Taking Root I

[Macao Conbolt]

"I'm telling you this is turning into a daycare. It's one youngster after another," Wakaba huffed while drinking from his tankard. "I seriously can't remember the last time we got proper adults joining in."

"You are just mad because they aren't hot women of age," Macao retorted as he drank from his own.

"And you are not?"

"... Fair, but I guess we can't get them all. Besides I swore off women already. I don't want a repeat from Enno," he said, the beer suddenly not tasting as good anymore.

Gods above, why did he think marrying that woman was a good idea? Macao guessed that it was the stupidity of his younger years. That couldn't be though, because he was definitely still too young to start thinking like that. It didn't matter that he had a son and was already in his thirties. What mattered was the age of one's heart.

"You say that every time, Macao. You couldn't stop checking out the huge bazongas at that bar the other night, remember?"

"That was a lifetime ago!"

"...It was two days ago," Wakaba retorted.

He had no comeback to that and judging from his friend's smirk, he knew that.

Okay, he'd admit he had a bit of a problem with women. Sue him. Blame was on the one who made it so every single mage girl was smoking hot. It had to be something about the ethernano for sure. He wasn't a scholar, but he was convinced that was the case.

"Either way, why the interest in these two newbies? Were they strong or something? You have been eyeing the Master's office for the last twenty minutes. It's getting a bit creepy," Wakaba asked curiously before bringing his mug to his lips.

Macao didn't deign to answer the last part.

"It's not that. They were about average for a mage that just started out. Nothing unusual, really. I just liked the two of them, you could say. They felt like a breath of fresh air." he answered, trying to place his own thoughts in the matter but he couldn't quite place them.

There wasn't really anything that called for his attention in them. Sometimes, some people just seemed fun to hang around, Macao guessed. He hoped the two kids made it in.

"Speaking of, they're back," he heard Wakaba say, looking towards the side. Following the man's eyes, he saw the two possible new- 'No, they are definitely newbies,' he confirmed for himself. After all, it was difficult to misunderstand the awestruck look Arvid held as he looked at his hand. Macao would bet that he was staring at his Guild mark.

He'd seen the same thing happen with a bunch of new people in the past, after all.

The other one – Saul, if he remembered right. – looked far more moderate in his response. He was just staring at the mark with a contemplative look. Well, not that much better, Macao supposed, but still.

"Ahem!" Master Makarov, who had come from his office along with the two new members, coughed to call the attention of the hall.

Everyone stopped their drinking and chatting to look at the man as an uncharacteristic silence took over the Guild. It usually took far more tries and some angry fits to get everyone quiet enough to be heard. Then again, the guild had been a lot more subdued than usual as of late.

"Now, I assume you already know where I'm going with this while these two new faces are standing next to me. For those of you who can't put it together, or can't see them, then go home, you have clearly had enough to drink for today," Makarov said with a chuckle

His words elicited a few half-hearted jeers and laughs on its own from the other people at the Hall. Macao promptly joined in along with Wakaba but they had to duck under a giant fist when someone at the back pointed out that the one with sight problems was the "old as Earthland Master". The guy got flattened against the far wall, and would probably be made to pay for the repairs.

Poor idiot.

"As I was saying!" the already slightly ticked off Master continued. "We have the pleasure to receive two new members to our family today. These two young men traveled across the entire country just to come join us, isn't that great?" The information earned a much more enthusiastic response from his fellow Guild members. "Glad to know you think the same. Well, without further preamble, these are our two new family members. Everyone give a welcome to Arvid Sawyer and Saulus Lambent-!" the Master said, while pointing at the two new members respectively. "-With a deserved toast! They are now officially part of Fairy Tail!"

The Guild positively exploded with happy cheers and welcome calls. Mugs and tankards were raised towards the two members who seemed to recoil a bit at the loud noises. Arvid looked like was barely getting what the chaos was all about, shying away a little. Saul, for his part, looked mildly annoyed at the shouts and exclamations.

Macao chuckled, he knew what that was like. Fairy Tail could be quite loud when they wanted to, which was honestly most days at any hour of the day. Still, as loud as the greeting was, he could still feel the heavy weight just under it. Perhaps it was the curse of veteran members like him to notice those kinds of things.

The smiles were there, but they looked ever so slightly strained. The cheers hollered, but they were just subdued enough. The alcohol flowed and spilled, but the drinking was missing some of its liveliness. It looked more like this wasn't just good news on a good day, but the ones you used to forget about the bad moments.

He understood why. The Guild was a family and it was hard for one to deal with the loss of one of their members. Especially one as loved as Lisanna was.

Macao, more than almost anyone in the guild, knew that while the Guild was not okay, but they would heal. This was hardly the first time a guild member was lost during his long years as part of Fairy Tail. Regretfully, his experience told him it might not be the last one either.

It suddenly clicked on Macao why he thought the two kids were important.

It was hard to let go of the ones one had lost, but one needed to continue moving towards the future all the same not only for oneself but for those left behind.

And maybe, just maybe, it was those who just joined with hopes of new beginnings that could remind them of that lesson.

[}-o-{]

[Cana Alberona]

"Hey, newbies! Over here!" Macao screamed over the cacophony of noise that was the Guild. She had to wonder if the two could even hear him over all the ruckus. Alas, it seemed they could, considering they started making their way to the bar counter.

With a bit of trouble though, since they couldn't go more than a few steps without someone giving them a rough pat on the back or pulling them into a quick side-hug or generally trying to interact with them. The gloomy one certainly didn't seem to appreciate the attention, by the looks of it. Pretty boy, for his part, didn't even seem to know what to do about the whole thing.

Eventually, they managed to find their way there though and order some drinks.

"You're not very fun, are you?" she asked, giving the newbie beside her a side-glance. He was good looking, she'd give him that. Still though… What kind of adult drank juice at a party?

"I guess I can be considered boring when you experience this often… Does it happen a lot?" he said before tilting his head in doubt.

"Only when we have new members… and every other chance we get," Macao answered, a smile on his face. It was a sad smile though, even if the newbie didn't see it. There were a lot of those as of late, but Cana couldn't really blame anyone. It did make her want to drink more though. At least then her dulled mind wouldn't feel so shitty.

"Sounds like a pain to deal with," the gloomy one replied. He had ordered a beer though, at least, so he was on her good books for now.

"And you haven't seen anything yet. Usually, parties here get a bit more rowdy. At least no one is brawling right now, which is pretty much a miracle," Wakaba said while sitting opposite her. His pipe was already predictably between his lips as he rested his head on the palm of his hand. A tankard on the other raised towards his lips and somehow managed to drink from it, even while smoking from the pipe.

Cana would have asked how the man was doing that, but she was already on thin ice in that regard. Seriously, what was even their problem? They drank far more than her and nobody denied them a beer or two more. Why was she the only one that had to watch how much she drank?

Whatever. At least the party allowed her some extra pints without anyone getting on her case again. For that, if nothing else, she was happy to have these two new guys on the guild, even if one was just drinking juice.

Seriously, what was up with that?

"So, care to introduce yourself, hot stuff?" she asked, making Macao choke on his drink. The pretty boy just blinked at her for a moment before smiling.

"Ah, sorry," he mumbled, bringing a hand up to awkwardly scratch the back of his head. "I guess it's been a bit of a… hectic day, so I forgot. Anyway, Master already introduced us but… Doesn't matter. My name is Arvid Sawyer, and the ball of sunshine over here is Saulus Lambent. You can just call him Saul, though, everyone does," Arvid responded, growing out of the shy act the more he spoke.

He seemed too happy to feel uncomfortable at the moment, if the wide smile on his face was anything to go by.

"'Sup," was all that "Saul" said. Not the talkative type, Cana gathered.

"Well, the name's Cana Alberona, the two geezers in front of you are-"

"Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine, right? The Firestorm duo. I heard all about you guys and how you stopped the herd of Barroths from destroying Calla town, and how… you did… so well… against… sorry," the cute one said in excitement before catching himself and looking a bit shy again. Cana giggled. Seeing him flustered was cute in a way. She had no doubt that he would be breaking hearts in no time around there.

"No no, continue, boy, please," Wakaba said, his chest inflated with so much pride that Cana thought he would pop like a balloon. Macao wasn't that far behind, as he combed his hair back smugly like he always did when he tried to act cool. "I guess it's only natural you have heard about us, Firestorm is pretty well known. So I guess it's to be expected that some fans recognize us instantly. Even if you guys are not our fangirls, I guess we could sign a thing or two for-"

"Weren't you two married?" Saul asked from the side while he drank from his beer.

Those words might as well have been a knife to their side for the two geezers with the way they recoiled.

"I-I guess, yeah… Please don't tell my wife I'm still signing stuff for my fangirls. I don't want to sleep on the couch again," Wakaba mumbled, deflating as he took another few gulps from his tankard.

"No promises," Saul said flatly and mercilessly. "It would depend on how much our silence is wort-"

"We won't," Arvid interrupted, showing that he was, indeed, the friendlier of the two… And nicer too.

" Thank you," Macao all but exclaimed, exaggerating dramatically and making the pretty boy laugh.

'Yep, females in Magnolia beware', Cana thought to herself.

"Yeah… I think I'll like it here," Arvid added then, sharing a look with his friend.

"Well, we certainly would like to have you here too, for the eye candy if nothing else," Cana said jokingly as she wiggled her eyebrows. To that, the man chuckled nervously, avoiding eye contact which… made her raise her eyebrows. Was he not used to that kind of talk? Because she couldn't imagine that happening.

"Cana, no! You are too young for something like that!" Macao said, being a sour puss as always.

"Yeah, Cana! And if you got to flirt with someone it better be with me!" Wakaba added, being gross as always. He was joking, of course, and everyone knew that. Even the newbies. Didn't make it less gross.

Her retort was interrupted by the sound of something big crashing and breaking through one of the tables. Angry shouts filled the hall as chaos ensued. So much for that one being a lame party, it seemed. She wondered if she would be able to get more alcohol if it got worse. Her pint was looking really empty by then.

"Well, I guess we can see what you meant with the whole brawl thing. Honestly, I thought you were pulling my leg there," Saul added as smoke gathered in front of him, stopping a piece of furniture.

'No, not smoke… Ashes? Neat,' Cana thought to herself. Wakaba gave the newbie a considering look before doing the same, but far more refined. A translucent, thin yet deceptively hard sheet of smoke covered their whole group like a dome that protected them from the stray flying furniture. Saul, for his part, dropped his shield with a frown as he looked at the smoke shield in question with interest. Was that his first time seeing someone with a magic similar to his?

"Is it truly always like this?" Arvid asked as he looked through the smoke at the increasing pile of bodies at the other side of the hall. Some of them were frozen in place, meaning Gray was probably involved somehow. Cana could see a pair of boxers resting on top of a chair which gave credit to her theory.

"Most of the time, yeah. Don't worry about it. We're a rowdy bunch, but we have enough self-control to know when to stop punching… sort of," Macao added the last part as a mumble.

"Speaking of the Guild's mood," Saul said as his attention went from the smoke shield to them again. "What was up with everyone when we got here? You all looked like a mess." All three veteran members shrunk on themselves. The joking atmosphere came to a screeching halt in a moment.

"Saul!" Arvid exclaimed, scandalized. It didn't take a genius to notice their reaction, evidently. "You can't just ask that! I-I am truly sorry about my friend. I swear he didn't mean anything with that."

"No, no. It's… fine, Arvid," Macao calmed the increasingly flustered man. "I guess you have a right to know, since you joined. It wouldn't be fair to keep secrets from you after all. Not to mention it's better for you to know now than on a faux pass because nobody had the balls to tell you." Even as he said that, Macao's eyes went towards both Cana and Wakaba, hoping either of them would help him and take his place.

It wasn't a pretty thing to talk about, after all. Cana herself certainly didn't have the strength for that conversation. She never had enough strength for anything, really. So, instead, she downed her pint, hoping that if she kept doing that, the problem would go away. Or, at the very least, it'd make her look too busy to be the one to explain.

Seeing that he would be getting no support, Macao sighed and directed his attention back to the two waiting newbies.

"... We lost one of our members recently," the man started with, getting to the point. "She died on a mission and she was… she was very important to most people around here. It was difficult to dislike her, really. Her name was Lisanna Strauss. You… probably don't know her, but you've likely heard of her sister, Mirajane," he continued explaining, whatever good mood he might have carried from before long gone. As for the duo, they definitely knew what Macao was talking about, at least in regards to Mira. She was a big deal, after all. Just like Erza and… nothing like Cana. "So, the loss hit us harder, not that it's ever easy when this kind of thing happens."

"Basically, yeah," Wakaba took over, when Macao stopped and didn't look like he'd continue. The smoking man placed a hand on his old friend's shoulder and then kept going. "So, don't take it personally if people are… not in the best of moods, alright?"

"I-Of course," Arvid replied hesitantly, as if unsure of what to say. "I'm very sorry for your loss," he added, a sympathetic expression on his face that was nothing like how others looked when they said similar things. They all did so out of manners, because they had to. It was almost on reflex, with no thought. That was not the case with Arvid.

"Nothing for you to be sorry about," Macao waved off, recovering. "Now, this is you two's party, so we can't have the mood this gloomy, ok? If we can't fix this, we'll have to join the brawl," he added, forcing a smile on his face and a chuckle out of his mouth.

It was a valiant attempt, Cana supposed.

"Well, that's a bit of a problem. Gloom and doom is Saul's thing," Arvid joked, although he looked like he wasn't sure if he was allowed to do so.

"I resent that," the man's friend replied flatly and all three veteran members of Fairy Tail snorted.

"Well, welcome to the madhouse, you two," Wakaba told them, shaking his head.

"I'll drink to that," Cana said, bringing his pint up and finishing off what remained in it.

[}-o-{]

[Saulus Lambent]

"I can't believe we are Fairy Tail mages," Arvid said, late at night in the hotel room they'd gotten. His friend had barely managed to keep his eyes off of the light green mark on the back of his right hand ever since he'd gotten it. Saul didn't think he could blame him for that though.

He could scarcely believe that he had an identical one. His eyes moved to his inner forearm where his mark was. The gray color almost seemed to shine even when there was no light. Saul wondered if there was some kind of magic in it or if his mind was playing tricks on him. It had been quite an eventful day, so it might just be his tired imagination.

"Tell me about it," he agreed, still trying to process the fact that they were in, just like that. His mind just couldn't wrap itself around that fact. No interview, no test, no competition, no… anything, just go in, talk and be done with it. He felt so incredibly cheated too, because there he'd been spending years thinking that there was no way he could get in and then…

Saul sighed.

It was all so incredibly annoying.

"Saul," Arvid called, directing an elated smile his way. There was a fair bit of disbelief though. "We made it in. We are in Fairy Tail."

"I gathered as much," he replied blandly – it was the umpteenth time Arvid had repeated that – from where he sat on a comfy armchair in a corner. It wasn't a great place, the one they'd ended up in, but that was fine. It was only for the night and then they'd look for a better place to live for the foreseeable future.

"No, Saul," Arvid said emphatically, moving so he was standing in front of him and grabbing his shoulders. "We did it!" he exclaimed, a little more out of it than any of the other times. This was further proven when his friend started laughing like a mad man.

The fact seemed to have finally dawned on him, it seemed.

'Must be nice,' Saulus thought to himself, holding back another sigh as Arvid started shaking him. After all, he was still trying to understand and process. His mind just refused that realization, he supposed. He couldn't make sense of it.

He had honestly already gone through all the steps, but acceptance, because the whole thing stunk of a scam, no matter how much evidence of the contrary there was. He still felt like he would be woken up by his mom or Miko and forced to do the chores as if nothing had happened. The whole trip would disappear in smoke together with the early morning fog and that'd be that.

Except, Saul knew it was real. The whole thing gave so many mixed feelings that he did what he did best and bottled them up to sort to go through them at his own rhythm later. If at all, that is.

"Would you chase Fairies with us?"

Saul shook his head. He had better things to worry about right now. One of them being making sure Arvid didn't explode out of excessive happiness.

"I get it, I get it. Pipe it down already. Your madman laugh is horrible. Stick to the puppy eyes persona, suits you much better," he grumbled, his voice sounding kind of weird since his friend was still shaking him. "Stop it already," he hissed.

"Sorry," Arvid replied, not looking sorry at all. "I just… I can't believe it, but it happened! I can't wait to write home about this!" he exclaimed, laughing once more. Fortunately, it was a much more reasonable sounding display of joy, so there was that. "I thought… But then they… And we went and… But it was…"

"Are you going to finish a sentence sometime this year?" Saul asked, giving his friend an unimpressed expression. Admittedly, it was nice to see his friend so freaked out, in a way. It reminded him that he wasn't the only one that was… more than a little out of it.

"I want to say like ten things at the same time, so probably not," Arvid answered, not at all bothered by the way he was acting in the face of his happiness. There weren't likely to be many things that'd be able to get through his friend at that very moment, he would bet. "We did it," he repeated once more, running his fingers through his hair.

He sounded much more calm this time though, even if the smile didn't leave his expression.

"I'm just… kind of confused, I guess," Arvid continued, sitting down on the floor and leaning against the wall. "I came here expecting to have to work for it and likely still failing and now… I have it, what I wanted. It feels…"

"Jarring," Saul supplied, the word readily available in his mind.

He felt the same way, after all.

"Yeah," Arvid agreed, resting his head back and looking at the ceiling. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to sleep," he added with a chuckle. "I'm too excited and confused."

"Same, for the confusion, at the very least," Saul commented.

"Yeah, right," Arvid said with a half-smile on his face. "I know you're excited too. If you weren't, you'd have likely smacked me with ashes half an hour ago," his friend pointed out. Saulus didn't deign that with a response, but that was answer enough, really. "And this is only the beginning, can you believe it?"

"No, not really."

"Neither can I," Arvid replied with another chuckle. "But it is. We got here and we joined Fairy Tail. We Guild mages now, from the best Guild in Fiore no less," he added then.

"Yeah," Saul agreed slowly, wondering when that'd stop being… weird to say or even think about. "We did it."

[} Chapter End {]

Arc: Well, Arvid and Saul are now officially part of Fairy Tail. I'm sure they are still processing that. We also added a bit to cement the current point of the timeline we are at currently.

Adrian: We also get an explanation for the mood of the Guild. Or, our boys do. People seem to have forgotten what happened in the early chapters, which is kind of amusing… and a little disappointing, ngl.

Arc: I think it is fine, it's been months since then so I won't blame someone for not remembering a small scene. But with that said, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter because we are certainly enjoying writing them. As always, remember to leave a comment to tell us what you think.

Random Adrian Question: Any guesses what our boys' first job in Fairy Tail will be?

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