Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
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(Hi everyone! So glad you've come back for chapter two! Looked over by Ice Fata, but we might not have caught everything while looking it over. Anyways, Enjoy!)
Natsu found out that Lucy likes to do things by the book pretty early on into their bizarrely budding friendship.
The woman didn't fill the role of a dragon very well, often forgetting her size and strength as she gestured during her speech or accidentally setting things alight in her temper, causing many new holes to appear in the roofs and walls of the abandoned Keep they had moved into for the foreseeable future, much to her horrified dismay when an old blacksmith forge collapsed in on itself after she had stretched that morning.
Natsu had been awoken by the ruckus, flailing like a landed fish onto the burningly frigid floor as Lucy's draconic scream of frustration almost burst his eardrums and shook the marble tower, dislodging dust from the rafters in a fluffy grey shower.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes blearily, the pink haired Prince stumbling out onto the balcony, wincing at the painful cold shock as his bare feet padded over the white slabs that had been tempered by the cloudless night's chill.
"Luce!?" He called groggily, leaning over the railing, spotting his she-dragon companion lurking coiled around the base of the tower, smoke puffing from her nostrils as she angrily chomped on the remainder of their venison supplies. Yep, she was sulking.
The golden dragon ignored him, though her head slightly twitched at the sound of her name and her warm brown gaze swivelled up towards him before she resolutely returned to her meal while a talon tip flicked over the next page in her Fairy Tale book.
Natsu yawned again, returning to his circular room with no visible door on any surface, shrugging on his jacket before crouching to fasten his sandals to his now throughly chilled feet. He jumped slightly when he turned to find Lucy peering over the balcony, her pointed horns cradling the rising sun between the sharp tines as it rose behind her, dazzling him when the light caused her scales to flash like miniature suns.
"Yo, Luce." He greeted casually, as his Kidnapper rumbled fussily when he took his time to transfer some of the treasure into a small coin purse and attach it to his belt.
"Natsu." She huffed, inclining her angled head, offering him one of her curved horns to latch onto, her Princely passenger whooping with delight as she merely dropped to all fours, leaving small talon grooves in the side of the tower from where she has pushed off.
The royal grinned, his wild hair even more tousled after the large adrenaline spiking drop was over. He let go of the head spike, sliding down her curving neck to stop at the blank junction of her shoulders while the soft barbed spines that ran down her back flexed stiff like a Porcupine's array of needles, giving him a solid hand hold.
Lucy carted him off into the forest on her back with a small measure of smarted pride, the forest birds and animals fleeing her large presence as they wound deeper into the forest trails.
Suddenly, she stiffened, pausing mid stride, tilting her head back towards her passenger as she felt his heels kick against her shoulder scales. Natsu merely grinned at her, tapping her again with his heels and clicking his tongue. Her eyes narrowed to a thin sliver, her rounded pupil slitting like a true dragon's as she glowered when he dared to kick her again like one would to gee up a horse.
Natsu paused at the honestly scary stare, yelping in alarm when the she-dragon wrapped her surprisingly flexible tail around his midsection and tossed him face first into a puddle of dirty rain water at the side of the forest path.
"Never do that again." She hissed, guttural and primal, with blue and gold fire simmering in her throat, a flock of birds taking wing as they reacted to the smoke.
He beamed unapologetically in the face of her temper, though his face curled up in minor annoyance when he saw the mud now coating his baggy white trousers.
"Did you really have to throw me?" Natsu asked with an air of superiority, "You really should rise above such things Lucy."
The dragoness leaned in with the speed of a snake strike, her fangs bared, causing him to flinch back with a startled gasp, "You can walk from here." She snarled, rearing up above the tree line to point in the direction of the nearest town with a talon. "Good Luck getting home before dark."
With that the upset she-dragon turned and took off with a mighty snap of her silver skinned wings, leaving her captive to shout heart-felt apologies in her wake.
The Prince sighed miserably, cursing himself for upsetting his new friend. He turned and plodded along the forest road, the sounds of the forest that had tapered off as Lucy had passed by beginning to return as the braver birds let out shrill cries, fighting over the perches high above him. To his surprise, the town was closer than he had thought, reaching the high border walls within an hour of Lucy leaving him.
A large message board plastered with fliers adorned the side of an entrance gate, the older sheafs of paper curling and yellowed at the edges, weathered by the wind and rain.
Curious, the ruggedly clothed Prince sidled closer, scanning over the bounties and requests, blanching when his own likeness stared back at him the further he looked along the wall. He panicked quietly, grabbing the paper and ripping it from its pin, pausing only to stuff it into his pocket as he walked past the guards, his tanned hand cupping the side of his face to cover his features.
Slyly, Natsu bought a travelling cloak first from a small sewing shop just inside the walls, throwing the hood up over his salmon shaded hair the first chance he got, luring a suspicious guard off his trail by telling her he could sense it was due to rain, bolting when she looked up into the cloudless sky in confusion for confirmation.
He sighed in relief, pressed against an alley wall as she shrugged and wandered off, belatedly wondering why the hell he was bothering to conceal his identity.
Natsu scowled to himself, though he fidgeted slightly at the thought of ending his whacky adventure right here and now. All he had to do was buy a horse, some supplies and he could be back in the palace by next week.
But as the Prince tossed back his hood and made to step out into the light, a fond thought struck him.
Lucy, the girl who was cursed to be a dragon, laughing with him over the campfire of their second night together. He bright enthusiasm and anxious approval seeking only yesterday when she had proudly shown him their new residence and her longing expression as she watched the sunset with him, balancing on her back legs to chat as stars began to dot the heavens. His stomach dropped at the thought of leaving her, the golden dragoness who longed to be human again. He really would have to apologise to her.
The sound of hooves clattering over the cobbles startled him out of his reverie, instinctively throwing his hood back over his head and tucking closer to the shadows as a gang of Knights moseyed into the town, only stopping when they came across the sleepy suburb's Inn. The lead Knight reined in his dappled steed, a silver armoured hand reaching for the helmet as Natsu's jaw dropped in horror when he realised just who had revealed himself to catch the morning suns rays.
The Ice Demon Hunter and his best friend since they were boys, Gray Fullbuster.