"Natsu!" A cheer went up from the assembled mages, who were all gathered around the stage, hoping for their names to read out.

"Grey!" The idiot's rival simply smirked and leaned in his chair as people around leaned in to congratulate him.

"Cana!" 

Where was I in all this excitement? Huddled against a wall as I scowled at the three people who had given me an armed escort to the guild that morning. Ever was insistent in the fact that I 'not wiggle out of this one' or something like that... Not like I had actually been planning on running away.

Too much...

"Mest!"

To make everything worse, Guildarts had been trying to talk to me up till the point when the Old Man dragged him away to help announce the S class candidates. I had no clue why he might want to talk to me, but either way, it was damn tedious.

"Freed!" My ears perked up at that one, none of us had really been expecting it, but I could help the bit of pride that welled up. The Thunder God Tribe had all been struggling with the fact that they might not be worthy of anything after they rebelled.

Perhaps this would help them see that they were all amazing mages and people. The Old Man didn't hold grudges quite like I did. They should be able to rest easy.

"Ember!" At that, probably half of the guild turned to look at me with gaping jaws... Either they didn't know I was still here, or they had forgotten my low 'status'.

Honestly, I barely noticed the attention, as I was turning to Freed with a grin, totally ignoring the rest of the names being called out "So I guess I'll be against you then? Won't I?"

Freed nodded solemnly, "I suppose so. Though I must admit, I hope we don't come into contact." Both he and Bickslow nodded together.

"So you two already joined teams?" I asked, not surprised, but genuinely curious.

Once again, they both nodded their heads before Bickslow stuck out his tongue and grinned widely, "Heck yeah! We've known for years that we would be each other's partners!"

As I said, I wasn't too surprised at this, so I simply nodded, "Well that sounds good, I guess that means I'll be partnering up wi-" I looked to my side to see who I thought would be my partner, only to see empty space, "Ever..." 

Instead of being next to me as I thought, she was making her way across the room towards the gorilla of a man that I remembered from several occasions.

I watched in horror as she draped herself over the man and grinned suggestively... I mean, I knew they had been getting closer for a while... But... 

She was supposed to be my partner. I pouted out my displeasure as she made eye contact with me, almost guiltily, "Et Tu Evergreen?!" I said in the most injured voice I could muster. It was then that guilt really bloomed across her face.

"Oh leave the poor girl be," Bickslow said, draping an arm across my shoulder, and sparing Evergreen the guilt trip I was fully planning on unleashing. "You know she's had a crush on that idiot for years now, don't deprive her of this chance to flirt."

Now, this was news to me, "Wait... What?!" I yelped. No one had told me that Ever had a crush on someone! We were never at the guild anyways, I just figured that they were about as distant from the rest of the members as I was.

Freed tool this moment to interject, "You had no clue, did you?" Once again, he was stating the obvious that had Bickslow gaping at me with a terrified look on his face.

"You... Didn't know?" I shook my head and watched as he drained of color right before my eyes. "It was so obvious though."

Obvious? He must be thinking of another one of our best friends, because nothing was obvious with Ever, except her love for shopping.

A heavy sigh came from the parent of the group, who was currently pinching his nose at the two of us, "You forget who you're talking to, Bickslow." He said quietly before turning to me, "It seems that your choice for a partner has been taken, do you have any idea of who else you want to be your partner?"

Crap. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about that. She would rather go it alone, but something told me that the Old Man wouldn't like that idea...

"Um..." I hedged, looking frantically around the guild. Laxus wasn't even slightly a choice, so there went my first pick, "Juvia?" I asked hesitantly, my eyes landing on the blue-haired mage, who looked awfully conflicted about something.

Freed shook his head, "She's an S class contestant as well."

Shit. "Lucy?" I asked, saying any of the names that I could think of right off the bat.

"I would say yes, but it looks as though she has claimed Cana." Freed said, a hint of humor coming out as my struggle, "Besides, shouldn't you be asking these people if they want to join teams with you, not me?"

That did it, "Then I'm not going!" I said loudly as I stood from the table. Finding a partner would be far too much work, there was no way in hell I would go ask different people I hardly knew if they wanted to team up with me. Not now, not ever!

I made to walk away, despite Bickslow and Freed's protests but was frozen in place by a remarkably familiar face. 

All thoughts of my little tantrum were wiped away as I stared blankly at a man who had recently saved my life. What in the devil's name was Scar Face doing here?

The fact that no one was confused by his presence could only mean one thing... The council was interfering in Fairy Tail business. A vicious growl erupted from my throat and I stalked towards where the man was standing. The small bluenette was watching him nervously as he spoke to her. Not that I cared about her at the moment.

"Oi! Scar Face!" I called out as I got close, "What the hell do you think you're doing here?" 

My snap caused the timid girl to jump five feet away, and the Scar Face in question turned to me slowly, a fake smile plastered across his face, "Ember? I didn't think I would see you here? Aren't you typically away from the guild this time of year?"

Ah, that explains one thing, the council wanted to wait until I was gone to conduct any of the bull shit they called an investigation. I smiled as threateningly as I could, "Normally, yeah, but I made an exception this year. How 'bout we take a walk?" I smiled widely enough that he could see my barely hidden bloodlust.

He shot me a rather irritated look, but I really couldn't care less, indicating for him to hurry up. He turned to the girl, "So you'll be my partner?" He asked earnestly and even I had to admit that he was a good actor. If I didn't know who he really was, I wouldn't have noticed anything.

She said yes, looking between us with concern, but he gave her no more time to be concerned as he turned and walked out the door with me on his heels.

"It really is cute," I said quietly once we were a fair distance from the guild, sarcasm practically dripping from my tone, "You think I'll allow you to spy on my guild like the loyal council dog you are."

Scar Face rounded on me, irritation prominent as he glared, "Are you seriously saying you'll stop me?" He snapped, "Don't forget you owe my your life."

He was trying to intimidate me, I think, and while he had a decent point, there was no way I would allow a life debt to get my guild in trouble. They were who I owed my allegiance to first and foremost.

I took a step closer to Scar Face, allowing a mocking smile, "That's true, I never forget my debts. However, you overlooked something crucial... I owe my existence to the guild, and that takes priority. I know the council, all they want is a reason to force Fairy Tail to disband, which means I'll have to stop you here."

"You won't be infiltrating anything today. Scar Face."

The ever-cocky man groaned and covered his eyes with a hand, "Oh god, Ember, you're always such a stick in the mud. Do you even realize how much trouble I would get in if I went back to the council empty-handed? Heck, they might even fire me just to be done with it."

I snorted, that definitely was something the council would do, "Not my problem."

His glare only deepened as we faced off against each other, "Well then, we'd better find a way to make it your problem because I'm not leaving before I finish my mission."

Was that a threat? If it was, it only made me laugh, "You'll leave if I toss you out head first... Though, if we go that option, then you won't be going on missions any time soon." I bowed slightly before turning my head towards the guild, someone was coming out. 

It was the timid bluenette who Scar Face had asked to be his partner, "Um, Mest?" She asked shyly, "Is everything okay out here?"

I watched carefully as Scar Face looked between the two of us for a moment before a wicked grin lifted his lips, "Yeah, we're all good here. Ember and I were just discussing a mission we did together not long ago. Isn't that right, Ember?"

At his words, I immediately began to scowl fiercely. Scar Face knew about my massacre... With that knowledge, he could make my life miserable in the guild. 

Damn it.

While promising him the most painful of deaths with my eyes, I smiled sweetly, "That's right... Mest. Good luck with the exams you two. I'm sure you'll do... great." 

Scar Face smiled right back. That bitch painted me into a corner and he knew it. 

Without another word, I spun around and stalked back into the guild, brushing past the confused dragon slayer.

There was so much frustration running through me that I couldn't go back to the Thunder God Tribe. I was far too riled up. Instead, I cast my eyes around the guild, looking for someone who I could see myself not killing, even after being around for a long time. The only three I actively hung out with were taken and I was far too agitated to approach someone meek or soft-spoken.

Gajeel was hovering over the other blue-haired girl, looking down at her protectively, so he seemed to be out. Everyone else seemed to be perfectly content talking in their groups... I didn't even know where to start looking for a partner. Great, just watch, we would leave for the island and I would be the only partnerless one there.

I huffed slightly as I leaned against the wall, maybe I could take on either Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dumb, they seemed to be competent... Then again there was no strategic advantage to taking either of them on, so maybe not.

How about... Perhaps I could take... Shit. I genuinely couldn't think of someone to take. Perhaps the Old Man would agree to let me go alone.

I looked toward the front bar to see where the Old Man was, only to see him glaring at me. He seemed to have guessed at my line of thinking.

First Scar Face and now him. I couldn't get a break today, could I?

"Have you not chosen a partner yet Ember?" A voice broke through my internal freakout, stopping me from simply leaving the guild and not returning until the S-Class trials were over.

The person, or rather cat who had broken through my thoughts stood in front of me, watching with critical eyes as I tried to solve my problem. Whiskers nearly escaped my notice, as his head didn't even hit my knees.

Only years of perfecting my stone face kept me from showing the inner turmoil as I looked down at the cat, "Why're you asking, Whiskers?"

My brusque, irritated tone didn't phase the cat as he folded his arms and sighed, "Well, Gajeel is going with Miss Levy and from what I have been able to learn, no unauthorized people will be allowed to attend the test, so I was thinking we would be able to help each other."

Smart cat. I tried, and failed, to not be impressed with his line of thinking as Whiskers and I continued our stare down.

"So, you're saying you want to use me in order to remain close to Gajeel?" I asked in a clarifying manner. He nodded, "You realize you may have to fight against him if we work together. I won't hold back just because he's your partner."

Once again, he nodded, "I'm prepared for that eventuality," He murmured, casting a glance over at his partner, "I believe that Gajeel would be offended if I held back. This is a challenge I look forward to."

Any worries I might have had were taken care of, if for no other reason than the determined look on Whisker's face.

I knelt down and stuck my hand out, a small, mischievous grin pulling at my lips, "Well then, it'll be nice to have you... Partner. I hope you're ready to kick Gajeel's butt." I wouldn't have guessed it before this, but something inside me really wanted to win... That hadn't happened for years.

***

The few days that led up to the S-class exams were hectic, to say the least. Everyone who had been chosen to participate were scrambling around frantically, trying to fit in any training they could, and that included me.

Taking a month off had done no favors to my stamina or sword skills, which meant that there was a lot of ignoring the rules Porlyusica had set up for me... And a lot of swearing.

Yeah... There was a lot of that.

To be honest, the first time I practiced with my daggers I nearly cried. One simple month made my chosen weapons feel like strangers in my hands, which was about more than I could take. That night I skipped sleeping in favor of much-needed practice while Whiskers watched on, sending me confused looks.

I really did want to explain my actions to him, but I hardly knew how to explain it to myself. So instead, I took the healthier option and ignored it completely, working myself until I passed out.

Aren't ya'll proud of me? I'm so good at managing my stress.

Ahem, moving on from that and ignoring several actions that would have multiple people yelling at me, the day finally came to leave and I once again found myself being escorted onto the ship by Freed and Bickslow. For some reason, they got the idea into their heads that I would make a break for it if left alone for too long.

Not that I would this time, something had lit a fire under me, for the first time I genuinely wanted to win. There was no way I would give this opportunity away. Was I repeating myself too much? Maybe... It was just a novel concept that took me by surprise every time I thought about it. (That, and I'm sitting in an airport, running on less than an hour of sleep as I write, praying that this chapter makes a modicum of sense.)

While the dragon slayers were leaning over the side of the boat, emptying their stomachs at the gentle swaying of the boat, I was in the lap of luxury. 

My back was flat against the deck as I allowed the waves to rock me into a state of semi-oblivion. Freed and Bickslow had disappeared somewhere, and while I could still feel their heartbeats, I didn't care to search for them beyond that. They were big boys, they didn't need babysitting.

The way the boat was rocking felt absolutely therapeutic on my overworked body. Add the sun heating me in the most pleasant of ways and I might as well be in heaven. 

Forget becoming S-Class, this was far more important.

My normal leather outfit was gone, replaced instead by a black and red one-piece that Ever had forced on me. I think she knew that I would immediately throw any bikini into the fire, so she had gotten me a modest suit. The cups and trim were a deep red color while the rest of the material was a semi-sheer black.

To be honest, I had been expecting the worst when I put it on, but with the relief that it gave me from the boiling hot sun, I couldn't help but be grateful. I probably would have thrown myself overboard in my leathers.

Whiskers sat next to me, though I was purposely ignoring the judgmental look he was shooting me, "If you aren't going to enjoy this beautiful day with me then you can go away and keep your judgments to yourself."

He was less than amused at my sudden sense of humor, "Perhaps if you hadn't pushed your body past its limits every day this week then you wouldn't be so pathetic right now."

I had to hand it to him, he certainly didn't mince words. And it certainly wasn't like she could argue with him... He had a point. I could feel a certain heaviness in my body that only came from deep-seated exhaustion. I was lucky that I didn't get sick easily.

My eye cracked open slightly as I shot him a grin, "No arguments there, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Do you know how close we are to Tenrou?" 

Whiskers active disdain shifted into something closer to resignation as we maintained a loose form of eye contact, "I suppose I should have expected that you would be similar to Gajeel, he tends to be just as stubborn."

He rolled his eyes at me before relenting and stretching out across the deck next to me, "I'm unsure of how much longer we will be sailing, is there a reason you need to know?"

To be honest, yes there was, but I had no motivation to say anything at the moment, "Not really," I shrugged before allowing my eyes to slide closed once more, "Just curious I suppose." We faded into a peaceful silence once more as Whiskers allowed himself to feel the peace I was currently basking in, "Hey Whiskers?" I said after a moment waiting for his hum of acknowledgment, "How long can you fly for?"

All these pointed questions had no doubt cued him in on the fact that I was planning something, but I couldn't bring myself to care. He sighed heavily, "Ember, you do realize that as your partner, you can trust me. I may not have been in the guild for as long, but I happen to be a rather reliable exceed."

So he thought I didn't trust him enough to explain the plan to him, did he?

"Careful what you wish for Whiskers," I said, flipping onto my stomach and relieving the pressure hard wooden planks were putting on my back, "I can think of less than ten people I trust, and of those, only one completely. I trust you fine, but I'm being a stubborn ass because I'm feeling lazy as fuck right now."

"Don't worry, I'll get around to telling you the plan eventually, but for now just tell me whether or not you would be able to fly for twenty minutes, carrying my weight for a portion of that." My tone was quiet, serious. 

As casual as I seemed, I had been formulating a plan of attack since we got on the boat as I took an inventory of everything I had on me.

It was amazing how many places you could hide knives in a swimsuit.

It seemed that I had finally gotten through to him as he nodded, "Very well then, I shall trust you for now. Twenty minutes is a rather short amount of time for me to be flying, there have been times where I needed to fly for several hours in my full form back on Edolas."

Really? That was interesting... Once more I cursed the fact that I had been sucked up in a lacrima the entire time.

"Well," I mused, rubbing my chin on my arm as I stared at the floorboards, "That is helpful, but I would prefer not to test our luck. I might just take a nap to try and regain a bit of energy, but as soon as the island comes into view, even if it's just a small bump on the horizon, I need you to start flying alongside the ship. Make sure you're on the other side of the rail."

He looked at me curiously, but I wasn't quite done explaining his part.

"Don't push yourself too far, if you need to take a break, then do it. just make sure you rest on the bowsprit or another part that's away from the main body of the ship. Can you do that?"

Guys, I just learned that a bowsprit is the long timber that sticks out in front of the ship. It's the thing that they attach the figurehead too! Isn't that cool!

He nodded briefly before standing and walking away, leaving me alone to pass out. This didn't take long, because as I said, I was super healthy with my coping mechanisms and worked myself past the point of exhaustion.

If all went as planned, then we had the exams in the bad, and if not... Well, it's a good thing I knew how to improvise.

***

Have you ever been woken from a sleep so deep that you aren't sure if you're actually awake or not? 

If not, well then, I'm happy for you, it sucks. If you have, then you know that disassociating sucks ass. Honestly, I simply rolled into a sitting position and watched people gathering around Makarov for a good ten minutes wondering why no one was part fish.

In my addled state, I missed the entirety of the Old Man's explanation of what was going to happen. Instead, I chose to ponder the differences between my life and that of a fish... The conclusion was that a fish's life sucks and the only thing that would make it bearable would be if I had wings... Or Legs.

Freed and Bickslow seemed to notice my uncharacteristic behavior towards the end and took pity on me, throwing one of Bickslow's dolls at my head. 

Thanks to my excellent reaction time, I did not end up with the crappiest wakeup call possible. Instead, I sent the doll back to his owner with a glare as he mouthed something at me, "You coming?"

I looked around, only to see the others getting ready to go..l. So the trial had officially begun, had it? The boys jumped off the edge of the ship without hesitation as Freed created wings and Bickslow used his Tikki dolls to hover as the watched us for a moment.

As expected, the others quickly crowded forward, trying to get off the ship, but they found themselves at a standstill as purple runes flared into existence

"You'll only be stuck here for five minutes," Freed spoke over the growing number of irritated yells, "Just enough time for a good head start."

The entire group of assembled contestants yelled out angrily, claiming that a maneuver like that was cheating, that he needed to remove the ruins this instant. I could see the bluenette that Gajeel had chosen examining them critically before whipping out a pen. So tall, dark, and moody was attracted to the short genius, was he?

It was a good choice, I approved.

As I stood and walked towards the edge of the ship, I could feel my back trying to seize up, it was protesting sleeping on the hard, wood floors (That, along with the angry sheen of pink that covered my skin told me that just how much I would be hurting later), so I raised my arms above my head and leaned back slightly.

This had the unfortunate consequence of sending the loudest rippling pop down my back, drawing everyone's attention to me. Just perfect, I loved being the center of attention.

Doing my best to ignore the stares, I walked to the edge and climbed up, looking around cautiously for Whiskers. There was no way I was jumping without knowing that he would be there to catch me.

"Are you an idiot?" A familiar bored tone called out behind me, I turned my head just enough to see Iceman staring me down with a glare, "We can't get through, we're trapped here for the next five minutes."

Was he... Talking down to me?

Oh, this wouldn't do at all. Underestimating me was a big no-no... Damn these children, they thought they had the world all figured out, didn't they?

My eyebrow quirked, unimpressed, as I stared down at him, "You might be," I said waspishly, my hand running over one of the hidden daggers on my hip, "That must really suck, huh?"

Without another word, I looked around to see Whiskers grinning at me from the air, "Ready?" He said, and I nodded. I sprung from the railing to where he was waiting, and, as I suspected, he caught me without an issue.

I had only seen his full form once or twice, but it only made sense that that amount of muscle would translate to a pretty good lifting strength even if he was in his small form.

We flew together peacefully towards the island for a minute or two before he finally spoke, "You knew that would happen." 

I suppose it had been fairly obvious from the way I handled the whole situation. A malicious grin began to spread across my face as I nodded, "Of course. I've been working with them for years, only an idiot wouldn't know what they were planning."

He hummed in response before asking a question, "If you don't mind, how did you get past his runes? Gajeel has mentioned that they're rather strong."

The cat was curious, and I really couldn't blame him, normally I would be hesitant to talk about myself to anyone, but from what I had seen of him, he could be trusted, not to mention the fact that he already had Gajeel's trust. This automatically made me trust him just a little bit more.

"I have a strong immunity to magic," I said, coming to my conclusion, "There aren't a ton of people who know this, but most magic won't work on me, and that includes Freed's runes, Ever's petrifications, and Bick's soul trapping... Laxus can get past my immunity if he puts everything into it, not that he ever would."

We were basically to the starting point for whatever this part of the test entailed and I could already tell that Whiskers would be quiet for a bit, though, he had his questions, and so did I. 

"Hey Whiskers," I called out quietly as we touched down, "Your name is Lily, right?"

That broke him right out of his train of thought, "Yes, but I thought you didn't remember names."

I grinned at him before turning and walking into a random tunnel, ignoring the one with an X over it, "Definitely not, but you have my respect. It's not okay to call someone you respect 'Whiskers' in my book and while I can't remember the first part of your name, I hope Lily will do."

Lily followed me willingly into the cave with a slight snicker, "I certainly don't mind it, though I imagine Gajeel will not be happy. He seems to get irritated whenever you remember someone's name quickly."

Was he? I hadn't noticed, though I could see Gajeel's face contorting with displeasure, which made me smile as well.

A wall seemed to have broken down between us during this, because now as we walked, instead of the silence that seemed to have been a constant, there was casual chatter. He would ask questions about my life in the guild, and I would ask him what Edolas was like.

We both had subjects that we didn't want to discuss, but that wasn't an issue as we both were quick to back off at the first sign of discomfort. This was honestly the first time I had been able to speak to someone who was as hardened to the world as I was and it was more refreshing than I would ever admit.

We quickly reached a large open cavern that had tow tunnels leading in and only one leading out, the obvious place for our first trial. Neither of us seemed to care though, as we simply sat down on boulders and began to exchange war stories.

I told Lily the full story of how I had met, and killed, the Edolas Guildarts, and he told me about his encounters with the criminal. I even brought up some of the harsh training my mentors had put me through, something I had only told the Thunder God Tribe bits and pieces of, and he opened up about how his race kicked him out.

Honestly, if we had been allowed to stay there for any longer, I might have accidentally told him about my magic, that was how comfortable I felt talking to him. We had been talking for twenty minutes and we were already on our way to being fast friends.

The conversation stopped, however, when two heartbeats entered my range, "It looks like our first test is on their way, Lily," I said casually, twirling one of my knives through my fingers.

Lily didn't move, we were confident in our abilities, one battle-hardened warrior and one retired assassin. Our poor opponents didn't stand a chance.

I monitored the situation closely, and it wasn't long before a vicious smile began to edge at my lips, "Well, well, well. This sure is a pleasant surprise."

Two boys walked into the room, on guard and looking around warily for their test. Of course, I stood and pulled out another knife, it would be rude to keep guests waiting.

"Well if it isn't the Iceman and Lion," I drawled, causing them to flinch as they looked to where I was. Though, that might have been a mistake, as I had the largest sadistic grin I could muster showing off my insanity. Lily was behind me, shifted into his muscle form as he handled the largest broadsword I had ever seen.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Just the men I was hoping to see."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

OOOHHH, look out, Ember's got a bone to pick! RIP Grey!

On a different note, Hi! I'm not dead! As one of those little author clips in the chapter mentioned, I've been in and out of airports all month, traveling all over the country to help with the family. That's the main reason I didn't update in July.

Hopefully, life will calm down just a wee bit and I'll be able to get out more than one chapter a month from here on out! So don't go giving up on me just yet, I'm still here, just slow.

Thank you so much for your patience, while I was off I didn't get a single request for an update now, which helped me keep my stress levels down a bit (Whether that's because you are all amazing people or because I've lost the majority of my readers is debatable... I'll go with the first one though cause I love ya'll)

Big things are coming, so I hope you are all as excited as I am for this arc, it'll be so much fun! After Tenrou... Well, let's just say that our oblivious little coal head is going to have to face reality!

-klypso01