New Kid in the Block (Intro)

It was quite late tat night. Time was around two in the morning and there were no people around the streets at that time. The streets of magnolia were only illuminated by street lights and the moon itself. Sogi had stayed in Magnolia for a few days now, but it was now time to settle and look for a new family. That was why he was heading to a very popular place around town, a little building known throughout all the streets of Magnolia. The guild known as Fairy Tail was one of the most important guilds in Fiore. Until then, Sogi had only heard about such organization. He had been told plenty of times about a wonderful guild who opened their doors to new family members, but that was not the only reason he decided to join the guild.

Sogi walked by some little but beautiful parks in magnolia, slowly getting closer to his destiny. Only half way there, he pulled out his little flute and gently started practicing single notes. After a few minutes, he switched to complete songs. Despite him being quite happy at the moment and wanting to play the flute with no restrains, he had to keep it as quiet as possible to avoid people waking up. After a long hour walk or so, which he found extremely short, he finally reached the building. Despite being smaller than other important guild halls around Fiore, Fairy Tail seemed more than enormous for a small 7-year-old child. Amazed by the beauty of the facade, he glanced at it for a few seconds before walking closer towards the door, where he could no longer see the top of the construction. He held his little flute with his left hand and used his right hand to make a fist and knock on the guild's door. "Hello? Anyone here?" He shouted as he slammed his tinny fist against the door three times.

The guildhall of Fairy Tail.

Residing in its home town of Magnolia, it has given rise to a number of heroes and perhaps even a villain or two. However, not all its members were so notorious, some having yet to write their legends in the pages of history and others having no desire to do any such thing. As for a certain gray haired wizard, the journey of self growth was its own motive, even if he hadn't learned it quite yet. That wizard was now resting in the lobby of the guildhall, just as the guilds newest member was arriving at their doorstep.

Dmitry Kazakov had found a decent spot (by his standards) in the corner of the guild lobby, in which he was now attempting to sleep. It had been quite the tiring two days, something he would have thought would yield more of a reward than the simple consolation of a 'job well done'. He had joined this guild on a whim, having realized that he could no longer progress in his magic with his previous lifestyle. However, because the young man was still new to band of wizards, along with modern society itself, he was at a loss as to the motivations of those around him. However, as he always did, the survivor brushed the thought off, finding it pointless and bothersome. Just as he was settling in for some much needed sleep, he heard a knocking at the door, along with a voice. Now irritated by his earlier thoughts and lack of sleep, Dmitry got up from his spot, stormed over to the door, and forcefully kicked it open with reckless abandon.

"The Hell's with all the damn noise!?"

Slowly, from the murky depths of her mind, a yell began as a simple vibration, buzzing at the base of her skull before the girl jerked up in her bead, hearing the banging of the ancient, worn guild hall door. “What the?” Muttering quietly to herself, Sorano pushed her hair out of her face, reaching out to touch the lacrima on the table in front of the couch that doubled as her bed on late nights. Scrolling through the cameras, she paused when she came to the one of the guild entrance, seeing a Dmitry staring out the door, looking extremely pissed off. Ah, right… He slept at the guild sometimes. Sighing, she blinked sleepily for a moment before standing up, shrugging on a cloak over her pajamas.

“Be out for a bit, Hoshi,” she muttered at the half-awake feline, rubbing her hand over the exceed’s back. Pressing her palm against the door, the locks clicked into place and the door slid open, revealing a faintly lit staircase before her. Slowly feeling her way down, she entered the lobby to see the door open, letting in the light of the moon outside. At night, all the glass walls had been turned into brick, protecting the hall from any prying eyes, so it was much darker than usual. She came up behind Dmitry, still rubbing sleepily at her eyes, attempting to pull her hair into a more presentable condition. Dmitry was someone she still didn’t know too well, but he seemed like a cool enough guy. Well… He did until Sorano noticed the kid he happened to be yelling at.

“Hmm?” She frowned, looking at the kid, who honestly looked ridiculously young to be roaming even a city as safe as Magnolia this early in the morning. “Dmitry, why are you yelling at a kid? And what are you doing here?” She directed the second question at the kid, who held a flute in one hand. Was that...? Now that she paid more attention, it seemed the child had a magical aura radiating off of his body. Huh, was he seriously looking for work here? She had come to Fairy Tail at a young age as well, but not quite as young as this one. She wondered of his history as she awaited an answer from both.

The door violently opened, smashing Sogi's face in the process and pushing his little body to the floor. "Ai... that hurts." He said softly as he held a single tear drop from coming down his eye and pushed it back before cleaning it with his right hand. Sogi used, not only his legs, but his arms to push himself back up and stand in front of the gray-haired man, who had, most likely by accident, beaten Sogi's face with the door. "Sorry for all the noise" Sogi interrupted his sentence by a quick sniff and continued. "Did not think someone would be sleeping at this time of the night." He giggled a little as he rubbed the back of his head in order to alleviate the pain.

Before Sogi explained anything else, a young lady approached them both from inside the guild and spoke to both the tall and the little man standing on the guild's entrance. She looked young and was not as tall as the first man was, who Sogi now knew was named Dimitry, but she was still tall enough to force Sogi to look up. Then again, most people above the age of nine were tall enough to make Sogi feel small. "Hello miss, my name is Sogi and people usually call me Sogi. I heard this was a nice guild where I could live in, and make friends at, and meet people, and... and have fun, and you know, all that stuff." Sogi positiveness grew as he spoke, slowly becoming more excited by the idea of joining a place like that. "Besides, I was told I can work here as well, so it is a win-win situation." His eyes closed as a huge smile appeared on his face, attempting to charm his way through. He was really looking forward towards joining the guild.

”…” Why was Mura awake at this time of the night, you might have asked? Well, being an Ace had its perks as well as duties to maintain, and he had just gotten home from a mission back at Midi. Some old shrine had exploded, releasing hundreds of wandering ghosts all over the largest city in Midi and caused sleepless nights and many other problems for the inhabitants, but that problem was of the past and Mura found it nothing but nostalgic. Even though his way of executing the mission was to gather spirits and send them back to their resting places and all that otherworldly stuff, it did remind him of that accursed house…

Carrying his bag over his shoulder, the ducktail guy had arrived at the walled building that was Fairy Tail’s guild hall. He did brake right at the entrance where three figures were spotted; his Guildmaster, Dmitry and a third, little boy whom he hadn’t met before. ‘I was told I can work here as well---’ he grasped, and the shaman’s face lit up with curiosity. All of a sudden, the small kid was now on Mura’s shoulder - all randomly and suddenly - whilst the shaman smiled: “’Sup.”

A yawn forced its way out of Sorano’s mouth as the poor kid slowly pushed himself up again, wiping away a tear. “Oh dear, Dmitry, you’ve hit a kid…” However, it seemed he was recovering quickly, reaching a hand up to rub at the back of his head. An apology slipped out his mouth, and he even let out a bit of a giggle, much to the letter mage’s surprise. This one was tougher than she’d pegged him to be. Ugh, hadn’t she wanted to try and become less judgmental of someone at first glance? Shaking her head again, as her head began to drop, she focused as hard as she could on his face to keep from dozing off on Dmitry’s back or something. That would be a pretty embarrassing experience.

The kid quickly introduced himself then, as Sogi, saying that he wanted to join the guild. Ah… Her guess had been right. Oh boy, she was so not awake for this stuff. Blinking slowly, she straightened up, only to suddenly be greeted with the sight of Mura having somehow hefted the kid onto his shoulder in that mere second of time. “Mura? Why in the world is everyone up so late, uhh…” She slapped herself on both her cheeks a few times, feeling blood rushing into her face from the impacts.

Honestly, the kid had to do no charming. She could sense he held a magical aura, and his situation was way too similar to how hers had been for Sorano to possibly deny. Even so, she had to go through some basic rules and quick testing to ensure that they could accept the young mage. A soft sigh escaped her mouth as her mind rushed to recollect the memories of what exactly she was supposed to do. “Mm, yeah, okay. I’ll come in, ask you a few questions, check out what you can do, and give you your guild mark if you’re sure you’re up to it.” Holding open the door, she waited for the child to enter the dimly-lit lobby before moving over to the reception desk to grab a few papers. The guild master would then plop down at one of the tables, plucking a pen out of midair and poising it over the papers, gesturing as kindly as she could muster at the seat across from hers. "Please, sit."

Suddenly, a new person appeared from behind, easily getting Sogi on his shoulder and greeting with a quick word Sogi did not like using. He did not find that word offensive in any mean, but he enjoyed being as formal as possible. The girl's sudden reaction of surprise ended up leading Sogi to believe the new man's name was in fact Mura. By then, Sogi had already known two new names but there were at least three new faces around him.

After the lady's invitation to walk inside, Sogi skipped from his place and walked through the door. "Come on guys, I've been invited to pass." Said Sogi to the other two males as they were left behind by the kid's short and energetic steps. As he walked inside, he took a quick glance at the lobby. He was not sure where each of the characters he had just met lived, but he could at least tell; those who were inside the building when Sogi arrived, were sleeping before attending to this improvised meeting of sorts. While the girl got a piece of paper and a pen, Sogi used his upper body to push himself up the chair he used to sit at the table he was directed at.  While his upper body was at a higher level than the table, his feet were not even close to touching the ground. So after climbing the chair, he sat with his legs crossed and spoke to the people in the room. "So you are Dimitry and you are Mura, right? It is a pleasure to meet you both." Asked as he pointed at each one of them just as he said their names. "But I still do not know your name Miss. How would you like me to call you?" Asked Sogi in the politest way he could have thought of.

"Also, not that I'm nervous or anything, but are you going to ask me stuff? Like an exam?" Sogi was shaking in fear, easily letting everyone know he was nervous. He was so afraid a single mistake could lead to him being kicked out of the interview that his body was trembling pretty fast.

After kicking open the door, Dmitry looked around a few times, looking for whoever woke him from his precious sleep. However, as he was at least three feet taller than the small child, he saw nothing but empty night before his eyes. When Sorano accused him of yelling at someone, he looked at her as though she had grown a second head. "Who the hell are you..." Before he could finish, he looked back to see someone now taller than he was, truly an accomplishment considering he was six feet and three inches tall. He blinked at the recently arrived giant before noticing Mura beneath him, an explanation in of itself. Just as he established the facts of the situation, the guild's master decided to bring this newly formed group indoors. The still somewhat confused wizard looked over at Mura for clarity on the situation before following Sorano and the newcomer, somewhat curious at this point.

As the boy sat on his chair, trembling, Dmitry grasped the back of his coat and hoisted him into the air with little effort, look him over for a moment as if to judge his worth. "Hit me." He finally said before dropping the boy back down on the chair. "Go on. Hard as you can." While he could feel magic power emanating from the boy, he knew full well that wasn't enough to survive in this world. "We're mercenaries kid." He said to the child, eyes filled with an uncharacteristic expectation. "You can cast all the fancy spells you want. Won't make a difference if you get knocked down before the fight starts." It was rather unusual for him to take such an interest in another person, but he could feel something in the boy, a potential perhaps.

"Now, hit me."

As the kid sat down at the table, he greeted both Dmitry and Mura by name, cheerfully showing off his observation skills. How in the world was he awake enough to do that? Was this Sogi nocturnal or something? Hearing him ask for her name, she answered easily, finally waking up a bit. “My name is Sorano Granon, and I’m the guild master of Fairy Tail. Pleasure to meet you. You can call me whatever you want.” While she’d been confused at the nicknames that people like Hana bestowed upon her at first, she’d grown to accept it as just a part of life. Slowly, her composure returned as she straightened her back, looking over the papers.

Before she could ask any questions, however, Dmitry would pull the kid up from the chair, a determined but also interested tinge to his aura. Opening her mouth to speak, she was stopped by the man’s roughly uttered “Hit me.” She stopped for a moment to think things over. Perhaps it would be better this way, to get a look at the kid’s abilities. She’d still have to question him later under her aural vision to ensure he wouldn’t be detrimental to their purposes, but it would be interesting to see what he could do. From what she could see, he wasn’t strong enough to inflict any damage she couldn’t reverse – unless, of course, he had a magic cloaking ability. She’d cross that line when she came to it. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she nodded at the boy, signaling that he could go ahead and hit the older mage.

While they were still a largely family-oriented guild, they had become a group of mercenaries as well. They could definitely help to train the boy, but getting a grasp on what exactly he did would be beneficial. If he was a support magic user, then, well, he should still know how to defend himself, right? Sorano was now curious as to how he would react, letting her eyes fade into his aura to gauge the emotional changes.

"Wooow... So you are the guild master?" Said Sogi with real enthusiasm. He had never seen a guild master, but they were sure the mages Sogi looked up to. "You must be strong. And I'll call you Sorano, you can call me as you want as well." Said and threw a smile at the young girl now identified as the guild master. Just before anything else happened or the interview was even started, Dimitry picked up Sogi and asked him to attack him. Sogi was confused and turned towards Sorano in doubt. However, as he saw who he hoped would be his future guild master, Sogi understood she was on board with the test.

After the task was given to Sogi, he was dropped on the chair from which he had been taken. Sogi was not very strong himself and Dimitry indeed seemed stronger than him. Sogi was not at all worried about hurting Dimitry, in fact, he was worried about not being to do anything impressive with his first strike. "Okay, I'll hit you..." Said Sogi still having confused thoughts about the situation. He stood on the chair and jumped with his open flat hand to reach Dimitry and use the impulse to land a stronger hit. "Haya!" Shouted Sogi as he landed some sort of karate chop attack on Dimitry's chest. Sogi landed again on the chair and looked at Dimitry to see if he had actually achieved something.

"I'm sorry guys, I mean, I weight like 55 pounds. I'm not really that strong, but just wait till I grow and become a few years older. I bet I'll be much stronger then." Said Sogi with quite some confidence. He was really hoping he was not just measured by his striking power. "Besides, I can grow faster than other people."

Sorano watched as the child pushed himself off the chair to land a karate chop on Dmitry’s chest. Naturally, Dmitry didn’t look much affected, and she turned her gaze to watch Sogi plop back down on his seat. Hey, the kid had the guts to actually do it at least. She knew Dmitry could look slightly intimidating to new people – even disturbing, with his multicolored eyes, but the kid didn’t seem too frightened at all, besides just the slight nervousness from having to partake in a sort of test. Sogi would utter a quick apology and reassurance that he would get stronger, to which Sorano nodded at. It was a bit much to expect something grand from a kid as young as him, now that she thought a bit more on the subject. However, it was his last line that caught Sorano’s attention.

“Besides, I can grow faster than other people.”

What was that supposed to mean? For a second, her eyes narrowed in on his aura again, trying to find out if he was some sort of mythical creature, a god in disguise or something. Well, if he was, she doubted her magic would be able to peer through his aura, as he would be much, much stronger than her, but it was worth a try. Nothing she saw was too unusual, however. She’d find out more about it later though. She wanted to get back into bed as soon as she could.

“Alright, Sogi. Just a couple quick questions. Number one, are you planning on doing any harm, or disruption whatsoever to the structure, physical property, members, and cohesion of the Fairy Tail guild? And number two, why do you wish to join the Fairy Tail mercenary guild?” She articulated the questions clearly, ensuring each word was bright and crisp as she leaked a sliver of her magic into it. It wasn’t enough to utterly hypnotize an opponent like usual, but it would be enough to nudge him towards telling the truth. If that was not enough, she could still observe his emotions and movements, looking for slips in the murky color, things such as fear, anger, or a selfish sort of greed that wouldn’t do anything good for the guild at all. While greed was something that was arguably in any mercenary, there were types that would benefit someone, and types that would only pull the guild behind.

After Sogi's strength revealing strike, he sat down on the chair he was standing and waited again for the questions Sorano had prepared. Just after the question, Sogi thought nothing through before opening his mouth and just spoke the truth, almost as if something was forcing it out of him. "Amm... no, I'm not planning on destroying the guild or you guys or anything similar. In fact, it is quite the opposite. I want to protect it." Said Sogi. He was by nature someone who enjoyed helping people out. And just as he said, he would indeed do his best to protect anyone in the guild.

The second questions was actually a bit harder than the first one and had him wait a few seconds before speaking. Again, he threw his answer without thinking it twice. "The reason I want to join Fairy Tail is that I want to learn about the world, both ups and downs. But I also want to make friends and eventually grow stronger to help them. I am indeed very young, but that is why I want to join you, I want to grow and I think I can grow stronger with you." Sogi said his words with inspiration. His eyes shined a bit brighter as he spoke and looked directly at Sorano. He wanted to learn and grow with a place in the world. And he was really hoping that place was Fairy Tail and the people who would then help him were those who became his guildmates. He heard very positive aspects of the guild and he also understood the mercenary side of it, but again, he was looking to learn both nice and cold things about life. That was not only his motivation to join the guild, but was also his motivation to keep growing.

So the boy was challenged, so he responded...sort of. While he certainly hadn't expected a karate chop, the guild's newest recruit delivered on the request made of him. Naturally, the small child's hand barely even made a sound as it collided with Dmitry's chest, the wizard himself not even feeling it. However, despite the unreasonable nature of the request, the boy showed he had the will to follow through on a course of action. Since joining the civilized world, Dmitry had found a number of people that wouldn't last a day in his childhood. Not because they were lacking in physical strength or intelligence, but because they gave up so easily. However, this boy did not back down. A wide, crooked grin spread across taller man's features.

"Not bad." He said with an uncharacteristic glee in the rumble of his voice. "Not bad at all." He turned to Sorano, his grin slightly abated. "He's got my vote, boss lady. Kid's got somethin' in him you don't find in towns like this." After saying that, he walked past Sorano and back over to his spot in the corner of the room, sitting down and leaning up against the wall.

"Try to keep it down this time, yeah?"

The letter mage listened to the kid answer without hesitation, his aura showing nothing at all that would suggest danger. Instead, a greed for learning and growing stronger seemed to shine in him, exactly the type of greed that allowed a person to improve. Nodding in approval, the letter mage let the trickle of magic easily fade away, eyes relaxing gently as she finished scribbling the last few details onto the form, getting up from her seat to send it over to the reception desk. The fairy at the desk, who would appear as just a blue orb of light to a non-member ran it through a lacrima before pulling out an ornate stamp.

Carefully, the letter mage hefted the heavy object in her hands, feeling the weight of the guild masters before her, their fingerprints leaving heavy magical imprints on the metal. Moving back over to Sogi, she asked him to stand up, facing him with the guild stamp. “Where would you like your stamp to be?” she asked, watching as a soft magic circle began to form on the underside of the object. Wherever he suggested, she would carefully place the stamp, leaving the mark of the guild on the surface of the skin – a permanent tattoo that would now allow him to access the wonders of the Fairy Tail properties. As soon as it was applied, the blue orb at the desk would be revealed to be a small pixie-like creature, and staircases leading into the basement would become visible, the entrance to where the mercenary guild performed its illegal business. Access to Tenroujima was granted, and a dormitory made available in Fairy Hills.

“Welcome to Fairy Tail, Sogi. Eventually, I think you’ll be able to easily learn about everything in the guild, but for now let’s get you established. For tonight, you should probably sleep in here. If you’re hungry, just go over to the pixies at the bar to make a sandwich or something – the actual bartender should arrive in the morning. Here…” Writing out a series of words in the air, the letter mage wrote into existence a small bed in the corner of the hall’s lobby. “Anyway… If you need anything, I’ll be right upstairs. Good night, and again, welcome.”

With that, the yawning mage made her way back up the stairs and into her office, ready to re-enter dreamland.

[This is a bit of a crude post, as I will be gone without internet for the next two or three days! Anywho, welcome and have fun.]

Dimitry gave his approval to Sogi and left to the corner he was earlier sitting in. His approval actually meant to Sogi much more that one would think. Those simple words cheered up Sogi a lot more, leading to him hiding a big smile from the group. After, Sorano also approved Sogi-s petition to join the guild. Sogi jumped in happiness as he could not contain his excitement any longer. The papers Sorano had just filled were then sent to the desk where a blue orb appeared to interact with Sorano. Sogi did not pay much attention to it at first since it was Sorano's new item what caught his attention.

“Where would you like your stamp to be?” Asked Sorano. Sogi calmed down and started to think. He had not yet thought about where would he like to have his guild mark, but it was only a few seconds before Sogi lifted his left hand and pointed at the back of it. "I think I'll have it here." He said and extended his arm for Sorano to have an easy angle for the stamping process. The metallic object was gently placed on Sogi's hand, leaving a yellow guild mark on it. But this stamp also granted Sogi the ability to see what was before hidden from him in the guild. Stairs leading down to the basement were revealed near them and the blue orb quickly became a little pixie. "Woow." Sogi's surprise kept increasing as a bed was suddenly created with Sorano's magic. "Thank you Sorano, thank you for everything." Said Sogi with a huge smile as he got down the chair and watched his new guild leader leave the room.

Sogi could not believe it, he was now part of a family. And so, he walked towards his bed and looked at Dimitry to was still in his corner. "Night night brother. See you tomorrow." Said without even knowing if Dimitry was still awake. Sogi spent the rest of his energy thinking about the wonderful adventures he would now live in this guild. But it was only a few minutes after he lay down that his eyes closed and he fell asleep.