You guys… *Sob* *Sob* I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLL! I get home after a bad day read all your comments and reviews and become insanely happy! I love you all very muchly! VOTING LINES ARE NOW CLOSED! RESULTS ARE… NOT TELLING ;P I can tell you though, that the winning Dragon's votes were in the high 50's! Thanks for the names! Please keep them coming and I also need one for Lucy!
-Gajeel-
The sun is shining through the window, I open my eyes and it blinds me. I roll over almost crushing… Levy? Oh, I remember now. I smirk. Last night I had claimed her. (A/N: Different to marking) My eyes roam her sleeping figure, I see the claw marks on her body and instantly feel guilty. I stroke her hair and she mumbles so quietly and her eyelids flutter open. She sees me and just stares for a few minutes. Shit. Does she regret what we did? But no, she smiles and wraps her arms around my chest. I bury my face in her hair and breath in her scent. Her scent had changed last night. Because I had claimed her, she had changed. Her teeth were now slightly longer and sharper and her eyes had turned amber. Because I had claimed her, she had more dragon like features. She should have heightened sense of smell and she should be able to hear like a dog.
"It's kind of creepy." She mumbles in my chest.
"What is?" I ask.
She lets me go and points to something on my shelf. Her headband, the one from Tenroujima. "You kept it."
I don't answer but I can feel the blood rushing to my face. She giggles and snuggles into me again.
"Creepy stalker person." She says. I snort and kiss her neck. She looks up at me and the smile she was wearing before had vanished.
"You have to leave today. Don't you?" She asks sadly.
I run a hand through her blue tresses and sigh.
"Yeah."
"You'll be careful, right? You won't do anything stupid? And you'll take care of Lu-chan?"
I smile. "Of course."
She sighs. "Six months is a long time."
I kiss her again. "I know."
-Lucy-
I look at the book Wendy had given me. According to her, Levy had read it and written a letter for me inside. I open the book and a small white envelop falls out. I pick it up and recognise Levy's neat cursive hand.
Dear Lucy,
How are you holding up? Have the Dragons sent you insane yet? Things are pretty good here. Natsu's been moping ever since you left, because he didn't get to say goodbye and Gajeel's been acting stranger than normal. I catch him staring at me at random times and then he just gets up and walk away. Jet and Droy are being really clinging lately. I think they are jealous of someone… Anyway. I saw this book and thought I'd read it, then I found out somethings that are really… Um… Bad. I think by the time you read this mating season will be only three days away.
My eyes widen. WHAT? Mating sea- Shit. I sit stiffly for a few minutes not moving. Why me? After a while I pick up the letter again and continue reading.
This book has EVERYTHING you need to know. The boys are most likely acting like retards right now, so this should help you understand them a little better. I hope the mission goes okay. It's really dangerous. Though when you start Natsu'll be with you, and he won't let anything and happen to you! Page 102 is where the information about mating season starts.
-Love Levy
P.S: Gray says hi and thanks.
I lean back in my chair. Mating season huh?
"GREAT! JUST PREFECT NOW I HAVE TO DEAL WITH HORMONAL DRAGON SLAYERS!"
"What are blabbering on about now?"
"SHUT UP STING!" I yell. I grab my coat and gloves and leave the house. If I'm going to read this book, I need to do it in peace and quiet.
I read the lake. This time I walk along side it until I am out of town completely and am on the outskirts of a forest. I sit under a large tree and open the book. I open it to the contents page.
Dragonology:
Chapter One-Types of Dragons and their abilities: Pages 4-30
Chapter Two-Dragon Slayers: Pages 31-36
Chapter Three-Hatching: Pages 37-40
Chapter Four-Diets: Pages 41-59
Chapter Five-Childhood: Pages 60-82
Chapter Six-Teenage Years: Pages 83-101
Chapter Seven-Mating Season: Pages 102-109
Chapter Eight-Marking and Claiming: Pages 110-115
Chapter Nine-Inner self: Pages 116-120
Chapter Ten…...
My eyes grow wide. Was there no end to the chapters? Finally I found the last one, Chapter 98-Human Form: Pages 504-567. I'm not reading every single chapter! I sigh, I'll read the stuff I think I relevant to me. I flick through the pages and find chapter seven. Mating Season. There is a picture of a fearsome looking dragon and I almost pee myself just looking at it. I settle myself more comfortable against the tree and begin to read. (A/N: I don't know about when the seasons occur during the anime or manga, so this is all made up!)
Mating season takes place one a year. It lasts for four to six months-depending on the individual dragon them self-and is a very dangerous time for eligible females to be in the vicinity.
WHAT? Oh, well done magic council. I think, voice dripping with sarcasm. You put me in close quarters with 6 horny Dragon Slayers! HOW DUMB ARE YOU? (A/N: Got this from a review, hope you don't mind bookworm0313, was just so funny I had to put it in!) I groan. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?
Mating season occurs when the individual Dragon has matured. A male Dragon typically matures around the age of sixteen. Female Dragons can mature as early as the age of twelve. During this time several things may happen, changing the Dragon's behavior. They may be subject to mood swings, changes in personality, extreme possessiveness over those they hold dear, eating large quantities of food, losing self-awareness…
This list goes on for ever! I think hard. So, basically, they are all going to act like girls on their periods who are also taking drugs? Yaye.
The only way for a Dragon to escape these intense emotions is to find and mate and claim or mark her-see chapter eight-or for them to distance themselves from females until mating season is over. In the case of Dragon Slayers another way is for them to create a certain bond between a potential mate and the Dragon in question. If a close friend is also a Dragon Slayer, to prevent conflict, the eldest Dragon Slayer may forge a bond between the potential mate, perhaps one of a brother and sister. This pushes the thought of 'She/he is your brother/sister you cannot mate with them into the Dragon Slayers mind. This method has bee proven to be very effective. However, each mating season that passes a Dragon by with out him/her having a mate more, problems presents themselves to the Dragon, they may even find themselves harming or killing their friends and family. There are several different ways Dragons identify their mate; It may be someone they have been very close to for a long time, a person the met and became friends with in a matter of seconds, it may be a person who was once their enemy, there are countless ways.
Dragons are very interesting creatures. They can only mate one in their lifetime, in the case of Dragon Slayers the Dragon Slayer can mate with a person who is not, however if the person should choose to leave their Dragon Slayer companion, then they are free to do so. However, the Dragon Slayer left behind, will never find happiness again. If a Dragon's mate dies, the body does not begin to deteriorate for four days, during this time, the living Dragon will remain by it's mate's side. It will refuse to eat or drink and eventually it dies beside it's mate. It is unknown whether Dragon Slayers undertake the same ritual.
I stop reading and process everything I had just read. First, all the boys were old enough to be affected by mating season. Second, Wendy might be affected to. Third, I don't think any of the boys had a mate. Fourth, I had a hunch that I was an eligible female. I bite my lip and think. A brother sister relationship... could that be why Laxus insisted I call him 'Niichan?' At first I did it just to humor him, but eventually I came to like having a 'big brother figure in my life. But why would he, he could've just- A boy with pink hair and a large grin interrupted my thoughts.
"LUSHI!"
No. Way. My eyes widen. Is it because of… Natsu? Laxus made me become his little sister because he didn't want to fight Natsu? But there's no way Natsu would… I mean, he has Lisanna and… I sigh, that's right, he has Lisanna. He's probably mated with her while I was gone… I groan in frustration and keep reading.
In history there have been a few incidents where two-or more-Dragons are fighting over a single mate. This only happens when males are fighting for a female. This is because males choose or a drawn to their mate and the female need only reject or accept them. This occurrence ends in a death match with the winning Dragon taking the female as his prize. In this instance, the female has no choice but to mate with the Dragon to emerges victorious. These battles can last for weeks and, in the most famous case, even months. Often bystanders are killed and whole towns destroyed.
Once a mate has been chosen the Dragon must then mark her and claim her. If this does not done swiftly, the Dragon may end up killing his mate-to-be.
What is going on here? Fighting to the death, marking, claiming, killing the mate-to-be? I shudder. This mission just got a hell of a lot more dangerous.