A young blonde child ran through freezing rain, hugging a backpack close to her chest. It bulged out from the contents of it, and the bag couldn't even close properly due to how much it was inside it. It was also almost too heavy for the girl to properly carry, but that didn't stop her. She needed to get back to the barrier with the bag, not wanting the contents to freeze while outside in the rain. Not to mention, she needed to get back to the safety of the barrier herself.
There were Dragons out here, after all, and nobody, especially not a young child, would want to become their next snack.
The Dragons of Earthland were just as intelligent as humans were, but that also made the Ferals of the world incredibly dangerous. Large, magical, and undoubtedly powerful, Dragons would make quick work of the human race. Fortunately, not all Dragons were against humans. There were plenty who happily sided with and befriended them, as well as protected them from the Ferals.
The little girl ran, no matter how much her arms and legs ached. No matter how much her heart pounded and lungs burned. If she stopped, even for a moment, it could be over before she even realized a Feral found her. She had to keep running, no matter what.
At least, until she was physically unable to continue running. She tripped, and landed on her side to avoid crushing the bag. She gasped for air, hugging the bag close. The contents were surprisingly warm despite the cold rain. She closed her eyes, lying there for a bit while waiting for the aching in her body to fade so she could keep moving. She almost didn't feel the ground shaking underneath her, or hear the low growl that was steadily getting closer.
She gasped, shakily standing and stumbling away from the large Feral Dragon standing nearby. "Don't you humans know not to stray too far from home? Oh well, you never were the smartest little pests," it chuckled darkly.
It then roared, charging at the girl. She screamed, and started running again, which wasn't easy since the Dragon's footsteps shook the ground.
Right as the Dragon reached her, another, this time brown, Dragon tackled the Feral. "Run, child! Hide, and I will find you! After I deal with this savage creature…" he sneered. With a large talon, he struck the Feral, wrestling it to the ground.
The girl, still gripping her bag tightly, started running again. She found a large rock, and hid behind it, pressing her back against it as she listened to the Dragons fighting. After what felt like forever, eventually one of the Dragons let out a pained roar, and took off into the air, from what she could hear. Scared that the Feral Fire Dragon won, she hugged the bag to her chest, crying and mentally pleading that it was all some big nightmare.
"I found you, child…"
She gasped, looking up at the warm green eyes of the friendly Dragon that protected her. She smiled widely, "Belserion!"
"You are safe now. Come with me," he gently nudged her with his snout. "Tell me, why are you out here all alone? You know it's forbidden for children like you to leave the barrier. You are lucky that I was making my rounds, or else I never would have gotten to you in time."
"I had to… It's like… I could hear something calling out to me… I couldn't just stay inside," the little girl explained. "I felt as if I needed to do something.."
"You should have told one of us. You could have lost your life out here. I'm sure your parents must be worried. Promise me you will tell somebody next time. You won't get this lucky again," Belserion stated. "Promise me, Lucy."
She nodded, "I promise!"
"I will be holding you to that promise," Belserion walked up to a transparent magical barrier. The barrier was created as a means of protecting the town and its citizens. No Dragon could pass through it, not without special Lacrimas worn by the Dragons in question. The Lacrima around Belserion's neck glowed as he reached the barrier, and he passed through with no trouble.
"So what was this special important thing you felt was calling out to you?" Belserion asked, keeping one of his wings over Lucy to shield her from the rain. Lucy held up her backpack. "I… I found… eggs… Dragon eggs…"
"What?" Belserion asked incredulously as he lowered his head down to eye-level with the girl. "Lucy… you didn't steal those eggs, did you?"
"No! I would never! They were lost in the cold. I didn't want them to freeze…" Lucy looked down at the bag in her arms. "And nobody was there to protect them…. I-I got worried.."
Belserion sighed heavily, "The Feral Dragon that attacked you could easily be their parent, child. I understand you had good intentions, but you mustn't always act upon them," he explained. "We will keep the eggs with us tonight, and I will return them in the morning."
"But-" Lucy started. Belserion gave her a look that stopped any argument.
She slowly nodded and sniffled, "I understand…." Belserion nodded, "You are not in trouble. Just never do anything like that again." He reached for the bag, gently lifting it out of her arms. "For now, return to your home. I have no doubt your parents are worried about you. And it'd be best to get out of this rain."
Lucy nodded again, this time less hesitantly, before taking off in the direction of her home.
Belserion took the bag to the Hatchery. A reddish-pink Dragon, named Irene, glanced up at him as he walked in. "Greetings, Belserion. You are back early," she greeted. "How was the patrol?"
"Lucy Heartfilia went outside the barrier. She was lucky I found her, because a Feral had found her first. She is unharmed, thankfully," Belserion placed the bag down. Irene's gaze followed it, before raising back up to meet his. "I fear to think of what might have happened if I never found her…" he said. Despite the calmness in his tone, there was a slight tremble in his wings.
"Why was she outside? All of the children know it's forbidden," Irene asked, looking worried.
"She claimed she found some Dragon eggs that she thought were abandoned and tried to bring them home with her," he explained. "That might be why the Dragon attacked her. I plan on returning them in the morning."
"I see."
Using the Lacrima around his neck, he was able to shift into a human form, which took on the appearance of a muscular, bearded man. He opened the bag, only to gasp at what was inside. "This.. this can't be possible."
"What is it? Did something happen to the eggs?" Irene lowered her head to get a better look into the bag.
"No. Thankfully, the eggs are unharmed, but they are all different species of Dragons." He pulled them out, one by one, and placed them in an empty nest. "Look."
"Oh my..."
There were seven eggs. The first one was a large Fire Dragon egg, which sat in the middle. The other eggs sat around it, since it gave off its own heat. The other six were Iron, Lightning, Poison, Sky, White, and Shadow eggs.
Belserion returned to his dragon form. "This… this is impossible…. Where's Makarov? We need to talk about this…"
"I'm sure he is asleep by now…. What about Lucy? Are you going to include her in this?" Irene asked, nuzzling her head against Belserion's neck. "I have to. She was the one who found the eggs, and I made her believe she had done something wrong…. Now I know… There's no way she could have stolen those eggs, especially not a Fire or Iron egg…"
"I will go down to Fairy Tail's guild hall. I hope Makarov and Jude are still awake. This is a matter of great importance…" Belserion walked up to the Hatchery's door. "Irene, can you watch over them?"
She nodded, "Of course."
"Thank you." With that, Belserion walked out.
As he walked through town, he watched as other Dragons sat with human friends or flew through the air. 'We managed to form a peaceful relationship with humans. Why can't other Dragons see that? Humans are far more intelligent and kind than they want to believe, not a species meant to be eaten.. Maybe one day, this will all come to an end.'
He walked up to the Guildhall. "Is Makarov here?" Belserion lowered his head and glanced into the hall. A dark purple haired man, Macao, walked out, "Why, what's wrong?"
"This is a matter of great importance. Regarding Dragons of multiple different species."
"That does sound important… he should be in his office. I'll go get him for you," Macao walked back inside. He soon returned with Makarov in tow.
"Hello there, Belserion. What is it we need to talk about?" Makarov greeted cheerily.
"I need you in the Hatchery. A young girl, Lucy Heartfilia, went out of the barrier and returned with Dragon eggs."
"Oh dear… You don't believe she had stolen them, do you?"
"No. Especially not since she had returned with eggs of Dragons that should be scattered around Earthland. Many grown humans here wouldn't survive stealing them, much less a young girl like her."
"What elements are these eggs?"
"They belong to the elements of Fire, Poison, Sky, Iron, Lightning, White, and Shadow…" Belserion explained. "I was hoping the Heartfilias could be there, since it was Lucy who found them."
Belserion walked into the Hatchery, leading Makarov to the nest of eggs. After that, he left to gather the Heartfilia family. Almost instantly Makarov had an expression of shock upon seeing the eggs. "No… That can't be…"
"What is wrong?" Irene asked, looking down at the eggs.
"Look at the Fire egg. It's bigger than others. Only eggs of Royal blooded Dragons grow to be that size…"
"So that means…"
"We have King Igneel's hatchling…" Makarov took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. "This situation has become dangerous now. We have had a fragile peace with the Fire Dragons, but this could put an end to all of that… If Igneel finds out we have his hatchling, they would most definitely come here for revenge…"
Belserion returned with Jude, Layla, and Lucy in tow. "Belserion, this situation goes farther than we could possibly believe…" Irene explained. "The Fire egg is a Royal egg. We have Igneel's hatchling…"
"What?!" Judge exclaimed. Layla looked horrified. "No…"
"That can't be possible! Who could steal a Royal egg out of its Hatchery?"
"I don't know. Lucy, you found these eggs together, right?" Makarov asked.
"Yeah… did I do something wrong?" she played with her hair nervously.
"No… I believe you didn't steal these eggs, but somebody did. I'm not sure if I want to meet the person who did steal them. It means they were able to get eggs from dangerous dragons with ease…"
"Irons are dangerous Ferals.." Belserion stated, "And Poisons are deadly protective over their young."
"And to steal a Royal Fire egg and get it all the way out here? Without being immediately tracked down?" Irene asked. "It's unfathomable.."
"Sky and Lightning Dragons live high up in the mountains, where the air is thinner. Too thin for humans to breathe. Meaning it had to have been another Dragon who did this," Belserion growled angrily.
"And White and Shadow Dragons value privacy and prefer to hide away from where anybody else could find them. How this Dragon found them is beyond me," Makarov said.
"As much as I hate to say it, we cannot risk returning the eggs. We would be sending an innocent Dragon to their death," Belserion muttered.
"What do we do then?" Irene asked. "It feels wrong to keep them here.."
"We have taken in stray Dragons before, we can do it again. We just need to hide them if a Feral Dragon flies nearby.. Since it isn't safe to return them, we'll just raise them as our own," Makarov stated. "Unfortunately for the Poison and Iron hatchlings, even when they grow up, they can't return home on their own, either, since they'll be viewed as traitorous to their own kind.."
"There has to be another way…" Belserion stated. "We cannot just keep them here…"
Makarov shook his head. "Any other way involves sacrificing a life just for the sake of returning the eggs. I will not allow it."
"Then it's settled. The eggs will stay here and we can raise the Dragons that hatch from them," Jude nodded.
"But who will raise them?" Layla asked.
"I can," Irene offered. "At least, the hard part. Since Lucy found them, I want her to be partially responsible for them."
Lucy gasped, "Yeah! But.. how could I do that?"
"You could serve as their older sister, of course! Anything I don't teach them, you can help with."
Lucy nodded fervently.
"Very well," Jude eyed the nest of eggs. "Welcome to your new home, little ones."
"I'll be the best big sister ever!" Lucy squealed, sitting next to the nest.
The eggs seemed to twitch, as if they understood. "Wow! I think they can hear us!"
"Or they're close to hatching, which is just as exciting," Irene smiled, to the best of her ability, that is.
Sure enough, right as she said that, the first crack appeared in the Fire egg.
Lucy gasped, "It's hatching! Look!"
Jude walked over and gingerly removed the egg, placing it into a separate nest so that the hatchling could stretch without the other eggs getting in the way.
The egg shook and fell onto its side as the hatchling continued to break the shell, eventually poking its tiny nose through. After a few minutes of struggling, the hatchling managed to break the shell just enough to poke its head through, then tried to wriggle out of the shell, breaking it further in the process.
Eventually, after plenty of struggling, the Fire hatchling emerged entirely from the egg, crawling on its stomach.
"Would you look at that…" Layla murmured. The hatchling was a slightly dark red, with a pale orange underbelly and wing membrane, its eyes were dark green, almost black, and it had the beginning of a rosy reddish-pink mane on its head and down its neck.
"There's no doubt about it. That's Igneel's hatchling," Belserion stated, eyeing the newborn.
Not long after, the Iron egg started to crack as well, followed by the Lightning. The two of them were moved as well.
The Iron hatchling looked as if it was wearing a full set of iron armor, had ruby red eyes, and had black markings around the eyes. The wings looked feathery, except the feathers were as metallic as the rest of the body. Similarly to the Fire hatchling, it had the beginning of a black mane going down its neck.
The Lightning hatchling was pale yellow in color, had a white underbelly, as well as greenish blue eyes. Unlike the other two, it didn't have a mane, but sharp spikes going down its neck and back. It was also completely wingless.
"Look at the Iron hatchling… Remind you of anyone?" Makarov asked.
"Indeed it does. Metalicana…" Belserion growled.
"Who's that?" Layla asked.
"One of the more aggressive Iron Dragons. As you know, the Irons sided with the Ferals years ago." He sighed heavily, "If they found out about this, they would only become more aggressive towards us…"
"We need to find the actual thief. I don't like the Feral Dragons, but egg stealing is unforgivable," Irene stated, snorting in displeasure.
"At least we can raise them here, where they will be safe." Belserion eyed the unhatched eggs. He looked back to the hatchlings when they started squeaking and crying for food.
Makarov walked up to the Lightning one, who stopped crying long enough to stare at him. "Look at you. No wings, huh?" he said with a kind smile. The hatchling tilted its head with a squeak.
"A Lightning without wings.. How odd.." Irene commented. "It's not often that you see a wingless Dragon."
"Well, they need names, don't they?" Makarov asked.
"If it helps, from what I can tell, they're all male," Irene said, lowering her head to nuzzle the Fire hatchling.
"You have a name in mind, Makarov?" Belserion asked.
"Indeed. I think I'll call this one… Laxus," he patted the Lightning's head. "What do you think, little one?" He grinned when the hatchling bounced up and squeaked, "Well, Laxus it is then."
"Can I name one?" Lucy asked giddily, "Please?" Layla and Jude smiled, "Go ahead sweetheart," Layla encouraged.
Lucy squealed and went up to the Fire hatchling, "I'm gonna call you Natsu!"
He sniffed at Lucy, chirped, then went back to crying. "Oh no, does he not like it?" she looked at the adults worriedly.
"No, my dear, he is just hungry. Newborn hatchlings will usually cry for food first thing after hatching," Irene explained. "I wish to name the Iron hatchling."
"Go ahead."
"I will call him Gajeel," she smiled, then lifted her head, "Now… we need to focus on feeding them. Let me just-"
"Don't worry about it," a tall, lean woman with long hair that went from black, to blue, to green, walked in. She wore a Lacrima necklace, similar to what Belserion and Irene had, showing she was actually a Dragon in human form. She carried a bowl of food, ground up so that hatchlings could eat it without issue.
"Phantasmagoria! It's been a while."
"Greetings, Belserion," she placed the bowl down, and the three newborn hatchlings walked up, sniffed at it, then began eating. Phantasmagoria placed a hand against her necklace, then changed back to Dragon form, then walked over to her own nest, where her own small hatchling lay sleeping.
"Thank you, dear," Irene nodded to her.
"Back to the problem at hand, what are we going to tell the citizens? I doubt most of them will take well to these hatchlings," Belserion explained. Makarov nodded, "I'm afraid you're right about that. We'll just have to protect them ourselves."
"Let us leave them for now." Belserion stated. "We will return to check on them."
"I will keep an eye on them for now," Irene stated.
"Very well, thank you, Irene," Belserion nodded to her, then walked out of the Hatchery. The others followed him.
Makarov let out a heavy sigh, "We need to be smart about this, what do we do if any of the Dragons find out their hatchlings are here?"
"They cannot get through the barrier if they wish us harm," Belserion responded.
"I'm almost certain that they will find a way through, one day," Makarov stated. Belserion growled, "If they find a way through, then I will gladly fight for humans, that's a promise."
"You know that I could never ask that of you, Belserion."
"You know you won't be able to talk me out of it, Makarov." Belserion lifted his head, "I owe you humans a great debt."
Makarov just shook his head. "You don't owe us anything, old friend, but I know better than to argue with you."
With that, the two of them walked to the Fairy Tail Guildhall.
xXxOxXx
Two days later, the Poison egg started hatching. The hatchling that emerged from the egg was a dark purplish-red in color, with deep red wing membrane, and a pale underbelly. Its eyes were purple, and it had a crown of horns around its head.
Irene gently picked it up, then lifted it out of the nest it hatched in.
"Hmm…. male… I think I'll name you Erik…" Irene nuzzled his head, earning a happy squeak, then pushed a bowl of food towards him. She then lowered her head on her talons, closing her eyes.
xXxOxXx
Two weeks after Erik hatched, the final three eggs started to as well. The White hatchling, that Irene named Sting, was covered in snow white fur, except for a blond mane on his head and neck, and had blue eyes. The Shadow hatchling, Rogue, was mostly black, including the shadowy mane on his head, and had red eyes, like Gajeel. The final hatchling, a female Sky, Wendy, was covered in white feathers, and unlike the others, only had two legs. She didn't have horns, but she did have a feathery crest and feathers on each side of her head that resembled a pair of horns, and she had chocolate brown eyes.
xXxOxXx
When Belserion returned with Lucy, he was surprised to see that all of the eggs had hatched. "When did they…"
"Maybe when you were too busy patrolling the barrier to check?" Irene teased, smirking slightly, then glanced down at the hatchlings. Natsu and Gajeel were wrestling while Wendy watched, chirping and flapping her wings at them, trying to get them to stop. Laxus and Erik were still in the nest, with Erik chewing on his own tail, and Sting and Rogue were running around, chasing each other, and play-wrestling once one of them was caught.
Natsu let out a squeal when he saw Lucy, and ran over, nearly running her over. "Careful…" Irene murmured. He ran around her, wagging his tail like a puppy.
"Look! I brought books so we can read together!" Lucy held up the books. Natsu sniffed them, then snorted.
Wendy, still trying to get used to walking, stumbled over to Lucy, eventually collapsing right next to her. Eventually, the other five went up as well, all of them looking perplexed by the books.
"See, look. There's words inside that you can read. This is the book mommy used to help me learn to read, so I'm gonna do the same for all of you!"
They all chirped, only knowing that, since Lucy was happy, that they should be as well. The seven of them hopped around, squealing and chirping at Lucy.
"Alright!" She ran over to the nest, sitting against Irene and opening one of the books and reading it out loud to them, then showing it so they could read it themselves.
Lucy giggled as the little Dragons crawled over her, leaned against her, or otherwise positioned themselves around her.
"We're going to be the best siblings ever, just you watch!" Lucy happily announced.