Howdy doody, anonymous readers!
Today I present, for your viewing pleasure, a plot bunny that has been driving me mad the past few weeks. I've followed it through rabbit holes, tea parties, unbirthday parties, and be-headings, and I'll lose my own head if I don't put it in writing. Since I very much like my head (It's where I keep my hats), I'm determined to follow this unto fruition. I figured that since I'll be doing this anyway (And loving it, because everything is better with love!) I might as well put it up for the rest of you to appraise, approve, or abhor at your whimsy.
First thing to note, and this is most likely the thing that concerns the lot of you reading. Regarding pairings, I have a general idea on how they are going to work. With that in mind, I have no intention on telling you what ANY of them are, because then the glorious sexual tension will not be nearly as tense! You'll know who ends up with who already and that's simply no fun. Feel free to ask, and I may just answer with a quizzical riddle that might or might not help you. Did I tell you I am a lion from below the neck?
Second Note which, oddly enough, is a modifier to the first. Lemon... I shall not do it. Not only do I prescribe to the belief that the imagination is vastly superior to the written word (and such the story writer guides the reader, but does not limit them) I... also choose not to preach about my reasons for not doing them. THEY JUST MAKE ME FEEL ICKY, OKAY?
Third Note, in regards to update scheduling. I have none planned for the moment. I haven't yet determined what schedule I operate under and it would be unfair to the ten or so readers to promise them a schedule I couldn't possibly stick to.
Finally, Assuming you read the above notes, I humbly ask you to do that A/A/A thing I talked about earlier. Review! Message me! Hell, Flames at least say you bothered to open the story up! I need your feedback to fine tune my craft, and it gives me warm fuzzies to know that you care!
So with that, I give you... The Price of Bonds.
Fairy Tail and all related subject matter are the sole property of Hiro Mashima
Chapter 1: Night Terrors
The air was thick and oppressive, a sweltering miasma that burned the lungs with each breath. Ash hung in heavy clouds, stinging the eyes and throat. The only things visible through the cinders were the black obelisks dotting the landscape, the charred remains of a lush, verdant forest. Even the soil was scorched. Nothing living remained.
Almost nothing. This was a battlefield, and the battle continued.
The wind shifted, stirring the stagnant air back into frenzy. As the visibility cleared, two massive forms came into view. They stood across from one another, poised on all four of their enormous limbs. One of the titans allowed a snarl to escape from behind the fangs he was baring. His shoulders were bunched; eyes narrowed, wings shifting uneasily, limbs trembling. He tilled the ruined earth with his talons, flexing with anticipation. The multitude of scars proudly adorning his body swelled and seethed as his muscles tensed, and the orange glow of the burning horizon lit his crimson scales ablaze.
Opposing him was one that was larger. It stood tall, defiant and relaxed, its amused posture serving as a telling insult to the ruby warrior. Inhuman jaws gaped in an attempt to mimic a sneer before closing again with a thunderous rumble of irreverence. The flippant demeanor belied a tangible malice, intent as black as its Stygian hide.
The red dragon replied with draught of zealous flames. The destructive beam tore through the haze and bathed the wastes in a righteous glow. The black dragon vaulted to the side before spreading its wings and taking to the air. The red dragon followed suit, springing from the earth and into the sky. He chased, intense jets of flame erupting from his maw whenever the monster grew too complacent with its position. The black dragon weaved around each and every volley but refused to return any of its own. The message was clear. He was tired, it was not.
Their struggle had become a war of attrition and he was losing. The demon would play with him in the meantime, and finish him once he wore himself out. It was as insolent as it was unnatural, and the red dragon's fire only intensified to avenge his wounded ego. There was a simple but elegant counterstrategy, however. He just had to tear its throat out while he still had the energy. All that he needed was a healthy hit to knock it to the ground, and then he could finish it. Both the battle and the beast.
His fire lit up the sky once more.
When the orange glow died down, there was one lone dragon in the sky, teeth and claws coated in blood. It folded its evil black wings into a dive, pursuing the wounded creature as he plummeted toward earth.
"GAH!"
Natsu jerked awake, breathing frantically and soaking wet. He swiveled his head around in panicked spasms, running his fingers along his scalp to clear the dampened hair from his eyes when…
"Natsu?"
He heard a tiny, shaken voice above him. Happy was floating above his bed, bucket trembling in hand. He looked worried, but Natsu couldn't figure why. He was fine, wasn't he?
"Awwwwww! What the hell, Happy?! Now my bed's all wet!"
"But Natsu..."
"Who douses a guy while he's sleeping anyhow? Why'd you do that, huh?"
"You were…"
"..Ya' could a' just woke me up! You didn't need to..."
"FINE! I'll be sure to be more considerate the next time you LIGHT YOUR BED ON FIRE!"
Natsu's mouth snapped shut abruptly and his eyes immediately darted to the furniture in question.
Happy hadn't been lying. His sheets had been torched, the pillow roasted, and the mattress was near flambéed. There was man-shaped silhouette burned into the fabric, where he had been laying, and several deep black indentions where he'd been gripping the mattress during his fitful sleep.
Natsu's eyes found Happy again. The little guy was still there, clinging to the bucket with watery eyes and a trembling lip. He was really freaked out by this. Natsu didn't blame him… This hadn't happened before. And then he'd gone and yelled at him, too, when he'd probably woken up to the sound of his roommate combusting. Brilliant. He had to fix this.
Natsu scratched at the back of his head bashfully, eyes darting around his smoky living quarters. How had he missed this? The smell was excusable; the comforting scent of ash followed him wherever he went, so he quickly learned to tune it out so it wouldn't interfere with his sense of smell. But all this smoke? The smog was so thick that he couldn't be sure if Happy was crying out of worry or ash in his eyes. Maybe the others were right. Maybe he was an idiot.
"Aw… I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I don't know how it happened."
He reached up and gently took the bucket from the little Exceed's paws, putting down beside the bed. Happy took that as an opportunity to collide face first with Natsu's chest, fisting his paws into Natsu's shirt. He sniffled a little, trying to keep his snot in his nose and off of Natsu's shirt.
"Well, you did! I thought… You just burst into flames… I th-thought…"
Natsu put his arm around his tiny blue shoulders and gave him a brief, encouraging squeeze.
"I'm okay, Happy…Really."
"Really?"
"Of course, Really! I'd never lie to my little buddy. I just had a nasty dream. It scared me, is all."
Happy looked up at him and shot him a cheeky grin. "A bad dream, huh? What was it about? Do tell!"
Natsu scratched his cheek absently, drifting back to the Forest of Embers and the two dragons locked in battle. "It was about Igneel…"
Happy's face fell, whatever snarky comment he was preparing immediately dying on his tongue.
"Igneel?"
Natsu often dreamt of Igneel. Often it was a dream that he wouldn't willingly wake up from. He'd find Igneel; introduce him to Happy and the rest of his comrades, beat Erza and Gildarts before punching Gray in the face and flying off into the stars with his father, laughing like a lunatic. But far too often he dreamt of the day Igneel left. He would go through that bitter revelation with startling intensity, as if it were the very day it'd happened, before he would wake up and find that he was dreaming. Neither dream had been particularly pleasant upon waking, but he couldn't really call them nightmares. One was a wish and the other was a memory, but neither were nightmares.
This had been.
"Yeah… He was fighting Acnologia. He was losing."
"Oh…" Happy laughed nervously, "Well, it was just a dream right?"
Natsu looked at Happy curiously before giving him a childish grin of his own.
"Yeah! Just a stupid dream! Igneel'd kick Acnologia's ass easy! Now what do you say we go rustle up some grub before we head to the guild. That sound good?"
"Aye, Sir!"
Good. He didn't want Happy to worry about him any more than he already was.
The guild was rather sober when Natsu arrived. It was early, and not that many people were there at the moment, and the circumstances weren't the greatest, but still… it always unsettled him. He surveyed the hall, trying to take a quick tally of the occupants and their activities, before continuing on with his business for the day. Mira was here, as always, waiting tables with a smile. Natsu couldn't help but shoot her one of his own. He admired what she was doing. Her siblings had accompanied her this morning, as usual. Elfman was talking quietly at a table with Macao and Wakaba, while Lisanna attempted to help Mirajane with her load. Cana was perched on the bar counter, barrel in her lap, taking vigorous sips between breaths. Natsu stopped at that thought. Maybe it was the other way around. He craned his neck further, but he couldn't see them. As hard as he looked, he couldn't see any of his team. A quick whiff confirmed it. None of them were here. He should have expected that, though. Erza was probably out on a mission again, and Lucy was rarely out and about this early. Gray was probably locked in his house still, but Natsu didn't blame him. There were times where he'd needed his own space too. Gray would work things out for himself. Finally Natsu's eyes fell on little Wendy, in a subdued conversation with Carla and Lisanna at a table near the bar.
Happy zipped right past him, zooming towards Carla with a beautiful trout in his paws and a ridiculous grin plastered to his face. As expected, she immediately denied the fish before turning back to whatever she had been doing that Happy 'so rudely interrupted' with his gift. Natsu just shook his head piteously. She had no idea. Happy had spent 20 minutes combing through all the fish in the market for the 'perfect fish' for Carla. He'd eyed them all with an appraiser's scrutiny, judging them on the perfection of their scales, the give of their flesh, and whether their aroma captivated him properly. That fish had been meant to not only express what he thought of Carla, but to also share himself with her. And she had missed it. Just like she always missed the dejected look on his face when he turned away from her callous dismissal.
Natsu walked over to Happy, patting him on the head before whispering, "Don't worry buddy, it just wasn't the right fish."
Happy beamed up at him. "Aye!"
Natsu nodded with a dumb grin of his own before proceeding toward the staircase. He hadn't been lying to the little guy. He was just non-committal in regards to which fish he was referring.
He shared a look with Wendy, before looking at her with the stupidest silly face he could muster. Her childish giggles had him smiling genuinely. He smiled at Lisanna before proceeding towards the stairs. Not halfway up the flight, Mira called after him. "Master's not here Natsu. He's gone to a convention with the other Guildmasters."
Not here, eh? Damn.
"When's he coming back?"
Mira's smile remained unchanged. It didn't fool him, but it was a nice effort. The stiff posturing of the other guild members was far easier to read. "He failed to say. Probably didn't know, himself. What's so important?"
"Nothing, just had to talk to him about something. It'll keep for now."
"What was it?" Mira asked, voice and expression the picture of innocence. Bullshit.
Natsu looked at her with the most clueless expression he could muster. "What was what?"
Mira's eyes closed for a second, and then she shook her head and turned back to her business. Macao picked up where she left off.
"What did you need to see him for?"
"See who for?"
"THE MASTER!" Half the faces in the guild were turned to him, eyes brimming with annoyance and disbelief. Natsu couldn't believe it himself. They seriously thought he was this stupid? They were the ones who couldn't take a hint. He gave them a cheeky grin in reply.
"Nothing important."
A mass groan shook the support beams of the newest iteration of the Fairy Tail guild hall. Natsu caught Lisanna looking at him with a knowing smile of her own before turning back to Wendy and Carla.
"Natsu had a bad dream, and he nearly burned the house down. Lucky for him, this devilish feline was there to save the day." Happy added helpfully, looking up from his fish and shooting Carla a waggling eyebrow.
And just when Natsu thought he was out of the woods, too. He slapped his hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in an effort to rewind time, or otherwise undo what had just been done.
"Bad dreams? Bad dreams are for the weak. Man up, Natsu," Elfman replied, spitefully. The rest of the guild grumbled similar sentiments, unamused with such an anticlimactic answer to an intriguing question. Gajeel, boots kicked up in one of the darker corners of the guild just laughed his ass off.
"Poor baby," He snorted to Pantherlily, just loud enough for another Dragon Slayer to hear.
Natsu gritted his teeth, eyes alight with fiery anger. He trudged toward Gajeel with violence in mind when, suddenly, a clatter silenced the guild.
Mirajane stood, dumbstruck, with the platter of food and drinks she'd been carrying splattered about at her feet. She held her right arm gingerly, trying to arrest the slight trembles before she realized that the rest of the guild was watching her. She bent over quickly and picked up the assorted plates, cups and utensils before flashing the whole guild a splendorous smile.
"Oops? I tripped. Don't worry guys. I'll be more careful!"
Natsu watched her go, eyes focused and mouth a hard line. Then turned back to the rest of the guildhall to see them just as worried and confused as he. He smirked. This was not okay.
Natsu reached for the nearest chair. Igniting it with his bare hands, he pelted the dumb Metalhead in the face with it before kicking a table at Elfman. Macao and Wakaba were acceptable casualties. By then Gajeel had picked up what was left of his dignity and was trying to force his iron fist through Natsu's pancreas, while Elfman, Macao, and Wakaba attempted to get to him first. Natsu just cackled wildly, throwing Elfman into Bickslow, and rubbing Gajeel's face into Reedus' paint pallet. By then, enough wild haymakers and misaimed projectiles had been thrown to start a full-on bar brawl, and Natsu couldn't be happier.
That was more like the Fairy Tail he knew.