Third Person

Earthland X367

A women, covered in a cloak weaved of brown cloth and gold, moved quiet as a mouse as she made her way through sprawling buildings in a relatively small village, attempting to remain unseen. Her arms were cradling something to her chest under her cloak, something that even now after only having it for a short period of time the woman couldn't help but think of as her pride and joy.

Before long the woman had made her way to a home that was close to the center of the small village, a small sigh of relief escaping her, shoulders slumping now that she reached her destination without being discovered. Though she wasn't completely out of the woods yet of course. She still had to actually get into the house to make sure she avoided discovery.

Taking a deep breath and letting it all out, her right hand shifted a little bit under the cloak and causing the small bundle to tip a little bit before her body began to glow gold. She emitted a brilliantly bright light before she was suddenly gone from the front of the house. A few of the neighboring residents came out to take a look, yet dismissed the bright light when they all saw there was nothing.

She ended up reappearing on the other side of the door, staggering as she felt a sudden surge of exhaustion and bringing a hand to her head under the hood, groaning as she did so due to the migraine that was beginning to form. Her right hand shifted back to where it had been resting before she had begun to glow, the bundle now being held normally once more.

She looked around the small house she had entered, the modest home being decorated by some tapestries of a family of three, a man with short pink hair, a woman with black hair that was curled up on the sides of her head with a large bun on the back. In each of the tapestries there was a young boy with short black hair with the two adults, having a pair of dark eyes just like them.

Before she could really look around anymore the heard some loud thuds come from the second floor of the house. The woman heard some quiet mumbling before the sound of a door slowly creaking open could be heard throughout the house, not long after a soft orange glow beginning to slowly approach the stairs. When the glow reached the stairway it was revealed that the noise had been coming from a man who was holding the source of the glow, a simple candle.

The woman began to feel hope spark within her at the mere sight of the man. Dark eyes outlined with charcoal and short pink hair, a small frown on his face as he gazed upon the cloaked woman. After a few minutes of inspection he decided to speak, his voice filled with exhaustion, "Hestia? What are you doing here? You know that if you get caught here.."

The woman, now identified as Hestia shook her head quickly, still keeping the small bundle hidden under her cloak, "I know Brenton, trust me I of all people know. But I had no choice but to take the risk, its urgent." She explained, her warm brown eyes now being shown underneath the hood. They shined with hope and desperation as she gazed into his dark eyes, getting the man to look away.

They stood there in silence, the small candle casting a small amount of light onto the pair. Eventually Brenton sighed and gave in, despite his obvious misgivings, "Alright, what are you here for? It better be important if you did decide to risk discovery."

Instead of verbally answering his question, all she did was move the cloak aside and reveal the bundle that she held in her arms.

Brenton's eyes widened in shock as he took in the shock at the sight of a sleeping baby in her arms. He had light and fair skin, his hair being a light shade of pink just like his own. When the baby opened its eyes it revealed a pair of warm, golden brown orbs that gazed at him in curiosity.

He looked away from the baby and back up at Hestia, an unidentifiable emotion floating around in his eyes, "Hestia, is that baby... is it what I think it is?" He asked, his eyes still wide open as he stared at the baby in disbelief.

Hestia couldn't help but feel a small smile full of pride growing on her face as she too looked down at his tiny and curious face, "This is Natsu. He's my first son to have ever been born. He is your second son. This is our child."

Brenton could only stare at Hestia in confusion, "Hestia, why did you bring him here of all places? My wife will be furious with me, not to mention the rest of the village will shun me for being unfaithful! He can't stay here, he and I would not be safe!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. He brought them down and held his head as he began to think of what to do.

Hestia frowned at Brenton in disapproval at his misgivings, "Brenton, I know it would be difficult for you, but I can't keep him with me. The ancient laws forbid it, and once the rest of the gods find out that I broke my vows then I can assure you they will come for him. They will kill him without hesitation and claim he was not meant to be born. Your his only option."

Brenton stared at Hestia in disbelief, "You don't really think I can keep him with me, can you? Your mad if you think there will be anything I can do about him!" He was about to continue going on about the situation when an idea struck him. He calmed down and he began to seem calm once more as he looked at her, "Actually... there is something I can do. You were right to bring him to me Hestia. Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

Hestia seemed surprised by how quick he changed his mind, before she smiled in relief at her lover as she gazed at him, "Thank you Brenton. I know its going to be difficult, but I'll try to drop in and help whenever I can. Its better if he stays with you instead of with me, he'll actually have a chance of survival that way." She looked down at Natsu and planted a kiss on his forehead before she handed him off to his father.

Thunder boomed outside, causing Hestia to look up in worry, "My brother is looking for me here now. I have to leave before he finds me, he won't hesitate to turn this whole village into dust if he finds out this is where I hid Natsu." She muttered before she looked back down at Brenton, "This is good-bye for now. I'll try to return soon."

Brenton closed his eyes and covered Natsu's face as Hestia took a deep breath and, with no small amount of effort, began to glow gold. Soon there was a bright flash of light and she was gone, leaving Brenton standing alone at his front door with his pink haired son being held in his arms. Brenton simply stood there as he stared at the boy he held in his arms as he thought about his options. His face was set into an expression of stone-cold determination as he opened the door and left the house.

He didn't make any great attempts to stay out of sight, knowing it would be considered suspicious if he was seen lurking around the village with a baby in his arms. Not many people would be up at this time, and even fewer would question him. They wouldn't stick their noses in other peoples business, especially not his. Not if they wanted to thrive in the village.

It didn't take him long to reach the edge of the village, making much better time than Hestia did due to not attempting to hide himself. He kept walking, leaving the village grounds behind. It wasn't long before he reached the edge of a forest not far from the village, though Brenton didn't stop there. He continued onward, pushing past low-hanging branches and tall bushes that stood in his way. He didn't give much though to Natsu's comfort as he carried him, some of the branches scratching his face and getting him to cry.

The moonlight that managed to shine through the trees was barely of any help in the dense forest. After a long walk through the forest, Brenton came upon a clearing that was being completely bathed in moonlight. He could hear the distant howls from a pack of wolves. Brenton walked into the center of the clearing with a stone-cold look on his face, a crying Natsu struggling in his arms. He kneeled down and placed Natsu in the center of the clearing and stared at the boy for a few moments longer before he turned and walked away, not once looking back.

Baby Natsu was left alone in the clearing to cry, abandoned by his father, who he had been placed in the care of by his mother. His cries began to attract many different beastly inhabitants from the forest. Wolves began to approach Natsu, sensing easy prey. Crows rose from the trees and circled above, intent on getting a bit of meat from the baby. A few large reptilian pairs of eyes began to stare at Natsu and the other predators from the treeline.

Boom. The wolves halted in their advance, looking around for the source of the massive echoing boom that they had just heard.

Boom. The crows, sending imminent danger, quickly flew off. They knew no human baby was worth getting kill over.

Boom. The glowing eyes all vanished quickly from the shadows, the baby now being left completely alone to cry in the center of the clearing once more. At least, that was for the moment.

"Why the hell do I hear a baby crying in the middle of the damn woods?!" A voice, commanding respect and giving off a sense of power. Powerful gusts of wind began to shake the tree tops, the few birds that had still been in the general area quickly fleeing. Natsu's crying was reduced to a soft sniffle as he saw a massive red flying lizard above him, next to him was a lizard completely covered in flame.

Dragons. The most powerful beings to ever be known in this world, drawn in by the sound of baby Natsu's crying. One of the dragons had dark red scales with a dark yellow underbelly, with a few scars covering his face. He stood on his back two legs in the clearing, looking down at the baby for a moment before turning to his companion. The other dragon was covered in dark red flames and standing on all fours, not much being revealed about his appearance beyond the flames. These two were Igneel, king of the fire dragons and his lieutenant Atlas Flame, otherwise known as the hell-fire dragon.

"Well Igneel, it would seem that is because there is a baby in the middle of the damn woods." Atlas replied once they had found the baby, quoting what Igneel had said to mess with him. Atlas turned his gaze back to the baby, staring at them both with aw. Atlas leaned down slightly to get a better look at the child, hoping to satisfy some of his curiosity, when Igneel pulled him back a bit.

"Atlas, do not get to close. He feels... strange. He has a similar feeling to that war god we faced not long ago. Not in the sense of being blood-thirsty or hell bent on destruction, but in the sense that he seems to have the same feeling as a god. Plus, your a dragon who is completely covered in fire. It would be best if you didn't get to close to him, lest you accidentally incinerate him." Igneel said, explaining the current situation before he let Atlas go.

Atlas only scoffed at his old friend however, rolling his eyes slightly as he did so, "Come now Igneel, I was only getting a better look at him. He is so tiny, and it is hard to make out much besides the fact that he, is a he. Besides, do you really think I would be so careless as to get him burned?" Atlas asked rhetorically, "Besides, I could feel it too. It's strange. Do you have any idea as to why a baby might have a similar feeling to a god?"

"What makes you think I would have any idea? We just found the child, how am I supposed to know why he feels like a god?" Igneel said, turning to Atlas in turn, "Now the real question isn't why is he out here, and what is he. Its what do we do with him?" Igneel turned back to the baby and kneeled down, picking up Natsu with some moderate difficulty. It was difficult for a gigantic being such as himself to pick up a baby to say the least.

Atlas sighed at the question, letting out some flames as he let out some air, "I do not know Igneel. If he was left out here like this, then its because his family doesn't want him or simply can't take care of him. Though that wouldn't explain why they didn't just put him up for adoption. We could head to the nearest village and leave him at an orphanage, but we'd send the humans into a panic. Plus the boy would be treated differently by other orphans due to being brought along by dragons. So I-" It was then that Atlas Flame came upon a painfully obvious solution, "Of course... Igneel, we could take care of the boy."

Igneel turned a doubtful eye onto the hell-fire dragon however, "Oh? And how would we take care of him? The hair on his head has barely grown out, so he is probably still very young. So he needs a woman's milk or magic formula to survive, something neither of us can give him. And what if we accidentally crush him? He is a fragile creature, and we may accidentally kill him."

Atlas continued undeterred, despite his friends doubts, "We'll just have to be careful to make sure we don't hurt him. As for the milk... well, I'm sure Anna would be more than willing to help." Igneel looked like he was about to protest when he suddenly stopped. He looked back down at Natsu as he began to think more about how they could take care of him. Sensing his weakness, Atlas took the initiative, "Think about it. You could be the boys father, teach him about dragon and human kind alike. Teach him language, how to read, how to wright, train him to use dragon-slaying magic. When the time becomes right, I could help with his training as an uncle of sorts."

That did it. Igneel sighed in defeat and closed his fist tight around Natsu, making sure he was secure while still being able to breathe, "Damn it Atlas. I'll take him. But first we should go to Anna, before we set up any plans. If we can't get her help, were going to have to think of something else." Igneel opened his hand a little bit to stare at the child he now held, the child who he was now committing himself to, "Something tells me your going to cause me a lot of trouble kid."

"What should we call the boy? We can't just keep referring to him as 'boy' and 'child' after all. He needs a name. Something to be known as." Atlas said, getting a bit closer to get a look at the baby.

The fire dragon king had something in mind this time around, as he closed his fist around Natsu and looked at his flame covered friend, "He is to be raised by fire dragons. He seems to like fire dragons fine enough. And its summer time. I feel Natsu would be a fitting name, don't you?" Igneel asked, turning to his lieutenant.

"Natsu... a fitting name indeed. May all his enemies be turned to ash, and may he always prosper."

So I'm conflicted on two paths I could take. I already have a lot planned out as to how Natsu will go to Earth and the plot from there, but there is one plot point I've been fighting with myself about. And its about what to do with Zeref. Due to Zeref never knowing Natsu and Natsu never dying, Zeref won't become the infamous black wizard and Natsu WILL NOT be E.N.D . The demons of Tartaros will never be created, the Eclipse Gate will never be made, and Acnologia will never come to be. Fairy Tail will never be founded, and the dragons will never go extinct. Basically, Earthland would be vastly different. If anything, Earthland would likely eventually become a society where dragons and humans co-exist in harmony, Igneels side of the war winning, which would be cool... but there is nothing to do with Earthland then. None of the characters in Fairy Tail would be the same or even exist. I would have no reason to touch Earthland. Now my other option is have Zeref become the infamous dark wizard for a different reason, and from there Earthland would be the Earthland we know. What do y'all think I should go with? Normal Zeref, or the infamous Black Wizard?