Something was wrong….
Something was very wrong and the mighty ice dragon wasn't sure just what was happening….
Half way through the year that Igneel had granted all the dragon parents more time with their hatchlings…Ur started seeing changes happening to her young ones…
This wasn't supposed to happen…
Why is this happening?!
What is wrong with my hatchlings?!
Ur laid her babies to rest and went outside their massive ice fortress, she looked up into the darkness and launched a massive ball of bright blue ice into the sky. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as it shot higher and higher reaching heights that even she had not ventured before it abruptly exploded in a blinding flash of bright white light, any and all dragon parents would easily see her call for help and be at her doorstep within minutes.
Ur truly did not have to wait long before the first dragon was spotted coming towards her direction, at first it was only a blob of white fast approaching but the closer the new dragon got Ur was soon able to identify her as Grandeeney the sky dragon.
Of course she would be the first to show…
Not long after Grandeeney appeared another blob of white and was quickly gaining on the sky dragon, there was only one other white dragon besides herself and the Grandeeney and that could only be Weisslogia the light dragon.
Where ever Weisslogia was Skiadrum the shadow dragon was sure to follow and sure enough beside Weisslogia was a massive blackened shadow indicating the shadow dragon.
Ur was startled out of her gaze of the others approaching feeling the earth tremor at the feet of a dragon landing, looking to her left she finally noticed the heavily armored iron dragon Metalicana. Strange…he must have been close by to have beaten the sky dragon.
Everyone else finally landed all around her but not one uttered a single word knowing that by dragon law any emergency meetings called upon could not be started until the great fire king was present and stated so. Again Ur did not have to wait long before they all heard a mighty roar shake the very heavens above them and off in the distance the large red dragon that signified Igneel was finally approaching.
Once he landed everyone else bowed before him -even Ur despite their last encounter- he was still their king and they all truly respected him.
Igneel cleared his throat, "rise everyone…I have a feeling we all know why Ur sent out a distress flare," he ran his eyes over every dragon present seeing them all nod their heads in agreement, "then let us get right down to it then…our hatchlings are changing…"
A soft chorus of "aye" was heard from everyone
Igneel sighed crossing his arms over his scarred chest, "…I do know why this is happening…"
Ur perked right up and gazed at the fire dragon with her glowing white eyes, "please Igneel…what is happening to our hatchlings? They are not supposed to be changing this much…"
Again Igneel sighed and closed his eyes, "it is because we are still with them…"
"What do you mean it is because we are still with them?" Grandeeney spoke up giving the male a questioning look
Igneel opened his eyes and looked at the sky dragon, "I mean just that, we are still leaking out small amounts of our magic and their little bodies are sucking it right up. It is the same as when we first brought them to live with us, how everyone was steadily leaking small amounts of magic for them to soak up so they could get use to our magic before we officially changed them. Well now that we have changed them our bodies are actually reacting to them…treating them as if they were actually blood born hatchlings...as if they were our actual hatched children…our bodies are unconsciously feeding them how we would a newborn…and it would seem that with humans the longer they are exposed to a constant supply of newborn nutrients the more they will change…" Igneel looked at everyone now, "they are changing into actual dragons…"
Everyone let out shaky breaths as they took in the new information, "wait just a minuet here…ain't this what happened to that bastard Acnologia? Fucker was human once too right?" Metalicana piped in
Igneel turned is piercing yellow eyes to the iron dragon causing him to slightly flinch under the intense stare, "it was decided that that name would not be spoken out loud again…" Metalicana lowered his gaze to the floor, "…sorry…jus' worried me…my hatchling may be a stubborn, pig headed, pain n' my ass but he's mine and I don't want that same fate to befall on em'…"
Igneel snorted, "like father like son I suppose," everyone chuckled out loud, "but no, this is not like that incident 400 years ago with the chaos dragon…he killed our kind and bathed in their blood turning him into the monster that he is today…our hatchlings on the other hand are being fed a healthy supply of magical sustenance that we are unconsciously providing for them and that is what is changing them."
"Alright…so if what you say is true then what are we to do? Do we have to fear them becoming monsters?" Skiadrum spoke up voicing what was on everyone's mind
Igneel shook his head, "no, we do not need worry about their wellbeing. There is no malicious nor evil intent in what has been happening to our young ones. If anything…we should be flattered and proud. They are trying to change for us, they are trying to be like us. The dragons blood we gave them is steadily coursing through their veins and it is trying to rid their bodies of anything human while replacing it with dragon essence, and our bodies are subtly feeding that change."
Every dragon fell into a comfortable silence feeling at ease knowing that their precious one's lives were not in any harm.
Igneel cleared his throat again gaining everyone's attention back to himself, "now that we have everything settled we are to stick to the plan ahead. We are leaving for our home world in 6 months' time to help defend our lands from the war currently raging on. In the meantime, prepare your young ones, I know all too well how hard this is going to be but we must keep that conflict away from this world in order to keep them safe. Do not fear the changes that happen to the hatchlings either, while there is no way to stop our leaking magic to keep them from changing more, this is not a bad thing. They will just be even more dragon than human by the time we do have to leave them."
"What about the humans Igneel? Will our young ever truly be accepted back with them?" Weisslogia finally spoke causing Igneel to let out a puff of smoke through his nostrils, "accepted? Maybe not…but do not fear, I know of an elderly male who is currently master of a famous human magic guild. He takes in all kinds of misfits and orphaned humans giving them not only a place to call home but a family as well. I will talk to him about our situation and give him each of our locations so that he may find our young and keep them safe for us. I know deep within my heart that we can trust this man with the care and safety of our little ones."
Everyone let out a reluctant sigh and once again bowed their heads to Igneel, "So Saith the Great Fire King Igneel…" they all spoke in unison.
Lifting their heads back up, Ur watched as almost every dragon stretched their massive wings beating them to push themselves back into the sky and finally fly home.
Ur dropped her gaze back down to look at the one dragon who had yet to fly home, "…Igneel…I-I…" she began to say before the male cut her off raising his clawed hand up, "don't Ur, you did the right thing calling this meeting. I know everyone has been on edge with the changes in our hatchlings and needed information." he gave the female a soft fanged grin allowing her to release the breath she didn't even know she was holding. Ur dropped her gaze to the snow covered ground, "…this change that is happening to them…it's my fault…if I hadn't asked for more time with them…i-if I had just left when we had originally planned…they wouldn't be going through more pain…"
Ur looked back up to the fire king, a lone tear slipped and fell down her fur covered cheek, "…gods above Igneel…the new changes…they're s-so painful…I-I can't stand to hear them cry…I-I had to watch as the bones in their feet and legs s-snapped and b-broke all on their own one day. I-I've never heard nor seen Gray c-cry…he screamed out in complete a-agony…begging me t-to help them…t-to make the pain g-go away…" more tears fell drenching her fur, "I-I couldn't do a thing t-to help them!" she sobbed and Igneel finally walked up to her pulling her to his chest while wrapping his arms around her neck, "I-I could only pick them up and hold them close while I-I had to watch as their bones reformed beneath their skin…I-I had to watch as everything below their knees lost all human origin and b-became scaled, clawed talons and the hind legs o-of a dragon…I-I had to watch their hands c-change into scale covered claws…I-I had to watch as wings tore o-open their backs spraying blood e-everywhere…t-there's been so much b-blood Igneel…even their e-ears changed…the tips are pointed now…."
Igneel shushed the frantic female running his claws along the spine of her neck, "easy Ur, everything you just told me my Natsu went through as well…but that is the worst of it I promise. We will be gone before the remaining human features go through the change." Ur nodded her head choosing to remain silent, "do not worry my dear ice queen, everything will be alright." Ur let out a small muffled huff, "y-you haven't called me that in centuries…" Igneel snickered, "aye but it's never changed," he pulled back to cup her cheeks in his claws, "you're still my ice queen." he leaned in and pressed his snout against Ur's both closing their eyes and breathing in each other's scents, "…thank you Igneel…" Ur softly whispered, "anything for you Ur…" Igneel answered before pulling away to stare into her glowing white eyes, "well…I better get home before my brat freaks out." Ur chuckled, "aye, that you should."
She watched him back up a bit -still standing on his hind legs- he spread his massive wings out to his sides beating them up and down to gain pull as he lifted into the sky. He kept his gaze locked on her as he shifted higher and higher into the sky, "6 months Ur…make sure they are ready." with that he finally tore his sights from the ice dragon and took off in the direction of home.
Ur watched until she could no longer see his red form and closed her eyes, "aye…6 months…"
Ur was startled out of her thoughts when she heard the faint clicking of tiny claws heading in her direction, she turned her body to look at the entrance of the cave watching as Lucy came into view yawning loudly and rubbing her eyes, "mama Ur? Why are you out here?" Lucy finally looked up at her dragon mother, sleep heavy in her blue eyes. Ur gently smiled at the small dragon standing in front of her and reached down to scoop Lucy up in her claws, "nothing little one, just needed some fresh air is all. Come, let's go to bed." she felt Lucy nod her head and curled up in her hand wrapping her tail around her pinky, "ok…mama…"
~AN~
Not overly happy with this chapter to be honest but I figured it's been quite a while since I've put anything up for this story…just wanted to get something up I suppose :/
Let me know how I did though and I'll see if maybe I can't get another chapter up later on.
Until next time!
Much Love from a tkitty