I'm planning on focusing at least 5 chapters on Natsu's training, and I'm thinking about having other people come in to help with Natsu's training.
Hopefully I can pull it off well.
I also hope I did good with this chapter.
"So are you gonna teach me anything or what?" Natsu asked, seated at a campfire. He had spent a little over a week with Gildarts and so far all they had done was travel. He wouldn't have minded it so much if something interesting happened, but NOTHING happened. Not a single monster attack, magic battle, anything. It was starting to frustrate Natsu to no end!
"Huh, did you say something?" His 'mentor' questioned, looking up from his food.
Natsu facepalmed, he thought going training with Fairy Tail's Ace would help him, but so far nothing has happened. They were in the woods around Clover Town, camping out. Natsu had no problem with that part of the experience, he liked the forest. He grew up in one, which helped a lot.
"You should really chill out, Natsu. Too much stress isn't good for young man such as yourself." The nonchalant way Gildarts spoke was starting to get on his nerves. He was close to decking him in the face, his already small amount of patience wearing thin. "But if you must know, we're hunting a monster."
"Wait, what?"
"The reason we left a little early is because the Master told me about a master that has been terrorizing a village towards the east of here. So far, it's killed around a dozen townsfolk, and those are just the ones the mission request talked about." Gildarts' face was serious, his former nonchalant attitude completely gone. "I want you to take it down, Natsu."
Natsu knew he had to, there was no choice. He could not let anymore innocent people die, he would not allow it. "Okay, I'll do it. But if you knew about this the entire week, how come you're just now telling me about it?"
"Well actually…" He started, "I kind of forgot until now." Gildarts told him sheepishly.
Natsu fell down onto his back and started twitching, "Are you fucking serious?" He yelled as he got back up.
"My, what language. You know it's not proper for a teenager to use such adult language."
That was it. Natsu was now flying at the man with a flaming fist, ready to knock his lights out. Gildarts dodged to the right and knocked him out in one motion.
"Geez, he's gonna be a handful."
The Next Day
The duo were walking on the main path of the road, and their destination just got into their sight. As they walked, Natsu noticed a small sign that read Littleroot Town.
"Okay, Natsu we have to go meet the Mayor so he can brief us on the mission." Gildarts told the pink-haired boy.
"What's there to say? All we have to do is find this monster and stop it!" Natsu declared, slamming his fist into his other palm. Gildarts shook his head.
"Normally, that's what I'd do, but it is not what you will do. You must have proper information first, or else you could get even more people hurt." His voice was stern, leaving no room for arguing.
Natsu gritted his teeth, was he saying he was too weak? He was snapped out of his angry thoughts as he felt someone bump into him. "Oi, watch it!" He snapped, before he actually saw who it was.
A little girl around six years of age with light purple and sparkling blue eyes was staring up at him from her position on the ground. He instantly felt bad when he noticed the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Tsurara!" A feminine voice called out, and a woman who looks just like an older version of the girl came to her side. She helped the little girl to her feet, frowning at her dirty clothes. "Say that you're sorry, Tsurara."
Natsu shook his head, and waved it off awkwardly, "No, it's my fault. I should have been paying more attention. Sorry there, are you okay?"
The girl hid behind her mother, or that's what everything pointed to anyways. Her big yellow eyes stared at Natsu for a moment, before her small voice reached his ears. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine Mister."
Natsu squatted down so that he was eye level with the girl, and gave her a big smile. This in turn, put a smile on the girl's face as well. Gildarts chuckled at the exchange, before turning to the woman.
"Excuse us, but could you tell us where we could find the Mayor?"
The woman seemed surprised, "The Mayor? Any reason why?"
"Well you see, we're here to eradicate the monster that's been terrorizing this town."
Both the woman and the girl seemed to perk up as they heard this, and hopeful smiles spread on their faces. "Finally! We have been waiting for someone to rid us of that creature. I can definitely show you where the Mayor's office is, right this way Mr…?"
"Clive. Gildarts Clive." He smirked at her, sweeping a hand through his hair.
Natsu's eye twitched at the man's actions. "Is now really a good time to be a pervert?"
As Gildarts tried and failed to flirt with the woman, whose name was Yuki he found out, Natsu and Tsurara were engaged in a heated game of Twenty Questions. Our favorite Dragon Slayer's brain was currently swimming with all the questions the little girl was asking him while she was laughing at his thinking face.
As Tsurara laughed, Natsu couldn't help but dwell on a certain white-haired girl. He frowned at the thought, "Lisanna…"
The six year old saw his frown, and tugged on his pants. "Are you okay, Mister?"
Her question startled Natsu, and he turned to her. He didn't know what to tell her, so he didn't answer for a few moments. He forced his answer out.
"I will be."
Mayor's Office
"Ah, Yuki. It's good to see you." The Mayor said. Unlike what Gildarts was expecting, he was a rather fit man. He wore a nice purple suit and looked like a male version of Yuki. Gildarts noticed a snowflake pin on the man's lapel and a picture of him with Yuki, Tsurara and another man.
"You too, Trishula." Yuki said, giving the man a hug.
"Uncle!" came the voice of Tsurara, before she ran to the man and hugged his leg.
The Fairy Tail mages watched the scene play out, a smile coming to Natsu's face at the girl's enthusiasm. He watched the scene play out, before Gildarts cleared his throat
With the moment over, Trishula looked at the two mages. "You are here for the job request, correct?"
Gildarts nodded, confirming the man's thoughts. "Yes, but we would like more information on the monster if you can provide that."
"Of course I can." Trishula's face grew serious. "The creature appears only at night, and showed up around two weeks ago, and slaughtered an entire family. We didn't even know about their deaths until two days later. We tried to stop it, several of the town's strongest men marched into the forest at night. They didn't return."
Natsu clenched his fist, the story igniting his inner flame.
The mayor's face grew grim as he continued the story. "We foolishly sent another group out there in hopes that stopping it would work this time. They failed. They were wiped out, including my sister's husband. My town is in danger and I cannot stand for it anymore. Please, do what you must! Just stop this beast!"
Natsu's anger rose as the story went on, and Tsurara's tears were the final straw. He clenched his teeth, grinding them before looking straight at the mayor. A fierce determination filled his eyes, something that brought a smile to his mentor's face. "Don't worry! We'll take out this monster, I swear!"
"Thank you, young man. Thank you." Trishula bowed his head in gratitude. "Let's find you two a place to stay."
That Night
The duo of Natsu and Gildarts were currently lounging around their hotel room, having just finished a huge dinner. However, they are no longer allowed back in that restaurant again. Even the mayor, who offered to personally pay their bill was not happy about it one bit.
They checked the time, and saw that it was close to 11:00.
"I think you should head out now, Natsu. Remember, the hopes of everyone in the entire town are on your shoulders." Gildarts placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.
Natsu stiffened at the gesture. He didn't know how to react. It was such a simple act, but it held a lot of meaning for the Dragon Slayer. He shook himself out of his musings. He gave the older man a wide grin, "Alright, I'm all fired up!"
"That's the spirit, now get out there!" The crash mage yelled, pushing an unexpecting Natsu out of the window. The Dragon Slayer flailed his arms about, praying that he would somehow learn flight magic.
He was not that lucky.
Gildarts winced as he heard the impact of Natsu's fall. Did he fall into a trash can or something? And why was a cat screeching?
The next chapter is going to be Natsu's fight against the monster, who I am unsure whether I should name or not. It will also be the start of Natsu's true journey.
Also, I'm gonna try to do longer chapters from now on. This means it will take me a few days to update. Hopefully that's okay with you guys.