"Who's there?" The child asks, staring off into the darkness of the cave he had wandered into, in order to escape the heavy rain. He stares off into the darkness of the cavern, listening for the sound he had heard only seconds before. He runs his hands across the down the length of both arms, in a vain attempt to keep himself warm.
"It's probably nothing…" He tries to convince himself after a minute without response passes. He leans back against the wall of the cavern, sliding down to the floor. He huddles into a ball, giving his legs the same treatment as his arms. He is no warmer than he was before, the rags he has on now, are failing to keep back the cold. Staring off into the entrance, it doesn't look like the rain will lighten any time some, a fact that is later confirmed by the sound of a lightning strike somewhere off in the distance.
I hate this He says aloud, hugging his legs to his body. He stares at his bruised feet, wishing he had a pair of socks and shoes to ease the pain of walking across the hard ground. More often than not, the rough surfaces of rocks and wood splinters would dig into the skin at the base of his feet, causing them to bleed, but thanks to the rain, the forest grounds were soft. At the same time, it was because of the rain he was cold, his wet clothes sticking to his skin, causing him to nearly freeze to death. He dearly wished for a fire, right about now.
More than anything though, he wished it hadn't come to this. This pathetic life, where everyday was a fight to survive. He hated it. He hated having to beg for food whenever he went through a town. He hated having to wear these filthy, scrapped rags, that barely passed off as clothes. Hiding in the gutters and alleys for shelter, and foraging through the woods, with little success at that. He loathed the parents that were never there for him. He hated having no name, no alias to identify himself. He lacked a name that could be proud of. But more than anything, he hated being alone. His red eyes, unkempt raven black hair, and rags giving him a feral appearance that drove away most people.
"I HATE THIS!" He yelled furiously, screaming out at top his lungs, till he ran out of breathe. He took a lungful of air before continuing" I HATE THIS! I HATE THIS! I HATE THIS!" The pain was too much, and when he could no longer bare to scream, he cried. The echoes of his scream, the only response to his declaration of hatred. His tears continued, as his only companion, as always was the darkness….or so it had seemed.
Suddenly the cavern had begun to shake , a deep low rumble of something awakening, reverberating through out the cave. The ground shook violently as a tremor took hold of the entire cavern with such force, that the child thought it was going to cave in. Drips of Water, Pebbles, and large shards of rocks fell from the cavern ceiling, forcing the boy to leap away for safety, scrambling back as a large piece of stone fell right on top of the spot he sat just a few moments before. Shattering as it hit the ground. He was crawling desperately towards the entrance to escape the quake, but it had stopped nearly as soon as it had started.
The boy rose to his feet as the tremors ceased, staring into the darkness of the cave, unaware as to the cause of the quake. After a moment of indecision, he made the bold choice to take a few steps deeper into the cave. He stopped after four, leaning in and squinting his eyes to try and get better view into the black. "I-Is something there?" He dared to ask, his voice trembling.
"Yes." An answer came this time from within the depths of the darkness. The tone of the voice was low, and it's quality was reminiscent to a snake's hiss. The boy swallowed nervously, intimidated by the speaker's voice alone. It sounded close though, closer than it should have been. His intimidation devolved into downright fear as a pair of gleaming silver eyes, slitted like a snake's, opened to stare directly at him.
"And what exactly are you doing in my den?" The voice asked with genuine curiosity. The child watched as the pair of eyes, each of them nearly as big as his torso, rose higher towards the ceiling of the cavern. The child backed away two steps at the sight of the eyes. These were the eyes the likes of which he had never seen before. The eyes of an apex predator, a killer's eyes.A monster's eyes.
He muttered in response to the question, unable to form a proper sentence. He thought of making a mad dash for the entrance, but something in his gut told him that no matter how fast he ran, the monster would catch him. So he brushed that idea aside.
"I asked you a question. Are you going to stand there twiddling your fingers or are you going give me an answer ,Shorty?" The voice repeated it's question, it could have been a demand, and the boy would still have had a hard time responding.
"I'm not short!" The child stated out loud, anger flaring at the comment about his height. He hated being called short. It made him feel weak. Not that he was in much of a position to talk.
"Yes, you are. Your practically a pebble. Gihihihi." The voice laughed, the sound like two jagged sheets of metal grinding against one another. The boy cringed at the sound for a moment, holding his hands to the sides of his head, to protect his ear drums from the grating laughter.
"I'm not!I'm not!I'm not!"He growled at the darkness, stomping his feet against the ground furiously. Planting his feet together, he crossed his arms, glaring at the predator's eyes with his own.
"What an interesting pair of eyes you have…" The voice noted. The boy could tell the monster was tilting it's head in curiosity, because it's eyes were now staring at him from an angle that suggested as much. "It's almost as though you have…a dragon's eyes."
"Dragon's eyes? What would you know about that?" The child dared to ask, curiosity taking hold. No one had ever said that to him, most preferring to compare his eyes to a demons.
As if on que, a bolt of lightning struck the ground right in front of the Cavern entrance, illuminating the entirety of the cavern to reveal it's only other occupant. In that brief flash, the child bore witness to a massive lizard, the likes of which he had never seen before. A quadrupedal , winged reptile, thought to be from the stuff of legend. It's size was titanic and it was covered in head tail with scales that more or less resembled plates of armor. The Beast's wings were folded into it's back, unable to stretch out without cramping against the ceiling. It had a serpentine head that much like the rest of it's body was plated in armored scales.
Immediately the child could tell that this was no mere ordinary monster. This was a legend.
"Y-your a…"The child stammered, unable or unwilling to finish the sentence. He was unsure if his eyes had deceived him.
"A Dragon, yes." The reptile finished his sentence, taking a single step forward that caused the ground to briefly quake. "The Iron Dragon, to be exact, shorty."
"B-but Dragon's aren't real! They're just myths! Legends!"He shouted incredulously, oblivious to the comment about his height.
"I can assure you, that we are very real. Legendary, yes, but still real."The Dragon replied with a frightening grin, that to the child resembled more of a sneer. Although whether he was smiling , frowning or sneering, all that the kid was focused on was the sheer number of sharp teeth that could have been better compared to swords. "You still haven't answered my question, are you doing in my den?"
The child snapped back into focus at the sound of another jab towards his height. His nostrils flared angrily, but he decided it was better to just question at this point, so he took a breath to calm himself."It's raining."
"Obviously."Was the quick , if not smart ass response.
"So that's why I came inside. I don't want to get wet." He answered honestly.
"So why don't you go to your home?" The Dragon asked with slight confusion.
"I don't have a home…." The boy looked down towards the ground, ashamed.
"No home? What about your parents?"
"I don't have any parents…."This time, his hands balled together into fist at the subject. His knuckles whitened at the pressure. Something the Dragon took note of.
"Do you have nothing? How old are you, runt?" The Iron Dragon asked, head tilting once more. The Reptile now realized why the child had such an emaciated frame, and why his skin was so filthy as well as his rags, if they could be called that.
"Seven…I think…"He replied hesitantly, thinking back over the years, he held up his fingers, counting each of them just to make sure.
"Your just a hatchling…" The Dragon thought aloud, and this time the boy tilted his head, confused by the term. The Dragon, didn't seem to notice. "What's your name, child?"
He said nothing. There was nothing to say. His eyes dropped to the ground again, and he thought back to earlier, of all the pain he had suffered. A lone tear dripped down from the right side of his face. The Dragon said nothing for a few moment, piecing the rest together.
This child had nothing. This child was nothing. He could see it as clear as day now. And now thinking back to minutes earlier, when this little brat had woken him with his ceaseless yelling, he finally remembered the exact word. Hate. This kid was alone, much like he was. He knew exactly what that could do to any one. But no child deserved the suffering that was solitude.
After a silence, that seemed to last for ages, the Dragon finally spoke. All he said was two words, and that it was all it took to snap the boy out of his somber state."Gajeel Redfox."
"What?" The kid asked. Unable to understand why the Dragon had said those two words.
"Gajeel Redfox…"It repeated itself, leaning closer towards the boy till he was but a foots away from him." You don't have a name…so I gave you one."
Was this thing serious? Could he do that? Why would he do that? He had barely known this tiny nameless human for less than hour, and he had decided to give him a name. He thought about it for a second, repeating it in his head three times. It had a nice ring to it.
"Gajeel Redfox." He repeated it out loud, staring at the Dragon. It had occurred to him just then, that this beast wasn't afraid of him. Not that he could be all that intimidating compared to a Dragon. Nonetheless, this was the first being to treat him like an actual person…to acknowledge him. "Do you have a name?"
"It just so happens that I do." Came the quick reply. The Dragon's lips, if they could be considered that, pulled back into a smile. It was obvious this time, although it was still an ugly smile. "You can call me Metalicana, runt."
"Thank You."Was all Gajeel Redfox could say, not even mad at the height comment. Instead, he smiled at the Iron Dragon, and knew that he wasn't alone anymore.