Salamander

Salamander.

A dark wizard from the guild Void's Embrace. One of Fiore's most infamous wizards. Labeled as the most wanted wizard by the Magic Council due to to his destructive tendencies. More than one village had been found burnt to cinders in his wake.

Salamander was a wizard who parents invoked when their kids would misbehave. "You better listen to me, otherwise Salamander will come get you in the night," they would say. Then the kids would shiver in fear and obey unquestioningly.

The salamander in question was currently walking the streets of Hargeon in broad daylight. He was just another traveler, albeit one who stood out, what with his bright pink hair and piercing black eyes. His clothing didn't lend him to discretion either. He wore a sleeveless, gold trimmed, black waistcoat, and a patterned white scarf was wrapped snugly around his neck.

Really it was fortunate that nobody in Hargeon knew of Natsu Dragneel's true identity. Otherwise, he would have no other option than to kill them.

Salamander didn't necessarily enjoy killing them, but it was one of the reasons that he had managed to maintain his anonymity despite being Fiore's most wanted. No one he faced on the battlefield lived to tell the tale - unless he let them, of course. Usually, his magic was enough to bully people into being quiet.

The other reason was that despite oozing confidence and arrogance, nothing in Natsu's aura gave off an evil vibe. While he might have rather condescending towards others, in the eyes of those he had spoken with so far, he was a rather friendly character.

Despite the smile that was plastered on his face, Natsu was angry. He had had to endure pure agony - a several hour train ride to the port city of Hargeon. Though it embarrassed him to no end, he had the most severe motion sickness of anyone he knew. Master had told him to be discrete, thus bringing Happy was out of the question.

Thus, when the train had finally pulled into the station, he had stumbled out of the carriage, and fallen to his knees. The solid ground below his feet was a blessing, which he had worshipped, drawing strange gazes from passerbys. One of the station masters had come to investigate the scene.

"E-E-Excuse me sir? Are you feeling alright?"

"Does it look like I'm feeling okay?" Natsu had asked angrily. "Stupid machines from hell," he had mumbled, under his breath. He had spat once on the ground, fighting the urge to vomit, before standing up, and calmly walking towards the exit, much to the surprise of those who had stopped to watch. "It isn't polite to stare you know," he said, adjusting scarf to ensure that the black serpent tattoo that snaked up and around his neck was hidden.

The other people at the station had sheepishly continued on their ways, while the station master was left standing, aghast.

A shirtless mage was walking down the streets of Hargeon, whistling as he went. He had black hair, dark blue eyes, and a well-toned abdomen. If he was to be honest, he didn't want to be in Hargeon, but he supposed that he might as well make the most of it.

The dark blue emblem on the right side of his chest signified that he was Fairy Tail's Gray Fullbuster. As per his habit, he had ditched his shirt before even boarding the train from Magnolia, though he had fortunately retained his pants.

Gray was here on orders of the guild's master, Makarov. He had been asked by the Magic Council to aid in capturing the dark wizard, Salamander. Underworld rumor was that Salamander was currently in Hargeon, and so Makarov had asked Gray, one of the guild's stronger wizards, to go capture him.

"Bring him back alive. The council insists that they must question him." Those were the exact words that Master Makarov had told Gray, before sending him off.

"Did they say anything about him being harmed?" Gray had asked, a knowing look in his eyes. Master Makarov had simply shaken his head, confirming Gray's beliefs. "Alright, sounds like this job will be fun then."

"Be careful, my child," Makarov had whispered to Gray's receding from as he had left the guild hall. Though Gray may have been one of Fairy Tail's stronger wizards, a likely candidate for the S-class trials that would take place later, Salamander's strength was unknown.

The ice-make mage was so caught up in his own thoughts, that he didn't notice when he rounded a corner and ran smack into someone else, sending the himself sprawling.

"Oh. I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," said Gray, looking up at the stranger he had accidentally bumped into. Gray wasn't too impressed by the man in front of him. Though he was well-muscled, the pink hair and white scarf gave him the look of a comedian. Gray took the hand that the stranger proffered to him, and climbed to his feet.

"Hey don't worry about it, I was distracted too," the man said with a laugh, showing off his overly sharp canines.

"Isn't it sort of weird to be wearing a scarf in the middle of summer?" Gray asked, conversationally.

"Haha, you might be right. It's a memento from an old friend, so I like to keep it close. Anyways, you aren't exactly one to be judging fashion. You're not even wearing a shirt."

"What? Oh damn it." Gray looked down to see that he indeed had lost his shirt somewhere. The man laughed and continued walking on, leaving Gray desperately trying to remember when he'd taken off his shirt.

Gray shook his head to clear his thoughts. He wouldn't let some stupid clothes distract him from his true object, Salamander. Though how he was supposed to find one man in a city of thousands, he had no idea.

Unfortunately, he hadn't realized that he had unwittingly bumped into the very man that he had been tasked with bringing in.

"What? You mean there's only one magic shop in this whole town?" The seventeen year old girl in the shop could have cried then and there. Lucy was a celestial wizard, and had come to Hargeon hoping to be able to find more Gate Keys to add to her collection.

"Afraid so." The owner was cheerful, despite Lucy's obvious skepticism. "The people around here are more fishing folk than magic folk. I reckon most people in town don't even know how to use magic. I set up this shop to cater to the wizards who happen to be passing through the area."

She sighed, "looks like I came here for nothing then."

"Now don't say that. I have all the latest goods. Like this ColorS Magic," he said, showing her the small rectangular device. "It's the latest hit among all the young girls. Simply spin the dial, and you can change the color of your clothes."

"I know, but I already have one of those." Disappointment was etched into her face. "What I really want are some powerful Gate Keys."

"Gate Keys huh? That's an unusual request..."

"Oh wow, look," Lucy squealed excitedly, "the little dog, the Gate of Canis Minor, Nikora."

"But that's not very powerful you know,' the shopkeeper told her.

"I don't care, I really really, want it." She picked up the box which held the shining silver key. "How much is it?"

"Twenty thousand jewel."

Lucy nearly sweatdropped. "Excuse me, how much is it?" she asked again, pretending as if she hadn't heard the man the first time.

"I said twenty thousand jewel," he replied in an annoyed voice. The shopkeeper knew that being the only magic shop in town, he could charge higher prices, and he would be damned if he didn't drive a hard bargain.

"Oh come on, how much is it really worth?" Lucy jumped onto the counter and began talking in a playful voice. "Surely you can cut me a nice deal, right?" She made sure to accentuate her ample assets, while giving her most winning smile, and batting her lashes. She winked at him.

Moments later, she slammed the door shut as she stalked angrily out of the shop. She stormed past a couple of men who looked at her curiously, another man drawing a cart full of goods, a pink haired man with a white scarf, and a couple exiting a restaurant.

"One thousand. I can't believe he only knocked off a thousand jewels. Stupid old geezer must be blind or something, that trick always works. So much for my feminine wiles," she said with a scowl. "Oh well, at least I got the key."

She was too self-absorbed in the moment to notice a bit of a crowd that was beginning to form.

"...Salamander..."

"Is he here?"

Someone said..."

People were muttering quietly while Lucy walked on obliviously, blind to her surroundings. Until a gaggle of teenage girls rushed past her, nearly knocking her down.

"He's really here."

"Salamander's so dreamy."

"Salamander?!" Lucy exclaimed in confusion. "As in the wizard who uses fire magic you can't even buy in stores? He's in this dead-end town?"

Despite being a dark wizard, Salamander had steadily built up a fanbase. Tales of his destructive exploits had rapidly circulated the land, and as a result, he had captured the heart of many a young girls. I mean it was almost every week that wizarding magazine, Sorcerer Weekly, had a new story about him.

Lucy grinned and began running towards the crowd that she know saw forming. "I gotta meet this guy."

After a moment of struggling she managed to wiggle her way to the front of the crowd. Her jaw dropped, and her heart started to beat faster. In front of her stood a fairly tall mage, with a handsome, rectangular face, sharp, defined features, and captivating black eyes. His blue hair was parted to one side, and he flashed his pearly whites. Above his right brow, was a tattoo of a pair of stylized tongs, which completed his dashing looks.

A dark, high-collared cape stretched down to his knees. It was patterned on this inside with some lighter colors, and fastened just below his neck by an ornate flame. Underneath the cape was a plain white shirt, and maroon, pinstriped pants, and he wore golden bracelets on both his wrists. On one hand were several odd-looking rings.

Lucy felt her heart speed up even more. Her face turned red as he made eye contact with her. She felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. 'Is this what love feels like,' she thought. 'Maybe it's because he's a celebrity.'

Suddenly, she and the rest of the girls in the crowd had their attention drawn away by someone else shouting, "So you're the famous Salamander, huh?"

A shirtless mage pushed his way forcefully through the crowd, until he was face to face with Salamander. "I kinda expected something more. But either way, I'm here to take you down."

Before anyone had time to react, Salamander was thrown against the wall of a nearby building, and then sliding down into an unceremonious heap on the ground.

"How could you do that?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Don't you know that's the famous Salamander?"

Lucy felt her heart break as Salamander got back up, only for him to get slammed against the wall again as the shirtless stranger yelled, "Ice Make: Lance." This time, Salamander stuck to the wall, frozen their by a block of ice.

Hysterical screams resounded as the crowd quickly fled. While the other girls ran, screaming, Lucy simply watched the mage do his work.

"Thank you," she said quietly, after the ice mage turned back around and saw her.

"Huh?" The ice mage merely looked at her in confusion.

"He was using charm spells to hypnotize all the girls, so he could kidnap them. Makes sense that he's a dark wizard seeing as he's using magic that's been banned for a long time."

"Oh don't mention it. Although, I didn't really mean to save you," the shirtless mage told Lucy. "I was just supposed to capture this guy from a magic council."

"That means you're a guild wizard right?" asked Lucy. "WAIT YOU'RE FROM FAIRY TAIL?!" She jumped excitedly when she recognized the blue guild mark on his chest.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it's only that FAIRY TAIL IS THE MOST AMAZING GUILD IN THE WORLD. It would totally be my dream come true to join them."

"Hmm, what?" he said disinterestedly. Instead of paying attention to Lucy, he was staring at the platoon of guards that was running towards the two of them.

"Hey what's going on over here," the guard's commander asked the two wizards.

"I'm Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail. I was sent here on orders to capture the Dark Wizard Salamander. I would appreciate it if you would take him from here." At these words, Gray jerked a thumb towards the man who was still frozen to the building. He had been knocked unconscious, but was slowly coming too.

"WAIT! I swear I'm not Salamander. My name is Bora." He started yelling as he struggled in vain to free himself from the ice that held him captive. "I promise you, I'm not the man you're looking for."

"Isn't Bora the guy who was kicked out of Titan Nose?" It was one of the guards who spoke up.

"You're right. He is," said the captain. "Bora the Prominence, you are hereby under arrest for kidnapping and participating in slave trade." Both Bora and Gray had gone pale as the captain spoke. The guards quickly shattered the ice, and placing Bora in magic cuffs, began to lead him away, leaving a very confused Lucy, and a very distraught Gray.

"I failed."

Lucy looked up at Gray in surprise. "You didn't fail. After all, you captured Bora by yourself."

"You don't understand. I was under explicit orders to bring in Salamander at all costs. I must go back to the guild and accept my defeat." Dejectedly, he turned away from Lucy and started walking in the direction of the train station.

"H-H-Hey. Don't run off like that, wait for me." Gray didn't even spare a glance as Lucy ran to catch up with him. "At least let me thank you for saving me. Lunch is on me"

Gray stopped walking and sighed. He supposed that it wouldn't hurt. Now that he had already failed to bring in his target, it wouldn't kill him to spend a little extra time in the town. And either way, he could use a bite to eat. "If you insist."

A few minutes later, the two wizards were seated comfortably in silence, in a booth in one of the nearby cafes. Lucy had ordered, and was currently sipping on a small cup of chai tea. Gray on the other hand, was busily chomping down on a chocolate croissant. Somewhere along the way he had managed to find a shirt.

Finally, Lucy spoke up, "so you're the famous Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail?"

"You could say that."

"In that case, it's an honor to meet you. My name is Lucy. I've always dreamed of joining Fairy Tail."

"Oh really? So you must be a wizard then too."

"Yeah I'm not a regular wizard though. I'm a celestial wizard, so I use gate keys instead."

'Gate keys, huh... how many do you have?"

"Well..." said Lucy, as she rummaged through her bag. "I've got 5 of these silver keys. They aren't that special though, because they can be bought in almost any magic shop. I've got 3 golden keys though." She finally pulled out three shiny golden keys from her bag. "These are known as Zodiac Spirit Keys. There are 12 of them, and they correspond to each of the 12 Zodiac constellations. So far I have Aquarius, Taurus, and Cancer, but I'm trying to collect all of them."

"Oh that's pretty cool. Sounds like you're a powerful wizard yourself then."

"Eheheh." Lucy smiled nervously. "I guess you could say that."

As the two wizards sat in the restaurant, a certain pink haired wizard passed them by. He was going to go pay a visit to Bora. After all, Natsu couldn't have weak wizards like sullying his name. No. He would show Bora the Prominence what happened to those who tried to steal his identity.

After finishing off his croissant, Gray wiped his hands on a napkin, stood up, and walked towards the entrance. Lucy looked at his receding figure sadly; she had hoped he would have told her how she could get into Fairy Tail.

Gray was almost through the door when he paused. "Hey, aren't you coming?" he called back to Lucy.

"What?" Although she felt her heartbeat rising, she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail, right. How are you gonna do that if you just keep sitting there?"

"You're going to take me to Fairy Tail?" she asked, still unbelieving.

"Well not if you don't follow me. Come on already. I do still have to report to Master that I failed." He let the door of the restaurant slide closed, and began walking towards the train station.

"ALRIGHT!" Lucy scrambled as she grabbed her purse, nearly dropping her keys. She ran towards the door, quickly shoving some bills into a confused waitress's hands. Gray was already a couple of blocks away, so she had to run to catch him.

"It's not your fault you know," she said, panting to try and catch her breath. "It's not your fault that you didn't catch Salamander."

"How do you figure that?" Gray asked.

"Well, someone must have told you that Salamander was in this town, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose that someone must have told Master, who told me."

"In that case, you couldn't have known that the Salamander here wasn't the real Salamander. If it's anyone's fault, it's the fault of whoever fed you the wrong information."

"When you put it that way, I suppose you're right," Gray said after a moment's hesitation. "All the same, I still need to let Master know that I failed to capture Salamander."

After a moment Lucy spoke up again. "It might be a bit rude of me to ask, but where's your shirt?"

"EHHHH?" Gray looked around wildly in confusion. He had definitely been wearing a shirt when he left the restaurant.

That evening, a pink haired man walked into the jail where Bora was being held. He calmly walked up to his cell and looked inside. It took Bora more than a few moments to see that there was someone standing in the receding daylight.

"Who are you? You're here to get me out of here right?"

"The answer to the first question is, I'm you. And no, I'm not here to break you out."

"What do you mean you're me?"

"Well Salamander," said Natsu venomously, "you see, I am also sometimes known as Salamander." He calmly held out his palm, which immediately burst into a crisp white flame.

Bora paled visibly at those words, and he backed up to a far corner of his cell. "No, it can't be you. What do you want with me?" His voice was shaking and he had broken out in a nervous sweat. He stared apprehensively at Natsu. The white fire on his hand was tinged with flecks of blue flame. It danced around on his palm, and bright outlined his face. With the setting sun, it gave Natsu an evil, sinister look.

"Well Bora. I rather enjoy being called Salamander. And it rather irks me when someone tries to steal my glory. After all, you haven't set an entire village ablaze just to watch the villagers run about in terror, have you?"

Bora grew even paler. His face was as white as a sheet, and he was visibly trembling. "Y-Y-You're not h-h-here to k-k-k-kill me, are you?"

"Of course not," Natsu said as he let out a laugh. "Why would you think that? I'm not that kind of monster."

"Phew." Bora relaxed slightly.

"When I'm done with you, you'll wish I had killed you though," Natsu said, still smiling. Bora blanched again and looked just about ready to pass out. He began desperately crying out in terror.

"Aww don't scream. It hurts my ears. No guards will be able to hear you anyways." Natsu's tone was sinister, and his voice carried a dangerous edge. "All I need you to do, is look into my eyes."

Slowly, Bora looked up at Natsu. He saw the white fire in his palm, reflected in his eyes. Bora was captivated by the dancing light - he couldn't pull his eyes away from it. Suddenly, he began screaming in pure agony.

Smiling, Natsu left the jail, leaving the poor man convulsing on the ground as he screamed out "SALAMANDER."

AN: Well I just got back into the FT fandom after rewatching the anime. This was an idea I had a while back, and I hope you guys will like it. I've changed up Natsu's powers a tiny bit (I'll explain more later, when it's becomes relevant).

While there are a lot of good canon based stories out there, I feel like a lot of them move too fast/gloss over a lot of details, so I'll try out a slower pace to start with. If you don't like it let me know.

Also, I think this is a good length for a chapter because I should be able to update every 1 or 2 weeks. Again if you don't like it, let me know in the reviews. Depending on the feedback, I might try to speed up production on this story, but at the same time I have some other ideas I want to get started on.

I hope to see you all following/favoriting/reviewing so you can stick around for the ride.