At the break of dawn, Levy had to keep her promise. The dragon turned out to be rather pushy; the thing had practically shoved her out of the cave! Yet unbeknownst to the dragon, Levy was mapping the location of the cavern from the village as she traveled back. There was no way she was going to leave this discovery alone!
When she finally returned to the village, she made sure to head straight for Makarov's shop. A wailing old man with tears streaming down his cheeks greeted the girl; he was apparently thankful that his cute apprentice was safe. To her relief, Laxus was nowhere in sight.
Makarov asked about her mission; with a sheepish smile, she gave him the herbs and explained that she had fallen into the river. Of course, the man went ballistic, searching her for wounds or signs of illness. Thankfully, he never asked about how she got out of that mess; she had no decent explanation. She herself had no idea who saved her or how she ended up in a cave.
As the old man continued to fuss over her, Levy decided that perhaps it would not be in her best interest to mention the dragon's den: he'd probably forbid her from entering the forest ever again!
There was one person, though, that Levy knew she could share this information with: her best friend, Lucy Heartfilia. She was the daughter of a merchant family and was rather wealthy, too. But that didn't matter to her. She was, like Levy, more interested in books and adventure.
Levy waited until Makarov had finally calmed down. Then, she asked for some time to get cleaned up and rest a bit; naturally, the concerned man complied. But instead of returning to her home, she went straight to the Heartfilia residence.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Can you hear yourself, Levy? Don't you know how crazy it sounds?"
"You've got to trust me, Lulu! I assure you, it really happened!"
Levy's blonde, busty friend really couldn't believe her ears. Her best friend randomly shows up at her home claiming to have discovered a genuine dragon, straight out of a storybook. How could she expect her to believe it so easily? She narrowed her eyes.
"So, let me get this straight. You randomly woke up in some cave, which happened to have a dragon inside? And you lived to tell the tale?"
"That's the strange part," Levy admitted as she folded her arms in thought. "I mean, it was irritable and a bit hostile, but it never harmed me. I may have gotten a bit carried away when I first found it, but it accepted me, Lulu. I really think it understood me."
Lucy's eyes brimmed with concern. "Levy, do you want me to send for a doctor? Or maybe we can talk to Makarov and see what he says."
"No! Makarov can't know. Besides, what if Laxus hears? You know what his first thought would be!"
The heiress smirked and puffed her chest, trying to imitate the large man. "I'm gonna get me a dragon skin and present it to my Mirajane!"
Levy couldn't help but laugh at the horrible but verbally accurate impersonation. Lucy knew very well how the blue-haired mage felt about her teacher's grandson. Being referred to as "brat" on a regular basis along with his major ego didn't leave a positive impression.
"Okay, so no telling either Dreyar. What are you planning to do?"
Levy held her chin as she thought. "Well, I think I'll go back. I want to really study that dragon!"
Lucy looked mortified before she managed to shout, "Levy McGarden, you are positively insane!"
The blue-haired mage grasped her best friend's hands. "Promise me, Lucy. This is between us."
Lucy sighed in defeat. "Fine. I promise," she muttered. "Just be careful."
The next day, Levy went back to work as Master Makarov's apprentice. Unfortunately, he had chosen to keep a very close eye on her for the time being. Levy was beginning to think she'd never get the chance to slip away. Then, as luck would have it, a client came in and urged the man to leave the shop.
"No, no, I can't just up and leave my apprentice alone! I need to be here where I am needed."
But the client began to whisper in the old man's ear. Makarov then began to blush with a sleazy grin. Levy had three guesses what was involved: booze, broads, or both. Those were, after all, Makarov's weakness; the old man simply couldn't refuse a good time. Without a moment to spare, the two were out the door. Levy took the opportunity to close shop. She hurriedly packed a basket, left a note for the master, and grabbed her shawl before dashing out the door.
With the map she had created, Levy wandered through the forest, trying to relocate the dragon's den. The basket she had prepared had various foods and tools she could use; she had decided that she could care for the dragon while studying it. Unfortunately, she had no idea what a dragon needed, so she had to guess.
The journey wouldn't be easy; Levy already knew from experience. The den was well hidden, as if the beast had no desire to be discovered. Also, it was rather deep into the woods, making the trip long as well as tedious, with the bluffs to tread, the rushing river to cross, and some large tree roots to climb through. But Levy was determined to meet the creature again.
Needless to say, it was a different story for the dragon.
When she first arrived at the cave, it wasn't there. Levy had almost panicked, until she heard the sound of flapping wings. Suddenly she felt a harsh wind, so she had to brace herself before she blew away.
Once the mini hurricane ceased, she dared to peek one eye open. The creature was currently glowering down at her. One look into those burning ruby eyes could send anyone running: anyone except Levy. There was no way to explain it, but she knew better. Somehow, someway, she knew it wouldn't actually hurt her. It was just trying to scare her away, most likely for privacy. Because, of course, this enormous, fire-breathing giant with dangerously sharp teeth and claws would never be afraid of a tiny human like her. Still, upsetting a dragon did not seem like the brightest of ideas.
Without hesitation, she held up the basket.
"Wait a second, big guy! I brought you something to eat!"
The mention of food seemed to halt the beast. It eyed her curiously, moving its gaze between her and the basket. Levy used the pause to place the basket down and pull the items she had packed.
In truth, she had no idea what dragons ate. Her logic told her that her best bet was to rely on foods that can be found in the wild. One by one, she brought out various plants, fruits, and nuts.
The dragon looked disgusted.
Next, she pulled out some dried meat. Same reaction.
She had no luck with her bread, either, though that was more of a desperate attempt. There really was no winning with this dragon.
'So, if it won't eat the foods I brought, maybe it prefers something else found in the wild?'
Levy thought back to the river: maybe she could catch some fish.
Excited by her new idea, she ran in the direction of the river, where the water was quiet. Surprisingly, the dragon followed her.
Upon arrival, the girl proceeded to remove her footwear and tie up her skirt. The dragon tilted its head as it watched her, either fascinated or confused. It observed silently as Levy stepped into the water and held her hands out. Her eyes scanned the water, waiting for her prey. At last, a fish was in sight. As silently as she could, she positioned herself, waiting for the proper moment. Then abruptly, her hands shot out to grab it. Water splashed about, forcing her to close her eyes. She could feel the slippery scales for but a moment…before it squirmed right out of her hands. Levy stared at her empty hands in disappointment.
Her sorrow was short lived as her ears caught a huffing sound. Apparently, the dragon found this amusing. With red cheeks, she glared at it.
"Shut up! Let's see you do better!"
Levy seemed to forget what she was talking to. Nonchalantly, the dragon moved over to the river. It stared at the water for a moment. In a flash, it swiped its claw at the water, splashing Levy's face in the process. She was about to complain, but then she spotted the fish flopping on the shore. Knowing she had been outdone, she glared at the dragon.
"Show off."
The beast simply huffed, which must have been a laugh. Apparently this dragon had an arrogant personality.
Doing her best to ignore the (probably) smirking dragon, she reached down and grabbed the fish by the tail. She held it up to the dragon. "So, raw or cooked?"
To her surprise, it backed off in disgust! Levy was left gaping in unbelief.
"Seriously? You don't like fish, either?"
The dragon snorted back at her, as if that should've been obvious.
Frustrated with the picky eater, Levy huffed before digging out her pen. The dragon may not want it, but there's no sense in wasting a good fish. If it won't eat, then she would.
Levy quickly wrote the words "FRYING PAN," and the words merged into the object. The dragon stared at the pan with a strange look in its eye, but the little mage ignored it. Instead, she gathered some wood to start a fire.
Once the flames were big enough, she reached for the frying pan; her hand grasped nothing but air! Confused, she looked over to where she had left the pan; it wasn't there now.
A crunching sound brought her attention back to the dragon. It was eating the frying pan!
"Hey!" Levy cried as she leapt to her feet. She ran to the dragon and grabbed at the handle sticking out of his mouth. A futile effort, she realized, since the beast had already eaten at least half the pan!
"I was going to use that!" She growled at the giant. The beast turned his head away, avoiding eye contact with the little human. But shortly, it began making a hacking sound from its throat.
"Not necessary!" Levy cried out in alarm. She had no desire to see what had become of the digesting metal!
Wait… metal?
"Is… that what you eat? Metal?"
The dragon carefully looked at her for a moment before shaking its head.
"No? But you ate the frying pan… so maybe a specific kind of metal?"
Levy stared at the handle she had managed to retrieve. "So… you eat iron?"
The dragon snorted again, which Levy could only assume was a "yes."
"Oh. Well, I don't really have any on me, but… let's try this."
With a wave of her pen, she wrote the word "IRON" in large letters. Before them, the letters solidified and molded together into a large block of iron. The dragon's pupils shrank for a moment before it cautiously sniffed the iron. When Levy spotted its tongue lick the word, she couldn't help but laugh. In a way, this dragon could be so cute!
"Don't be such a baby! It's real iron, I assure you."
The dragon looked back at her with what appeared to be a doubtful expression. Then it turned to glare at the metal before snapping its teeth on it. Levy watched as it slowly chewed her iron, making her wonder if it tasted like the real thing. There really was no way of knowing. But, low and behold, the dragon continued to dig in, so Levy figured the taste was acceptable at least.
"Alright, then. At least I know what to feed you now. Plus I won't have to carry so much next time," she stated with a smile.
The dragon froze at her comment. Its head shot up as it stared at her in confusion, but the girl was already creating a new pan to fry her fish. It observed her for a moment; then, it returned back to eating its iron with content.