A/N: Hey everyone! It's been so long since I wrote a fanfic, and I missed it. Let me know what you think!


Dust rose up beneath Metalicana's talons as he landed, his vision obscured until he beat his heavy wings, clearing the air. He breathed in deeply and growled. Despite the open terrain, everything smelled musty and stale, a land locked away and forgotten. Even the colors were muted. Soft greys made the rocks jutting out of the earth appear fuzzy, while dark clouds swirled above, a tempest held at bay. Why he chose to meet here of all places…

As though thought alone summoned him, a beat of wings sounded overhead, accompanied by a wave of heat and the scent of sulfur. Igneel landed heavily beside Metalicana, dust flying up once again.

"I wondered when I might see you," Igneel greeted Metalicana as the air cleared, his great voice like thunder. "Though I must say, I am surprised to see you at all. I believed the affairs of humans were beneath you."

"They are," Metalicana stared straight ahead, refusing to meet the red dragon's eye. "But this concerns dragons as well, and being one of those, I wish to know what is going on."

The red dragon nodded. "I doubt you are alone in that standing."

Metalicana snorted. Igneel would be siding with humans, of course, but he'd always found them to be too much of a fuss. They were loud, unruly, and had a greed that rivaled that of dragons themselves. No, this meeting would merely to pacify his own curiosity.

They walked until they reached an immense stone circle with a raised dais in the center. A dragon with pearl-colored feathers perched outside the circle.

"Grandeeney," Igneel greeted her. "It is good to have you both here. Now all we need are-"

"We are here, Igneel," a booming voice called out. Above them soared two dragons—one completely white with feathers protruding from his ruff, and the other, black as shadow itself. They circled and landed next to Grandeeney. "I believe it will only be the five of us," the white dragon, Weisslogia said.

"We have not heard from any of the others," the black dragon, Skiadrum shook his head. "That could be problematic."

"It will be," a hoarse whisper floated across the air to the group. An immense dragon with dark scales that reflected the sky ascended the dais. Upon closer inspection, his scales were cracked at the ends, and he bore several long, deep scars that ran from his shoulder to his lighter underbelly. One eye was completely white, while the other was as clouded as the skies. Long trails of white feathers flowed from above his eyes and beneath his nose, ruffling with each breath.

"I trust you have a reason for gathering us all here, Igneel," it said, its words slow but clear.

Igneel nodded. "Thank you for joining us, Chronologia," he turned to the rest of the dragons. "We have all been sensing Acnologia growing stronger. Though he may still be trapped, he will not stay that way forever. Once he gets out, he will wreak vengeance on us all." He turned to Chronologia. "Can you confirm this?"

The aged dragon nodded slowly. "I have seen it. He will start in the human world first...then come to us." The soft coughing that came from him turned out to be a laugh. "Not that he can do much to me."

"You may be immortal, but the rest of us are not," Grandeeney shot at him before looking at Igneel. "You have an idea, I assume?"

"I do, but it will involve cooperation," Igneel said. He looked around at all of them before saying: "We need to join together with the humans if we are to survive Acnologia's wrath."

A stunned silence fell from all the dragons at this suggestion.

"Join...with humans?" Grandeeney mused.

"It is...risky," Skiadrum shook his head. "But...there are quite powerful wizards among them."

"But how would we do such a thing?" asked Weisslogia. "We have not been among humans since the wars. We have not forgotten them, and neither will have they."

"You cannot be entertaining this idea," Metalicana growled at all of them. "Join with humans? How much could they possibly help?"

"They can have great power," Igneel insisted. "I have seen it myself."

"There is no way this will work," Metalicana shook his head. "You may as well doom us all with your idiotic ideas."

"Our only hope is the humans!" Igneel roared. "We have no one else with the capabilities to withstand as much magic. If you want to give both our world and theirs even a chance at survival, you will listen to my plan."

Metalicana growled, but said nothing.

"What is your plan, Igneel?" Grandeeney asked in a soft voice.

Igneel turned his neck and ruffled through his left wing. A moment later, he resurfaced, the tip of his jaws clenching a white scarf attached to a sleeping pink-haired boy.

Grandeeney gasped while the rest stared at the small human. Were they usually this small?

"He is my plan," Igneel said, setting the boy down in front of them. "I am caring for this child and teaching him my magic. I believe he can be a bridge between the world of dragons and the world of humans."

"A bridge?" Skiadrum asked.

Igneel nodded. "As Weisslogia mentioned, though it has been nearly a hundred years since the wars with the humans, they will neither have forgotten nor forgiven us. No matter how good our motives, they will not tolerate our presence. We need those who trust us, who will also be trusted by humans," at this, he inclined his head toward the boy. "I believe the best way is to find the humans willing to speak with us and teach them dragon magic. They will become our ambassadors and convince the rest of the humans to join us."

"Now you are joking," Metalicana laughed. "As if humans don't hate us enough, you think they won't hate anyone associated with us as well?"

"A good point," Weisslogia said, turning to Igneel.

"Where would we find these humans?" Grandeeney asked. "Any who are courageous enough to try to find us are sure to be courageous enough to try and kill us," she mused.

"There are the young humans. The ones without families. This one is named Natsu, and he has no one else to care for him," Igneel said.

"No one would miss them," said Skiadrum. "No one would look for them."

"It could work..." Grandeeney said. "We could find human children, give them homes, teach them our ways. They could connect our worlds peacefully."

Skiadrum and Weisslogia nodded, but Metalicana growled. Take care of a small human? How completely odious.

Igneel turned to Metalicana. "What do you say, brother? Will you help us?"

Metalicana stared down at that small, pink-haired boy Igneel had called Natsu. What a puny thing he was. No scales, hardly any teeth, and clearly no sense of danger as he lay fast asleep in a thunder of dragons. How were these things supposed to protect themselves?

How, indeed?

He heaved a sigh that sounded as heavy as his armored scales. "As much as I can try, I do not see a way around this. Yes. I am with you."

"Excellent," Igneel nodded to Metalicana. "When the time comes, we can combine our magic with theirs and work together to defeat Acnologia."

As if the words floated to Acnologia himself, each dragon felt a shudder in the air. Metalicana braced himself against the pulses until they faded moments later.

"If that is your plan," Chronologia said, "you had best get it started soon. You do not have much time left."


A/N: I plan on updating once a week (hopefully Mondays). See you next week! :)