"What?''

Makarov was in a state of disbelief.

The Grand Magic Games were finally over; the competitors from Fairy Tail were currently in their dorms, packing their things, ready to leave Crocus, except for Natsu.

Not one of them uttered a word, they packed in utter silence, heads down, frowning; as Natsu explained to Makarov the agreement he had made with Sting.

Makarov looked down at the floor and narrowed his eyes. "I must admit, my boy, that was a noble thing to do...'' He sighed. "...But I can't admit that Fairy Tail will be the same without you. You better come and visit us. Ya hear?!''

Natsu chuckled lowly. "Yeah, I hear ya Gramps. What makes you think I wouldn't visit?'' The pinkette inquired, folding his arms with a faltered smile.

The old man grinned to himself. ''Thank you, Natsu.'' And with that, Makarov walked out.

Silence.

"S-so...'' Natsu snapped his head around, seeing Lucy forming a wavering smile on her lips.

"...Is Happy joining... too? Since er... you two seem to stick t-together and-''

"No.'' Natsu walked up to her, placing an arm on the quivering mage's shoulder. It was obvious that she was struggling with his departure with Fairy Tail. The fire wielder felt like crap for leaving her and his team like this... and so abruptly too.

"I told him to stay. After all, I have no clue what Sabertooth is gonna be like now since they have a new Master... it could be even worse...''

The blonde woman averted her eyes. "A new Master? Who is it?''

She obviously wasn't interested; but hey, at least she was keeping a conversation going... unlike the rest of the guild mates.

"It's Sting.''

At this comment, the Salamander spotted a few wizard's halt in their tracks. After a short pause; they started to head out of the door with their packed bags flung over each of their shoulders, passing Natsu without saying a word; treating him as if he wasn't there.

"I better go too.'' Lucy walked past Natsu following the rest like a sheep, still avoiding any direct eye contact.

The only one to stop before leaving was Erza.

She turned around to face him, smiling gently.

"Don't worry Natsu, they'll come to there senses soon. Thank you for this.'' At this subtle statement, she hugged him whole-heartedly, and walked out.

The pinkette stood in the room... alone.

Standing in and isolated state, he couldn't help but wonder:

Is this what Sabertooth is going to be like?

• • • • • • • •

The fire dragon slayer stood in awe in front of the towering and furnished building.

And that building happened to be Sabertooth.

Sure, he had been here before, when he almost took out Jiemma; but he hadn't really got a good look at it...up until now, despite it was the middle of the night.

Swinging the large weight of luggage off of his back, Natsu walked hesitantly towards the two heavy doors which loomed over the small mage, making him feel tiny in comparison.

Closing his eyes; the pink haired mage let out a long sigh.

He heaved open one of the doors with a grunt. Why did they have to be so heavy? 'Couldn't have they got regular doors?' Natsu thought to himself feeling extremely frustrated. 'Y'know, the type which open by just pushing them with one hand?'

"Hey, let me help you with that.''

The fire wielder's eyes shot open, as he felt the weight of the door vanish. There stood Sting; holding open the door for him.

Natsu pouted, folding his arms in a childish manner. "I didn't need any help.''

The white dragon slayer closed the door slowly behind them. He ran a hand through his hair, almost suggesting to the other mage that the door had caused him no great amount of energy to hold open whatsoever.

Rolling his eyes, the Sabertooth mage frowned at the shorter wizard. "You were struggling to open one door Natsu...'' A thin smirk was introduced on his lips, as he sent a wink in the pinkette's direction "... don't tell me you've lost all of your strength after the games...'' He eyed the pinkette up and down to emphasize this, which made Natsu feel slightly insecure.

"Lets start walking over there.'' Sting stated, pointing towards the left hand side of the hall, which introduced a long corridor. "That's where your room is.''

Something caught the shorter dragon slayer's attention.

"Hey, weren't there grapes hanging from the ceiling before?'' He asked, pointing to the ceiling. The blonde raised an eyebrow and frowned, looking up.

"Oh, yeah... they were there for Jiemma to throw at the guild members if they displeased him, or simply to embarrass them in front of everybody. So... we got rid of them.'' Sting shrugged casually, pacing forward to Natsu's room. The Salamander smiled to himself. Perhaps Sabertooth has changed with Sting as their new Master.