Once upon a time, on a small hill at the edge of a vibrant kingdom named Fiore, there lived a family of four who made their money from grinding noodles. They all worked hard to make a living, but when the father died at a young age after working too hard; he had almost nothing left to give his three sons. All he had was the noodle store, a small sum of money and a cat.
The oldest son, Gajeel, took the store, planning to develop it further and earn huge sums of money. The second son, Gray, took the money, sending a dismissive wave to his remaining brother before he disappeared on his way to town. He left some copper coins and the cat to the youngest son, Natsu, before he left.
Natsu thought the split of the inheritance to be unjust. While his brothers would both surely be able to make themselves a living in the world, with only a cat he would surely starve to death. And so, he voiced this: "I don't have money or a home... What, in hell, am I supposed to do?"
Natsu's stomach gave a fierce growl, startling his cat. Defeated, all he could do was lie against a tree, and do his best not to let tears fall. "I hate those bastard brothers of mine! Just because they were born before me..!"
However, as he lamented, the cat pounced onto his shoulder, and in a clear voice, he told him, "Master, it's alright now. Even though I'm just a cat, I'm very useful!" Natsu listened with open ears as his father's cat talked. "My name is Happy. If you are willing to buy me a pair of boots and a sack, I will make a great fortune for you, Master."
With no other glimmer of hope, there was nothing Natsu could do but to obey the cat. He spent all the money he had to give Happy a pair of buff-coloured boots, and a green sack to carry. The boots fit Happy perfectly, so he slipped his feet into them, and then sauntered off towards the forests.
From a farm, Happy stole some meagre supplies – a carrot, some wheat – and eventually, he had set a trap within the sack, keeping the sack inviting by using a stick to hold it up, and placing the food in the centre. He waited for several hours. While he was watching quietly from the distance, an animal took the bait as planned. Then, with feline grace he rushed to the sack and tied it up, capturing the animal within.
With the struggling animal in the sack, Happy began to head towards the King's castle, ignoring the cries of "Pun," which came from his capture. There was debate by the guards about whether to allow a simple cat to pass into the King's presence, it soon fizzled as both guards came to realize that Happy was no ordinary cat – he spoke and wore boots.
When faced with the King, and his lovely daughter, the Princess Lucy, Happy bowed. He presented them with the captured animal (which appeared to be some strange sort of dog).
"Your Highness," Happy announced graciously, "this is a gift from my Master, Lord Dragneel. He wanted me to present this... dog to you with all respects."
The King saw his daughter's intrigue with the animal, and so it was given to her as a pet. She gave a bright smile, personally thanking the cat for the gift, and requesting he send regards to Lord Dragneel (who you might have realized by now is Natsu), whose real name she did not know. The King was also greatly pleased by such generosity, and the smile it put on his daughter's face.
Day by day, Happy divided his work: hunting to feed himself and Natsu, and then delivering new strange creatures to the Princess and her father. Once, Happy delivered to the Princess a crab, and on another occasion, he gave her a Cow, then a Maid. The name of Lord Dragneel spread, until the entirety of Fiore's royalty spoke of a man who gave wonderful gifts to the King and Princess, but whom nobody had ever seen. Especially the Princess, Lucy, who received all of these gifts from "Lord Dragneel" was fascinated, and soon begun to fall in love for the man giving her so many gifts.
As Princess Lucy became more and more doe-eyed by the idea of a Lord who sent her wonderful pets, Happy decided to finally introduce them. So, he persuaded Natsu to bathe in a river, by which he knew the King's carriage would pass on a journey. Natsu waded into the water, until it reached up to his neck, and felt himself shiver at the cold.
Nothing happened, at first, but after shivering for several minutes, horses were heard in the distance, and Happy called:
"Help! Help! My Master, Lord Dragneel, is drowning in this river!"
The carriage slowed, and after the King's silver-haired head had popped out to recognize Happy, it stopped entirely. Attendants were ordered to fish Natsu – or Lord Dragneel – from the river, and Happy explained that Lord Dragneel was bathing, when some robbers took his clothes, and while attempting to catch them, he found a deep spot.
Hearing this story, the King passed a glance at the recently rescued man, shivering, naked and confused, and he immediately ordered for some clothing to be retrieved.
Since the King was of a very small stature, the clothes Natsu wore were of a prince long gone from beneath the King's wing. Recently bathed and dressed in a prince's garb, Natsu seemed a fine young fellow, and pleased with his appearance, the King allowed Natsu to ride alongside him and his daughter in the carriage.
At first, Natsu felt hesitant and even a bit shy to sit next to a Princess. However, she gave him such a sweet smile, and was so kind and gentle, that perhaps he fell in love right at that moment. He climbed into the carriage beside her, feeling bashful as their shoulders touched. Glad to see that his plan had been successful, Happy whispered directions to the coach men, and then rushed ahead as far as he could until he reached a field of rice where the reapers were at work.
"Reapers!" he shouted, to get their attention. "Should the King's carriage come by and ask you who owns this farm, tell him it belongs to the Lord Dragneel, no matter what. If you do not, then you will be gutted like fish!"
A talking cat was no everyday occurrence, and fear instilled into the reapers that this cat might keep his word, so they obeyed him. When the King arrived later, they informed him that the land belonged to Lord Dragneel.
Happy's same message was passed onto any other labourers whom he met along the way, and all did respond with the same thing:
"To whom does this belong?" the King would ask.
"Why, to our Lord Dragneel, Your Highness."
Beginning to catch on, Natsu listened carefully to all that was said, and began to think his self very lucky to inherit even this small, seemingly worthless cat. Even those few pennies left by his cold brother had become an incredible fortune.
The King was pleased to find that his new friend was not only charming, but wealthy.
Way ahead of the carriage, Happy was on a beeline for a large castle, filled with riches and fortune – but guarded by an ogre. Rather than sneak or bash his way inside, Happy knocked at the door as a gentleman would. The ogre let him in quite politely, as he had never before seen a cat wearing boots, and then once Happy and the ogre had introduced their selves, Happy got down to business.
"Is it true that you can change into any animal, whether it is a lion or an elephant, Elfman?" That happened to be the name and the abilities of this ogre, and he nodded his head in agreement.
"Yes, it is true." The ogre, Elfman, agreed.
"That's so cool!" Happy enthused, "I'd love to see you do it!"
Elfman (being quite an excitable ogre, always looking to boast his power and masculinity) agreed, within an instant, to transform into whatever animal the cat wished for.
"Why don't you choose something instead?" Happy asked, eyes bright with curiousity.
Immediately, Elfman transformed into a huge lion, with snarling jowls and his fur prickled. Happy immediately ran out the entrance, frightened by the creature that seemed ready to eat him. He leaped to an overhang of the front of the castle, refusing to come down until Elfman reverted to his original form. A laugh escaped the ogre, as he assured the cat that it was in no harm: so Happy finally landed on his two hind feet, and again entered the castle.
As Happy composed himself, he complimented Elfman's cleverness, giving the ogre a large grin. "It is really fascinating. But maybe it would be more so if instead of transforming into something so big and strong, you instead became something quite weak and small. Like... a fish! Would you be able to do that?"
Elfman scoffed. In fact, it was much easier for him to transform into something like that, so much so that he was unable to realize why he did not do something like that more often. Eager to prove the cat's doubts unnecessary, he decided to transform.
There was a fountain in the middle of the entrance hall, and he stood in that as he made his transformation. Happy licked his lip as the massive ogre reduced to a small fish, landing in the fountain with a delicate splash.
No sooner had Elfman changed than Happy had reached into the fountain with claws unleashed, swiping the fish from the small pool, and immediately, biting into it. He gobbled the fish up quickly.
In the castle were fifty servants. All of them had been under the ogre's influence and were immediately freed with his death. All the servants were so grateful of Happy's service to them and insisted on doing anything he said.
He only had two requests: for them to go under the service of Lord Dragneel and to give him some more fish for dinner.
At last, they had a castle filled with riches and servants, and a Princess and a King on the way; of course, Happy was feeling proud for the work done for his Master, all of which had paid off.
Opening the doors to let the King inside, Happy bowed, "Your Higness! Welcome to the castle of my Master, Lord Dragneel!" the cat shouted with a wide mouth, to make sure the King, the Princess and Natsu could all hear as they dismounted the carriage.
A hand was extended from Natsu, or the Lord Dragneel as he was renamed, and he lead Lucy towards the dining room of the castle, where a banquet of seafood was already laid out for them. The King was highly impressed, and called Lord Dragneel his dear son, while Lucy blushed brightly at him. In the time before she was dragged away by her father's servants, she placed a kiss on his cheek, promising that she would come again.
That is how the son of a noodle grinder became the husband of a Princess, and how when the death of the old King finally came, he rose to rule in his place. Even as King Natsu and Queen Lucy ruled the land, they never forgot Happy, their most honoured and faithful friend. For Natsu never forgot all that Happy did form him in order to reach that point, and gave the cat endless supplies of cream and fish, and the most comfortable pillow a cat could ever take a nap on.