"speaking"
"Thinking"
On with the story
Natsu stood in front of his mates, his children, and his people while having a very threatening posture. Zeref stood behind Natsu as the Demon King sat on a boulder sized rubble
"Warta…come forward" Natsu called out as everyone looks to Warta who took a step forward and kneels in front of the king "what is the main position that I had instructed to you during my absence in my kingdom?"
"the protection of the kingdom, the protection of your family, my king" Warta replied before Natsu grabs his shirt and pulls him up
"then tell me this" Natsu said as his faceplate slides open and the Dragon King's face was filled with fury and anger "WHY THE HELL ARE THEY DOING HERE?! WHY ARE THEY OUT OF DRAGNOF!?"
Natsu throws Warta away as the Dark Elf fell to the ground with a slightly pained look
"father!" Kamika went to her father but Warta held up a hand to stop her
"don't…." Warta said slowly sitting up "don't do anything"
Kamika looks to her father before to Natsu as the Dragon King rubs his stressed face
"I leave the kingdom in your hands, your capable hands!" Natsu stated looking at Warta "I put one strict rule! Not one of my mates! Not one of my children! Not one of any of you can go out of the kingdom's borders without my permission! That is the number one rule, I had strictly placed upon my absence! And what do I see here?! Pure insubordination!"
"Natsu, wait! Things aren't as it seems to be!" Lucy exclaimed as Natsu looks at her with glowing crimson eyes that instantly caused her to shake in fear
"do not talk, Lucy…" Natsu said as his eyes glowed red menacingly "Or Else"
Natsu looks back at Warta as he started shouting out how insubordinate the Dark Elf Councilmen was to his orders. Warta kept his silence as he looks down to the ground
Natsu huffs his breathing before he looks to Kaithen and the others
"and as for the rest of you!" Natsu exclaimed "what were you thinking when going to this island!? Do you have any idea the utter danger you could've brought to one another!? Or to any innocent bystanders!? Or to your own mothers who all came looking worried for all of you?! You could've got them hurt or worse! Your own selves!"
Natsu furiously glares down to his kids as they huddled up while looking scared to their father
"pure selfishness! Pure childish actions! Pure madness! I am angry beyond words because of what you all did!" Natsu shouted out as he points to the destruction upon the island
Natsu glares down to his children as he saw them tearing up in fear of his outrage burst. The Dragon King huffs a few times before he rubs his face a few times and then sighs
"Warta, you and the rest of the soldiers start surveying the area and find any injured slaves. Get them to me so that I can heal them, understand?" Natsu said as Warta stands up and bowed before doing his duty as ordered with the soldiers following behind
Natsu looks at Grandeeney as the Sky Dragon bowed to him
"get back to Dragnof and report to Makarov to send ships here." Natsu stated "I want more soldiers to survey this area and secure it. understood?"
"it shall be done, my king" Grandeeney said as she leans her head up before flapping her wings a few times and flies away
Natsu looks to his mates as they stand near him while looking a bit afraid
He raised up a hand and was about to talk but the words were stuck in his throat
Natsu sighs as he started walking away
Lucy tried to call out to him but Gildarts came in and place a hand on top of Lucy's while shaking his head, telling her that it was best to leave Natsu alone for a moment
They look to Natsu who walks away while Zeref followed behind, the rest didn't know him but they didn't seem to have the recollection to ask on who he was
An hour later, Natsu was found sitting on top of a pile of rubble with a stressed and tired face
"you know, being a father is never an easy job" Zeref who was nearby stated to Natsu with his faceplate opened "having a wife, having kids, raising them and taking care of them, that is easy but keeping them safe is always a challenge"
"I'm just.." Natsu sad before he stopped and let out a long sigh "I'm just so angry that they would do something like this….the world out of Dragnof isn't safe for any of them…."
"I know, but you're doing just one thing" Zeref stated "you're just caging them within your kingdom"
"how is that bad?" Natsu said while throwing away a small pebble "I'm keeping them safe"
"and unable to spread their wings" Zeref added in "there will be a coming time when they have to leave their own nest and to the world outside. Dragons weren't creatures bounded by law, they're a race that strives for freedom to the world and maintains its balance"
Natsu sighs as his faceplate slides close to cover his face
"I'm just afraid…..that I'll lose them.." Natsu said in a low voice but Zeref could still hear him "just like…"
"when you lost both mother and your father…right?" Zeref said as Natsu didn't reply, seeming that his answer was correct
"they don't know…how this world is still filled with so much danger" Natsu said "and they just acted like all they wanted, how childish can they even get?"
"they're children, Natsu" Zeref stated "they are supposed to act like children"
Natsu sighs before he looks up and then to the side as his faceplate slides open.
"what is it?" Zeref asked as his faceplate closed up again and his eyes glowed black behind his helmet
"a voice" Natsu said getting up and looks around "I hear a voice…calling out for help"
"a voice? Here?" Zeref said as Natsu scans the area and started walking towards a direction "there, huh?"
The two walks ahead as they went to a collapsed building
"right here" Natsu said as he grabs a hold of a large rubble and pulls it aside
Upon the ground were some tree roots but they were slithering around
"a nature type beastmen?" Zeref said as Natsu started throwing away the rubbles one by one before they managed to open an entrance way
Within the entrance way, there were many tree roots everywhere as inside was a cage made from wood and within that cage were beastmen and human slaves, all huddling close to each other
"this doesn't seem to be a cage to hold them in" Zeref noted as the two walked in
Natsu grabs hold of the wooden cage before seeing it just split apart upon his touch
"thank….you…for…..coming…" a low and weak voice whispered out as Natsu and Zeref looks inside and sees a man whose skin is like wood and body seeming to be fusing with the wooden cage "thank…you…"
"an elder Dryad" Natsu said as his faceplate slides open "here?"
"….please…..keep….these ones….away….from…this…island…please" Azuma stated as his wooden skin was rotting slowly "i….do…not…have..much time"
"his life" Zeref said seeing how the beastmen and human slaves were huddled close to the Elder Dryad
"please…keep…them….safe….and…save my….brethren..in…" Azuma said before he closed his eyes and his body started rotting before they turn to ashes
Natsu holds up his hand as he caught a crippled wooden bark that turns to dust, a second later
"his life force was already fading, yet he uses his will strength to hold out this long" Zeref said as the wooden cage was rotting into ashes "remarkable"
Natsu looks upon the flying ashes as they fly away with the wind
"Natsu" Zeref called out to the Dragon King who nodded while his faceplate slides close
A few hours later, many beastmen and human slaves were getting taken away on the Dragnof Ships that had arrived at the island's shorelines
Natsu watched them getting transported out of the island before he turns his attention to Lucy and the others who were with their children
"are you ready?" Zeref asked his brother while standing beside him
"yeah, just give me a moment" Natsu replied before he started walking to his mates and children
Lucy with the others had their children with them while in their human form as they huddled close with their mother before they saw Natsu coming close to them
Kaithen and the others hide behind their mother as they were still afraid after their father's raging outburst
Natsu looks to them as he kept his silence for a single minute, before long his face plate slides open
"I expect you all to return back to Dragnof the moment the ships are prepared, understood?" Natsu said as Lucy and the others look at him before nodding "good"
Natsu got near before he kneels on the ground so that he is in his children's height of the view
He looks at his kids as they were hiding behind their mother from him
Natsu sighs as he knew that they will be afraid after seeing him so angry
"I'm still angry that you all went off, bringing harm to each other and to your mothers who came to find you all. After you are back in Dragnof, there will be no going off anymore" Natsu said as he stands back up "that is my final word"
Natsu turned around as he started walking away
"Papa…" Kaithen and Levia called out to Natsu who stopped before he glanced back at them
The two Sea Dragons looks a bit nervous while behind Kagura as they soon hid behind her
Natsu looks at them before he looks away
his metal wings spread out as Natsu bends his knee a bit before he jumps and flies away
His mates and children watch him fly away as Zeref joined him
The two soon dashed away as they head south of their location
Lucy and the others watched them fly away as they were soon gone in matter of seconds
"we should head back" Cana said as the others nodded
The mothers hold their children's hands as they started going to the ships but Kaithen and the others were looking to where their father had gone too
"please….anyone….help….please.." an echoing whisper was heard as Lucy and the others couldn't hear it but they could
That's a wrap!
Bye bye