The next morning, before the sun had a chance to rise up, Lucy hurried over to Gildarts house. When she arrived she found Gildarts up against the wall while Natsu was throwing dishes at him.

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

"When he woke up, he started to panic." He said.

"Let me try to calm him down."

"Be careful."

Lucy stepped forward, upon seeing the familiar face of the human woman who had been kind to him, Natsu stopped hurling dishes and started to calm himself.

"It's alright Natsu." She told him. "Gildarts is only trying to help you."

"Gil...Gil...Gildarts?" He spoke.

"Yes." She said pointing to the bearded man. "This is Gildarts, he's a friend."

"Fr-Friend?"

"Yes. I'm a friend." Gildarts said.

Natsu looked at Gildarts skeptically, he didn't understand Lucy's words exactly but he could tell by the time of her voice and assurance in her brown eyes that this older man could be trusted. So his tension eased up.

"I suppose you must be hungry by now." Gildarts went to his cupboard and pulled out some fruit and bread which he laid on the table. He and Lucy then stood in silence as they waited for his reaction. He approached the table, looked down at the food, sniffed it, then started to eat it. He ate like a rabid wolf, snarling as he scarfed down his meal.

"Okay that's really gross." Lucy said while trying not to gag.

"Don't worry Lucy I'll teach him how to properly eat after I teach him how to talk."

"I hope so. You know my father thinks that he's no different from a vicious animal but I know that there's so much more to him."

"I believe you but I think that it would be best if you left."

"Why?"

"You're too much of a distraction for him. I need him to be able to focus."

"Is it alright if I visit him later?"

"Yes but not right now."

After finishing up his breakfast, Natsu found himself being taught how to speak human language by Gildarts. It was difficult for him to learn at first and he struggled for quite some time, but eventually he learned how to speak like a man. He didn't just learn on to talk, he also learned how to farm on land, and how to use man made tools. Lucy always visited him during his lessons and Gildarts was an excellent teacher. He became very fond of the young man and enjoyed his company, viewing him as the son he never had.

Natsu also grew close to Gildarts and he became very interested in learning about the life in the Alvarez village. His fascination toward them only grew when he saw their man made tools and weapons like guns and knives.

Now it's not like Natsu lived there all the time. He would go back to the jungle to see Erza and to let her know that he was alright. She didn't like the idea of him being so far from her but she always knew that the day would come when he would want to know more about his species so she wouldn't deny him the chance to learn.

"Very good Natsu." Gildarts said as he watched the young man plow the fields of his crops.

"So what exactly are we growing in this soil?" Natsu asked.

"It's called corn and it's a very popular crop that we grow here."

"Do you eat it?"

"Yes."

"I've never eaten corn before, what does it taste like?"

"It's very delicious and the people around here pay a lot of money for it."

"What's money?"

"It's this." Gildarts showed Natsu a handful of coins.

"What do you do with it?"

"It's used to trade for things like food and clothes."

"Really? You mean with this you don't have to hunt or gather for food?"

"Kind of."

"How do I get money?"

"You have to work to earn it. Speaking of which, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Do you remember where I showed you where the preist's house is?"

"Yes."

"Good." Gildarts placed some of the coins into Natsu's hand. "Go to the priest and ask for some ointment for my back, when he gives it to you give the money in your hand."

"Okay."

Natsu went to the house of the priest. Now the priest of the Alvarez village had the position of advising the chief and providing medications and treatments for the sick and injured. He was a lot younger than Natsu expected him to be. Judging by what he had been told, he had expected the priest to be an old man but instead he was a young man in his late twenties. He had jet black hair and very cold eyes, yet there was something familiar about him.

"Excuse me, are you the priest?" He asked when entering the house.

"I am Zeref, the high priest of Alvarez." He spoke. "May I help you?"

"I'm here for ointment for Gildarts."

"Oh is his back acting up again?" He grabbed a jar of something from a shelf and handed it to Natsu who gave Zeref with money. "I've never seen you around here before, who are you?"

"I'm Natsu."

"Natsu? Oh you're that wild boy I heard about. That would explain the loincloth."

There was something sad about his demeanor. Sad and angry, true he spoke in a calm voice but his eyes seemed to be overflowing with a great rage.

"Why are you so angry?" Natsu asked.

"Excuse me."

"Your eyes, they hold so much anger. What made you so angry?"

Zeref flinched at his words then was taken aback as if he had been insulted.

"I think you should leave now."

And before Natsu could object, Zeref slammed the door to his house in his face. Natsu wondered why this man was so filled with rage and why he seemed so familiar to him.