Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima, please support the official release.
Chopping through trees, bushes, vines, anything that got in his way was a small boy around the age of 11. Spiky black hair, red eyes, and iron studs instead of eyebrows were his most noticeable features. He also wore a brown sleeveless shirt and tan pants. His name is Gajeel Redfox and he is angry.
Well, angry is putting it nicely, he's more furious than anything else.
It all started around a week ago when Gajeel woke up and saw that his father was missing. He didn't think any of it at first, it was normal to wake up to his father not being around. Then he didn't come home that night and that caused some alarm for Gajeel, his father always came home before it got dark.
Gajeel didn't think too much of it though, he just thought that his father was testing him, to see how he'll survive on his own. So, Gajeel went to bed fully expecting to see his father's face when he wakes up. The next morning came, and again his father was nowhere in sight.
Still thinking that the whole thing was a test, Gajeel went ahead and did his morning routine. First, he went hunting for breakfast, then did some light training, and finished it off with some reading and writing. He hated reading and writing, but his father always told him that it was important for him to know those skills, but that doesn't mean he hates it any less.
The day came to an end, and his father was nowhere in sight. Once again, Gajeel assumed his father would be back in the morning. When Gajeel woke up and saw that his father was still missing, he began to worry.
Gajeel knew he shouldn't worry, and why should he, his father is a dragon. Not in a figurative sense, but in a literal sense. His father is the Iron Dragon, Metalicana.
Dragons are the most feared creatures in all of Earth Land and only a certain kind of magic can defeat one, Dragon Slayer magic, his magic. His father taught him Iron Dragon Slayer magic, with this magic he could cover his skin into iron scales, turn his arms and legs into any tool he needs, and has a very powerful attack called Iron Dragon Roar. He can also eat iron to replenish his strength and he also has heightened senses.
Gajeel knew that his father couldn't be defeated by any weak magic, but he couldn't stop worrying about his father. Maybe he was attacked by another Dragon Slayer and was seriously injured? No, that couldn't be possible, his father wouldn't be defeated so easily by some random Dragon Slayer.
Gajeel wanted to look for Metalicana but chose against it, still holding out hope that his father would return soon.
Three days passed and Gajeel realized that his father wasn't missing. No, his father abandoned him. He was hit with a huge wave of emotions from anger to sadness, though he didn't cry, he wouldn't give that piece of shit satisfaction from his tears.
He punched holes through the cave walls that he and Metalicana called home. He let out a thunderous roar that scared every living being in a 50-mile radius around him.
After calming down, Gajeel decided to plan out what he was going to do. He didn't want to stay at the cave, too many memories of his father and it wouldn't do him any good to stay in one spot for too long. He also wanted to find his father, not so they could go back to how things were, but to kick his ass and prove that he is stronger than his father and that he doesn't need him anymore. After one last night's rest in his "childhood home," Gajeel began his search for his father.
Stomping through the forest, destroying everything in his path, Gajeel kept his ears and nose peeled of the scent and sound of his father. It shouldn't be too hard to find his father, the scent of iron should be easy to pick up with his nose.
"I swear when I find you I'm gonna rip off every single one of your scales!" Gajeel knocked down a tree with one punch. He sniffed the air but couldn't smell anything that resembled the stench of iron.
Gajeeled growled. "So, ya must've flown far away to avoid me, eh? Well, it doesn't matter! I'll find ya you old lizard!"
Gajeel felt his ears twitch, he heard the faint sound of someone crying. He didn't know why someone else was this far deep in the forest, nor did he care. It didn't concern him that someone was dumb enough to get lost in the forest, they've should've known better than to travel alone. Not seeing the irony, Gajeel continued on with his search.
But something stopped him. He didn't know why, but a part of him told him to find the person who was crying. He tried to ignore it, but his gut kept telling him to find the person.
He sighed. "I better not regret this."
Gajeel started walking to where he heard the crying. He wasn't in any hurry so he took his time, listening for anything that sounded like a dragon. Then his nose picked up the scent of a dragon, but not Metalicana. No, he didn't smell iron, but feathers. It didn't make sense, dragons have scales, not feathers, but Gajeel didn't care, maybe this dragon can help him find Metalicana, and if not, he has the magic to persuade them.
Gajeel quickened his pace. The more steps he took the crying got louder and the stench of feathers got more poignant. He saw a clearing up ahead where the crying was coming from. He slowed down when he made it to the clearing and was extremely disappointed with what he saw.
Standing in the middle of the clearing was a small young-looking girl with dark blue hair and brown eyes. She was wearing an orange shirt with a diamond pattern and a red skirt.
"Grandeeney! Where are you?" Gajeel heard her shout. Gajeel just shook his head, he thought he was gonna find a dragon that could help him find Metalicana, not some child lost in the woods, though she did seem familiar, and also has the scent of a dragon. Deciding that he wasted his time, Gajeel started to walk away.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Gajeel stopped in his tracks. He turned around and saw the girl looking straight at him with tears in her eyes.
"Away," Gajeel said bluntly. He wanted the conversation to end as soon as possible, he didn't want to waste any more time away from finding his father, and he certainly didn't want to waste his time talking to a little girl.
"Why?" She asked, causing Gajeel to quietly groan.
"I thought I heard something important, it wasn't, so I'm leaving!" Gajeel said, slightly annoyed. He was hoping that the girl would pick up the hint that he wants to leave, but she didn't, she looked sadder than she did earlier.
"Please don't leave. I don't want to be alone," she started to cry which made Gajeel feel bad. He didn't mean to make her cry, he was just being honest. Besides, no one's forcing him to stay, he could just leave and go on with his day as if nothing happened, and if it came down to it Gajeel knew he would be able to lose her if she decided to follow him.
But he couldn't. Part of his brain is telling him to leave the girl, but the rest of his body is forcing him to stay. He couldn't just abandon the girl, she looks like she wouldn't last much longer on her own. With a reluctant sigh, Gajeel chose to stay.
"Fine, if it'll stop yer crying," the girl seemed to perk up a little and she quickly wrapped Gajeel into a hug.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" The girl was extremely grateful, which made Gajeel uncomfortable. He wasn't used to physical affection or physical contact in general. The only time his father ever touched him was either during training or when he hit him if he messed something up.
"OK, you can let go now," Gajeel said, but the girl either didn't hear him or chose not to listen because she didn't let go, so Gajeel pried her off of him.
"Sorry," the girl wiped away some stray tears. Gajeel just shook his head.
"It's fine. But what are you doing out here all alone?" Gajeel asked. The girl put her head down and Gajeel could smell some new tears forming.
"I was looking for my mother. She disappeared a week ago," the girl revealed. Gajeel was slightly surprised, the same thing happened to him, but instead, it was his father. It must've been a coincidence, there is no way that both of their parents go missing around the same time. And it's not like her mother is a dragon.
"What's your mother like?" Gajeel decided that he should help the girl out. He could use his heightened senses to find her mother, usually, children have the same scent as their parents. Though her smelling like a dragon confused him, he just assumed that a dragon flew by and its fragrance rubbed off on her.
"Well…" the girl looked like she was thinking about how to describe her mother, which Gajeel didn't understand, he thought she would start spewing all sorts of nonsense about her mother.
"She's tall, feathery, and a… dragon," she mumbled that last part, but it didn't matter, due to his heightened hearing, Gajeel was able to understand her. It made sense, she did smell like a dragon, but Gajeel didn't fully believe it.
"Prove it," Gajeel said bluntly.
"Huh?" The girl was shocked, she never thought that someone would ask for proof about her mother being a dragon, she didn't think it would be possible to do that.
"I said prove it," Gajeel said, getting closer to the girl's face, causing her to flinch.
"B-But I don't know h-how," the girl stuttered and Gajeel was getting annoyed. It should be easy for a Dragon Slayer to prove they were raised by a dragon.
"It's simple," Gajeel stated and the girl started to shake with fear.
"It's not!" The girl screamed.
Gajeel huffed and backed away from the girl. He then turned his attention away from her and towards the empty clearing. He took a deep breath and shot out a tornado of iron and steel into the clearing, ripping trees out of the ground and destroying a long patch of grass.
"Iron Dragon Roar!"
The girl was shocked by what she saw. The raw power the boy had and the destruction he caused.
Gajeel turned his attention back to the girl, causing her to jump a little. He got close to her face again and pointed to the carnage he just caused. "Can ya do that?"
The girl swallowed her fears as she stood in the same spot that Gajeel was at before. She took a deep breath and then unleashed a similar tornado as Gajeel's, minus the iron and steel.
"Sky Dragon Roar!"
Whatever was left from Gajeel's roar was blown away from the girl's roar. Gajeel was impressed, though it wasn't as strong as his, it was still powerful. He could see the girl swaying back and forth, guess she's not used to using that much energy at once. Gajeel walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder to help her maintain her balance.
"OK, kid, I believe ya," Gajeel said and she smiled up at him.
"I assume that you were also raised by a dragon?" Gajeel laughed at her question.
"Gihi, yup. But I guess you knew that when you spotted me earlier," Gajeel said, she nodded in response.
"I could smell the iron from a mile away," she laughed. Gajeel shook his head, he knew he smelled like iron, that's what happens when you're around it for most of your life, so he didn't take offense from it.
"Got a name?"
"Wendy, Wendy Marvell," she said.
"Well Squirt, I'm Gajeel Redfox," he told her. He let go of her shoulder to see if she was able to stand on her own. She was able to stand still, but Gajeel stood close to her to make sure she wouldn't fall over.
"What are you doing out here, Gajeel?" Wendy asked.
"Same as you, looking for my dragon," Gajeel quickly answered.
"Did they go missing too?" Gajeel felt his heart ache. Wendy still believed that her mother was missing, and not the cold reality that she abandoned her. Gajeel didn't know if he could destroy her foolish optimism, but he knew that it would be for the best for Wendy to know the truth.
"I'm sorry to tell ya, but our dragons didn't go missing. They abandoned us," Gajeel said bluntly. He could see all of the joy and optimism on Wendy's face disappear and be replaced with sadness and confusion.
"What?" Tears start to form in her eyes making Gajeel feel bad. "B-But Grandeeney would never do that!"
"I don't know what to tell ya, kid? A dragon doesn't go missing out of the blue," Gajeel expected Wendy to cry like a baby, but to his surprise, she didn't shed a single tear. Instead, she got angry.
"You're wrong! They wouldn't just leave without a good reason!" Wendy screamed. Gajeel was surprised to see the amount of anger that she held. But that didn't mean it didn't frustrate him to no end.
"I thought that too! But you have to realize that they don't care about you anymore! And why should you care about them!" Gajeel shouted back.
Wendy's face turned red with anger. "If I shouldn't care about them, then why are you looking for your dragon!?"
Gajeel paused. He knew why he wanted to find his father, to kick his ass, but is that the only reason? Why should he look for Metalicana when he abandoned him? Maybe he wanted to know why he left, or maybe a small part of him missed him. Gajeel shook his head, it couldn't be that, him, Gajeel Redfox, missing someone, that's stupid.
"I have my reasons, ok," Gajeel said after calming down. He started to walk away, leaving behind a confused Wendy.
"Where are you going?" He heard her ask.
"To go find my father," he said without stopping.
"Why don't I join you? I can help you look for him and maybe Grandeeney is with him?" Gajeel stopped and started laughing.
"You, help me? Sorry, Squirt, but you can barely stand after doing a roar," Gajeel said after regaining his composure. Wendy puffed out her cheeks and stomped the ground.
"I may not be strong, but I can do lots of other things. And two dragon slayer noses are better than one," Gajeel thought over what she said. She wasn't very strong, meaning he would do most of the heavy lifting, but both of their heightened senses could make things go quickly.
He sighed and shook his head. "I better not regret this," he said quietly to himself. "Fine, you can come with me."
Wendy smiled a bright smile and ran towards Gajeel. "Oh, thank you Gajeel!"
But before she reached the Iron Dragon Slayer she tripped on her foot and face planted into the ground, making Gajeel slightly regret his decision.