The Princess and The Fairy Lake's Dragon

Chapter 1: The Forest of Whispers

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Fiore, a fair princess inhabited the palace walls. Her beauty captivated even the bravest and richest of men. And everyday, several denials would come out of her lips.

"No, No and No," was her reply to every proposal. Every guy would leave with tears on their faces.

It wasn't that Lucy was heartless; it was rather, that her suitors tended to be the average cliché; a handsome prince on a white horse. Lucy didn't want a stupid prince, she wanted someone who loved her for who she was, who was doting and caring, and who made her smile and be herself.

But...
Was it that she wasn't meant to find him? To find her true love, the person she was meant to be with forever?

"My dear child, some day you will regret turning down all these fine princes," her father would always say. And every time he repeated those words, Lucy would always groan and have her automatic response ready, "I know I won't."

She didn't have any trouble fooling her only retainer that she was about to sleep. And as the retainer retired for the night, she hurried down to the stables, picked out her father's horse from the rest, and mounted it with ease.

"Guards, open the gates!"

She knew she wouldn't find him, when she herself was trapped inside the palace walls. She had to find that 'someone special', that someone who would make her heart flutter and would have his own flutter when he was around her.

The horse gallops at top speed outside the Kingdom's walls, into the Forest Of Whispers. And there, just in the midst of both, strands of voices glide around the trees, the branches and the leaves.

"The Fairy Lake, the heart of the fairies, and where they once resided". Or so the forest's saying tells.

Will a place with such mystical legend be where I meet him? She wondered. Lucy felt, that if she was in this magical place, she would be able to meet him. Her prince, the only one for her.

Or maybe not.

However, she was forced to abandon her horse, the foliage proving too difficult for the steed to advance through. Lucy nuzzled the beast, whispering, "Return to the castle please…" The horse neighed a complaint, but with a little more nuzzling, the steed trotted back the path from whence it came.

Turning back around, Lucy faced the exterior of the forest; and advanced on into the depths of the forest. As she went further into the forest, and away from the exit, she paid more attention to the forest's appearance: the white mist snaked and coiled around the branches, a few voices here and there. Some couldn't be understood; others were almost inaudible. Lucy understood now, why it was called 'The Forest of Whispers'; it was an almost magical and mystical place, as though Elves and Fairies inhabited it.

She came to an open field in the middle of the forest. It seemed empty, but felt as though there was something else to it. Lucy could feel it; this wasn't all there was to this open space. The mystery was eating at her, as she stepped into the empty space in the forest. She felt a sensation run through her whole body. It was somewhat familiar, as a presence she could almost recognise existed in this space. This reminds me of one of mother's fairy tales, she smiled to herself, tears cascading down without her consent.

Her vision blurred, but not to the point where she couldn't see that small figure approach her, rubbing against her knee. The soft and furry being, which she deduced was blue, purred in her company.

The princess smiled slightly and wiped her tears. This time, with a much clearer vision, she finally saw the fuzzy creature; a blue cat.

"Hey, what's a cat doing in the Forest of Whispers?" She questions nobody as she tried petting the blue animal. However, this cat moved away from her,scurrying deeper into the forest.

"Ah, wait!" She chased after the cat, coming close to a clearing in the forest.

The cat came to a halt - but she didn't, and she felt her body lurch forward, landing on the mossy ground. The heels she had still been wearing from the palace had been lost long ago, along the way. The dress tore from the fall, startling the cat slightly, which made it run into the clearing. Unknown to Lucy, something else had fallen into the grass. But the pain of the fall had made her oblivious to this fact.

"Ouch! W-wait! Don't leave! Don't leave me alone!" As she tried to stand, a sudden and sharp pain stung her left leg, as she found she couldn't stand.
"Ouch!" She yelled. She found herself beginning to tear up again. This time, not from sadness, but from pain.

Then realisation kicked in; she was alone in a forest. No food or shelter in the vicinity - only tall, cold trees. She hugged herself tightly, her hands gripping her arms. She was alone, in a cold place. And she wanted to go home.

Her tears still flowing, she wanted to just cry every one of her problems out.

"Why are you crying?" A voice asked suddenly. She looked towards the source of the unfamiliar voice, finding only the cat, who had previously left her. Wait, what?
"Cat?!" She exclaimed. By now her tears had stopped.

"You... You can speak?" She asked, the disbelief obvious. There was silence. "Of course I can! But where are you looking? I'm right here!"

"Huh?" Lucy was confused. She stared at the cat, and finally took notice of the silhouette behind her.

"I'm the one talking, you weirdo." The voice spoke up. As she scrambled upright, her eyes met his dark ones. He took a step back, and his face was illuminated by the moonlight; he was gorgeous. His hair spiked up in different directions, the color being a rosy shade of salmon. She ignored the fact that she was called a weirdo as his outfit was slightly over-the-top, exposing his well endowed body. His scarf, though, was the biggest enigma up-to-date; one that resembled a dragon's scales yet didn't shine like them.

"I'm Natsu!"

He snapped her out of her thoughts, and his widely toothed grin strangely made her go at ease. It took her eyes a while to adjust to his eye-catching hair colour, but nonetheless she did, eventually.

"I'm Lucy." She replied as she wiped her tears off and smiled back. For some reason, she couldn't help but return a smile to a him; he just had that sort of smile.

"So why were you crying Luigi?" He asked again.

"It's Lucy. And it's because there's a sprain on my left leg." She replied back slightly irritated.
How could he just get her name wrong like that? He's so rude!

"Oh I see, Luigi." he replied back, again with the same toothy, playful grin as before. "It's Lucy!"
She was starting to get mad now.
"Okay, Luigi."
"Lucy!"
"Luigi." he smiled.
"Lucy!"
"Luigi!"
"Lucy!"
"Lucy!" He smirked.
"Like I said! It's Luigi! Ah. I mean! IT'S LUCY! Ugh!" She said frantically as he just laughed at the mistake the blonde had made.

"Okay, okay Lushee!" He said,with yet another grin. And she finally calmed down. At least he said her actual name, or sounded like he did.

"Now come here." He said as he kneeled down, his back facing her, hand on his back as if to receive something.
"Eh?" Lucy didn't know what he meant by doing these kinds of actions.

"I'll carry you, of course! You can't walk right?" He said.
"Oh." She replied, and nodded as she leaned on his back, and he began carrying the blonde.

"So who's the cat?" She asked.
"He's Happy. My son."
"Oh." She managed to say. Everything seemed quite strange after all.

"So, Lushee where do you live?" He asked as he walked forward, carrying her. The way he said her name made her shudder. It was cute the way he used the 's' instead of 'c' for her name. No one had ever said her name like that.

"The castle." She just replied.

"Hmm. Are you a noble or something?"

"Well, I-" Lucy tried to think what to reply. After all, she had run away from the castle. Should she tell him that she's a princess? Or would hiding her identity be much safer?

And what would Natsu do if he found out she's a princess. Take her back immediately? Something grumbled whilst she thought of what to say, of course Lucy was too busy on what to reply to notice this sound. Some time passed, until she knew what to answer.

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia." She finally replied. If he really knew her identity, then the Heartfilia name would make him understand surely-

"Alright, Miss Heartfilia…" Ah so he does know. "Are you hungry?"

"What?" He's not going to take me back..?

"I'm asking if you're hungry. Your stomach has been grumbling for a while now and it's getting louder." With a blushing face she realised that Natsu was not the type of guy she had meet till now. He wasn't like all those hypocrite guys she had met before.

"I think I prefer those hypocrite guys now," she sighed, watching Natsu wolf down every last bit of sustenance left on the table; he was so busy eating that he didn't even hear her. Her own food was on her side, but watching a guy wolf down five bowls of ramen, three plates of curry and seven plates of beef wasn't exactly the best for her appetite.

"Hhey, arhencha ghonna eat that?"

"Er… you eat it," she said at last, her mind internally screaming on how she was going to pay for all this.

I'm finished! It'll all disappear! The king will have my head for losing th-

Wait, was that her thinking out loud or was that her thoughts?

But I didn't think that...

She looked towards the direction of the voice, Right on the pub table, a woman was tearing up, one hand on a glass of alcohol. "THE KING WILL MURDER ME FOR LETTING HER GO," she droned on, banging the glass on the table repeatedly before continuing to cry.

Lucy froze; the voice, the hair, the garments, that way of despairing… she prayed it wasn't that person. "Well, I think we should be going now," she turned back to face Natsu, chuckling nervously. However, he wasn't eating anymore; only Happy was there with a plate of salmon. She quickly spun to find him approaching the redhead.

"Erza! Where's master Makarov?"

Natsu placed his hand on her shoulder, but the bartendress shouted, "Natsu don't!"

But it was useless; with a quick flip of her wrist, the drunk woman heaved Natsu over her shoulder as the table broke his fall, instead breaking into pieces. It was clear she knew self-defence, as her reaction seemed almost automatic.

"Erza…!?" He got up rubbing his neck, but the drunk woman had long forgotten him, and for some reason was laughing hysterically.

"NO. IT'S NATSUKA. NATSUKA SAKANAMI, RETAINER OF PRINCESS HEARTFILIA, DAUGHTER TO THE KING OF FIORE."

The bartendress only smiled at the fallen and dumbfounded Natsu. "You know, master Makarov will put this on your tab."

"What!? blame her," Natsu whined, pointing at where she was. But she wasn't there. His gaze flickered to Lucy, who was too busy being embraced by a panicked, Natsuka.

How am I going to pay for this? she wondered.

And in this moment Lucy wanted to cry all over again.

A/N: Hey everyone! Natsuka here! I hope you enjoy this first chapter of the story! There will definitely be more chapters coming so look forward to them Okay?

I'd be happy if you reviewed this story x3

It will go on for quite a while! I will post them weekly!

Happy New Year Everyone!