Chapter One-Before Lucy
Seven Years Ago
"Daddy! Daddy! Look at what I can do now!" Irene cried, running up to her father with a bounce in her step-causing her teal pigtails to bounce up and down. Her father, the Iron Dragon Metalicana, turned to her with a small smile on his face. Between the two, Irene could always manage to bring a smile on their father's face. Gajeel was too much of a sour hardhead.
"Iron Dragon: Heavenly Sword Dance!" She cried, a silver magic circle appearing underneath her. Five swords appeared around her with a silver glow, causing her father to smile at her progress but as soon as they appeared, they quickly disappeared-causing Irene to stumble, gripping her knees.
"Its (huff) hard...but (huff) I hope...to be able to...conjure more." She explained as Gajeel came back, carrying a basket full of fruit.
"Maybe you can teach Gajeel a thing or two." Metalicana teased, making another bicker erupt between Metalicana and Gajeel, making Irene smile. Bickering between the two of them was just their way of showing their love for each other.
Every once in awhile, Irene would wonder about her and Gajeel's human parents. If they missed them, if they were even alive. Irene sometimes imagined what they could've possibly looked like-if her mother was a beautiful woman while her father was a strong brute. If they were the kind of love story that couples strived to have. But on that day, Irene thoughts didn't drift once to her human parents because why would she ruin a perfect day with imperfect people?
The day was July 6, in the year 777-a seemingly ordinary day but a day that would be imprinted on the minds of every dragon slayer. The last day with their parents.
The Next Day
"Gajeel! Gajeel! Gajeel-wake up!" Irene yelled, shaking her brother-who simply grunted at her and turned away from her.
"Gajeel, please wake up! Metalicana's missing! Daddy's gone!" Irene yelled as tears began to form in her eyes-making her brother's eyes shoot wide open. He sat up, looking to his sister-who sat there, holding the goggles that Metalicana had given her. She looked to her brother, tears streaming down her face.
"He can't be gone." Gajeel insisted, helping Irene to her feet and dragging her outside-tempted to prove his sister wrong, "He's not gone!" The two managed to make it outside.
But Metalicana wasn't there.
"DAD!"
The day the dragons disappeared, July 7, 777.
Somehow, Gajeel knew that their father wasn't returning and he forced his sister to pack whatever they had and leave the only home they knew. Every night, Irene cried herself to sleep and every night Gajeel cursed their father for leaving them, for causing Irene to cry.
The two traveled together for a month, they didn't really have any destination. With the magic they knew, they managed to make a little money but it wasn't ever enough to establish a stable lifestyle for the two. Multiple times, Irene suggested that the two of them join a guild-saying that could not only get jobs but also use the resources they offered for finding Metalicana.
"Stop it with that guild crap!" Gajeel exploded, tired of listening to his sister.
"It's not guild crap! You just don't want to find Dad like I do! You never loved him-all you two ever did was argue!" She snapped, jumping to her feet with tears in her eyes.
"He doesn't deserve it! He abandoned us!" Gajeel snapped, making Irene choke on her tears.
"He couldn't have abandoned us because I'm going to find him! I'm going to find him!" Irene insisted, grabbing her bag and running away from the campsite that the two had set up for the night.
"Irene! Irene wait!" Gajeel yelled, running after his sister with a huff. He couldn't understand why Irene wouldn't just give up on Metalicana-it was obvious that he had given up on them. He walked slowly, using his nose to follow his sister's scent but he halted when another group of scents crossed. He sprinted off.
"Iron Dragon: Sword!" He heard her yell and soon came across her in a clearing surrounded by men-who gave evil snickers at the sight of Irene. But that only caused her to become more agitated, so she gave a swing at the one closest to her.
"She's got some spunk in her!" One cackled as each of them went to try and fight her.
"KEEP YOUR FILTHY PAWS OFF MY SISTER!" Gajeel yelled, jumping into the fight-the two siblings stood back to back.
"Lookie here boys, we got us another one for the boss."
"I recognize their guild marks," Irene began, breathing hard, "they're a part of the dark guild Iron Demons, each of their wizards have metal magic-apparently they've been looking for the Philosopher's Stone."
"I don't care who they are or what they want," Gajeel growled, his arm turning into his preferred Iron Dragon Slayer weapon-the claw, "they're gonna get the proper beatin for just looking at you."
"I'M NOT A CHILD! I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!" Irene snapped, waving her sword arm around.
"Yeah, you're not a child." Gajeel said with a sigh, showing that he absolutely didn't believe her.
"This is goin' on for too long! Grab the brats and let's go!" All the men rushed towards the siblings, who quickly swung-fighting to keep the men away. But as the two fought, Irene could feel her magic power draining faster and faster until her sword arm transferred back. She fell onto the ground, panting.
"Irene!" Gajeel cried in fear but soon one of the men punched Gajeel in the stomach, causing him to fall on the ground next to his sister.
"The master will be pleased to hear that we brought him two Iron Dragon Slayers." More tears formed in Irene's eyes as the two siblings were quickly tied up and what meager belongings they had were searched.
"Irene…"Gajeel whispered, making his sister look to him, "I'm going to cause a distraction and untie you, once you're free-you need to get out of here."
'No, I'm not leaving without you!" Irene insisted, which Gajeel shook his head to.
"Only one of us is going to get out of here." He said, turning his body so he was face forward in the dirt. He muffled a few words before his body went flying, his Iron Dragon Roar spiraling as the debris went flying towards the goons of the Iron Demons guild. Irene quickly scrambled to her feet, running into the safety of the trees. Irene glanced back, seeing Gajeel fight with his hands still bound.
"Please be ok Gajeel." Irene whispered, stumbling off. With a heavy sigh, she turned her hand into a small knife to cut off the ropes. With a heavy breath, she sat down and hugged her knees. Before she even had the chance to properly cry, she heard someone call for 'the other iron brat'-so she jumped to her feet and began running again. Unfortunately, she wasn't paying attention and she stumbled on some uneven terrain and fell down a steep hill.
"Hey! Wake up!" a voice said, shaking her. With a groan, Irene opened her eyes to see a pink haired boy staring right at her. WIth a scream, Irene and the boy accidentally clashed heads. "What was that for?' the boy demanded, angrily holding his now red forehead.
"What're you doing looking at me like that?" Irene snapped, looking at him and holding her own forehead.
"Why're you just laying in the middle of the road?!" He snapped back, jumping to his feet. Irene paused, looking around at her new surroundings. The forest lay just behind them, Irene guessed that she must've rolled out onto the road when she was running.
"I...I was running-" She said with a sob, the memories returning to her.
"Why're you cryin'?" the boy asked, getting nervous at the sight of Irene in tears.
"My...my dad is gone-aaand (sniffle) my brother got…" She burst into more tears, bringing her knees to her chest and crying into them.
"Your dad? Did he disappear on July 7?" the boy inquired with a somewhat hopeful expression.
"Yeah," Irene said and lifted her head with a sniffle, "how did you know?"
"Cause that's when my dad Igneel disappeared too!" Irene's head popped up, looking at the boy.
"Is he a dragon too?" Irene asked.
"He's a fire dragon! He taught me how to read, how to fight, and all the magic I know!" the boy said but then paused, "wait, so...your dad was a dragon?" Irene smiled, the first true smile since her father disappeared.
"His name is Metalicana, he's an Iron Dragon," Irene jumped to her feet, a silver magic circle appeared underneath her feet as her body covered itself in her iron scales, "and I'm Irene Redfox-the Iron Dragon Slayer!"
"I'm Natsu Dragneel and I'm the Fire Dragon Slayer!"
Irene and Natsu began to travel together, looking not only for their fathers but for Gajeel as well. The two shared stories of their lives with their parents, practiced their magic, and even took on small jobs so that they could make some sort of a living. One night, Natsu brought up a topic that the two of them had been dancing around since they had begun their travels together.
"Did Metalicana ever talk to you about….mates?" Natsu asked with a red face as Irene worked to spin their dinner over the open flame. They had spent the afternoon fishing, starting a competition of who could catch more fish-Irene won, which had made Natsu grouchy.
"Uh...a little, why?" Irene asked as she removed the stick from the fire and pulled off the fish, setting two aside for Natsu and two aside for herself.
"Well...I was wondering, if you ever...thought about who your mate would be." Natsu asked as Irene handed him his dinner. She began to eat, thinking about his statement.
"No, not really-to be quite honest, it was always just me, Gajeel, and Metalicana-I didn't really know that other dragons had children. Actually, I didn't really even know other dragons-we kinda kept to ourselves." Irene explained as she finished her first fish.
"Well...I don't know any other dragon slayers-so maybe you and I should…" Natsu mumbled in a tone that only a dragon slayer could've heard. Irene looked at him in surprise, a piece of fish hanging from her mouth. Natsu lit up his right hand and held it out for Irene-who swallowed her fish and looked to Natsu with wide eyes. She let out a puff of her Iron Dragon Roar and turned it solid, letting it land on her hand.
"Now we trade right?" Irene asked, her eyes glancing between Natsu's flame and his face. He gave a small nod, holding out his flamed hand and Irene held out the iron for him. The two traded and Irene was shocked to find that the fire didn't burn her.
"On three?" Irene offered as Natsu examined the iron that she'd given him. He gave her a nod.
"One." Irene began.
"Two." Natsu continued.
"Three." they said together and quickly ate the new elements. Irene let out a cough as the fire went down her throat-she looked down at her hand to see a small red flame appear. Natsu crunched down on the iron and swallowed it bit by bit, and soon enough a small silver dragon appeared on the back of his hand.
"Do you feel any different?" Natsu asked Irene as she turned her marked hand around. She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking hard about her hand bursting into flame-like she'd seen Natsu do a thousand times.
"Irene! Look at your hand!" Natsu exclaimed, causing Irene's eyes to open and scream at the sight of her burning hand.
"Get it off! Get it off!" She screamed, shaking her flamed hand to hopefully let it out but Natsu quickly grabbed it and sucked all the fire out, letting out a huge burp once her was finished. Her nose scrunched up at the smell and she quickly waved away the smoke from the burp.
"That's gross Natsu!" Irene said with a giggle, making Natsu laugh.
Irene rubbed her neck, where he newly tattooed guild mark was. She glanced back at the guild hall-hearing the loud yells and boisterous laughs of her new guild mates. She placed her goggles over her eyes, which turned everything she saw into the vision of a dragon. Every detail enhanced, from the blades of grass blowing in the wind to the specks of sand resting on the shore.
"What're you doing out here?" Natsu asked behind her, causing her to remove her goggles and turn to look at her mate.
"I guess I'm just not used to all the noise yet," She explained as she placed them on her head and turned back to the ocean view, "plus I just wanted a chance to think-mostly about my brother and Metalicana."
"We made the right choice though," Natsu said, sitting down next to her, "Fairy Tail is a great guild."
"It's not that, I know it's a great guild….its just I wonder if my brother would've like to have joined Fairy Tail," she sighed, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them, "if we ever got the chance to actually join a guild."
"Don't worry about it," Natsu insisted, "We'll find your brother and our dads!"
Seven Years Later, Before Meeting Lucy
"Irene, Irene, IRENE!" a voice hissed in her ear, causing her to fall out of the bed in surprise. Natsu simply groaned and turned on his side, pulling the blanket closer to his chest. Irene huffed at the sight and looked to her best friend-a brown and white flying cat whom she named Joy.
"What do you want Joy?" Irene mumbled as she rubbed her eyes and reached up on the bedside table for her goggles.
"I'm hungry-I want breakfast." She whined as Irene placed the goggles on her head and slowly stood up. Joy flew up to be at eyesight with Irene as she stumble towards her closet. She slowly opened it and pulled out an outfit.
"How is this my problem?" Irene grumbled as she began to change.
"Because Natsu would just burn it, Happy would only give me fish, you're obviously the only good cook here." Joy said as Irene pulled up her gloves to finish her outfit. Irene knew Joy was correct in that statement, it didn't mean that she wanted to be woken up at the crack of dawn for a hungry cat and soon enough another hungry cat and an even hungrier dragon slayer.
"What're you hungry for?" Irene asked as she walked into the kitchen with Joy flying right behind her. Joy landed on the counter, her wings disappearing as she began to help.
"Can you make eggs and biscuits?" Joy asked as she held up a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients for the homemade biscuits. A large tick mark appeared on Irene's forehead, she should've known that Joy would've picked the most difficult and time consuming breakfast choice.
"Is that the reason you woke me up so early?" Irene asked with a sigh, pulling out all the bowls and ingredients she needed.
"Well…" Joy said with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of her head.
"Might as well get started then, those two will be up soon enough once they smell all the cooking." Irene muttered, cracking a couple of eggs into the bowl and throwing the shells aside into the trash. The two worked together in silence until Natsu and Happy stumbled in, their noses held high-inhaling the scent of Irene's homemade breakfast.
"You're just in time!" Irene said with a smile, holding up the plates of fish flavored eggs and biscuits and the spicy flavored eggs and biscuits. Natsu and Happy's eyes went wide while their mouths began to drool at the sight of the breakfast.
"Eat up boys, we gotta head to the guild hall-Mira told me she has some news for us." Irene said as she set their plates in front of them. The two of them began stuffing their faces as Joy and Irene calmly ate, casually brushing aside any flying food that came their way.
"Let's go Irene!" Natsu exclaimed, getting to his feet and grabbing Irene's hand.
"Wait Natsu!"
"Irene wait for me!"
"It hasn't even been five minutes since we got here and Natsu is already picking a fight with Gray." Irene muttered as she picked up the drink Mira made for her and Joy jumped on her shoulder. The two glanced back, seeing the bickering duo and sighing at the sight,
"Hey Mira, what was it that you wanted to talk us about-I almost forgot because of Natsu." Irene asked, taking a sip and looking to the white haired bartender of Fairy Tail.
"Nash said he had something to tell the two of you," She explained, drying some glasses, "He's sitting right over there." She pointed over to a table. Joy and Irene glanced at one another and then back to Mira, giving her thanks and walking over.
"Hey Nash," Irene greeted, making the bucktooth wizard look up at Irene and Joy, "Mira said that you had something you wanted to tell us."
"Yeah, on my last job-I heard a rumor that I know you and Natsu would want to hear," he explained as Irene sat down next to him, "apparently there's rumor of a Salamander in Hargeon," Irene and Joy's eyes went wide, "and I figured that had to do with Natsu."
"Thanks Nash," Irene said, giving him a thankful nod and standing up, "It doesn't really make sense, why would Igneel be in Hargeon?"
"Should we tell Natsu?" Joy asked as Irene glanced back at the fighting boys, "I mean, it certainly wouldn't hurt to check it out."
"But knowing Natsu, he's going to get his hopes up." Irene remarked as a table went flying towards her. A silver magic circle appeared underneath her as her right arm turned into a sword, she sliced the table in half and as the debris fell to the sides-she glared at Gray and Natsu. The two boys grabbed each other in fear, hugging each other tight.
"Natsu," Irene growled, making Natsu flinch in fear, "grab your things, we're going to Hargeon." She turned and stormed out of the guild hall.
"Yes dear! I'm coming!" she heard him call, scrambling after her, "Happy come on!"
"Aye sir!"
And that's where our story begins