Hey there, Thanks to everyone who is reading, reviewing and following this story. I know I haven't been updating as frequently as some of you might like and I'm very sorry about that. I'll try to do better in the future. As some of you might know, I'm working on my other story 'The unfortunate crow' as well right now. I may not be able to update 'Dragon's Child' every week because of that, but I promise to continue to work har on it anyways.
Have fun with chapter 5
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He was feeling… strange. Natsu had no idea how else to put it. His body felt off somehow, some parts heavier then he remembered and some parts he didn't even remember having at all. Strangely though, they didn't feel wrong. They actually felt as if they had belonged there all along.
Everything hurt as well, especially his back and shoulders. His head too, it felt so heavy. He felt like absolute crap.
The last thing he really remembered was Igor chanting and then pain. It had felt as if someone was tearing him apart from the inside out. He also recalled something else, but… that couldn't have been right. The three people he had seen couldn't have been there. After all, they had been killed by that monster.
Still though, they had seemed so real.
But could he really be sure about that? He had been in even more agony then he was now back then. Also, he'd been exhausted and on the verge of either death or passing out. At this point, he had thought the first of the two might be more accurate. After all, some people believed that your loved once would accompany one to the other side after death.
Strange… he thought he could still hear them talking. Natsu felt way to weak to open his eyes, but… there was no mistaking those scents and voices. Was he really dead? If he was, there was really nothing to regret, after all, by dying, he'd foiled Igor's plan, right?
But wasn't death supposed to be peaceful? If it was, why was he still so tired? Why was he hurting so much? Natsu felt as if he could fall asleep again any second. Something definitely wasn't right. His foggy mind wasn't ready to really comprehend the situation he was in yet, but there was one thing, that kept him in a semi-awake state.
What if he wasn't dead?
If this was the case, it could only mean that Igor had lied about killing the others and that they were still very much alive. A tiny spark of hope ignited in his chest. Maybe he would be able to see them again, go on quests and have fun at the guild together. The thought alone made him smile slightly.
What if he managed to open his eyes? What if he was wrong and this was just another of Igor's tricks? Fear started to build up inside him. He couldn't stand to have to realize their death and accept it yet again. He really wasn't sure if he would be able to keep from killing himself if this really was happening.
Natsu felt himself growl. This was all Igor's fault. If he weren't so damn tired, he would rip that piece of crap to pieces right this instant! Killing his family? Torturing him and forcing his ideas upon his body? Something like this was unforgivable! How dare this little, weak human-… Wait! What was he just thinking? Wasn't he one of them as well?
Sure, his body was able to wield a dragon's magic and had the ability to take on some of a dragon's qualities, but his mind had always been more or less human. He had never wished any harm upon them or thought of them as inferior to him, he had been certain he was one of them as well, so why? Why was he feeling so… feral? Why was he feeling joy when thinking about killing one of them? When had they become 'Them' anyways?
He wanted to rip that man apart, sink his teeth and claws into his flesh and rip and scratch at it until there was nothing left then a bloody pile of shreds. He wanted to roar out his pain and sorrow, torch something to let at least that feel as dead as he did. He wanted to fly away, far away where no one knew him, Fairy Tail or any of the other guilds. Searching for a cave far from any human civilization, just staying and grieving there for all eternity. That sounded pretty good right now.
Natsu wasn't sure what he would do if anyone tried to speak to him in the state he was in right now. His emotions were too raw, his regard for life barely existent at all. Would he kill someone without hesitation if angered? He couldn't answer that with a clear 'No' without having serious doubts about it.
What would he do if he opened his eyes just to wake up to a world without his closest family and friends? Sure, there were still others in his Guild he still considered that as well, but those three had been even more dear to him then he was even able to put into words.
Erza had always been something of a very scary older sister to him, while Gray was his annoying brother and Lucy their best friend.
The blond girl was the newest addition to their tight nit group. While he, Erza and Gray basically had grown up together, she'd managed to just… be there, like any best friend would. She was the one thing the group had been missing all this time, one person to just get them to loosen up once in a while, to remember them about some of the things that mattered. She broadened their horizon in a way, no one else would have been able to, always being the one to pull them out of their own heads if need be.
They were all his family, his flock, those he was supposed to protect and be protected by if he needed them to.
He missed them so much, it hurt.
Deciding that he couldn't think about what had been and what could still happen forever, he tried to open his eyes. At first, nothing happened. He growled again, but this time in frustration, not in anger like before. Why was he so weak? Hadn't he just been brave enough to try to look at what was going on? This could cost him the last of his sanity, maybe even destroy him completely, so why? Why wouldn't his body cooperate?
Taking a deep breath, he tried again. This time, he managed to open them at least a little bit. At first, everything was blurry. He had no idea why though. He had never had any problems with his eyes. Actually, they had been pretty good as far as he knew. He tried again. This time, he felt something else move. It wasn't his eyelid, at least he hoped it wasn't. After all, it wasn't supposed to move horizontally, right?
At leas now, he could see again. There was grass and dirt beneath his feet. Inhaling deeply through his nose, he smelled trees and water, as well as a bunch of different plants and flowers. His tired brain provided him with the information, that he was inside some sort of forest.
Strange, he couldn't remember there being one back at Igor's place. Had he made it out? But how? Maybe Fairy Tail had sent someone to get them? After all, they had been supposed to be back home days ago. But if they were, why was he just smelling the three people he had been sure were dead?
He was still to weak to raise his head, so he decided to listen. Maybe their voices would be able to supply him with the information he needed most right now.
Were they alive? What happened since he passed out?
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They had been walking for hours now. Night had fallen and it was almost completely dark. Igor's hideout had been located inside a very dense forest that seemed almost completely devoid of light during nighttime.
Gray was walking quietly beside Erza, who was helping him carry Natsu. They hadn't spoken much since they'd escaped. Even Lucy, who normally wasn't a very quiet person, hadn't been talking either. He assumed it was because she was the one responsible for their safety right now. If they were attacked, he hand Erza would first need to put Natsu down, what would cost then valuable seconds should a battle occure.
He really didn't want to imagine the outcome of a situation like that. If they were captured again, things could turn out even worse then they were now.
"Ngrrrrrr."
Had he just imagined that? It had sounded like… a wolf maybe? Something else? He wasn't sure, but no human could have made that...Oh.
Turning his head, he observed his salmon haired friend.
"Hey Erza, did you hear that just now?"
The scarlet haired knight nodded. "Maybe he's waking up? It would be good, I'm worried about a few things I'd like to check with him before we head back to the guild."
Gray understood what she meant. They had no clue about what this procedure had done to the young Dragon Slayer mentally. The physical changes were quite obvious of course, but everything else? They couldn't bring him to Fairy Tail safely if he was behaving like a rabid animal after all.
There it was again, That growl from earlier. This time however, it sounded slightly different. He wasn't sure If he'd imagined it, but if he didn't know better, his friend sounded… annoyed?
"Should we maybe stop? If he wakes up like this, he might get a bit disorientated."
He looked at the blond who just had spoken. Gray hadn't been aware she was listening. Looking at Erza and silently asking her for her opinion, he wished she would agree. If he was honest, Natsu was no light weight, especially with all those new additions. The guy was practically made up of muscles, skin and bone. Okay, now there were also scales, horns and who knew what else, but those were basically the same, right?
"Yes, I think that would be best, after all, continuing in this darkness and maybe even injuring ourselves will not be helpful at all. We will stop as soon as we find a suitable spot. Gray, I will carry Natsu from here on out. I want you to assist Lucy with finding a good campsite."
He nodded, happy to be able to move a bit more freely now. While he was transferring Natsu to Erza's back however, something caused him to halt in mid movement.
A pair of bright yellow eyes with slitted pupils stared at him.
With a surprised yelp, he let go of the still limp body of his friend and jumped a few steps back.
Meanwhile, Natsu landed on the ground with an audible thump.
"Gray! What the hell are you doing!?"
Pointing his finger at the form on the ground, he searched for the right words.
"I- uhhh. I think he… might be awake?"
"WHAT!?" The two woman shouted as they quickly made their way to their fallen friend, who's face was now facing towards the sky.
He himself approached a bit more careful. Something about those eyes...scared him. He didn't know why though. Maybe because they were the furthest from human eyes he had ever seen? Maybe because they just didn't belong in that face? If that was how a dragon's eyes were supposed to look, he could understand how it was that Dragon Slayers didn't seem to fear anything. If you were raised by a beast with eyes like those, there really wasn't much else that could impress even more then that.
Erza carefully tapped Natsu's cheek in hopes of getting a response from the still motionless teen. At first, it didn't seem to work. Natsu remained as lifeless as ever, just staring unblinking at the sky, seemingly not noticing their presence at all.
Suddenly however, Erza's hand was caught by something.
On closer inspection, Natsu's tail had wrapped itself around her wrist, narrowly avoiding her flesh with it's sharp spikes. She let out a surprised gasp.
"Erza!"
"Are you okay?"
He and Lucy had asked at the same time, both having not expected this at all. Another growl? Sure. Some verbal response? Yeah, would have been even better! But this? Gripping something with ones tail certainly wasn't normal. Or should he say hadn't been normal? After all, this was how it would be from now on. He really needed to take care not to forget that his rival was now a little bit different from before.
"Don't worry you two, he didn't hurt me."
Now that she mentioned it, he could see that her wrist was held very carefully by the red and black appendage, almost as if Natsu was scared of hurting her.
"D- do you think he recognizes us?"
Erza looked at Lucy, a warm smile on her face. "I'm certain he does. But I don't know to what extend"
Smiling, the blond took one of the half dragon's hands, or were it claws? In her delicate pale hands, pressing it to her lips. "Please Natsu! Please come back to us, okay?"
He didn't know what to do. He really wasn't the type to deal with stuff like this, holding hands and all that just really wasn't his style.
"Hen now, come on you lazy ass flame lizard, talk to us?"
His usual MO of insulting and provoking usually worked if he tried to get a reaction out of the salmon head, but this time, it lacked it's usual spark. He really couldn't bring himself to actually mean it. The other two knew that as well, but choose not to comment on it. They were busy whispering their own reassurances, begging their friend to return to them and hoping against all odds that he would be okay.
If he was completely honest with himself, he wasn't too sure about that. They had seen the pain that had been inflicted upon their friend both physically and mentally, as well as the changes his body had been put through. For all he knew, Natsu could still die right here and now, without talking to them ever again.
Gray could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He really couldn't stand the thought of his rival and best friend dying just like that, in a forest on the ground. No battle, no fire, nothing. He'd always imagined the energetic fireball dying while doing something damn impressive and heroic, managing to save a lot of people in the process, not something like this!
What would they even tell the others? 'Hey, by the way, Natsu was tortured to death by a dragon obsessed madman'? He was pretty sure the Guild wouldn't be satisfied by that. This was a conversation he really didn't want to have with Gramps. The old man was very fond of Natsu. Of course their master didn't play favorites but still, Natsu got away with almost everything if the Old geezer had a say in it.
He could still remember the day Master had come back to the guild, followed by a loud pink haired kid who didn't really act all that human now that he thought about it. This was a memory he was pretty fond of. Of course the two of them had gotten into a fight right away, but what else was new, right? They had bonded pretty fast over their fear of the almighty Erza pretty quickly after that.
Should they really loose all this now? Loosing Natsu would be just as bad as loosing Ur had been, if not even worse. He was sure, it would rip a huge hole into everyone's hearts as well as the guild. Master probably would retire once and for all, Cana would really drink herself into a coma this time, Mira would go berserk, Wendy would probably cry for months, blaming herself for not being there, Gajeel would retreat to some secluded spot and train until absolute exhaustion. And he didn't even dare to think about what Gildarts would do. Fairy Tail's ace had an almost father-son relationship with Natsu after all.
And Happy? Gray just shook his head. He had seen how the blue Exeed had reacted when Lisanna had 'died'. Loosing Natsu would be way worse. The fur-ball would probably kill himself or just fall into depression and die from that.
Natsu simply couldn't die! He'd take a lot more with him then just memories and a few tears. If he died, it would destroy the guild. After all, Natsu was their heart. Gray really couldn't believe that it had taken something like this for him to finally realize that.
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When Erza had felt something grab her wrist, she had been scared at first. After all, she had seen those spikes earlier when it was still light enough to do so.
But then, she'd felt the softness and care in it as well and in that instant she had been sure, he wouldn't hurt her. Having a tail around her wrist like that felt quite strange. If she would have to compare it to something, she'd say it was very similar of the feeling one would get from a snake curling its body around ones wrist. It was smooth and warm. She could feel every movement it made, every tightening of muscles and every millimeter it moved over her skin.
And those eyes… On first glance, they seemed empty, almost dead. But when she looked closer, she almost started to cry from all the sadness and suffering she could see there. Some would find them scary, but not her. She had seen so many scary things in her life, had been to way too many dark and hopeless places to fear something like this.
For example the Tower of heaven
...Natsu had been the one to finally free her from it. Now, she intended to do the same for him. No matter what, she would stay at his side. Even if he shouldn't be human anymore, even if he were to become a monster, she vowed to never leave him. After all, he would do the same for any of them without hesitation.
Erza could feel her friends tail moving again, slightly tightening its grip, as if to make sure she wouldn't leave.
Natsu was such an idiot. Of course she wouldn't. He was her little brother after all.
She watched as he slowly blinked, now noticing for the first time the almost white second eyelid that flickered over his golden iris for a split second before he closed and then opened his eyes again.
What else had changed that she didn't know about yet? She shook her head. Thinking about what if's was a waste of time. She would face head on whatever was to come their way. This was just the way she was.
"Natsu? Hey, can you look at me for a second?" She spoke very soft and quiet, trying not to scare or startle him. For all they knew, he still thought they were dead. They couldn't be sure that he had understood what had been going on earlier when they'd found him.
Yellow orbs locked onto her brown ones, finally showing something like recognition.
"That's good, don't worry, everything is going to be okay, trust me. We'll all be going home soon."
A slight smile was the only indication she got that he'd actually understood what he had been told just now.
"E-er-za? Whahh-…?"
She couldn't believe he was actually talking. There was no way she would be able to force the smile away that was tugging on her face. This was way better then anything she'd dared to hope for. It meant that he was at least capable to reason and to communicate. It meant that they could really go home!
"Don't worry, I'll explain in a minute, but can you tell me how you're feeling first? I just want to make sure you aren't hurt anywhere."
He seemed to think for a bit. She and the others watched him in anticipation.
" 'm okay."
"Bullshit! We saw what that-"
"Gray!"
"Sorry Erza but there is no way he's okay after what that monster did to him!"
"I know, but what I actually wanted to know was, if his life is in immediate danger right now, nothing else."
With a huff, Gray turned away from her and looked at Natsu
"So? No dying or anything?"
"...don't think so."
While the salmon haired teen spoke, she noticed his now even sharper teeth. He'd had them before, but that was nothing compared to what they looked like now. There wasn't a single tooth in his mouth that looked even remotely human. They looked like they belonged to a predator.
Natsu's eyes looked at her, questions and anxiety burning in those golden depths, overshadowing the pain she'd seen there earlier.
Taking a deep breath, she started her explanation.
"First of all, we are not dead. We know he told you we were, but that was a lie. When we first woke up, we were in a cell. Our magic wouldn't work at all. You weren't with us. A bit later, Igor came and told us about what he wanted to do to you and that he convinced you, we were dead. He conjured up some sort of mist that let us see and hear everything that was happening in your cell. When we finally got out due to one of Lucy's spirits, we started searching for you. We knew he'd already taken you from your cell to start the ritual so we went upstairs where we finally found you. We then took care of Igor and escaped."
She'd tried to keep it as short and simple as she could. Still, there was something else she needed to tell him.
"Also, you should know that we managed to get you out, but due to the stage the ritual was in when we did, your body was… changed a little bit. You now have wings, horns and a tail. Also some scales as well as claws. Your eyes did change color as well. I'm sorry we didn't manage to get there sooner, If we just had been a little faster…"
She couldn't continue. There was nothing she would ever be able to do against the guilt she was feeling right now.
"'S okay, I'm… happy you're… okay."
It was clear to anyone who looked at him, that those words were very sincere. Natsu looked as if a great weight had been taken of his shoulders. Relief flooded those reptilian eyes and his face seemed to soften a bit, making him look a little more like the Natsu they all knew. It was good to see him like that. There was hope they'd get their energetic friend back eventually.
"We're just so happy you're okay!" sobbed Lucy, who was still clutching her best friends hand, tears streaming down her smiling face. "When- When we saw what he did, we thought we'd never see you again!"
"Me… too Luce, he really had me convinced you were all...dead."
"That must have been so awful! And you- you were h-hurt and… and-"
Lucy sounded almost hysteric at this point. Erza decided it was enough now, after all, Natsu still didn't look well at all and would certainly need time to recover as well as greatly benefit from some rest.
"Speaking of that, I know for a fact that you are not well. Can we do anything to help?"
Natsu slowly shook his head. "Just tired, feel like… sleep.."
"I see. When you woke up just now, we were searching for a place to make camp. If you can hold out for a little longer, I'm sure we'll find something."
"...need to… head into the forest. There's… water about… 500 meters north of… here."
"HOW the hell do you know...-"
"Gray, stop shouting!"
"Yeah okay, but I still want to know how he knows that!"
"I can smell it."
Of course he could. Gray looked at him dumbfounded. Then, Erza had a thought. Natsu seemed to be able too see pretty well in the dark, at least way better then they did. Also, he could make out a suitable campsite from a distance like that. Sure his senses had been better then a humans, even better then most dragon slayers, but this was something else.
"Natsu, is it possible your senses have improved as well?"
The Salmon head nodded tiredly, his eyes almost closed. He didn't even acknowledge Gray's shout of "No Way!"
"Okay, I think we should get moving. Gray, stop freaking out and help me carry Natsu again, okay?"
Without another word, the group of four headed into the aforementioned direction. After a pretty precise 500 meters, they reached a small lake. There was a nice and well sheltered clearing not too far away. This was where they chose to spend the night. It would be pretty hard to find them hidden behind the deep undergrowth that surrounded their temporary home.
They didn't have any food or blankets to make camp with, so they just searched for the most comfortable spots on the ground while rotating to go to the lake to drink some water.
As soon as Natsu was deposited on a particularly thick spot of moss, he curled up into a ball and hid his face under hone wing while using the other one and his tail to cover the rest of his body. He was the only one of them, who didn't even go for a drink before sleeping. Erza needed to take care not to laugh at how much he resembled a sleeping bird like that. She also marveled at how well he was adjusting to all of this. Having three additional limbs like that couldn't be easy after all.
The boy's breathing evened out in a matter of seconds. He was soundly asleep.
The rest of them decided that keeping guard wouldn't benefit them right now. They were all exhausted and in no shape to fight anyways. This was a pretty well hidden spot so the chances of anyone finding them here were barely existent.
Lying down in her own spot, she thought about Fairy Tail. What would they say about all of this? Had they noticed their disappearance yet and if so, did they send someone out to search for them?
She was pretty sure they did. After all, Master always knew when something was up. She just hoped they wouldn't find any more trouble until they managed to get home or at least find the search party. It would be way easier to travel if they had some strong people who weren't worn out and could actually fight if need be.
But that was something to think about in the morning. She could hear soft snores coming from Gray, who had fallen asleep almost as fast as Natsu. Lucy as well, although she wasn't snoring.
Finally, they were all back together With that reassuring thought in mind, she finally managed to fall into a peaceful and refreshing sleep as well.
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Here is another chapter finished! Yay!
I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and like/follow if you Haven't/aren't already. It's always reassuring to know that your work is appreciated.
Las but not least, I hope that you like the cover image I put up for this story. This is basically a drawing of how I imagine Natsu looking right now.
Have a nice week everyone
See you next time
Nahesa