Zrocker119: Hello everyone! Now I know that I said that I wasn't going to start posting this rewrite until I had it completely finished, but I've come to realize that I'm far too impatient for that. So, I've decided to do something different. From this point on, I will one post a new chapter once I have the next two finished.

One last thing before we get started. I want to give my most sincere thanks to YeTiansh for beta reading this story. Couldn't have done it without you my friend.

-Story Start-

Within the heart of the city known as Karakura Town, the sounds of battle could be heard as two beings of immense power battled. The air trembled as their swords clashed, creating fresh sparks at the points of collision. One of the two, an Arrancar by the name of Ryu Sato, fought with the intent to kill his foe, while his target Sosuke Aizen only wanted to test his new found abilities that came with his transcended state of existence.

Jumping back with a flip, Ryu attempted to clip Aizen's chin with his foot while also putting distance between them. He only managed to achieve the latter as Aizen leaned his head slightly back, causing his foot to barely miss. Growling Ryu created a white flame in his hand and thrust it forward. The flame condensed into dozens of swords that flew toward their summoners foe.

Their target didn't even flinch as the wall of blades closed in on him. With only a bat of his wings the weapons scattered throughout the area around him.

Ryu smirked, and clasped his hands together before spreading them apart as more fire formed between his palms. The Arrancar blasted the flames around Aizen, creating an enormous wall of fire that surrounded him. Like before the flames condensed into hundreds upon hundreds of blades of all shapes and sizes, from katanas and greatswords, to halberds and daggers.

Aizen glanced around at the array of weaponry that had completely surrounded him from all sides. "It would seem that you've taken your pyrokinesis to levels of precision that even I couldn't foresee. To go from simple blasts of fire to creating solid weapons in just a year. Even the Captain Commander couldn't control the flames of Ryujin Jakka to this extent. Very impressive, Ryu."

"Thanks," Ryu's smirk fell. "You want to know something, Aizen? Even if you weren't responsible for me and my sister's death, if it was just a freak accident that that pack of hollows found us on their own, and us dying that night was meant to be, I would still find myself standing right here." A feral smile found its way onto his face as his eyes glowed lightly in turn. "You used my race as pawns in your little quest to become a god, and then threw us away once we were of no longer use."

Holding his hand out with the palm facing an ever smirking Aizen, Ryu said. "You may have given me the strength to fight my own battles, but you're also responsible for the death of my sister. And for that you must die. Lloviendo el Fuego." Clenching his hand into a fist signaled all of the blades to rain down upon Aizen, burying him beneath a mountain of flaming steel.

Not quite finished yet, Ryu mentally gave the order for all the weapons to detonate. The mound exploded into a giant pillar of white fire that shot hundreds of meters into the sky in a spectacular, yet frightening display of destruction.

Ryu couldn't tell if Aizen was still alive. He couldn't rely on sensing his spiritual energy as he had transcended to a higher state of being that was beyond Ryu's ability to comprehend. 'I have to see his lifeless corpse to be sure.' The flames faded away a few moments later and revealed a barren crater several meters in both depth and diameter. Had he not been focusing all of that attack into a single spot, it would've leveled the entire city. The lack of damage to the surrounding area spoke volumes of his control.

Not seeing a body lying at the bottom of the crater Ryu thought, 'Did his body turn to ash? It wouldn't surprise me with the level of heat that I generated.' The sound of something shattering behind him quickly caught his attention. Turning around, his demonic eyes widened at what he had witnessed. Blue particles of energy gathered together and took on the form of Aizen, seemingly unharmed by his attack.

Smirking smugly at him Aizen spoke, "I must commend you Ryu. Never could I have imagined that you would attain the level of power that you currently possess. Had I not transcended, your last attack would've been the end of me. But thanks to the fear that you and Gin made me experience, such an emotion is no longer needed. And for that," In an instant Aizen stood before him with a hand to his chest. "You have my thanks."

With a gentle push of his hand, Aizen sent Ryu careening backwards with no signs of stopping. After crashing through several buildings, Ryu managed to finally land on his feet. His momentum hadn't slowed however, as his feet carved into the pavement from his attempt to slow himself down.

After several more meters of tearing up the ground, Ryu finally came to a grinding stop. 'Wh-what the hell!' He screamed internally. 'I couldn't even see him move!' Gritting his teeth Ryu crouched with one hand to the ground and prepared to launch himself back in the direction he had came from. It was at that moment that the arm he had been leaning on fell to the ground.

Ryu only had a moment to stare at the appendage in shock before a large amount of blood splattered the ground around him, having erupted from a multitude of cuts that suddenly appeared all over his body. The loss of blood proved to be too much for him to handle, and so he fell to his knees.

His breath labored, Ryu glanced up to see Aizen standing before him. A fresh coat of blood dripped off of his blade. 'I-I didn't even see him move,' Ryu thought as all of his hopes for revenge came crashing down. Even with the extraordinary powers granted to him by his Resurreccion, it just wasn't enough.

"Do you see now?" Asked Aizen. "You never sto-"

Ryu used the remnants of his strength to summon a sword into his remaining hand and stabbed Aizen in the shoulder. He tried to anyway. The blade failed to pierce his skin, but succeeded in shutting the gloating bastard up. "Shut up with that monaloging bullshi-"

It was Ryu's turn to be interrupted as his jaw was forced shut by Aizen's foot. The force from the kick sent him head over heels multiple times before slamming him into a pile of rubble. Despite the pain it brought his jaw, Ryu chuckled. "Hehehe worth it-ah fuck that hurts." After situating himself so that he was sitting with his back against the pile he glanced around and found himself back in the area where he first confronted Aizen.

Out of the corner of his vision Ryu could see the group of highschoolers and single adult that Aizen had been slowly chasing after early on. "Why the hell are you all still here?" They all jumped at the sound of his voice.

Ryu didn't bother to listen to their answer but instead chose to glance over to his left, where he could spot Gin, one of the few friends that he had made. Gin laid motionless, dying, along with the woman he cared for crying above him.

"Don't know about you Gin, but this sucks."

"Still the comedian I see. Even when near death," Spoke Gin. His voice had been quiet to the point of barely being audible, but Ryu heard him nonetheless.

"We've all died before remember," Ryu stated, seeing as they were all spirits to begin with. "Besides, if I'm going to die, then I want to die smiling this time around." A loud crash a few meters from him caught his attention. Looking up he smirked at who had arrived. "Bout damn time you showed up, Kurosaki," He muttered.

Ichigo spared him a glance before he dropped his father to the ground, "Thanks, Dad."

That was all Ryu was able to hear as his senses started to leave him. His hearing went first, then his sense of smell. He couldn't even taste the blood in his mouth. But, he refused to allow his eyes to close. He wanted, no, needed to see what happened next...and he wasn't disappointed.

'Hehehe, the look on that bastard's face,' Ryu thought after he saw Aizen literally get carried away into the horizon by Ichigo. Clutching the bleeding stump that made up his left arm, he gathered all of the strength that he had remaining and forced himself to stand up. He succeeded in doing so, and slowly started to walk, but not in the direction that the final battle was taking place.

No. Ryu knew that he had done all that he could up till this point. After seeing the resolve in Kurosaki's eyes, he knew that everything would turn out alright. His fight was over, and he had someone that he had to visit one last time.

Walking at a painfully slow pace, it took Ryu a bit longer than he would've liked, but he eventually managed to reach his destination. Shoving the cemetery gate open with his shoulder Ryu walked inside. His vision was just about gone at that point, but he didn't need it to find the grave he was looking for.

"Hey, Rin," Ryu spoke after taking a seat with his back against his sister's tombstone. The last time he had been there was when he had to bring Orihime to Hueco Mundo. But this time Ryu wasn't going anywhere. "Sorry I wasn't here for long last time, but I had something very important to do. But you don't need to worry anymore."

Ryu reached down with his armored hand, and gently stroked the grass beneath him, mentally replacing it with the image of Rin's long, crimson locks. "I've got so much to tell you that I don't even know where to begin."

.

.

.

"I guess I'll start with the friends that I managed to make. The first ones being Nel and Takeshi. Nel's pretty energetic and is a handful most of the time, even after we got her mask fixed. You would've liked her, she's goofy and likes to play games, but is willing to fight when needed."

"Now Takeshi, hehehe...He was quite the hardass when I first met him. Always grouchy and wanting to sleep, but Nel and I managed to break him out of his shell. He was always looking to prove to others that he wasn't weak, despite not being an Espada. When he met Mila Rose though, oh man it was like the two were struck by cupid's arrow."

Ryu tried to laugh but started coughing up mouthfuls of blood instead as his condition worsened, but he wasn't done telling Rin about the important people in his life after death.

"The next two that joined my Fraccion were Loly and Menoly. Like Takeshi, the two of them were hard to get along with. Well more Loly than Menoly, as the latter was pretty chill from the start. We grew close though. I'm sure they're going to be devastated once they learn about my betrayal. I hope they can move on."

"After them is my friend/rival, Grimmjow. Well he considers himself my rival. He has never gotten close to defeating me whenever we sparred. He's a bit too prideful at times, like when he lost his final fight against Kurosaki. I'm sure Nel will straighten him out at some point though."

"Next is Gin. He's a good man, but has the habit of talking to people with mock politeness. We got along well enough for me to consider him a friend though, mostly due to us having a common enemy, but a friend nonetheless."

"The last one would have to be Ulquiorra." Ryu had to actually pause and think of a way to describe the emotionless Arrancar. "We weren't really friends per say, but there was a mutually feeling of respect between the two of us. We liked to play a game of chess every once in awhile."

Ryu stopped petting the grass and sighed. He couldn't move his arm anymore, he couldn't even feel his wounds. All he knew was that he was tired, tired of all the bullshit he had to go through to get to where he was.

But now...now he could finally rest.

'Don't worry Rin,' Ryu thought as he closed his eyes for the last time. 'Big brother isn't going anywhere...not again.' That was the last thing on his mind before he finally passed on.

.

.

.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you ask, Ryu's role in things to come wasn't as over as he would like to think.

"So...you're the best option huh?" A voice said to no one but itself as they watched the lifeless body of Ryu that floated in the gap that existed between dimensions. "The irony of this is lost to all but me."

The one that spoke was a middle aged man of average height with sharp features. His medium length, dark hair was kept combed neatly back. He was dressed in black slacks, matching shoes and a dark grey, button up dress shirt and had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. But the most noticeable feature of the man had were his eyes. Instead of having pupils and irises his eyes seemed to emit a soft, white glow.

Raising his hand the man summoned what could only be described as a divine ball of light. With a flick of the man's wrist, the orb flew through the air and directly into Ryu's chest. The Arrancar's eyes and mouth shot open as rays of light shone from them. The damage that he had sustained during his fight with Aizen seemingly disappeared, even his missing arm had been restored. After several minutes the lights dispersed, leaving Ryu floating in the endless void, but instead, he was alive once more, and completely healed.

"The journey that you're about to unwillingly partake in will not be an easy one, Mr. Sato," the man said as he flicked his wrist once more. This time a swirling, white vortex appeared beneath the unconscious Cero Espada. "There will be many hardships that you must overcome. You will hate me in the beginning for denying you the peace that you deserve, but I'm certain that you will find happiness in my world. I'll contact you once my enemies make their move. Until then follow what your soul tells you."

Having said what he must, the man sent Ryu through the portal.

When Ryu next awoke it wouldn't be as a normal soul to wander the Rukongai for all of eternity. No, when he woke, it would be in a world that he, even being as in tune with the supernatural as he, couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams.

End Prologue

Chapter 1

The chirping of birds was the sound that Ryu was awakened by. He opened his eyes to find himself lying on his back. The sun was high in the sky as it shone through the canopy of trees above him.

"Where, where am I?" Ryu said as he sat up. He looked around to see that he was surrounded by a thick, lush forest on all sides. "I must be on the outer edges of the Rukongai. That would be the only explanation for the tr-" He stopped speaking as realization hit him with the force of an enraged menos.

'I-I shouldn't know about the Rukongai!' Ryu looked himself over really quick. His arm was back and he was still dressed in his Espada clothes, void of any signs of wear and tear. His Zanpakuto was strapped to his waist, and having touched the upper right portion of his face, he knew that his mask was still there. He even looked down his shirt to see if his hollow hole was still present. It was.

'Why am I still an Arrancar?' Ryu was confused beyond belief. He died, again! He knew this. He felt his very life and soul slip away whilst he sat at his sister's grave. He was finally ready to rest in peace. So why the hell was he still a hollow!?

Ryu's confusion was replaced by rage as he stood up, a cero already charged in one of his hands. With a shout of anger he fired the beam of energy deeper into the forest. He didn't stop with just one though. Not a second after the first one was fired, he sent another one after it. He launched one after another.

After several minutes of discharging cero's Ryu fell to his knees, the forest in front of him having been thoroughly reduced to ashes. His body still shook with rage but he forced himself to calm down. Anger would do him no good.

Ryu stood with a heavy sigh, closed his eyes. To any passerbyer it would seem that he was just standing around, but to him, an invisible ring had shot out from around him. In an instant, Ryu could sense everything with spiritual energy for miles all around. But that wasn't the only thing he sensed.

In the air was, something. It was almost like spiritual energy but completely different at the same time. It was also everywhere. From the plant life around him to the earth beneath his feet. Whatever it was though, it gave Ryu insight to where he was, and that was somewhere he had never been before.

"One thing's for sure though, this ain't the Soul Society," he grumbled. With hands in his pockets he started walking in a completely random direction. After all, he wouldn't get anywhere by just standing around and doing nothing.

Ryu wasn't sure of how long he had been walking for. The sun was high in the sky when he started and was now replaced by the full moon that hung above him. He wasn't in a hurry though. Even though his wounds had been completely healed by means unknown to him, his spiritual pressure had yet to recover fully. Even after the, what he guessed to be a large, amount of time between his awakening and now he was only sitting at about 40% of his maximum amount of power without his Resurreccion. His power wasn't gone per-say, just returning much slower than it should be.

He doubted that he would encounter someone of the Head captain's, let alone Aizen's level, but it was better to be safe than sorry. So he was going to take as much time as he need-

A sudden wave of the energy he could sense in the air washed over him. It wasn't all that powerful, about as high as a freshly evolved Gillian class hollow, but it was enough to warrant his attention. After all, it was the strongest source of energy he had felt so far. It felt like it was a couple miles away so he decided to get there quickly.

With a flick of his feet Ryu rocketed through the trees and undergrowth that made up the forest, gaining speed until the world seemed to blur around him. In the same time it took the average person to blink, he had closed to distance between him and the source of energy by almost half. He wasn't even using sonido, the Arrancar equivalent of Shunpo. This was just Ryu using the raw, physical strength of the muscles in his legs.

A fraction of a second later Ryu stopped at the edge of a small clearing and saw something that almost made his eyes widen in shock. The key word being almost.

A giant large, beast-like creature with large muscles and horns stood menacingly over a much smaller human girl. The girl had short, white hair and wore a reddish-pink outfit. Behind her on the other side of the clearing was another girl with long white hair. She seemed to be injured though, as her right arm hung limply and one of her ankles was swollen.

"It's okay Elfman," the girl closest to the beast said as she opened up her arms in a welcoming gesture. "Mira and I know that you didn't mean hurt her."

"Get away from him, Lisanna! Elfman can't control himself! In his current state he'll kill you!" Shouted the one Ryu assumed to be Mira after the now named Lisanna mentioned to the beast, who was apparently named Elfman.

Lisanna didn't falter in her stance in the slightest, even as Elfman's arm raised to strike her down. "Come back to us brother. Then we can go back to Fairy Tail, to our family." Ryu's eyes actually widened at her declaration.

Elfman paused, seemingly affected by his sister's words. Ryu was about to let out a sigh of relief, but then saw the beasts muscles tense up and immediately knew what was coming next.

The beast roared and brought a fist down onto his smiling sister with a thunderous crash.

"LISANNA!" Mirajane cried as a cloud of smoke and dust obscured the view of what she could only assume to be the bloodied corpse of her sister. The smoke cleared a few moments later and she was greeted by the sight of the last thing she expected.

A young man stood with his left side to her and Lisanna. He was tall, just under six foot, with blood red, shoulder-length hair that had a slight wave to it near the tips. His clothes looked like that of a samurai, with white hakama pants and a long, white coat with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A black sash was tied around his waist where a katana was tucked into.

What shocked her the most though was that he had his right hand in the air, the back of which halted Elfman's giant fist completely.

Without saying a word the man moved his hand in a way that redirected Elfman's fist into the ground. Not finished, he crouched down and with a small twirl smashed Elfman in the jaw with a spinning, open palm uppercut.

Her transformed brother's head snapped back. He went rigid for a moment before falling backwards with a loud crash. His body glowed a bright golden color before reverting back to his human form completely unconscious.

The man landed back on the ground only this time he was now facing them. Mirajane couldn't help but notice that he couldn't be more than a few years older than herself. The skull-like mask that covered the upper right portion of his face and demonic looking right eye unnerved her slightly, but it didn't detract from his overall handsome appearance.

Ryu glanced a look over his shoulder at the creature only to see the body of a young boy lying there. 'The hell is going on here?' Moving that thought aside for the time being, he turned his attention to the two girls currently staring at him with gaping mouths and wide eyes.

After a few moments of awkward silence Ryu finally said, "You two alright?"

His question seemed to snap the older of the two out of her stupor. "Y-you knocked him out." It sounded like she couldn't believe what she just saw.

Ryu pointed to Lisanna. "I arrived just as she said that that thing was your brother. So I decided to hold back and knocked him out." He explained as he crossed his arms. What Ryu didn't say though was that he wasn't sure of how much of his strength to hold back and only used the bare minimum he could possibly use, and that he wasn't even sure if that wouldn't accidentally kill him.

'H-he held back!' Was the shared thought between the Strauss sisters. How strong was this guy that he could beat an S-class monster while holding back.

Ryu looked the duo over for a moment before walking past the younger of the two, Lisanna if he had heard correctly. "I'll go help your sister with her injuries while you check him out," he said to her as he jerked a thumb at the fallen form of her brother.

Lisanna nodded dumbly and rushed over to her brother.

Meanwhile Ryu reached Mirajane, who looked at him with an air of caution. He either didn't notice or care as he checked her injuries and spoke, "Looks like your arm is broken on top of being dislocated. I'll have to pop it back in before setting the brake."

"You seem to know what you're doing." Mira noted, slightly surprised by his diagnosis of her injuries.

"I've been injured pretty bad myself on more than a few occasions," he said while thinking about all of the close calls he had. He placed his one hand on her shoulder while the other held her arm in a gentle, but firm grip. "On three. Ready?"

Mira noded.

"1...2-"

Snap/Pop!

Mira bit back a cry of pain as Ryu popped her elbow back and set the bone in one swift motion.

He found himself on the receiving end of one of her fiercest glares, "I didn't hear a three."

"That's because I never said it...three." Her glare intensified. Seemingly unaffected by it, Ryu tore a strip off the bottom of his coat and wrapped it around her arm in the form of a makeshift sling. "Let me help you stand," he said as he offered her a hand.

Mirajane brushed his hand aside as she replied, "Thanks but I'm fine." She managed to stand on her own but immediately fell the moment she applied pressure on her injured ankle.

Before she could hit the ground though, she was caught by Ryu, who put one of her arms around his shoulders and a hand around her waist.

As he helped her walk he said, "Trust me, I'm pretty prideful myself but even I know when I need help standing, let alone walking."

Mirajane looked away, a small blush apparent on her cheeks. Both from embarrassment but also the close proximity between them. She could, involuntarily, feel the hardness of his muscles through his clothes. "Try and cop a feel and I'll break your hand," she said in a threatening tone.

"I give you permission to do so if my hand so much as twitches in the wrong direction," Ryu said evenly. Though it took all of his self control not to break out into a blush. The woman was strikingly beautiful after all, and her choice of clothing only added emphasis to her voluptuous figure. Plus he could feel how soft her skin was.

Pushing raging hormones aside, Ryu mentally smacked himself as he realized that he never introduced himself. "I'm Ryu. Ryu Sato."

"Mirajane Strauss, but everyone just calls me Mira. My younger siblings are Elfman and Lisanna," responded Mirajane.

"Mirajane," Ryu whispered, letting the name roll off tongue. " I wish it were under better circumstances but it's nice to meet you."

Having reached her siblings, Ryu gently set Mira down, and just as he did Elfman began to stir.

"Ugh...My head," Elfman said as he sat up. His eyes immediately fell on his sisters. "Mira, Lisanna, what happened? How did you get hurt Mira?" He asked as he saw his older sibling in her injured state.

"Do you not remember what happened?" Elfman's head snapped in Ryu's direction, who he hadn't even noticed standing there. "I don't know the details but if I had to wager a guess...it would be that you lost control of that beast form and attacked your sisters here. Am I right?"

"Yes," Mirajane nodded sadly. "I wasn't strong enough to take out the beast, so Elfman tried using his Take-Over to control it, but it was too strong."

Elfman looked horrified at her words and turned to Lisanna for confirmation. She nodded as well. "I-I was the one that did that to you," He said as tears began to fall down his cheeks. "I-I'm so so-ACH!"

Elfman was interrupted by Ryu punching him on top of his head. Even Mirajane and Lisanna looked stunned and confused by his actions. "None of the sappy I'm sorry shit."

"But I could've kill-ACH!"

Ryu hit him yet again before crossing his arms. "Yes you fucked up. Sure you could've killed one of your sisters, but you didn't. So instead of worrying about what could've happened focus on making sure that it can NEVER happen. Become stronger and learn to control your power, because very few things suck more than having power, but not being able to handle it."

Lisanna and Elfman stared at him with expressions of awe and understanding, but Mira on the other hand, she looked somewhat confused by his words. To her it sounded like he was speaking from experience.

"Now can someone tell me, just where the hell I am?" Ryu asked after a moment. "I'm more than a little lost. I've been wandering around these woods for what feels like hours."

The siblings quickly sweat-dropped at his words. 'He's lost.'

"You can come with us back to our guild," Lisanna suggested. "Our guild master will want to thank you personally for helping us, but first we have to return to the town that hired us and inform them that the beast has been taken care of."

Ryu shrugged his shoulders and helped Mirajane to her feet once again, "Lead the way."

The now group of four began the long trek back to town when Ryu asked one more thing, "What's a guild?" The only thing that kept Mira from face planting was Ryu himself. Otherwise she would've joined her brother and sister on the ground.

"So let me get this straight. I'm in the kingdom of Fiore. You three can draw the energy I feel in the air into your bodies and by doing so can utilize it to cast magic, which makes you mages. Not only that but 10% of the world's population can also do the same. Have I missed anything so far?"

The siblings that sat across from him all nodded their heads in perfect unison.

Ryu bit back the sudden urge to repeatedly bash his head against the wall in a comedic fashion, "Good just making sure." He was in a different fucking world. How he ended up here, or more importantly why was unknown to him. He would find the answer to those questions eventually.

For now though Ryu was going to stick with following the Strauss family to their guild, Fairy Tail. Apparently guilds were places where mages join and pick up job requests. Mercenaries if you will. He found the name of their guild to be a bit strange, but he would withhold judgment until they arrived. After picking up their reward the four of them got on a train that was headed toward to the city Magnolia Town, where their guild was based.

Once on the train, they began answering his questions, and boy was there a lot of them.

"How do you not know any of this?" Mirajane asked with a raised brow. All of the answers to his questions was common knowledge. She found it exasperating that someone clearly as powerful as him would be that oblivious to the world around him.

"Let's just say that I'm very far away from home," Ryu said before he turned his attention to the passing scenery. "Where I'm from people like myself are very rare. I don't know the exact number but it wouldn't even come close to a single percent of my home's entire population. Besides, we tend to keep a low profile so very few normal people even know of our existence."

"How does someone with your power and appearance keep a low profile," Mirajane commented, thinking of how he handled an out of control Elfman effortlessly.

Turning to them Ryu raised a single brow, before his lips turned upward into a smirk. "Very carefully," was his ominous reply.

Before they could question him anymore, he leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes. His breathing became slowed and relaxed, signifying that he had fallen asleep. Seeing that they weren't going to be getting anymore answers out of him, the siblings shared a look before they decided to follow his example.

The stress of the day having caught up with them, they too fell into the soft tune of sleep.

It wouldn't be until several hours later that they arrived in Magnolia. The sky was darkening as the sun had begun to set. The swelling in Mirajane's ankle had gone down enough so that she could walk on her own and now lead them through the town. As Ryu followed the siblings, he took the time to admire the architecture around him.

'Just where have I ended up?' He thought, taking note of how old-fashioned the buildings around him were.

A short walk later they arrived at their destination. "So this is your guild?" Ryu asked as he stood before a large wooden building with a strange symbol hanging from it. It was much bigger than what he was expecting.

"Yeah," Mirajane said as Elfman pushed the giant wooden doors open. Ryu felt his eye twitch at what was awaiting them inside. It looked like the whole place was in the middle of a giant bar brawl. Chairs, bottles, tables and he was pretty sure he saw several people get launched as well.

"Don't worry, it's usually like this," Lisanna said with a reassuring smile as she and her older siblings moved through the chaos.

Ryu sighed and followed suit, taking care to avoid the assortment of flying projectiles. One bottle came close and almost smashed into the side of his face, but he caught it at the last second. He glanced down at it and saw that it was wine.

With a shrug, he popped the cork and took a swig before he tossed it back into the fray.

.

.

.

It wasn't half bad.

They eventually managed to get through the crowd and reach the bar on the other side. Sitting on one of the multiple stools was an old-man that wore an orange jacket, shorts, a white shirt and what looked like an orange and blue striped jester's hat.

"Master."

The man perked up at the sound of Mirajane's voice. "Ah, Mira, I'm glad to see that you're all bac-what happened to you!?" The old-man jumped off of his seat and began checking the siblings over, much like that of a concerned parent.

Ryu had to stop himself from snickering once he saw how comically short their guild master was. He barely came past his kneecaps.

Mira looked down dejectedly, "The monster we were after was much stronger than we thought. After it beat me Elfman tried using his Take-Over and-"

"And that's when I stepped in." Ryu spoke, making himself known. "I happened to be passing by when their energy tingled on the edge of my senses, so I decided to go and investigate. The name's Ryu Sato by the way."

"Makarov Dreyar, Third guild master of Fairy Tail." Makarov looked at the young man before him. "If we're to discuss the full details of what happened, I think it would be best done in private." Walking through a door that sat off to the side, Makarov waved for them to follow.

The group did just that and soon found themselves in the man's office. Makarov jumped onto his desk before he turned to them and motioned for them to take a seat. The siblings do so but Ryu remained standing.

Clearing his throat, Makarov spoke, "Now, tell me exactly what happened."

And so they did.

Ryu sat on one of the stools at the bar. He had his elbows on the edge and his back to the counter. To his sides were the siblings. They had finished the retelling of today's events to Makarov a few minutes ago. The process had taken several hours as they had started from the point of when they entered the forest, so it was well into the middle of the night by the time they had finished.

"So what are you going to do?"

Ryu's eyes glanced in Mirajane's direction. After several moments of silence, he shrugged, "The old-man's offer is tempting," He began to say. Shortly after finishing their tale, Makarov had thanked Ryu profusely for saving his children, and had asked him to join the guild. "But, I'm going to have to decline."

"But why?" Lisanna asked, clearly confused by his decision. This would be the first time any of them have heard of someone turning down an offer to join Fairy Tail.

"I was fighting a war." Spoke Ryu, "It was nearly over. I was completely out of energy, missing an arm and dying. I was ready face my fate...but instead of arriving at the doors of heaven or hell, I found myself waking in a forest, completely healed with my energy returning to me, on a continent that I had never heard of."

The siblings could only stare in shock at his revelation. For someone so young speak of fighting in a war and willingly embrace death, it was unnerving to say the least.

"I need to find answers. I need to find the reason for waking here...and I can't do that by staying in one place." Pushing himself off the counter, Ryu walked out of the guild. "Get stronger you three. I won't be around to save you next time."

"Hey!" Ryu stopped in mid step and looked over his shoulder. Mira had stood up and was glaring at him. "Make sure you come back if you can't find a way home. The masters offer will still stand." She pointed at him with her working hand, "Also, we're going to fight you the next time we meet. We'll show you that we won't need saving!"

Ryu blinked at her declaration. He held her gaze for a moment longer before he reared his head back in laughter. "Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You better get way stronger then if you want to land a scratch on me." His laughter died down and he resumed walking. Hands in his pockets he tossed a wave over his shoulder and disappeared with a burst of static, but not before they heard him say.

"Take care."

-End-