Somewhere, in a forest. There is a young salmon haired boy who is only wearing yellow pants and a scarf muffler around his neck. he is just standing by an open field where he looks into the distance where there is nothing but green grass.
"Igneel…" the young boy muttered out as he gritted his teeth before he started to cry. "where did you go?!"
This young boy's name is Natsu Dragneel, a child who is raised by a Dragon named Igneel. Right now; he is all alone as his dragon father had disappeared without a trace.
"Igneel! Igneel!" Natsu cried out as he pleaded for his dragon father to just come and be at his side. "IGNEEL!"
The young boy just keeps on crying out his father's name while trying to find him. He goes around the forest as he went and look at every possible place to where his dragon father could be.
In the passing time; the day soon became dark as a storm came upon the land and harsh rain fell down onto the forest.
Natsu was in the woods as he is soaking wet from the rain, and he is still calling out to his dragon father.
"Igneel!" Natsu shouted out very loudly into the storm in the sky that just roars with thunder.
Natsu cries in tears as he gritted his teeth while staring at the raining storm above.
"where did you go….dad?" Natsu asked as he cries in tears that just mixed with the falling rain from above.
The young boy stands in within the rain as he continues to cry because of not finding his dragon father. He just cried while standing in his place before someone came from behind him.
Natsu let out sniffles of cries before a coat was dropped on top of his head and surprised him. He turns while lifting the coat up and sees a man in his middle age; wearing a red and black tracksuit like outfit but with a few armor plates around the right side and a cowboy like hat.
"you lost, kid?" said the middle aged man who is smoking a cigar. "you shouldn't be out here nor you should be half nude during a rain." Natsu looks at the man who blows some smoke to the side before glancing at the harsh rain falling from above. "the rain ain't letting up." He glances down at the young salmon haired boy. "come with me and I'll get you back to your folks."
The scene changes as Natsu sat in a cave that has a campfire lit on. The young boy is all dried up and is covered with a blackish green coat around him.
Natsu looks to the side as the cowboy hat wearing middle aged man came into the cave while carrying some dry wood in his hands.
"the rain ain't letting up just like anyone would've wanted." Said the man as he throws in the dry wood into the campfire to let it burn even longer. "looks like we'll be stuck here for a while."
"old man, who are you?" Natsu asked as the stranger man sat down across from him.
"ah? Right, right. I haven't introduced myself." Said the man as he grabs a backpack placed behind and started to rummage the content inside. "the name's Bash, Bash Dash. Pleasure to meet ya."
"Bash Dash?" said Natsu while chuckling a bit. "what a weird name."
"yeah..my ma got a weird naming sense." Said the named Bash who takes out a scroll, but he soon placed it back into the backpack that he continues to rummage. "what's your name, kid? You got a name?"
"it's Natsu." Natsu replied in introducing his name. "I'm Natsu Dragneel."
"Natsu Dragneel, huh? Nice name." said Bash who takes out an oval shaped item covered in some wrappings which he throws towards Natsu who caught it. "you are hungry, right? Have some bread. It's good"
Natsu looks at Bash before to the item in his hand as he opened it and finds an oval shaped cake that is glazed in sugar. He took a little bite and his eyes sparkled before he started to lavishly eat the bread.
Bash chuckled in seeing Natsu eat the bread as he holds the same bread in his grasp but he rips some pieces to eat it.
After some time, the day and the storm are gone as the sky turned dark with the moon and the stars appearing.
Natsu still sat in the cave with Bash who is lighting up a new cigar that he took a whiff before blowing out some smoke from his nostrils.
"hey, Bash. Why are you here?" Natsu asked Bash who hummed while smoking his cigar. "Igneel told me that this forest ain't got so many people passing by."
"I ain't looking the look; but I'm a captain of a platoon for the Kingdom Crocus." Bash replied as he blows out some smoke from the side of his lips. "and by the way, I should be asking that question to ya. What's a kid like you doing out in the middle of nowhere?"
"I'm not out in nowhere." Said Natsu. "this is my home, Igneel raise me here."
"Igneel? That's the name of your old folk?" Bash asked while leaning against the cave's wall with his backpack behind his back. "you live here with him?"
"yeah" Natsu replied. "but I sleep in a cave while he sleeps in the open."
"your old man is some sort of a hobo or something?" said Bash while having a weirded look at Natsu. "it's in the damn autumn, and it's damn cold at night."
"Igneel isn't a hobo! He's a dragon!" Natsu exclaimed. "a fire dragon?"
"a fire dragon?" said Bash before he chuckles and laughs. "your old man is a dragon? What a joke of the century!"
"it's not a joke!" Natsu shouted out. "Igneel is a real dragon! don't mock my dad!"
"kid! I got no idea if you hit your head or something but dragons ain't real!" said Bash while slowly stopped laughing as he wiped a tear from too much laughing. "they're nothing but fairy tales!"
"Igneel is real! He's not a fairy tale!" Natsu exclaimed before he exhales flames right out of his mouth that surprised Bash. "see that!? That's my magic that Igneel taught me!"
'the kid literally breath fire.' Bash thought in seeing the scorched spot that Natsu breath his flame out before to the young boy himself. 'even for some fire mage; that ain't something that they can do normally. Is this kid really raised by a dragon?' the middle aged man then adjusted himself. 'if he is, that means he's a Dragon Slayer. A mage with a lost magic that is very much sought out for.'
"kid, you're a mage?" Bash asked. "you're a Dragon Slayer Mage?"
"yeah, I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer." Said Natsu before huffing. "Igneel taught me my magic."
"and where is this Igneel?" Bash asked and he soon sees Natsu just frowning sadly. "what's wrong?"
"I don't know where he gone to." Said Natsu as he looks down. "I just woke up the morning a few days back and he was gone. We were sleeping together but the next thing I knew he just disappeared without saying anything to me."
"you got any idea where he had gone to?" Bash asked while huffing out some smoke. "I've been in the forest for almost a week, a large creature like a dragon just flying into the air ain't something no one can miss."
"I got no idea at all." Said Natsu while shaking his head. "he never said anything about any other place than this place. He just stayed here with me and raised me while teaching me magic."
"you really got no idea?" Bash asked as Natsu nodded. The cowboy looks at the young boy with a little hardened gaze before he takes hold of his cigar that was soon going to die out. "then have you seen your old man acting a bit weird?"
"weird? How?" Natsu asked with a confused face.
"like he sometimes look away at something all quiet, or that he looks antsy about something." Said Bash in reply. "you know; something you think that ain't like him to do?"
"I don't know" said Natsu as he shakes his head. "Igneel always do the same thing. He taught me, played with me, feed me, and everything just the same. I never spent a day without him."
"I see" said Bash as he throws his burn out cigar into the campfire. "then the reason he left is probably because of something."
"because of something?" Natsu asked as Bash nodded.
"I don't know if this true or not; but I used to read story books about dragons." Said Bash. "Dragons are mysterious and long living creatures; your old man must've left because of something that made him just leave you all alone." The cowboy takes out a new cigar that he lights up with a match. "I am not making assumptions but it could be either something bad and dangerous or something terrible that he has to do alone. All I can tell is that your dragon dad must've left for a good reason and you ain't just seeing it yet."
"but just what could make him leave me like that?" Natsu asked as Bash shrugs his shoulders while placing his new lit cigar into his mouth.
"I don't know that much about dragons." Bash stated. "your dragon dad must have a bad past or something. That's all I can guess."
"just that…" Natsu muttered out before he blinks and looks at Bash. "wait, you believe that my dad is a dragon now? Why?"
"you don't look like a liar." Bash replied while pointing a finger at Natsu. "you ain't got the eyes."
"the eyes?" said Natsu while reaching a hand near his right eye.
"I ain't look like it, but I'm good at reading people." Bash stated while taking a whiff of his cigar and blew out the smoke from the side of his lips. "you ain't got the eyes of a liar or rather; I don't think you are a good liar at all."
"then…just because of that?" Natsu asked Bash who nodded.
"that, and that you got a heart for your family." Said Bash while adjusting his hat a bit. "from where I work; I tend to see lots of kids with no dad or mom. Those kids that I've met all grow up hating their parents who they believe to have abandoned them. You being an exception."
Natsu looks at Bash before he smiles and then grins.
"you are different too, Bash!" said Natsu as Bash looks at the boy with a raised eyebrow. "you're not like everyone else!"
"everyone else? You know some other people?" Bash asked.
"yeah." Natsu nodded. "a few days back; I kept searching for Igneel and sometimes meet someone." The young boy then growls. "they laughed and think that I was just imagining that Igneel was my imaginary friend or something! I beat them up and just keep on searching for my dad!"
"I see…." Said Bash before he realized something. "wait, how long has it been since your dragon dad been gone?"
"I don't know" Natsu replied while shaking his head a bit. "probably 3 days or so."
"how the heck have you been surviving in this forest then?" Bash asked while pointing a finger at Natsu.
"I just hunt boars, deers, and other animals in the forest. Their meat is tasty when they get roasted!" Said Natsu with a grin as Bash sweatdropped.
'right, this kid is raised by a dragon and so he eats like one' Bash thought in remembering that the young boy in front of him is a Dragon Slayer mage.
Bash sighs before he took another whiff of his cigar and then blows out some smoke.
"so then? what you gonna do now?" Bash asked Natsu who raised an eyebrow. "you possibly ain't gonna find your dragon dad if you just keep on howling his name in this forest." The cowboy then blows out more smoke after taking a deep whiff of his cigar. "The world ain't small after all. Your dragon dad could be somewhere far-away by now."
"I would…" Natsu muttered out as he crosses his arms and started thinking. "I would…"
Bash looks at the young boy with a sweatdrop behind his head as he could see how hard he was trying to think of a plan to find his dragon father.
"I got nothing" said Natsu as his head is steaming because of his brain can't make a plan.
"I can see that." Said Bash with an awkward smile that lasted only for a second then disappeared. The cowboy then leans forward. "then here is a proposal from me. Come with me to Crocus and be a mage for the royal kingdom."
"Royal kingdom?" said Natsu in confusion as Bash nodded.
"you don't know this but this is the domain of Fiore." Said Bash in explanation. "and since the capital city of Fiore is Crocus; there are a lot of info just going in and out of the place. A mage guild will have the same thing, but most will always go to the kingdom itself. If you join the kingdom; you are bound to hear a rumor or two about your dragon dad who might be sighted by someone."
"then….i could find Igneel there?" Natsu asked as Bash nodded in reply.
"it could take a while; but rumors tend to always come and go at Crocus." Bash replied before he grins. "I can promise ya that one day you'll get back with your dad. That's the truth."
Natsu looks at Bash before he grins and did a thumbs up.
"then let's go!" said Natsu while looking excited. "if going to Croco and become a mage for the place helps me find Igneel. Then let's go!"
"hey, it's Crocus." Bash corrected before he smiles. "but this is just a proposal, ya know? You don't got to take it. At a mage guild; it might be better, right?"
"i don't think I need to go there!" said Natsu with a smile towards Bash. "because if you are at Circus; I'll get a lot help in finding Igneel! And I like it better if I have someone I trust and know with me!"
"hey, we just met today and you trust me so easily?" said Bash with a sweatdrop. "didn't your dragon dad ever told you that trust ain't something so easily done?"
"nope!" Natsu replied in an instant as Bash got more sweatdrops forming behind his head.
"I should've expected that…" said Bash in a small voice before he sighs and chuckles. "you're one strange kid, Natsu."
"and you're one strange old man, Bash!" Natsu replied.
"hey! I may look old but I'm still in my 30's!" Bash shouted out. "I just have my old man's look that's all!"
"but isn't being a 30 year old mean that you're just old?" said Natsu while folding his hand behind his head. "an old man is still an old man, right?"
"you little brat!" Bash shouted while having a tick mark appearing on his head.
The two keep on loudly chatter with each other while not knowing that the rain outside has stopped; the storm clouds ceased, and the moon with the stars appearing in the night sky.
That's a wrap!
Bye bye