"Natsu!" A voice rumbled through the forest, "Don't go too far."

The toddler slid down Igneel's tail and immediately headed straight for the sparkling lake before them. "Drink." He stated. "M'thirsty." He stopped short of the water and dipped a tentative finger in. It was cold. The boy looked back uncertainly.

The great dragon behind him dipped its long neck a little and rested on its scaled forearms. Each five sided scale was about the size of the boy's face and a deep red in colour, which made its fierce yellow eyes stand out even more. "Don't drink too much."

Natsu beamed from ear to ear and gave a little cheer of delight. He stuck his head into the water and clenched his eyes shut, taking big gulps. The odd duo, a two year old human boy and a two millennium old ancient dragon, had travelled for many miles. With so many humans around, fearing such a large creature, Igneel was eager to move. They had chosed the country of Pengrande, a place so big that it was more of a wasteland of jungles, deserts and volcanoes with sparsely situated villages than a country. The only problem was that such a large safe haven was on the other side of the world and if they wanted to get there before the winter storms set in, travelling fast was necessary.

He surfaced, taking large gasps of air. "Igneel!" He squealed and ran back over. "There's fishies!" He tugged at one of his foster father's talons. "Let's eat'em!"

Igneel resisted the urge to laugh, knowing that he'd receive an angry pout in reply. Instead he blew a jet of warm air into Natsu's face, sending him stumbling backwards. The smell of smoke and ash lingered in the air. "You're hungry?"

As if in reply the boy's stomach growled. He nodded his head.

"Very well," The dragon stood to his full height, "You go and find some sticks and I'll get the fishies. Make sure the sticks are big..." He walked passed Natsu who only beamed brighter. "If they're too heavy, call me over."

Natsu giggled and ran off into the forest.

Igneel padded over to the water's edge, crouching as low as he could in order to avoid casting a shadow. Such a large creature hunting tiny fish. If he was hungry, usually all he had to do was make a spark on dry kindling, and voila! Food was served. But Natsu couldn't eat flames – Igneel knew this from experience. He would have to train before he could even attempt to try that stunt again.

A sudden ripple in the water caught his eye as a catfish's whiskers broke the surface of the water. Igneel didn't waste a second and shot out, stabbing the large fish before it could sink down to the water floor once more. He held it triumphantly in the air, its slippery grey body flailed on the hook of his talon. Throwing it on the ground behind him, he sat in wait for another one.

"Igneel!" A high pitch scream broke the water this time and Igneel shot up, thoughts of fish forgotten. "Igneel!" The large building sized creature did a sharp u-turn, it's eyes wide. He beat his wings and rose in the air, searching for the location of the source.

"Natsu!" He called back, anxious and panicky. Where was the boy? Surely he couldn't have gotten too far. He was such a fool! If only he had made Natsu wait for him. "Natsu, where are you?!"

"Here!" Came a small voice, "Igneel!" He screamed.

Igneel exploded into motion, shooting through the sky as quickly as he could. He could feel the rage and worry boiling with in him. Oh, if Natsu were hurt, Igneel would kill whoever caused it. Rip the guy into pieces and incinerate him and crush him and smash him against hundred of rocks and...oh god, if Natsu were hurt! "I'm coming!"

He sped towards a gap in the trees, pink hair visible on the forest floor. He dived between it, folding his wings in and landed, making a crater in the earth. The boy lay on his stomach on the rest floor. He wasn't moving. "Where is he? Who hurt you, Natsu?" He growled, afraid that there would be no response.

There was no movement. No...he couldn't be...

Natsu rolled over, "M'ok." He grinned toothily, "See?" He jumped up and did a star jump for good measure, patting himself up and down. "M'ok."

Igneel collapsed to the floor, demolishing lines of trees behind him, too relieved to be angry. "You scared me." He admitted finally.

The little boy crawled over to the dragon and hugged its head. "M'sowwy." He let go and turned, pointing. "But look what I found." Natsu got up and with great effort dragged the object over. It was a basket, similar to the one he had found Natsu in, only it was covered in coloured materials and rich looking fabrics where as his foster son had only a bare wicker basket. "It looks like me."

Igneel peered inside, shocked. It was true. There was a small human hatchling inside with tufts of yellow hair and brown eyes. It stared up at the two faces. The pink haired boy had a look of stupor on his face and comically, his large companion wore the same face too. It giggled.

Natsu staggered away, surprised, and Igneel, recovering, resisted the urge to laugh. Of course he would be surprised; he had never seen another human before. Hesitantly, the boy crawled back.

"What's that?" He asked, eyes wide.

"It's a human. A baby."

"Why does it look like me?"

Igneel chuckled. "You're human too."

"What are you then?"

"...A dragon."

Natsu frowned in concentration, his tongue sticking out. He scratched his head. And then, tentatively, he reached forwards and poked it gently in the cheek. "It's squishy."

"Is it?" Igneel smiled. That was his conclusion?

Another pause. "Can we eat Squishy?"