalicana, the Thunder Dragon King Elexion, and many more. Across from them stood more of their kin. However, unlike Igneel and his comrades, these dragons were far more monstrous, their jaws stained red and their bellies full of innocent human lives.

It tore him apart to know that, no matter what he and his brothers and sisters tried, there was no stopping the dragons of Alakitasia. Even with the newly-added Dragon Slayers to their faction's ranks, the best they could do was a stalemate - and a stalemate they would have. It was why they met here - in the center of what would later become Fiore - to discuss their terms of peace.

It had taken weeks of negotiations, arguments, and Grandeeney had to stop Metalicana from making any rash decisions that would boil over into more conflict.

Still, the terms were laid out, and on July 7th, the terms were solidified. They each read over it carefully, both the dragons and the humans from Igneel's faction.

"No more will our nations shed each other's blood. Ishgar will stray from Alakitasia's affairs, and Alakitasia from Ishgar's, else the bloodshed could very well end all of us," Igneel proclaimed.

It was an age old philosophy - pursuing vengeance would only lead to more loss. An eye for an eye, and eventually the whole world is blind.

"And so it ends with us," one of Alakitasia's own spoke, a blue-scaled serpentine dragon. He was large, larger even than Igneel, but despite their opposing sides, the Fire Dragon King could tell that his kin may have been... reevaluating his choices.

The serpentine dragon's words were echoed by everyone else gathered there that day, before Igneel once again raised his voice among the crowd.

"And so it shall be! Let peace reign between our nations forevermore!"

Such words were hollow - Igneel knew them the moment he spoke them. It was only a matter of time until they waged war once more. But this was a stalling tactic. With time, hopefully the dragons and humans of Ishgar would become stronger, more organized, and capable of fending off Alakitasia's next invasion, whensoever that may be.

Until then, he and his kin would raise more generations of Slayers, in hopes they will stem the tide when war inevitably crashes against Ishgar's shores again.

January 18th, X777

Ten figures stood atop a glowing magic circle, in heated discussion. For their safety, none present were there in person. All of these ten wizards were present via Thought Projection, but one not in the know wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Who were these ten wizards? They were the leading political figures of the magic world in Ishgar; the Magic Council.

"These hunters are out of control," a woman with flowing, thickly-braided locks stated, her voice oozing with contempt.

"The Dragon Hunters, you mean?" An older man with long, white hair and an equally as lengthy beard asked. His scarlet-haired friend nodded.

"They've not died out as you predicted, August. Elexion and Metalicana are dead now."

That caused a murmur of surprise among their fellows around them.

"Before, it would only be a few dragons every year," a third council member added. "Maybe once a month if they were being aggressive-"

"Which is still far too many," the redheaded Councilwoman growled. "We've sat on this issue for too long, five dragons have been murdered this month already, the Dragon Hunters are being more aggressive. Scissor Runner, Atlas Flame, and Levia died earlier this month, as you all well know. Adding Metalicana and Elexion to this list, it is..."

"Foreboding," added a fourth council member, a petite woman who was smoking something from a pipe. The hood she had on did well of hiding her face, but even if one hadn't spotted the peek of her short, white hair, the red-headed councilor would know her voice. "I agree with Irene, but before we take any hasty actions we need to discern who the Hunters' next target is. Do we know if Metalicana or Elexion had any students?"

"Alessandra," August nodded to the councilwoman. Her hair matched his in tone, but she was one of the younger members of the council, being only twenty-three. It was rare to hear her speak during meetings, but given the circumstances, it made sense. "Elexion was one of the more secretive dragons, as was Metalicana," August explained. "They agree with coexistence but aren't forthcoming with details. If they do have any progeny, they wouldn't tell us."

"But would they tell one of their own?" Alessandra asked, her hooded gaze - as well as most of the others' - towards the red-headed woman who started this particular topic of debate. "I'm sure they'd be more forthcoming to the Queen of Dragons after all."

The red-head had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She never much cared for that title, even if she *was* the creator of Dragon Slayer magic, she felt it was disrespectful to the dragons themselves. Surely one born a dragon was more worthy of the title than she. However, the dragons of Ishgar cared little for titles or epithets on most occasions, so it was one she'd been stuck with for the last few hundred years.

"Metalicana never told me whether he did or didn't," she said. "Elexion said he'd been raising an orphan for the last eight years, but I don't know his name or what he looks like."

"If they didn't tell Irene, I fear the only ones who know, then, were the dragons themselves - and their murderers."

Kano lunged across the gap between two buildings, a burst of fire magic landing where his feet had been a moment prior. While mid-air, he chanced a look behind him, towards his pursuers - his father's murderers - and snarled quietly to himself. Four of the fighters had broken off from their group to pursue him after they'd slain his father.

Elexion thought he could protect his ward from the wizards easily enough - he'd told Kano to stay back, watch how an old pro like him handled upstarts. Then he'd been lit on fire by the same fire magic he'd just narrowly avoided. It was a tense battle, one their assailants hadn't left unscathed, judging by the limp the cloaked fire wizard had been sporting, and how he lagged behind the other pursuers.

During his leap, he chanced a look across Crocus' cityscape. It was beautiful, and had he not been running for his life, he would have loved to take in the city's sights.

Another blast of magic whizzing by the boy brought his focus back to the escape for his life, however.

Kano turned his attention back to his front as he landed on the next building in a crouch, a trio of small blades racing past him, one grazing his cheek and drawing blood. He winced at the sharp pain, but pushed through it. He had to get away, but despite their injuries his pursuers were faster than him and much stronger...

So he had to be smarter. The young dragon slayer crouched at the edge of the building, turning behind him as he kicked off from the ground.

"Lightning Dragon's Voltage Field!"

He crossed his arms into an X before bursting them forward. As he did so, a wave of electricity sparked over the top of the building and arced towards the hunters, forcing them to move into a different direction, and taking their gazes off their quarry.

Their sight momentarily broken, Kano took the opportunity to drop in the opening between the two buildings, to the alley below and broke back into a sprint the moment he touched solid ground.

Of course, they would catch on quick, and he heard three pairs of feet land behind him - a bit further behind than before, he noted, but only three of them. Where was number four?

That was answered for him when another trio of knives were sent his way, one narrowly missing and slicing a strand of black hair, while the other two cut across his left bicep, causing the thirteen-year-old to swear in pain. He started to stumble, but Kano narrowly managed to recover, continuing his mad sprint. As he ran through the winding alley, he took twists and turns, looking for an opportunity to escape them, until...

There. Vibrant green eyes locked onto a small crevice just as he turned the corner - small enough to allow him to just barely squeeze through. He wasted only a moment to make sure he'd broken the knife thrower's line of sight before squeezing himself in. Back behind him, he could hear his pursuers stop, evidently looking for him, but he didn't look back. Instead, he quietly crawled through the crevice, praying they wouldn't hear him.

He thought he hadn't made a sound, but apparently he did. His keen nose picking up the smell of fire was the only warning as a plume of flame erupted towards his back. Thankfully, however, Kano was fast enough to get through his small escape route, the fire blasting at his back and leaving his shirt singed, but otherwise the boy was left unhurt.

"He got through, stop him!" He heard another voice call out.

Kano hurriedly glanced at his surroundings, trying to find a means of escape - but only now did he actually look at where he was. One of the main streets of Crocus, and the fire magic that was left in his wake caught more than a few stares from passersby.

He looked around hurriedly, desperately for a way to escape. Thankfully, lady luck favored him that night. As he continued to run, he spotted a stagecoach riding past. Consequences be damned, it was better than being caught by the hunters. He sprinted towards the stagecoach before dropping into a slide, grabbing onto the bottom of the vehicle and letting it carry him away.

He heard the distant shouting of his assailants, further and further away. He'd done it. He'd gotten away.

For now.

"We need to act on this now," Irene said resolutely. "Dragon's Den has been hiding and fighting against the Dragon Hunters and others like them for the last year since their inception, and every time massive destruction follows. If we can help strike them down, we can put a stop to both these murders as well as the damage these battles leave in their wake."

"Or," another councilman interjected, "We could let them wipe each other out."

Irene had to suppress a growl as she, and the rest of the council, looked in shock to the man who put forward the idea. He was a tall and lanky man, his suit jacket pinned with the same cross sigil that adorned both Irene and August's regalia - that of one of the Ten Wizard Saints.

He had a dark complexion, his lower face covered in a goatee. Black dreadlocks that rivaled Irene's own braids in length cascaded down from his head, kept from his face through his magic. His eyes, ones that were a deep brown, almost black, were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

"Varric! These are innocent lives we're talking about!"

"I'm not talking about the dragons," the man explained patiently. "I refer specifically to their progeny. You know as well as I do Irene that many slayers, present company excluded, display destructive behaviors more often than not. Lack of care for wanton destruction, sometimes sociopathic behaviors, and an inability or - possibly worse - the lack of a desire to reign in these destructive tendencies. Even not including Dragon's Den, how many of the Dragon Slayers we have on record have a history of mass destruction of property?"

Irene grit her teeth and glared at the man. Her silence, however, was all he needed to continue.

"My heart goes out to the young Slayers thrust into this new world, and I toss my vote in favor of protection of those Dragons who still live, but I can not in good faith condone supporting an all out war against the Dragon Hunters," Varric finished. "They'll take our support as a go-ahead to cause as much destruction as possible. This war is something we should stay out of, let them handle it. If we're lucky, they'll wipe each other out."

February 3rd, X777

These were no Dragon Slayers - they were demons!

It was like the fury of Hell itself had been visited upon them, the Dragon Hunters' camp was burned to the ground. The Hunter's eyes were overwhelmed with fear as the five figures approached them - hellspawn dressed in human skin.

In a desperate bid to save himself, the hunter and his comrade lashed out - he used his fire magic to blast a current of flame to the Slayers, while his compatriot threw a trio of knives. The man leading the group stopped dead in his tracks, while his two underlings rushed forward. The first of them grabbed the knives with his teeth-

His teeth!

He wasn't sure what was more terrifying, the demon doing that and proceeding to chew the very sharp weapons, or the image of the other figure, a woman, inhaling his own fire magic.

"Tastes like shit," the knife-eating devil grunted as he whipped back a black jacket. He spit a shard of metal back out of his mouth, which embedded itself through the Hunter's companion in the blink of an eye, dropping him to the ground.

"This ain't any better," his female companion drawled, as she finished slurping the fire magic into her mouth. She took one last swallow, presumingly devouring the last embers from the attack. Their eyes turned to the remaining Hunter, who received a knee to the gut from the iron eater, making him double over from the pain before the woman placed a heeled boot to his throat. "You thought you could get away with the blatant murder of dragon kind? That you would escape the coming fire?"

This camp was only one of several, and not every hunter that called it home was present - but those that had been there were either dead or dying. He could see the remaining two Slayers split from the group, casting their magic throughout the camp, followed by the screams of his fellow Hunters. He tried to see the human bodies these monsters must have stolen, but all he could bring his attention to were the traits that betrayed them as beasts; wicked teeth sharper than any blade, pupils slit like those of their mentors, and the raw hatred in their eyes for anything that wasn't them.

At least, that was what he saw. His thoughts were interrupted by another kick in his gut, this time by the heeled she-demon. Her eyes, black as coal, glowed with heat and fury, and right now it was only focused on him.

"I'll burn every last one of you 'til there is naught but ash!" She declared, rearing her head back. He could have sworn that, for a moment, he saw her for what she truly was: a draconic skeleton, bones covered in scales and wreathed in flames. That was the last thing the Hunter would see before his vision turned orange.

"Hell Flame Dragon's Roar!"

Thirty minutes later, true to the Fire wizard's threat, there was nothing left of the Dragon Hunter's camp but ashes.

A threat which a certain red-headed companion of hers was teasing her over. "Ash, huh? Was that on purpose?"

"It was an in the moment thing - and no, it wasn't on purpose," the gray-haired woman groaned.

The Iron Dragon Slayer stood next to her didn't say anything else at first - maybe he was going to but thought better of it. Maybe he just didn't have anything else to say. Until...

"Feel better, Firecracker? Master said these had to be the ones who dropped Atlas Flame."

"It doesn't erase his loss, Lothos," the ashen-haired woman said. "But it does feel good. And, the more of them we kill, the less it'll happen."

"I think the magic council is going to sit this one out," a third, much deeper voice boomed. The pair turned around to their guildmaster.

He was old, well into his seventies, but the only thing that betrayed that were the creases on his face and the white, long hair wrapped into a ponytail, and his bushy beard. Otherwise, he was an absolutely massive man. Standing at almost seven feet exactly in height, and rippling with muscles, he could crush a man's head with his bare hands.

The woman, Ash, knew he could. She had seen him do it once.

His left eye was covered by cloth wrapping, hiding the missing eye she knew was there. His right was as healthy as could be, though, still a vibrant blue.

"Master Cobain," Ash gave a slight bow.

"Really?" Lothos groaned, rubbing the back of his head. His yellow eyes turned towards their master, very obviously irritated. "They've dropped five dragons already and the council's still not doing anything?"

Master Cobain closed his eye and let out a deep sigh. "I'm afraid so. It's going to be up to us. But between us and the rest of the guild, we'll persevere."

He rested a massive hand on both Lothos and Ash's shoulders, giving them a warm smile. "C'mon you brats, we're heading back to Shiro until we find more of these hunters."

June 17th, X778

It had been over a year since the Dragon Hunters had spiked in activity - worse still, their attacks weren't exclusively on dragons. Irene had hoped that any previous Slayers that died were simply caught in the crossfire - but the bodies of Slayers, left disfigured and desecrated by their murderers, kept turning up far away from any dragons. They were, all of them, being hunted. Since then, she'd done her best to make her own kingdom of Dragnof a safe haven, where dragonkind and Dragon Slayers alike could be safe. It worked in the confines of her kingdom, situated on a plateau in the mountains as it was, but they had to be cautious, and that meant locking out anyone who wasn't a citizen or a dragon. Even for Slayers they had to be careful, as there was no telling where their powers came from. Now even they needed a Dragon to vouch for them to be allowed entry.

Things had been tense for her, and the rest of the Magic Council. And things began to bubble over when she received news of the council's latest scheme, which she had been left out of.

That was why she found herself now in Era, stomping towards the office of her least favorite councilmate.

"Varric!" Irene snarled as she thrust open the door. Sure enough, the man was there in the same suit he always wore. He was looking down at a stack of papers, quill in hand as he seemed to be signing something. She had a clue as to just what that was.

At first, the man didn't acknowledge her. He brought his attention to a stone sculpture sat next to him - one of several decorating his office - where he collected his signature sunglasses and put them on before turning his attention to his guest. A creative use for the statue, she supposed, though she never understood his fascination with them "Irene, frankly you're here sooner than I expected."

"You want to make super soldiers!" She growled. "Machias, powered by dragon lacrima?! Varric, you know what someone has to do to make one of those!"

The man held a placating hand up towards his colleague. "Of course I do. It's regrettable, but we have the means of retrieving this dragon lacrima in the most ethical way we can."

"And how exactly do you manage that?" It was clear Irene was still furious at the idea, but nonetheless Varric continued.

"Ever since the Dragon Hunters upped the ante, so to speak, criminal markets are flooding with dragon lacrima, either picked from scavengers or sold by the hunters themselves to the black market." He put a hand to his temple. "We take advantage by reclaiming those lacrima. Not only do we stop them from falling into criminal hands, but we put them to use to defend ourselves."

"From Alakitasia," Irene guessed.

"Exactly," Varric nodded. "You and I both know one of these days, they'll decide to strike again. Difference is, this time we'll be prepared."

"And you still didn't consult me first?" Irene scowled. She understood the logic behind the plan, but part of it still unsettled her.

"You were busy in Dragnof, and I wanted to get the jump on this as soon as possible," Varric said with a shrug. "Sorry Irene. Even if you were there, we had seven in favor. Only the chairman and one other argued against it by the end."

At least she knew August was sympathetic to how she felt about this. Then again, when your uncle and surrogate grandfather were dragons, it was plain to see why she and August agreed on many things in regards to the species.

"Be careful, Varric," Irene warned. "Dragons are fierce, independent creatures. Trying to shackle something with one's spirit is begging for something to go wrong."

With that, she turned and strode out, trying to ignore the shivering as she did so. The man's quarters were always cold.

Once she was gone, Varric returned his sunglasses to the statue next to him, setting them in its outstretched hand, then refocusing on the paperwork before him.

January 18th, X784

Today was the day.

Seven years ago today, he lost the only person he'd ever considered to be family. This day always gave Kano a bitter feeling, a surge of uncharacteristic anger, and today he was making it his opponent's problem.

Bosco may have been a crime-addled cesspit of a country, but it was a good place to lay low and earn some jewels. Especially if you were willing to beat people for it, or take a beating. And that was where Kano found himself, in a cage below an audience of spectators cheering or booing, depending on if they bet on him or his opponent.

Sure, there were plenty of places he could have gone in Ishgar. Fiore was usually pretty peaceful, but ever since Elexion died he dared not risk going back there.

He could have gone to Desierto, been eaten by a giant sand snake or something, but the people there had a natural distaste for Slayers of all kinds.

Caelum was a hub of technological advancements - it was where the magic mobile was first invented, and the people prided themselves on information there. Not exactly somewhere safe for someone being hunted, though. If someone discovered his magic he could have those Hunters breathing down his neck again.

Dragnof would have been ideal, but due to the increase in dragon murders, only citizens or those with dragons vouching for them were allowed in. Considering his dragon was dead, he couldn't exactly get that.

So, Bosco was where he'd started his new life, the port city of Port Hanshen to be precise. It had taken him years, traveling through almost every country in Ishgar along the way until he was certain the hunters lost his trail or thought him dead, but he'd done it. He ended his journey in Bosco two years ago, where he finally started working. During his time on the road, he'd also picked up a few things to help him hide his Dragon Slaying magic, mainly new magic to use instead.

That new magic was, in fact, how he was thoroughly beating the opponent before him.

As the two pushed each other away, their backs hitting the cage they were thrown into together, Kano grinned. The young man brought his right hand up, covering the right half of his face, leaving only his eye exposed through two fingers. His right eye turned to a deep purple, his Weak Point Magic allowing him to spot weak points on a person's body. The opponent's right knee was pretty banged up, a good strike would make him collapse. The front of his throat would be a good way to ensure he wouldn't get back up, too.

Knowing this, he put his other magic to work. As his opponent charged towards him, Kano disappeared from view, instantly appearing behind his foe with his teleportation magic. He kicked the back of the man's right knee, forcing him to the ground. He teleported again, this time to the fighter's front, delivering a swift chop to his throat and knocking him out cold.

The second his opponent hit the floor of the cage, Kano heard the mixture of cheers and angered shouting from the spectators. He paid them no mind, however, as the victor was released from the cage.

After his victory, Kano was quick to head home. An old apartment he'd been renting out since he arrived in Bosco. It was decrepit, the floorboards squeaked, and he had a roommate in the form of an oversized rat.

He called the rat Remmie. Remmie was a nice rat, so Kano left food out for him sometimes.

As he entered the apartment, locking the door behind him, Kano took off the white and gold jacket he was fond of, dropping the article of clothing - alongside his winnings for the day - on his couch. It was second hand, of course. The furniture was ripped up and most of its outer layer was gone, but it had been cheap, so Kano couldn't complain too much.

He then went into his bathroom, splashing water on his face to wipe off the blood from it - some of it was his, some his opponent's. The bastard had gotten some good hits in, he'd give him that. He looked back up towards the mirror, rubbing a hand over his face and the stubble that was slowly returning to it. His black hair - long and reaching to the middle of his back - could do with a wash, he noted. His fingers traced over the scar on his cheek, a memento from the night he escaped, his caramel skin marred by one of his assailants.

A change in the air, his nose suddenly caught a strong scent very close by, and his eyes saw a figure moving behind him in his mirror.

He whipped around, arm ready to strike, but he was caught by his wrist mid-strike. He eyed this new assailant to see a woman clad in garb that reminded him of a ninja. Black wrappings covered her head except for her eyes, a pair of sandals and feet covered in nothing but deep blue wrappings up to her knees, from there up covered by black hakama pants. The hand that caught his wrist were wrapped much the same as her feet, and Kano noticed a cascade of blonde hair flowing from the back of the woman's wrappings. As expected of someone who looked exactly like he'd imagine a ninja would look like, she wore a black uwagi jacket, but he could tell she had similar wrappings to the rest of her outfit underneath it as well.

"Shadewalker," Kano murmured in realization. He'd heard of her, a member of one of Bosco's few reputable legal guilds, although no one ever knew which one she belonged to. She would simply show up, finish her job and leave. When it was clear he wasn't going to attack her again, the woman released his arm. "Any reason in particular you're breaking and entering? Or do I get to guess?"

He walked around her, exiting his bathroom and back to his apartment's living room. From behind, he heard her say: "I saw your fight."

"And?" As he asked, Kano inspected his hands, wrapped in white bandages with red stains, some faded and old while others were fresh from today's fight. "You a fan or somethin'?"

"No, but I want to recruit you."

"I didn't think legal guilds recruited cage fighters."

"I didn't think I'd find a Dragon Slayer in a cage fight," she retorted with a shrug.

"Dragon Slayer? Tch, only Slayers ain't dead are part of that guild the next city over - Dragon-something - in Dragnof, or they're workin' for the council." Kano said dismissively.

"You'd be surprised," Shadewalker replied. "You're not the first Slayer to wind up in Bosco. Besides, the way you wield your magic? You do it well, enough for your regular wizard to think it's all you know. But to an expert like me? I can tell it's second nature to you, you're hiding your primary magic. And in my experience, Bosco's cage fights have never been one to deny any type of magic, so why not use every advantage? Instead, you use other magics and restrict yourself, what else would you be hiding?"

Kano snarled at the woman's accusations. "What do you want from me?"

"I want to invite you to the guild you mentioned," she stated plainly. "Dragon's Den."

"And how do I know you aren't working with the Dragon Hunters?"

"I would have attacked you the moment you confirmed you were a slayer."

"I didn't say I was a Slayer."

"You didn't, true, but your reaction has told me everything I need to know."

Kano inwardly cursed his carelessness, crossing his arms. He opened his mouth to speak, but the woman raised a hand to stop him. "I'm not here to force you into the guild. We're not that kind of place. But look at your living conditions."

Shadewalker adjusted her already raised hand to motion towards their admittedly shabby surroundings. As if on cue, a small box of leftover pasta fell off of Kano's small table, Remmie the rat tumbling out of it and scampering out of sight the moment he noticed he had company. "I think our jobs will pay much better than what these cage matches net you - and you won't be the only Dragon Slayer taking refuge there. On top of that, the guild's amassed enough members that the Dragon Hunters won't risk a direct attack on the guild. You could use your magic without fear of being on your own, and you'd have others like you to watch your back."

"True enough," Kano admitted. "The Four Dragons of the Apocalypse would scare just about anybody," he murmured with a shiver. He'd had the opportunity to meet one of them years ago, and she had been utterly terrifying. "I thought you guys were selective in who joins the guild - something about a chain only being as strong as its weakest link."

"We are," Shadewalker admitted. "You'd be sent on a mission with a handful of other guild members, other new recruits if the timing happens to line up, and a veteran member specifically to evaluate you. I approached you because I believe you'd fit our criteria even without your Dragon Slaying magic."

The blonde was quiet before adding, "And, truth be told, things are getting more dangerous for Dragon Slayers. We can scare the Hunters off from attacking us directly, but they're always getting bolder, and with the Magic Council making leaps and strides in their Fourth Generation project..."

"The robot dragon slayers, right?" Kano asked.

She nodded. "Yes. Master Cobain believes we need to collect more of our kind, and so he's also loosening our requirements in hope of gathering more members."

"And that's why you're stalking people to their homes to recruit them," Kano reasoned.

"Please, would you have actually stopped to hear me out if I wasn't standing in your living room?"

"No, but you might wanna learn personal boundaries if you want me to join," Kano snarked.

"Does that mean you're considering it?"

Kano shrugged. "Gonna stop me from leaving if it doesn't work out?"

"Of course not."

"Then it won't hurt to give it a go. Besides, I wanna see what a guild full of Dragon Slayers operates like."

"Temper those expectations first," the woman managed a dry chuckle. "I had expected cold professionalism and an intimidating aura when I joined, only one of those were true."

"I'm expecting booze and a guildhall that's broken more often than not," Kano quipped as he turned away from her to glance around his apartment room. "Guild have dorms, or am I still rooming with Remmie for the time being?"

"Remmie?"

"Him."

He pointed towards the Ninja girl's feet, and when she looked down, Kano laughed as she jumped back. Remmie had been right at their feet, looking up at the mysterious intruder.

"Motherf-" Shadewalker's swear was interrupted as she slipped on a discarded piece of paper and fell. She didn't hit the floor, though. Instead, she fell into her own shadow, vanishing from sight.

Kano looked behind him again to see her rising from his shadow, huffing in frustration. "That's a fat rat."

"Yeah that's Remmie," Kano explained.

"Well, then to answer your question: we don't have dorms or anything like that. Members figure out their own housing situation. However, given we aren't situated in Port Hanshen, but further inland in Shiro..."

"Right, gonna have to look into moving," Kano groaned. "Fuck me, dude. When do we leave?"

"Whenever you're ready."

"I'd be good to go tonight, but I'm beat, had a lot of fights today," Kano mutered. The boy looked around his abode, gathering anything important he'd want to take with him. He didn't have a lot, but there were a few knick knacks he'd collected that he liked to keep. His hand drifted over a pendant, and he hesitated for a moment before grabbing it and fastening it around his neck. "First thing in the morning?"

"That would suffice," Shadewalker agreed.

"Great. By the way, you have an actual name I can call you? 'Cause callin' you 'Shadewalker' is cool and all, but it can be a mouthful, even in my brain." Kano glanced back to her as he asked, setting his rodent roommate up on a shelf.

"My name is Amethyst, but you can call me Ame," the now-dubbed Ame told him.

"That's a lot better," Kano murmured. "Name's Kano, but you probably already knew that."

"I did, but there are a few things I'd like to know before we leave, if you don't mind my asking," Ame said politely. Her gaze almost never seemed to leave Remmie, causing Kano to stifle a chuckle.

"Shoot."

"What element of Dragon Slaying Magic do you use?"

"Lightning," Kano answered. He raised a hand and, while it took some willing, it eventually started to spark and crackle, the faint smell of ozone filling the room. "I haven't willingly summoned it in years, though. Been trying to suppress it to keep the Hunters off my trail. Might take a bit to get back to how I was before."

"And are you protected from your Dragon Seed?"

"Yeah, Elexion made sure we got that handled. He helped brew up the original thing they based the modern vaccines on, so he got me situated and safe," he explained. "So it's not on-record anywhere, but when that was the only method back in the day it never failed, so I don't have to worry about it."

To his knowledge, most Dragon Slayers didn't have to worry about dragonization anymore. It was a naturally occurring problem for First and Third generation Slayers, but with the advancements of modern medicine, for the last 150 years there were ways to halt the Dragon Seed's development, rendering it harmless to the host.

"What about you," Kano asked. "What's your element?"

"Oh, I'm not a Slayer," Ame stated quietly.

"Really?" Kano asked. "I thought Dragon's Den's whole thing was being full of Dragon Slayers."

"It is," Ame explained. "And while it's infamy and name come from that, we don't exclusively recruit slayers. We have many members with other forms of magic. Like myself - I use Shadow Magic, among others."

"Alright, damn I guess I'm really doing this," Kano muttered. "Alright, swing by tomorrow at ten and I should be ready to go."

Even though her face was mainly covered from view, Kano had a feeling she was smiling as she rested a hand on his shoulder. "You won't regret this."

The wizard gave a slight bow before sinking back into her own shadow and disappearing from view, her scent along with her. That left Kano alone with his thoughts - and Remmie, but mainly his thoughts. Was he really going to do this?

Risk everything to use his magic again? His dingy life he built up, for one that would let him be free, with others like him?

Hell yeah he would. Kano grinned, lightning sparking across his body at the mere thought of it. "Huh, haven't done that in a while."

A/N: Okay, whew, hi, friendly neighborhood author here to add to the oversaturated market of Fairy Tail SYOCs. Why, you may ask? I thought it would be fun, and had a lot of silly little ideas that I needed to get out of my system one way or another. That and via Discord I've had the opportunity to interact with other fans of the franchise, including other authors here, and I've been inspired. So, here's the first chapter of Dragon's Den folks, I hope you enjoyed.

And for those who like scavenger hunts, I've hidden two video game references and one meme reference in this chapter, first person to spot each one gets an internet point. If you spot a reference I forgot or didn't notice, you get two internet points. We'll even keep a little tally.

On a more serious note, thank you for taking the time out of your day to check Dragon's Den out, even if it didn't turn out to be something you enjoyed. It's my first real foray into publishing a written work, and I appreciate it. If you have any thoughts, advice, or criticism please feel free to leave it in the reviews. I want to improve as an author, but I can't do that if I don't realize I'm doing something wrong.

For those who are interested in submitting OCs, we'll start with characters purely for Dragon's Den, then branch out to include other groups, such as the Dragon Hunters, the Magic Council, and potentially more. I might be getting a little ambitious here, but I'm looking forward to it and hope you all will to.

The form for characters will be on my bio - please submit them via DM, not review. Characters submitted via review will be ignored.