Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima
Little Boy Lost
A small child walked deeper and deeper into the forest. He was weak, tired and hungry but he kept walking looking for what, he knew not. He just knew that he needed to keep moving.
There was nothing particularly special about him, in fact he was average in every possible way save one. He was braver than most kids his age.
His appearance was also average. He wasn't tall or thin. In fact, the only way you could even pick him out in a crowd was by the pink hue of his hair. The boy's name was Natsu Dragneel and if you were to ask him what he was doing in the forest he would not be able to tell you.
In fact, he would not be able to tell you anything about himself save his name. That was the only fact that he knew without a doubt. He found some berries and looked at them with longing. His belly rumbled loudly no matter how much he told it to be quiet and before he could change his mind he picked some and put them in his mouth. He hoped they weren't poisonous but even if they were he wasn't going to last much longer if he didn't eat something soon. He picked as many as he could hold and took off his shirt to turn it into a bag he could carry the berries in.
It was getting dark and he began to look for a place to sleep for the night. He wasn't having much luck and was about to give up and just sleep under a tree when he saw a glowing light up ahead in the distance. He decided to go see what it was, a glowing light could mean fire and fire meant safety from the animals that hunted at night. The source of the light was further than he had thought at first but he reached it without much trouble. He now stood at the opening of a large cave.
He debated entering the cave but the night air was cold and he had begun to shiver and Natsu was brave. He took a deep breath and took a step which was quickly followed by more until deep in the cave he stood staring in awe a the source of the glow.
In front of him lay the largest creature he had ever seen in his life, at least he thought so. He couldn't remember much before he found himself in the forest. He knew right away what it was. It was a fire breathing red dragon. He knew it breathed fire because the source of the glow was the flames that accompanied the dragon's mighty snores. The air in the cave was cozy and warm and Natsu found himself feeling very sleepy. His body ached from all the walking he had done so he walked right up to the dragon and curled himself in the cradle of its front arm. He fell asleep immediately and did not wake until the next morning.
Igneel woke up to an unfamiliar smell in his lair. He tried to find the source of the new smell but it evaded him for quite a while. It wasn't until he heard a tiny snore that he thought to look down at himself. He was shocked by what he saw, a tiny human had somehow made its way into his lair while he was sleeping and was currently using him as some sort of pillow. He looked at it for hours not sure of what to do with the creature.
Several hours later the boy finally woke, his eyes opening slowly. He sat up and took in his surroundings. He finally noticed the dragon's gaze on him and smiled widely.
"Good morning, Mr. Dragon!", Natsu said cheerfully.
"The name is Igneel", Igneel said and then asked gruffly, "Who are you and what are you doing in my lair, youngling?"
"Oh, sorry! My name is Natsu, nice to meet you.", Natsu extended his hand out to shake as is the polite thing to do when you meet someone but was met by Igneel's amused expression so he quickly put his hand down.
"I was looking for the source of the fire", he said honestly, "I thought I would be safe from the bad animals."
He felt badly for intruding on the dragon so he opened up his shirt and attempted to share some of the berries he had picked with him. Igneel pretended to eat some.
"Where is your family?", the dragon asked. He knew that humans usually travelled in groups.
Natsu shrugged and looked sad. "There isn't anybody else."
Igneel looked at the boy and didn't have the heart to send him away.
"If you would like, you can stay here and live with me.", he offered.
Natsu jumped up and down excitedly and quickly agreed. That day was the beginning of his new life. Igneel taught him how to read and write, how to hunt and fend for himself and he gave him an amazing gift. He enchanted him with his magic, making Natsu a fire dragon slayer.
They lived this way quite happily for years, neither needing anything more than what they received from the other. Natsu loved riding on the great dragon's back and he loved to train in his magic. He remembered how proud Igneel had been the first time he had been able to conjure his own fire on the palm of his hand. Once he was able to do that Igneel started taking him to some of his meetings with the other dragons and he met four other children that were also dragon slayers. They would huddle and talk and play while the large creatures spoke in a different language they didn't understand. Natsu grew to love these meetings as it was the only time he got to play with other children and they all quickly became friends.
Natsu and Igneel were very similar in temperament. They were both quick to anger and stubborn as hell be but they could also be gentle and kind. Natsu loved his dragon father and his entire world revolved around him. That was why he was not prepared for what happened next.
Natsu once again woke up alone in the forest. There was no sign of Igneel anywhere, no smell, no footprints and no damaged trees to mark his passage. Natsu searched for him for hours, calling out his name but receiving no response. He finally sat down and tried to think about his situation. He recognized the forest he was in but he felt that it smelled different than before. He was not exactly sure why but the enhanced senses that came with his fire dragon slayer magic were never wrong. He didn't know what this meant but it made him nervous.
He made his way back to the place where he had woken up and waited for Igneel to return, leaving only to hunt for food and to bathe in the river. He would cry himself to sleep every night but never gave up hope that his father would return. He had probably been at that spot for 21 nights when the old man found him.
He was short of stature but he emanated a large amount of power. At first, Natsu was wary of him but when the man asked if he could share his fire Natsu quickly agreed. Igneel had taught him to always be polite. The man asked him lots of questions and that's when Natsu realized there was something wrong with his memories. Every time he tried to answer a question about his life he would begin confidently and then stop as the words evaded him, even though he could feel the answers existed somewhere within him.
The man told him his name was Makarov Dreyar and he was the Master of a Magical Guild called Fairy Tail in the town of Magnolia. He invited him to come with him telling him he could join his guild, as there were other children there. Children who were alone like him, they along with all the other mages could be his new family if he so chose.
Natsu did not want to leave his spot but Makarov promised that if he did not like the guild he would bring him back with enough supplies to keep him for another month. He shrugged, bored with sitting still and decided to check out this guild for himself.
They travelled for several days until they finally reached it. Makarov tried to explain what the name meant but Natsu couldn't understand it hearing only that it was a great adventure. He was happy to see that the old man had not been lying about the other kids. There were three, a shy brown haired girl named Cana Alberona that practiced card magic, a very intense red haired girl that went by the name Erza Scarlet and a rather cocky raven haired boy named Gray Fullbuster. They all called the Guild Mater Gramps, which the benevolent old man did not seem to mind.
He and Gray hit each other right away their opposing magics calling to each other, starting a fight they could never seem to finish as it was constantly being painfully interrupted by a scary Erza while Cana shyly watched from the sidelines. Natsu told himself he would give it a week and then return to the forest but he soon found himself wearing the guild mark on his upper right arm.
He never forgot about his dragon father and he would go out in search of him whenever he could but Fairy Tail became his new family and for that he was glad. He hoped with time he could regain the memories he had forgotten.
A/N This one shot is included in my story "How Writing Fanfiction Saved Me", I hope you enjoyed it as I think it is the only K story I have written :).