A/N: Greetings readers of fanfiction! As always, if you don't wish to read my author's notes, feel free to skip ahead.
I'd like to introduce you to my third story, The Singing Dragon! Personally, I'm a huge music buff. I play multiple instruments, I write music, and I love to listen to music, so after discovering the 'Natsu can sing' section of fanfictions, I was HOOKED. Unfortunately, however, there were many notable problems. Most of the stories were unfinished, one or two were unreadable due to their grammar or spelling, the song choices feel random and unexplained, and a lot of the songs were duplicated between the stories. With this story, I will attempt to remedy as many of those issues as I can, along with having a set pairing rather than a giant, full-cast harem or an offscreen relationship with an OC that doesn't match up with the timeline at all. Speaking of which, this story is set post-canon.
A few final notes to add before I start the story. Even though all my stories are for entertainment, this one will be focused almost entirely on the concept of Natsu singing, rather than having a serious, running, evolving plot like my other two. The plot will revolve around the songs he sings and what they're about, and I'll attempt to be relatively humorous by doing things I wouldn't do in my more serious stories, such as breaking the fourth wall. I will warn you ahead of time, that some songs I have chosen are of a dark and/or sad nature, so I WILL cover topics such as depression, self-loathing, and suicidal thoughts, but again, this won't be the main focus of the story as it's supposed to be more of a light-hearted fun story. As with my other stories, this will be rated T, as there will be references to violence, sexual activity, alcohol, etc. but no graphic sexual content. (i.e no lemons and no W.A.P [Well Armed Peasants, obviously. Get your mind out of the gutter.]) I have a list of around 100 songs that I will be drawing from, however, if you have suggestions, feel free to leave them in a review, along with WHY you think it should be there. (i.e Not 'Wolf in Sheep's Clothing because I like that song.' I like that song too, but it wouldn't make any sense in the story. A better suggestion would be 'Highway to Hell because it's very similar to the Fairy Tail mentality of ''who cares what people think? We'll keep partying until we're dead.''') There's no guarantee I will use your song, but I'll read all of your suggestions and some will probably make the list, and some I probably already have on the list. Note that I have no idea if I'll use all of the songs on my list, it's just a list to draw from for now. All the songs in this story will be available on Spotify as of the time of writing this, and if a scenario comes up where that is not the case, I will note that with the song. Lastly, I will attempt to update this every Tuesday and Saturday, so be on the lookout. With that said, I hope you enjoy!
~ Ad Vitam, Ad Mortem ~
It was an ordinary day in Fairy Tail. It must be stressed that an ordinary day in Fairy Tail is not an ordinary day for any sane person anywhere on Earthland, but it's normal for the guild. Cana was guzzling wine straight out of a keg, Erza was smiling at her strawberry cheesecake, Lucy was stressing out about rent, and Juvia was collecting all the clothing that her 'beloved Gray' was unconsciously removing from himself. Perhaps the only strange thing was that no one was actively beating each other up. Again, this was strange for Fairy Tail, not for anyone else in Earthland.
Happy entered the guild around lunchtime, floating over to his 'mama' at the bar.
"Hi, Happy! How are you doing today?" the petite white-haired girl asked her pseudo-son.
"Hi, mama! Can I have some fish?" the blue cat questioned, drooling at the prospect of potentially having some delicious fishies for lunch.
The girl giggled and went to retrieve some fish for him to eat, making sure to snag an extra that he could present as a gift for his 'beloved Carla,' regardless of the fact that she is, on the best days, only mildly interested in eating fish.
Returning with the fish, Lisanna decided to ask about their residential pyromaniac's whereabouts. "Hey, Happy? Do you know where Natsu is? He hasn't been around lately."
"Aye, sir! He left to go investigate a potential dragon sighting."
"I thought...you know...Igneel already…" Lisanna said hesitantly, with a frown on her face, knowing relatively well how big of an impact the death of his foster father impacted him, especially since Natsu watched it with his own eyes after believing to have been abandoned for so long.
"Aye, but Natsu still keeps an eye out for any dragon rumors. He says that since they're all dying out, it's his duty as the Dragon King to protect them!" Happy informed her.
"That's just like him, isn't it," Lisanna said with a smile on her face.
The two chatted briefly about nothing in particular until Happy was finished eating, and all that remained was a singular fish. He wrapped it up with a bow he got from...actually...come to think of it, where did he get that bow from? Maybe Erza taught him requip magic?
"When Carla sees this fish she'll definitely love me!" Happy declared.
Yeah...probably not...Anyhow, with his latest plan to woo the white exceed in the works, he flew over to her table. Currently, Gray, Gajeel, Lily, Lucy, Levy, Wendy, and Carla were all at the table that had been claimed for Team Natsu and their close associates.
"Carla! I brought you a fish!" Happy declared, presenting his beloved with a gift.
"I keep telling you this, Happy. I don't like fish!" Carla responded. Her words could be interpreted as harsh, but ever since the end of the war, the cat had begun to soften slightly to the lovestruck cat, even changing her name for him from 'tom-cat' to his actual name...most of the time...
"Maybe you should try bringing her flowers, Happy," Wendy suggested.
"But how could anyone not like fish?!" Happy wailed, but his rhetorical question went unanswered, as the rest of the table were currently in a separate debate.
"And I'm telling you, rust-bucket, that no one is going to buy your lame-ass music!" Gray told the iron dragon slayer.
"Watch it, ice princess. My music is fantastic, and people are going to love it! Isn't that right, shrimp?" he asked Levy, his...girlfriend? No one is quite sure where they stand, only that lately Natsu has been laughing at the two when they enter the room and Gajeel has been acting strangely, such as 'admitting' Natsu was far superior to him, wearing bizarre clothing, and doing other rather peculiar and embarrassing things.
"Leave me out of it," Levy said, trying to not to hurt his feelings. His music was...well...it had a lot of room for improvement, though his lyrics actually weren't all that bad.
"What are you two talking about?" Happy asked.
"Metal-head over here thinks he can make a career out of selling his music and is trying to get us to lend him money to buy recording equipment. Besides the fact that no one will buy it, do you know how much that stuff costs?" Gray asked, rhetorically.
"Actually it doesn't cost that much at all," Happy replied, munching on the gift that was rejected by Carla.
"How would you know how much music recording equipment costs, Happy?" Lucy asked suspiciously, while everyone else looked at the cat in confusion.
"What? I don't! I'm gonna go ask Mira for more fish, bye!" the cat nervously said, and attempted to fly away.
"Not a chance, cat!" Gajeel said gruffly, grabbing the exceed by its tail. "How do you know how much this stuff costs? Even I don't know how much."
"IF YOU DON'T KNOW, WHY ARE WE SUPPOSED TO PAY FOR IT?" Gray shouted.
"Er...I don't know what you mean!" Happy got out, sweating nervously.
"I definitely believe he is hiding something," Panther Lily concurred while eating a kiwi.
"Obviously. Now we just have to get it out of him," Gray shot back.
"Are you sure we should be doing that? Maybe Happy really doesn't know. Or maybe he has a good reason to not want to tell us," Wendy said nervously.
"MAMA!" the cat shouted, submitting to his last line of defense.
"What is it, Happy?" Lisanna asked, approaching the group.
"They're being mean to me, mama!" the cat pretended to wail.
"Are they really being mean to you, Happy?" Lisanna asked suspiciously, knowing the cat far too well to fall for his antics.
"Happy said that the music equipment Gajeel wants to buy doesn't cost that much, but he won't tell us how he knows that," Levy informed her.
"Is that so?" Lisanna questioned her 'son,' who immediately averted eye contact. "And I don't suppose you would tell us for fish?"
"Fish?" the cat perked up suddenly.
"You tell us how you know, and I'll give you three fish. How's that sound?"
"Five!" Happy declared.
"Four…" Lisanna countered.
"Aye, sir!"
With the deal made, Lisanna went to give Happy his prize. Having returned with his fish, they sat down to get to the bottom of this latest mystery.
"Alright, you have your fish, Happy. Now, want to tell us how you know?" Lisanna interrogated.
"Nrftschu yrushes rt tr rrfcrd hrrs mrrsrc," Happy told them, through a mouthful of fish.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, tomcat!" Carla scolded.
"Aye! I said that Natsu uses it to record his music," Happy told them.
A silence swept over the entire table, quickly spreading to the rest of the room.
"FLAME-BRAIN DOES WHAT?" Gray yelled.
"Shh!" Happy shushed. "He told me not to tell anybody!"
"There's no way flame-brain makes music!" Gray laughed, causing most of the rest of the room to erupt in laughter as well.
"Happy, is that really true?" Lisanna asked over the echo of laughter in the room.
"Aye! But Natsu's gonna kill me for telling you…" Happy said, shivering.
"I don't believe it. No way Salamander's a musician," Gajeel grunted.
"Why couldn't he be?" Mira asked, walking over to the group. "I'm a musician."
"I think that's a little different, Mira," Lucy said, finally stopping her laughter.
"How so?"
"Look...it's not like there's anything wrong with Natsu, it's just that...he doesn't seem like the musical type," Lucy explained. "He's a great friend, teammate, and partner, and I don't know what I'd do without him, but I really can't see him playing an instrument."
"I think I agree with Lucy," Erza nodded, now sitting at the table, which had gotten immensely popular after the new information was released. "Natsu is a wonderful teammate and a skilled fighter, but a musician? I can't see it."
"Well, Happy, care to prove it?" Gray challenged.
"I can't! And you can't tell him I told you! He'll kill me! Or even worse! He won't take me fishing for weeks!" Happy wailed.
"How is not going fishing worse than dying…" a random member asked.
"It's Happy…" another replied.
"Oh, yeah. That makes sense," the first agreed, nodding understandingly.
"I think it's a little late for that, Happy. It's practically impossible for the entire guild to keep quiet about anything, especially something like this," Mira told him.
"If Natsu records it, why don't you just bring his recordings in?" Lisanna asked.
"There's no way-" Happy started.
"How many fish?" Mira sighed, knowing that it was the only way to get the cat to spill the beans. Besides, she really wanted to hear the pyro's music to see if he was talented.
Happy pondered this for a moment. On the one hand, he was slightly betraying his best friend and father figure's greatest secret. On the other hand...fish. "I want free fish for the entire duration of whatever Natsu's punishment is, and you have to protect me so he doesn't kill me."
"Deal!" Mira and Lisanna agreed.
"I can't believe this is happening! Flame-brain is going to be terrible!" Gray laughed.
"Gray, you will be respectful of him whether he is talented or not. Understood?" Erza said back with a glare.
"Aye, ma'am!"
"Happy, go bring all his recordings here, ok? We should have something to play them on," Lisanna told the cat.
"Eh? All of them? They're heavy!" the cat whined.
"How much could a few disks weigh," Gajeel scoffed.
"More like over a hundred…" Happy mumbled quiet enough so no one heard him. "Can Lily help me?"
"I'd be glad to, Happy," the warrior cat informed him, and the two flew off.
"Alright! Place your bets! Who thinks Natsu is a terrible singer, who thinks he'll be great, and who thinks Happy is making the whole thing up?" Cana announced, getting out the board.
"I think he'll sound worse than Gajeel!" someone called.
"I think he'll be as bad as Gajeel!" another shouted out.
"That can't be good!" a third exclaimed.
"HEY! MY MUSIC IS GREAT!" Gajeel roared.
The betting board rapidly filled. Most of the guild went under the 'worse than Gajeel' or 'equally as terrible as Gajeel' sections. There was also a relatively large group of people betting under the 'Happy is lying' section. Finally, there were the 'average talent' and 'incredible singer' portions. Makarov, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Romeo, Cana, and, surprisingly enough, Juvia all decided to go under average talent, while the two biggest supporters, Mira and Lisanna, decided to put it all on the final one. Many jeered or teased the two for their choice, though were extremely excited to make some 'easy' money.
After a while, the doors reopened, showing a combat form Panther Lily holding several boxes while Happy flew in carrying a relatively large one himself.
"These are so heavy!" Happy whined, setting the box down. "They remind me of pudgy Lucy!"
"WATCH IT CAT!" Lucy shouted back.
"Are those all recordings of Natsu's?" Mira asked, breaking the thick wave of silence over the guild that had built after Lucy had briefly scolded the cat.
"Truly impressive. If he's anything like Gajeel, we could be one of the most musically talented guilds in the country," Lilly confirmed with a nod, showing his support for his partner, though sending fear into the rest of the guild at what horrors they were about to be subjected to.
"Well, he's right!" Mira confirmed. "All of these are filled with music disks! Master, could we use Laxus' lacrima player?"
"I don't see why not," the master agreed, earning a grunt of approval from upstairs while Laxus brought the player down.
"I brought my favorite!" Happy declared, holding up a disk.
"I guess we can start with that one. Why is it your favorite, Happy?" Lisanna asked the cat.
"Because it's all about fish!" he cheered, earning a sweatdrop from the group.
"Alright! While they're setting it up, everyone who bet under 'Happy's lying,' pay up!" Cana shouted, earning a groan over a large group of mages as they muttered about 'rigged bets' and their huge loss of jewels.
"Ok, everyone! It says that this song is called The Fishin' Hole," Mira said, as she pressed play.
(Song: The Fishin' Hole by Andy Griffith)
Well, now, take down your fishin' pole and meet me at The Fishin' Hole,
We may not get a bite all day, but don't you rush away.
Happy was dancing and singing along, while the rest of the guild watched on with more confusion than anything else. Somehow, Plue hopped out and joined the dance circle of Happy and Asuka.
What a great place to rest your bones and mighty fine for skippin' stones,
You'll feel fresh as a lemonade, a-settin' in the shade.
Whether it's hot, whether it's cool, oh what a spot for whistlin' like a fool.
What a fine day to take a stroll and wander by The Fishin' Hole,
I can't think of a better way to pass the time o' day.
While the song breaked briefly for a musical interlude, the confusion of the guild was still palpable.
"So…" Gray started. "Uh…"
"I'm definitely better than Salamander!" Gajeel confidently declared.
"Oh, shut up!" Gray shot back, only to be silenced by Erza.
We'll have no need to call the roll when we get to The Fishin' Hole,
There'll be you, me, and Old Dog Trey, to doodle time away.
"Since when did Natsu get a dog?" Lucy asked, confused.
If we don't hook a perch or bass, we'll cool our toes in dewy grass,
Or else pull up a weed to chaw, and maybe set and jaw.
Hangin' around, takin' our ease,
Watchin' that hound a-scratchin' at his fleas.
Come on, take down your fishin' pole and meet me at The Fishin' Hole,
I can't think of a better way to pass the time o' day.
"Well…that was certainly...interesting…" Makarov said, scratching his head.
"I think that falls under 'average,' what do you say?" Cana asked, trying to close up the bet quickly.
"What? That's the best song ever written!" Happy insisted.
"Maybe someone else should choose one?" Levy asked.
"Why should we listen to more of flame-brain's music?" Gray asked.
"You're just mad because you already lost the bet, Gray," Mira scolded, earning a scoff from the ice mage.
"I'll pick one! I thought the song was pretty good!" Lisanna said, always in support of her childhood best friend and potential future husband. Not that she would admit that to anyone seriously, of course.
She picked one of the boxes and opened it, rummaging around in the disks for a moment.
"So, did Natsu make all of those songs, Happy?" Mira asked.
"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered back.
"How long has he been doing this for?"
"Hmmm...I found out about it after we left to train for a year," Happy said after thinking for a moment. "But he has songs from all the way back to before mama went to Edolas."
"That long?" Lucy gasped.
"Why has he not told us about it?" Erza demanded, always one to be upset at being out of the loop in regards to guild member hobbies, interests, events, or really anything else that isn't her business in the first place.
"Natsu doesn't want people to know. The only reason I know about it is because he brought a guitar with us when we left to train so he could write during the evenings," Happy told them.
Before they could get more information, Lisanna pulled out a disk. "This is an interesting one," she said, looking at it."This one is dated in x783."
"That's the year after you went to Edolas, isn't it?" Levy asked.
"Yeah…" she answered, with a slight note of sadness in her voice.
"Well, come on! Let's hear it!" Mira encouraged, as Lisanna approached the player.
"Alright, alright! It's titled Dear God," she said, putting the disk in.
(Song: Dear God by Avenged Sevenfold)
Before any music started, a voice spoke in a normal tone, which was quickly recognized as Natsu. "I'd like to dedicate this song to Lisanna...I just wanted to let you know that we all miss you, and I hope you're watching over us…"
A few gasps were heard, and Lisanna started to tear up slightly as an acoustic guitar began to play a detailed riff alongside a drum set.
"Is this flame-brain?" Gray questioned loudly.
"SHUSH!"
A lonely road, crossed another cold state line
Miles away from those I love, purpose undefined
While I recall all the words you spoke to me
Can't help but wish I was there
At where I'd love to be, oh yeah
Dear God, the only thing I ask of you
Is to hold her when I'm not around
When I'm much too far away
We all need that person who can be true to you
But I left her when I found her
And now I wish I'd stayed
'Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired
I'm missing you again, oh no
Once again
Most of the guild had tears in their eyes, and Lisanna and Mira were hugging each other bawling. Lisanna felt awful for how her family felt on Earthland while she just stayed in Edolas without even trying to come back. Even Gray was trying to hold back tears.
There's nothing here for me, on this barren road
There's no one here while the city sleeps
And all the shops are closed
Can't help but think of the times I've had with you
Pictures and some memories will have to help me through, oh yeah
Dear God, the only thing I ask of you
Is to hold her when I'm not around
When I'm much too far away
We all need that person who can be true to you
But I left her when I found her
And now I wish I'd stayed
'Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired
I'm missing you again, oh no
Once again
Some search, never finding a way
Before long, they waste away
I found you, something told me to stay
I gave in, to selfish ways
And how I miss someone to hold
When hope begins to fade
A lonely road, crossed another cold state line
Miles away from those I love, purpose undefined
Dear God, the only thing I ask of you
Is to hold her when I'm not around
When I'm much too far away
We all need that person who can be true to you
But I left her when I found her
And now I wish I'd stayed
'Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired
I'm missing you again, oh no
Once again
As the music shifted from a lyrically based piece to an instrumental, the guild was simply amazed by Natsu's talent. Not only were his lyrics beautifully written, but his talent with the guitar was something of legends. The emotions that he must have felt from the loss of his closest friend were clearly conveyed in the song, even without lyrics there to tell his story.
After the song ended, the only sounds were the sniffles from the members who had been crying at the song.
"See…" Gray said, trying to hold back tears. "I told you flame-brain wasn't that good."
"Oh, shut up, Gray! You're just mad you lost the bet!" Cana shouted, trying not to cry herself.
"That was so beautiful!" Erza sniffed, wiping a stray tear from her eye.
"How is Natsu so good at writing lyrics? Maybe I should get him to help me with my novel…" Lucy thought aloud.
"If I told you yesterday you'd be thinking of having Natsu help you with your novel, you'd call me crazy and send me to Porlyusica for a mental examination," Levy teased.
"Can you blame me?"
"That was amazing!" Lisanna sniffled out, as the two Strauss sisters released each other.
"TEARS ARE MANLY!" Elfman roared, as he too was bawling during most of the song.
"He really did miss you. That's so like Natsu too. He was crushed that you weren't there with us, but all he really wanted was for you to be happy," Mira told her sister, smiling with tears in her eyes.
"I told you Natsu is a great singer!" Happy declared.
"He's not better than me," Gajeel grunted.
"He's definitely better than you, rust-bucket," Gray shot back.
"Are you admitting that Natsu has talent? I never thought I'd see the day!" Makarov said proudly.
"No! He probably just got lucky!" Gray insisted, trying not to give credit to his best-friend/rival/brother.
"If he wrote a song about Lisanna, who else did he write a song about?" Kinana asked, which got most of the guild thinking.
"I think I'll pick one next!" Mira decided, and walked over to the boxes.
Meanwhile
"I wonder why I feel like beating the crap out of Happy," a pink-haired man wondered, as he continued walking through the forest. "I have this terrible feeling too...like my life is about to get way harder. Hmmm… Eh! It's probably nothing."
With that, he continued his journey, unaware of the fact that his guild has discovered his prized possessions.
