Our story begins in The Lazan City where there once lived a man called Igneel who was so poor that he could hardly maintain himself and his family, which consisted only of his wife and his son Natsu. He was a hard-working man who's only desire was to provide for his family. Then one sad day Igneel and his wife fell victim to an dreadful epidemic that they eventually perished from, leaving their son an orphan. Poor Natsu had tried to survive by doing honest work like his late father but it always ended in failure either due to employers being too poor to hire him, or because they thought that he was just a dirty, good for nothing low-life who would only rob them once their back was turned.
People with more money or a higher status were always looking down on him. Treating him like he was some kind of loathsome vermin who needed to be squashed or kicked away. He spent every day of his life being cursed at and spat on, and was never given a chance to be better than what he was. So he eventually came to the conclusion that if he couldn't live on honest work, he had have to steal to get by. Which he wasn't particularly fond of but a guy's gotta eat and he only stole food. He never took anything else.
Over the years, he grew up into a very clever and resourceful man with a good heart and a very strong, muscular, build. He was optimistic, friendly, and euphoric, yet also very insecure. He was what many would call a diamond in the rough, meaning that underneath all the ragged clothes and humble appearance, there was potential for greatness. He just needed the right motive to spur him into reaching that greatness, and that's what the first part of this stories within a story is about.
"Get out of here you rotten thief!" A vender shouted as he roughly tossed Natsu out on the street. "If I ever catch you trying to steal from me again, you'll pay with your life!"
"Hey! Take it easy!" Natsu quickly picked himself up off the ground. "I wasn't doing anything wrong."
"Oh so you're not just a thief, but a liar as well!"
"You know if this is how you treat your customers, I'll just take my business else where!"
"Business?! Ha! What a laugh!" He cackled. "You don't have a dime to your name and you never will! You're nothing but a thieving, flea-bitten, street rat!"
Natsu flinched at the insult. Street rat. If there was one name Natsu hated, that was it.
"Get out of here, you filthy, lowly- Ow!"
Suddenly the vender was bitten hard on the ankle by a blue alley cat. This cat was Natsu's only friend in the whole world, he had found him as kitten alone in the alley, half-starved and homeless. Empathizing with the orphaned creature, Natsu nursed him back to health and raised him into adulthood. Once the cat was fully grown, Natsu allowed him to leave because as the saying goes, "If you love something, set it free." However, "If it comes back then it's yours." And the cat did come back, he had grown to love Natsu so much that he never wanted to be apart from him. This made Natsu so happy that he actually named the feline Happy and since then, the two of them were as thick as thieves. Literally.
"Perfect timing Happy, as usual." He smiled at his companion.
Happy purred at the compliment.
"Wretched little beast!" The vender kicked Happy away, enraging Natsu.
"Hey! No one does that to my pal!"
He punched the vender in the face, grabbed Happy, and ran off as fast as he could. Ran before the vender would recover from the attack, call the guards, and have Natsu's hands cut off. Quite an extreme penalty for petty theft, but the punishments in Lazan City had always been brutal. Sometimes, downright unreasonable.
"You okay Happy?" He asked the cat, while checking him for injuries.
Happy nodded.
"Good, and because you were injured on the job." From his pocket, Natsu produced a loaf of bread that he had managed to swipe from the vender's stand and broke it in two. "You get the bigger half of breakfast."
He handed Happy his half, which the cat gleefully began to devour. Natsu was then about to bite into his share when he spotted an old beggar woman hobbling about in the city square. The poor thing couldn't even walk without trembling and her terribly weak eyes were filled with hunger. On her arm, she carried a basket containing items that she was trying to sell to people who passed by.
"Excuse me sir." She called out meekly to one man. "Can I interest you in some brass pots? A fine brooch perhaps? A necklace for a special lady?"
"Go away you wretched old hag!" The man rudely scoffed at her. "I don't want your dirty, old, rubbish!"
He shooed her way, and she sadly continued searching for prospective customers.
Natsu's stomach had a terrible case of acute hunger pangs. Every second his belly was giving off a growl, refusing to cease until it was filled. But his hidden heart of gold insisted that the beggar woman needed food more than he did. Stomach and heart argued for about five seconds about what choice the young man should make. The heart won.
"Here." He said offering his half of bread to the woman. "Take it."
"No, a growing boy like you needs the nourishment much more than an old buddy like me." She said.
"I'm grown enough ma'am. Besides, I wasn't that hungry anyway." He lied.
The old woman gave him a soft smile before accepting the bread.
"Thank you. Please take one of my treasures." She said opening her basket.
"That's alright, the bread is free of charge."
"Nonsense. An act of kindness deserves a reward. Take anything, please. I won't be able to enjoy my meal unless you do."
So Natsu humored the beggar woman. He looked inside her basket and examined the contents l, wondering which one he should choose. She had a very large collection of items that were covered in dust and rust, antiques that were centuries old no doubt. But with a little cleaning up, maybe they could be worth something. He looked at a pot, a brooch, a hand mirror, a bracelet, a plate, then finally settled a very peculiar looking ring that was in the shape of a dragon and bore an amber gemstone.
He plucked it from the basket, and slid it on to his finger with perfect ease. An astonished look appeared on the woman's face.
"Incredible." She marveled.
"What?" Natsu asked.
"I've been trying to sell that old ring for years but it doesn't fit anyone's finger. Just this morning I was thinking of chucking it into the sand because I thought it had no one to match it. Apparently I was wrong."
"Do you want it back?"
"No. I have feeling that this is an omen, from he who rules above us all. I pray that this will be a good omen."
She bid farewell to Natsu and continued on her way. Natsu looked down at the ring on his finger and shrugged.
"Probably not worth much." He thought. "Well I guess better go find another meal or find a place to starve to death."
Natsu started to walk about the street when suddenly everyone began to clear the way for the royal guards who were leading a richly dressed gentleman toward the palace. From what Natsu had heard through the grape vine, he was Prince Dan of the Eastern Isles. A very rich, refined, eligible suitor for the sultan's daughter whom had reached marriageable age.
"Out of the way fool!" One guard snapped at Natsu, shoving him into the dirt. "Prince Dan approaches! He is on his way to court the princess and we cannot allow him to be delayed!"
"Oh then he's the fool." Natsu muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?!" The guard had heard Natsu's rude remark and he immediately jerked him up by his arm.
"I'm just saying, what makes the prince think that he's better than all the other suitors she's rejected?"
The guard now had Natsu on his knees and a sword to his throat.
"Should we kill him for his disrespect, your majesty?" He asked the prince.
Natsu quickly broke into the begging for mercy act. A pathetic method perhaps, but in a place like this you had to do whatever it took to stay alive. Even forsaking your dignity if need be.
"Please your majesty forgive me!" Natsu pleaded. "I only meant that no one has been able to successfully woo the princess before you, besides I'm just a nobody from the streets! What good would killing me do?"
The prince started to laugh.
"He's right! He's too insignificant!" The guards released Natsu, but Prince Dan gave him a hard kick in the back. "You are an embarrassment to the human race,and most likely your family name! Can't imagine the shame your parents must feel over having vermin like you for a son."
That struck a nerve with Natsu.
"Why you pompous, son of a- Ow!"
Happy didn't bite Natsu hard, just enough to send the message to Natsu that he better shut his mouth before it would cost him his head.
"You are a worthless street rat!" Dan continued. "You were born a street rat and you'll die a street rat! And only your fleas will mourn you!"
If Happy hadn't of been there, Natsu would have knocked Prince Dan off his high horse and shoved his face into the ground, and he would have been executed for that act. But luckily, Happy was present to keep his friend in line so Natsu let the arrogant prince pass, watching him silently, not uttering a word until the monarch and the guards were long gone.
"I'm not worthless." Natsu snarled with his fists clenched at his side. "And I don't have fleas!"
A chilly darkness started to settle over Lazan, as Natsu and Happy returned to the hovel that they called home. It was drafty and crumbling with leaky roofs and no doors, with old rags and tarps to use as beds. A very poor choice of shelter but where else could they live?
"Hey Happy." Natsu said gazing up at the starry night sky. "I know that prince was an ass, but do you think that maybe...Maybe he might have been right about my folks being ashamed of me? I know Mom and Dad never wanted me to be a thief. Dad used to say that theft was no way to live. That there was no honor in it."
Feeling guilty and ashamed, he slowly slid down to the hard-wood floor. Happy climbed into Natsu's lap and started to purr against him.
"I don't like to steal Happy, but I don't know any other way to live. Still, I don't think my parents would be very proud of me if they were here." He scolded himself. "Some son. Some pride and joy. They didn't deserve a rotten kid like me."
Yet Happy knew those words were not true. Animals can sense things that humans cannot, and Happy could sense that Natsu was far from a subject of shame. Sure he had his flaws and he had made mistakes like every other person has, but there was so much more to him than what was on the surface. If only the world would give him a chance.
"Well we better get some sleep buddy. We have a busy day tomorrow."
Happy yawned in agreement, and he curled himself up in Natsu's arms as the two of them quickly fell asleep.