Chaos
Cries echoed throughout a vast clearing. A baby rests in a basket at the top of a hill. All alone.
It's piercing screams of alarm caught the attention of someone. A dragon. Flying over a hill not far from the village he just obliterated, he noticed the small child.
The child's wails stopped when the dragon came into sight. The black and blue beast unsheathed sharp talons, prepared to rip the infant apart, but he stopped upon seeing the child's eyes. The dragon couldn't help but to stare.
Happy green onyx eyes with a gleam of mischief gazed back at him. A wide grin occupied its face. This child had no fear for the monster that had killed millions. The monster that was about to kill the youth.
The dragon wasn't used to seeing happy people. Whether the youngest of children or the strongest of elders, those poor souls who came across him would do naught but cower in fear. He hadn't seen someone smile at him in centuries. He was pleased.
"What is your name, brat?" The dragon hissed at the baby. Content babbles of non-existent words were the only reply. It had been years since the creature had spoken to a human. He found the race far too weak for his time.
"Since you clearly have no knowledge in language, I have no choice but to teach you. I'm Acnologia, by the way." The baby once again only babbled in acknowledgement.
With a huff, Acnologia transformed into his human form and picked up the basket. He adjusted the blanket and saw the word "Natsu" was sown on.
"Natsu? That's your name, I guess."
The infant had drifted to sleep. Acnologia debated waking Natsu up, but voted against it, ultimately deciding he'd need all the rest he can get before he begins training.
He would become a Dragon Slayer.
Eighteen years passed since the day Acnologia adopted Natsu. Rumors spread fast that the Black Dragon had a human child, but no one who came across the secret boy lived to share. Sometime into Natsu's training, the Fire Dragon King, Igneel, had come to kill the rumoured son of Acnologia, but couldn't bring himself to take the innocent life. He ended up fostering Natsu alongside Acnologia and teaching him Fire Dragon Slayer magic.
Acnologia spent the years planting ideas and stories in his son's head about how evil humans were and raising someone to keep his legacy. Natsu was a fast learner. Mastering three types of dragon slayer magic in his first eight years of life was impressive. Natsu was content with his power and felt his life was great.
That is until they disappeared.
He had woken up one morning and his father and Igneel were gone, leaving behind nothing but a hooded black cloak, a scaly scarf, and an empty cave. At first, he assumed that his dad and Igneel had gone hunting; or gone to destroy a village. But after four days of no return, the uneasiness took over, and Natsu decided to go out and find his daunting foster family.
The search was cut short when an elderly man forced him to join a wizard's guild. Though he was against it, he didn't have a choice due to the old bastard's threat of reporting him to the city. Wanting to stay under the humans' radar, he joined the guild. And despite his efforts to not cause a scene, he gained a reputation quickly. He adopted the title of S-Class and took down almost every member of the guild within his first two years, only losing to Makarov and Gildarts, always calling it a draw with Mystogan.
It was rare that Natsu showed his Chaos or Apocalypse Dragon Slayer magic. Most of his enemies were able to be incapacitated with fire alone. Members of the guild who challenged him could be defeated with fire as well, but there were always the stubborn members that required him to draw out the big guns.
Anyone else who dared to challenge the renowned Chaos Dragon had lost to his physical abilities, always waking up or walking away red with embarrassment and loss from a mage without magic.
Over the years, Natsu lost his name. People refused to call him Natsu because he "wasn't worthy". He was called Chaos or Salamander. The general public hadn't seen him in action, but knew he was powerful by the rumours.
Now, Natsu is in Hargeon for a job. An easy job with a big reward. It wasn't worthy of the S-Class board. Figuring he was headed through Hargeon on his way back from a dragon sighting anyway -and could use a little extra cash- Natsu took the job. He was after Bora of Prominence, a weak fire mage who sells kidnapped girls to old perverts in foreign countries.
Meanwhile, a blonde girl storms down the street, angry at a shop for not giving her a high discount even after her seductive poses. All her thoughts vanished at the sound of star struck screams from a mess of girls crowded around one oddly dressed man. Curiosity over took the blonde, she walked up to join the crowd and see who this famous man was. Immediately, her heart beat sped up. Butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. Hearts danced across her chocolate eyes.
Who was this guy? Why did he make her heart beat so fast? Why did she want to be with him forever? Why was she in love with him? Thoughts flowed through her mind in a waterfall of questions for reasons she didn't know. She was snapped out of her trance when a black clad figure walked up and punched the guy square in the jaw, sending him flying into a nearby building. He was knocked unconscious on impact.
"Salamander-sama?!" The broken-hearted women rushed over the treat their precious "Salamander-sama".
"Don't go damaging my rep, pathetic creature." The girl stared at the man who had rescued her from the trance. He walked over to the unconscious 'Salamander' and snatched a ring off his finger. He lifted it towards the light of the sun and pocketed it after a moment. He hauled his victim up by the collar of his cape and dragged him over to a soldier. After an exchange of words, the soldier took hold of the man and the ring from earlier.
The blonde continued to study the man. He seemed nice, even if he was barely visible due to his mantle- which looked three sizes too big. Maybe I should go thank him. The golden-haired teen thought. She was very grateful of the stranger's act. She watched him snarl at a girl who had gone to ask what happened to Salamander. Or not.
After almost five minutes of inner contemplation, she opted to go thank him. He wouldn't hit an innocent girl. Especially after saving her life. Right?
"Hey," She smiled, trotting up to her savior. "Thanks for saving us back there! I really appreciate it!" The stranger hadn't made any note of the girl who waited for him to show any form of acknowledgement of her presence. After standing there reading a map for a minute. He stepped forward to continue whatever he was up to. The girl furrowed her eyebrows.
"It's very impolite to ignore someone, you know." She glared.
"Sorry, miss!" A blue flying cat spoke to the blonde. She wasn't very interested in the fact that the cat was blue, flying, and speaking as she had seen much stranger things on her journey to find the infamous Fairy Tail guild. "My name is Happy! Natsu here isn't very talkative. We appreciate your effort to come thank us though! We should get going. We have to go back to our guild."
"Oh, your guild? I happen to be looking to join a guild. I'm Lucy, by the way. Do you mind if I maybe tag along?"
"Sure! Natsu won't mind!"
Natsu definitely minded. Damn cat. Always making decisions for me that I disapprove of. Why does he bother coming with me anyway? I've made it more than clear that I do not enjoy his company.
The return to Fairy Tail was far too long for Natsu. Normally he wouldn't care, but he had to listen to the pointless conversing of the duo accompanying him the whole journey from Hargeon to Magnolia.
When the trio arrived in front of the Fairy Tail guild, Lucy was beyond ecstatic.
"You never said we were going to Fairy Tail! If only you knew how long I've been looking for this guild! Let's go in!" Natsu wasn't sure how to feel about this girl. She was energetic, that's for sure. But she couldn't be intimidated by him. No matter how many times he growled profanities at her or threatened her on the way to the guild, she brushed him off and stuck around.
Lucy went in first. Natsu followed behind quietly and made his way to the staircase without attracting attention from anyone. She hadn't even found out how to join before she heard shouts and crashes. She turned around to see the guild members fighting.
"What?!" Lucy thought aloud. "They're insane!" Lucy pushed her way through the chaos towards the bar after almost being hit by a flying stray chair.
"Are they always like this?" Lucy asked herself as she took a seat. She let out an annoyed puff of breath. A small laugh sounded from behind the bar beside her.
"Mostly, yes. It can get really rough in here, especially when they use magic." Lucy turned her head to see a white-haired woman smiling at her.
"Oh my gosh! You're Mirajane! I'm such a huge fan of yours, wow!" Lucy had hearts and stars in her eyes. She clapped her hands together excitedly. Mira just grinned.
"You must be new. I'll get you your guild mark and help you get settl-" A large white-haired man was thrown into the beauty, cutting her off mid-sentence.
"Mirajane!" Lucy shouted, fear lining her voice. Suddenly, an immense pressure overtook the entire building. Magic seals started appearing around the hands and feet of wizards. Power surged throughout the area. After a few moments of stillness, the chaos resumed.
"Let's get serious! No one can beat my ice-make magic!"
"My ring powers easily trump all of you!"
"Beast arm!"
Just as the first spell was about to be cast, a loud growl was heard. All heads snapped towards the second floor.
Natsu clutched the rail angrily, the force of his grip causing the wooden bars to tense and creak. Lucy realized she hadn't seen the angry mage with his hood down until now. She studied his features carefully. One stood out in particular, Natsu's hair was bright pink. A comical contrast to his dark personality.
"Can I never get some peace and quiet around here? Why must you always be so noisy and troublesome. You sorry drunk excuses for magic users act like children. Pathetic. You weaklings waste all your potential strength fighting each other for 'fun' when you could be training alone and growing stronger. Is this the strongest guild or is it the strongest circus?" A dark aura surrounded the clearly angry dragon slayer. A few seconds passed before a giant appeared at the other side of the room.
"A giant?!" Lucy paled.
"Oh! Welcome back, master!" Mira smiled sweetly.
"Master?!" Lucy began to sweat. If this was Fairy Tail's master, and Natsu was a Fairy Tail wizard, did she even have a chance of joining this guild?
"Don't tell me you all are causing trouble again? You know Chaos can't handle when it gets too rowdy in here. Don't make him angrier than he already is." The guild master shrunk down to a dwarf and jumped over to sit near Natsu on the second-floor railing.
"He's tiny!"
"While on the topic of troublemaking, I have a bone to pick with you bunch," Makarov held up a thick stack of papers. "You are far too destructive! I have to fill out all this paperwork!" He shook his fist in rage. "However, in this guild, the magic council isn't the boss of us!" He lit the paperwork on fire and tossed it to Natsu, who disappeared farther into the other side of the upstairs room with the burning sheets. Master Makarov went on give an inspirational speech about never giving up and following your path. The guild clapped. Natsu had, once again, completely disappeared.
"New girl, Mira will give you your guild stamp."
No one had noticed the girl who entered with Fairy Tail's resident dragon until Makarov mentioned it. Mira was already prepared with the ink, and stamped a pink guild mark on the back of her right hand. She was quickly invited to sit with a group of mages and chatted happily with them.
Despite her new friends and interesting conversations, Lucy couldn't help but to wonder where Natsu was. She really wanted to stay with him, maybe help to break him out of his shell, or solve the puzzle that was his entire existence. But the guild didn't seem to have the same judgement of him as she did. He seemed nice enough, even if he isn't very talkative.
Lucy's inner conflict faded when she heard a shout and a cry. She looked towards the sound and saw the guild master rubbing his cheek and a small boy running out the guild. She didn't notice who else had been watching until he landed behind her.
"Natsu?" Lucy tilted her head. "Where were you?" He looked at her impatiently, dark eyes showing the slightest amount of sadness.
"Upstairs. I'm going to search for a missing guild member. Are you coming or no?" He shifted his bag and started towards the door. Lucy's eyes widened. Did he really care? Or was there a reward? Should she go? Maybe it was a chance to learn some more about this guy. He sure was a mystery.
"Natsu! Wait, slow down! I'm coming with you! Natsu!" She chased him out the door and down the street, ignoring the looks and shouts of protest from Fairy Tail. She saw him ruffle a little boy's hair and continue walking. With a gleam in her eye and a strong will to help the best she could, she continued running after him.
This chapter was published 3/10/17.
This chapter was edited 22/5/20.*
*(Sticking to the original author's note, minus the new fics)
Yo people, I'm back. As you can see, I'm never able to finish a story before starting a new one. I guess I just lose interest in the plot. But I promise you I'll take this one to at least 50 chapters. I'll also be starting a new Blue Exorcist fic and completing the Rosario Vampire one. I promise I won't give up on this.
Don't forget to leave a review, I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback!
Hope you enjoyed!
-A