Chapter 19: Anxiety
After the stone and wood dragon flew off, the humans back in the cottage woke up from the flapping fo the wings of the dragons. Wendy pushes herself up to look out the window. "What is it, Wendy?" Carla asks as she rubs her tired eyes. Wendy shakes her head. "It's nothing to worry about." Wendy shrugs off the white female exceed. She looks around to see anyone in the cottage asleep. Well all but Natsu and Lucy. Wendy notice Happy is wrapped in Natsu's scarf. Wendy gets up and walks up to the blue exceed. She shakes him a little. "Happy. Happy, wake up." She spoke quietly, not to wake up the others. Happy moans as he opens his eyes to see Wendy down to him. "What is it, Wendy?" Happy yawns. "I was wondering if you've seen Natsu?" Wendy asks him the important question. Happy blinks a few times. He looks down to see himself wrapped in Natsu's scarf. "I don't know. It's not common for Natsu to leave his scarf behind." Happy states as he wiggles out of it. "So Natsu never leaves it behind?" Carla asks this time as she hops onto the spot where the blue exceed was sleeping. Happy shakes his head, "Not at all. Igneel gave that scarf to him when he was a child. And as such it covers up the scar on his neck." Happy explains the history of the origin of the scarf. Wendy and Carla looked at each in disbelief. "A scar on his neck? How did that happened?" Wendy asks curiously. Happy shakes his head. "I'm afraid I can't tell you because it's one thing Natsu never wants to talk about." He declines to give Wendy the answer. Even if Natsu isn't with them, it'd be nerve wrecking on him.
Natsu and Lucy couldn't believe how fast the Stone Dragon and Wood Dragon were at flying. "So why was it you guys came here?" Lucy asks the two dragons. Laprison and Lignum look at each other. "Let's just say it's to get away from confliction from Earthland." Lignum tells them. "Well I can see why you didn't wanted to deal with the wizards." Natsu comments to them. "It's not the wizards we were getting away from." Laprision disagrees sternly. They return back to the cottage a few minutes later. "What do you mean?" Lucy asks her question this time. The rest of the group woke up as a sudden a gust of wind blew around the outside of the cottage, making it shake and vibrate upon the impact. "We might as well head to see what the heck that was." Gray suggests as they get out of the cottage to see the Stone and Wood Dragons landing in front of the place.
Before either dragon answers the question, the rest of the group come out. "Where did you guys go?" Happy asks as he hoovers to Natsu with his scarf in his tiny paws. Natsu gladly takes his scarf and wraps it around his neck. "We just went for a flight." Natsu answers casually to his little blue exceed. Laprison snorts at them to get their attention. "You wanted to why it wasn't the wizards that were getting away from." He tells them. Natsu nods. "It was to get away from Acnologia." Lignum tells them. Hearing that made the group widen their eyes. "I see you guys weren't expecting that. It was Igneel's suggestion that we came here so that Acnologia wouldn't be able to enter this world."
Hearing Igneel's name made Natsu tighten his fists. "Acnologia attacked us on Tenrou Island, and it was thanks to Fairy Tail's first master Mavis Vermillion to activate Fairy Sphere to protect us. However, the spell's side effect was having us suspended for 7 years." Lucy explains their first encounter with the black dragon. Lignum and Laprision widen their eyes this time. "Whoa, I didn't know that you guys had to deal with Acnologia's wrath. Anyway, I think it's time for you guys to reunite with the dragons that once raised you." Laprision lowers himself to the ground to let some of the wizards onto his back. Lignum follows Laprision's position. Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Gray hop onto Laprision's back with Happy and Carla on Natsu's and Wendy's shoulders.
Gajeel, Sting and Rogue get onto Lignum's back with Pantherlily, Lector, and Frosch on their friends' shoulders. Soon enough the Stone and Wood Dragons widen their massive wings. With one flap of their wings, the dragons take flight. "Whoa. This is intense." Gajeel comments the experience of riding on a dragon. "Rest assured, Gajeel. Us dragons will make sure you dragon slayer don't get that motion sickness." Lignum smiles up to them. The ride to the unknown destination is breathtaking. All around them were hills, and mountains and spatacular waterfalls. "This is amazing." Natsu comments the scenery. Laprision chuckles. "This is only just the beginning. We're taking you to the volcano where Igneel is." Natsu smiles fondly.
It's been awhile for the dragons to fly towards to a more mountainous region. Natsu looks up ahead to see white smoke coming from one of the mountaintop. "It's getting warm here." Lucy waves her hand in front of her face. Natsu nods, being close to the mountain is making him sweat. "Don't worry, there's hot springs in the area. You guys can take a break there." Laprision tells his riders. Everyone smile. It'll be nice to soak in a hot spring. But first they need to go see their foster dragon parents. The mountains open up a valley to reveal a few dragons down below. In the middle is a deep red dragon. "That's him. That's Igneel." Natsu calls out to Lignum. Lignum nods and fly down to the ground. Igneel's scent of close death is bringing Natsu to a state of distraught. There's no telling for what Igneel might say or do when he see his foster son. Will he be happy to see him again? Will he be proud for all the time that Natsu trained the last time him? There's a possible amount of possitive questions on Natsu's mind.
But then there's the negative. There'd be 'What are you doing? You should've followed me.' That alone just made Natsu take a deep breath, hoping that the positive will be in Igneel's head when they see each other once again. It's not just him that should be like. Wendy, Gajeel, Sting and Rogue are all in the same state as Natsu's. They don't have the slightest clue on what their foster dragon parents' reactions will be when they meet eye to eye. All that matters is that there's a lot more to find out and to know the real truth.