A/N: CHA! A new chapter!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!


Chapter Three: Old Friends

Even with the autumn weather set in and the river being freezing cold, Aldric had to stop in front of it to clean himself up and to clean his lance. He had already finished cleaning himself up as best he could and had moved onto his weapon. The rain had stopped for the day, but the clouds hung thick, heavy, and gray, practically threatening to let loose another shower. Aldric moved his hands quickly in order to be back on his way to Crocus before that happened.

He grumbled over a few patches of dried demon blood on the blade, wishing he had time the night before to clean the weapon instead of waiting until that morning to do it. Every so often, he got a whiff of the horrid smell of the demons, which only soured his mood further. He just wanted to be rid of that smell. He had traveled with it all night and he was completely over it.

"I best get used to that smell though," he huffed as he rubbed a patch clean, leaving the blade shining in the dull light of morning, "We'll be facing many more of those bastards."

He was on the last dirty spot on the blade when he suddenly felt another presence in the area he occupied. His body grew tense, he dropped the towel he had been using to clean the lance, and his hands tightened around the weapon. He turned on his heels quickly, doing his best to not make noise. He stared out into the woods that surrounded the river, trying to catch any sign of movement. He saw nothing, but he knew that never meant that there wasn't anything hiding from him. He decided to slowly move towards the trees, crouching down behind a rather wide trunk.

Aldric waited for another few minutes, but the sense that someone, or something, else was in the area with him remained. He moved a leg out from behind the tree, wanting to move further into the forest. Just as his foot touched the ground, an arrow whizzed by him, sticking in the ground right next to his boot. He quickly brought his leg back in beside him, cursing at the thought at having to fight more demons. He assumed this to be a higher leveled demon, considering they were using a weapon to fire at him.

He then heard a whisper of movement heading towards him, and Aldric knew then that he would have to jump into a battle mindset. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself before lunging out from behind the tree, letting out a shout as he thrusted his lance forward.

He came to a screeching halt as he realized that it was a human that stood before him, arrow already notched and ready to be released right into his head. The other man looked just as surprise to see another human instead of a demon, considering how wide his eyes had gone when Aldric revealed himself. The two men stared each other down for a long moment before realization donned on them.

"Holy shit, Hull!"

"Aldric? Aldric! Jesus man, I almost took you out!"

"Yeah, right, and you were almost skewered!"

Hull let out a laugh at the man, "Oh man, I didn't expect to meet up with anyone until I got to Crocus."

"Same, I guess we just have good timing."

"I guess we can put these away," he motioned towards the weapons. He placed his arrow back into his quiver, placing his bow over his shoulder, "Dude, I'm so happy to see you! How have you been?! And look at your hair! It's so long now you can do a manbun!"

Aldric placed his lance on his back with a smile, "I figured a manbun suited me," he said with a chuckle, reaching a hand out towards Hull. The two men clasped hands before pulling each other in for a hug, "And you look about the same. Still got that lumberjack look going on," he said once they pulled away and motioned towards his red, blue, and black checkered flannel he wore along with jeans and hiking boots.

"What can I say? My fashion sense has always been on point!"

"Ariel would tell you differently."

"Ariel is too into brand names. You think that dude is still mad that we split for five years?"

"Probably," Aldric said with a grimace, remembering how angry the man had been with the decision on the group splitting up, "But I also think he'll be too overwhelmed to see us to remember to yell at us anymore over it."

"Only if he shows."

"He'll show. Out of the twelve of us, he's the one I'd bet money on to show."

"I'm hurt! You wouldn't bet money on me?!"

"You're already here."

"True," Hull said, moving to follow Aldric when the man motioned to follow him back towards the river, Hull picking up the arrow he had shot earlier on the way, "So what have you been up to these five years? And where's that nephew of yours?"

Aldric came to a stop upon hearing Hull's question. Luckily for him, they had come to the river's edge, so his sudden stop didn't come off as odd to the other man. Aldric did his best to shake the tension from his body as he grabbed his lance and dipped it into the water, grabbing the towel again to finish cleaning it, "Gotta save those stories for when everyone is together again in Crocus. Don't want to be telling stories over and over again, yeah?" he said, forcing a smile to come to his face.

Hull stared down at him, an eyebrow quirked, but decided against pushing Aldric for further information. If he remembered anything from five years ago, he knew how stubborn Aldric could be once he made up his mind about something, "Yeah, I guess you're right," he shrugged as his eyes moved to the weapon in Aldric's hands, "You run into some demons recently?"

"Last night," he answered, inwardly sighing in relief that Hull had let things go for now, "Six of them ambushed me, or at least tried to. Their smell gave them away. That's why I was on edge when you came into the area."

"Same. I ran into some pawns myself a couple days ago. Their scent is always so bad no matter how many times I smell it," he said, making a disgusted face, "But they're getting bolder, coming this close to Crocus. It won't be long before they try an attack on the capital."

"I know," Aldric agreed as he wiped his clean blade dry and locked it in place on his back, "But Queen Hisui has created a much more powerful Rune Knights. Dealing with the demons is on the daily for them, so they have to be much stronger than they once were. And then there's also Prince Shian. He's a talented mage, combat trained, and can run battle strategies around most of the generals in the Rune Knights. That's what the rumors say anyways, but being the son of Hisui, it's highly likely that those rumors are true. Crocus won't go down easily."

"I guess the prince has come into his own over the past few years. Still won't stop the demons from moving forward though."

"Yes, well, that's what they do," Aldric said, pulling his hood up as drops of rain finally began to fall, "And that's why we need to stop them, so let's get heading towards Crocus while it's still considered a safe city."

. : + : .

By evening, the pair were about a mile outside of Crocus. They had made it out of the forest and onto cleared land for farming that surrounded the capital. They had been on the main road close to an hour when they caught sight of dull iron and steel. They exchanged looks before walking quicker to reach what they saw.

Upon getting closer, the two men realized it was an army of Rune Knights that were making their way back to Crocus. The huge group was made up of magically run jeeps and tanks, knights on horses, horses pulling carriages, and men and women everywhere walking forward in sleek, dark armor, the emblem of Crocus branded into the heart of the armor in a blazing white.

Though, the worst sight had to be the plethora of unmoving legs sticking out from a few of the back carriages, Aldric and Hull both knowing that they were full of dead knights. They cringed and frowned at those carriages before moving forward to speak with one of the walking soldiers.

"Excuse me!" Aldric called out, receiving several turned heads his way. He made eye contact with a young woman and he beelined towards her, "Who is leading this group?"

"Who wants to know?" she snapped, scowling at the two random brunette men in front of her.

"Touchy," Hull said.

"I'm not in the mood to entertain fanboys."

"Look, just tell us who's in charge and we'll get out of your hair," Aldric said, hoping the prospect of being left alone would be enough for the woman to answer him.

"Tch, General Mallory, now piss off!"

"Thanks," Aldric said, nodding to her and taking off towards the front of the army.

It took the men some time to make it to the front of the army, but once they made it, it was hard to miss who was in charge. The man was surrounded by other soldiers, but his black armor was smooth and glossy, almost like moving silk, despite scratches and chips showing in the armor. The brand of the Crocus emblem was a glittering silver over his heart, and the silver cape laying out behind him looked as soft as velvet. Even his horse stood out, considering it was a huge Shire horse, its body a midnight black and the hair around its legs a milky white.

"General Mallory!" Aldric and Hull called out to him, waving to get the man's attention.

Many of the soldiers around the general turned towards the two men, their hands immediately going for their swords.

"What do you want with the general?!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"To speak with an old friend!" Aldric said.

Upon hearing Aldric's words, the general busted through the soldiers around him, the goliath of an animal coming to stop directly in front of Aldric and Hull.

"Sweet Jesus! Are you trying to compensate for something with that thing?!" Hull said, motioning towards the horse.

"Those are bold words, even for old friends," the general said, looking at the two men through his helmet.

"Yeah, well, I've never really been one for sugarcoating."

General Mallory watched the two men carefully, "Who are you two? What old friends are you supposed to be?"

"Seriously dude?! It's only been five years!" Hull shouted.

"Maybe you should take that damned helmet off and come back down to earth with the rest of us, Cedric," Aldric said, a smirk playing at his lips.

The man did just that, sliding down off his horse and landing with a heavy thud. His soldiers wore shocked expressions, unsure of how to deal with their commander listening to random strangers. The general then pulled off his helmet, waves of black hair spilling from it. A pale face with dark stubble looked at them, his pale gray eyes taking them in. Then without warning, a huge smile broke across the man's face, causing a scar across his face to scrunch up, and he moved in much faster than expected to bear hug both Aldric and Hull. The soldiers in the background practically had their jaws on the ground now upon seeing the general hugging two unknown men.

"About damn time you recognized us," Hull said as he patted the man's back hard.

"You'll have to excuse me," Cedric said as he pulled away from the two men, "We've been walking in the rain and cold for days after fighting in the rain and cold for days. It tends to make a man slow after a while," he explained, his smile waning for a moment, "But look at you two! What a surprise! I was beginning to think you'd never show your ugly faces in Crocus again!"

"Look who's talking," Hull said.

"This thing is a goldmine in attracting people to warm my bed, if you catch my drift," he said, pointing towards the large scar on his face and lifting his eyebrows up suggestively.

"Yeah, we got it. You still haven't learned the meaning of subtlety," Aldric said with a laugh.

"Don't think I ever will," Cedric said, grinning widely, "And what about your own scar? You still coming up with wild stories for it?" he said, turning to Hull. Hull opened his mouth to answer, but Cedric cut him off, "Wait! Don't tell me yet! Save it for later at The Dragon's Horde! That's where you're heading, yeah?"

"Yes," Aldric said, "That's where we agreed to meet everyone again."

"The whole group?!" Cedric asked, excitement clearly evident in his voice and on his face. He earned a nod from both men, "Wonderful! I can't wait to see the rest of their ugly faces too! Come! Walk with me! I'll escort you back into the city!"

Aldric and Hull placed themselves on either side of Cedric and the trio began walking forward, leaving the rest of the soldiers still in shock and to take care of Cedric's giant of a horse.

"So where are you all coming from?" Aldric asked.

"Oak Town," Cedric answered, frowning, "Demons have been trying harder to take over the town, so we were sent out to stop them. We finally managed to get them to retreat, but we lost a lot of good men and women doing it. They're getting stronger with each attack and I'm afraid we're going to lose another big city soon. We can't afford to keep losing cities and towns like this."

The two men agreed with him.

"They're getting closer to Crocus as well," Aldric said, "Both Hull and I fought groups of them on our way here."

"I'm afraid of that too. It will take a lot to take Crocus down, but if they're starting to move in on the capital now, that must mean they believe they have the means to take us out."

The trio became quiet at that thought, each thinking of what could be done to stop the hordes of demons.

"I am happy to see you two again and that you're meeting the others in your group as well," Cedric said lowly, "I remember what you told me on what you were planning on doing. I don't wish that on my worst enemy, but if going after The Order of Ash means it'll stop all the chaos and death, I hope you are victorious in your journey. You all are braver men than most and I look up to you all more than you know. You give me hope when it feels like you are all about to lose yours."

It was now deadly silent between the trio. The two men wanted to thank Cedric for his words, but it was hard to do so when they also knew he was right. For everything they were going to be fighting for and for all the people they would be trying to save, they were certain they would be losing more than they knew in the process.


A/N: And there we are! I hope you enjoyed it!

Credits

Hulltor 'Hull' Vale – Hawk725

Any characters not listed in the credit portion are my own creations, so if you don't see them in the credits, they are my characters.

Whoo! I was finally able to get this completed! And I'm so excited that I was able to introduce one of the other characters in this chapter! I hope you all liked him. And I hope he turned out the way he should have for his creator! I already love the relationship between him and Aldric, and then adding Cedric into the mix between them made it even better (minus the serious moment at the end there).

Anyways, all slots have been filled, so thank you to everyone who sent in characters! I hope you all will enjoy the entire cast once we meet them all!

There are also a couple people I will be getting back to in PMs here soon. I was busy the past couple of days, so I have been unable to get back to a couple of questions. Just know I have seen the messages and will be getting back to you soon.

Thank you to everyone for the reviews and for reading! You all are super awesome!

I think that's it for this time around, so until next chapter!

Yours Truly,

MyDearWatson