a/n: welcome back! i put this story on the back burner for a bit while i finished 'your heart is a hurricane,' and now i'm gonna focus on this one ^-^
i'm basing everything about isvan on inuit (ᐃᓄᐃᑦ) culture and language (specifically inuinnaqtun). the language in the story is made up (except for the terms gray uses for his parents and grandparents) but influenced by the real language.
this chapter is more about gray and freed's friendship (along with some baby dragon shenanigans) because apparently i can't write crack without making it emotional.
"This was probably not my best idea."
Gray sat next to the campfire, keeping a careful eye on Natsu as he stalked toward the flames, tail flicking back and forth in excitement. "Be careful," Gray warned, holding Sting in his lap and stroking behind his ears. Sting purred happily and rubbed his head back against Gray's fingers.
Natsu gave Gray an offended look, then pounced forward, eating some of the flames. He scrambled backward after a second, smoke spilling from his mouth, then turned to Gray and opened wide to breathe out a line of fire.
"Not at me, you little idiot!" Gray yelped, quickly patting out the tiny fire that started on his sleeve. Sting made an indignant noise on Gray's behalf and pounced at Natsu, knocking him onto his back and nipping at his neck. Natsu kicked at him with his hind feet, growling half-heartedly as the attack turned playful.
"Hopefully he doesn't burn down the tent," Freed said mildly from the other side of the fire where they were bundled up and holding their hands out to keep warm. Laxus had already proven he could use his lightning magic when he ate the sparks from the flint for the fire, and he watched Sting and Natsu's battle with something like disdain from where he was settled in front of Freed. Rogue, who seemed to have taken a liking to Laxus despite his initial uncertainty, was curled up next to him, fast asleep with his tail over his nose.
"I probably shouldn't encourage him," Gray mused, shifting close to the fire and prodding at it with a stick. Sparks drifted up into the sky, highlighting the soft flakes of snow that drifted slowly down around them. The area where they had made camp was sheltered in a grove of pine trees, and Freed had created a rune barrier above them to keep out most of the snow.
Sting, who had scampered away from Natsu's retaliatory attack, dove into a pile of snow just outside the area they'd cleared. When he surfaced, his muzzle was wet from the snow he'd eaten. Natsu stalked toward him, then yelped when a blast of white magic hit the ground next to his front paws. Sting made a chittering sound that was almost a laugh before pouncing back onto Natsu and sitting on his stomach.
"I think he wins," Gray said, laughing at the outraged look that Natsu managed to throw his way. Natsu turned back to Sting and bit his foot, kicking him off when Sting stumbled back in surprise. A line of fire shot out from Natsu's mouth, scorching the ground in front of Sting and lightly singeing the fur on his chest.
"Natsu!" Gray chided, reaching out for him and grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. "Don't be an asshole."
Natsu whined, twisting in Gray's grip and trying to nip at Gray's fingers. "I know you're excited about your magic," Gray said, setting Natsu down in his lap and scratching the top of his head. "You can't just light everything you see on fire, though."
A small puff of smoke wisped up from Natsu's nostrils as he huffed, then slowly relaxed under Gray's hands. When Sting clambered up next to him, Natsu made an apologetic noise and started to groom the singed fur on Sting's chest.
"That's better," Gray said, leaning back and shifting so they could both curl up between his legs. "So, what about you?" He looked over at Rogue, who blinked at him sleepily as he uncurled from his sleeping position, then stretched out his front legs, kneading the ground as he yawned.
"He should be able to just…" Freed gestured around them vaguely. The sun had set not long ago, and the forest was filled with shadows cast from the bright silver light of the moon. Rogue ambled over to the edge of the makeshift campsite, watching the dark spots on the ground shift and flicker with the light of the campfire. Gray watched in fascination as the shadows solidified for a second before they disappeared into Rogue's open mouth.
Rogue turned back to the two of them, looking pleased with himself before he disappeared.
"What the—"
Gray's panic was short lived when Rogue reappeared on the other side of the fire next to Laxus, who jumped in surprise and bared his teeth.
"Interesting," Freed said, reaching out and running their finger across Laxus' head until he stopped growling and settled next to their leg. Rogue followed, standing on his hind legs and headbutting Freed's other hand. "So it's not just their breath magic."
"Well that's inconvenient," Gray muttered, raising an eyebrow at Rogue, who purred happily as Freed petted him. "The last thing we need is him disappearing. They're small enough as it is."
"You're not going to disappear on us, are you?" Freed asked Rogue, voice shifting into a soft, fond cadence as they scratched beneath Rogue's chin. Rogue flicked his tail contentedly, then wriggled his entire body and hopped up onto Freed's lap. Laxus gave him a quiet growl and Freed rolled their eyes, holding out their hand so Laxus could scramble up as well.
"You'd better not disappear," Gray said seriously as he grabbed the stick from next to him and poked at the fire. "We have to stick together; it's just going to get colder the farther north we go." Natsu, who was now curled up underneath Sting and using him as a blanket, grumbled.
"It would help if we knew where we were going," Freed pointed out, shifting so their feet were closer to the fire. "Does anything seem familiar?"
Gray stared at the flames, watching the patterns as it crackled and spit. Fragments of memory had come and gone all day, but any time he tried to focus on them, they drifted away like smoke into the night.
"Sometimes," he said eventually. "It's hard to know what's real and what's dreams. It was a long time ago."
Freed nodded, shuffling closer to the flames. "Memory is a strange thing," they said softly. "Especially when it's tied to trauma."
Gray continued to stare into the flames as heat crept into his cheeks, and he nearly dropped his stick into the fire. Freed was his best friend, but even they only knew bits and pieces of Gray's past.
"I think—we might be close to where I lived," he said hesitantly. "With my parents. Before Ur. I'm not sure. I think—that lake we passed, earlier today… I think I went there with my paappak." When Freed made a curious sound, he clarified, "My dad. I remember that much. And amaamak – my mom." The words felt foreign in his mouth, and they filled his chest with a soft sense of longing.
"You don't talk about them," Freed said. A cold breeze picked up around them, tossing small flurries of snow into the air. Freed reached out a hand and made a few simple gestures, pulling the barrier above them down until it surrounded them on three sides and kept the wind out.
"It was a long time ago," Gray said. Sting made a soft trilling sound from his place on top of Natsu, and Gray smiled, scratching behind his ears. "It hurts to talk about them," he admitted quietly. "I miss them. And forgetting… it feels like I'm losing them. I wish I remembered more."
"Of the language, you mean?"
Gray nodded. "I didn't even speak Fioran until Ur adopted me," he said. "I know other people up here must speak Isvanian, but nobody in Fiore does, so I don't have anyone to speak it with. So it just disappears, bit by bit, and it feels like I lose them even more."
"I could learn," Freed offered. Gray looked up at them and they smiled at him through the flames. "I'm good at languages, you know that. I'm sure there's books on it somewhere."
"That's a lot of work."
Freed shrugged. "I like work," they said simply. "And you're my best friend. If it helps you feel connected to your past and your culture, I want to do it."
Gray swallowed against the lump that suddenly pressed against his throat. Sting, who seemed to sense the change in his mood, purred loudly and squirmed off of Natsu, sitting up on his back legs and pressing his paws to Gray's chest. Gray laughed, kissing the top of Sting's head and helping him clamber up until he was tucked into Gray's hood, head resting on Gray's shoulder.
"Ulihn'nhan," Gray said, looking up at Freed. "It means 'friend.' Actually, aulhitub would be better, it's—like best friend, I guess."
"Aulhitub," Freed repeated. Hearing the word spoken by someone else after so many years made Gray feel warm – like he was little again and sitting by the fire while amaamak told him stories. "What else do you remember?"
A memory of pain and blood flashed through Gray's mind and he pushed it away, soothed by Sting's soft purrs and the way Natsu burrowed closer to him, making soft, contented sounds.
"There was another village," Gray said, closing his eyes to try to pull the threads of memory together. "I don't remember what it was called. My grandfather came from there and we'd visit sometimes. The way we're going, it feels like we're close."
"Hopefully we'll find it tomorrow," Freed said, covering their mouth as a yawn escaped. "Maybe someone there can tell us about the guild."
Gray nodded and rubbed his face as exhaustion slowly started to overtake him. He scratched behind Natsu's ears as he relaxed back against the log behind him, tipping his head back to stare through the rune barrier at the sky. Millions of stars spilled across the deep black night, forming unfamiliar constellations.
They sat in silence for a while, watching the campfire smoke drift up into the sky. Eventually the horizon started to shimmer, and a faint green light began to paint itself into the night. It drifted higher, twisting and turning and spilling out lines of pink and purple as it trailed overhead.
"Aulpiihitan," Gray said softly as memories of sitting on his father's lap and watching the northern lights filled his mind. "The light," he explained when Freed looked over at him. "That's what it's called."
"I've never seen it before," Freed said, tipping their head back to stare at the brilliant display. The lights gave their hair a soft bluish tinge "I've only read about it in books – it's beautiful."
Laxus, who had fallen asleep in Rogue's lap, blinked slowly awake and stretched, then tipped his head back to stare at the sky along with them. Sting made a contented sound and rubbed his cheek against Gray's before yawning and cuddling closer.
Gray sighed happily, closing his eyes and letting himself drift into memories. They came in bits and pieces – some of them painful, some of them not – and he let all of them wash over them, releasing them when they hurt too much. It was easier here than back home, and Gray felt a comfortable warmth fill him as he let himself exist and remember, surrounded by love and the snow and the northern lights.
That night, Gray dreamed about his mother.
Instead of crying next to her still body, dream-Gray was little – two or three years old, peeking over her shoulder from where he was tucked snugly into the sealskin akuq she wore. She was sitting outside under the bright winter sun, carefully sewing tiny beads into the fabric on her lap. Her hands were small and quick, the soft brown skin weathered from years of work.
The needle flew in and out of the fabric, pulling beads after it that told stories Gray couldn't remember. After a moment, his mother began to sing an Isvanian lullaby as she rocked back and forth.
"I am proud of you," she said softly to dream-Gray, reaching back and touching his cheek as the dream started to dissolve. "And I love you very much."
Gray woke to the sound of cursing.
"Stupid lizard!" an unfamiliar voice shouted. Gray was immediately up, throwing off the heavy blankets and scrambling out of the tent into the clearing. Two women stood near the extinguished fire, one of them holding her bleeding hand against her chest. Natsu sat on the ground a short distance away, growling and spreading his wings to look as big as possible.
"Natsu!" Gray shouted, darting forward and grabbing him while forming a shield of ice to block the blast of dark energy that flew from the other woman. It smashed against the barrier hard enough to shatter it and knock Gray onto his back. His head hit the ground as his breath rushed out of him, blurring his vision for a second before he managed to scramble backward and push himself to his feet. Natsu struggled against Gray's grip, growling fiercely at the women as Gray stumbled toward the tent.
"Gray! Get back!" A wall of purplish runes sprang up between Gray and the attackers as Freed appeared behind him, looking disheveled but ready to fight. "Is it—"
"It's them," Gray said, immediately recognizing the Vengeance Soul guild mark on the back of both the women's hands. A hot, stinging fear rushed through him, and suddenly all he could see was Sting lying on his back, blood dripping from where Gray's hands were pressed against the devastating wound his side. "Where are the other—"
Gray's panicked question was interrupted by the appearance of Sting, Rogue and Laxus at the flap to the tent, all peering curiously out at the commotion. Gray quickly dropped Natsu next to them and nudged them all back with his foot, keeping one eye on the women as he formed a blade of ice.
"You did this," he hissed at them, gripping the hilt of the sword. "What do you want?" Neither of the women responded, and the one in the back held her hands out as a dark, rippling miasma began to form above them.
"Get them out of here," Freed said, right hand holding up the barrier as their left hand started to draw symbols in the air. "Dark Ecriture: Pain," he murmured as a blast of runes flew through the air. The woman in front easily deflected the magic with a flick of her wrist and Freed's eyes widened in surprise.
Gray shook his head, eyes dropping to the scar on his wrist. "It was a trap," he said quietly, exhaling as he let the demon markings appear on his arm. A wave of nausea flowed through him, just like every time he used the magic, and he shook his head to get rid of the dizzy sensation. "They just want me."
"You can't just let them take you," Freed hissed. "I can use—"
"You can't use Darkness Magic," Gray said quickly, grabbing Freed's arm. "It's demon magic. I don't know what'll happen." He gestured to the markings that crawled down his arm and made twisting patterns across his skin. Images of Natsu with bared teeth and dragon scales appeared in his mind and he shuddered. He wasn't about to repeat that fight.
Another blast of dark magic shattered Freed's barrier, knocking them back into the tent. Gray quickly stepped in front of them as his devil slayer magic started to take over, spreading a bone-deep chill through his body.
"Go!" he shouted, shoving Freed back toward the dragons. Before they could argue, Gray dropped to his knees and pressed his hand to the ground, satisfied when a wall of ice sprang up behind him. He could hear Natsu and the others whining in confusion and his heart ached as he ignored the sounds and stepped forward.
"Don't worry," the woman in front said as she stepped forward. "We're not after them. They aren't much a threat like that anyways." Her laugh was grating.
"You did this to them," Gray growled, pushing himself to his feet. "It was all just to get to me? What do you even want with this?" He held out the arm that was patterned with black, showing them the scar. "You already tried to cut it out, what more do you—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the woman disappeared. Gray blinked, then cursed as he felt a sharp pain in the side of his neck. When he tried to reach up and touch it, he couldn't move his arm.
The last thing Gray saw before everything disappeared was the woman's grinning face, and a set of glowing red eyes.