His Mercenary
I'll just say this: this idea came out of nowhere and hit my unsuspecting muse like a freight train, so this probably won't be too long of a fic, but hey, you came so that's all that matters, I've peaked your interest.
So yeah, there will be a few OCs and Natsu will be kinda OOC but with good reason. The Fairy Tail guild will be featured as well and this storyline takes place shortly after the Grand Magic Games, after that I exercise my creative liscense quite heavily with a timeskip to build up the plot. Also, in this fic, Fairy Tail never disbanded.
As far as pairings go...I suck at writing any sort of romance and I usually don't like reading that genre anyways so THERE ARE NO PAIRINGS AS OF NOW or ever. Sorry NaLu and Gratsu, shippers etc.
However, I will have SlayerBonding because I FRICKIN ADORE DRAGON FAMILY DYNAMICS they will come into play later in the fic, but not by much *wink*
I do believe a disclaimer is in order: DearlyFictitious does not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima sensei, I only own my OCs. I make absolutely no profit from this; it is purely for entertainment purposes.
Being the only child to the prestigious Stone family was not easy. Oh no. Poor young Lyle Stone was a testament to that statement. He'd been kidnapped and held for ransom more times than any human should ever have been subjected to. Fearing for his 10 year old son's safety, Ferro Argentum Stone sought out protection for the young heir and one day came across a powerful mage with rose colored hair at a bar…
"I can sense quite a bit of magical power from you young man."
The cloaked figure turned his head lazily; tufts of rose colored hair could be seen peeking from under his hood, "You a mage or something?"
The lilac haired man chuckled good naturedly, "I'm not a very good one I'm afraid. I only know the very basics in fire magic."
This seemed to perk the other's interest, "Fire magic you say?"
"Oh yes. Are you practitioner yourself?"
"You could say that I'm more than mediocre."
"An expert!" he leaned in closer in interest, "Are you a member of a guild then?"
The pinkette seemed to stiffen, "Not anymore."
"Ah." the nobleman backed away slowly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."
"It's okay. I left for personal reasons."
"I see." quickly looking around, he scooted closer and whispered, "So does that mean I can purchase your services?"
The mage paused before answering, "Did you ever place a request in the Fairy Tail guild before?"
"To memory I've never posted a request to any guild." As he said this, the cloaked man turned around and he could see his fanged grin. His eyes widened upon seeing his youthful face.
"I'm Natsu Dragneel, what exactly do you have in mind?"
0o~Two years later~o0
"Catch me if you can you hags!"
"Young Master you come down here this instant or I will get Salamander to do so for me!" screeched the head maid of the Stone estate.
The lilac haired preteen scoffed and kicked his dirty sock clad feet, "Nice try Marietta. Sal won't do anything right?" he craned his head around the tree and towards his 'Nanny' who was leaning casually against the side of the estate and shrugged in indifference.
Said Nanny was wearing thigh high combat boots over tight fitting white trousers, a black form fitting ¾ sleeve shirt with his signature white scaled scarf, and a smiling blue dragon mask with a gold circle on the forehead. He looked over towards the haggard Marietta and held up a placating palm at her look of dismay.
"He needs to finish his studies!" Her lip curled when she spotted the multiple stains on his person, "He's also in need of a bath."
"Make me!" challenged the boy.
Salamander shook his head at his charge's antics and decided to patrol around the property. Lyle was right; it was his job to insure his safety, not to make sure he wipes his ass.
Two years into his new occupation and he couldn't find a single fault during his time. The pay was great, he had free room and board, and he virtually had no written rules to follow; except for two, the first and most important one stating Protect Lyle Stone at all costs.
Lyle's Father Ferro was extremely generous when it came to 'providing' for him, he didn't even bat an eyelash when he was presented with his first property damage bill. He just signed away and stated that if it was for his Lyle, no price was too high. The pinkette smiled beneath his mask. Lyle was so lucky to still have a Father who loved him that much, just like Igneel had for him.
He rounded a corner and stared up towards one of the tallest windows. Zeroing in on his target, he bent his legs and sprang into the air and arced gracefully into the luxurious office of his client and good friend.
"Gah!"
"Hey 'Ro how's it going?" he said.
"I was doing quite well before you barged in." he replied testily with a hand on his heart. "Ahem! Did you need something Salamander?"
"Drop the title Ferro, I ended my patrol a minute ago, it's just us."
Leaning back leisurely, Ferro smiled and ran a hand through his tastefully coiffed undercut to allow the lilac strands to fall to his forehead, "How was your day today Natsu?"
Natsu took a moment to observe his friend. He acted way older than he really was. He was a handsome 32 year old man with light lilac hair; his face was carved out quite sharply, defining his striking orange eyes. He looked nearly the same as he had that morning when he greeted him after breakfast.
"Jeez man, have you moved at all today?"
"I'll have you know that I did indeed take three 15min breaks today."
"Only three?"
"It's better than when I only took a 10min break a day."
Natsu shuddered, "You gotta be more lax with yourself, that's what I'm here for remember?"
"I'm the adult figure Natsu and you're here for my son." he exhaled through his nose and cracked a grin, "Though I suppose I can allow myself more recreational time with you around. Your track record certainly proves that I can afford to do so."
Over the years of his employment the amount of kidnappings had lowered a whopping 80%. The other 20% were those foolish enough to try and lay their hands on the Young Master and get their asses... or heads handed to them. Of course since the Stone family operated in polite society, everything Natsu did had to reflect positively towards them since he sometimes did appear publicly with them during social gatherings; though Lord Stone most certainly had the definition of 'positive' stretched rather thin when it came to his Salamander. However, when it concerned the not so nice portion of his job, he had to be ultra discreet and leave no crumbs behind.
Natsu fell into the plush couch, "Like I've been saying since day one. As long as I'm around, you have nothing to fear."
"That may as well be true my friend, but one can never be too cautious."
"Right as usual 'Ro."
Just as they'd lapsed into a comfortable silence a loud snapping sound could be heard and a tell tale exclamation of pain told them what had just happened.
"Good Heavens, what has he done this time?" groaned Lord Ferro. "Natsu be a dear and see if he's intact."
"Yeah, yeah." Natsu chuckled, brushing imaginary crumbs off himself as he stood up and made his way towards the window, "He wasn't too high up so the only thing that'll be bruised is his ego." With that being said he launched himself out the window, landed gracefully on all fours, and made his way towards the scene.
He crossed the courtyard and passed the distressed throng of maids to see the pouting pink face of his charge hanging upside down by his barely intact shorts. He took a hand out of his pocket and flashed him the peace sign.
"How's is hanging Young Master?"
"Shut up Sal!" Lyle thrashed about wildly and squealed, "I think a caterpillar crawled up my shirt!"
"Hey that looks like fun." Salamander climbed up and hung himself upside down next to him, "See, now we look stupid together." Lyle turned beet red and attempted to swat at his Nanny. He was unsurprisingly unsuccessful.
"See Young Master, you could've avoided all of this drama if you had just attended your lessons." said Marietta
"Quiet!"
"How long are we supposed to wait until you free yourself?" she asked, a couple of the maids giggled behind their hands. Their amusement served to raise Lyle's chagrin.
"Raaaah! Watch me!" he shouted. After a few more attempts, he finally stilled. "Help me out here Sal?" he begged rather pitifully.
"Sure kiddo." Salamander kicked away from his position and agilely spun and landed on the balls of his feet. He stood right underneath him with his arms outstretched. "Ready when you are."
"Excuse me?!" squeaked Lyle, his orange eyes widening, "You want me to free fall?"
"Yup."
"I can't." he replied. "I'm too high up."
"Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do Sal!"
"Then close your eyes if you're scared." Advised Salamander.
Lyle looked incredulously at his Nanny before willing himself to calm down. After a few deep breaths, he covered his face with his hands and a heartbeat later kicked off the tree like Salamander had done just previously.
After what felt like forever to him, the wind had stopped whistling past his ears and a pair of powerful arms caught him. He could smell the comforting scent of sandalwood, spiced rum, and cinnamon on his savior's feverish chest before his other senses returned to him.
"It's okay now, I got you." a velvet voice said above him while their strong calloused fingers gently pried his hands away from his face.
Lyle slowly opened his eyes to the familiar sight of a blue dragon mask.
"Kyaa!"
"So cute!"
"The Young Master and his Salamander!"
"...I ship them."
"Don't be a weirdo about it!"
While the maids were bickering and cooing —read swooning— Salamander calmly made his way towards Marietta. "Is the bath ready?"
"The lad's water has probably gone cold." she sniffed.
"S'okay. I can fix that." he replied. With the Young Master still in his arms, he led them inside the manor and towards the private baths.
After a few minutes of quiet walking, Lyle mumbled, "You can put me down now."
"Yeah, I would but then you might try to make another getaway."
"It's not like I could outrun you. You run really freaking fast." he knew this from experience.
"Ha ha, that's true." Salamander glanced down at his charge's dirty sock clad feet, "I saw how your foot was angled, it's probably a light sprain, but I don't want you to make it worse. The hot water in the bath will soothe it."
"You can tell by just looking?" with a nod of confirmation, he tsk'd and muttered "Show off." underneath his breath, and as per usual, Salamander was somehow able to hear him. The soft vibrations coming from his sternum gave away his light chuckling.
Lyle fisted the fabric of his Nanny's precious scarf. He was majorly embarrassed by today's events but somehow, as always, Salamander was able to make it more bearable. He took a moment to observe his bodyguard's 'face'.
A light blue smiling dragon mask, with a gold circle on his forehead.
For the past two years, Lyle had not once ever seen his face. No matter what he did or how hard he tried, he could never seem to catch him without it on. The only people in the house who knew what he looked like were his Father and Marietta; though she claims she's only seen it once. The only things he could make out was his strong jaw line, his rose pink hair, and the dark olive colored orbs between the closed eye slits of the smiling dragon. How in Earthland did he even see through that anyways?
He remembered back to the first day he was first introduced to him. It was only three days after the latest, and worst kidnapping…
Lyle was making his way down the stairs with Marietta holding his hand supportively. He was still a bit shaken up from being locked up for 17 days in a dark cellar. The Duchaine family were a merciless bunch, he really thought he was going to meet his maker on that final night, but in a blinding flash of scorching heat, the guards had dropped dead. With what remaining strength he had, he hauled himself up, trying to ignore the bite of the metal into his flesh and the acrid smell of scorched remains, and looked towards the bars. The last thing he remembered that night was blinking blearily up towards the supposed reaper; a man with a white fanged smile and head of rosey pink hair.
Shuddering from the memory, he caught a glimpse of his Father and was about to run towards him until he saw who was standing next to him.
A man wearing a blue dragon mask!
He froze in his steps and stared wide eyed at the… pink haired man?
"Ah, my dearest Lyle, come here please." called his Father softly. An encouraging prod from Marietta coaxed him to walk towards the two. "I'd like you to meet a new friend of ours. This man here is the one who saved you from that nightmarish place."
He gasped aloud. This man was his savior?
"Yes Lyle, it was indeed him. I've negotiated terms with this mage and from this day forth, until his contract termination, he will insure your safety."
Only one word came to mind, "What?" He was frozen to the spot and his Father smiled kindly at him, taking his hand from Marietta's hold.
"Manners Lyle. Introduce yourself." his Father chided.
He blinked and stuttered, "H-hello, my name is Lyle Iridius Stone." he cleared his throat and peered into the slits of the smiling dragon's eyes to find dark olive orbs staring back at him, "What's your name Sir?" He took moment to observe the mercenary. He stood tall with his arms crossed and from what he could tell from his bulging biceps, he was rather well built. His stance was strong and he could practically feel strength emanating from his person.
"Hello Young Master." he said in a neutral tone, "You can call me Salamander."
"Salamander? Like the lizard looking animals?"
"Yup."
Lyle's memory flashed back to that night, he looked at him unflinchingly and stated, "You killed those men." He could feel his Father stiffen next to him.
"Lyle-
"Yes." interrupted Salamander, "I did kill them."
The young heir gulped, but held his ground, "How do I know you won't do the same to me? Why should I trust you?" he felt he was quite justified for his trust issues, given the fact that he'd been put through the literal emotional wringer throughout his short 10 years of living. His sense of self preservation was at an all time high.
The mage named Salamander didn't respond at first, but steadily got down on one knee and faced him at eye level, "You want me to prove myself." It came out as a fact and not a question, "Lord Stone." he called out to his client.
"Yes Salamander?" he asked tensely. He'd been watching the exchange with bated breath.
"Mind handing the Young Master that fancy fountain pen in your pocket?"
"Not at all." he slipped said item out of his breast pocket and handed it to his son.
Lyle looked confused at the shiny silver pen in his hand and his eyes widened when Salamander loosened his scarf and tilted his head to bare his muscular neck.
"Go on, mark me. Do whatever you need to do to prove that you can trust me." the other two adults in the were taken aback.
"Salamander!" exclaimed Marietta.
"You are taking this matter to the extreme Salamander, I'm sure we can find an alternative." Lord Stone tried to reason. "Lyle, please hand that back to me."
Lyle looked down at the pen-turned-weapon, "No."
"Lyle!" the Lord and maid said in unison.
The Young Master looked at the exposed bit of flesh, "I need to know." He slowly approached the kneeling man, "I have to know." he would kill this man instantly if he found any trace of a lie. His emotions refused to take anymore abuse.
As he came within breathing distance of the mage, the first thing that he noticed was the inhuman amount of heat radiating off of him. There was no way that any human could be that hot and not be bedridden, or dead. Secondly, was that the mage didn't even flinch when the sharp point of the pen pierced his skin by half a centimeter. And lastly, he felt an overwhelming amount of guilt when he saw the corner of his eye crinkle in what was definitely resignation.
Lyle dropped the pen in horror, "I-I didn't m-mean-" he stuttered, "I can't- I don't- I'm sorry!" he lunged forward are wrapped his arms around Salamander. He could feel his hot tears soak into the other's shirt and strong arms come around him to return the embrace. A rough hand was rubbing his back in a soothing manner.
"It's alright."
"B-but-!" he couldn't finish his sentence and continued to cry and shake uncontrollably.
The mage allowed the boy to cry and collect himself for a minute before he pried them apart; he took hold of his small shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "Listen to me Lyle Iridius Stone." he said, "As long as I'm with you. I will dispose of any persons or beings who want to harm you, even at the cost of my own life."
The boy sniffed, "Promise… promise then that you won't hurt me?" when he voiced the question, everyone in room knew he was referring to a different meaning of hurt.
"I promise." there was no sound of uncertainty or waver in his voice.
Lyle leaned back into his arms and laid his head on the slightly moist muscular shoulder. He breathed in what would become a source of comfort: sandalwood, spiced rum, and cinnamon.
o0• •0o
After warming up the bath with his fire, Salamander unceremoniously plonked his Young Master right into the steamy waters and left to his quarters with the sounds of his undignified squawking fading in the background. His room was located in the private wing of the Masters—right in front of Ferro and Lyle's— so he could bust out and save his charge should any unwanted company try and steal him in the dead of night. He opened the heavy wooden doors and stepped into his humble abode.
It was rather clean thanks to Marietta's neat freak tendencies, so instead of being assaulted by a warzone, you were greeted by a modest sized room furnished with a large plush couch, a medium sized wardrobe, a padded hammock, and numerous trinkets and curios lining the shelves on the walls, the majority of which, were made up of various precious stones and metals.
The Stone family specialized in such items after all.
He smiled to himself as he remembered what Marietta had exclaimed when she saw such items lining his walls. The term 'dragon hoarding' stemmed from the belief that dragons stashed away any and all valuables. Well, Natsu knew firsthand that dragons did indeed love to hoard any item of interest—Igneel's cave was full of the stuff—and that habit extended to the DragonSlayers as well. Other than precious mementos, priceless gems and metals were definitely number two on his list of favorite things to keep around. One of Lyle's favorite hobbies was to go explore one of the many mines his Father owned, with Natsu watching over him like a hawk, and play scavenger hunt collecting interesting raw metals and diamonds. It was just a plus on Natsu's part that every visit led to them bringing home at least of few of said diamonds and metals. He snorted; he probably had enough money with the value of his items alone to buy a small country.
He slipped out of his boots and collapsed in his comfy hammock. He looked out his window and saw the bright full moon make its way through the sky for an hour before deciding to get some shuteye. Standing up, he opened his window and stuck his head outside trying to sniff out any unfamiliar scents or intruders. After concluding the coast to be clear, he closed the window and with a bit of hesitation, undid the clips behind his head and let the blue dragon mask slip from his face.
The first and most important rule stated to Protect Lyle Stone at all costs and the second rule was to Never reveal your face to anyone while under service of the Stone Family.
Natsu rubbed his face tiredly and sank into his hammock, surrendering his mind to dreamland.
Well, done with that! What do you guys think? I'd love to hear your thoughts in a review or PM.
ALSO just so that everyone is aware: UPDATES WILL BE SPORADIC. I can't ever promise when the next chappie will be uploaded. I find that when I do that, the quality of the fic declines and I couldn't bear to do that. We deserve better. Although, if I'm gone for more than 3 months, feel free to send me an ARE YOU ALIVE? PM. lol srsly...
Next chapter will feature two other Slayers! Can you guess who? And yes... there will be DRAGON BONDING
~Loveandhugs from me! DF