I may or may not be writing the tenth chapter right now...
Chapter 5: The End
After that day, the day where the beast came and tried to kill his father, Natsu had worked harder than he had ever worked before.
And, now, the boy had trained until his seventh birthday, and his father watched the boy every day. But, Natsu fear of the dark never left after that night; this was more than 200 moons ago, and now the boy had turned seven years old.
The morning of Natsu birthday had been more than crazy. His father left early in the morning, and came back almost an hour later, while Natsu had begun his running of the cave, with chickens and more meat that the boy loved.
His feet tapped on the floor quickly and increased whenever he reached the dead, roasting animals. Natsu felt his mouth water with the smell of the roasting animals, and he would enjoy this birthday to the fullest.
Igneel had made clothes for him of all sizes, and today Natsu would be getting his first set of fur clothing. They were manufactured from the pelts of sixth ranked magical beasts. They were a brilliant, snow-white colour, and he'd be able to wear a set of boots that would fit his feet.
The boy hadn't even worked up a sweat in the first two hours it took for Igneel to roast the first chicken, but one thought lingered in the young boy's mind.
'Why was there a significant amount of food for two people?'
The boy thought his urge to ask his father why there was more food but then changed his mind; he watched his father yawn and continue to turn another chicken on the fire.
His running had come to an end, and that meant he would have to begin his meditation or climb the rocky wall that he hadn't climbed for a few days. Deciding to treat himself he moved towards the cold, dull, grey wall and placed his rough palms against it.
Suddenly, he felt more at home and ease. And like a skilled Ninja, he climbed the wall expertly, pulling and jumping slightly from side to side, the boy made his way up to the tree branch that marked where he had gotten up to last time.
As he grabbed for the branch with a tanned hand, he felt his footing give way. Slowly, the wall gave way and bits of rock tumbled to the floor like small balls and Natsu now hung to the wall with his arms alone. He looked down at the drop and felt himself getting slightly light headed because the height was quite shocking for the small boy to see.
Using the upper body strength that the boy had grown over the last year, he pulled himself up to the branch and carefully planted his feet into two crevices in the wall.
"Are you okay up there, boy?" His father called up to him; his, slightly pale, red hair pulled back in a messy way.
"I am okay! Is all the food for me?!" The boy called down in excitement as he asked his father, the man laughed at the kid, and then turned the chicken over to the fire pit.
"We will have a guest joining us." He said before turning back to the fire; the boy continued his climb.
The man coughed a little and covered his mouth with his hand, and when pulling his hand away found blood on it. He winced slightly, knowing that what he was doing now was the right choice to preserve his life and protect Natsu.
The man had become attached to the boy, feeling as though Natsu was his blood and flesh. But he was not a man; he was a beast to be feared by the rest of the world. He was the only dragon of his kind, and although there are many other dragons, they were not the same as him. Many were only of their kind that had done the same as he had planned to.
He wiped the hand on his rough cut pants, slightly sighing as he continued to roast the mass amount of chicken he had brought with him from his hunt.
Natsu watched as the wind changed direction, and then it changed again, and again. He looked around, feeling that the air was shifting due to magic. He became slightly alert, and like a wild animal he pounced to the floor and surveyed his surroundings.
Igneel had taught him to notice the change in the area, anything out of the ordinary was usually caused by magic. Natsu had learnt the hard way as his father taught his in the harshest way possible to detect the changes.
They had been in the clearing, where Natsu had broken through to a rank one earth element Mage, and his father lay hidden in the trees around the clearing. Natsu would have to defend and dodge his father's attacks, but his father would change something slightly in the area around him – if Natsu didn't notice in time, he'd end up in agony due to his father's attack.
Their training had become harder and harsher, but this only made Natsu stronger and wiser.
Soon a man descends from the far away crack in the ground, down into the depths of the cave. And Natsu watched in amazement as the man's cape blew upwards from him slow fall downwards. When the man came closer to the everlasting flame, Natsu could see that the man was bandaged and his hair was slightly long but didn't pass his shoulders.
It was almost the same colour as his fathers but was a little redder than his, and he could clearly see a sliver like armour on the man's body – he guessed that this is what protected the man from most blades that tried to pierce the man. He also had hair on his face, but that didn't stop the smirk that began to form on his lips from growing into a grin.
"It's been awhile, old friend." The man spoke, his voice rang in Natsu ears. He knew that this man was powerful and vigorous just from his voice.
"It has, Gildarts."
They found themselves seated on the floor, with furs from animals as their place.
Natsu tore into the roasted, succulent carcass of the chicken with vigour, eating up as much as he could to satisfy his big appetite. The two men ate rather slowly, looking at each other with a grave look from time to time, then laughing at the boy.
"Are you a deity like my father?" Natsu asked, staring wide-eyed at the man in front of him, his big grin plastered on his face.
"I am not a deity, although I am a saint," The bandaged man said, carefully looking at the boy who looked at him with astonishment, "I have fought many battles as a saint, and I met your father in one of those fights."
"Is that why you have all this white cloth on you?" The boy inquired again, feeling envious that this man had fought against beast and man, which was something he longed to do.
"These are bandages," Gildarts began, looking down at his bandages and unconsciously touching them, "I recently had them put on because I was injured in a battle with some Divians."
The boy showed his confusion, slightly tilting his head to the side, and said, "Divians?"
"They are the beasts that attacked us many moons ago," His father answered, patting the boy's salmon coloured head, "You should practice your magic now, maybe you will breakthrough. I have an inkling you are close."
The boy's eyes brightened up, and he showed his fanged grin to the two men before sprinting to a secluded area to being his meditations.
The two men watched the boy, who had eagerly sped away from the food, and then faced each other with the most serious of faces.
"You want me to take the boy?" Gildarts watched the man's eyes as they watched his son.
"I am dying, Gildarts," Igneel tore his eyes away from the child, who was now consumed in his training, "But the child must not find out what I am doing to preserve my life."
"How do you plan on preserving your life?" He eyed the man, a slight gleam in his eye as he asked.
"I plan on fusing my life with another man, who reached out to me. He is a deity, that much I can tell, and from his voice and his scent I can surely tell you that this man is that boy's father." Igneel spoke, a hint of hesitation in his voice as he reviewed his plan.
"Fusing your life?.." Gildarts trailed off, but suddenly his eyes widened, and his behaviour became irratic., "You are telling me that I must raise a boy who is from your human half? He will no doubt come looking for you, and I cannot stop him if he does."
"He must come looking for me; it is destined." Igneel's words were sharp – his decision is final.
The two sat, slightly glaring at each other, in silence. Gildarts moved his hands firmly to the front of his mouth and clasped them in front. He sighed, thinking of something to say in this awkward moment, but he had nothing.
Then a booming echo began.
The wind became harsh and violent. It was too strong for the young boy to stay in his position with, and he began to lift up into the air. Igneel became very alerted, and Gildarts rushed to the boy, grabbing hold of the boy's shirt and pulling him into the safety of his arms.
"Igneel, what the fuck is happening?" Gildarts yelled over the monstrous booming; his voice seemed to fade into the wind.
His voice died out before it could reach the draconic beast in his human form. Then, an ear-wrecking screech and crash sounded from out of nowhere, and in front of the boy's father, a black hole began to form.
It stretched and stretched, making enough space for a man of three meters to climb through. An arm emerged from inside, grabbing hold of the startled Igneel and pulling him forward towards the hole. But Igneel snapped back into reality.
He grabbed the man's arm, trying to twist it from the hold of his shirt, but it wouldn't budge. He then decided to release a saint level spell that would cause his hold body to erupt into flames, but the force and sheer power of the wind caused the flames to be eradicated.
Natsu did not see what happened. Next, his eyes had been covered by Gildart's cape. He tried to move it, but the wind kept pushing it back into his face, blocking his vision.
The wind became weaker and weaker – it stopped.
The cape fell from his face, and when he looked at where his father had been, all that was there was a pile of blood and a ripped shirt.
Natsu ran to the spot his father had just been stood, but he didn't make it to this place. He collapsed in emotional agony, his face streaming with tears. But these were not tears of pain; these were tears of anger.
"I will kill whoever did this, I swear it to you, father," The boy sobbed, his teeth clenched hard enough to make himself bleed.
Gildarts was still in shock, he had just seen his oldest friend taken from him, and now he would have to look after this friends son. He'd have to return home t his wife and daughter, and then explain how the boy was an orphan twice over.
He'd have to tell the boy that he was his birth father's last chance of being human, but he came out with magic surging through his body.
He'd have to tell the boy Igneel wasn't his father.
Natsu didn't know anything that had happened, and he knew he'd forget some of the time he had with his father, but he wouldn't forget the symbol he had seen on the man's arm before Igneel was taken from him. He will never know what his father needed to tell him when he was eight, but he knew one thing:
He wouldn't stop until the man who took his father was nothing more than a speck of unrecognisable dust.