Wow. Just- Wow. I have 27 followers on this story. And 14 favorites. *Tears of joy* I never ever ever imagined this! You guys- Thank you so much! *Ahem* I tend to get a little emotional over people liking my work. It's always just a little unreal to me that, out of 25.3 K Fairy Tail stories, mine could even be noticed, much less liked. I plan to be an author someday, so this is extremely encouraging. By the way, I found a short song that fits Fairy Tail perfectly. Each Other by Skillet. Go listen to it!
Surprisingly, it was Wendy who stepped up to the large dragon. She immediately dropped into a deep curtsy. "Igneel-sama, we're Natsu's guildmates. I'm-"
"Stand up!" The touchy Fire Dragon snapped. Wendy stood, looking up at him in shock. "I can't stand that stupid human behavior, and I find it abhorrent that a Dragon Slayer has picked it up. Don't look so surprised, I can smell it on you. You too, piercing weirdo. Don't either of you dare to bow or scrape or all that rot. You were raised by dragons, so you ought to have the pride of one." Igneel paused. "Now, continue explaining. Without all of the goddamned formalities."
All of them were rather lost for words now. If he'd raised Natsu with that as a value... Well, at least it explains why Natsu is so dismissive of authority. Wendy gulped slightly, but once again she was the one to break the silence. "I-Igneel, we're members of Natsu's guild. Fairy Tail."
Igneel raised a scaly eyebrow. "Really? How's Mavis doing? Last I heard, she was still on that island of her's. Tenrou, I think that it was called."
Wendy shuffled her feet. What should I say? She worried. It looks like he has no sense of time! I can't just tell him that-
"She's dead." Gajeel's tone was blunt. "Centuries ago. You out of touch with reality or something?"
Igneel snorted. "Cheeky brat, aren't you? Much better than the stench of fear. I know that she's dead. But I'm one of the two who helped her bind her spirit to Earthland, so that she'll stay as long as there's somebody who bears her guild mark. It was her last wish. So. Is she still wasting herself in the middle of the ocean, or actually making herself useful?"
In an instant, Erza had her sword out and pointed at Igneel. "I don't care if you're a dragon, a human, or a dancing bear, I won't let you insult our guild." She growled. "Take back what you said about the First. Now."
A smile curled on Igneel's face. "Good. Anger is better than fear. I can say what I want, Mavis is one of my closest friends." He paused. "And I severely doubt that a dancing bear would have the ability to insult your guild, unless you utilized an outside source of magic on it. I personally think that if you did that, it would have a right to complain. In fact, it should probably complain simply for being made to dance. After all, even animals have their pride." They all sweatdropped. That's what he chose to focus on?
"How close?" Lucy challenged. "That's a fairly serious insult."
"I consider her a little sister. I am allowed to talk about my sibs any way I wish." Igneel paused. "Now. Pretty much all that I know about you is that you are presumably all from Fairy Tail and that there are two Dragons Slayers in your group. This is what I want to know: Your full names, your magic, and from the Dragon Slayers, their parent. Begin."
Erza opened her mouth to protest at his tone, but Gajeel clamped a hand over it. "Don't offend him, Titania. Salamander's father is damned big, and I can't sense a drop of magic from him. The larger the dragon, usually the more power they've got. So if I can't sense anything, then he's got a tight leash on it." The Iron Dragon Slayer studied Erza for a moment, then dropped his hand. Good. Now she won't do anything stupid. He glanced up at the large red dragon, then began. "I'm Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragon Slayer. My pops is Metalicana."
Igneel nodded slowly. "Interesting." He mused. "So that old pile of scrap metal took the time to raise a kid. And before you tell me off again, I have literally known him since the day he was born. I found his egg and sat next to it until it hatched. I have guarded his back hundreds of times, and he's guarded mine. So I think we're close enough that I can call him anything that I want." There was a short, stunned silence.
Wendy shifted slightly. "I-I'm Wendy Marvell-"
"Say no more." Igneel chuckled. "Grandine, I'd think that your child would be a little less nervous, hmm? The daughter of the strongest of the Sky Dragons needs a little more confidence. Raise your head, I don't bite. Well, not children at least."
Wendy gasped. "Grandine was that strong?"
"Nope." Wendy's face fell. So he was just teasing me. "She is that strong, last time that I checked. Nasty temper too. Just with me, though. With everyone else she's kind and sweet. But when I accidentally knock over a rack of potions, she whacks me with her tail so hard that it bruises. She really should change her name to Grenade."
Wendy let out a surprised giggle. Lucy stepped forward. "I am Lucy Heartfilia, Celestial Spirit Mage."
"I am Erza Scarlet, Requip Mage and S-class wizard of Fairy Tail."
"Gray Fullbuster, Ice Make Mage."
"I'm Gildarts Clive, Crash Mage and the Ace of Fairy Tail."
Igneel tilted his head slightly. "And who are you?" He addressed the Exceeds, much to their surprise. They had honestly been hoping that The Fire Dragon would assume that they were just cats.
"I'm Happy!" The blue Exceed raised his paw.
"I am Charle."
"My name is Pantherlily. Call me Lily."
Igneel chuckled lightly. "I've heard of Tiger Lilies, but not Panther Lilies." He teased. "What is this, the bud before it blooms?"
"I have heard that joke far too many times!" The brown Exceed snapped. Then he froze when he realized who he was talking to.
Igneel sighed. "Ah, sorry, Lily. I couldn't help myself. It's so boring here. I could talk to myself, but that seems a bit stupid to me." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "So, why are you here? I could understand my son finding something and coming here, being as loyal as he is. But there are two things here that I am curious about. First: Why are you here? If you are good friends of my son, that would explain it. But that leads me to the second thing: If you're his friends, why in all hells did you let him come?"
"Well," Lucy hesitated. "You're right on the first one. As for the second..." She sighed. "This is a direct quote:'Either you let me come with you or I find a way there on my own.' And that would not have been good. At all."
Igneel groaned. "Stubborn pyro." He muttered. "You're a real idiot, you know that?"
"Speaking of Natsu..." Wendy glanced at the wing said Fire Dragon Slayer was curled up underneath. "...Is he okay? He hasn't moved in a while."
"He'll be fine. As long as you get him out of this hellish place. But you'll need to do do it fast, and keep him very warm. He gave me as much of his magical power as he possibly could. The boy isn't stupid, he just never thinks ahead..." The Fire Dragon shook his head in exasperation. "He's a tough brat, though. The boy can survive things that shock even me. Sheesh. They say that willpower can do anything, but this boy takes it to an extreme." He bent his head down to his wing. "Wake up!" Igneel snapped. "Oi! I know that you drained yourself, but where's your spirit? Get up!"
They were all shocked by Igneel's rough approach. Natsu's exhausted! Shouldn't he go easier on Natsu?
Then, further surprising them, Natsu stirred slightly. "Hey Dad." He mumbled. "Good. I got here. Can we go home together now?"
"No." Igneel's answer was curt. "My chains are made of adamantine. Even I can't break that. I'd be able to if I was at full strength, but I was brought here injured and nearly drained of magic. And now? Certainly not. Not even with your fire. I've been living off of the flow of the magic around me for years, and you know that's an exhausting technique. So I am going to have to stay here, and you are going home."
"Nope. Not leaving without you." Natsu burrowed a little deeper under Igneel's wing. "Gildarts is a really strong Crash Mage. He can get you out."
Igneel hissed through his teeth. "Look here you little piece of green wood, I have tried my best. I doubt that your friend can do better. And even if he can, by then you will likely be dead from the cold. So get out of here!"
"Shaddup." Natsu muttered. "You're warm. And I know you'll keep me safe. Gildarts can do it, and the others can help. It might take a while, but I don't care. There's no way I'm leaving you right when I found you again. So stop trying. You said once that I was probably part troll, 'cause my head was full of stubborn rocks. See? Even you think that I don't give up easy." With that, he buried himself deeply into the leathery folds of Igneel's wing.
The Fire Dragon snarled at him. "Alright, be a wyvern-brain! You had better hope that they're as good as your faith." He glanced at the others and heaved an irritated sigh. "Alright, let's see what you can do."
Gildarts nodded. He walked forward and placed a hand onto the front right chain. He closed his eyes, and focused his magical power into it. I have to do this. It's for Natsu's sake. He's done so many things for this guild, the least that we can do is give him back his father. The material cracked, then shattered in a spray of silver shards to reveal a pale, scarred circle of scales. It was obvious that he'd struggled desperately against the chains as often as he could summon the strength.
Igneel stared. "Not bad." He approved. "If you can break four more of the ones on my legs as well as the bands on my wings, I should be able to shatter the last two myself."
The Crash Mage nodded. "I think that I can do three more. That stuff is seriously tough."
"I'll try eating them." Gajeel volunteered.
"I will do my best to break one." Erza spoke up.
"The rest of us can try to break the last one." Gray decided.
They worked as hard as they possibly could. Gildarts swiftly broke a second one, and had to struggle harder with the second one. Gajeel chomped his way into a wing band as fast as he could. He had to create iron pillars and throw them away from himself to let off the excess magical energy. Erza requipped Armadura Fairy and sliced her way farther and farther into the shining metal of the leg cuff. Lucy summoned Taurus, and Leo came on his own. Gray used his Ice Make magic to create duel ice swords to shred the wing band. Even Pantherlily switched into his battle form to help, surprising the hell out of Igneel. Wendy focused her support magic on all of them.
Gildarts finally destroyed the fourth band that he'd attacked. Gajeel sat back with a groan, and made a mental note to take some of this back with him. It sent him into Dragon Force, and the scales were now fading from his face. Erza felt a crack, and drew back as the cuff crumbled. Taurus's axe sliced through the band at last. Wendy fell to her knees as she ended her spells, gasping for air. Igneel rose to his feet, keeping his Dragon Slayer curled tightly inside his wing.
"Everyone away." He ordered. The others scattered obediently. The large dragon heaved himself forward, snapping the remaining two chains with a respectable amount of effort. Then, he flicked a claw inside his wing and dragged Natsu out, gently placing the Fire Dragon Slayer on his back. He glanced downward. "Up."He flicked his tail in emphasis. The Dragon Slayers caught on quickly and climbed up by way of his tail the others climbed on more reluctantly.
The dragon stretched his wings, letting muscles long left alone complain as much as they wanted to. They moved up and down a few times, and all but the Dragon Slayers clung nervously to the spines on his back. Feeling the abnormally heated flesh ripple beneath them was entirely disconcerting. Gajeel held on to Natsu, making sure that he wouldn't fall off.
Then, girly screams echoed across the landscape as the fire dragon took off, once more reveling in the feeling of the wind passing smoothly beneath his wings.
Igneel was free once more.
Eek! Don't kill me, blame the plot bunnies! I couldn't give you an incomplete chapter, now could I? Well I could, but it wouldn't feel right. Please don't hurt me!
