Natsu awoke from his sleep covered in sweat and panting trying to get his breath back together. He wondered if now that Igneel was gone his older nightmares were going to return to him – when he was alone in the forest Natsu had nightmares about another version of himself where he go around destroying town to town but it felt real and that he was in control. Igneel was able to get rid of those nightmares but who would do it now? At least the nightmare was about Igneel this time, but if he was going to get those nightmares again, it was going to get much, much more painful.
Recovering from his near panic attack he strolled down the a river that was close to his location. He took off his clothes and dived head first into the river. No amount of cold would affect his body as he knew his natural temperature was far above normal humans. A few minutes later his head popped out from the water with a fish caught in his. He had blood on his face from where the fish had been bit so he washed it off and cooked the fish to near perfection.
"What am I going to do now" Natsu wondered out loud.
He didn't know what to do without Igneel, he felt as though part of him had been taken away, he was the first person who knew of that took care of him and he just left him. It wouldn't be longer before his heart was fully covered in black.
"I know! Igneel also told me that not all humans were bad, I should go find a town and see if they seen any red lizards around. Hopefully they don't shun me out again" Natsu said as his dropped as he finished speaking.
He knew that every human couldn't be bad. Igneel always spoke of the humans respectfully and told him that even though there were humans who would harm each other there was always more people out there that were kind and gentle, someone who he could find that would look after him.
Natsu finished his meal and sniffed the air. No sign of any village was in sight as he knew his dad lived far away from humans as they were scared of dragons – even though his dad was the furthest thing from being scary.
Time Skip – 4 Hours
Natsu had been wlaking around the forest aimlessly until something caught his attention. He sniffed up to find a amazingly pleasant smell of some kind of food. He had to know what this was. He set off running in that direction.
He slowed his approach as the town began to fall into his sights. It was an old time, mostly constructed of bungalows and small two houses. It had been a long time since Natsu had been to a town, he just hoped that this town was different.
He turned his head to see a group of kids playing on something that looked like a red hill (slide) and on some of sort of thing that turned as a different kid sat on it (seesaw).
He kept walking until he found what he had peaked his curiosity. It was a stand with meats lined along the outside. He walked up to the front of this stand and was greeted by a man who looked to be around 40 years.
The man noticed him and turned to him.
"Hi there kid what can I get ya?" He asked
"I was just wondering what all of these were. They smell awesome!" He responded eagerly.
"Well those are meets, off a cow to be precise! Do you have any money on ya kid?" He asked in case it was someone who was using a kid for a free meal.
"What's money?" Natsu asked the man who began to laugh until he fell on the floor.
"Hmm are you okay?" Natsu asked as he looked down at the man who was still laughing.
Finally calming down he turned to the kid.
"Damn your serious, well money is what you use to buy things. You're not from around here are ya? Where are you from?" The man asked as he raised his eyebrow.
"The forest" Natsu said calmly as if there was no problem to it"
"The forest? That's dangerous – there are all sorts of monsters in there. Were you alone?" The man asked as he felt sorry for the young boy.
'I shouldn't tell him about Igneel as humans tend to laugh at the thought of a dragon and this person is actually nice'
"Yeah I was – I was fine though, the monsters are quite easy to beat and I've lived there long enough" Natsu replied with a huge grin on his face.
"Wow you're a tough kid. So how long have you lived there for?" The man asked as he couldn't believe a child had stayed in those woods.
"All my life" The man frowned as he said this "Actually you're the first person who has actually talked to me!" The man nearly spat out his drink as he heard him say it. This boy had to be around 10 and yet he was the first person to actually talk to him.
"Wo-wo-WOW that's crazy! I tell you what how about I give you one of these for free and don't worry about the rest of the town, they're nice people!" He explained while Natsu just had a huge grin on his face.
"Awesome! Thanks dude! I hope this village is like you said. Well see you around!" Natsu said as he walked off with a steak in his hand.
By the end of the day Natsu was exhausted. The man was right, people actually talked to him in this town. So as the sun began to set he walked to the edge of the forest and lay down to go to sleep.
'Well you were right Igneel, not all humans are bad, I wonder where you are right now. I miss you' He thought while beginning to choke up. He then cried himself to sleep alone at the edge of the forest.
But that was the best of his worries, things were going to get a lot worse during the night.
