The days goes on in Crocus; Natsu continues his training in the knights' regime as he did everything that he was told to do. From regular soldier training that he excelled to educational training that he has a hard time going through.
Right now, Natsu is currently taking a class with his generation group as they all sat on their tables and are overlooking to their instructor who is teaching them of the basics that any Soldier or knights of Crocus should know of.
"Take into mind that these rules are to be remembered and never be forgotten!" the instructor who is a woman exclaimed sternly as she held a pointing stick that she slaps against a chalkboard that has a list of instruction and rules that members of Fiore National Army should be aware of. "any misconduct that does not follow the given rules are not what any sword and shield of Fiore should do! Understood!?"
"Yes! Ma'am!" the class exclaimed in unison while for Natsu; he looks like his brain is going to get fried because of how much knowledge from the books that is being packed into his head.
The class continued on before it came for an end as it was time for a break for the rookies.
We turn our attention to the caste's garden as we find Natsu sitting on a bench with a pile of books while having one that he is reading while having a hard time as it can be seen from how his face is scrunched up and then looks confused in frustration and annoyance.
'Why the hell do you even need rules and stuff!?' Natsu thought in his head as he looks extremely annoyed from how much he has to learn so that he could be a Knight of Crocus and start his journey to find Igneel. 'can't you just knock the bad guys out and be done with it!?'
Natsu soon let out an annoyed and tired groan as he threw the book he was holding to the side and then leans back.
"This is so damn tiring and annoying!" Natsu moaned out. "why do I have bother studying this many books?! Like they'll benefit me later on?!"
Natsu went and just let out a tired and annoyed growl as he has been getting nothing but educational studies for the past few months he has been in Crocus. He always passed the physical studies but the ones that consist of studying with books made it too damn hard and annoying for him.
The young salmon haired boy just laid on the bench as he knows that it wasn't allowed for anyone but the royal family to be in the garden; but right now? He's just too damn tired and annoyed to even care.
"ugh….did Bash had to go through this stupid training before he gets to where he is?" Natsu asked himself as he looks at the clouds floating in the sky above. "this is so not worth it."
Natsu continues to look at the sky before his ears and nose twitches once as the young boy looks down and to a nearby bush that has a little rustle coming from it.
"What?" said Natsu as he got off the bench and then went straight for the bush. He got closer and closer till he reached and peeked in to see what was making the rustle and found nothing. "nothing?"
Natsu keeps on looking into the bush as he didn't know that he was being watched from the side by a green haired young girl who is looking at him before she looks away and sighs.
"What are you doing here?" said Natsu who suddenly appears near the girl who shrieks in surprise.
The young girl backs away as she looks at Natsu who is looking back at her with a weirded look.
"Who are you?" Natsu asked while folding his hands behind his head.
"y-you don't know me?" the young girl asked.
"Should I know you?" Natsu asked confused while tilting his head a bit to the side. "who are you?"
The young girl looks at the salmon haired boy for a moment as she looks at him all skeptically and focused before she took a deep breath and then sighs.
"my name is Hisui. E. Fiore." The young girl introduced herself. "I'm the princess."
"Princess?" Natsu asked before looking more confused. "what's that?"
"y-you don't know what a princess is?" Hisui asked with a slightly baffled look.
"nope." Natsu replied while shaking his head and then tilting it to the side. "is that a title or something?"
"it is." Hisui stated with a nod. "then…how about you? What's your name?"
"Natsu, Natsu Dragneel." Said Natsu in reply. "I'm the son of Igneel."
"Igneel? Who is that?" Hisui replied. "your father?"
"yup. He's a Fire Dragon." Natsu nodded before grinning. "which makes me a Fire Dragon Slayer!"
"F-Fire Dragon Slayer?!" said Hisui in surprise. "That means you have Fire Dragon Slayer Magic which is an ancient and rare magic!"
"I don't know about ancient, but rare is something." Said Natsu while scratching the back of his head.
Meanwhile by the castle's hallway; we find Bash smoking a cigar while walking down to a door that he knocks once before coming in to find Arcadios in the middle of processing paperwork.
"You need something, Bash?" Arcadios asked while signing some papers as he knew that Bash is the one who came in.
"Just need some intel on a few things for a mission along with the usual check up on the kid." Bash replied as he went to the nearby window that he opens so that his smoke could fly out and not pollute into the room. "how is he doing?"
"his physical training's result is remarkably high than any of our trainees." Said Arcadios as he signs some papers before taking a tied up scroll that he throws towards Bash who catches it and then unravels it. "but his educational training is lagging."
"I guess that's to be expected when the kid was raised in the wild." Bash replied as he checks the content of the scroll that is filled with Natsu's score on the physical test that are all S but for his Educational Test it was all either E or F. "seriously? He got an F on Linguistic? Is he that bad with writing and stuff?"
"You said that he was raised in the wild, remember?" said Arcadios while looking at the cowboy. "by my estimation; he'll be stuck in his educational class for a while."
"Great." Said Bash as he takes his cigar off before blowing out smoke then scratches the back of his head. "here I thought that he would be great in everything since he aced the physical test."
"Everyone has their weak parts." Said Arcadios while shrugging his shoulders before he hears a few knocks from the door that made him turn to look at it. "come in."
The door swung open as a soldier came in and then saluted quickly in seeing not only Arcadios but also Bash; both being superior ranked than the soldier.
"excuse me for interrupting you, Captain Arcadios! Captain Bash!" the soldier exclaimed. "there is an important matter that needs both of you to be attended!"
"at ease" Bash told the soldier while putting his cigar back into his mouth before sucking in some smoke that he blows out from the side of his lips. "these guys really need to tone down their salutes and stuff."
"it's regulation, stupid" Arcadios told Bash before turning towards the soldier. "what is the important matter?"
"t-the thing is!" the soldier exclaimed while looking a bit nervous and worried while Arcadios and Bash just looks confused.
A few seconds later; the door to the room came flying off the hinges as Arcadios with Bash came running out at high speed while looking extremely frantic and terrified.
"GOD DAMNIT THAT BRAT!" Bash shouted as he and Arcadios keeps on running till they reached the garden where there were many soldiers gathered and just chattering each other while looking up.
Arcadios and Bash got near as they look at where the soldiers were looking before they scream in shock with their jaws dropping because they see Natsu climbing up Mercurius' top tower with Hisui latching onto his back.
"PRINCESS!" Arcadios screamed.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT BRAT DOING WITH THE PRINCESS?!" Bash shouted out in pure outrage. "IS HE PLANNING TO GET BOTH OF THEM KILLED?!"
"ALL OF YOU! GET THOSE TWO DOWN FROM THERE!" the two Captains screamed in unison towards the soldiers gathered as they quickly saluted before running off.
Arcadios and Bash quickly following in action as the entire soldiers in the castle went into action.
Meanwhile with Natsu and Hisui; both are reaching the very top of the tower as they are merely a few more inches away from it.
"hey, Natsu. You sure you can do this?" said Hisui while hanging onto Natsu's back.
"leave it to me!" Natsu replied with a grin as he grips his hold onto a firm surface before pulling himself up. "I didn't do those training exercises for nothing!"
Natsu keeps on climbing as he soon arrived at the top of the tower where he and Hisui hanged onto the top where they find a bird nest of a jade feathered eagle that is sitting on top of three greenish-white eggs.
"There you are, Jade." Said Hisui with a smile as she went and gently stroke the eagle's head and see how the avian creature liked it. "Are you doing well with your eggs?"
"Seems like she is doing well." Natsu replied in seeing how the eggs were just being kept warm underneath the feathered animal.
You all must be wondering how the situation came to be. Well, let us rewind time several minutes ago.
Flashback
A few moments ago, Natsu is with Hisui in the garden as they were just talking about each other's lives and about what they have been doing.
"They always talk about this rule and that rule!" said Natsu as he held up two books before he went and threw it to the air. "Talk about boring and frustrating!"
"I can agree with that." Hisui nodded while having an agreeing look. "every single day, Father sends me lecturers to teach me things like how to dance properly, dress properly, and more stuff! It's so frustrating!"
"don't tell me that you got to be taught how to eat properly too!" said Natsu as Hisui just nods.
"I do!" Hisui replied. "I have to be taught on which fork or spoon or knife I have to use for a certain meal! I mean! Can't we all just use a normal spoon and a fork for everything we want to eat!"
"Yeah!" said Natsu in agreement.
The two young children keep on chattering till they look tired and satisfied.
"it was nice to finally let out all that pent up emotion." Said Hisui with a smile.
"yeah." Natsu replied with a nod. "letting off the steam is damn nice."
The two then hears a squall of an eagle as they look up and sees a jade feathered eagle flying in the air above.
"ah! Jade!" said Hisui with a smile in seeing the avian creature.
"Jade?" Natsu asked as Hisui nods.
"it's my friend eagle!" said the princess to Natsu. "father introduced me to her a year back! She's my best friend!"
"heh~! You are friend with an eagle." Said Natsu before he looks at the eagle flying above. "that's cool!"
"yeah!" Hisui replied with an agreeing nod as the two looks at the flying eagle before seeing it disappear to the tower above.
"where she go?" Natsu asked in trying to see where the eagle might have landed.
"She might've gone to her nest." Said Hisui as Natsu looks at her. "my father told me that last month was her mating season and since then she hasn't been coming to me for a while. She must be tending to her eggs up there."
"so that's why, huh?" said Natsu as he looks back at the tower. "it must be nice up there for her since she get a nice view of the city, right?"
"yeah." Hisui replied before frowning. "but I feel worried."
"why?" Natsu asked with a confused face towards Hisui.
"high above there, it's where either rain, lightning, or even snow will hit first." Said Hisui while clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "I'm worried that she and her eggs get hurt up there."
"I see." Said Natsu before he nods. "how about we go and check?"
"eh?" Hisui replied with a confused look.
"just leave it to me!" said Natsu with a grin and a thumbs up.
flashback
now back to the present; Hisui with Natsu look at Jade; the eagle as her eggs were shaking and cracking.
"they're going to hatch~!" said Hisui all excited as she looks at one egg that cracks even more before it hatched and an eagle's chick came popping out while squeaking loudly. "it hatched!"
Soon, more of the eggs started to hatch as more chicks came squeaking loudly to their mother that feeds them whatever she has eaten from mouth to mouth.
"man, they squeak loud." Said Natsu as he scratches his ears from hearing how loudly the eagle's chicks squeak.
"my father said that Jade was like that when she first hatched." Said Hisui with a smile in seeing how Jade is sitting on top of her chicks as to keep them warm and comfortable.
"HEY!" Bash's voice soon came cutting in as the two kids look down and sees the cowboy and Arcadios by a roof near the tower that they are on. "you two stay put and don't you dare run away!"
"Princess! Please remain calm and steady!" Arcadios shouted in. "we will get you down from there safe and sound!"
"uh oh" said Hisui and Natsu in unison.
"let's scram!" Natsu exclaimed as he picked up and carried Hisui onto his back before he went and jumped down to a nearby tower where he latched on before starting to climb down.
"HEY! COME BACK HERE!" Bash exclaimed as he and Arcadios were nearly trying to climb up the tower that the two children were at first but they soon started to give chase to the two kids.
"no way~!" Natsu and Hisui replied while sticking out their tongue before they started to run away.
"HEY!" Bash shouted as he and Arcadios started a game of cat and mouse with Natsu and Hisui who just laughs while running away from the two adults.
This little game got the attention of everyone in the castle as even the King saw what was happening and rather than being enraged; he was amused.
"hohohoho, that boy sure is something-kabo." Said Toma with a smile as he could hear how joyfully the laughter of his daughter as she hanged onto Natsu's back while the salmon haired man runs away from Bash and Arcadios who are chasing after them. "it's been a while since I heard Hisui's oh so joyful laughter…"
Natsu and Hisui keep on running on the roofs as they escaped from Bash and Arcadios along with many other soldiers who came up the roof and tried to catch them.
The two keeps on escaping as they were being watched by the rookies of Natsu's class and along with a few others; one of which was a short pink haired girl who looks in surprise to see what was going on before she giggles from seeing how it was amusing and entertaining at the same time.
Night came to Crocus as we now turn our attention to Bash's house where the cowboy laid on the bed all tired while Natsu is eating up a large fried turkey while having several steaming bulges on his head; courtesy of the cowboy who beat him up after his stunt with the princess.
"kid…you will be the death of me one day." Said Bash in a tired voice as he and Arcadios had managed to catch up to Natsu and Hisui; both had fun and were all smiles while the adults were just tired. "do you have any idea who the princess was in this kingdom?"
"nope." Natsu replied while munching on the fried turkey. "she's Hisui and she's the princess. What else?"
"ugh….." Bash groans all tiredly while facepalming. "Not only you need to learn about the Crocus' Knights rules and stuff. You got to learn common sense and etiquette too!?" the cowboy then sighs tiredly. "why am I not surprised?"
"what's the big deal?" said Natsu before taking a bite out of his turkey. "we were just checking on Jade, that's all. But you guys came and tried to pull us down."
"you guys were hanging on a tower 100 feet off the ground! That's dangerous by anyone's standards!" Bash exclaimed. "and not only that; you were with the Princess! This kingdom's one and only princess! She's the future ruler of Fiore, you know!? If anything happened to her, this kingdom is doomed!"
"why are you guys just leaving it all to Hisui when she doesn't want anything to do with it?" Natsu asked as he munched up all the meat on his turkey before leaving only the bone. "couldn't you just let the old man do it? He's the king, right?"
"he's the king, but do you think he'll be around forever!?" said Bash in retort. "he's aging! All of us age! Sooner or later, one day. All of us will pass away!"
"I don't get it" said Natsu as Bash felt so dumb to explain common sense to a kid raised by a dragon in the wild.
"I'm too tired for this." Bash stated before he went and laid on his bed. "and I'm too tired to explain everything to you." The cowboy then looks at Natsu. "for now, get to bed, sleep, be ready for tomorrow because I'm going to drill into your head the common sense in this kingdom, and also, don't try to pull the same stunt with the princess ever again. She's an important person in this kingdom."
"alright." Said Natsu while throwing away the cleaned up turkey bone. "but if she asks me to help her check on Jade again, don't think I'll say no."
"it's just an eagle! There's like hundreds of them in the world!" Bash replied.
"nope." Said Natsu in reply. "Jade is Hisui's friend and she's my friend as well. If Jade or her chicks get sick, who will help them if me and Hisui can't reach them?"
Bash groans in frustration as he soon sighs then looks at Natsu.
"I can get that you did it for the princess…I do get it but think of the danger that she could've faced if you weren't strong enough in holding or carrying her?" said Bash calmly to Natsu. "if you want to help her check on her pet eagle, that's fine. But at least tell me or Arcadios about it. So that we know she's in good hands."
"I can get that part, but Jade is Hisui and my friend. She's not a pet." Said Natsu as Bash sighs while shaking his head.
"I should've just gone and went to sleep…." Said Bash as he went and laid on the bed.
Natsu looks at Bash all confused before he went and looks at the window nearby as he sees the full moon in the night sky above.
"what's the big deal with helping a friend?" said Natsu before he decided to head to bed.
On the next passing few days that came and pass; Natsu keeps on his training in the Crocus Knight's training while also having fun with Hisui who he takes either out of the castle and into the city that gets Arcadios and Bash chasing after them or getting her on top of the tower where Jade and her chicks are at.
Currently, Natsu is with Hisui at the roof top near the garden as they laid there and just look at the sky above.
"today's class is boring and annoying as ever." Said Natsu with a tired face. "making campfire and stuff…I can use fire magic. I can make a campfire just by spitting out fire on a pile of sticks!"
"I can see that happening." Said Hisui with a giggle before she looks at the sky above and soon became quiet for a second. "hey, Natsu.."
"What?" Natsu replied.
"You are training to join the Elite Magic Squadron, right?" said Hisui as Natsu nodded. "to find your father, Igneel as your main goal of reason?"
"yeah." Natsu replied. "Bash said that it's the best way to find Igneel since there are a lot of info going here and out in Crocus."
"I see…" said Hisui with a nod. "but you also plan to be the Sword and the Shield of Crocus, as well, right?"
"I guess so…" Natsu replied before looking at Hisui. "what do they mean by becoming the Sword and Shield of Crocus anyway? I don't get it."
"well…" Hisui started off as she sat up and continues to look at the clouds in the sky above. "to be the Sword and the Shield of Crocus, it means that you will protect the city and its people from dangers that come."
"do you mean I got to beat up the bad guys who want to hurt the good guys?" Natsu asked while sitting up and looking at Hisui.
"I guess that's a good example." Said Hisui with a giggle before she continued. "being the Sword means taking up arms filled with bravery to fight against the bad people while being the Shield means to have kindness to protect those who can't protect themselves. That is the meaning of becoming the Sword and Shield of Crocus."
"oohh…I see." Said Natsu with an understanding nod before he looks at the sky. "couldn't they just say that we got to protect the weak ones and fight against the bad ones?"
"that's not a really good thing to say, Natsu." Said Hisui while looking at the salmon haired boy. "the people you call weak ones are people who have no magic; but even if they don't have magic, they have the passionate strength to be the people that makes the kingdom as it is." The princess then looks at the sky. "without people; Crocus would be a very lonely city where it'll be silent."
"that'll make the place damn spooky." Natsu stated before he looks up and hums. "back at the forest where I grew up with Igneel; it's always to train, eat, and fight so that I could get stronger and stronger. It was very simple there."
"it is, but I can understand why Igneel wanted to train you so that you can become stronger, Natsu." Said Hisui to Natsu who hummed while looking at her with an eyebrow raised. "being strong means fighting for those you love and care for. Just like my father; he is the king because he wants to lead Fiore and protect its people from harm." The young princess then looks at the sky once again. "I hate studying so much about being a princess and everything. But I can't help but dream to be the queen so that I could help my father in protecting the kingdom he loves."
"I guess you got a point." Said Natsu as he folded his hands behind his head. "Igneel once told me that I shouldn't use the magic he taught me for anything selfish and stuff…I guess this is what he meant."
"it is." Said Hisui with an agreeing nod. "he wants you to be a strong person to fight those with bad intention and protect those who can't protect themselves. Your father must be a very kind dragon."
"I don't know about kind." Said Natsu while laying down. "he always beats me up when I don't do things right and stuff. He always tell me to do things right and good. Be a man he can be proud of."
"that'll take a while, don't you think?" Hisui asked while giggling.
"no way!" said Natsu while sitting up and then points a thumb to his chest. "once I finished my training and be in the Elite Magic Squadron; I'll be the strongest person and the greatest man in this kingdom! Just you wait and see!"
"I'll wait and see, but by about a few years." Said Hisui while giggling a bit.
"I'll make it in just one year!" Natsu stated before he pumped a fist up. "once I finished those books and tests. I'll be the greatest Man in the world! We'll see who will be laughing after that!"
The two kids just stayed at where they are and just chattered while not knowing that Arcadios and Bash were below and watching them. The two Captains had planned to pull the two down but decided to stop from hearing the talk that Natsu and Hisui had.
"Greatest man in the world, huh?" said Arcadios as he crossed his arms under his chest and then looks at Bash. "You once said that in the past, didn't you?"
"In the past." Bash retorted while adjusting his hat and then started to lighted a cigar in his mouth. "That was just the kid me saying that back then. the kid can say that if he wants, I ain't going to stop him from making a fool of himself."
"You say that, but you can't help but feel a bit proud, can't you?" said Arcadios with a slight smirk on his face towards the cowboy who just huffs out smoke.
"shut up." Bash replied before he went and left while Arcadios chuckled in seeing his action.
That's a wrap!
Bye bye