Verdana 10
Disclaimer: 'Fairy tail' and all of its characters are owned and copyrighted by Hiro Mashima.
Went through major editing! Ima be honest, I came back to this story with absolutely no memory of it so this might be a completely different story than what you remember too. I also haven't watched Fairy Tail in over 8 years so…bare with me and my info.
Chapter One.
Winter was coming to an end, and the days had gotten warmer, and green was beginning to peak out from under the snow bush. But at night, with a full moon out, the cold was a constant companion, flicking at your nose with every wind brush and every twig snap. A woman is at the entrance of a cavern. The sound of dripping water could be heard from the inside, echoing and creating a symphony with the crickets and frogs. Trying to get a glimpse inside, the woman walked closer, clutching herself closer to fight off the chills. The woman, wrapped from head to toe in fur and expensive silk, spoke out: She explained she was Queen, Queen of some land down the mountain, but that was no concern to the creature in the cave. The human woman explained the Kingdom was on the verge of war, and she explained she needed help. The Queen stared into the cave, silence met her. The woman spoke again.
"I am-
"I h'rd what ya said, "
The woman stumbled back in alarm, the booming voice morphed into a booming presence and finally into a large head that poked itself out from the cave.
"And Ima tell ya,that there ain't not a piece I want from you, or yer' Kingdom"
The woman knelt down and slowly released a bag from around her chest.
"Please, if you could just-"
"I ain't go'in to war for you, you or y'er kingdom so you can just-"
"..."
A whine cut the large beast off. Both adults looked down at the bag the woman had just set on the ground… the bag somehow morphed into a bundle.
"Lady…I ain't eatin yer kid.."
The Queen looked up at the dragon in confusion, stuck, as if she couldn't understand . The woman glanced at the dragon and back at the bundle on the ground.
"No…you won't…"
The beast turned her away again,
"And I ain't fighting yer battles…" She would use him as a weapon. Thats all humans wanted, just weapons, war, and death. ANd he wasn't allowed to die yet… not for about 18 years at least
Afterall, it wasn't just himself anymore. Through his reason for being cautious and keeps trying to poke out from under his wings, children are curious at all ages, afterall.
As the dragon turned the queen away for the 3nd time, the queen spoke, saying she needed her own child protected.
"Please, if not for me, then for her.."
The Queen seems strained, as if even speaking was causing her pain.
The queen held the bundle out, claiming: The child was the next ruler of the kingdom, and if it died, the kingdom would go down with it. The kingdom NEEDED this child to live, needed THIS child to make it past the war.
Metalicana, The large dragon, looked on at the woman. Human affairs were of no concern to him, after all. If this kingdom did fall, he himself ,and his brood, could just leave. Metalicana had no loyalty to this woman, no loyalty to this crown, and sincerely no loyalty to the small creature in this human queen's arms. No dragon had any loyalty to man. Ready to decline her a final time, Metalicana glanced at the child in the blanket.
…
It was cute…
…It had blue hair,
and red cheeks…
The dragon grunted.
Glancing down at his own wing, where his own problem was becoming increasingly harder to ignore. Metalicana growled, before nodding. The human queen smiled, kissed the child, and scurried away from the cave, not looking back.
In retrospect, Metalicana should have at least gotten the queen's name… or the child's name. Metalicana should have also considered everything a human child needs, though he did figure it's probably what Baby dragons need…hopefully.
Metalicana watched the queen disappear into the mountainside, picking up the small bundle carefully, the large dragon brought it into the cave. Relaxing his wings, a small snout stuck its way out from under the appendage. A snout as equally black as its fathers, and eyes as equally red, zeroed in on the bundle on the ground.
A baby dragon! Only about 3 feet tall and not yet with the ability to fly. The small creature waddled over to the pile of furs, sniffing around it, before scurrying away as the human baby babbled in her sleep. The much larger dragon snorted, smoke filling the cave, before looking back out.
There was a heavy presence in the cavern before a whine was heard from the blankets and the much smaller dragon grew curious again. Slowly making its way to the bunde of the ground the small dragon tried pulling at the blankets.
"Gajeel!"
Startled, the smaller dragon moved away from the wiggling bundle on the ground. looked up at its parent before scowling.
"tch…jus' wanted a closer look"
The older of the beast, Metalicana, shook its head before snorting again, smoke once more filling the cave.
"If you touch it, you'll break it."
The younger dragon, Gajeel, rolled his eyes before glaring at nothing in particular, "tch..you'l break it.. With you'r ugly-ass mug-ack-!" Gajeel landed on his belly as his father placed a large claw on his back, keeping him pinned to the ground.
"Get 'off me you uglly ass-"
"Hush, or you'll scare it, ya rude child." The larger of the dragons walked towards the bundle before slowly, and carefully, slipping a single claw into the blankets, lifting it up to reveal a toddler asleep. It had bright blue hair to its shoulders and had on an orange winter dress. If Metalicana was honest, this child didn't seem as dressed as the queen seemed. Though the winter clothing looked sturdy, it appeared more like the taters farm hands wore along the edge of the kingdom. Instead of the obviously flashy fabric nobels usually paraded in.
Curious, Gajeel inched forward, still keeping his belly on the going. "What's it?"
Metalicana rolled his eyes, "Its a human baby, tyke." Gajeel got closer, looking into the blankets. "I know 'ts a human. What' ya gonna do w'th 'er?'
That was the question. Both dragons stared at the human child, the larger of the two mulled the question over. It would get much too hot for the child in this mountain as winter began to turn into spring. As luck would have it, Metalicana knew of another dragon who traveled north for the summer.
"I wonder what she'll say…"
"What?"
"J'st talking to myself…brat."
"Tch.." Gajeel glanced up at his father before looking back down at the kid, though he doesn't seem as concentrated on what to do with the child as his father is.
"Where's it gonna sleep?..." If Gajeel was being honest, he was'nt really concerned about where the blue haired pixie was gonna sleep. Yes, the cave was definitely large enough to house about another 3 larger dragons the size of his father(as shown by the multitude of his aunts and uncles who come to visit every fall), space wasn't the issue. What Gajeels main concern was that there was one nest in the cave, and he'd be damned if this human runt was going to take his place in it.
(Though he would never say that outright, After all, Gajeel was the one to convince Natsu that most Drakes leave the nest at about 8 winters, resulting in the other kid dragon to disappear for a whole week…Gajeel smiled at the memory. )
Metalicana rolled his eyes, again. His son had a pretty large jealous streak and placing a human baby next to a full grown dragon doesn't seem to be the best idea.
"She'll sleep by the pool..the steem should keep 'er warm enough for tonight, ill decide what to do with 'er in the morn'."
Gently picking the bundle up, Metalicana turned and walked deeper into the cave. Gajeel stared out of the opening.
"When will its mom come back?"
A grunt was heard from inside te cave. "When the war 's over, she said…."
Gajeel glanced at his fathers retreating form.
"..how long 'll that be?"
Chapter Two.
"What if it falls in?"
Metalicana groaned before borrowing back under his wing.
"Natsu said that humans ca't swim right 'way and he said 'is dad had a friend that drowned in'a river once-"
"Then we ain't gotta worry about it if it drowns! Now pipe down and shut yer trap."
Even with the clear annoyance in his voice, Metalicana un-wraped his tail from around the nest and placed in next the the child, clearly blocking it from the edge of the steem pool.
Gajeel glanced at his father before looking back the the pile of furs.
"What if it-"
"Gajeel!" Metalicana opened his eye to glare at his offspring. "If yer so god'damn worried bout it go seep next' it."
"But Natsu said humans had som'thin called Cooties and I aint-'"
"Gajeel."
The small dragon glanced back at his father before lowering his head. The larger dragon gave an annoyed huff before nuzzling into the smaller dragon's belly. "Ain't nothing in this cave that'll hurt ya. I promised ya' that…"
Gajeel nuzzled into his father's face before glancing back at the bundle of furs. The large dragon exhaled before nudging the small Drake out of the nest.
"Hey! What'ya doin!"
"If 'yer so curious go check it out… but if it wakes up cry'in yer gonna be the one to deal with it."
"Oof!"
Gajeel flopped out of the nest, all long limbs and with the grace only baby dragons have. But before he could scurry back inside, his father had nosed him all the way over to where the human baby layed. Looking back, Gajeel looked at his father with worried eyes. The older dragon nodded before laying its face down on its front legs, clearly a sign of encouragement to the younger Drake.
Gajeel took a deep breath before looking back at the blanket.
He slowly inched his way to the bundle on his belly, while his father used his tail to slowly push the human child closer.
Gajeel lost his nerves before scurrying back over to his father, hiding behind him.
"What if it bites me?"
Metalicana rolled his eyes, pushing the baby drake back out.
"Its not gonna bite ya'/"
…
"Maybe."
"Daaaaad!"
Metalicana let out a chuckle, watching his son slowly inched its way back over to the human child. Gajeel stayed on all fours, softly nosing the blankets out of the way so he could get a closer look.
"You said maybe aunty Giney was gonna take it?"
"Possibly…but i'm not sure..she's done it 'fore, taking on a human child…but now that she's expecting…"
Gajeel stopped paying attention, he was too busy staring at the human child's face. Blue hair was the main focal point, Gajeel marveled at the color.
"din't know humans had blue hair…"
"Most don't."
Gajeel got closer, his own snot almost touching the human girls cheek. "And shes got spots on her..kinda like aunt Giney…"
"They're called freckles, brat."
Miraculously, Gajeel didn't bite at his fathers comment, in all honesty, Metalicanas never seem Gajeel this focused on anything.
"She's kinda tiny…and skinny…and looks cold."
Finally, the larger dragons tail had succeeded in bringing both the human toddler and Gajeel to the ede of his nest.
"Its time to sleep, brat…we've got a long day 'head of us,"
Gajeel allowed his father to scoop him up and place him in the center of their nest, along with the human child. Slowly, Gajeel peeled the furs back. Metalicana curled tighter around the two children, his face being used as a wall to block the cold of the cave. Gajeel snuggled up to his father and un rolled his own wings to cover the child. Metalicana was shocked but stayed quiet.
"She'll probably be scared.."
"Why do you say that?"
"I don' know…" Gajeel furrowed closer to his fathers cheek, feeling the warmth. "I was scared…"
"Yes…you were scared…"
The baby dragon,with soft scales and even softer eyes, slowly wrapped himself around the bundle of furs housing the human child. "But i'm not scared anymore…"
Metalicana closed his eyes and said, "No, not anymore."
…
"Whats 'er name?"
…
"Crap."
Chapter Three
"AHHH"
A body barreled out of the underbrush, staggering to get back up, the person continued to run, brushing off leaves and twigs as they went. Looking over their shoulder, their foot got caught by a root, sending them tumbling towards the ground scraping their knee. They paid little attention to the abrasion and continued down the mountain side. A shadow passed over them, frightened the person looked up in time to see a body descend on them.
"AHHHHHH-"
…
…
"You scrapped yer' knee?"
Levy looked up, "Thats not how you play the game."
Two children looked at eachother. One human, with blue hair and brown eyes, and one Dragon, with black scares and a deep frown. Gajeel stood over the human girl, who was now sitting on the ground taking leaves and twigs out of her hair and clothing. Gajeel, now a whole 4 feet tall, lowed his belly to the ground and wrapped his tail around both of them. "What happened?"
Levy, the human girl, smiled at the boy before speaking. "I tripped looking behind me." Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Dad always told you not to do that, yer' to slow to be doin fast creature things."
Levy rolled her eyes, "and you're too small to be doing flying things, but here you are, coming from the sky."
Gajeel narrowed his eyes but laughed along with the girl. Both children stayed put, laying in the sun and talking the day away. Spring was coming to an end.
Gajeel lifted his head before snorting, only a small amount of smoke coming out, compared to his father at least.
"Sun's going down, lets go 'for the hunting starts."
"He said, now that you're 10, you can stay out until the village lights turn on."
"Yea, but you ain't 10."
"Im 8 and a'half."
"That aint 10."
Levy giggled before lying on the grass, enjoying the last rays of sunlight peeking through the canopy. Gajeel stretched his body alongside her, enjoying the small amount of wramth her body gave off. Wiggling in the grass, Gajeel ruffled his wings, smacking Levy in the belly. Laughing, the children continued to stretch and play in the grass, soaking in the warmth of the ground as the day cooled down and the sky welcomed the stars. In the many years they spent together, and apart, both Levy and Gajeel were inseparable.
"What ya gonna do with all them stones u got."
The blue haired girl smiled before grabbing her satchel, opening it up so both children could look at the myriad of stones she had. "Ima convince Mama to let me go into the human village again!" Gajeel snorted, rolling his eyes. "Please, the only reason ya went the first time was coz-o-me. No way she's gonna let ya go alone." The black haired dragon sounded condescending, but one look at the little drake and his anxiety was clear as day. "Yer so small you'll probably get crushed by a twig on your way there anyway."
Levy laughed, rubbing her hands along gajeels belly scales. "ok, i'll wait for you to come home before I go." Levy smiled, laying her head down on his back. "Rogue said the kingdom near their cave just opened a library! Do you think we could visit it at some point?"
Gajeel huffed but curled himself tighter around the human girl. The children's connection seemed to grow, as they themselves grew. Gajeel got longer and his wings got heavier.
His father said it was to accommodate his body for when he started flying, and shifting. Levy's hair reached her waist and she traded in the battered winder dress for comfortable and fluffy pants and shirt. Her outfit was completed by a dragon scale cloak courtesy of one of her uncles.
"Gajeel you're gonna crush me!"
"Nah, thats what ya said last spring. Gihi."
The two children eventually got up and began walking back up the mountain. Levy picked up stones as she went. Gajeel swept the ground behind them with his tail, Levy noticed, glancing back every couple of steps.
"what ya doing that for?"
Gajeel glanced back, before lifting his tail, as if he himself didn't even realize he was doing it. "well..Dad said now that im 10 I could start hunting on my own."
"What does the tail do?"
Gajeel shrugged his shoulders, allowing his tail to continue to sweep behind them, "do'no, Dad said something bout covering scent, and that I should get used to it."
Levy held a pretty rock up to the fleeting sunlight before smiling. "Well, does it work? Should I do it?"
"Tch, how you gonna get a tail?"
Levy glared at Gajeel. "I could always tie a branch to my butt, you don't know!"
Gajeel thought about it before shaking his head. "Nah, it wouldn't work…"
Levy frowned. "Why?"
"Cause Dad said it helps cover sent but it ain't doing nothing f'er me."
Levy glanced back at his tail, before looking at him again. "What do you mean? Why are you doing it if its not helping you.?"
"It helps me, it just won't help you."
"Cause I don't have a tail?"
"Cause you ain't got a scent."
"What?" Levy lifted her arm and sniffed, Gajeel, curious, sniffed as well. "Yea, see, you ain't smell like nothing." Levy lowered her arm, "But…Apa always said that that's how he'll find me..if I get lost…". The blue hair girl worried her lip, looking very concerned all of a sudden. Gajeel looked at Levy, before puffing out a ring of smoke. "I mean you smell..but like…me…and dad…and Giney…and maybe a bit of Natsu but I don'no….you dont really smell Lev."
The two children arrived at the edge of a small cleaning. High enough in the mountains the children were able to see down into the valley where a small light was shown. Making the valley glow as the sun finally went over the horizon. Large mountains seemed to rise up out of the ground and encompass the children and the valley. It was peaceful, and quiet.
"Like you smell but this is really only fer hunting Lev., Ion'know if you can even hunt…"
Levy looked at her hands and compared them to Gajeels 4 clawed paws. She shrugged, not bothered by the comment at all. She was 8 n'half, after all, hunting isn't as interesting as reading was, and if she had Gajeel , she wouldn't need to every worry about hunting anyway. "Yea, I guess you're right, but how come it doesn't help you?"
The children started walking up the mountain again, Gajeel helping Levy over fallen tree and across slippery rivers.
"Well, Dad said it covered scent, but so far all its been doin' is cover'n yours." Levy huffed over a particularly tall tree stump. "Wait, but you said I don't smell like nothing.." Gajeel rolled his eyes before pulling on her pant leg,
"Oof-".
"I aint said you don't smell like nothing, you just don't smell like something."
Levy groaned, "what?"
Gajeel continued to push the small girl forward with his snout, huffing for her to hurry up, they had a curfew after all.
"Like..I don't know, you smell like me, and dad and Grandeeney, but that's all."
"Ugh, why do you insist on calling her Grandeeney? Her name is Aunty Ginney."
The children arrived at the base of a tall cliff, this one covered by rock and moss. "Cause im 10 now, almost a full grown Drake, ya' know? Can't be run'in round call'in people cutsy nicknames."
"-Jeel!"
"WenWen!"
Out of the cave ran a small, small, dragon. With brown eyes, this one is only about 3 feet long and 2 feet tall. Gajeel flapped his wings, resulting in a small gust of wind. Levys held her hair down and glared at Gajeel, but the baby dragon was able to float for just a second using the small windstorm. The baby dragon cooed and attempted to run into the open arms of both Levy and Gajeel. Sadly, a large clawed paw shot out an trapped the baby dragon under its weight.
"Grrrrr" The baby dragon attempted to wiggle free, softly biting at the paw holding it down.
"Brats, don't encourage the hatchling to run out of the cave, especially at night."
The large paw leads up to reveal a monsterous black dragon. With red eyes and menacing scales. The beast growled at the young one wiggling in its grasp. The baby, Wendy, went limp with the noise and allowed herself to be dragged back into the dark cave.
Levy giggles, "We're coming Wendy!"
Along with Gajeel, the two children dashed into the cave.
They were greeted with warm air, salt in the atmosphere caused by the spring somewhere in the cave. Levy set her bag on one of the hooks along the edge of the cave wall, the clacking of the rocks blending in with the already noisy atmosphere of the cave. Turning back around, Levy saw that the baby, Wendy, had already wrapped herself around Gajeel's neck, burrowing(or trying to) into his cheek. Levy smiled, walking up to the pair. "How was your bath Wen-Wen?" The baby Dragon smiled before wiggling to reach out towards Lecy, The young girl lifted the baby dragon into her arms.
"Much better than her brother, I can tell you that." Levy glanced up at the voice and was met with a beautiful dragon the color of snow. The creature's blue eyes stared at her before coming closer and nuzzling the human girls hair. Wendy smiled and allowed the dragon's steam to surround her. "How was your walk, little one?"
"I got allot of rocks! Gajeel was telling me that you, Apa, and Iggy would sling stones at beehives to get honey!"
"Gajeel…"
The boy dragon looked up from where he was relaxing on the cave floor, "WHat? You said not to lie to er' and 'm not! You said you n Grandeeny where always fu-"
"Gajeel."
"-gging around…sorry aunty…"
The large white dragon stood up from her cuddle session with the girls to stare at the large drake in the room."What have you been filling your sons head with? Meta?"
Said large dragon rumbled his chest before slightly smacking his tail over his son's prone form. "Ack! DAD!", keeping him in place.
"Nothing… nothing you wouldn't be proud of." Metalicana rubbed his head along Grandeeney's throat, Purrs erupted from both dragons, filling the room with a warm sense of family.
Levy set Wendy down as the little beast went to torment Gajeel, still under his fathers tail. Or maybe Wendy went to help, Levy isn't too sure. The baby dragon hasn't started speaking yet, but Levy's pretty sure she is going to any day now… hopefully before Gajeel and Metalicana have to go back for the summer. At that though Levy's eyes got misty and she walked closer to the grownups, wrapping her arms around Metalicanas Leg.
"What are we gonna eat today?" she asked.
Metalicana stopped purring and smiled down at the human girl, his human girl, before getting down to her height. Levy stepped back but quickly attached herself to the monster's snout as he came within range of her arms.
"What are you in the mood for, little fairy?" Levy thought for a moment,humming before looking back into Metalicanas eyes. "Maybe..Caraboo…Wendy hasn't had any yet…"
"Mm", both adult dragons looked at Levy before they looked at eachother. They knew what the girl was doing.
"Caraboo? You're sure… You never did like caribou."
Levy shrugged her shoulders, looking at where Gajeel and Wendy were still playing under Metalicanas tail. "Well.. I don't, But Geel likes it…and I read a book saying that it's healthy for babies to try new things, and Wendy is at the age where-"
Grandeeny cut Levy off by nuzzling into the girl's back. Both Adults knew what the girl was doing.
"All the cariboo went back down the mountain, it would take us a couple of hours to get dinner ready."
Levy hid her face, becoming self conscious about her choice. She shrugged, before burrowing her face beeper into Metalicanas snout. "...its ok… if its to much…"
Both Adults knew what the little human girl was doing, but neither one of them dared to stop her. Metalicana huffed, "'course its not to much…Geeney?"
Grandeeney softly purred into Levy's hair before sitting straight up."I'll let everyone know. We will be gone for a couple of hours. But Levy, you know that means-"
"Yes! I'll make sure she stays in the cave, and I promise to make sure Natsu and Gajeel don't hurt anyone! And I'll even get the nest ready!" Levy shot up, with determination.
With the grown ups away, it meant Levy was incharge…more or less. Levy kissed Metalicana on the nose before shooting over to Gajeel and Wendy, with intent to spread the news.
Metalicana huffed but slowly stood up, Grandeeney leaning against him. Together they watched their children enter deeper into the cave, deeper into the already crowded cave. Noises were heard and laughter boomed out of the heart of the cave and into the ears of the two full grown dragons at its entrance. In a few minutes, word would have gotten around that both the black and white dragon would leave to hunt. They would be followed by other adults, other dragons, in the hopes to get food for their young.
Grandeeney purred as Metalicana continued to preen her, but worry still overtook her. "Are you sure you have to leave? We had such a beautiful winter together, and Gajeel just loves Wendy, what if you leave-"
Grandeeney's words slowly drifted off as the male dragon cradled her in his arms. Lowering them to the cave floor, the two took turns cleaning echother and flicking away dead scales from each other's back. Time stood still as they enjoyed each other's closeness. Humming, the feathered dragon frowned at her companion before nuzzling under his chin. Metalicanas chest rumbled as he cleared away old feathers from Grandeeney's head and neck.
"Wendy will get her wings soon, and I don't know if I could do it by myself Meta-", Metalicana continues to preen her, ignoring the white dragon's obvious whines.
"And you saw her! Levy is crushed everytime you leave! I'm sure Gajeel would also be alot easier to handle with me around!"
The large dragon slowly detaches himself from the female before looking at her. Smiling. Grandeeny huffed, looking away. "I hate when you're right."
Metalicana laughed, his large chest rumbling. Their heads slowly leaned against each other and before long the two large creatures were forehead to forehead, just breathing in each other's energies.
"Neither of you would survive the summers with me and Igi, you know that. And Wendy's wings need the salt water spring, trust me."
A shout shocked them out of their trance. Both dragon heads shot back towards the noisy cave. This particular mountain had blessed them with the perfect home for their brood in the last years. The mouth of the cave alone was large enough to fit one whole dragon comfortably, but the inside is what had caught their attention.
The cave entrance rested at the base of a cliffed mountain, with a large valley at the bottom. During the winters the valley would fill with snow almost as high as their smallest hatchling. The little ones enjoyed laying out and playing in the drift, particularly their youngest. The valley also allowed them a view of a small village, which was apart of a large kingdom that rested a few mountains away.
The cave entrance narrowed slightly before dropping into a large cavern that allowed for the majority of their gatherings. Farther in, it narrowed again before opening into a smaller cavern that had a hot spring in one of the back corners.
Both Dragons continue to preen each other, soft noises erupting from them every so often. Metalicana took a deep breath, "I hate it too, I hate being apart from you guys, you know this…we all hate being apart."
"Then why do you leave?" Grandeeny shifted herself away from the black dragon, but didn't get far. The Male growled before pulling her back in. "Enough Giney, don't act like this, not tonight." The large dragon slightly bit her neck and Grandeeny relaxed, though her heart beat sadley. "Its not safe for ya, you know this."
"..."
"I know you don't want to put our girls in danger…"
Grandeeny growed before lightly nipping Metalicana. "Of Course I don't! You know that…I just…"
The white dragon sagged against the large form of her Drake, any fighting spirit leaving her "I know…"
Metalicana slowly rose, using his body as a lift, encouraging the white dragon to rise as well. Now standing on all fours, there is a sarc contrast between both creatures. Grandeeney, mainly covered in feathers, was softer. Being slimmer, resembling a bird more than a lizard, she was still a towering height. Her wings dragged behind her, signaling that she was definitely the faster flier out of the two.
Metalicana, on the other hand, could not have been anything other than a dragon. Large and almost three times thicker than grandeeney, Metalicanas scales were thick and silvery. The large male almost looked like a Iron statue when standing next to his softer counterpart. His red eyes glued on the back of the cavern, where two other bodies emerged.
Two large dragons exited together out of the heart of the cave and into the entrance were metalicana and Grandeeney stood. One dragon nodded at the pair, before making his way past them and out side, The other one, a red dragon, launched itself at the pair.
"No fare Giney! Keeping Metas cuddles to yourself!"
The red dragon burrowed himself between the two other dragons. He was as large as Metalicana, but his wings were almost as long as Grandeeneys. Scales looked red hot at the very tips of his wings, along his back and tail, and on his face. The closer his body got to the ground, however, his scales lost the red sheen and faded into black-like lava. Using his wings to coverMetalicanas form, the red dragon used every inch of his body to completely consume Metalicana and Grandeeney's space. Earning a grown from one and laughter from the other. "Iggy! You're all sticky!" Grandeeney giggles as the large red dragon wiggled itself closer to her. "Yea, brat was able to push me in! He's getting so big!" Metalicana pushed Igneel's face away in annoyance. "Either that, or you're getting weak."
The three continued to move and shove each other around, though neither one of them moved any farther away from each other, either. After a while they settled on a comfortable little pile by the entrance of the cave. With the red dragon on the bottom of the pile.
From the outside, it looked like three snouts, poking out of the cave. Not small enough to pass through the entrance as a unit, but not willing to let eachother go either.
"Is everyone ready to head out?"
"Yeup, and the welps are all in the pocket, Laxus is at the entrance of the it. Made himself the guard for the night."
Laughter shook Grandeeneys body. "That boy is ready to come into his own. Almost has complete control over his abilities. He's excited to go hunting with us soon, what do you think, Meta?" Inclining her head slightly, Grandeeney caught sight of Metalicana rolling his eyes. "Please, the welp will run back with his tail between his legs if I let him go now. No, I've already discussed it with Makarov, Laxus will stay with us for 2 more hunting seasons before I make any decisions."
"Common Meta, the boy is about ready to start his own clutch by now." The fire dragon sunk deeper into their embrace. "You should have seen him when we went to Layenbor last year, Geeney! Oh he was great, He's definitely going to be creating flight patterns soon!" Grandeeny and Igneel continued to gush over the children. Commenting and praising different abilities that the hatchlings had been shown so far.
Metalicana huffed, placing more of his weight on both. "Enough, I agree that he is exceptional, but no hunting trips for anyone, not yet."
An easy conversation continued as the dragons waited for everyone to arrive.
They spoke about everything, and anything, and yet nothing at all. In the end, silence consumed them as they enjoyed each other's warmth.
"I don't wanna go.."
The red dragon spoke softly from his place under Metalicana.
"I know…"
Igneely slowly raised his head.
"What if-"
"Enough, Igneel."
Grandeeney shifted her feathers before glancing down at the red dragon.
"Meta already said you will set out tomorrow, that's the end of it. Stop focusing on the then, and enjoy us now."
Metalicana glanced at the woman before nodding slowly, thanking her. He looked back down at the dejected fire breather, nipping at his cheek. Igneel huffed, smoke leaking from his nostrils in annoyance, but he relaxed.
"I know…im just-"
"We know"
They would see eachother again, in the Fall.
They laid there until more adult dragons poured out of the heart of the cave. One by one the adults exited the cavern and took flight.
Their hatchlings were hungry, it was time to provide, time to hunt. Their children locked deep within the heart of the cave system. With no fear of them being discovered, the adults soared.