Chapter 3: Dragon Jewel

Igneel's worry over Natsu's small size was quickly made pointless.

His growth was explosive. At a month old, he'd more than doubled his original size. Natsu was easily seven feet long, and when standing up, he hit the four foot mark with little trouble. And now he wasn't so light that Igneel couldn't notice if he climbed onto his head again.

That said, he was still nowhere near the size of a small adult dragon, who could average at near sixty feet. Igneel was an easy eighty five, and Sunrose was at seventy. That said, it wasn't like that was their max size. Dragons grew all their lives, but once they reached about sixty feet, which was considered an adult, their growth slowed down considerably.

But in his early years, Natsu would grow at a ridiculously fast pace. It was a survival strategy for dragons, because the young were so vulnerable in their first year of life.

That was another reason why the family was living away from other dragons. While females were usually normal around male hatchlings, drakes had an instinctive urge to kill their competition. Older males were often experienced enough to suppress this urge, which was why they could exist together. That said, if a young drake happened to wander into their crosshairs, an older drake could kill it with ease if they chose to do so.

It wasn't as infrequent as it sounded, unfortunately.

So Natsu would grow up, and grow up fast. Yes, it would slow a little once he got to be about twenty feet, when the sheer amount of food required for his blitz growing would need more time and effort to gather, but until he was at the very least thirty feet, he would have his parent's protection. And he wouldn't reach that size until he was around ten years of age. Furthermore, he wouldn't be considered an adult until about twenty or twenty five.

It was a long commitment for any parent, but for dragons, a decade or two wasn't a very long time. Igneel himself was a drake in his prime, at about 250 years old. Sunrose wasn't far behind, at 220 years. And they could easily live until they were over 1,000. The oldest dragons were almost 2,000 years old.

But at the moment, Natsu was still an infant. So his parents did their very best to make sure he'd be ready when it was time for him to live on his own.

Recently, Natsu had also started to learn how to speak. His words were few and far between, but he knew Igneel and Sunrose by name, what kinds of prey they brought home, and there was hardly a day that went by when he asked when he'd be able to breathe fire.

As usual, the morning was started with the now routine:

"Can I breathe fire today?" Natsu asked.

Sunrose sighed, "You won't breathe a spark until you're ready. It won't be for several years, Natsu."

Natsu didn't like that, so he turned to sniff the fleshy casings on his back, where his wings were still growing. He looked up at Sunrose again, "When will I fly?"

"Just a few months before you can breathe fire, little one." Sunrose told him, "So not for a while."

The little dragon puffed up and frowned, "Why?"

Sunrose licked his forehead lovingly, "Because I want you to stay with me, my sweet."

Natsu protested her action, "Mother!"

Luckily for him, a sound at the entrance distracted them. Igneel landed with a rumble, shaking his head and growling, "Blasted deer! I didn't see a thing in the woods. They must be skittish with the fall coming in. Dumb as they are, I guess they know it's time to move away. There won't be anything in the woods to eat for another half a year. The ground is infertile enough as it is."

Sunrose sighed, "So what do you plan on doing?"

"I've already started." Igneel grunted.

"Started?" she asked.

He hesitated, then growled, "I raided one of the human farms, alright?"

"Oh, is that all?" Sunrose remarked.

Igneel stared at her, "Is that all? Here I was worried sick about you raiding a human farm, but what's with that attitude?"

Sunrose hummed with laughter, "Igneel, I don't have to worry because I know that if someone tried to shoot an arrow at you, they'd likely end up on the well-done side of your cooking. No offense, but you have a terrible temper when someone attacks you, my love."

The flame dragon shuffled his wings and muttered something under his breath, probably reluctant to admit she was right, but also smart enough not to deny it.

Sunrose went on, "So, did you bring something home?"

"I did, actually." he replied, "Though it's a little different than what I usually bring."

"How so?" she asked.

Igneel lay down on his belly and held out an arm, "Natsu, climb on. We're going to the center of the volcano."

Natsu gasped excitedly, "Outside?!"

"Yes, outside." Igneel chuckled.

Sunrose frowned, "For what?"

Igneel glanced at her, "For one of the most important lessons of all. He's learning to hunt, today."

/

They flew out of the cave, then up and into the volcanic crater. The heart of the volcano was just hard black rock now, lava that had cooled and solidified. And in the center, was a sheep. A living sheep.

Sunrose tilted her head as the sheep bayed in panic and ran off to the edge of the crater, but there was no escape for it. "Is that really a good place to start? That fluffy walking cloud can't even defend itself."

"It's his first prey." Igneel rumbled, "Natsu's never killed before, and I'm not about to start teaching him on a bull or a bear. He's not exactly the biggest hunter on the block you know."

Natsu slid down Igneel's tail and landed on the ground with a squeak. He sniffed the ground curiously and frowned, wrinkling his nose, "What is this stuff?"

Sunrose tapped the rock with her claws, "It's volcanic rock. Once, it was so hot, that it was a river of liquid fire. But the volcano died, so the lava cooled and became solid. Like water freezes to ice."

That seemed to excite Natsu even more, but Igneel cleared his throat to get his son's attention, "We're not here to talk about a dead volcano. This is more important Natsu. You're going to hunt."

Now that got Natsu's attention.

He immediately focused on Igneel, but his head tilted, "Your tail again?"

Igneel chuckled, "No, Natsu. You're hunting that."

He nodded towards where the sheep was still cowering at the edge of the volcanic crater.

Natsu frowned, "A sheep?"

Igneel grunted, "Every hunter has to start somewhere. You're not ready to tackle a bull or a or even a ram yet. Once you learn to stalk and kill, then I'll bring you something challenging to hunt. For now…"

The little dragon seemed to get it, "I have to hunt sheep!"

"Exactly." Igneel confirmed.

So Natsu fell into a crouch like he had countless times when practicing on his father's tail and started stalking the sheep.

The livestock was braying with terror, unable to move from the fear of being hunted.

Natsu paused and turned to stare at Igneel, "What's wrong with it?"

Igneel chuckled, "I do believe it's afraid of you. Sometimes it makes hunting easier."

The little dragon processed that, and didn't seem to completely understand, but he shrugged and turned back to hunt the sheep.

It was sort of comical to watch him hunt a terrified animal in a place with no cover. But Natsu did his best to, 'Creep up' on the frozen sheep, then leaped forward and snapped his jaws around its neck. The animal's braying rose to a shriek as it struggled to get free, but even against such a small dragon, it stood no chance. Natsu was instinctively driven to crunch down as hard as he could until he felt the animal's neck snap.

Natsu let go and the sheep toppled to the ground, twitched for a few seconds, then died.

Igneel crowed, "Excellent! You learn quickly."

Sunrose hummed, "Even if it was just a sheep, you didn't hesitate a second. That'll make you a strong hunter in the future, Natsu."

Natsu licked his lips of sheep's blood, and offered his parents a toothy grin, "Want some?"

"You eat first." Sunrose decided, "It's your kill, and if your father and I try and eat some, we'll likely devour the whole sheep in one bite."

So Natsu went to eat, but when he sniffed the air, something else caught his attention. He lifted his head and smelled again. Then he scurried off in the opposite direction, following his nose.

Sunrose followed him with her eyes, "Natsu, where are you going?"

"Sunrose." Igneel murmured, "I think he found something else important."

"Something smells funny…" he muttered. Natsu kept sniffing until he came upon a huge boulder. He scratched at it, "Inside?"

"Close." Igneel came over and gently moved Natsu away with his tail, then braced his huge skull against the boulder and heaved. The rock trembled, then slowly rolled aside.

Behind the shifted boulder was a small inlet in the side of the volcano. Within it, was a beautiful, sparkling ruby in a clear pool of water. The red gem was quite large, easily three feet across, and in an ovular shape. It's rich, deep red color was more than a little dazzling to look at.

Natsu's eyes lit up, "Whoa…"

Sunrose clicked her claws, "Ah, that's what…I almost forgot that drakes had a sense for jewels."

"Jewel?" Natsu echoed.

Igneel nodded, "Yes. Natsu, there is one thing you must learn when you grow up and find a dragonelle that catches your eye. It's an ancient tradition amongst dragons. Humans have long since twisted its meaning, but they are often ridiculous anyhow. Troves of stolen treasure. Bah!"

"Keep on topic, Igneel." Sunrose reminded him, "This is important."

The flame dragon grunted and looked Natsu in the eye, "Like I was saying, one day, you're bound to find a dragonelle that is more…interesting to you than any others."

Natsu blinked, "Interesting?"

"You'll understand when you meet that dragonelle." Igneel said quickly. It was an awkward subject for most parents. Just because he was a 200 year old Flame Dragon King didn't make him any different.

Sunrose, to Igneel's slight embarrassment, hummed with laughter.

So he pressed on, "Anyway, when you find that dragonelle that stands out from the others, you have to find the most precious jewel you can possibly get."

The little dragon stared at him, "Why?"

"Well, like I said, it's an old dragon tradition." Igneel started, "But it's like a…way of saying you're committed to her. That you will always stay with her."

Natsu frowned, "I don't get it."

Sunrose purred with amusement, "Well, you'll understand one day. For now, focus on learning to hunt. You'll learn more about jewels when you get older. So eat your dinner, and then we'll fly back to the cave."

"And Natsu?" Igneel caught his son's attention again, "Don't ever tell anyone that this jewel is here. It is very important to your mother and I. Do you understand?"

"Okay." Natsu chirped, then scurried back to eat his sheep.

Igneel waited until his son was busy eating, then almost sagged in relief, "Whew…I thought we were going to have to explain sky falling to him…"

"That would have been entertaining to watch, my dear." Sunrose laughed, "But you'll have to do it someday."

Igneel muttered something undecipherable under his breath. And may that day be a while to come. Perhaps Sunrose will get impatient and tell Natsu herself.

But somehow, he didn't think he'd be that lucky.