Phoenix Fire || Fairy Tail [1]

𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞

𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙩 𝙛𝙩. 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙚
❛ 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦. 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢. ❜

◊

If it were not for her reflexes, Rose would have been a feathery pancake in the first three seconds of the fight. Natsu was fast, that much was certain. And he could use fire – yet another surprise. By this point Rose felt more surprised in one day than she had been in an entire year.

The female swerved around a flaming punch as best as she could in her bird form, the feathers on her scruff alight with fire. The white flames flickered in her plumage, acting as a deterrent and a weapon.

Natsu was strong. Rose could tell by the way he carried himself. And he had experience, as well. Likely not nearly as much as Rose, but still quite a lot. Rose had a feeling the other mages in his company would be just as formidable, though this thought brought down her hopes considerably. What if they attacked her after she fought him? The barrier would be enough to hold them back temporarily, but afterwards...

No. She couldn't afford to distract herself with plans for the future. She had to think about the present. Right now, her enemy was in front of her. She would defeat him in order to protect Cylene. That was all that mattered. She had to keep her companion alive, at all costs.

Rose ducked beneath Natsu's arm, backing away as soon as she was behind him. Her back was to the wall of flames, with another one in front of Natsu – keeping him separate from his friends. The female's feathers ignited into flame completely, all traces of crimson replaced with white. A signal of the strength of her fire; she wasn't joking around.

'Too bad for you, Natsu,' Rose thought to herself in a snide manner as she recognised the shock on the male's face. 'Fire can't hurt me.'

 Natsu glared at the bird as if he knew what she was thinking, taking in a deep breath.

"Fire Dragon's..."

Rose felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her. The flames surrounding her faltered for a moment, although no one seemed to notice. 'Dragon slayer...'

She was familiar with the term. How couldn't she be? A dragon was... was the reason for all this. Dragons were awful. They were liars, traitorous beings, cunning and manipulative... Past experience had taught her that. She couldn't trust them, and dragon slayers were included in that circle. Ignoring the awakening of a dormant sensation in her heart, Rose prepared herself.

"Roar!"

Rather than moving away from the attack, which would likely be enough to completely devastate anyone else, Rose leapt through the eye of the funnel. Her plumage was fireproof, anyway. She was certain that Natsu wouldn't expect this – an attack which came from his own!

In a flash of flames which were disguised by Natsu's own, Rose had returned to her true form. Her dark hair whipped about messily in the air, crimson muffler hiding her lower face. A shade which resembled her eyes.

"Flame Phoenix's..."

Natsu's eyes had gone round with shock. There was no way he could defend himself, nowhere for him to run to, nowhere to hide. With flames wreathing her fists and forearms, Rose completed the chant. The slightest smirk curled her lips upwards, a hint of the female's smugness.

"Blazing Wings!"

She fired her fist to his jaw, an act of revenge after his earlier attack. And then she drove her other fist into his stomach with a satisfying groan of pain from the male. The attack was enough to send him staggering away, somehow breaking a tree in half as he fell.