PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER

Chapter 1

Year x370…

A large red dragon was lying in a cave with one eye open. He had beige colored scales on his chest and underside, same as for the webbing of his wings. The scaly beast rose from the ground, as the morning sunlight rushed in through the cave entrance, drying the dew on his scaly exterior. His hands and feet were armed with red claws that left light scuff marks on the cave floor as he pushed himself to his feet. The reptilian creature inhaled the clean forenoon air.

His draconian senses were alarmed at a strange scent, smelling of death and despair. A suffocating miasma rolled over him as he felt sick and weary. It was a feeling that could only be caused by one man. Turning his large head, his imposing gaze soon fell on that very person. However, unlike anyone else the fire dragon had met, the person's eyes met his own. He almost felt terrified of this person. Someone who could control life and death at will. Someone that even the great fire dragon saw as an equal.

"Hello Igneel." Said the man in an eerily empty tone, lacking all emotion.

"Zeref…" The dragon glared at the black cloaked person. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

He held a boy that looked no older than five, maybe six years of age in his arms. The boy had a strange expression on his face, as if he wasn't even alive. The dragon could hear its heartbeat, but the being was lifeless. The skin, pale as a ghost, seemed almost transparent.

"Ah, finally someone who doesn't run away... like all the rest." The face of the black wizard returned from his slight smile to a saddened frown.

"Why would I run from someone like you?" Igneel lowered his large head so he was eye-to-eye with Zeref, "Your concern for life has long since faded. You could never harm me."

Zeref sighed as he looked down at the pink-haired boy in his arms, "I have a request for you Igneel."

Igneel's eyes narrowed as he looked at Zeref suspiciously, "Go on…" Although he knew Zeref was not inherently evil, there was no knowing what he was truly after.

Zeref smirked, "I want you to raise my brother, Natsu."

Igneel's composure completely changed as he gasped, "What?! I could never raise a child! The mighty Igneel is too dignified to belittle himself with such a task!"

Igneel's pride as a dragon would be wounded by doing this, afterall, raising a human child was nonsense for a dragon as powerful as himself. Thinking about it also brought back the memories of his first child. Like most male dragons, Igneel abandoned his son and left it to his mate, and he had felt guilty ever since.

Zeref kept his smirk as he thought of using Igneel's huge ego against him, "Metalicana, Grandeeney, Weisslogia, and Skiadrum are raising children of their own. If they can do it but you can't, wouldn't that make them stronger dragons than you?" Zeref noticed only a slight change in Igneel's composure, after all, he was rather stubborn. Zeref thought for a second before saying quietly, "That would be quite peculiar given that you are a dragon king and all..." Igneel grit his teeth as Zeref's grin grew.

Igneel caved into his demands, "Fine! What do you want me to do with him anyways?"

Zeref replied, "I want you to teach him the anti-dragon magic that was developed in the since-passed Kingdom of Dragnof. I believe it is called dragon slayer magic."

Igneel's eyes narrowed as he half growled out, "A strange request from you. I thought the notorious Black Dragon Acnologia would have taught you humans a lesson." Igneel had long since abandoned the humans ever since the aforementioned beast destroyed half of his soul.

"I am very much aware of that Igneel." Zeref looked down at Natsu fondly as he made a sad smile, "This boy is special. He can easily withstand the stress that dragon slayer magic will put on him."

Igneel had tried teaching the humans, but every single one he gave magic to just succumbed to its power and went insane. Igneel growled to Zeref, "I don't care how amazing you believe your brother to be. I will never again teach the humans my magic." Igneel changed to a more somber tone, "No matter how powerful a dragon slayer is, he will always succumb to the inevitable dragonification."

"How foolish…" Igneel raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Zeref meant. Zeref let out a strange mighty laugh. Igneel recoiled slightly at the black mages' change in composure. "This boy is no longer a human… BUT A DEMON! My most powerful creation, designed to be able to not just slay me, but to be able to rival Acnologia!"

"WHAT?! Do you understand how outrageous that is! I can't even kill that fake dragon... AND I'M ALMOST 1,000 YEARS OLD!" shouted Igneel in shock and a bit in anger, "You want me to take your younger brother, who for the record, looks no older than six, and train him to kill the most powerful creature in existence." Igneel scoffed, "Yeah right…"

"I had expected you to have more faith in me." Zeref's empty smile changed to an angry glare, "It is not that strange. He is strong enough that by the time he is twenty-five he should be able to kill me, an immortal. He will be more than capable of killing Acnologia."

"Let's say hypothetically, this demon of your's can kill Acnologia. What is to prevent dragonification?" Igneel knew Zeref's capabilities, but without using the magic in a dragon's soul to create his demon, the boy would succumb to the dragon seed.

"I have already thought of a method to solve that issue. The dragon soul technique." Igneel's eyes widened as he realized what Zeref was implying. If Igneel sealed his soul inside of Natsu, Igneel may be able to gain enough strength to regenerate the other half of his soul by siphoning off a portion of Natsu's magic every time he used it. Zeref smiled, "It will be mutually beneficial for both of us."

Igneel was still somewhat skeptical however: "And what of the demon seed? Something created upon the birth of your demons. I know why you've never had one of your demon's use dragon slayer magic."

"The demon seed will override the antibodies eventually, which will sadly kill him, but will also allow Natsu to kill me." Zeref looked at Igneel with new found determination, "This is the perfect opportunity for us."

Igneel looked at the black wizard with a sneer. The fire dragon understood Zeref's lack of concern for the pink-haired boy in his arms, but it still never sat right with the dragon. However, Zeref had presented Igneel with an impossibly good offer that was completely mutually beneficial. With only half his soul left, his body would soon deteriorate into nothingness. Igneel grit his teeth and finally caved to the evil mage's demands, "Fine! Do you want anything else from this old fool besides teaching that brat magic?"

Zeref smiled sadly as he looked down at the sleeping Natsu in his arms, "Good bye for now, Natsu." Zeref looked up at Igneel, "I have a few more things I want you to know. I do not want you to tell him that he is a demon and that he is my brother. If someone were to figure out his connection to me, he would surely be targeted once he returns to the humans."

Igneel asked, "Is that all?" Zeref responded by handing Natsu to Igneel, who picked him up in his large clawed hand. Igneel was about to ask Zeref something, but before he could do that Zeref had disappeared in a wisp of black smoke. The fire dragon looked down at Natsu who was still sleeping and said, "You don't look that scary for a demon."

Natsu slowly stirred as his eyes fluttered open, the color returning to his previously pale skin. The boy looked up at Igneel with wide eyes, asking with great excitement, "Are you a dragon?! I always wanted to see a dragon!" Quite an ironic statement given the circumstances under which he died.

Igneel was pleasantly surprised that the boy wasn't scared but chuckled and said with a large amount of pride in his voice, "I'm not just any dragon, I am the great Fire Dragon King, Igneel!" And so, the two started their small journey together.

x376…

A loud crash could be heard in the forest as a boy no taller than 5 feet was slammed into a tree, causing it to fall on top of him. The boy managed to roll out from under it by the skin of his teeth. A massive rock landed in the place that he had just been, smashing the fallen trees into nothing but splinters.

The boy yelled out, "Fire Dragon's Roar" as a massive colomb of flames erupted forth from his mouth.

It scorched the earth below it, vaporizing any plant in its way as it raced across the battlefield. There was a loud explosion as the attack struck its target, blowing away the dust cloud and destroying any life that happened to be left in the scorched wasteland.

There was an agonizing roar of pain from whatever beast was just engulfed in fire. Suddenly, a spire of stone burst forth from the ground, almost striking the boy as he blasted off the ground using his fire. This boy was Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer, and Igneel had tasked him with killing one of the dragons from the anti-human faction, Genrok, the Stone Dragon.

Genrok stood tall, looking down on Natsu, exposing his rows of razor sharp teeth in a maniachle grin. "Do you really think you can beat me, the mighty Genrok? You're 400 years too early!" Said the stone dragon in an arrogant tone.

Genrok lunged forward, raising one claw into the air before striking the ground with great force. Natsu tried to bend back but Genrok's claws still slashed through his chest, leaving three bloody gashes running the length of his torso. Genrok's attack created a crater in the ground, sending a shockwave through the terrain as multiple spires of stone ripped through the earth.

Natsu tried to dodge them with flames at his feet, but he wasn't very experienced with this skill, causing him to slam into multiple stone pillars, knocking him out of the air. Natsu landed on his back, knocking the wind out of his chest as the blood dripped from his wounds onto the ground, staining it red.

The boy cried out in pain.

He pushed himself up to a sitting position while gritting his teeth. Natsu was suddenly struck in the face with another pillar of stone as he heard an unsatisfying crack as his nose broke. Natsu was sent flying back into a rock causing it to crack apart as he slumped to the ground and coughed up blood.

Natsu's dragon senses felt the motion in the air as he managed to roll, no, more like fall to the side, to barely dodge Genrok's massive rocky tail slamming down next to him. "You are weak, human!" Roared the stone dragon.

Natsu looked up only to notice a rocky hand appear from the dust. Natsu raised his left arm to block it, but it was ineffective. As the claw slammed into him it shattered his forearm, causing Natsu to scream in pain. Natsu fell to his knees as his left arm dangled motionless next to him.

Genrok tried to slam down his hand on top of Natsu as Natsu thought with determination, "It's now or never!" Natsu extended his right hand above his head and grabbed onto Genrok's arm before yelling, "Fire Dragon's Grip Strike!" Fire surrounded Natsu's hand as it rushed forwards in a massive explosion, blowing off the bottom half of Genrok's arm, splattering blood across Natsu's face. Natsu thought to himself, If I keep this up I'm gonna die! But he knew that he had to kill Genrok, afterall, he'd die if he didn't.

Genrok roared in pain. He yelled, "You miserable human! You would dare hurt the mighty Genrok!" Unluckily for Natsu, Genrok still had his other arm, slamming the scaly palm into the side of the young dragon slayer. The attack made an unsatisfying crack, shattering the boy's right arm and breaking three ribs.

Natsu tumbled across the ground, barely pushing himself to his knees. Natsu looked up in defeat as he knelt on the ground before the rocky dragon. This was it, this was the end. Natsu had almost died under Igneel's training multiple times, so Natsu thought for a second that maybe the fire dragon had finally given up on him, leaving him to die at the hands of an evil dragon. The stone dragon opened his massive jaws, green energy gathered within (God Serena's Cavern Dragon Slayer Magic was green in the anime, so that's where my inspiration came from).

Right as Genrok was about to release his attack however, a massive blast of fire slammed into the back of the stone dragon. "Igneel… " muttered Natsu as he looked into the sky, seeing the silhouette of a massive fire dragon.

"Eat up boy! This is your fight, you have to finish it!" Bellowed the fire dragon.

Natsu quickly inhaled the furious flames igniting the stone dragon. He felt their magic power rejuvenating his body as his bones realigned and fused together. He felt his heart beat as he pushed himself up, still tired from the grueling battle. He would kill this dragon!

Natsu rushed towards the downed stone dragon, cocking back his fist and coating it in a sheath of fire, before throwing it forward, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

The boy's attack made contant, sending the stone dragon flying back, shatting the outer layer of scales. Genrock flipped in the air, before planting his feet, slowing him to a halt. He looked up to see the dragon slayer, but the boy was nowhere to be found. He suddenly fent an immense heat under his head as he heard the shout of a powered-up dragon slayer: "Fire Dragon's Claw!"

Natsu's fire coated foot slammed into the underside of Genrok's jaw, sending the dragon into the air.

Genrok fell to the ground but still raised his head as he yelled "You will never defeat the stone dragon, Genrok! Die, HUMAN!" The stone dragon pushed himself to his feet, and proceeded to send out a breath attack as chunks of stone hurled towards Natsu, pummeling him into the scorched ground.

Natsu coughed as he pushed himself up, persisting in his advancement towards Genrok. The fire dragon slayer leaped into the air above Genrok, who reacted by putting his other hand above his head, however it would be futile. With an Igneel powered attack, Natsu shouted, "Fire Dragon's Meteor Strike!" Blasting towards the head of Genrok. Natsu thrust his hand forward smashing through Genrok's arm and then into his head.

Natsu heard a crack as his hand pierced the rock dragon's skull, his fire spreading inside Genrok's body, vaporizing his brain, killing the dragon instantly.

Genrok let out one last mighty roar as Natsu slayed him… his first ever dragon. Blood coated Natsu's body as he stepped backwards off of the dragon's head, wobbling on his feet as the adrenalin started to wear off. Natsu panted heavily as his vision started to blur. He saw a large dragon arrive in front of him that could only be Igneel. Natsu muttered quietly as he tried to talk to Igneel, "I did it Igneel… I did-" Before he could finish his sentence tho, his eyes closed as he passed out from exhaustion.

Igneel smiled as he looked down at Natsu's relaxed face and said fondly, "Yes you did Natsu…" Igneel reached out one claw and cought Natsu before he could hit the ground. Igneel extended his wings, but before he took off he reached back with his other claw and gripped Genrok's corpse by the neck, dragging it into the air as he soared back to their cave.

Hello readers! This is the original Chapter 1 rewrite that I did, however I reworded some significant portions of this and added others. If you read the original, I would like to note that I redid a significant portion of his fight against Genrok, and moved the part where Igneel tells Natsu about Genrok's corpse to Chapter 2. I have rewritten this chapter multiple times, and I would like this to be the final version, so please leave suggestions for chapter 2 in the reviews. I will try and get chapter 2 out by the end of this week. I know I say this scedual a lot, but I have finally planned out my story properly and would like to write it as I envision it.

On another note: Writing this story by myself is very tedious and difficult. If I do it by myself it makes it extremely easy to have awkward wording and typos that I only can fix if I don't look at the chapter for a month or two. I would like to have someone to review my writing and to discuss my work with so that I don't have to do this alone any more. If there is someone who feels passionate about my story and would like to have some say over it and work on it together, please DM me so we can work this out.

I have also deleted the other 2 author's notes as they are no longer necessary.