As the title of this chapter suggests, it's time to meet some very special dragons! Not telling anything more than that for now! As always, please review and thanks for reading!
Chapter 8: Wendy and Gajeel
Natsu flew for two days without stopping for very long, only pausing now and then to get something to eat from the forests he passed over. Deer were common, at least, and he hadn't seen too many human villages as he went further inland.
If he hadn't lost his mother the minute he stepped foot inside this country, he might have genuinely liked it.
Sunrose's death had left Natsu with little want for joy or laughter. He hadn't spoken to anyone since he'd left Kagura with her brother, and hadn't so much as thought about anything for the same amount of time. He felt empty. Hollow. Weak.
He hated that word. Weak. Natsu had been too weak to fight off Acnologia with his father. He'd been too weak to save his mother when she was dying. And he'd been too weak to get revenge for her. All he had done was run away.
And he hated himself for it.
Igneel. He would have said to grow stronger. That that was all he could do was to live on and get stronger, so he would never lose someone again. Natsu knew that's what he'd have said.
But more than himself or weakness, Natsu hated being alone.
He'd never been alone before. Not in his entire life. He'd always been with his mother and father. Now both of them were gone. Even Kagura. For the first time, Natsu had no one to turn to, nowhere to go, and no idea what he was supposed to do.
Acnologia. It was his fault.
Natsu hated that black beast more than anything in the world. If hatred could kill, maybe even Acnologia would have staggered from the force of Natsu's rage.
Sunrose. She'd have said to stop living for hatred and revenge. She'd have hummed to soothe him, and said that life was a challenge, and that he shouldn't hate a hurdle because it was hard to clear. That's what she would have said. He knew it in his heart.
So on he flew.
/\/\/\/\/\
On the third day, Natsu spotted a cave and decided to rest. As he landed, he realized that there were humans at the front, guarding the entrance.
I'm not getting involved with them, Natsu thought, and was about to fly on when he saw something that almost made him stop flying.
Moving towards the cave was a cart. In the cart was a cage.
In the cage was a small, light blue dragon.
It was small, probably no more than three years old, but it was gagged and bound, and couldn't move.
Natsu was shocked. Where were the parents? Who were these people? As he sniffed the air, he realized with a jolt that he could smell other dragon's scents from the inside of the cave. Just how many were captive by these humans?
He decided to investigate and landed quietly in the woods, sneaking up to stare at the humans transporting the cart.
Natsu strained his ears to listen as the men spoke to the guard.
"Hullo!" the cart leader said.
"Nice catch, but is that it?" the soldier returned disdainfully.
"Hey, the parents weren't easy this time. They actually put up a fight, damn things. Took out three of my men before we killed the drake, and another two before the dragonelle took off and left."
"The King won't be happy about that."
"Well, we got one, okay? It's better than nothing. He just wants to train them, right? Isn't it better to start with young ones? I thought the adults were untrainable."
"A parent dragon would do anything for their offspring."
"That's true, I guess. Well, this adds to be the third of the harvest, so that'll make him pleased! That big drake was definitely a catch. He'll be a breeder for sure."
"That big drake ripped five of my men to ribbons, even when we drugged him. No exaggeration. There wasn't anything left of them before we finally pinned him down."
"Hey, if you're still alive to collect the money, it's worth it! You and I, we're gonna be rich for this. The King said 10,000 jewels for every hatchling and 20,000 jewels for live adult drakes and dragonelles, right? We've got two hatchlings and an adult drake! 40,000 jewels! By the time we get back, he might just throw a party in our honor!"
"Just get the dragon in the cave and we'll talk about payments later."
"Have it your way, Mr. Sunshine. Cheerio!"
Natsu pulled back and almost growled.
Slave traders. These people were professional dragon killers and kidnappers.
He didn't have to think about his next course of action. There would be blood tonight, one way or another.
I'll free them all. Natsu vowed.
/\/\/\/\/\
He waited until dark and slowly stalked along the rocky mountain so he was poised directly over the cave mouth. Inside, Natsu could hear the sounds of men celebrating their captures, drinking and gambling with money they claimed would soon be paid. Two guards still stood at the entrance, also drinking until they laughed raucously to the men in the back and hardly paid attention.
Big mistake.
Natsu slowly, silently peeked over the edge of the rock face and looked down on the two men. One muttered to the other, "Hey, watch it, ok? I've gotta go pee."
The other guard guffawed, saying he hadn't had enough to drink yet, but let his comrade go. When the other man was out of sight in the woods, Natsu's head shot down faster than a snake and grabbed the remaining guard. He snapped the man's neck quickly, then threw him in the opposite direction his comrade had gone. The cracking of branches was not heard over the celebration.
When the other guard returned, he scratched his head and muttered, "That lazy ass went inside without-"
Natsu grabbed him mid sentence and also assassinated him, then hurled the man after his comrade.
Once the guards were dispatched, Natsu remained above the cave mouth, opened his jaws, and roared.
"GRAAAHHHH!"
The celebration fell silent, then men started shouting inside the cave.
"There's a dragon outside!"
"Fortune's smiling down on us, boys! We'll score another catch before we head home!"
"YEAH!"
That's right. Natsu thought with satisfaction. Come out drunk and guns blazing. We'll see who scores what.
The men charged out with a massed bellow, running down the path away from the cave and into the forest, searching with torches for the source of the dragon roar.
And while you're busy with that…
Natsu slunk down and slipped into the cave without so much as a sound, going by completely unnoticed.
He quickly padded to the back of the cave and took in the scene. Just as the men said, two hatchlings, ranging from one year to three years in age, were confined in a small cage together, bound and muzzled. One was the light blue he'd seen before, and the other was a pale green.
A larger cage held a big drake, maybe bigger than him, and incredibly, it's entire body appeared to be made of dark, almost black steel.
The captive dragons saw him and stared with surprise.
Natsu hissed, "I'm getting you out of here, so be quiet. We'll give them a nasty surprise on the way out."
He freed the drake first. Natsu stabbed his claw into lock and pulled back, opening the cage door. He then cut the chains that kept the drake immobilized and left the muzzle to the other dragon's sharp claws.
The other drake spat and snarled, "That damn thing! Why, I'm gonna rip those bastards to pieces when I see them again!"
"You'll get your chance." Natsu growled, "Help me with the hatchlings, will you?"
"I'll stand guard." the drake hissed, "You get the runts out."
So the Iron Drake watched for humans around the corner of the cave in case any decided to come back early while Natsu freed the young dragons.
He tore the cage door off and carefully broke the ropes keeping them bound, but Natsu only got one free when the Iron Drake hissed, "They're coming back."
Natsu quickly pulled the other hatchling out of the cage and placed the two small dragons safely behind his bulk. He whispered to the first, "Free this one and stay behind me. No matter what happens, don't try to get away until we've cleared them out."
The hatchlings nodded obediently, but Natsu sensed it was fear keeping them quiet. He didn't blame them.
He blocked the way to the hatchlings beside the Iron Drake, who growled, "Hey, what do they call you?"
Natsu blinked, "Why do you ask?"
"So if ya die, I don't have to feel guilty about never knowing your name." the drake smirked, baring sharp, white fangs.
The Flame Drake grinned back, "Natsu. And who are you?"
"Gajeel. Gee-hee." the drake returned with a peculiar chuckle.
"Well, Gajeel, let's give them hell." Natsu hissed.
"Damn right." the Iron Drake growled, "I'll teach them to drug my food and tie me up like they own me!"
They heard footsteps getting closer and fell silent. Angry voices were muttering amongst each other.
"Stupid idiots, there's no dragon out there!"
"Hey, you said it was a dragon!"
"Oh, who cares! We've got four inside, anyway. Maybe it was one of them."
They turned the corner and came face to face with the two furious looking drakes. The men paused for a second, not comprehending the sight.
Natsu grinned, "That's right. It was me."
Now the men's faces went white.
Natsu and Gajeel roared bloodlust and lunged, ripping men apart before the others even registered that the dragons in their cave were free and very, very angry.
One man, apparently the leader, yelled from the back, "Spear them! Get the nets and cover their jaws! We've got two drakes, so hustle up!"
"You're not gonna put me back in a cage, you shitty human!" Gajeel roared, then dropped to all fours with a snarl. His tail shot forward like a scorpion's and stabbed the leader with a sharp point, piercing the man all the way through.
The leader shrieked for a second before Gajeel hurled him aside, cracked him against the cave wall, and dropped the man from the his tail with no life in his eyes.
Natsu grabbed a man in his jaws and threw him away, spitting out blood with a snarl, "There's a lot of these bastards, aren't there?!"
"All the more fun for us!" Gajeel cackled as he slashed his front claw sideways and rendered a man into three pieces, "Gee-hee!"
This drake is just plain crazy, Natsu thought, but he had to admit the Iron Drake was a really good fighter. Every slash, stomp, and bite resulted in another lifeless man, making the other slavers more hesitant to attack.
One of the men suddenly dodged his bite and rushed between the Flame Drake's legs. Natsu shifted so he could dodge a stab to the underbelly, but the man ignored him and ran straight past.
Natsu's blood went cold. The hatchlings?!
He spun and pulled back to snap at the man, but he was too late.
The man whipped out a sword and hacked at the bound hatchling, the light green, taking its head off with that single stroke. The hatchling's body spasmed for a moment, then went still.
Natsu was horrified, but then the man grabbed the head and tried to run past him again with a grunt, "At least we get a trophy! Now let's hightail it, boys!"
Now he felt a blazing, red-hot fury in his chest.
Trophy?
Natsu sucked in a deep breath, deeper than any breath he'd taken before, and-
Gajeel snarled at the man, "Why you piece of sh-"
"BURN!"
Natsu's furious roar was followed immediately by a raging torrent of fire that filled the cavern, engulfing the whole group of slavers in it's burning might. The men screamed as one, but couldn't even move before the inferno turned them, their clothes, and their weapons to nothing but ash. And when the ashes started to fall, Natsu kept the blaze going and incinerated those too.
When the fire finally stopped, it was as if the men had never been there. The dead hatchling's head was also gone. Probably for the best.
Gajeel stared at him with surprise, "Damn…That was pretty good…"
"I can't believe those bastards." Natsu spat, still utterly furious, "How dare they go after a defenseless hatchling! A trophy, he said, a trophy! It makes my blood boil!"
"I hear ya, but these god-forsaken spawn won't be taking any more dragons from these lands." Gajeel growled, "At least we saved one of the runts. It'll do alright, I reckon."
Natsu sighed and put his anger away for a moment, "But what do we do with it? I heard that one, if not both of its parents are probably dead or missing…"
"U-umm…"
The pale blue hatchling, walked up and nervously prodded Natsu's leg. He glanced down at the little dragon, whose light voice identified it was a young female, "Th-thank you for saving me…"
Natsu offered a smile, "It's okay. I'm not about to let humans do what they want with dragons. Are you hurt?"
The little dragon shook her head and asked nervously, "Wh-what are your names?"
The Flame Drake grinned, "You can call me Natsu."
"And I'd be Gajeel." the Iron Drake grunted.
"U-um, I'm Wendy, if you were wondering…" the little blue female seemed to shrink.
Natsu leaned down and licked the young dragon's forehead reassuringly, "You don't have to be afraid anymore, Wendy. We'll keep you safe."
"Well, you can." Gajeel grunted, "I'm getting outta here. I've got a territory to raid."
Natsu whipped his head to stare at the Iron Drake, "Well, what about her?"
Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Look, I just came here from the southern continent so I could take over one of these Thunders. I ain't gonna live in my old man's shadow, I'm gonna rule this whole damn continent!"
But Natsu was surprised, "You're from the southern continent too?"
Now Gajeel was equally surprised, "Too? Wait, that's where you came from?! Why the hell did you come here? Don't tell me you want this land too!"
"No, I was…" Natsu sighed, "Look, my father was killed by Acnologia and my mother was taken down by humans. I just came here to rest and recover before I go home to kill that black beast."
Gajeel's mouth fell open, but then the drake started laughing, "Gee-heehehehehahaha! Kill Acnologia?! Are you insane, kid?!"
"Oh, I'll do it." Natsu growled, "Now that I've got my breath attack, I'll incinerate that monster."
"I'd like to see you try." Gajeel chuckled, "Look, you can't beat that thing. And definitely not alone. You'll just be handing yourself to Acnologia on a silver platter!"
Natsu lashed his tail, "Well, what do you suggest I do?!"
"I'll tell you what." Gajeel grinned, "I'm going for the strongest Thunder in this land, but it's leader is supposedly this ancient drake with one hell of a reputation. I don't think I can take him down on my own, so how about you and I team up for a bit, eh?"
This surprised Natsu, "Wait, you want me to help you conquer a group of dragons? Why?"
Gajeel snickered, "If we become the leaders of that Thunder, they'll have to listen to us, right? So we can take the Thunder to the southern continent and kill Acnologia! With that many dragons, we can definitely kill it! Then we'll be so strong, we might just be able to rule BOTH the northern, and southern continents! Think about that!"
Natsu did think about it. But he quickly became doubtful, "How? What are we, two half-grown drakes and a hatchling who doesn't even have her wings yet! We can't take over a human city, much less an entire group of dragons."
"Yeah, I admit it's a long shot and it'll probably take a while." Gajeel muttered, "But what other options do we have? You and I both want a purpose, right? Well, this is something we just have to try if we're going to fulfill those purposes. So are you in, or aren't you?"
Natsu stared at him and considered the possibilities. What Gajeel said was true- He stood no chance, even with his breath against a beast like Acnologia, but if he had an entire group of dragons on his side…he might have a chance. With territory would come a supply of food and shelter he could use to build up until it was time to assault the great black dragon.
It was a chance. Slight, but a chance nonetheless.
So he took it.
"I'm in." Natsu answered, then glanced down at Wendy, "You know, you don't have to get involved with this. It's going to be really dangerous…"
Wendy shook her head, "No, I want to join! I have to find my mom! She got away from the slavers! I'm sure she's looking for me somewhere!"
"Then that's three of us." Gajeel grunted, then bared his fangs in a grin, "So let's get out of this hellhole and make for the center of the continent. That's where the Thunder we're after is supposed to be."
Natsu opened his mouth to agree, then paused, "Before we do that, I'm not leaving any other humans who come here with a dragon's body." He turned and, still feeling angry that he hadn't saved it, burned the dead hatchling's body until it was just a pile of ashes.
Gajeel muttered approval, "At least the little guy can rest in peace like this. No humans fighting over his scales or claws or whatever else humans want from dragons."
The Flame Drake lifted Wendy and placed her on his back. Even though she was a three year old, she was surprisingly small and light, but he had no complaints. Flying with a heavy dragon on his back would have quickly become exhausting.
The two drakes walked out of the cave and into morning light, where Natsu glanced at Gajeel, "So, tell me about this Thunder we're going after."
Gajeel took off and Natsu flew after him, realizing that the Iron Drake's wings, while not flexible, must have used some sort of magnetism to make him hover. Even if it was magnetism, Gajeel was surprisingly fast, getting ahead of Natsu with little effort.
"Hey, answer me!" Natsu shouted.
Gajeel glanced back and grinned, "It's full of tough drakes, a lot of dragonelles," At that, his grin widened, "and it's got one of the weirdest names for a Thunder I've ever heard of."
Natsu raised a scaly eyebrow, "What's it called?"
"Fairy Tail."