Chapter 7: Cor Aut Mors

If Natsu saw a chance to get under Gray's skin, he took it no questions asked, and by the frost forming in his hair and in the surrounding greenery, Gray was adequately pissed. Natsu nearly patted himself on the back before glancing at Lucy's expression.

She's scared. No…she's terrified. Bloodless. I wanted to live a normal life, but I have this girl shocked and petrified. That's not what I want to do to people. That's not what I want to go on doing to people for the rest of my life.

He faltered, and that second's hesitation was more than enough for a spear of ice to lance its way through his hand and cheek, missing his brain by sheer luck. His grip slackened and Lucy spun away from him and into Gray's arm, where he pulled her in possessively with his other arm still occupied by a lance as tall as he was, the clear blue of his ice stained crimson with Natsu's body fluid. "That really hurt," Natsu droned, forked tongue coming out to lick at the blood smeared across his face. His hand stung badly, but the hole would repair itself in due time. If not—

"Ice Make: Bazooka!"

A projectile of compressed Ice Magic rammed into Natsu's guts, propelling him backwards across the clearing and slamming him into a large rock formation. The rough surface dug deep into his back and he let out a gasp of pain. He slid to the ground, astonished, and was still dazed when Gray slithered over, drawing him up by the collar with the tip of his tarnished lance pressed into Natsu's Adam's apple.

"It's only by the kingdom that I don't rip out your throat now," he stated in an icy voice that heavily contrasted Natsu's scorching fury. "You're to be executed for the king to see."

"Well, I don't like either of you," he retorted hoarsely, wincing every time his injured cheek moved. His words were slurred and he was certain that his teeth and gums, which couldn't fit in his mouth under normal conditions, were showing. "So, do me the good favor of mercy and do away with me now, eh?"

"Mercy?" His dark eyes lit with some variant of humor. "As if you deserve that much." He narrowed his eyes and snorted out a circle of smoke that had Gray pulling back with a coughing fit.

"Right, right, I almost forgot that I'm the monster here." He couldn't hear any other soldiers within the immediate vicinity—Fullbuster, the glory-hogging prick that he was, most likely ran ahead—but they were certainly on the way. In that case, he didn't have time left to waste.

He charged forward, ignoring Gray's cry of "You're not getting anywhere, dragon!" as he rushed towards Lucy. He saw her raise a Key and prepared to mow down that infernal lion before she faltered, nearly dropping it as her body went heavy. Magic exhaustion, he assumed, not that he ultimately cared. His hands clutched her waist with enough force to make her cry out in pain, and bit back his own cry as his wings formed through his bleeding back. Still running, his feet left the ground with a flap, then he went higher with another. He caught the scent of frost in the air and banked a sharp left as a row of stalagmites like a tsunami arced up at him from the ground, and they followed his path to the side and into a waiting hammer poised in midair.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" he shouted, flipping onto his back and drawing her flush against his body. His flames were weaker after having to fight off her Spirits and then Fullbuster but melting his tack hammer was child's play. Then again, as he witnessed Gray lunging at him with a deadly sword of solid ice, he had to rethink his plans again. He couldn't overheat without risking Lucy's life, nor could he escape in his position. He needed to minimize the damage somehow—

Then why not increase the volume of blood in his body?

…Stupid idea.

It hurt, it damn near fucking hurt to go from human to dragon in an instant, even if he was a dragon to begin with. He never bled before, but now there was blood turning his scales even redder than before, and his jaw ached as it was forced to expand, and his spine felt as if it was contorting from the sudden weight of his tail. Said tail also smacked Gray aside, but that action was an involuntary muscle spasm and Natsu couldn't glean any pleasure from it. He curled up instinctively, then when the pain had passed, he took to the skies without a second's breath.

"Natsu—"

He hissed, eyes squinted so badly he could barely see through the fog of clouds around them. "Don't. Not…in the mood…"

"The water!" Lucy cried, gripping the delicate skin between his scales so tightly it almost hurt. He blinked and realized that yes, he was in fact dipping into a lake below, but at his altitude, he wasn't going to clear it safely. He held his arm up over his head and slowed his descent, and still a huge wave surfaced from the impact, drowning all nearby trees and unsuspecting wildlife. At his height, he could touch his feet to the bottom with the entirety of his upper body breaching the surface. Well, at least I got that bath I was looking for. He crawled along the muck to the end of the bank, where he released Lucy to the muddy shore.

"You won't run if you know what's good for you," he advised. He looked back and noticed that the water had tinged pink slightly from his blood. He shrank down as he climbed forward, feeling his skin itch terribly as his scales fell away in heaps. Not good, he thought, watching his claws as they shifted into muddy fingers with broken nailbeds. His skin beneath the cloak of seaweed and grime was red and inflamed, as was his cheek and hand. Need a doctor, but where… He raised his head, smelling the air, and after a moment he found what he was looking for. Town, northwest to here, not that far…

"I see you backing away," he muttered, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She was still clutching her Keys, her expression unreadable. "What? What is that face?" She didn't respond, looking off to the side, and he frowned, shifting to a crouch. "You're not going to answer?"

"N…"

"Well fine. It's no skin off my nose. In fact, I like you better quiet." He submerged himself again to wash away the lake's grime and his blood before inching his way up the bank. It took a moment but he brought himself to his feet, holding his arms out and flexing his fingers. He decided he wasn't too bad after all, but his verdict was certainly influenced by the epiphany that putting her among tons of people that could come to her aid was not a good option. He was healing as he watched, although it was much slower than he did in the dungeons even with the horrible shit they fed him. "You know what? You, come here."

"I have a name and you know it," she said crossly. He fought the urge to roll his eyes as he sat on a water-flattened rock.

"Fine then. Lucy, come hither." She did, albeit reluctantly, and once she was within range, he reached up and plucked a hair.

"Oh!" she cried in shock, recoiling. He examined the strand before giving a semi-satisfied huff.

"This'll do." He went in his mouth and pulled a tooth without so much as a grimace. The thick base and sharp point left it in the desired shape, and with the arced roots, he knotted the strand a few times and gave some tugs to ensure its security. "Now, I want you to sew up my hand."

"What?" she exploded.

"Oh. And my face." She wasn't any less indignant.

"Why would I? Why in the world would I?"

"How about because if you don't, I'll slay you for meat?" She crossed her arms with a blaze of fury in her eyes and he let out a bitter chuckle. "Right, right, I've a good idea of your personality now. The next time your precious Ice Prince comes trotting along, I'll spear him on my claws, roast him, and gobble him down without a second thought." Though she tried to maintain her impassive look, her face twitched for a second, which he caught with a smirk. "I thought that would work. Now get to it."

"—Give me the damn thing." She snatched the tooth from his hand. A shiver ran through her as she confirmed that it was indeed a tooth and probably felt some strands of saliva on it. "Like stitching a dress," she muttered to herself, gripping his wrist. "It seems one of my maiden's lessons will finally be paying off." He flinched as his own tooth rent his flesh, but other than that he was stiff as a stone as she resealed both sides of his hand. The harder part was remaining still as her hand grasped his chin to keep his cheek pointed her way.

"You're breathing all over me," he remarked as a means of distracting himself.

"I can't help it when I'm so close to you! And you have to keep your mouth shut for this so I can do this properly."

"Humph," he complained, sealing his lips. Her expression was more focused than annoyed as she worked on his muscle, forehead puckered with concentration. She's not a bad person, really, he thought with a slight frown. And she did help me back then…I gotta start thinking of her as someone different than her damn old man or Fullbuster.

"It won't heal this way," she pointed out dully.

"It will. Dragons are much less fragile than you humans." She frowned at the comment as she broke the thread.

"Then why did you find it so hard to live in the dungeons, if you're so durable?" It sounded like a challenge, and Natsu loved challenges. And really, he couldn't find himself obligated to her when she spoke to him that way. He took her by the wrist and brought her face close to his.

"Do you want to find out?" he said gruffly. "Because, you know, if there's anything us monsters are good at, it's breaking spirits."

"Let go of me," she said lowly.

"Why should I? That would be the nice thing to do, and I'm not nice, am I?" He was beginning to think irrationally from blood loss—not good. It meant that he wasn't regenerating as fast as he ought to have been, or quickly enough to not be in a stable condition. He gave a grunt, and with a quick shake of his head he dropped her wrist and slunk past her. She stared after him a moment, rubbing her wrist, and he absently noted the purple marks left by his fingers. "We're going. There's a town nearby and we're going there."

"A town," she repeated as if it was a foreign word.

"Yes, town. Is that a problem?"

"No… Not at all. The opposite, in fact," she said, keeping herself carefully neutral as she followed him. He came to a stop around a mud pit, locking his eyes on her.

"You're the princess," he said. She cocked her eyebrows for a moment, then gave him a flat look.

"I'd thought you intelligent enough to retain that fact, if nothing else." He ignored the jab as he scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"I guess…your golden hair?" Before she could ask what he meant, he filled his cheeks with flames and blew. She yelped and recoiled instinctively, but instead of roasting her as he wished, he snapped away a large strip of bark and incinerated it, leaving behind a pile of ashes in his cupped palms. Then, he unceremoniously dumped them over her head.

"You—what?" she cried in shock. The ash settled over and in her shiny locks, painting them a dull shade like rot. She said a stream of expletives he never expected to leave a princess's mouth but majorly ignored as he examined her.

"Still, I see it too much," he muttered, moving in a circle around her. He glanced at her hair, which had been plaited for her sleep but was currently knotted with twigs and leaves, and took the long braid in his hand. His claws extended, and before she could spin around, he severed the braid and tossed it away, shearing her hair down to her shoulder blades. "I guess that'll do."

"You don't— You don't just—" She was red in the face trying to tell him off, and he didn't know whether to roll his eyes or smile in amusement. Then he detected Gray's scent rolling in from downwind—he was still far, but Natsu didn't exactly cover his tracks.

"Shut up."

"I'm not going to be quiet! You're not going to tell me what to do! You're not my—" She cut herself off abruptly, shook her head vehemently, then began again: "It won't be long before my magic returns, and when that happens, you'll be over."

"I've full faith in that," he said grimly, catching her off-guard. His head snapped over as he heard Gray on top of smelling him, and Natsu bared his teeth in annoyance. "Let's go." He seized her forearm, and before she could protest, he ran.

"I can't—I'll f-fall—" she stammered as they ducked, jumped, and swerved around obstacles on Natsu's quick pace.

"I'm not going to let you fall," he insisted if for nothing else than to stop her babble. He needed to hear Gray to gauge his position relative their own. As they reached a fork in the path, Natsu stuttered to a halt. He heard another source of noise east of them, but Gray was still at their back. "The cavalries have arrived," he muttered, dragging a hand down his face. Gray was something on his own, but if he had to fight Laxus or Erza too, or if they pitched Demon Mira onto the field, he might as well stop and dig his grave to save them the time.

"What?" He growled, jerking her forward and into his arms.

"Come on!" She thrashed at first, but as he picked up speed, unrestricted by her slow pace, she found it better to cling to his neck for safety. He kept a close eye—or rather, close nose—on their surroundings, but it was hard to retain a three-way focus and not trip over any of the dense foliage. After a mile had grown between himself and Laxus (though he had lost track of Gray a while ago—hopefully, Ice-prick had fallen so far behind that he lagged out of Natsu's scent range) the trees began to thin, the air tasting more of firewood smoke and snippets of voices wafting through the air.

People, he thought, and for just a split second, he froze up. An irrational fear of the unknown settled over him and lodged in his throat. His dragon nature was to stand over them, be like the king his blood deemed him, but living with humans for all his life had a lasting effect: he thought in terms of one, acted like one, and even now, he looked like one. His language was terribly out of use, but he thought he could figure out enough words to get by. There was no reason that any within the town should think him as anything out of the ordinary and burn him at the stake, especially considering that very little outside of the castle even knew dragons still lived.

I'm going to do this, he thought with his mouth set in a grim line. It may not be on the best of terms, but I'll be going into a human dwelling and mingle with them. Igneel would be brave and so should I.

His steps decelerated to a fast jog as a manmade path appeared in the forest. He dropped Lucy to the ground and opened his mouth for some ground rules, but she cut him off with a contrite expression: "I understand. No running away, no speaking of things I shouldn't, no attacking you."

"Ah. Alright," he said with a slight smile. "You know, it's possible to make this easier on yourself. I don't want to hurt you, really, I'm no sadist like that. I just want you here until it all blows over, then you go back and I go free. It's not much to ask for." Her mouth skewed, and though it was brief, he caught a glimpse of a stoked flame in her eyes, and it took all his self-control not to smirk. He caught her—she was just trying to get on his good side. Well, if she believed he was fooled and continued to play nice, he wasn't complaining.

He was immediately bombarded by a plethora of weird scents and sounds as they walked into town. A gaggle of snot-nosed and dirty children ran past him and nearly knocked him over. A breeze blew from downwind, carrying with it the sound of two angry men arguing over fish that honestly smelled so bad he couldn't believe they wanted it. The afternoon's light was weaker blocked by tall stone and cement buildings with fresh paint and clean clothes blowing in the wind and townspeople crying gleefully to one another from their windows. There was so much…action in the air, so much excitement, his heart felt like giving out.

Society…this is what an actual city looks like… Gods, they're so nice to each other!

He shook his head quickly with a whinny, clapping his cheeks. "Getting off task," he grumbled, looking up. But then he spotted a round man selling roasted fish and meat and vegetables on a spear and lost track of everything else. He didn't speak Natsu's language, but that didn't make a damn difference. Natsu's stomach led the way before his brain reminded it that they were bereft of money. He ducked from the immediate sight of the man and behind his stall, lurking within the folds of the green and orange cloth. When a customer drew the man's attention, Natsu reached up and snatched two skewers. He sunk back under the booth's table and took a bite. It didn't matter that it was scorching hot from the heating Lacrima, or that the fish really did smell like it grew up in the sewers, that food was the best he ever had in his long life.

"Mm…mm…besht, zhish ish za besht…!" he exclaimed, polishing off the rest and licking his fingers clean. He checked if the coast was clear before crawling free—just to see another booth selling a large green plant he thought the woman was calling "watermelons."

Suffice it to say, a good while later, Natsu was sprawled on a grassy hillock leading back to the forest with his belly bulging and his head clear for the first time in his life. A big blue butterfly fluttered over and perched lazily on his nose. He went cross-eyed trying to look at it, and after a moment it flew off and continued its own journey. The sun was starting to set now, painting the sky beautiful shades of rose and gold. Within his cell, he could never imagine anything like salmon kebabs, or watermelon, or sweet rocks, or butterflies, or sunlight. It felt as if everything he saw was a new milestone or discovery and he would never get tired of it.

"I'm gonna fight," he murmured, clenching his fist. "Gonna fight for the rest of my life for this." He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes "Gonna fight…like Igneel'd want me to…"

It wasn't until Natsu woke up a few hours later, he realized he lost the princess.