A/N: Helo everyone, wiErD here... As promised, I got the first chapter up and running now since my head was in it so yeah. Hope ya like it.
So a lot has been talking about the pairing of the story. Right now, there's isn't because I originally made this to a broship between two brothers and since I haven't progressed the story far, I didn't think much of it. Nonetheless, I might have to reconsider it once this story gets more chapters in the future and that way both me and the readers will be able to set a better insight of the pairing you wanted it to be.
Another thing... The time travel plot will be not available here. There will be no Eclipse project going on since Zeref on the canon took part in it and since the Zeref here in this fic is not going to be like him, it's unlikely to bring up such a plan in the first place. And he didn't cause Acnologia because he's not the Black Mage here. Speaking of who, I have some plans on how I'll involve him in the story together with the four other children that was sent into the future because this is also their present time.
Disclaimer: I never own FT or all of its elements. Hiro Mashima owns them..
- Fire in the Sky -
May 25, X287
Seven years has passed.
Peace has been a fixture to the people in the village for a very long time. They never actually cared about the span of time going around the world as they lived to their simple yet satisfying lives with their families. Isolated from the human kingdoms established all over the peninsula, the people never known much of the outside world as they were never influenced by it and continued to live according to their current activities though they sometimes visit towns just to buy their necessary needs. Most of them never dared to venture far from their village because they felt that this is their ancestral homeland and should not be abandoned.
In addition to that, the village was never affected by the world's problems and most of them thought that keeping their lives normal as it is will prevent them from getting involved in it.
Near the outlying trees in the forest surrounding the village, two boys snuck their way towards a boar as it stops by near a riverstream to satiate its thirst from the long journey. They both each carried a seemingly long wooden spear and a pair of daggers right behind their backs which both serves as a weapon in taking down their prey as they slowly moved through the bushes, using the environment as their camouflage. Both males stop momentarily before looking towards each other and lightly nodded, signifying the start of their ambush.
Slowly raising their heads from the bushes with their spears up and ready, both males instantly went out and thrust their spears towards the unsuspecting boar who began to wail in pain as its body was struck with two sharp spears however, it managed to keep its strength and tried to run away from the scene in which both the two began to follow in pursuit as the younger one sprinted before the older one and grabbed its tail in order to keep on track of it.
"He's getting away!" He shouted in response.
"It's not going down after that attack... You'll have to stab its eyes out!" The older one order before trying to keep the pace and catch up to the boar but the latter has more speed in it than him and thus beginning to lose him in sight, leaving the younger one to hold unto it and tried to make its way up towards its back.
Taking out the small dagger on the back of his waist, the younger male simply tried to stab the boar in the body as it gave squeaking cries before wriggling around its body to know him out of its back. The boy persevered and never let go of his hold onto it before stabbing it yet again, thus wounding it in the process before sprinting off again.
He grunted as he slowly made his way just above its head before finally thrusting down the dagger right towards its skull until it instantly became limp and crashed right towards the ground, knocking him off and landed a few inches away from the down beast before standing up yet again to keep his guard up in the process just to make sure it's dead.
It gave slight convulsive movements for a moment until it finally stopped together with its breathing, ending its life in the process. The boy gave a loud sigh before dropping the dagger right to the ground as he landed on his butt to rest.
Eventually, the older one finally made it and made a relieved smile as he looked towards the dead creature and saw his little brother tired from the brief yet hard chase.
"That... was the hardest hunt yet..." The little one panted in exhaustion.
"Yes it is... I'm glad you're not that hurt, Natsu..." The older one replied with a faint smile before reaching out a hand to help him up.
"I'm fine... I can take care of myself, Zeref-nii... I'm turning seven in the next few days..." Six-year old Natsu beamed before looking back to the dead boar proudly. "Finally, we can have our dinner for the night!"
"If you don't watch it, you might get fat since all you've been thinking all day is about food..." Zeref joked until being glared upon by a slightly displeased Natsu.
"What's wrong with eating food? Father says that eating foods is healthy for our bodies..." Natsu reasoned.
"Not until you started to eat more often than needed." He joked yet again.
"S-Shut up... Stupid brother..." Natsu pouted since he can't seemed to find a way to defeat his big brother during a conversation. With him getting grumpy all of a sudden, Zeref could only smile warmly before patting his head for reassurance.
"Now, now... Don't be mad... I'm just joking, Natsu... Come on, let's head back to the village... Mother might become worried since we're way ahead of our usual hunting time." He turned his attention towards the dead creature before bring out a large sack to put it inside. Natsu smiled and helped his big brother with the packing and both pushed the loot back towards the village.
..
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It didn't take a couple of minutes for them to return back to the village as they made their way towards an open field, along the dirt road while dragging the sack behind their backs. They finally saw multiple huts situated around them as people were seen standing just beside their houses, talking to their neighbors while some tended to their daily activities such as farming and other types of agricultural work.
Children also ran around the houses, playing with each other as some of them waved towards Natsu who seemed to be good friends with them since he sometimes played with them when he had the time. Passing with some people, both brother could only exchange brief waves and smiles as they went on towards their way back to their house.
A few moments later, they finally reached back to the house and eventually saw their mother outside, cleaning as usual. Natsu immediately dropped the sack as he firstly went beside her and hugged Sofia upon seeing her while Zeref simply laid the sack beside before meeting up with his two family members.
"Mother!" Natsu beamed.
"Welcome back, you two..." Sofia greeted before pausing as she averted her gaze from pink-haired toddler and into the black-haired boy. "So how's the hunt?"
"We had a difficult chase but complete nonetheless... It's just Natsu always doing reckless things as usual." Zeref reassured.
"I see... I'm glad that both of you were safe and sound... I think that's enough for our food tonight... Zeke-kun is still out in the fields so we're quite busy at the moment."
"Do you need anything else, mother?" Zeref asked.
"No... I can take care things from here. How about you and Natsu rest for awhile... You two both earned it." She smiled warmly to both of them which they also returned the favor before talking about other things aside from their hunt.
Eventually, the two brothers entered the house and settled inside to rest from the hectic day as Natsu landed right in the wooden chair while Zeref went into the kitchen and tried to cook something for the two of them.
"What do you want, Natsu?" Zeref asked from behind.
"I'm fine with soup... I always like your cooking so I don't mind anything at all." Natsu replied, only giving the black-haired boy to nod in response before starting his own cooking as Natsu patiently waited for him and played around for a moment until his brother can finally finish his cooking.
It didn't take for him that long until he passed two bowls of hot soup right across the table as Natsu simply dug in and took out a small spoon and began to enjoy his meal while Zeref paused for a moment before silently scooping. Both of them were silent as they focused onto their bowl without interruption while their mother continues to clean the outside of the house until Natsu finishes his own meal before looking towards his brother with a slightly boring look.
"Ne, can we do something fun, Zeref-nii?"
"What kind of fun?"
"I don't know... It's just boring to be resting in a time like this... I wanna play."
"Alright, what are we playing?" Zeref quirked into attention.
"You pick... You always think the best of games everytime we played together." Natsu beamed.
"Well, let's see... I think by now, I don't have anything to think of since I'm out of ideas..."
"Come on, Zeref-nii... You always think of something new..."
But before they could even start thinking up a new game to kill time, Sofia eventually went inside the house and forgot something to tell with the two after their hunt.
"Zeref-kun... Can you do an errand for me?" Said boy turned his attention towards his mother as Natsu also did the same with confusion.
"What is it?"
"Can you go to Hallmoon and buy some supplies for me? I was about to take the trip myself but Charlotte-san needed help on something." Sofia reasoned and not until Natsu raised a hand in question about her statement.
"Hallmoon?" He tilted his head in confusion. Zeref and Sofia both looked back at him for a moment until the latter also added something.
"Also, you can bring Natsu with you... I'm sure it's a great time for him to see the outside world." However, Zeref stammered in response before recomposing himself and faced his mother with slight worry.
"A-Are you sure about this, mother? I mean, Natsu has never been outside the village and he's still young."
"That's why I'm having him to tag along since you know more about the town and it's a perfect time for him to explore... After all, he's turning seven in the next few days and he'll have to learn more about the world like you do." She smiled though Natsu never seemed to quite catch up to their conversation.
"Hmm? I don't get it..." Natsu continued to feel puzzled at their conversation. On the other hand, Zeref hesitated for a moment before crossing his arms in thought as tried to think carefully about it. It took a few seconds for him to decide until he finally passed it off with a shrug before looking back to his mother with a smile.
"Alright, I guess I'll have to tag him along."
"That's great... I'm sure Natsu will like it there... Oh, and do please hurry, you two won't have enough time to wander around if you stayed a bit longer." She reminded, causing Zeref to slightly panic as he went towards his room to change.
"Yay! We're going on a trip!" Natsu beamed with a smile.
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A couple of minutes passed as Zeref and Natsu have finally changed to their normal clothes as they slowly departed from their house and went towards the forest with the former carrying some gold necessary for the things needed to buy from their mother. Both of them carried small backpacks behind their backs filled with some things needed for their journey.
Apparently, Zeref's the only one in the family who ever ventured out far from the village and saw many beautiful towns and cities on the landscape. Unlike their village, those settlements were far more advanced and filled with many things they yet to learn. It was also the reason of why he became interested in visiting these settlements because of the new wonderful discoveries that helped him understand the world more.
One particular thing had made him interested the most... Magic.
That's right. Ever since going out far outside from the village, he discovered many places filled with magic. People like him wander around with staves and tomes which contained magic properties from within. Magic has been a fixture to mankind since the early times and has helped them to make their lives easier. Right now, you can just levitate things in the air and pull off a cup from the kitchen in just a flick of a finger. That sort of thing greatly made him more curious about the world itself.
Knowing the vastness of the world, there are tons of wonderful things that he and Natsu have yet to discover.
"So what is this Hallmoon?" Natsu began to ask as they walked towards the thick forest while following a small trail of dirt road towards their direction.
"Ah, it's a town that is near to our village... It's where we buy most of our things and foods when wee didn't get enough from our hunt."
"So it's like a market or something?"
"Well, you can say that but it's more than just a market, you know." He noted.
"How so?"
"Well, there's some food stores, shops and a magic guild that protects the town itself..."
"What is a guild?" He asked curiously.
"A guild is a place where people work together to do jobs with magic. It's also a place where you can earn money when you complete a job there."
"Magic?" Zeref could only chuckle at his curiosity.
"You'll see... Come on, we're almost outside the forest." Zeref began to jog his way out in which Natsu followed as they finally made it past to the trees and found themselves in very large area that soon stretched as far as their eyes could see.
There were many beautiful places as their eyes gazed over to the beautiful mountains in the horizon. Different landscapes were also seen as a gust of wind blew past between them, blowing their hair back as Natsu was left speechless at the beautiful place he was staring at. It was completely different from what he saw from their village. It was vast, full of plants and animals and filled with many beautiful things that he wanted to see up close as the bright sun shone above the sky towards them.
Zeref could only smile at his astonishment before continuing once more as he saw the town just before them from a distance.
"A-Amazing..." Natsu spoke in awe.
"See? Come on, there are other things I wanted to show you once we make it to the town." Zeref said in which the pink-haired toddler nodded in response as he followed his big brother behind before resuming their journey towards the town.
As they neared the town, carriages and other transportation came in and out from the town's outskirts as farmer tended to the fields while the other people wore a rather fine clothes as they entered the town and flooded the streets. Natsu widen his eyes in surprise and amazement as he saw towering buildings built out of stone which was different from the village. Shops and stores of different kind circled around on almost every corners as people went in the buy and sell stuff. Children around Natsu's age roam around and played with each other as the busy town continued throughout the day.
Then after a moment, the pinkette's eyes soon caught attention of a person who seemed to be wearing differently from the townspeople as he wore a pair of baggy pants with a brown tattered cloak to mask his body and its facial features. However, he seemed to caught a glimpse of a glowing magical orb in one of his hands as it levitated in the air and helped pushed a large block to the side in order to make way for the people who were traversing their way along that path.
He was amazed because just like of what his brother told him, magici s capable of doing things better than what a human can do and pushing a large block of stone is just an easy feat for a mage like that person.
"Magic is so cool!" Natsu squealed in delight.
"Told you... Magic can help a lot of people, you know."
"Can I become a mage?" Natsu innocently asked though his question slightly startled the black-haired boy beside him as he looked at him with a confounded surprise on his face.
"W-Well, I'm not sure if I can answer that, Natsu..." He slightly frowned in thought.
"Why?"
"Well, those people who can use magic are born with it... And many of the people here don't use magic because they were just normal simple folks... Same as us." He reasoned though after that explanation, Natsu could only put up a small sad frown on his face, knowing that he can't become one like those people.
"I see..."
"Don't feel so down about it... It's just that there are some people who were gifted to use magic at will but that doesn't mean there's no hope for people like us to become mages." It was then Natsu began to raised his head in attention back towards his brother.
"Really?"
"Of course, even without magic inside our bodies, we can become mages by using staves and other weapons embedded with magic. That way, you can become like one of those people without any magic source." He noted with a playful demeanor.
"I don't get it." Natsu tilted his head in confusion.
"I knew you would say that... ... But, I'm sure you'll understand it in the future... I always wanted you to become the mage that people will put their trust in... Believing in your friends and your family without fear and doubt. That's the kind of mage I want you to be."
"You don't want to become a mage?"
"Well, I was as some point but I'd rather study them than using them."
"That's kinda boring... I want us to be both mages..." Zeref could only chuckle in response before patting his head softly.
"Come on now... We're still young and we're already talking about the kind of people we're going to be in the future."
"But it's fun to think about it! I want you, mom and dad to feel proud!"
"And we already are... I'm already proud that I have a good-for-nothing little brother." He smiled.
"Hey!" Again, Zeref lightly laughed before patting his head yet again which irritated the little boy even more.
"I'm joking, Natsu... Let's go. We can talk about it some other time... When we grow up, I'll be supporting you always."
"Thanks, Zeref-nii! You're the best!" And with that, the two brothers simply began their way towards a store in order to buy their supplies needed for the family. Even though they were here to buy, the curiosity of the pinkette still never went down as he keeps asking more questions about the new things that he saw firsthand in many places. Zeref patiently explained them one by one and never bothered to be the guide for him whenever he's lost at something. After all, that's what big brothers are supposed to do.
With more time to spare they went in many stores and places for sightseeing as they met some people on the way and greeted them happily in which they returned the same favor despite being strangers at each other. While shopping for more supplies, Natsu eventually caught a glimpse of a small light red stuffed bear as he stared oddly into it though also catching his brother's attention as he glanced towards him while looking at the toy displayed on the store.
"Do you want it?" He began to ask as he made it beside him. Natsu flailed his arms in denial at first but ultimately giving up while trying to make an embarrassed look on his face.
"Y-Yes..."
"Fine... Come with me... Let's buy it." He smiled before taking his hand and went to the store as they simply asked for its price before taking it, much to the pinkette's delight and joy.
They also bought foods and silently ate them as they sat near the stone pavement and watch people walk right past at them as the day finally turned to afternoon.
As the sun was beginning its descent towards the west, Natsu and Zeref carried their stuff in their backpacks and started their walk back towards the exit of the town as the sky was beginning to turn dark with night slightly overtaking the scarlet sky from the east. Shops began to close and knights with torches began to patrol the streets as number of people on the streets began to diminish as the night continues to descend to the world.
"Let's go home... Mother and Father might be worried." Zeref proposed in which Natsu nodded before walking alongside him while holding the stuffed toy on his hands.
"Can we visit here again?" He asked.
"Of course... I'll have you tag along with me from now on."
"Yes!" Natsu made a proud smile on his face before making a small pumpfist.
It took about a few minutes for them to finally reach the town's gates until a large siren began to ring loudly as the townsguards scrambled from their positions and formed two lines right beside the gates with knights and mages coming from the barracks and readied their position in the walls while keeping up torches high to keep the town lit. Other remaining people began to panic as knights simply helped them to calm down and gathered all the civilians into designated shelters. After a few more seconds, the knights began to bring out large catapults and mages began bringing out their staves in ready as they made their way to garrison the entire town.
Natsu was instantly scared at the loud sirens blaring out from the tower and simply held onto his brother's clothes as Zeref inched themselves away from the scene and looked towards the town gates beginning to close.
"Zeref-nii... What's happening?"
"I don't know but no matter what you do, don't let go, okay?" His tone became serious as the knights came in groups while others went on individually to guide the other stray civilians out of the streets. Eventually, they were found by one of the knights as he went over to them with a worried look.
"What are you two doing out here? It's dangerous to walk out in a time like this? Where are you parents?" He asked with a sweating look despite being covered with full set of armor.
"W-What's happening?" Zeref asked.
"A dragon has been sighted nearby and is flying towards the town! There's been an emergency and all civilians must go to their designated shelters..." As he spoke a small magic circle came beside his ear which seemed like a communication magic from one of his colleagues and began to speak.
"What's the situation there? Has the dragon attacked?!"
"No... But it's heading towards this way over the mountains... Have you contacted the Central Kingdom?"
"We're on it... They're sending in dragonslayers in the area to clear out the dragon... In the meantime, you'll have to hold until they arrive."
"Yes, sire!"
Leaving his attention away from the two kids, he began to ran towards his station before advising them.
"You better clear out, you two! There's a shelter just about a block away... Stay there with the others and hide! Hurry!" He said before disappearing into a corner, leaving the two confused, especially Natsu.
"Zeref-nii... What's a dragon?" He tried to ask but he stopped as he saw the shocked look on his brother's face as he was left there standing as if something had struck him in the inside due to his unchanging surprise look before snapping out from his thought and looked back at the pinkette.
"There's no time to explain... We need to return to the village quickly!" But just as he was about to run alongside with him. They both stopped momentarily as a large gust of wind went past behind their back as they were left speechless after looking up in the sky and saw the sky immediately covered by something big, causing it to darken momentarily. It didn't take for the two realize the creature blocking out the sky above them as it gave off a menacing growl onto his large mouth. Two sets of large wings flapped through the air as it pushed down some of the people as it flies past the town, merely ignoring it as it tired to go over to the other side of the mountain before erupting into a roar that was heard through a couple of miles away, causing the people to cover their ears due to its deafening sound.
Natsu and Zeref were just crawling through the ground in shock as the roar simply staggered them before recomposing as they saw the dragon flew past right the town. Knights started to catapult while mages shot out their magic towards the dragon but they were out of reach however, the dragon never retaliated until it began to shoot out a small stream of fire towards the side of the town, instantly engulfing it flames as the knights stationed there were simply burned to death.
The heat of the blast went through the other side, almost felt by everyone in town as the people were simply staring in fear at the mighty beast in front of them.
"W-What are those things?!" Natsu cried out in horror as he tried to hide away from the destruction as he saw the fires erupting into distance.
"Keep your head down, Natsu!" Zeref moved in to cover him with his hand as another explosion took place as the dragon flew right past at them before floating in the sky again to marvel its destruction. In just two roars, the town was simply enveloped in flames as the dragon flew away yet again towards the forest, finally leaving the town in flames as the remaining people staggered from the ruins and were full of burns and large scratches from the debris. Most of them were either crushed or burned entirely from the disaster.
Pushing out a small rock away, Zeref staggered away from the debris as his face full of scratches before looking back to Natsu who was somehow protected from the debris but suffered small scratches and dirt all over his body.
"Are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine... I don't have any serious injuries... Natsu reassured before slightly settling down for a moment until he and Zeref finally saw the aftermath of the battle. They could only widen their eyes in disbelief as the town they once knew was just reduced into rubble as flames went up as high from the tall buildings, causing them to collapse before kicking up large patches of dust in the air. Other surviving people simply crawled out from the debris with multiple wounds far worse than them as healing mages came about to heal them.
However, a strong sense of fear went inside their hearts as they saw many bodies of people lying in the debris with most of them burned to death from that terrifying the dragon. Despite seeing blood so many times during their hunt, they never saw this huge scale of destruction and death before. As if the image of the town earlier was just a memory. A single dragon was able to destroy this much and no one was able to put a fight on it.
Zeref knew very little of them but he learned that they were very hostile creatures against humans and it was his first time seeing one together with Natsu. It didn't take long before they grabbed their things and tried to stagger away from the ruins until a group of knights came in to scan the area, ignoring all the civilians including them as they stared towards the horizon, seemingly trying to track where the dragon disappeared into.
"Damn it! That dragon!"
"How many casualties it caused?"
"Over a thousand, sire... The town was just... ... obliterated."
"We should've contacted the kingdom earlier... Who knew that a dragon would come in a place like this?!"
"What are we gonna do now, sire?!"
"Gather all the remaining knights and prepare to evacuate the civilians to the Central Kingdom... The Order will be coming soon. Search for any civilians who might be trapped underneath the rubble. Get the mages to focus on putting out the fires and heal the wounded people. We're abandoning Hallmoon... This place is not safe anymore." The higher-ranking knight ordered as they all scrambled to help the people from the rubble.
"What about the dragon?"
"There's nothing for us to do against that creature... Mostly likely, it's settling over to that forest to gather something... I doubt it would stay like that forever... Even if the Order arrives with their dragonslayers, the dragon might well as be gone from here."
Hearing the place of their forest, Zeref dropped his things in shock as he easily put the pieces together of where the dragon is right now. With Natsu still confused and troubled at the situation, he didn't waste anytime as he took his hand and began to ran back towards the broken gate and sprinted towards the dirt road with Natsu in tow.
"W-Where are we going, Zeref-nii?!" Natsu tried to ask but he ignored him as tears had begun to form in his eyes as he set his sights towards the forest without looking back while holding Natsu.
He didn't waste any second. He hated ignoring his brother's words but they just needed to return back as soon as possible. Although he don't want to assume things yet, he couldn't deny the fear lingering inside his heart as he tried to make his way back to his village before seeing a flaming haze over to the distance and a giant shadow looming over it.
It was then he began to fear for the worst.
"Mom! Dad!"
A/N: Helo guys! Here's the first chapter for you guys. Hope ya like it! It seems like it does not bode well for the two eh? Well, if you know what I mean hehe...
I know some are asking about his dragonslayer magic... However, I can't answer fully to that since I wanted to keep the readers at bay of knowing the whole story because it destroys the hype sometimes. But as you can see, I have plans for them... ALL of them except Fairy Tail and its characters. Sorry for now providing enough answers but I'll reveal them soon as the story progress.
That's all for now. I'll see you guys in the next chapter!
- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...
