The Bond That Connects
The sun rose upon the city of Mondstadt. The church bells began their daily ding, a clear indication to the citizens of the nation of freedom that morning has arrived. The citizens are all wide awake, ready to start their day.
Natsu however was currently still in bed sleeping. Well… he tried to say the least.
The bells of the church were as loud as Master Makarov complaining about the damages he has done. He stirred around the bed, trying to find a comfortable spot. But to no avail, he couldn't get himself to go to sleep.
"Alright, alright! You win!" The slayer yelled out in frustration, as he shot up from the bed, his eyes still drowsy, while the church bell finally stopped. Natsu's eyes couldn't help but twitch, and veins popped up in his forehead.
"Of course, the bell had to fucking stop the moment I woke up." He muttered.
Natsu couldn't help but sigh in annoyance. It's not like he can do anything about it now, but since he's awake, he might as well go for a stroll around the vineyard to ease his mind, even if just for a bit.
Natsu got up from the bed, he stretched out both of his arms, and a cranking noise can be heard from his body. His nightwear is a wrinkled mess, probably due to him moving a lot when sleeping.
Now that he thought about it, Happy does complain a lot whenever they sleep together. It's always along the lines of "Natsu, could you please stop crushing me whenever we sleep together." Or "I'm sleeping with Lisanna next time!" with a pouty face.
Natsu couldn't help but chuckle out loud at the memory. He wonders if Happy is okay after his disappearance, is he eating alright, where is he sleeping now? Those were the question running through his mind.
"I hope you're doing alright buddy," Natsu said while letting out a long sigh.
The atmosphere around the vineyard is sure a welcoming one. He was currently outside, the sky is clear as a crystal, and the brisk fresh air was enough to cause him to inhale and exhale. He was right about his decision of going outside, a breath of fresh air was enough to turn his mood brighter.
The slayer's attention went to some workers, and it seems that they are all beginning to start their work.
Speaking of the workers. They're all at the vineyard, picking grapes that were ripe for harvesting. After the grapes have been harvested, they load them up in barrels and put them on a cart, ready to be delivered to Angel Shares.
The slayer's eyes went in the direction of the city. Natsu could only assume that Angel Shares is somewhere in the city of Mondstadt, he wonders if he can find any more information about his current whereabouts. Currently, the only thing he knows is that he is in the land of freedom that is once ruled by the Anemo Archon Barbatos.
The air around feels a bit different compared to his home, the amount of Ethernano is too much for him to handle to the point he had to take it in bit by bit so he wouldn't risk destroying his magic container and his reserve.
All that combined with the people lacking knowledge of the war between Ishgar and Alvarez led him to speculate that either he's in another continent or... In another world. Natsu hope that it wasn't the latter, as he already experienced going to another world, he was lucky that he had his friends to help him back then, but this time... he was all alone, with no one to help him.
Natsu didn't like that, he didn't like to be left alone, it felt it made him weak. So, he suppressed his mind of negative thoughts and thought of something more positive. Like him and Happy fishing, yeah him and Happy fishing.
Meanwhile, both Diluc and Kaeya have been observing him up on the balcony. The duo was currently spying on the dragon slayer; they couldn't get their minds off of their experience from yesterday, they had to know more about him, his power, his past, and more.
"Do you think we should just go down there and ask him?" Diluc asks in a whisper.
"And risk getting another beating? No thanks." Kaeya replied, his body shivering at the thought.
The beatings they received yesterday from the resident dragon slayer were an experience that Kaeya doesn't want to relive. Ever.
Little did the two of them know that Natsu can hear them loud and clearly. Igneel trained his dragon slayer senses to the point that he can hear a drop of water from a mile away, pretty useful for scouting out enemies if you ask him, but they didn't need to know that... at least not yet anyway.
"You do know I can hear the both of you from down here, right?" The dragon slayer said startling the two of them.
Both brothers' bodies became stiff, both eyes were now at each other. How is it possible for him to hear them, they were whispering to each other?!
The brothers look down to see that Natsu was looking in their direction. He was smiling at them, reassuring them that it was alright for them to come down; they both couldn't help but smiled back and waved at the slayer.
They immediately went outside to greet Natsu. Both of them are a bit nervous due to what transpired yesterday but also excited to see him ok again.
"I'm glad you're okay again Mr. Natsu!" The redhead exclaimed.
"Kid, please drop the formality, and call me Natsu, mister makes me feel like I'm in my 40s," Natsu said. Truth be told he hated formalities, the only reason why Natsu learned to have proper manners was due to Erza threatening to beat him to death with her steel gloves. Truly a memory he wishes to forget.
"O-Ok Mr.-I mean, Natsu," Diluc said in a meek voice.
"How are your wounds Natsu?" Kaeya asks the tone of his voice holding concern for the slayer.
"It's getting better I suppose, although I could really use something to eat, I am pretty hungry," Natsu said with a bit of blush on his cheek.
"Oh right, we came to get you because the servants prepared us breakfast, now come on!" Diluc said, as he grabbed one of the slayer's arms and tried to drag him towards the kitchen.
"H-Hey slow down Diluc, you're going to rip my arms off!" Natsu complained, but his face was smiling at the redhead's action. Diluc's eagerness reminded Natsu of the time when he was young, going in head first, without ever thinking of the consequences.
Now Natsu knows that the Ragnvindyr Clan was rich, it was no secret that the family-owned Dawn Winery and Angel's Share is one of the most popular taverns in Mondstadt with Cat Tail's coming in second to the title, but what he's seeing surely has to be a dream.
The breakfast before him- wait no, scratch that, this isn't breakfast, this was a king's feast! It had everything for Mavis sake! Pancakes, slices of bacon, hashbrowns, and many more. Now normally he wouldn't be surprised by this amount of food being served, he has after all been to a feast many times, but to think this amount of food is being served every day just boggles his mind!
Now he admits that he was a bit of a glutton, I mean he did eat a fish that was twice his size, but there were limits to his stomach too!
"I guess rich people live in a different world compared to the common people." Natsu thought.
"Is something the matter Natsu?" The Kaeya asks.
"Nothing, I just never thought that I would see this amount of food being served," Natsu replied, his voice sounding surprised.
"Don't worry Natsu, Kaeya had the same look when he was adopted by father," Diluc said smugly, while Kaeya grumbled at what the red-head said, he told him many times to never bring it up ever again.
Natsu just chuckled at the brothers' antics, in a way he kind of reminds him of both him and Gray.
"Now come on let's eat!" Diluc said as he drags both Natsu and Kaeya to the dinner table.
To say that both Diluc and Kaeya's reaction to Natsu's appetite was a bit of an understatement. After Diluc showed Natsu his table the dragon slayer immediately started eating at a fast rate, food after food is being devoured in mere seconds as we speak, heck the both of them weren't even eating yet! The brothers just had their jaws dropped as Natsu continued eating away without a care in the world.
Once breakfast was over the maids immediately came in and cleaned up. Adeline, the head maid, was surprised at the amount of food that Natsu consumed in a short amount of time, she thanked lord Barbatos that she didn't have to throw the leftovers that Diluc and Kaeya usually left after eating, the amount of food that she had to throw in Wolvendom was too many to count! And she was pretty sure that the wolves are starting to think that she was their caretaker.
Although, she has to worry about the number of plates she was going to wash from now on. She just silently cried, as a tear dropped from her eye. Well, no matter, no use of crying over spilled milk, it is a maid's job to clean up these sorts of messes after all.
When they were done eating, Natsu ask one of the maids if there were any fishing rods he can use, luckily for him, there was a spare rod for him to use. The maid handed him the rod; he thanked her for the help she gave him, the maid didn't say anything and just bowed and left.
"Ah, fishing, one of my favorite hobbies to pass the time." He thought quickly went to both Diluc and Kaeya.
The dragon slayer asks them if they wanted to go fishing near the lake of Dawn Winery, of course, the both of them immediately said yes, there was excitement in their eyes as the two of them ran up to Natsu, eager to start.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the lake. The lake itself wasn't grand or anything, it was just a regular lake, although there was a little island in the middle of it, though that's nothing to be impressed about.
Their fishing spot was scree, it was in front of the small island in the lake.
"What are we trying to catch Natsu?" Kaeya asks curiously to see what kind of fish Natsu wanted.
"Whatever that takes the bite I suppose," Natsu replied nonchalantly.
Natsu attached a bait around the hook. The bait he was using is apparently called a false fly bait, the appearance had a vibrant color, and it resembled a lot of a fly. Most people say that it was made from a Sakura bloom that was native to Inazuma and is combined with the Horsetail plant that can be found in the neighboring nation of Liyue.
Natsu doesn't know what that is or where it's located, but that could be another clue as to where he really is.
The pink-haired man threw the line at the lake, he waited patiently for any bite to come, but after a few hours of waiting not one bite came. It was honestly starting to get under his skin. He fished with Happy before, he caught a number of fishes in his life, so why are there no fishes taking his bait?
"Natsu, I think me and Diluc should hold the rod," Kaeya said to a very annoyed dragon slayer.
"Kaeya's right Natsu, clearly you don't know what you're doing," Diluc added.
"Hey, I take offense to that!" Natsu shot at both of them.
Waiting another few minutes was a pain to both Kaeya and Diluc. Their patience was running low with the dragon slayer, they came to the conclusion that they have to take matters into their own hands.
"Give us the rod Natsu!" Kaeya said as he tried pulling away the fishing rod from the dragon slayer.
"I told you I know what I'm doing!" Natsu insisted, pulling it back to him.
"No, you don't! Diluc help me with this!" Kaeya said as he and Diluc tried to pull the rod to them.
All three of them were fighting for the rod, it was honestly quite a battle. Both Diluc and Kaeya were trying so hard to take it off of Natsu's hands, but the slayer's strength was far too powerful for them to handle. But they were determined. They kept pulling and pulling until Natsu let go of it.
While they were all fighting each other, the fishing line meanwhile started to move. Luckily Natsu noticed.
"H-Hey let go, I think I caught something!" The slayer announced, as both Kaeya and Diluc finally let go.
Both of their attention went to the body of water, where the line was thrown. Natsu was fighting back whatever fish that took the bait, as he pulled and pulled, trying to get the fish out.
Diluc and Kaeya noticed that he was quite struggling with what he caught. So, they quickly help the dragon slayer. The three of them kept pulling and pulling until the fish was finally out of the water.
The fish was round, had short pelvic fins, and had a plain face. Natsu had to admit, it was pretty cute, although a bit underwhelmed.
"What kind of fish is this?" Natsu asks, he'd never seen this kind of fish in Fiore before.
"I think that's a pufferfish." Diluc replied, "Careful though, if they're stressed they bloat their bodies." He added.
"I see. Say, what kind of fishes are swimming around these parts?" Natsu asks curiously, wanting to know what other fishes he can get.
"Well, there is a bunch of koi fish here," Kaeya replied.
As they were talking, the pufferfish squirmed at Natsu's arms, it used its slippery body to its advantage to escape the dragon slayer's grasp. Natsu not wanting to let the fish escape, tried to tighten his hold on to it, but that was a mistake, its slimy body began to slip through his hold until it was out of the slayer's hand.
Natsu tried catching it before it fell back into the water, but it was too late. The fish was already in the water, and Natsu was about to fall as well, however, both Kaeya and Diluc tried to pull him back up, but the dragon slayer's weight was too much for them to carry up, and in turn, caused them to also fall into the water.
Luckily for them, they know how to swim. Although all three of them were now wet, they all awkwardly stared at one another, all of them stayed silent, not saying a word to each other, until Natsu began to chuckle and turned into a burst of full-blown laughter.
Diluc and Kaeya just stared at the slayer, until they couldn't take it anymore and began laughing as well. The three of them all continued their fishing trip till dusk, during that time Natsu got to know the two of them better, of how they swore to each other that they would be brothers despite not being blood-related, they honestly reminded him of himself.
When dusk was settling, both Kaeya and Diluc were too tired and began falling asleep on the ground, so Natsu had to carry them back to the manor. Once they were back at the manor, Adeline scolded him for his recklessness and how he should have been careful, Natsu paid no attention to her as he has to return Kaeya and Diluc to their room.
The slayer tucked them all into their bed, as he was about to leave, he felt a small pull on his clothes. His attention went to Diluc as he was pulling the hem on his long sleeve. The boy begged Natsu to not leave and stayed with them in bed.
Natsu chuckled at the boy's action, so decided to stay in their room, just for the night at least.
After his whole affair yesterday, Crepus finally returned to Mondstadt. He heard from one of the servants that, both his kids and Natsu were ambushed by a hilichurl tribe, hearing the news he quickly rushed towards Dawn Winery.
Arriving at the manor, it was fairly quiet, as it was already 10 pm. The first thing he did was look for his sons and Natsu. His mind is racing with the thought of all three of them were hurt, or worst, dead.
After a few minutes of searching, he finally found them. Both Kaeya and Diluc, cuddled with Natsu as if he was a pillow. Natsu himself was sleeping peacefully, he wasn't stirring left and right this time, he was just... at peace.
"I knew I could trust you." The master of the clan said, a warm smile appearing on his face. He gently closes the door and went to his own bedroom, ready to rest as well.
Authors Notes: Sorry for not uploading in a while, school is a pain especially if you're a college student. Now, this chapter is about establishing a bridge between all three of them. Once the bridge is done I'll turn my attention to the rest of the Mondstadt characters, especially Eula.