CHAPTER 3
Kurkoka tried her hardest to not outright laugh in the pinket's face.
"Pfft...NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!"
Believe me, she really did.
Though, to her credit, his statement would make every single one of us to laugh in hysterics.
Like Kuroka.
As for Natsu, his only reaction to her uproarious laughter was to stare at her in a deadpan, trying to make himself look serious.
"NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~"
His expression made it all the funnier for the Nekoshou.
Seeing that he only became a laughing stock for his companion, the pinket returned to his previous work. Not even himself noticed his eyebrow twitching in annoyance at Kuroka's laughter.
Not because she was mocking him, no sir.
Ok... maybe a tad bit of that as well.
It was because she made a lot of noise in a relatively confined space, hurting his really sensitive ears.
After several more minutes of laughing and, finally, noticing that she had no reaction from Natsu to defend himself, Kuroka took several deep breaths to calm herself. Though, some giggles here and there escaped her full lips.
It was only after she gained complete control of herself that she spoke.
"You 're serious..." she said it like a statement, although there was wonder and incredulity in her tone as well.
Natsu, who was almost done with his work, paused for a moment, before answering with his back facing her as his hands still worked.
"Yeah." he simply stated. Just as Kuroka opened her mouth to speak, he beat her to it. "Unless you know about the Kingdom of Fiore, its capital; Crocus, and Magnolia Town where the magic Guild known as Fairy Tail is." he said sarcastically, knowing that she knew nothing about what he asked for.
Kuroka closed her mouth immediately, not having an answer to his sarcasm.
Because, the more he spoke, the more she realised a few things about him. Now that she paid more attention, anyway.
First and foremost, she could understand what he was saying, but that was because of her nature as a reicarnated Devil, with the gift to speak any known language.
Said language was almost like japanese in nature, but not exactly that. Well, in a manner of speaking, it was like he spoke the native language of a far away and seclusive village of Japan.
Yet, even then, it felt like it was completely foreign at the same time.
As for how he understood her... Probably because of his non-human nature; seeing that he was also a Demon and a Dragon, as much as he was human.
That brought her back to the 'fight' he had against the other Devils. Even for his, admittedly, bizarre physiology, Natsu was way stronger than he looked. Physically, at least. KOing three Devils in one physical attack each was something that only someone strong can accomplish, taking into account that they were not a human.
And Natsu may, certainly, look like a human, but he wasn 't one. A normal one, that is.
Other than that, she remembered him using those flames of his, yet there was no indication he was using demonic power. It was all his natural talent.
Magic.
One that she had no idea how strong it was, other than the fact that it was powerful.
And, aside from all that, as well as his claim to be from another universe, she realised that she knew nothing of Natsu Dragneel.
She 's already been on the run for the past year and she had heard all about the strong individuals and the Sacred Gears she had to be careful of.
However, Natsu Dragneel was a name she had never heard or seen written somewhere.
And, just like that, his absurd claim became, more than somewhat, believable.
Even for a moment.
"Let 's just say that you don 't lie-"
"I don 't."
"-how did you get here...?" she asked skeptically with her head tilted slightly to the left to emphasize the question, ignoring his minor interuption.
For the uptienth time, Natsu paused in his -almost done- work and turned to face her.
She was, slightly, taken aback with the seriousness he was looking at her.
"I would like to know that as well."
-?!-
Kuroka was frozen on her feet in horror.
The one who had answered her wasn 't Natsu.
As for the pinket, he simply turned around with his eyes widened to size of dinner plates. Not because of what she smelt like. But because she managed to sneak up on him and his extremelly heightened senses.
"Well?" the newcomer probbed impatiently, with their hands on their hips and their right foot tapping on the ground.
Kuroka knew very well of this newcomer.
Pearly white skin, elegantly straight, sky blue mid-back hair with matching eyes. Dressed in an expensive looking white kimono with golden trims at the edges, a golden sash starting from the left shoulder and going to the right hip, before going back upwards to get tied in the mid-back. And, for all their elegance, this person was barefooted.
"Tiamat...?!" Kuroka didn 't even register in her mind that she uttered that name.
Natsu did, though, and, with dangerously narrowed eyes, he jumped back to stand in front of Kuroka, taking an offensive stance.
For her part, Tiamat remained tapping her foot impatiently, her eyes narrowing as well. She didn 't like being ignored. "I 'm still waiting..."
Finally, Kuroka snapped out of her shocked trance and narrowed her eyes as well. "Natsu, we need to get out of here. Now." she told her companion seriously.
"No way." Natsu shocked her once more with his answer. Even if his tone was, well, even, she could practically feel his predatory smirk.
Something that Tiamat quickly took notice of, if her now dangerously narrowed eyes were any indication. "If you 're thinking what I think you do, think carefully." Tiamat stated coldly, making him narrow his eyes at her. "You 're not fighting me alone."
Kuroka's eyes widened once more. Tiamat had blatantly threatened her life, in order to prevent a meaningless fight to happen.
However, she wasn 't concerned about that. She had seen how her companion had reacted previously at the mere mention of the Devils taking his life.
She was more afraid that Natsu would attack the Chaos Karma Dragon in a fit of rage.
Especially since she was right behind him and saw how his veins bulged as soon as Tiamat finished her sentence. Meaning that Natsu caught onto the threat as well.
"Look here, lady." Natsu growled like a beast ready to pounce on his prey. "If ya want ta talk, then I 'm in. If ya want ta fight, Imma gonna fight ya as long as ya need." he stated coldly, even if it sounded weird because of him still growling.
Tiamat and Kuroka were about to speak at the same time. One to oblige to his request, the other to prob their escape, noticing the heat rising dangersouly.
Guess who wanted to do which...
However, the pinket wasn 't done.
"But... Don 't talk about killing in my face. Ever again. Especially if it 's about a friend of mine."
His growling statement finished with him being covered in flames from head to toe, surprising both women.
Though, even if she didn 't show any outward reaction, Tiamat felt chills continuously run down her spine at the mere sight of those flames.
Which, in her mind, didn 't make any sence.
'Unless...' she thought in foreboding realisation, barely managing to keep her composure and outward features in check. '...this kid is a Dragon Slayer of some kind... and a powerful one at that...'
"Alright." Tiamat responded evenly, making Kuroka give a subtle sigh of relief that the krisis had been averted for some reason.
As soon as the word left her mouth, the flames, along with the almost unbearable -for Kuroka- heat, vanished into thin air, like they never existed and Natsu relaxed his posture.
At the same time, Tiamat stopped feeling the chills, which helped in confirmng her assumption.
None of the women ever registered that Natsu referred to Kuroka as a friend of his.
"See?!" the pinket grinned toothily, showing his fangs at Tiamat, who, inwardly, took great interest in that detail. " 't wasn 't difficult, was it?!" his cheerful demeanor threw her a little off, since he was utterly hostile mere seconds ago.
The only female Dragon King nodded slowly in agreement, still feeling a little off with his behaviour.
As if sensing her unease about the situation, Kuroka felt compelled to inform Tiamat about Natsu's swiftness in changing attitudes.
"Don 't worry, yourself too much, nya... It 's just Natsu being Natsu. One moment he acts like a child-"
"HEY! I 'm NOT a child." the pinket's way to defend himself fell to deaf ears. Especially since he pouted and stomped his right foot like a child would throw a tantrum.
Kuroka continued undeterred in a deadpan tone. "-and the other he 's scarying everyone off with his flames."
"...I see..." Tiamat replied evenly. Thankfully, nobody saw the large sweatdrop behind her head. Her dignity as a Dragon King was at risk otherwise.
Seeing that the situation was under control, Natsu sighed lightly, before walking past the curiously looking Tiamat. He went straight at his unfinished work, making both women to, finally, take notice of its shape and form.
Especially Kuroka.
"Is that a hammock...?" she wondered almost rhetorically, actually afraid of the answer.
"Looks like it..." Tiamat unhelpfully contributed with a nod.
Without stopping his work "If ya want to sleep on the ground, be my guest, Kulora!" Natsu replied in a teasing tone, probably not even taking notice of his screwing up the Nekoshou's name.
A visible tick mark appeared on Kuroka's forehead at that, especially because Tiamat didn 't keep her giggling fit in control. "Shut up, nya! You sleep on the floor!" she shouted 'angrily', sticking her tongue out childishly.
Tiamat sweatdropped for the second time at the sight. However, she felt the need to get in on the fun. "And where will I sleep?" she asked 'innocently'.
Both bickering teens stopped and looked at her increadulously.
"What?" she continued with her false innocense. Seeing that they were still out of it "This cave is my home, after all." she finished in a statement.
Natsu, lightly shook his head, deciding to just go with the flow. After all, he always was 'the more the merrier' type of guy. So, why change now?
Meanwhile, in Kuroka's head.
'NOOOOO~! MY PERSONAL HEATER~! I DON 'T WANNA SHARE IT~!'
xXxLine BreakxXx
Authors notes.
This chapter is slightly shorter than the others.
I don 't know how many of you predicted about Tiamat showing up, especially this early.
There 's a reason for that, which will be revealed in due time.
Again, this chapter didn 't have any action, or character development.
It 's still early for both of these in this story.
Some of you may have realised it, but it 's going to be a relatively slow developing story. Mainly because of how little time I have to work on it.
Again, thank you for your kind words in your reviews!
And to answer the question for some of you.
Of course Natsu will be one of the 10 strongest. Especially since he has four years before cannon starts. That, and because Natsu is a worse training freak than Sairaorg, for the sole reason to become strong enough to protect what 's dear to him.
Don 't start with 'power of friendship is shit' or anything related. It 's true that this power up is quite questionable, but it 's gonna be very different here. Not the way Hiro Mashima portrayed it in Fairy Tail manga.
Anyway, stay healthy, be good at your loved ones and have fun in life!
