sympathy for the devil

welcome to the jungle

Three Years Ago

There was nothing.

And then there wasn't.

He was in a field. It was dark, but not black like before – a moon hung high in the sky, casting bright light over the bare grass. He was cold, which was strange because as far as he knew, he had never been cold before.

Where had he come from?

There had been heat, and darkness, and he had been running from something that scared him so much that his throat closed up and his heart nearly pounded out of his chest. But it was gone now, and the fear had disappeared, and—

"--------!"

There was a boy. He was shouting something, but the words were unfamiliar, in a language he didn't recognize. The shouting was followed by a loud, explosive sound, then an eerie howl that echoed through the field. His eyes were adjusting to the moonlight now and he could see the boy, and a girl, and a group of something large and snarling chasing them.

He looked down at his hands. There were markings on his arms, outlined faintly in red, and he knew that they were powerful. Bright. Magic. Where did they come from?

"----!"

The boy shouted again, this time in pain, and stumbled, falling to the ground. The figures were closing in on the pair, bearing down on them, moving in for the kill. It didn't seem right.

He stepped toward them, uncertain, then made eye contact with the boy for just a moment – the boy with pink hair whose eyes were wide and scared and confused. That was all it took for everything in his body to scream protect, protect, protect.

In an instant he was between them and the monsters – arms spread to protect the two, red light flaring up in the patterns on his skin.

"KAE!" His markings turned black and his magic sped toward the creatures, who had no time to react. When it hit them, they dissipated instantly, forming piles of dust on the ground. He waited a moment to see if they would reform, then dropped his magic, turning to the two behind him.

~*~*~

This guy was naked.

Natsu knew, logically, that there were more important things to be focusing on – say, the pack of werewolves that were after them – but all he could see was the completely nude, incredibly attractive guy in front of him, and how his ass just happened to be at Natsu's eye level.

Where the hell did he come from? Natsu wondered, and then the question was banished from his mind when the boy's arms lit up and disintegrated the pack of werewolves with what appeared to be zero effort. What the fuck?

The boy turned around and reached out a hand to him, and Natsu swallowed, trying desperately to keep his eyes above waist height. He glanced at Erza, who looked similarly stunned.

"Uh, thanks," Natsu said eventually, letting go of the boy's hand and touching his neck. The bite there ached, but it hadn't been enough to turn him. That had been a close call. If this guy hadn't shown up...

"Ona esaeu sunq?" The boy asked. The words were sharp and rough and hurt Natsu's ears, and he winced.

"Do you, uh, speak English?" Erza gave Natsu an exasperated look and he shrugged his shoulders, giving her a look that said, it's a valid question, what the hell else am I supposed to say? He turned back to the boy, who was frowning and hadn't answered. "Do you have some, y'know, clothes?"