First Impressions

"The great Fairy Tail, huh? Well, it does look kind of nice on the outside..."

Aeon looked sideways at her little Exceed, who was perched on her shoulder. As was her nature, Mauveine was scrutinizing the guild house with dead seriousness. Always got Aeon amused. She remembered the time they just got to Magnolia, and had moved into the house which they currently rented. It had taken three days of hectic spring cleaning, with Mauveine ferreting out all the 'shady' effects, as she had termed them. Aeon chuckled, getting a quizzical stare from Mauveine.

"Um... I was asking what you thought about it."

"What? Oh, sorry. I think it looks like a house," Aeon offered, clearly not as meticulous as Mauveine to know exactly what she was talking about. "At any rate, I think we should go inside. I hear it's often a riot inside."

"Should we have signed up here, what with all their alleged unruly behavior?" Mauveine sounded a little scared. Aeon reached over and patted her head gently. "Don't panic, Mauve. You've got me watching you," she said reassuringly, before stepping to the doors and pushing them open.

Inside, it was not a riot. That, because a riot could hardly explain the pandemonium that both of them saw. It was nothing short of an all out brawl. Both 'girls' stood transfixed at the doors as people fought each other, ducked flying projectiles and bodies... Oddly, they seemed happy and content about it, like it was some sort of family ritual. Then a chair sailed out of the blue and smashed into the wall beside Aeon's head. Mauveine yelped.

"Hey...!" Aeon began, and then stopped short. Everyone was staring at both of them. Aeon didn't know why she felt a little nervous, although she did a perfect job of masking it behind a stoic expression. Well, perhaps because it was her first time here, and all this... attention was a little overbearing. Then as if on cue, all of them began gushing over Aeon and Mauveine.

"Hey, it's the new girl I told you about..."

"She's got a pretty cat, too. Here, kitty..."

"We've got a guy with a cat here, too..."

And lots of other such stuff followed. Aeon tried as calmly as possible to fend them off as gently as she could, though it seemed futile. It was so hard listening to everyone at once, and both girls began to wish for all that attention to be turned elsewhere. And then, their wish was granted, when one of the boisterous ones, in an attempt to show off what-they-didn't-know, tripped over another person and crashed into a third. Push and shove, and in a second, Aeon and Mauveine were in the center of another brawl. Aeon quickly pulled Mauveine off her shoulder, doubled over her and made a mad dash for where the fighting was least: a large bar which stood at one end of the large common room.

After dodging here and there, a shove here, and a punch there, Aeon was successful in extricating Mauve and herself out of the mayhem, and to a vacant seat at the bar. There, they met the bartender, a polite, good-natured young woman who immediately offered them drinks, which they thankfully took.

"Are they always like that? Mauveine asked exasperatedly, as she watched the combatants in action.

"Yeah," the barkeep replied lightly. "Exuberant, huh?"

Mauveine shook her head and looked at Aeon. Aeon had an odd smile on her face. Then at length, she said, while taking a seat, so that her back was to the bar and she was facing the common room: "Crazy... but they still seem warm. Rather very warm. They might need an occasional beating up to organize them, but... Fairy Tail? Think we'll like it here."

"Bye-bye to peace and quiet, huh?" Mauveine replied, though she smiled also, even though with a sigh.

Ardere walked into the guild with his exceed fang. He was a average sized man that appeared around 18. He had long black hair with a knife braided at the edge, red face paint in stripes, a white coat, and slouched as he walked. He sat down and asked for a bottle of sake and a cup from the bartender. He poured some into the cup until it was full and began to sip from it. Fang jumped up onto the counter. He was an average sized exceed about 2 feet long, black with a purple belly, and pointy ears. He was always excited and loud. Hey Ardere can I have some? He gave Fang a look that immediately told him "No". Fang shrugged and sat down on the bar.

Shortly after ordering a drink he saw a young girl walk into the guild. She must've been new. She had a familiar scent like Kiannus. When he saw the small exceed he knew it, she was a dragon slayer just like him. Not many dragon slayers were around so he was glad to see one. She walked through the guild very clumsily and tripped over some people. He smirked a bit until she walked over to the bar and got a drink. He wasn't very good with people so he wasn't sure to introduce himself or not. They probably had a lot in common considering they were dragon slayers. He wondered what happened to her dragon. He should probably ask her and start up a conversation. He chugged the rest of his sake and took a deep breath. He scooted to the seat next to her and was going to introduce himself.

Hi I'm- Immediately Fang interrupted him and cut him off mid sentence. HI. I'm Fang and this is Ardere. So you must be a dragon slayer and exceed too right? Fang was extremely excited. He didn't get to talk to other exceeds or dragon slayers often. This made him happy he wouldn't be lonely in the guild now. Then Ardere lifted Fang up and put him on the table. He wasn't the best talker but he tried his best and spoke normally. Hey, so are you umm new? He slowed down a bit and the nervousness went away making his sentence much smoother. He didn't want to make a bad impression on this girl considering they would be seeing each other a lot lately. Hopefully she didn't notice how nervous he was at first.

Both Aeon and Mauveine turned and looked at the young man as he took the seat beside them. Aeon noticed that he had yellow eyes... like hers. And he felt sort of familiar. Mauveine was looking at his Exceed, however.

"He's a Dragon Slayer, Aeon," she quietly intoned, though she was sure that Aeon was aware of that fact. The man tried to introduce himself, but well, let's just say his Exceed beat him to it. Both girls smiled.

"Feisty, isn't he?" she thought, concerning Fang, but she wasn't at all put off. This was actually the first time she was seeing another Exceed, and well, Fang was kinda cute, like Mauve.

"Pleased to meet you, Ardere, Fang. I'm Aeon, and this is Mauveine." Mauveine, who had relocated herself to the top of the table, curtsied. Ardere then asked if she was new. Aeon nodded in reply, then said: "Yeah. Just joined the guild not up to three days ago." She was sure that she'd be making most of the conversation from her side; knowing Mauveine, she was always shy around strangers, and so would tend to remain silent.

Fortunately for Ardere, Aeon was not actively using her life/emotion sensing abilities, and thus she didn't really notice his nervousness. Like him, she had always wondered why Aetherodicon had vanished, and wanted to know whether he still kept in touch with his dragon. If anyone would know about such stuff, it would be another Dragon Slayer.

"Mind if I ask you something, Ardere? Seen any dragons lately?"

Ardere nodded as the girl spoke. She seemed very nice and her exceed was very pretty. It had been a long time since he had conversed with a fellow dragon slayer. She was new to the guild and would probably make a great addition to it. Then she asked him something that shocked him. She asked if he had seen any dragons lately. He immediately felt his chest tighten. He missed Kiannus. Kiannus was an amazing dragon that had raised Ardere. He was gigantic and purple. He looked at the girl and replied very calmly but with a slightly louder tone so he could be heard well. Actually I-I haven't. I searched for years for Kiannus and never found him. Have you? He felt a blunt pain in his chest still prompting him to lean his head forward with a face that said homesick almost. Kiannus was his home. The thought of never finding him again pained Ardere.

He hoped the girl would say something to cheer him up. It had been a long time since he had thought about dragons. He began to sip some more sake to calm his nerves a bit. He loved sake, it was very soothing. So where are you two from? What made you join the guild? What's your favorite color? Fang was so excited to meet another exceed and dragon slayer he just couldn't hold it in. He didn't even notice the sadness Ardere was putting off. He looked at the girl exceed, she was pretty but quiet. Kinda like Ardere, Fang thought.

Without even her powers, Aeon felt the loss in Ardere's voice as he spoke. So, he was close to his dragon... like herself. Somehow, she had expected that answer, though she had hoped he would have said something otherwise. When he threw back the question to her, she sighed and shook her head, her eyes lowering to the drink she held in her hands.

"No. It's been three years since I last saw any dragon; the one who raised me, to be exact. It's still a mystery to me..." she trailed off, and did not finish the sentence. Like Ardere, she wondered whether she would ever see her 'father' again...

Fang, Ardere's Exceed suddenly began barraging them with questions. Aeon snapped out of her musing, an amused expression on her face. Fang seemed so excited. Seemed like a very fun-to-be-around cat. She looked at Mauveine, who seemed to often take furtive glances at Fang. On noticing Aeon was watching her, she made a mock scowl and pretended not to show any interest in the other Exceed. Aeon laughed lightly.

"Well, Fang, I don't really know where we're from, crazy as that may sound. What made us join the guild? Well, I'm not sure, but Fairy Tail seems like family enough, no? Favorite color? Hmmm, I think that question is for you, Mauveine."

Mauveine, who was taken off-guard by that, turned to stare at Aeon, then Fang and Ardere, then stuttered something and remained silent. Aeon laughed again. "Mauve's a shy one, isn't she? So, how about you guys? Why'd you guys join up with Fairy Tail? And what's it like, here?"

She wasn't so sure that it was wise to start telling them of her past, not until she knew more about them, and could trust them. They did seem like a nice bunch, though.

Ardere and Fang nodded as she answered the questions. She seemed like a very nice girl and would be good to have around. Fang jumped up and down answering the question before Ardere could. We joined because we were homeless and broke! It's great here! Everyone is so nice and loves to wrestle! We play around all the time and do lots of missions! He gave Fang a look that told him to chill. [color =red] We joined the guild because we didn't have anywhere else to go. Plus...it's like a family here..[/color] He seemed to emphasize on the word family. The only family he had before Fairy Tail was Kiannus and he dissapeared randomly.

Ardere had seemed to feel a bit better he wanted to keep on talking to the girl and maybe get to know her better. He didn't have that many people talk to him often. [color =red] So...what do you uhhh... like to do for fun?[/color] He wasn't really sure what to ask her exactly. He didn't have full conversations with anyone other than Fang often. He needed another subject to talk about. Hey uhhh if you wanna....maybe we could go on a mission sometime? Two dragon slayers and two exceeds it'd be uhhh....cool... Fang jumped up and down with excitement. Yeah! Let's go on a mission! Fang was getting all jumpy again and smiling.

Fang described the guild as being interesting, people being nice and loving to wrestle. At those words, Aeon smirked, while Mauveine looked genuinely disturbed. So, that fracas which they had just pulled themselves out of was a regular process? Aeon, reading Mauve's thoughts, grinned and patted her head again. "Don't worry, Mauve. I'm gonna bring 'order' to this guild, sometime when I'm stronger." Well, there was one thing both Dragon Slayers had in common: they both seemed to have found family here in this guild.

Ardere asked her what she did for fun, but he was quick to change the subject. Aeon wondered why. Maybe he felt that such a question was a bit private, seeing that they had just met. Then again, maybe he wasn't much of an extrovert, like Mauve... or he wasn't used to girls. Fang, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any problems with interacting.

"A mission sounds like a good idea. A Dragon Slayer team sounds like one hell of a blast."

"Just don't go running for all the very tough missions, okay?" Mauve whispered to Aeon, knowing full well that Aeon was the type who enjoyed pitching herself against adversity. And while Ardere seemed to be the cool, quiet sort, he might have the penchant for doing the same thing. If Dragon Slayers were all like Aeon, they were mostly knuckleheads. Aeon grinned at Mauveine, though the smile was far from reassuring. Then, she said:

"I agree. A mission would be perfect. Kind of running late on my rent, anyway."

"If I may ask... um, what kind of Dragon Slayer are you, Ardere-san?" Mauveine suddenly, but very timidly asked. She'd been actually excited to see another Dragon Slayer, though her nervousness would not let her show it as easily as Fang. But she'd always wanted to know just how many kinds of dragons there were.

Ardere was glad that Aeon seemed to like him and Fang, well at least Fang. They agreed to a mission which made him glad and then they talked about forming a team. Ardere had never thought of forming a team but it sounded fun. This would be a great idea. Yeah a uhh Dragon Slayer team would be cool. We could be Team Dragon's Breath or something. I'm not good with names... Fang jumped up and down excited and raising his hand. Pick me! Pick me! Ardere nodded to Fang and then he spoke. We can be Team Fang! He was given a look from Ardere that told him that idea wasn't so great.

Then Mauve asked him something he didn't get often. She wanted to know what kind of dragon slayer he was. I'm a poison dragon slayer so I eat poison.... He chuckled a bit at the thought of eating poison. That was such a contradiction. He didn't smile or laugh often but this time he actually found himself a bit more comfortable around the girl. What about you? what kind of dragon slayers are you? He was also curious to what other kinds of dragons there were. Then Fang jumped up and down. Yeah! One time I saw him drink bleach! Ardere quickly put his hand over Fang's mouth. He was embarrassing him and in front of a girl. He didn't make friends with people let alone a girl.

Ardere liked the idea of a team also, and he offered a name, though he was quick to add that he wasn't good with names. Aeon shrugged lightly. "We could always think about it and figure something out. Don't really have any name planned up myself."

That done, the discussion shifted to the answering of Mauveine's question. Poison? That was interesting. Aeon knew there were quite a number of Dragon Slayers, but poison wasn't one she expected. Then again, who was she to talk? Her own Dragon Slayer form was as weird as weird came. She wondered for a moment what kind of techniques Ardere would utilize, and how he would go about "eating" poison. Fang suddenly gave some insight to the issue, obviously embarrassing Ardere. That elicited a laugh from both Aeon and Mauveine.

"Sounds cool, Ardere. The way I see it, you're probably immune to most forms of sickness... well that's relative, though. As for myself, well... I'm an Aura Dragon Slayer. I don't really eat anything. I do kind of sense and absorb strong emotions though, but don't worry, it doesn't take anything from anybody."

She paused for a while, then looked over her shoulder at the rest of the guild. Some were still fighting, others had taken up drinks and were busy chatting among themselves. "That's one of the things I like about this place. The emotions."

Ardere was glad she wanted to form a team with him. I'll talk to the master about the team so it'll be official and whatnot. He was still embarrassed that Fang told them about the bleach incident. It was only one time! He was starving and he could only find bleach in the laundry room. He gave Fang a scowling look. Then the girl stated she was an aura dragon slayer but didn't really eat anything. She absorbed emotions, that was pretty fascinating. That's pretty....awesome and the bleach incident only happened one time I promise!

He noticed she was admiring the guild and it's peoples. This was a pretty interesting guild with lots of people. It was a bit too noisy for Ardere though but it was his family after all. He did truly love this guild. Yeah it's a great guild. And if you don't mind me asking, what was your dragon like? He had never met another dragon before so he wondered what they were all like.

Ardere was quick to 'salvage' the situation about drinking Bleach, stating that it had only happened once. Aeon chuckled. The memory seemed to embarrass him, though Aeon didn't consider that to be really any biggie. After all, she was sure that there were other more questionable things in the world to eat or drink, besides bleach...

Ardere asked about her dragon. Aeon looked at him, then frowned slightly. Her past. She clearly remembered the Aura Dragon, but there were still so many circumstances that were hazy, things she couldn't recall, and didn't want to recall. Perhaps such histories would be unearthed at another time. At least, she still had clear memories of those that mattered, right?

"My dragon, huh? Well, he was very huge, and thus somewhat intimidating, but he was really very nice. Aetherodicon was his name. He was responsible for raising both Mauveine and myself from the get go. We even used to call him 'father'..."

She smiled wistfully, then sighed. "... and then one morning, he was gone. The day after my fifteenth birthday. I can hardly forget that..."

And it was from that point on that all her memories became shadowed in mystery. "I hope to find him someday, that's for sure. So... how about your dragon? From the way you've referred to him, I take it that he was also really good to you?"

Ardere listened to the girl talk about her dragon. He seemed pretty extraordinary but she was definitely sad about her past. He hated to talk about his past as well but he sure loved Kiannus. Fang jumped up and down at the girl's question Kiannus was big a purple! He was really nice and loved to teach Ardere cool stuff. He was really scary when he fought big monsters though! Or so Ardere says,. I never actually met him. Ardere chuckled, Fang always wanted to meet Kiannus considering he talked about him all the time.

Actually Fang is right. Kiannus was very kind but he had two different sides. There was the kind and friendly side and then when he fought something or tried to protect me it's like he was a different person almost. I'd kill to see him again. He was talking a bit low but he had gotten comfortable around Aeon. She seemed to be the only person aside from Fang he would socialize with.

Aeon and Mauveine exchanged glances after Ardere had spoken. Ever since they had been united after the Apocalypse nightmare (please refer to Aeon's history, if you're lost), it was Mauveine's idea that something had happened that had probably led Aetherodicon, and probably not him alone, but all the other dragons, away from Fiore. Ardere's statement seemed to buttress the theory. Even though he did not really say anything about how his dragon disappeared, Aeon was sure that it happened the same way her situation had happened. There was no need asking him that.

"Well, looks like we've got missing dragons somewhere down the line, huh?" Aeon said, after a while of silence. "I'm not sure where to start, else I'd have headed in that direction a long time ago, but I do intend to find Aetherodicon... or at least, find out what happened to him."

She took a gulp from her mug that finished her drink, then said, something else on her mind, "I wonder... do you guys know anything about Fiore? I mean, have you guys traveled about a lot?"

She asked them if he had traveled around Fiore. Fang and Ardere exchanges glanced and chuckled a bit. Actually I was born very far away. Have i traveled Fiore? I've visited almost every town in Fiore looking for Kiannus. Fang jumped up and down again. [color =purple] I love traveling. We've been to so many places and it's so fun![/color] Fang then began crawling all over Ardere and the jumped on Aeon and began crawling all over her. He does that when he gets excited. Which is...a lot...

This girl seemed to have the same problems as Ardere. They had a lot more in common than previously thought. Maybe forming a team with her was a good idea. He needed a friend and she was the only person he could connect with. Plus they both had exceeds.

Ardere was quite the traveling type, well at least, he had been around most of, if not all of Fiore. That would likely make him a good traveling companion. Fang seemed to also love traveling, as the mere thought got him excited. Fang was all over Ardere, literally, and then, he jumped onto Aeon. She at first looked a little surprised, but then laughed at Ardere's explanation of the situation.

"Okay, noted," she said.

Life was starting to look interesting. Joining Fairy Tail was certainly not a bad idea, at least in Aeon's opinion. She'd already made two friends the first time she came, and it was very likely that if and when she decided to go dragon hunting, she would have company, and reliable, too, from the looks of it.

Mauveine was looking at the timepiece on the wall. Aeon followed her gaze, then sighed. "How time flies! Looks like I've got an appointment... with my landlady, awkward as that may sound..."

Aeon rose to her feet and looked back at the guild, which had very much quietened down. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Ardere. I guess I'll be seeing you around. Then, we'll have enough time to inaugurate our team, yes?"

Ardere nodded. Yeah sure. He waved her off. He had actually made a new friend. Kiannus would be proud of him. Fang waved goodbye too. Goodbye Aeon and Mauve! see you soon! They looked at each other a smiled. Fang jumped up on his shoulder and they began to walk home. They had made a new friend and got a bit more social. Well Ardere had anyhow. Fang would have another exceed for company. He hoped that made him happy. Fairy Tail was getting a lot of good new members. Now it was time to prepare for the tournament. He had to win that tournament for Fairy Tail. Unfortunately Aeon had signed up for it too and it was a free for all tournament. Hopefully he wouldn't have to fight her.