Ch. 2- The Rumor

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

Story and OCs © Me

Natsu casually walked down the streets of Magnolia, his hands folded behind his head in that nonchalant manner. It seemed that talking to Lucy cheered him a little bit... even if there was still that lingering bit of sadness. Still, he could at least try and perk up a little.

Now that he thought about it, everyone must have been worried... especially Haru. He didn't even so much as look at her, so he knew he might have hurt her feelings a bit, something he really never intended to do. He should go back and apologize to her, he figured...

...that is, until his stomach started growling ravenously.

Now that he thought about it, he actually hadn't eaten today. He was too busy being depressed to even think about food, right now. As he kept walking, he spotted his favorite restaurant in town: the one that hadn't kicked him out yet due to him running a ridiculously huge tab and eating the entire place out of its food stock. Haru did say that she got a coupon for the place as a bonus reward from her job. Maybe he could ask her for it and then come back here for dinner.

As Natsu kept walking, his sensitive ears picked up the sound of a couple of men talking nearby.

"So how was the fishing trip?"

"Eh. I ended up not going. I mean, I might need money, but I'm not so desperate to go anywhere near Dragon Island!"

Natsu froze before he turned to the two men talking; one who was about as tall as Laxus, though not as muscular, with grayish-blue hair that was slicked back and black goatee on his chin, and he wore a mauve shirt with brown fingerless gloves, black trousers, and a pair of dark brown boots, and the other who was of more average height with shaggy dark green hair that was covering the right half of his face, a blue shirt with a dark green coat over it, beige pants, and a pair of straw sandals.

"I'm telling you," said the taller man, "my boss is crazy! Senile old codger."

"You know the rumors about that place, right?" asked the shorter individual. "I mean... it's pretty far from here, isn't it?"

"Not just that," replied his friend. "I don't think the island gets its name for nothing. Maybe it was my eyes playing tricks on me, but I swear on my old man's grave that I saw something huge flying around in the sky! It could have been a real, live dragon!"

"Don't be ridiculous," said the young man. "Everyone knows they don't exist. Dragons went extinct long ago!"

"But I swear, I saw one!" the taller man argued.

"Uh... hey," Natsu said as he approached the two. "What's this about a dragon?"

XXX

"We're back, everyone!" Lucy called as she and Happy entered the guild, which had finally been all cleaned up while they were gone. "Ooh, spiffy! You guys do a good job!"

"How's Natsu doing, Lucy?" Haru asked as the Celestial Spirit Wizard sat down beside her while giving Blue Fang an affectionate pat on his head, causing the wolf to sigh pleasantly as he lied his head down on her lap.

"He should be fine, now," Lucy replied. "I think all he needed was a pep talk, that's all."

"Aye!" Happy piped up as he sat down to eat a fish.

"Thanks for going to check on him for me," said Haru. "I appreciate it, Lucy."

"Think nothing of it," Lucy replied. "Just doing something for a friend, that's all."

"But still," Haru began, "it must be so hard on him... I know how much he misses Igneel, even if at times, he doesn't seem like it." She then heaved a small sigh. "I just... I wish there was something more we could do."

"I'm sure we all feel that way, Haru," Erza said.

"Yeah, well, what can we do?" asked Gray... wearing only his boxer shorts. "I mean... it's not like we can go hunt down a dragon ourselves. Hardly anyone talks about them, anyway."

"Gray, your clothes," Mirajane called, causing him to yelp in shock.

"Seriously?!" Gray questioned.

"Even so, there must be something," Haru said. "If only there was some kind of clue. Something that'll give Natsu just a little bit of hope-"

"HEEEEEEEEEEEY!"

"Well, speak of the devil," Cana said while drinking from her barrel, again, "here he comes."

Without any further warning, the doors burst open and Natsu came running in... except he was going a little too fast. As he tried to stop, he put on the brakes a bit too late and ended up sliding across the floor before crashing right into a table.

"Natsu!" Elektra cried from the bar. "Are you okay, hon?!"

"I'm okay!" Natsu called back.

"Dude! I just cleaned that table!" Gray shouted as he pulled his pants on and zipped up the zipper.

"Natsu, what's going on?" asked Lucy. "Why'd you come running in here?"

"Sorry about that," Natsu said as he got up and dusted himself off, "but... man, I'm really fired up!"

"Really?" Haru asked. "Why?"

"Get this!" Natsu said as he approached the table where the group was sitting. "I just heard a tip about a dragon sighting!"

"Whoa, for real?!" Happy asked in excitement.

"Where'd you hear it from?" Erza asked.

"I heard it in town on my way back!" Natsu answered. "Oh, that reminds me. Haru, do you still have that coupon for my favorite restaurant? Because I passed it on the way here and-"

"Natsu, focus!" Erza shouted.

"Right, sorry!" Natsu exclaimed. "Anyway, someone said they saw a dragon flying around this placed called 'Dragon Island'!"

"Dragon Island?" Lucy repeated.

"Huh... never heard of it, before," Wakaba said.

"Me, neither," Macao agreed.

"What about you, Levy?" asked Jet as he and Droy looked at their fellow teammate.

"I think I've heard of that place," Levy replied. "It's an island, far to the south."

"Well, this is perfect!" Lucy said. "At least we know it exists!"

"The only problem is," Levy began, "not many know what the island is really like. Any explorers that have gone there... are never heard from again."

Lucy gulped nervously. "On second thought... maybe this is a bad idea!"

"What are you talkin' about?!" Natsu asked. "This is great! I mean, it has the word 'dragon' right in it! It could be Igneel!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there!" Gray interjected while putting his shirt back on. "Look, Flamehead, I hate to be a wet blanket, but... don't think you're getting a little ahead of yourself?"

"Hey, don't be so quick to shoot it down!" Haru argued.

"I'm just saying," Gray began, "the last time Natsu heard about this kind of rumor, it actually turned out to be some jerk pretending to be him. What if this turns out to be just that? Another rumor."

Hearing that caused Natsu's face to sag into a frown and his shoulders to slump, dejectedly.

"Oh, great, now he's sad again!" Haru said. "See what you did, Gray?!"

"What?!" Gray questioned. "I'm just trying to be realistic!"

Soon, everyone began to clamor at once, much to Makarov's irritation. He soon hopped off from the counter of the bar before he grew into giant size, his head nearly hitting the ceiling before yelling out in a booming voice...

"SIIIIIIIIIILEEEEEEEEEEEENCE!"

On that, everyone quickly fell silent upon hearing their Guild Master's shout while Elektra quietly sipped her drink.

"That's Master Makarov for you," said Mirajane while Makarov shrank back down to size, only to groan slightly as he hit his back with a fist.

"That gets harder and harder every time," he said. "I'm getting too old for that."

"Are you okay, Grandpa?" asked Elektra.

"Don't you worry your head, my dear granddaughter," said Makarov. "I'll be all right." He then walked up to Natsu. "Now then, Natsu."

"Y-yeah, Gramps?" asked Natsu.

"I might have to agree with Gray on this one," said Makarov. "There's really no telling if this actually Igneel or not."

Natsu's eyes went wide before he looked away, feeling slightly disheartened.

"However," Makarov spoke, "you won't really find out unless you go and see for yourself." He then cracked a confident grin. "If this is an opportunity, then I say take it!"

"Wait... really?!" Natsu asked. "But... what about my suspension?"

"Well, technically," Elektra began, "you're only being suspended from jobs, Natsu... and this isn't a job, now is it?" She soon gave a knowing smirk of her own.

"You never know what's real until you actually go and see for yourself, Natsu, my boy," Makarov said. "Nothing really starts until you take action. That's one of the things that makes Fairy Tail... well, Fairy Tail, don't you think so?"

"Gramps...!" Natsu whispered in awe. "So... I can go, right?"

"Well, you're certainly not going by yourself," Elektra said. "Does anyone volunteer to go with him?"

"I'll go!" Haru exclaimed as she eagerly raised her hand up.

"Wait... really, sis?" asked Natsu.

"Of course!" Haru replied. "If this really is Igneel, I wanna meet him! Maybe I'll get to call him 'Dad', too! Uh... if you don't mind, that is."

"Are you kidding?" asked Natsu. "He'd love it if you call him 'Dad'!"

"I'm going, too!" Lucy said as she stood up while raising her hand, as well.

"Wait... really, Lucy?" Haru asked. "You acted like you didn't wanna go a little while ago.

"Well," Lucy began, "I changed my mind. Besides... this is important to Natsu, so it's important to me, too!"

"Wow... thanks, Luce," Natsu smiled.

"I'm going, as well," Erza spoke up. "I want to be able to introduce myself to Natsu's father."

"And you don't even have to ask me to come!" Happy piped up. "I'll always go with you, Natsu! Anywhere!"

"Erza... Happy...!" Natsu whispered, a feeling of joy swelling up inside him.

"...Eh, what the hell?" Gray shrugged. "I'll go, too, but only because I've got nothin' better to do."

"You guys...!" Natsu whispered before he grinned and clenched his fists. "All right! I'm fired up!"

Everyone in the guildhall smiled warmly at the boy's growing enthusiasm. Even if this was a rumor... this was the most hopeful that they have ever seen Natsu. They knew that this meant more to him than anything else in the world and it felt good to see him start acting like his usually fiery self, again.

"Well, since it's gettin' late," Natsu began, "I'm gonna grab me some grub and then head home to hit the hay. We're gonna need a lot of rest if we're going to make the swim to Dragon Island!"

Everyone in the room comically face-planted against the floor... save for Mirajane and Elektra, the former giggling while the latter sighed in exasperation.

"He's not serious, is he?" Elfman asked in a deadpan tone.

"Apparently, he is, Elfman," said Elektra while Natsu giggled with that big dopey grin on his face.

"Here we go," Mirajane added.

"Uh... Natsu?" Haru asked as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, big brother... you're sweet but sometimes, you're a few eggs short of a dozen. You know we can't swim to Dragon Island, right? We'll drown before we get there."

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Natsu realized. "Duh!"

"There you go," Haru smiled.

"We'll fly there!" Natsu declared, causing the Beast Wizard to slap a hand against her face, trying her damnedest not to lose her patience.

"Uh... no, Natsu," she said. "We can't fly there, either. Think. If we have to get an island in the middle of the sea, what do we use?"

Natsu scrunched up his eyebrows and wrinkled his nose, trying to think... and thinking wasn't normally his strongest point. He grunted as he put his fingers to his temples, making strained sounds as his face turned red and sweat formed on his face.

"...Should we just go ahead and tell him?" asked Gray in irritation. "Seriously, this is painful to watch."

"He's a big boy, Gray," Erza answered... and that was when it finally seemed to hit the Dragon Slayer, whose face paled with a look of pure dread.

"No," he said while vigorously shaking his head. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! No way! NOT happenin'!"

"We have to take a boat, Natsu," Haru said, sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Natsu screamed as he fell to his knees.

"Oh, boy," Lucy said. "This is gonna be a regular thing with him, huh?"

"Aye," Happy affirmed while Blue Fang groaned.

XXX

"So... he took the bait, did he?"

"Yes, Boss. Just like you said he would."

The dark figure chuckled as he sat before the Communication Lacrima... showing the young man and his tall friend, the very ones that Natsu had just finished talking to.

"I can't believe he actually believed that lie!" said the taller man. "Man, is he in for a surprise!"

"Excellent," said the mysterious figure. "It's time for the plan to begin. Salamander won't know what hit him. Tyson..."

"Yes, Boss," said the tall man.

"Akira..."

"Yes?" asked the shorter one.

"Return to the ship, at once. I'll give you your next orders then."

"Sir!" Tyson and Akira nodded before their communication was cut off.

"Salamander... the name given to Natsu Dragneel of the Fairy Tail Guild," said the mysterious figure. "I wonder... what kind of beasts hides within that human skin?"

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