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Chapter One: The Town of Hargeon

The kingdom of Fiore, a small nation of about seventeen billion whose people rely heavily on magic; bought and sold in every marketplace and found in every home...Magic is but the source of everyday life. With the presence of magic, there are many guilds whom have banded together to perform tasks and such at the request of others. One in particular seems to draw a lot of attention. One that holds as much excitement as it does untold adventures. Its name...is Fairy Tail.

Port town of Hargeon/Train station

"Umm, e-excuse me...miss?"

Th train conductor spoke with a hint of concern in his tone as he debated the safety of approaching the sick-looking pink-haired girl lying against the floor of the train with a somewhat pale look on her face as her small blue cat companion came up to him. "Natsumi, we made it to Hargeon!"

"Come on, get up already!" The cat said, beginning to poke at the still limp girl as she remained on the floor, causing the conductor to sweatdrop.

"Is she alright?" The train man asked worriedly, wondering if perhaps he should call for someone. The small cat merely turned. "She's fine, she always gets this way when she travels..." The cat declared nonchalantly with a paw raised.

"Never again.." The pink haired girl groaned slightly, lifting her head. "...I'm never riding a stupid train ever again. Urk!"

"If our information's correct, then we should find that Salamander somewhere in this town..." The cat said, stepping towards the exit as he paused, looking back at his companion who had now managed to stand and was resting her head outside the window of the cart they were in. "Just give me a second..."

The cat had already stepped off the train when he heard the roaring of the engine, causing him to turn his head. He saw a look of despair painted on his friend's face as she leaned out the window of the now moving train with tears in her eyes. She gave an animated yell of protest, screaming. "NOOOO!"

"Uh-oh..." The cat said, standing on the platform. "...there she goes."

ELSEWHERE

"What did you say!?" A blonde girl asked, placing her hands on the counter looking at the elderly man standing behind with a look of disbelief on her face as her male fellow blond companion leaned against a wall, nonchalantly looking around at the shelves with a look of boredom.

"You mean there's only one magic shop in this whole town?" The girl questioned, earning a 'tch' from her companion. "See? I told you so...the people here are more into fishing than magic," the boy stated, folding his arms behind his head and earning a mock glare from the girl before she turned back to the shopkeeper. "Are you sure?"

"Afraid so, miss. It's just like your friend says, people tend to fish more than shop around for magic." Was the old man's response, causing the blonde haired girl to sigh. "Ah man, I can't believe we came all this way for nothing..." The girl sighed.

"Who's we? I couldn't care less about coming here..." The boy responded coolly, earning another half-hearted glare from the female. "Quiet, you!" she retorted, slightly annoyed with his 'don't care attitude' before the voice of the shopkeeper pulled her back to reality.

"Now now, little lady, no reason to fret...I have all the latest goods, let me show you a few," he said, beginning to rummage around a bit. "This colors magic is popular, especially with the girls. It lets you change the color of your clothes."

"Ooh, sounds like you're set, Lu-chan," the boy joked, causing the girl to pout a bit. "I already have that, you moron..." she muttered the last part, though he still heard through the soundpods he wore over his ears and gave a look of amusement with how easily she could be ticked off.

"Anyway, what I'm really looking for are some powerful gate keys," the blonde girl stated, looking at her traveling companion, who merely sighed, pushing himself off the wall as he rested a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Lucy, you know how hard those are to find..." he began, but was cut off by the shopkeeper, who placed a small box on the counter.

"Gate keys, huh?" he said, opening it to reveal a silver key with some type of insignia on it as Lucy ran over looking at it with excitement in her eyes. "Oh wow, it has a little doggy!" she exclaimed happily, causing the boy behind her to give a light chuckle of amusement, noting the small girlish squeal she had given. "Yes, but I'm afraid it's not all that powerful," the old man warned.

"Heh, sounds like junk to me..." the boy responded, giving the item a quizzical stare. He received a light smack on the shoulder from the female. "Oi, Laxus!" she said in an authoritative tone that made him roll his eyes. "So, how much?" Lucy asked.

"Let's see, how about 20,000 jewel?"

Lucy felt the previous excitement fade as the corners of her mouth twitched a bit, hearing Laxus stifle a laugh in the background. "Uh, I'm sorry, how much?"

"I said 20,000 jewel." he repeated calmly.

Laxus knew immediately Lucy didn't have that kind of money on her, which meant she was going to try and cut herself a deal using what she called 'sex appeal' and sure enough...

"Come on now..." Lucy began moving to sit atop the counter while striking a cute pose. "..how much is it really?" she asked in a flirty voice that made Laxus almost gag.

Back in the streets of Hargeon

"Ugh! I can't believe he only knocked off a thousand jewel!"Lucy huffed, stalking off in who knows what direction with a still grinning Laxus. "Oi, what's the big deal? You still got your key, didn't you?" Laxus reprimanded as Lucy came to a halt. "Yeah, only 'cuz YOU paid for it! And don't think I didn't hear you laughing at me in there!" she said, crossing her arms against her chest.

Laxus gave a heavy sigh before walking past her. "H-hey, where are you-"

"I'm going for a walk. Don't worry, I'll be back," was all he said as he soon disappeared from the girl's sight.

"That guy..." Lucy began when a couple of screaming girls ran past her.

"Are you serious? She's really here!?"one asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's really her! Salamander!" the other answered.

"Salamander!? As in the one who uses rare fire magic that you can't even buy in stores!?" Lucy squealed, racing off after them in curiosity and excitement.

WHACK!

"O-oi, take it easy man!" one of the thugs pleaded, looking at the blonde teen standing before him with fear and panic in his eyes, hearing the said boy crack his knuckles in a threatening manner. This caused him and the other two to scurry away screaming in terror...

"Tch...what a bunch of amateurs..." The blonde boy said, kneeling down as he picked up the discarded bag of groceries careful not to spill any as he turned back to the woman once again. "Here." the woman gave a smile, taking the bag from him and expressing her clear gratitude.

"Don't mention it lady, take it easy..." he said, walking away with a small wave of the hand as he did so, not bothering to turn around. As far as he was concerned, he just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Nothing more, nothing less...

"Sigh...well, that killed about five minutes," The blonde muttered to himself before beginning to look around for the girl he was traveling with. "Where did she go?" he mumbled, continuing along an empty cobblestone path kicking a pebble lightly along the way when he heard an unfamiliar voice coming his way. Lightly tilting his head, he saw a girl with pink colored hair walking,-more like trudging in his opinion- towards him with a look of annoyance on her face as she continued talking with...

"Is that...a flying talking cat?" Laxus paused for a moment, blinking as he stared at the animal in question. The girl stopped as well, giving him a curious stare with the cat floating beside her. "Yeah, so? Got a problem with that?"

"No, it's just weird is all, to be honest I couldn't care less what kind of animal it is..." He said, beginning to walk away.

The pink haired girl blinked after him in both curiosity and a slight twinge of annoyance. That was the first time someone didn't flip out over seeing Happy like that. She decided to shrug it off and continue her search for Igneel, though couldn't seem to shake the somewhat alluring and familiar scent that the boy seemed to give off.

It kind of reminded her of Master's...