"Natsu!" Ashley shouted
"Coming!"
It has been 3 months since Natsu began living in the town of Rösch, and he had settled in quite nicely. He managed to buy a few sets of clothes, for some reason he would only wear white knee-length pants and an open vest, much to Ashley's annoyance, he purchased a real metal chain for Draco's claw, and Kathy gifted him with small metal loops to hang Archon's scales from. The town seemingly got used to the child's strange method of dress, and it was explained to the few visitors that would come and ask about it, that it was what he always wore and not to think too much into it. Natsu had a family that loved him, and he loved them right back. While it was true that he was fully healed physically, the damage witnessing his two fathers being killed in front of him was still hard for him, and he still hasn't fully come to terms with what happened. He didn't practice his magic anymore, only used his orange dragon flames for candles, cooking, or fireplaces, and hadn't touched his white flames since demonstrating his powers to his friends a few months ago.
Since Natsu was fully able to live in the wild on his own and didn't really need anyone to watch over him, he took on a lot of the responsibilities of his big sister figure and helped the orphanage as a whole. One of the main jobs he did, and what he was the most liked for, was that he actually knew how to hunt. The orphanage was quite poor, they had enough to feed the children they had and give each of them a very small allowance, but that was about it. Because of this, good, fresh meat had been somewhat of a rarity. They ate it on occasion, but it was expensive to buy enough for everyone, so most of their food involved cheaper things such as bread, eggs, rice, pasta, soup, and beans. Things that could be made quickly and shared with everyone. However, once they realized Natsu not only could hunt, but was quite proficient at it, they had him go out at least once a week to bring back stuff to eat. Not that he minded, in fact, he quite enjoyed it. Every once in awhile, he'd bring Parker after being begged for the whole week beforehand, and once he brought Treya; even the most cold-blooded couldn't resist her puppy dog eyes. But for the most part, he preferred doing it alone. It brought him time to think and remember the times he had with Draco and Igneel, and even to think about what Igneel had asked of him before dying. Natsu understood vengeance and wanted it, but he was still scared. He was scared of what magic could do. He witnessed firsthand how it failed to protect those close to him. If it was supposed to be used to protect, why didn't it? He just didn't understand, so he decided he would only use magic when necessary until he could understand everything.
"It's hunting day! Did you pack everything you need?"
"Of course I did! Always ready to go!" Natsu replied, with his usual toothy grin.
"Well, aren't you as excited as always! Did you manage to avoid Treya and Parker this time, or are they-?"
"SHHH! They'll hear you!" Natsu interrupted, putting a hand over her mouth and looking quickly around to see if they had heard.
Ashley just laughed. "Well run along now, hothead. I'd like to have something for dinner this time, so come back before dark, ya' hear?"
"Sure thing, big sis! I'll be back later!" he said, as he ran back out into the forest.
He had been walking around for a while, trying to pick up the scent of something to eat. 'A few rabbits would be good, though a dear or something roughly that size would last much longer than just one or two meals. Plus,' he thought. 'I've been meaning to get an antler for a while now. I have way too many rabbit things.' Natsu was a collector of sorts, he always took trophies from the things he killed. He and all the other kids in the orphanages now had lucky rabbit's feet to carry around with them. The adults found it a bit strange, but they figured since the kids liked it so much, and didn't actually do them any harm if they were prepared properly, they would let it go. After all, living with a dragon's child was all about coming to an understanding of what was normal for people and what was normal for dragons. After two hours, he had managed to collect 3 large rabbits, which would be enough to feed everyone for the next day or two. On his way back, he decided to rest before heading home. It was a long hunt, and finding the creatures hadn't been easy, so he found himself a shady spot under a tree and fell into a light snooze.
Smack
"OW! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!" Natsu shouted, jumping up. Something had woken him up with a hefty smack on the head, but he couldn't see or smell anyone or anything out of the ordinary. That is, except for the giant white egg covered in blue markings that had seemingly fallen out of the sky and hit him on the head.
"An egg?" Natsu thought as he examined the thing. He knew what eggs were, eaten them, and hunted for them multiple times, but this was different. This egg was much larger than any other he had seen and it felt warm and happy. It seemed to be almost brimming with life as if something was calling him from it.
"I'll bet it's a dragon egg! No way anything else is this big!" Natsu exclaimed. He tied the rabbits onto some string he brought, tied them around his waist, grabbed the egg, and sprinted back towards the village to show off his latest prize. This time though, it wasn't a decoration or a piece of jewelry. This was something he intended to hatch and raise on his own.
"BIG SIS! BIG SIS! COME HERE, QUICK!" Natsu shouted, running towards the house he shared.
Ashley immediately hurried outside. "Natsu, what's wrong? Are you ok? Did you get hurt? I knew it, you should have brought Park-"
"LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" Natsu interrupted, holding out the strange egg in front of her.
"An egg? Well, I suppose we could have that, but I was expecting rabbits to be honest… Why is it so big?" Ashley responded, reaching for the egg.
Natsu immediately yanked the egg away, protecting it. "Are you crazy? We're not gonna eat this! I'm gonna hatch it! I think it's a dragon egg!"
"A dragon egg? Listen, Natsu, I really don't think that's what that is…" Ashley tried to reason with him, but he was having none of it. This egg was staying with him until it hatched, no matter what.
"Alright, fine Natsu. You can keep the egg. But it's your responsibility to hatch it, and you can't complain we didn't help if it doesn't hatch. Got it?"
"Of course! It's almost like it wants me to take care of it anyway, it's the best!" Natsu handed her the rabbits and raced off to the bedroom shared by the four children in an attempt to make a makeshift nest for it. Once he was done, he ran back downstairs and out the door, "I'll be back! I gotta tell the others about it!"
He raced across town, responding to a few greetings, and even getting stopped to ask if he had gone hunting recently by Kathy, who insisted on keeping him there to talk about how it went. As soon as he could though, he raced over to the park where Treya, Parker, and Cindy were hanging around just enjoying the day.
"EVERYONE! YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT I FOUND!" Natsu shouted, running up to them, panting from exhaustion.
"Was it another deer? I love deer, you really need to get that more often," Parker said, dreaming of gorging himself silly on a deer.
"I bet it was something else, maybe it was a Salamander. Those are super rare, and you said they were delicious right?" Cindy asked him, remembering the stories he told them of feasting on the dragonkin with his parents.
"What is it Natsu, don't keep us waiting!" Treya exclaimed, happily giving him a hug.
"No! I found an egg!" He said, returning the hug to Treya and giving a huge toothy grin.
"EHHH?" All three said at the same time.
"Ugh, we have eggs all the time. I really thought you got deer this time," Parker whined.
"No! This egg is special! I think it's a dragon egg, and I'm gonna hatch it and raise it all by myself!" Natsu declared.
"Really? Can we see it?" Treya asked, almost as giddy as Natsu.
"Of course! Come on!" He said, grabbing Treya over his shoulder and sprinting back towards the house.
"AHHHH! NATSU! PUT ME DOWN!" Treya screamed, trying to wriggle out of his hold.
"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry about that." Natsu chuckled nervously, setting her down and waiting for the others to catch up. "I just got really excited."
"Ugh, it's fine, but you can't just grab people you know!" Treya scolded.
"Slow...down...Natsu…" Cindy said panting, finally catching up with the two, alongside Parker.
"You guys are just slow, come on, we're almost there!" He led them through the town back to their shared house and up into the bedroom.
"See? It's huge, and it feels so happy every time I touch it!" He exclaimed holding the egg in front of them.
"How can an egg feel happy, Natsu? That makes no sense." Parker said, examining the egg.
"Sure it can!" Natsu responded, still giving a huge smile.
"It really is huge! Can I hold it?" Treya asked, nearly as excited as Natsu was.
"Of course! I'm gonna keep it in here, and when I'm off hunting you guys will have to make sure it stays nice and warm." Natsu explained, handing the egg to Treya.
"Wow! That sounds like fun!" Treya giggled as she held the egg.
"You bet, I can't wait till it hatches! I bet it'll be able to breathe fire, just like me!"
All three were visibly excited, and they spent the rest of the afternoon watching the egg and talking until dinnertime. Just as they said, Natsu kept the egg with him, sleeping with it, carrying it almost everywhere he went, and the others would share caring for it whenever Natsu wanted some time to himself or go hunting. They all tried to convince him to go out more often so they could spend time with it, and he was sure to give everyone their turn.
1 Month Later
"(Yawn)... I'm exhausted. I'm not hunting for another week at least." Natsu grumbled, hauling a deer over his shoulder. It was quite a catch, weighing probably around 300 pounds. Even the townsfolk, who were used to Natsu carrying around animals across town, were quite surprised, he had only brought deer back once and it was quite small, no more than 200 at most.
"Wow, what've you got there, Natsu?" asked one of the shopkeepers. His name was Reginald and was quite good friends with Natsu. They met after he helped Natsu make a new version of his talon necklace, and it was his shop that Kathy had given him the metal for his scale earrings.
"Parker's been bugging me about a deer for a month now, and I finally found one. This big guy was a wily one, it took an hour to track, and almost another half hour before I managed to bring it down." Natsu explained, taking a short break. "Do you think you could help me with these antlers? I want to hang one on my wall, so if you help you can have the other one."
"Of course!" Reginald exclaimed. "Anything for you young man, though I will say the antler is quite generous. Why don't you stop by in a few days, and we can work on them a bit?"
"Sure thing! Thanks a lot!" Natsu said, hoisting the deer back over his shoulder.
"NATSU! NATSU!"
"Treya?" Natsu wondered. Reginald seemed a bit confused as well since usually, they were taking care of that strange egg for as long as possible when Natsu was out.
"IT'S HATCHING! IT'S HATCHING!"
"REALLY? LET'S GO! GRAMPS, WATCH THE DEER FOR ME WILL YA'?" He shouted, already taking off, once again grabbing Treya over his shoulder.
"GOOD LUCK, KID!" Reginald shouted after them. "I wonder if he knows that he's the only one in town who can haul a 300-pound deer by himself. Strange kid," he said to himself, shaking his head, sitting down out front to read while keeping an eye on the deer.
"NATSU! PUT ME DOWN!" Treya shouted.
"Sorry, this is important!" Natsu said, still running with Treya over his shoulder.
"Ugh, fine! THIS time!" She grumbled finally realizing that he was not going to put her down, and just accepted the taxi service.
They both burst through the door and ran up the stairs, Natsu not putting Treya down until they got in the room.
"You got him, great!" said Cindy, giving them a smile before turning back to the egg. It was shaking slightly and had a faint glow.
"Awesome! My own dragon!" Natsu said, kneeling in front of his bed and grabbing the sides of the egg. As soon as he touched it, the egg started to glow even brighter, nearly blinding them.
"Whoah, what's going on?!" Parker shouted.
"Who knows, this is so cool!" said Cindy, grabbing onto Natsu's arm and shielding her eyes.
Crack…
Crack… KCH
With one final split, the glowing stopped, and a tiny blue kitten flew out of the egg and proceeded to sit down directly on Natsu's head.
"EHHHHH?!" All four of them exclaimed at the same time.
"It's a cat? I thought it was a dragon?" Parker questioned, though oddly enough not questioning the fact that not only did a cat hatch from an egg but that the cat was blue and had wings.
"IT'S SO CUTE!" both girls shouted, ooohing and awwing at the creature.
"Aye!" said the cat, before curling up into a ball and falling asleep.
Natsu gently grabbed the sleeping kitten and set it back down on the bed, before motioning the other to follow him out of the room, giving the kitten some time to sleep. As soon as they got downstairs they all raced to find Ashley and all started talking at once. She caught bits and pieces like hatch, deer, and cat.
"QUIET!" Ashley yelled, silencing them all instantly. "One at a time! Natsu, did you get anything on the hunt? And why are you all so excited!"
"Yeah I did, but it's with Reginald, I was in a hurry!" Natsu exclaimed. "It hatched! The egg hatched, and it's a flying blue cat that can talk!"
"EHHHHHH?!" Ashley looked as if she was going to pass out, but decided to go check for herself. They all followed her and sure enough, sleeping on Natsu's pillow was a tiny blue kitten.
"Well, that's certainly… new? I guess? I'm not quite sure." Ashley stuttered, still in shock over a blue cat hatching out of the egg. She didn't expect it to hatch, let alone a cat. Not to mention Natsu had said it had wings and could talk! As far fetched as it had sounded, Natsu had said a lot of things over the time they had known each other, and all of them seemed to be true. Ashley backed out of the room, quietly shutting the door and they all headed back downstairs.
"Well, why don't we get something to drink. Natsu, you said you did get something on the hunt? Where is it? It's time to start getting ready for dinner."
"Oh yeah! I got a big one! I had to hurry, so I left it back at Reginald's, he should be watching it for me." Natsu said getting ready to go back to get it.
"A big one, eh? What'd you get this time? Finally get that deer Parker's been asking about?" she chuckled, turning around back to the kitchen.
"Yup! This thing has gotta be 300 pounds at least!" Natsu said, walking out the door.
All three of them just watched him walk out of the house, their jaws on the floor in shock.
"ALL RIGHT! IT'S ABOUT TIME! I'LL GO HELP HIM BRING IT BACK!" Parker shouted, running out after Natsu.
"What a day…" Ashley shook her head, heading back into the kitchen.
"Do you think he knows that he's the only one who can carry a 300-pound deer in the village?" Cindy asked Treya.
"Doubt it!" Treya answered, and they both exploded into a fit of giggles.
Later that evening they all ate the deer he had brought back, and Natsu got the antlers ready for Reginald when he went to see him next. They all had a new guest at the table, who seemed to be fond of the milk Ashley had given him, and picked slightly at the deer, but for the most part, he just slept on Natsu's head.
"Well, he seems quite fond of you, Natsu. What are you gonna call him?" Ashley asked, clearing the dishes from the table.
"Well, when I found him the egg gave me a warm, happy feeling, so I think I'll go with that! His name is Happy!"
"Aye!" the kitten yawned, flying over and laying down on Treya's head before falling back asleep.
8 Months Later
"What do you mean we're out of fish, just go get more!" Happy whined, putting his hands on his hips.
"You are perfectly capable of catching your own fish, Happy! We're going to the river today anyway, so why don't you come with us instead of laying around all day!" Natsu responded, putting his jacket on.
"OR," Happy proposed, "YOU could go get me fish, and I can keep Ashley company."
"By 'keep her company,' you mean beg her for fish…" Natsu responded, a flat look on his face.
"FINE! I'll go! Big meanie," he pouted, flying downstairs, probably to complain how Natsu was a big meanie to the rest of the kids.
"Natsu! Let's go! You're taking forever!" Parker yelled from downstairs. Everyone else was ready, but Natsu got held up trying to fix his desk full of hunting trophies. One had fallen during the night, and he couldn't seem to figure out how to get them all back up there.
"I'm coming! If someone hadn't knocked over my deer antler, I would've been ready an hour ago!" Natsu retorted.
"I already told you, I didn't touch your stash, Strawberry Shortcake!" Parker sneered.
"What'd you say to me, Lemonhead?" Natsu growled pressing his forehead against Parker's.
"You heard m-,"
"That's enough! Both of you! What did big sister say about getting along!" Cindy scolded trying to separate the brawling brothers.
"He started it!" Both said at the same time, eyeing each other.
"Both of you be quiet and let's go! The river won't come to us!"
That seemed to calm them down, and the 4 kids and their flying cat headed off to the woods. It was about an hour and a half walk in the opposite direction of where Natsu usually found his prey, so he had only stumbled across it by accident a few months ago.
Flashback
"I swear there's nothing out here! I've been looking for hours!" Natsu grumbled, heading back home from hunting. It was the first time in a while, but he came up empty-handed this time, not able to find anything. He was so frustrated he completely passed the village, lost in a sea of frustrated thoughts. Half an hour later, he realized that he didn't really know where he was, but he thought he smelled freshwater in the distance.
"Is that… a river?" he questioned, sniffing the air several times. He took off, trying to see if his hypothesis was right, and about 20 minutes later he found it. A big freshwater river, that looked perfect to cool down in.
"AWESOME!" He shouted, immediately jumping in the water. It felt great, he had spent the entire day trudging around the forest and was finally able to relax. "I can't wait to tell the others! We can spend days here, just hanging out and swimming!"
After about an hour there, he started the trek back, using a little bit of fire magic to burn away some of the access brush, trying to make the path to the river more noticeable. After about an hour, he got back to the village, excited to tell everyone about the river he found.
"I'M BAACKK!" Natsu announced, walking in the door.
"Where have you been? You're late!" Ashley scolded, hurrying over to make sure he was ok. In all the months he'd been doing this, she never quite got over being nervous at sending the young boy into the forest alone to hunt.
"Well I couldn't find anything, so I accidentally walked past the village." He explained. "Then, I smelled freshwater, so I followed it and I found this super cool river! I even made a path on the way back. Tomorrow can we all go swimming?"
"A river huh? Well, that's interest- Hey! Don't change the subject! You need to be back here before sundown! You can't run off exploring! What if you got lost or hurt?"
"I'll be fine! Trust me! But now you're the one changing the subject! I made sure there was a path so everyone can follow it, and it should only take a little over an hour! I was much faster, but since we'll have to bring stuff with us, and Cindy is slow, it might take longer."
"(sigh…) Alright, tomorrow we can take another look, BUT! Next time you go out, you WILL be on time. Is that understood?" she glared at him.
"O-of course…" Natsu sweatdropped. That evil glare never stopped terrifying the children, and she used that fact to her advantage whenever she needed to.
"Very well. Now, come get something to eat. You must be starved."
Flashback End
"I'll race you the rest of the way, Blondie!" Natsu challenged.
"You're on, Lizard Breath!" Parker retorted and the two raced down the path, leaving Cindy and Treya in the dust.
"Those two idiots can never stop running around," Cindy grumbled.
Treya just giggled and continued walking with Cindy. In about 10 minutes they had met up with the boys at the river who were already trying to drown each other in the water, fighting about who won the race.
"One of these days…" Cindy grumbled, getting the basket the boys had placed by the water and started to spread the food out.
"Come on guys, let's eat! I'm starving!" Treya shouted to the boys, still engaged in a friendly game of river murder.
"Aye!" said Happy, who had flown off Treya's head and over to his fishing rod, getting ready to catch his own lunch.
Hearing food, the two boys immediately untangled themselves and got out of the water, Natsu drying the two off as soon as they were out.
"You're still using him as a clothes dryer?" Cindy asked, raising her eyebrow and the two boys' antics.
"Only thing he's good for, might as well use it," Parker replied.
"Says the person who managed to lose all the rabbit meat I trusted him to hold on to." Natsu scoffed sitting down on the picnic blanket.
"ONE TIME!" Parker shouted, grumbling as he sat down.
The two were bitter rivals, but the four of them got along great, like a big family, and with the addition of Happy, it got even better.
"Ya' know, I could stay like this forever," Treya said, laying back on the ground. "Even you two idiots bickering can't ruin it."
"HEY!" The two shouted, earning giggles from both girls.
All four of them just laid back, watching the cloud, talking, and laughing at Happy's inability to catch a fish. After a while they went swimming, Natsu almost succeeding in drowning Parker only to find himself with a face full of water courtesy of Cindy, who just laughed at his shocked expression. This, of course, led to an all-out water war, while Happy yelled at them about scaring away all of his precious fishies. This was the life they wanted, it didn't matter that they were orphans, they had each other and they had the village. That was all they needed.
"I think we should start heading back, it'll be dark soon," Treya said, standing up and stretching.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Natsu! Parker! Stop killing each other, and come carry the stuff back!" Cindy shouted.
"Ok!" The boys shouted, once again getting out of the river and starting their strange drying ritual, Natsu heating up his body and standing near Parker for a few minutes.
They packed up all the stuff, called to Happy, who was still grumbling about not catching any yummy fishies, and headed back to the town.
They were about five minutes away from the town when Natsu heard something and stopped them.
"Natsu? What's wrong?" Treya asked, eyeing him questionably.
"I don't know, somethings happening," Natsu said, rapidly sniffing the air and adjusting his ears, trying to pick up any indication of what was going on. The look on his face was serious, almost scared. "Follow me and stick close. Happy? If something is happening, you need to be ready to fly anyone who's in trouble away."
"Aye, sir!" Happy responded, giving a salute.
This was too serious to be a joke. Natsu never joked about smells before, and nothing had ever put him this on edge since he first got to town, so they all were quite nervous and stayed close, Treya hiding behind Natsu and Cindy behind Parker.
(BOOOOM)
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
The group heard a loud explosion from the town, as well as people screaming. Something was definitely wrong.
"What's happening? Even I heard that!" Treya said, tightly gripping Natsu's shirt from behind.
"I don't know, you guys stay here, I'll go look," Natsu said, taking Treya off him and turning to run to the village.
"Not a chance, Hothead. If there's something wrong, we're coming too. We all live there together, I'm not putting you in danger alone." Parker declared, gripping Natsu's shoulder.
"That's right! It's our home!" Cindy insisted, standing with Parker.
"Fine, but if anything as dangerous as it sounds is going on, you all run away, got it?" Natsu relented.
"Aye, Sir!" they all responded.
The group ran into the village and stopped in front of it. Looks of sheer horror were painted across their faces. The houses were all on fire, smoke was everywhere. There was blood painted on the walls, and what looked to be a cloaked army marching through the streets. None of them could even move, it was so terrifying.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! AHHHHH!"
The scream shocked them out of their momentary stupor.
"BIG SIS!" Cindy screamed sprinting towards Ashley, who was currently being dragged across town by her hair.
"NO, CINDY! RUN! RUN AWAY!" Ashley screamed, trying to struggle free of the man's grip.
"There are 4 more and… what is that? That looks like a cat? Whatever, BOSS! MORE KIDS OVER HERE!" The man shouted. "Quit struggling, broad." he sneered, kicking her in the stomach.
Another man walked over. He had dark red hair set in a ponytail, wore purple robes, and carried a red staff topped with a black dragon that had blue markings on its wings.
"Kill them. We just need the village. No survivors! Is that clear?"
"Sir!" responded the man.
"LET HER GO!" The kids roared and charged the man that had Ashley by the hair.
"No! Run! Please! Leave me and run!" Ashley pleaded, tears streaming down her face.
"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAAAAAAAAAAR!" Natsu screamed, releasing a torrent of fire from his mouth straight at the robed man.
"AGHHHHHH!" he screamed letting go of Ashley and rolling on the ground.
"KIDS!" She shouted, and ran over to them embracing them in a tight hug. "We need to run, I don't know if we have any more time left."
"Not so fast there, woman." The man with the staff halted them, and suddenly they were totally surrounded. "You there, young boy. What's your name?"
"What's it to you, ya' wrinkly old geezer! Get out of my village!"
"Oh ho ho ho! Feisty one this is! You wouldn't happen to be a dragon slayer now, would you?"
"And so what if I am?"
"Well now, we may be in for a little negotiation. Tell you what, you join Nightwing and we'll let your little friends go. Sound like a fair deal?" The man gave a menacing sneer.
"Not a chance, purple prick! You better stay away from the fire, or you're gonna get burned!" Natsu retorted, igniting each of his hands, and getting ready to fight.
"Very well then child. Looks like we'll have to do this, the hard way. MEN! KILL THEM ALL!" He shouted, earning a cheer from the rest of the hooded men, each of them charging forward with their spears.
"I'll clear a path, you guys need to run! Get out of here! FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!" he shouted, clearing a path towards the way they came. "Now let's go! Hurry!"
"Not so fast! SHADE MAGIC: TROOPERS!" He shouted, summoning a few dozen shade troops to chase them.
"Not a chance! FIRE DRAGON'S ROOAAAAAR!" Natsu shouted, engulfing the magic in flames. It wasn't nearly enough, as when the flames were gone there were still over a dozen soldiers left. He was charged by 3 robed men with spears, trying to run him through. He got nicked a few times on the arms and legs dodging them while returning fire with a series of flaming punches and kicks. One of them managed to catch his right eye, barely avoiding blinding him, but leaving a deep vertical cut overtop of it.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"CINDY! NO!" Parker yelled, running towards the man who grabbed Cindy.
"Quiet brat!" the mage yelled, slamming his elbow into the girl's head, knocking her out.
"CINDY!" he yelled again.
Right before he reached her, another man stabbed him through the back with his spear. Parker was in shock. He looked down, seeing a spear through his stomach coated in his own blood, fell on his knees, coughed up more blood, and collapsed on the ground.
"PARKER!" Ashley screamed, taking her eyes off running, just long enough for a shade troop to grab her and throw her back towards the man with the staff.
"NO! ASHLEY!" Natsu shouted. He fell on his knees holding his head in his hands. It was too much. He could only watch as the man cast a spell from his staff, blowing her up right before his eyes. It was happening again. Again. They were dying. Again. His family was being taken away from him right before his eyes. Again. He was powerless to stop them. He didn't even feel the pain from the blast before getting knocked to the ground.
"This all could have been avoided if you had just agreed to my demands, boy. A pity to waste-" was all he heard from the staffed man before falling unconscious.
Several Hours Later
"Ugh, my head…" Natsu groaned struggling to sit up. "Where am I?" he wondered aloud, looking around. All he could see was Happy sitting nearby, crying his eyes out. All of a sudden the memories came rushing back. The fire. The smoke. Parker getting stabbed. Ashley blowing up. Sharp pain over his right eye. A man talking to him, and then darkness.
"HAPPY!" he shouted, startling the cat. "What happened? Where are we? WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?"
"Natsu… they're...gone…" the cat cried, barely able to talk between tears and gasping breath. "I was...only able… to save you… they killed them… It was horrible…"
Natsu was stunned into silence. Again. They were taken. Everything was rushing back to his head. The roar of Acnologia. The blood-soaked pile that was his father. The flames and smoke of Rösch. Again. It happened again. The blood of his past stained him again. Fate declined any family he could have and kept him from it. It was almost as if the gods were punishing him for his mere existence.
"I… did it again… I failed them…" he whispered. "I failed them again… I didn't even try… I was… too stunned… I couldn't think…" He could barely breathe, he could barely think. Just remembering the smell was enough. He immediately was sick, keeling over and hurling the contents of his stomach on the ground. He put his hand to his right eye and held it in front of his face. It was covered in blood. He finally realized where they were, and crawled over to the river that earlier that day he had been so happy playing around in and looked at his reflection. Just akin to the scar over his left eye, he had another scar over his right, though smaller, it was deep. Once again, he was lucky to be alive, let alone if he would be able to use the eye when he could actually open it up again.
That day, staring at himself in the water, something snapped inside him. Natsu would never be the same person after. He accepted the world through a new lens, and the lens was that of a burning wasteland, where the strong survive by either purging or protecting the weak. He washed the blood off his eye, shed his clothes, and stepped into the water. He cleaned off the various cuts and bruises he had, ripping his vest apart for bandages, cauterizing the cut over his eye. It was time. The world created him for a purpose. The world gave him power for a purpose, and every time he put that purpose aside for something else the world took it from him.
'It's time…' he thought to himself. 'My purpose is clear. I must kill him. The world beneath my feet shall burn until he dies. Should the gods themselves stand in my way, let them be enveloped by my father's flames.'
"Happy…" he said flatly, turning to the cat.
"(sniff) What are we gonna do, Natsu…" he whimpered.
"It's time I fulfill the purpose I was put into this world for." He stepped out of the water igniting himself in the royal white flames of Igneel, and prepared to set out. The look in his eye was terrifying but empty. Full of rage and sorrow. He lost the first battles, but they were tests. He would not make the same mistake again. The war had begun, and the world beneath his feet would never cease to burn until that war was won.