Yay, more chapters. I've finally got a plot mostly worked out for what is about to happen, so I'm not going to rush it. There's about to be some nasty and shocking little surprises.
As ever, thanks for reading and please review!
P.S. I'm giving fair warning here, but once the next chapter goes up I'm gonna change the rating to M for some specific pieces in the story. It's not going to get super bad right off the bat, but there are some things in later chapters that I need to be clear are not so pleasant.
Chapter 28: The Flames of Pri-mal
"Well, you brats outdid yourselves this time. When I told you to investigate Rosemary's ruins, I never expected you to actually bring back the dragon responsible."
Makarov was addressing the return group along with Smaug.
While most of the Thunder was listening intently as Erza gave the report, every one of them was silently noting that Makarov and Smaug were both of identical size, though Makarov was slightly more heavily built. At present, the two giant drakes were staring each other down at eye level, neither one showing any sign of intimidation.
It felt like lightning was crackling in the air.
Makarov kept his gaze fixed on Smaug while he spoke to his dragons. "So, Natsu, you say you know this dragon, correct?"
"Yeah." Natsu confirmed.
"Well, then…" the Leader rumbled. "He's your responsibility. If he's going to stick around, then you have to show him the way things are run here."
Smaug snorted. "The brat is actually my responsibility. For the moment, though, I suppose I'm in your care."
Makarov's eyes narrowed slightly, but he grunted. "All of you are dismissed. But I will talk with you alone, Smaug."
The other dragons quietly left, casting uncertain glances after their leader and the newcomer. Natsu seemed hesitant to leave, but Lucy and Lisanna led the young drake out of the Hall without any trouble.
Once they were all gone, Makarov faced Smaug unflinchingly. "Why did you come here?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Smaug replied. "I came to find Igneel's son."
"Well, you've found him. So now what?"
Smaug closed his eyes to think. "Natsu isn't strong enough as he is to survive in the Flame Capitol. I'll train him here for a while until I'm satisfied with his progress."
"Will he leave so easily?" Makarov asked.
"What do you mean?"
The Leader sighed. "That brat has his mind dead-set on two things; Annihilating the Dragon Slavers and slaying Acnologia. I don't know if he'll agree to go with you quite yet."
Smaug was silent for a time. Then he shook his head. "He's even more like his father than I realized…tch, perhaps I should have expected this."
Makarov raised a scaled eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"Igneel knew about the Dragon Slavers. In fact, he was looking into them thoroughly." Smaug murmured. "And the only time Igneel studied an organization like that was so he could erase it entirely in one, massive Fire Dragon assault. That situation would have summoned the whole Flame Capitol, every dragon under his command to desecrate the Dragon Slavers."
"And now his son has been passed that task."
The Volcanic Drake nodded. "It would seem that way. And I'm staking my pride on training him to be ready for such a battle."
Makarov gave him an intense stare. "Will you also participate?"
"…If he proves himself worthy by that time…then perhaps I will."
"And Acnologia?"
Smaug actually laughed, though there was no humor in it. "Acnologia is beyond Natsu's reach. It'll be centuries before he's ready to take on that black beast. There is no dragon out there that can defeat it. If there was ever one who could, it was Igneel, but he fell prey to Acnologia as well."
Makarov's eyes narrowed. "What about you?"
The laughter paused. Smaug's jaws closed quietly as he shook his head.
"Not even me."
Meanwhile, some of the dragons had settled down by the lakeshore, doing their best to let the tension in their bodies die down.
"Natsu, are you really gonna go back with Smaug?" Wendy asked nervously.
The Fire Drake shook his head. "I don't know, Wendy. I'm not sure I want to yet."
Lucy was leaning on Natsu's flank with her arms crossed. She glanced at him with a frown. "You just got used to this place. I hope you don't have to go. It would get boring without Natsu around."
"Besides, Smaug kinda seemed like he was gonna stick around for a while anyway, right?" Lisanna murmured. "He did mention something about keeping an eye on you, or something."
"Something like that." Natsu's tail twitched a few times, more and more rapidly.
"GRAAHH!" Natsu finally stood up abruptly with a roar, making Lucy squeal as she hit the ground and causing the other dragons to jump. He slammed his tail on the ground and bared his fangs. "This is so annoying! Now I just wanna fight something!"
Elfman jumped to the challenge with a bellow. "MANLY!"
He and Natsu rushed each other and collided with a massive crash. The two drakes then began a grappling match to pin the other down, snarling in determination.
Lucy sweat-dropped. "He's never gonna stop fighting, is he?"
"Not likely." Wendy sighed.
Lisanna stood up. "We better stop them before they crush somebody's house."
WHAM!
Everyone watching the brawl flinched as Smaug dropped out of nowhere and, grabbing both fighting drakes by the neck with his wing claws, slammed them into the ground. Natsu and Elfman were stunned from the force while the elder dragon snorted.
"First lesson of the day: Always be aware of your surroundings."
Natsu recovered, though he was still pinned by Smaug and growled. "The hell was that for?!"
"I'm going to start teaching you how to fight like a dragon. I will not go easy on you. None of you."
Wendy blinked. "Eh?"
"Please tell me he didn't say that like he meant all of us." Lisanna gulped.
"Gee-hee!" Gajeel cackled. "Hell yeah! Finally, some action!"
"Man!" Elfman wheezed out under Smaug's talons.
Smaug glanced at the group. "Your leader and I reached a simple agreement- I'll be pardoned for whatever damages I've done and in return I'll add in some battle practice for the other dragons alongside Natsu. However…"
He fixed his pale orange gaze on the younger Fire Drake. "While the other dragons are welcome to come and go to combat practice as they please since I don't really care whether they show up or not, you will go to each and every one. Got it, brat?"
Natsu just grinned. "I'm all fired up!"
"Good. You'll need to be." Smaug grunted. "Because we start now on the mountaintop above the Thunder Hall. That'll be the new training grounds."
Surprisingly, nearly all of the dragons met up on the mountaintop, curious about what Smaug would be teaching them. Natsu, Gajeel, Gray and Elfman showed for the actual practice, obviously because they were the most competitive bunch amongst each other. On the sidelines with Lucy and Layla were the remaining dragons who decided to watch for a time and decide what they thought of the first practice for themselves- Erza, Mirajane, Lisanna, Wendy, Levy, Juvia and Kinana. Since the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus were out roaming the territory again, they didn't show up.
Makarov was busy in the city discussing Smaug's accommodations with Jude Heartfilia, but he'd managed to convince Porlysuca to go watch the combat practice in case someone got hurt.
Needless to say, she did not look in the least bit pleased about it.
Smaug glanced around and snorted. "Hmph. Guess there'll be a crowd. Right then, let's get started."
Natsu was digging his claws into the ground in anticipation. He grinned. "So who's ass am I kicking first?"
"You couldn't kick my ass if you tried, flame brain." Gray growled.
"You wanna fight, popsicle tooth?!" Natsu hissed.
"Stop screwing around." Smaug rumbled. "You won't be fighting today. You aren't ready to fight like a real dragon."
Gray's eyes narrowed. "Ah? You think we can't take care of ourselves?"
Smaug rolled his eyes. "That's exactly what I think."
The Ice Drake crouched with a growl. "Bet I can prove you wrong."
"You're gonna get your ass kicked." Natsu pointed out.
The Volcanic Dragon sighed in irritation. "Fine, bring it on."
With a roar, Gray lunged, spitting a blast of ice-cold energy at the larger drake.
And while you're dealing with that, I'll slash your throat out!
Smaug's wing claws grabbed Gray's face, glowed iridescent orange and crushed the Ice Drake into the ground with a thermal explosion that shook the mountaintop.
The other dragons stared in shock as Gray was defeated in an instant.
"Let me make something very clear to all of you!" Smaug bellowed as he glared at the other dragons. "I've got no leniency for weakness. I don't care if you're a drake, a dragonelle, or a mere hatchling! I'll put you through a training course worse than hell itself!"
When the others didn't respond immediately, Smaug snorted out a cloud of ash. "Fighting dragons trained for combat is far more difficult than fighting with your instincts. If you don't know what you're doing, you will die. There isn't any mercy in a real fight and I will show you none here. On my pride as one of the strongest Flame Dragons, I will throttle all 300 years of my life's battle experience into every scale on your bodies."
Most of the dragons were still pretty stunned, but Erza's eyes started glinting. "I'm beginning to get very interested in this…"
"Gee-hee…I wouldn't expect anything less from a monster like this guy!" Gajeel grinned maniacally.
"Manly!" Elfman muttered.
Smaug let Gray up and stood up straight so he towered over the other dragons. "Then let's start training. I'm not letting you off the hook until you can't even fly straight!"
Natsu roared at the top of his lungs. "Alright! I'm all fired up!"
As it turned out, all the dragons decided to try out Smaug's training session. Not as many liked it quite as much as others did, however. Levy and Wendy were totally wiped out after the first hour or so due to their small size, but they struggled on when Smaug denied them the option to quit. Kinana wanted to tap out next after a hellish exercise of what could be called "Dragon Sprints", which was basically flying as fast as they could for an hour.
Smaug wanted to focus on the physique of the dragons first. He didn't like what he saw. Most of them were not in top form as far as he was concerned.
Fighting with magic is only as effective as the body that uses it. If they can't handle this much, they aren't ready to learn any magic more than their breath attack.
One by one, the Fairy Tail dragons began to slow down from exhaustion. By the time they were finished, after three hours of nonstop training, Smaug finally told them it was enough. He wasn't satisfied completely, but it would have to do. Training was useless if they hurt themselves.
When Mira and Lisanna tried to sit down, gasping for breath, Smaug growled. "Stay on your feet. Walk it off. You have to let your muscles cool off, or they won't be any sturdier the next time you train."
Levy was struggling just to stand, but she gave Smaug a surprised look. "You know..about that stuff? I-I've (gasp) read about…muscles and anatomy, but…"
She gave up talking, needing air more than words. Smaug grunted. "Of course I do. I've been alive a great deal longer than any of you here. Moreover, I was the one who trained dragons back in the Flame Capitol. This is a typical training session for combat dragons."
"Cool…I think…" Gray gasped.
Smaug smirked inwardly at the sight of the exhausted dragons. Evidently, they had never been through such rigors before. All of them had their heads drooping, wings and tails dragging while their burning legs made them sluggish. But he blinked at the sight of Erza appearing unaffected. The Volcanic Drake tilted his head at her.
Elfman tried to lean on the Blade Dragonelle to keep himself from collapsing, but Erza gave him a swift whack with her tail and barked. "Stand up! That was just training! And you call yourself a man!"
The poor drake collapsed with a groan. Erza snorted and muttered. "Pathetic."
Well, she's quite tough, isn't she?
Smaug's eyes eventually found Natsu, who had by now caught his breath and stopped his shaking legs. Gajeel also appeared to be faring pretty well.
It's a good thing they spent the last seven years surviving in the wild. It's taught them how to survive. Stubborn and strong, just as a dragon should be. I'll make dragons out of them, yet.
He cleared his throat and barked. "That's all for today. Make sure you drink water, lots of water. Then get a good night's sleep. Especially you, Natsu. You'll be back here first thing tomorrow morning."
Natsu grinned tiredly. "Sure thing, old man."
Smaug was satisfied with that and moved to leave, but Erza spoke up. "If it's alright with you, could you tell us a bit about Pri-mal? I don't know much about it and I admit I'm very curious."
He blinked. "What would you like to know?"
"What's it like?"
"How straightforward." Smaug snorted. "It's more wild than this place is. It's a continent where men are still primitive hunters that live in small tribes or villages. They fear us, as they should. There are a few towns on the coast that are more reminiscent of the towns on this continent, but they are all small. Pri-mal is a world of dragons. Dragons rule, doing what they please, when they please. It's…it's…well, it's home, I suppose."
Levy also became interested. "Do the dragons there live in Thunders, too?"
Smaug shook his head. "No. There are places where dragons converge to interact as a whole, but for the most part, we live as we choose. Some live with their mates. Others live alone."
"Mates, huh?" Kinana murmured.
"Any dragon can have a mate back in our home, unlike here." Gajeel grunted.
Smaug frowned. "What does that mean?"
"See, only the Leaders of the Thunders in Fiore are able to have a mate." Erza explained. "It's been an iron clad rule for centuries to keep dragons from killing each other's offspring."
"You jest, surely."
"I shit you not, it's completely true." snickered Gajeel.
Smaug rolled his eyes. "How stupid. Are they trying to bring our species to extinction with that ridiculous rule? What tomfoolery."
Lisanna stared at the Volcanic Drake. "So…any dragon can have a mate in Pri-mal?"
"Of course they can!" he exclaimed. "What a ridiculous question! We aren't such foolish dragons as whoever the hell it was that set up that idea."
"Do you have a mate back home, mister Smaug?" Wendy asked innocently.
Smaug stiffened. He gave Wendy a sharp look with those pale orange eyes. She cringed at the smoldering rage held within the glowing orbs.
"The training session is dismissed." Smaug spat. "Don't bother me with stupid questions for the rest of the day."
With that, he flew off, probably to spit fireballs by the anger in his eyes.
Natsu stared after him. "What the hell was that reaction?"
"S-scary…" Wendy whimpered.
"It wasn't that bad a question, was it?" Lisanna wondered, also confused by the drake's anger.
Kinana frowned. That was…
I see…
At the edge of the group of dragons, Layla closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly.
Smaug was in love once.