When Natsu and Gray returned to the den Erza as expected was worried and angry.
"Where have you two been?!" She asked angrily. "You were gone all night! I was worried out of my mind!"
"We're sorry Mom. We meant to come home but we had to take shelter from the storm." Natsu said.
"You should have been able to come home before the storm started unless you wandered off. Where did you two go?"
"I went to the other side of the river." Natsu said.
"I went over to the cliffs." Gray said.
"You know you're not supposed to cross the river or go up to those hills! I've told you both this from the time you could learn to walk! It's dangerous!"
"We're sorry Mom." Gray said.
"Sorry? Oh you two haven't begun to be sorry!"
Not coming home last night had been the final straw for Erza. She had spent the whole night before scared out of her mind that something terrible had happened to her boys, though she was relieved that they came home alright she was very angry that they once again disobeyed her so she made sure that they would never scare her like that again.
She made them bend over a fallen tree and spanked their bottoms with a switch she made from the thinnest tree branch she could find. It didn't really hurt them, it only gave them a brief stinging sensation but it was enough to where they learned their lesson.
"Well I think it's safe to say that I won't be crossing the river again any time soon." Natsu said rubbing his bottom.
"Mom's never been that angry at us before." Gray said. "We must've really scared her."
"I didn't think Mom was afraid of anything."
"You're wrong." Erza said. "You boys have no idea how much the thought of losing either one of you scares me. If I ever lost you two I don't know if I could ever go on. Promise me that you will never do anything like that again."
"We promise." They said.
Erza put her arms around the boys and hugged them close.
"I love you." She whispered. "You are my boys and I love you more than anything in the world."
At night she tucked the boys into their beds made from leaves and waiting for them to fall asleep. Natsu slept on his back clutching his beloved scarf which resembled dragon scales while Gray slept on his stomach curled up into a little ball. She kissed her sleeping boys then went to get some rest.
"You really love them don't you?" Jellal asked.
"They mean everything to me."
"If I may ask when are you going to tell them?"
"Tell them what?"
"What they really are and where they came from?"
"I will tell them when they are old enough to understand."
"What happens if they see a human before you tell them?"
"As long as they stay away from the cliffs and don't cross the river I won't have to worry about that."
"And what makes you think that they won't do that?"
"After the spanking I gave them they wouldn't dare do it. At least not for awhile."
"You can't keep the truth from them forever Erza."
"I don't intend to. I'll tell them when they're ready. Now go to sleep."
Natsu and Gray didn't go back across the river or to the cliffs again and they didn't mention their encounters with the humans to each other or Erza. They thought it would be best to just pretend that it didn't happen. As the years went by the boys became more and more adapted to the jungle and their survival skills became more advanced. They befriended some of the animals of the jungle too. They're friends included the goblins, the curilies, the bakshies, and of course the exceeds. Two exceeds in particular were especially close to the boys. Happy a laid-back, optimistic, fun-loving, friendly, playful yet sometimes slothful blue cat exceed and Panther Lily a dignified, humble, wise, responsible, strict, yet slightly pessimistic panther exceed.
When Erza had to go scouting or hunting she would often assign Happy and Panther Lily to watch the boys and to keep them out of trouble. Happy would mostly watch Natsu and the two would spend their days goofing off, having fun, and stuffing their faces.
"Can't catch me Happy!" Natsu teased as he ran through the jungle. He jumped over roots, climbed trees, and swung from vines. He was a fast runner but in the end Happy and the exceed managed to catch him.
"I win." Happy told him. "So do you wanna play again?"
"No let's get something to eat. How about some bananas?"
"No I'm sick of bananas. Let's go fishing."
They went down to the river where Happy used his paws to catch the fish while Natsu used a spear.
"What's that?" Happy asked Natsu.
"It's something that Gray made. It's supposed to make picking fruit and catching fish easier for us."
"Cool. Can you make stuff like that?"
"Yeah. I made something that helps me get water easier."
"I wonder if I can make things too."
Lily would mostly look after Gray and he would try to teach him and guide him.
"Now tell me what are the only reasons we kill for?" The exceed asked the boy.
"To eat and defend." Gray answered.
"Do we ever kill for sport or anger?"
"No. Never."
"Correct. Remember Gray we only kill to live and no other reason. Any other reason is why."
"What happens to animals who kill for anger or sport?"
"Then they are banished from the jungle and sent to live in barren land, exile."
As they learned more about how to live in the jungle and as they grew closer to the animals, the boys found themselves being content and living almost perfect lives. But sometimes when they were alone they would wonder about the strange creatures they had seen that resembled them. They had so many questions about them but they did not know where to get the answers so the two would just have to wonder.
Eight years passed and the boys grew up to be strong and resourceful young men. Erza was proud of them. They still tended to cause mischief but not as much as they used to.
"Give me back my scarf you stupid monkeys!" Natsu demanded to the monkeys in the trees who had stolen his scarf.
"Come up and get it champ!" One monkey teased.
"He ain't no champ! He's a chump!" Another teased.
When the monkeys just laughed at him, the eighteen year old man angrily climbed up the tree after them.
"You flea bitten thieves! Just wait til I get my hands on you! Happy after em!"
"Aye sir!" Happy scurried up the tree with him. "Fork it over you flat nosed, little eyed, creeps!"
The monkeys responded by throwing a melon at Happy's face.
"Now just try that again you!" He said only to be pelted in the face again by another melon.
"I got an idea." Natsu whispered to his friend.
Natsu started to gather up some pebbles from the river then pulled some vines and leaves from the trees. He tied the vines and leaves together, making them into a sling and started to sling the pebbles at the monkeys. He had excellent aim and didn't miss once. In the end he successfully retrieved his scarf.
"Wow this thing is pretty neat Natsu." Happy said looking at the sling. "How do you come up with these great ideas?"
"I don't know. They just come to me."
"Can Gray make stuff like this too?"
"Yeah. He once made something from the leaves that can play music."
"Cool. I wish I could think of ideas like that but all my brain is good for is thinking about fish. How come you and Gray can make that kind of stuff but nobody else can?"
"I don't know."
"Oh hey look there's Gray now."
Happy pointed over to a tree and at the top of it sat Gray sharpening his spear. Natsu grinned mischievously and started to quietly climb up the tree. Without warning he pounced on top of Gray and started wrestling him.
"Ha! Looks like I win this time Gray!" Natsu boasted.
"No fair! I wasn't ready!" Gray threw his spear aside and soon had Natsu in a choke hold. Natsu broke loose and the young men were soon fighting over dominance.
"Honestly why must you two always fight?" Asked Panther Lily as he groomed himself in a rather dignified manner.
"Don't be such a killjoy Lily." Happy said. "Let em have their fun."
"There's fun and then there's foolhardy."
The young men continued to wrestle until suddenly a loud noise broke through the air. It was a noise the neither Natsu or Gray had ever heard before but it made Happy and Panther Lily shudder.
"What was that?" Natsu asked.
"Man is in the jungle." Lily said.
"Man? What's man?"
"It's the most dangerous creature ever to exist."
"They're the only animals other than the dragons who can create the red flower." Happy said. "We better go hide."
"Why do we have to hide? Why can't we fight it?"
"Because it would be foolish to do so." Lily said.
"Go home guys and avoid man as much as you can." Happy said.
Happy and Panther Lily hurried off to hide. Gray started to walk home when Natsu stopped him.
"Wait Gray why don't we see what this man looks like?"
"I don't know."
"Aren't you curious?"
"I must admit it does sound interesting. But if it's that dangerous and Mom found out we went near it she'll kill us."
"What Mom doesn't know can't hurt her."
"But she knows everything. No matter how hard we try we can't hide anything from her."
"That's when we were kids. We're older now and smarter and we can take care of ourselves better."
"You have a point there. Okay let's give it a try."