Hello there! Sorry for the delay in posting but better late than never right? I'm glad people are intruiged by this story, its certainly different from my usual stories. Be warned, Natsu isn't a nice person at this moment in time, I hope I explain why enough without giving too much away too soon, this story starts as Natsu and Lucy not liking each other and will be a slower burn than my usual straight to the point smut. Hope you enjoy and the next chapter will be up soon! Don't forget to fave and review, I enjoy reading your theories!

Dragon Souls – Book 1 – Chapter two – The Second Son of Igneel

To put it mildly, Natsu Dragneel was furious.

He'd been enjoying soaring high above the mountains, swooping and rolling through the volcanic ash cloud, the lightening tickling his spines as he snacked on the ash in the air...when a large superheated ball of fiery rock had slammed painfully into his wing; an anguished roar echoing across the sky as the cartilage of his bones snapped, tearing the membrane of his wing in several places and leaving him struggling to stay airborne.

The warrior was accustomed to pain, having been in many fights over his 25 years of age, both with his brother and his body guard's, but having his wing broken, was pretty much the same as having his arm broken and man did it hurt like a bitch.

As much as the young man enjoyed his dragon form and letting animalistic instincts take over as he took to the sky, soaring over the lands of the Dragneel Clan, capturing prey with a single breath of fire or a spear of his forked tail; he was much heavier and muscular in this body, unable to support his weight with only a single large wing. Luckily he was able to glide shakily to a nearby cave, an old remnant of a once mighty lava tube that exploded from the side of the mountain many eons ago, his secret escape when he wanted to run from his fathers scolding's or avoid his nagging about how it was time to settle down and find an Empress.

He loved and respected his small family, his Father was a great man, but he had no intention of doing so.

Powerful, but kind and just, loved by his people, his staff and his two sons; away from the public eye Igneel was a doting father who was mischievous, as laid back as you could get and spent every spare second he could in between ruling his realm to play with his boys and teach them all about the world.

Yes, the brothers had a wonderful early childhood full of adventure...but not everything had always been so great.

The youngest Prince had been just nine years old when the realms of the Dragon Lands had been suddenly thrust into war.

To the rest of the world, the Fire Lands were now a charred and desolate wilderness, a blight on the much less damaged, charming and mysterious lands that bordered the once beautiful nation.

Once so vividly full of life, the volcanic soil rich in nutrients where flowers and fruits of every exotic taste and variety grew proudly in valleys, forests and fields of wondrous colours, rivers meandered through the landscape and the folk who lived there were happy, well fed and proud of their beautiful kingdom.

Their Lord cared greatly about his subjects, from the smallest farm to the richest merchant who lived within the capital city, his care ensured even the poorest had at least a roof over their heads and food to feed their families, a steady job and a healthy family. His Empress, a sweet and beautiful woman by the name of Grandine, was the mother to his two boys. A healer by trade, she spent her days travelling to towns and villages with a small entourage of staff in search of those, rich or poor who needed medical aid. Both the Lord and his Empress were loved unconditionally for the peace and prosperity their rule brought the kingdom.

Life was indeed very good.

It was the surprise attack that came in the middle of the night one winters eve that would shatter this peace, a tyrannical Lord once banished from the Dragon Lands for his cruel and barbaric treatment of not only his enemies, but his own soldiers; Acnologia wanted revenge on the very Lord who had banished him, stripped him of his power and lands. He wanted Igneel to slowly suffer, as he had done, serving under him like a dog.

The tyrant had snuck into the castle and the Empress's chamber as she waited for her beloved to come to bed, where she had been brushing her long hair, when a cold and serrated blade had been pressed against her throat and she had been dragged to the throne room with her sons, being thrown to the ground in front of their surprised father.

Natsu would never forget the image of his kind and courageous father screaming out in anguish as his mother was cruelly slaughtered that day.

Igneel had pleaded with the tyrant to spare his boys, Acnologia demanding that the Lord get on his knees and beg like a mongrel.

When the man had hesitated for less than a second, the murderer had swung his blade again, greatly injuring his boys.

With no other way, he had bowed to him, his eyes flooded with tears as he held his sons, both screaming in pain, his oldest boy had been spared the sight of his mother meeting the cold stone floor with a sickening thud, slumped there lifelessly with blood pooling around her; but his youngest boy had seen everything, and that event had changed Natsu.

Being thrown from the castle, into a rickety shack to live with his sons, forced to serve as an officer of the army, earning barely enough to feed his children, let alone himself, Igneel took up a blacksmiths trade.

Forging basic weapons for the new Lord's soldiers.

The Fire Lands became the base of Acnologia's army, built into the side of the volcano to use the heat to fire his weapon factories, forests chopped down to build forts, defences and barracks for his growing forces. Ruling for twenty years over the separate Clans under the banner of a single ruler, from the frozen glaciers of the Frost Realm, to the turbulent skies of the Thunder Plains, Dragon Lord Acnologia wanted it all.

Forced to bow down under his rule, the former Lords watched as their kingdoms were pillaged, ravaged and all but destroyed in the spoils of war.

The Fire Lands, were sent spiralling into famine and poverty from his lack of concern for those who lived there, the crops wilted, the realm burned and the rivers had run dry; fields turned to dust and the sky darkened with constant volcanic eruptions. The people slowly starved, screams of anguish, children crying of hunger...while the Dragon Lord sat on his golden throne and commanded an army of soldiers who were too weak to challenge him.

Several desperate attempts were made to assassinate him, but Acnologia was too smart to fall for the usual methods, poison, hired assassins or the like.

Until one such overthrown Dragon Lord had rallied an uprising, Igneel, once known as the kind and wise leader of the people; he had an edge over the other men that they did not...

The tyrannical Lord trusted him, for Igneel had proven to be a strong General to his army, cunning in battle strategy and successful in his campaign to take hold of the throne of the last kingdom standing in the way of his absolute rule over the Dragon Lands; the Celestial Province.

The reclusive and mysterious realm in the heavens were little known to the worlds below, too high to reach by even dragons, few Lords had ever had the pleasure of an audience with it's Lord or even a chance to glance a look at the lands said to be made of pure starlight. With no children or an Empress to speak of, he was a no nonsense leader, a stern man and a childhood friend of a certain Fire Land's former Dragon Lord, the two had hatched a plan for his surrender; by the falling of his halberd from the heavens, right at Acnologia feet.

A fine weapon, crafted from the heart of a dying star, the legendary blade forged of the strongest metal, the finest gold; a prize not even the most powerful of Lords could resist holding in his hands. The very weapon that Igneel had been told would tear asunder any man not of Celestial origin who dared taint the pure blade with evil hands.

Acnologia's scream of rage as his soldiers simply stood and watched his body disintegrate into nothing but pure white light, erasing his entire existence from the Dragon Lands; had been told and retold in tales so often, passed down to the next generation that the story had become something of a legend.

Igneel had become a stoic and quiet man, heart broken from the murder of his beloved wife and the torture of his boys, a shadow of his former self over the years. He was fiercely protective of his remaining family, teaching them to fight and master their dragon forms from an early age. He himself had never transformed again...

When the Dragon Lands were once again split between the Lords or their offspring (some had defied the Lord Acnologia and had quickly met a brutal death for their treachery), peace was quickly restored to the Land and their efforts turned to rebuilding and repairing the realms.

Igneel returned to the throne, raising his two very different boys as best he could before they turned his red hair grey. He never re-married, the love of his life had been lost and he had no room in his heart for anyone else but his beloved boys.

Even if one of them in particular gave him a migraine most days...

Zeref was the smarter of the two, quiet and studious he relished in teachings, enchanted speaking books and battle strategy, a prim and proper young man who learned to heighten his remaining senses to compensate for being blind. Swift and quick with dual daggers, the dark haired brother enjoyed knocking his younger brother to the ground during training. He was all about his sense of duty, as the crown prince, Zeref was first in line for the throne, finding his Empress and becoming Dragon Lord after his father. He had been subdued in a thrilling tournament by the underdog, a tiny powerhouse of long blonde hair called Mavis, the Grand-Daughter of former Dragon Lord Makarov of the Thunder Plains who was also head of the Grand Council of Elders. It had been a quick contest, barely three days before the cunning blond had tricked Zeref's dragon into submission, earning her right to claim the Prince as hers, and she, his Empress. But, rather than taking the throne, Zeref and Mavis had chosen to wait to take over rule from Igneel, he was dearly loved by his people; such a quick change in Dragon Lord might cause a revolt.

Natsu was the warrior, hot headed and rambunctious, while he was not nice...he was kind, he had no desire to settle down and find an Empress, he spent his days between his rigorous training regime, pulling pranks on his family and castle staff, escaping from his boring lessons and study work and would shift into his dragon form and soar across the skies, visiting his friends and rivals in their respected lands, whether it was getting into fights with Ice Princess, son of the Frost Realm or being caught sneaking giggling girls into his castle bedroom every other night; Prince Natsu was a freedom loving young man who constantly argued with his father about not wanting to settle down at all and the trouble he frequently got into. He was perhaps a little over confident at his popularity with women and it was probably going to bite him in the ass one day, but he was just having fun. It wasn't as though he didn't treat them with respect, women were always throwing themselves at the handsome pink haired, muscled and tanned male, regardless of the scars that marked his face and torso from the tyrant Lord; we wasn't one to refuse a pretty woman...

Igneel knew his son had a kind heart, but chose to hide it behind a cocky and arrogant exterior that took no nonsense from anyone but his father; the boy needed some sense kicking into his thick skull sometimes!

With the pain of his broken wing still bothering him as it slowly healed, dragons were gifted with the ability to heal much more rapidly than normal folk, but he would still be stuck in his hideout for several hours while the bones grafted back together. He'd dozed off a few hours when his inner senses had picked up the scent of a trespasser; a woman.

How or why someone was walking into his fathers realm, Natsu didn't know; its not like the Fire Lands regularly received visitors, much of the country was still a burned and lifeless shell of it's former self, only the few remaining towns and villages held any life, crops or people; his home was slowly repairing itself.

Judging from her confused stagger through the landscape, the unfortunate woman was obviously lost.

As the intruder had gotten closer, his sensitive snout had picked up a strange but somehow familiar whiff of odour mixed in with the unmistakeable smell of a human. If that scent wasn't mixed in, his dragon would have immediately charged towards the trespasser and burned her to a crisp.

Humans were forbidden to set foot in this world, confined to their own dimension a millennia ago to prevent their further hunting of dragon kind. He knew very little of the human realm, only that they had multiplied and spread like a virus, polluting their air with strange contraptions and technologies unknown to the Dragon Lands, claiming every inch of land for themselves, cut down their forests, hunted most of their animals and were a greedy and selfish race.

Knowledge of the old ways and the like had been lost to them centuries ago; most had no belief in myths, magic or anything remotely supernatural, and Natsu preferred it that way.

The pathway between the two worlds had been severed, no longer able to live a peaceful co-existence, humans could not set foot over the boundary...so this human must be special indeed...had somehow found a loophole.

So, with it being increasingly obvious that he wasn't going to escape from his cave without being noticed by the human female, Natsu let loose a roar so loud that it shook the very ground beneath him and would terrify even the bravest of humankind.

His amber slits met those of deep chocolate, but to his utter confusion, there was no fear in her eyes.

Only curiosity.

The woman suddenly doubled over in an apparent display of submission to show that she was of no threat to him. His thoughts in Dragon-Form were hazy at best, so his sensitive ears didn't quite catch her babbling as his heavy footfall came to a stop at the edge of the cave. His dragon was curious as she peaked over her shoulder at him, her pretty face suddenly paled at his single right eye staring back at her, before she curled in on herself once again.

Strange little human...

Natsu could feel his vision blurring and his energy draining to the point that his entire body shook, so, with a howl of pain, the majestic dragon collapsed heavily to the floor; rocks and dust scattering under tons of powerful muscle, the human rolling out of the way at the last second to avoid being crushed.

He sensed the woman making her way towards him slowly, careful not to startle him as her gaze wandered over his body, eyes of dark amber took a good look over this curious woman.

She was extremely pretty for a human, Natsu noted. Fair creamy skin, average height, perhaps a tad too thin for his tastes, but her curvy hips and generous chest was more than enough to catch his interest. Long golden blond hair was tied up with a brightly coloured circle of fabric and her full lips were open in awe as she wandered his form. Chocolate brown eyes shone in wonder and her nose twitched at the scent of blood at his broken wing. Humans certainly wore some odd clothing...if the garish blue jacket, tight leggings and boots could be called odd. The high society females of Dragon-kin wore dresses of sumptuous fabrics, fabulous jewels and elegant hairstyles.

They were battle hardened warriors fighting for the chance to be claimed as Empress, or delicate ladies of the highest grace and poise; both revered for their beauty and power.

Sure, the blond was very beautiful, but Natsu had more than enough beautiful women throwing themselves at him to last him a lifetime, while he enjoyed flirting occasionally, he'd seldom taken his love life seriously, he rarely took a woman to bed to fuck her, contrary to what his old man believed; he just enjoyed the soft warmth of being wrapped in anothers arms as he slept.

He rarely slept while alone, plagued with horrific nighrmares of his mothers death.

Torn from his musing, his teeth bared in warning at the woman as she held up her hands to show she had no weapons.

"Easy there...I'm not going to hurt you...I just to see how badly damaged your wing is." The blonde tried calm him as she took a step forward suddenly and he reacted out of annoyance at her apparent lack of fear.

He was a terrifying and powerful dragon, He wasn't a youngling to be coddled and cooed over. So he snapped his fangs at her, barely missing her pretty face, it was an attempt to rattle her nerves but it apparently backfired on him.

She was grinning at him instead.

"That was naughty... how might I help you if you bite my head off, Mr. Dragon?"

He couldn't help let out a mental bark of laughter at her sassiness, so, to repay her smart mouth, Natsu retaliated by letting a stream of boiling air pass through his nostrils that hit her square in the chest, he exposed a view of her round and creamy breasts for his viewing pleasure.

"Pervert." The annoyed woman glared at him as she covered her chest with a small hand, it did little to cover the roundness of her chest but he wasn't complaining at the view.

He was probably being a little too hostile towards this strange woman, but he was tired, injured and extremely annoyed, she once again moved towards him as he lay exhausted before her. While it seemed this human actually wanted to try and help, even though he wanted it to leave him alone, Natsu watched her every move carefully, his inherent distrust of humans was still ingrained into his psyche, and it was unlikely to go away because one strange woman seemed not to be afraid of him. She also seemed intelligent for a human, aware he could strike at any moment if she made the wrong move, Making sure to tread carefully around him.

"Hi...you're absolutely beautiful." The awe and wonder in her voice were astounding to him, being raised on stories of the clashes between dragons and humans and their cruel and selfish nature, hunting dragon for sport and notoriety; maybe this woman was different?

On reflex, Natsu jolted warily as her delicate hand smoothed over the barbs on his mane, almost as though she were petting a skittish cat, he was half offended and half annoyed so he huffed, coiled his tail tightly around her ankle and lifted the surprised woman into the air.

Let's see if she was as brave or stupid when dangled upside down mere inches from an untimely death...

"Oi, put me down you silly lizard!"

Right, he was definitely offended now, so he relished in swinging her back and forth above his open mouth, silently indulging in maniacal laughter as she screamed above him.

"Okay... I'm sorry, okay?" Lucy squeaked.

His mouth snapped shut and Natsu turned his head to focus his gaze on her red face, no doubt she was getting dizzy from the sudden rush of blood to her head from dangling upside down.

'Will you screaming if I do Blondie? If I wanted to kill you I would have snapped you in half the moment I smelt your confusing stench outside my cave.'

As the blondes eyes quickly opened, she regarded him with surprise as though she wasn't quite sure he had actually spoken to her. The same instincts that told her he was a male, were also telling her that he did indeed speak to her in her mind.

"Confusing scent?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.

'You stink of human but you also have a whiff of this world.'

"And where exactly is this...world?" The blonde looked offended by his words but seemed to ignore them in favour of getting more answers as to her location, even if from a hostile source.

'You are trespassing on the sacred lands of the Fire Dragon Clan, ruled by the wise and just dragon Lord Igneel.'

"Who?" She looked thoroughly confused, her brain trying to process and just what Natsu was telling her.

'He's my father...'

"Oh." Was a simple reply, then she grinned. "Do I need to work on my curtsy?" She then gave a demonstration.

The dragon raised his brow bones wondering what an earth she was going on about, he had half a mind to have her thrown in the castle gaol or worse at her blatant disrespect for his fathers power.

'Huh?'

"Well since I'm not dreaming...I assume I'm here for a reason, I was hiking with my cousin through the forest, everything went black and now I'm standing on an erupting volcano next to a grumpy dragon with a shitty attitude...so forgive me for being a little tense right now!"

'You aren't exactly a bucket of roses yourself, Blondie!' Natsu snapped.

The blonde held up a hand to silence him, the fingertips of other hand pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"Lucy."

'What?'

"My name...it's Lucy."

'Look Lenny, I don't care what your name is...I want to know what you're doing trespassing on sacred grounds, are you lost or you just plain stupid, human?'

Lucy glared at the dragon haughtily.

"Wow...are you a perpetual asshole or do you do it just for fun?"

'Excuse me? I could crush you right now between my fangs and I wouldn't even care...so watch what you're saying, Blondie!' Natsu growled menacingly, two seconds away from –

"Look...I'm confused as hell, exhausted and I really wanna go home...if you aren't going to help me could you at least point me in the direction of somewhere I can find some decent food and a bed for the night? I can try and figure out what to do tomorrow, I'm very sorry to trespass but I have no idea how I even got here in the first place...I meant no disrespect." Lucy let her eyes drop to the floor, watery and threatening to spill tears down her rosy cheeks, her arms crossed around her waist as means of comforting herself.

The dragon felt his rage disappearing at the sight of the downtrodden blond and for a moment he felt sorry for her...maybe.

'Well...it's not like I'm in any fit state to fly on these wings anytime soon, it'll take me a good half a day to heal in this form. How about this...you can stay here with me, in this cave. I can get a fire going and will keep an eye out while you get some rest. We can figure out what to do with you in the morning.'

"This form?" Lucy enquired.

Natsu rolled his eyes as best he could and ignored her question in favour of lumbering heavily back into the cave.

'Look...you can either accept my offer, or you can risk it out here, I don't care either way. It's clear you trust me no more than I you, but right now I'm too weak to bother arguing with ya.'

"S-Sorry...just one more question?" Lucy shivered from the cold tone of his voice, were all of the people (or dragons) in this realm as welcoming? Because right now Lucy would prefer the company of her slimy old Senior Editor to this cold and rude dragon Prince.

She had honestly never met anyone who grated on her nerves and stoked her defensive and argumentative side than this man...dragon?

'What is it?' Natsu snapped.

"W-What will happen to me if I can't find a way to get home...what if I have to stay here?" Lucy shivered, not wanting to imagine the possibilities of being stranded in such a barren and desolate place.

The dragon turned his head to regard her with a large amber slit eye.

'I don't know why you're here, but you must have some form of connection to the Dragon Lands to even enter our realm...humans were banished centuries ago for slaying Dragon-kin. We don't trust or welcome your kind here, and you won't find a warm welcome. Your best bet is to meet with my Father, he should listen to your story and may know a way to send you back home. Until then...shut up and get some rest.'

Lucy picked up her backpack, her throat clenched with a lump she found hard to swallow, terrified of the possibility of being in front of the Dragon Lord, what would he say to her?

With a breath from the dragon, a fire roared to life in the confines of the large cave, the injured beast wincing as his damaged wing dragged along the ground by his clawed feet. She quietly entered the cave and trudged sombrely to the far side of the fire, opposite of the curled up Prince.

She was about to sit down when his voice entered her mind once again.

'Why are you so far away? This fire won't keep you warm, it's enchanted flame...it serves to heal my injuries. These lands reach freezing temperatures overnight, you would do better sleeping against me, I'm warm blooded.'

Lucy mentally scoffed and thought privately that there was nothing warm about this dragon, but she sighed heavily and took his word for it, too exhausted to try and argue with him.

No words were exchanged as Natsu watched her settle down towards the lower end of his body, her knees tucking in against her chest and her arms folded around them, her brown eyes glazed over as she looked into the fire.

It wasn't long before the blond dozed off into a fitful and whimpering sleep, clearly uncomfortable to the foreign feeling of resting against his scaled body.

But when she awoke, come morning...the dragon who had allowed her to rest against him the night before...was gone.

As her brown eyes fluttered open, she sighed in bliss as she felt a pair of warm, muscled and strong male arms holding her tightly and two very male and tanned legs resting lazily against her own.

Lucy whipped her head around to find a pair of oddly familiar amber eyes gazing down at her with an odd look to them.

Oddly familiar human eyes...belonging to a very naked human male.

Lucy screamed.

Oh my...just what is Lucy in for as she is taken to the capital to speak to Lord Igneel? See you soon!