AN: Here's another fic I'm currently writing on tumblr, to blanania's dragonrider AU idea. It's sort of a How To Train Your Dragon AU, but with some obvious changes. You should absolutely check out her art for it!

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima, and How To Train Your Dragon to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks. I own absolutely nothing. Cover image by Grace/blanania.

Soar

by Miss Mungoe

She caught the shout for help a moment after her dragon did – a distorted echo between the crags jutting out of the storm-grey waters.

Leaning down, Levy ran her palm across the ridge along Whirlwind's neck. "Can you tell where it's coming from?"

The low rumble rolled up along its belly, and she nodded. "Okay, let's go low. It's going to be hard to see with the mist so thick–"

A gurgle of protest cut her off, and she laughed. "Okay, okay – I'm sure it's no challenge. But you don't have to get all testy – remember what happened last time we went flying here?" Her answer was a grunt, and she patted a scaled belly. "Yeah, I thought so. I'll keep an extra eye out."

Tucking her legs closer, she leaned down into her saddle, pressing flat against her dragon's back as it circled between the rocks rising out of the water. With the morning mist curling thick around the crags, her vision was a world of grey, but the voice reached her over the wind – a man's, calling for help.

Then she saw it – a speck of colour against the rock's side. "There!" And her partner obeyed, like an extended limb, manoeuvring around smoothly to descend towards a ledge jutting out not far above the water. Whoever had gotten stuck must have taken refuge there after a shipwreck, but the whirlpools made it impossible to take to the water by way of escape.

Her landing was smooth despite the size of the ledge, and Levy slid easily out of the saddle, a cheerful greeting at the tip of her tongue as she ducked out from behind one large wing. "The gods' luck is with you today! I was just flying by when–"

A roar cut her off, but before she could fall back a great tail lashed out to repel the attacker, sending him sprawling along the rocky ledge, before it curled around Levy's feet. A thundering growl rose up in her dragon's throat, but she placed a hand on his neck to soothe him. "It's okay! They're probably just scared. Excuse me? Hey! Are you okay?"

A series of guttural curses rose from the pile of fur and leather, before he picked himself up off the rock, and she watched with widening eyes a long dark braid slide over a strong shoulder to dangle against his hip. An angry scowl followed as he rose to his full height, and her traitorous eyes lingered a little too long on the arms sticking out of his fur vest, before they flickered across the expanse of a leather-covered chest.

Then she caught sight of the markings on his arm, and her breath stopped dead in her throat. "You're a hunter," she breathed, taking a reflexive step back as he turned his gaze from her dragon to her.

His scowl deepened with confusion. "In Hel's name are you supposed to be?"

Whirlwind growled a warning, but Levy placed a hand against its flank. "I'm a dragonrider."

He looked at her dragon, then back to her, an expression of disbelief tugging at his hard features. She made note of the metal studs lining the rise of his brow, and the sides of his sharp nose. Battle ornaments, but none she recognized.

"You ride that thing?" He barked a laugh. "Tiny little thing like you…riding that?" he gestured to her dragon, looming large at her side.

Levy crossed her arms over her chest. "Whirlwind is a he, not a 'that', and yes, seeing as I did fly him down here, logic dictates I'd be his rider." She raised a brow. "Not the sharpest axe in the forge, are you?"

The hunter glowered, and stepped forward. "You better watch it."

Levy shared a look with her partner, before looking back at the dragonhunter. "Or what?" she asked. "As I see it, I'm the one with the only way off this ledge. And unless you've got a pair of wings hidden beneath that vest," she continued, and cast a casual glance over the edge, to the whirlpools below. "You're going to need my help."

She held out her hand – a gesture of peace, wherever he came from. "Or would you like me to leave you here? I'm sure someone will come along,oh, maybe in a month or so. With winter so close, the ice will make it hard for seafarers." She smiled. "But you already know that."

He glared, and she raised a brow. "It's a quick trip to the mainland," she said then, patting the worked leather of her custom saddle. "And I've got more than enough room for two. Tiny thing like me, I don't take up much space in the saddle."

He looked anything but humoured. "Fine," he snapped then. "I'd…appreciate the help."

Levy tilted her head. "Swallowed something sour?"

He glared, and didn't respond as he took a step closer, but halted when Levy turned her palm towards him, a gesture for him to stop. "Wait."

He groaned. "What now?"

"What's your name?"

He didn't look the least inclined to say, but relented, looking for all the world like he'd rather throw himself into the whirlpools. "Gajeel." He shifted his stance. "Son of Metalicana," he added, almost reluctantly.

The name sounded familiar, but she let it go. "Tribe?"

He squared his shoulders. "Phantom Lord." At her frown, he threw his hands up. "What?"

"You tried to shoot down my friend," she said. "And her dragon."

He looked at her like she'd just told him ice was cold. "We'redragonhunters," he enunciated. "So yeah, we might have, if she was flyin' around on one."

For a single moment, she considered leaving him, remembering the broken arm Lucy still sported after her tumble from her saddle. She'd made it out without any worse injuries and her dragon was no worse for wear, but it didn't change the fact that his tribe had been behind the attack. Perhaps he'd been the one to launch the net, even.

But Levy knew the value of life, and the consequences of her actions if she left him where he was. Chances were, there'd be no one looking for him, and even if there was it could be weeks before anyone found him. And she wasn't ready to have one of Hel's souls on her conscience, no matter what tribe he hailed from.

An idea struck her then, and she smiled. "I just figured out your payment."

He frowned. "Payment? The Hel for?"

Her smile widened. "For passage off this rock. Or did you think I'd let you get off free of charge?" She turned to her dragon, running her fingers along the underside of his chin. "You know, I think we'll let him ride belly-side, hmm? It's got the best view."

Whirlwind rumbled its amusement, and she patted its side as she leapt into the saddle. The hunter was watching them warily, as though unsure of whether or not she wasn't planning to just shove him off the ledge and be done with it.

Unfolding his wings, Whirlwind rose from his perch, and the dragonhunter took a step back, panic flashing through his eyes.

"Now, I feel I need to tell you, don't make any sudden movements or he might drop you."

"Drop–wait, wh–the Hel do you think yer doing, get–!" But his protests were lost in the bellow that escaped him as a beat of Whirlwind's wings sent him flying off the ledge. But Levy was quick, and before he'd so much as brushed the surface of the water, he was hoisted up by a set of talons, the sudden change enough to lodge his scream in his throat. His braid dangled down as they rose smoothly above the dark and whirling waters below.

"She's due an apology, you know!" she called down, eyes bright as she bent over in her saddle, to get a better view of where he dangled from Whirlwind's claws. "Gajeel, son of Metalicana." She grinned. "I'm sure she'll appreciate you stopping by to make one!"

"Oye! This wasn't part of the–"

"I'll drop you off on the mainland later!" she called as they rose into the clouds. The wind surged around them, a steady roar in her ears, and she breathed in the salt of the sea, her smile stretching wide across her face.

"But first let me take you for a ride!"

Hel: Queen of Helheimr, the afterlife of those who die natural deaths.