Chapter 5
Things with Gray hadn't improved in the weeks following his arrival. Erza had hired both ice mages, and he'd heard that she'd helped Gray and Lyon find an apartment in the village. He tried not to let that bother him. It wasn't like he could've asked him to come live with him in his large, dragon-filled cave.
He still had no clear understanding of who Lyon was to Gray, and try as he might, he couldn't stop himself from feeling jealous of their apparent closeness. Especially when he and Gray could barely talk to one another at the moment.
"Wendy?" Natsu called out as he walked towards the room she shared with Grandine, "Are you ready yet?"
"Almost!" Wendy yelled. She had just finished bathing in the cave's hot spring.
"Hurry up, will ya?" Natsu grumbled impatiently. "Erza's gonna pitch a fit if we're late."
Wendy ran out of her room, tripping over a small loose rock, but Natsu quickly reached out to catch her. They were all used to it. She was going through a clumsy stage at the moment.
"Thank you, Natsu-san." Wendy was so embarrassed to be in his arms that it made Natsu smile a little. He loved having the other slayers live with them. He set her back down, and they left the cave.
They made their way down the mountain and towards the village, each busy with their own thoughts. They were on their way to relieve Sting and Lyon and take the next shift. They heard a disconcerting roar as they neared the field. It was loud and clear, and the creature it was coming from sounded terrified. Natsu and Wendy looked at each other in instant recognition and broke into a run.
They were both shocked by the sight of Lyon, Sting, and Gray relentlessly attacking a baby red dragon with their magic. The ice hadn't been able to pierce the baby's scales yet. His body temperature was warm enough to melt the worst of it. Natsu noticed with growing rage that several of the baby's scales were missing, it's singed red skin showing underneath. He could hear Wendy's sharp intake of breath behind him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Natsu roared as he ran towards the injured baby dragon and stood in front of it.
Wendy stood next to him, no less disturbed by the guards' actions. Natsu was furious, and without even a thought to what he was doing, he immediately got into his fighting stance, ready to attack his friends if they didn't back down.
Sting, Lyon, and Gray looked at each other in confusion, none of them wanting to be the one to attack Natsu.
"Get out of the way, Natsu," Gray said calmly, even as he also maintained his attack stance.
Natsu ignored him, baring his fangs at all three of them even as he made soothing noises for the young dragon to calm him down. The dragon had whimpered pitifully now that he and Wendy were protecting him.
"Wendy, can you see what you can do about his injuries?"
Wendy didn't reply, but she moved away from him, and he could hear her imitating his noises as she got closer to the dragon, already probing him with her healing magic.
"He's a dragon, Natsu. He's the enemy," Gray said slowly, irritating Natsu further.
"Sting, what the hell were you thinking? I expected this from the ice idiots, but you?" Natsu held Sting's gaze, ignoring the angry glares that were coming from Gray and Lyon and focusing on staring down the dragon slayer.
"Is this really what you think your magic is for? Slaughtering innocents?" Sting was looking uncomfortable, and Natsu was pretty sure he could count on his friend to stand down.
Sting mumbled something under his breath, and that was all Natsu needed to know he was correct.
Natsu continued to glare at Gray and Lyon, neither of which had shown any sign of backing down.
"You know, it sounds like no one has ever bothered to explain the war to you, so allow me to be the first. There are dragons out there who are fighting other dragons and putting their lives on the line to protect your ungrateful ass." Natsu all but screamed out.
"The red dragons that you hate so much, they're on your side, and this creature you're so hellbent on killing is not even old enough to breathe fire. He is no threat to you. Baby dragons deserve our protection, there aren't many being born anymore."
"He might be young now, but he'll grow and go attack villages and kill people. I've seen it Natsu. You know that." Gray yelled back angrily. "If we kill him now, we'll be protecting countless people."
"I'd hoped that you'd changed. But you didn't learn a damn thing in those six years, did you?" Natsu glowered at his mate.
"Dragons are just like people, Gray. Lyon is an asshole, but you don't judge all other humans by him, do you?"
"Hey!" Lyon protested, but aside from a snicker from Sting, no one paid him any attention. They were too intent on the fight that was developing in front of them.
"You're not a kid anymore, Natsu. You need to get this idea out of your head that dragons are anything but beasts intent on destruction. For your own good." Gray said in a voice that made his element seem warm in comparison.
"Now get out of the way."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Natsu growled, "If you want to get to him, you're going to have to go through me first."
Natsu tensed as he waited for Gray to attack.
"I don't want to hurt you," Gray warned.
"Then don't." Natsu replied, "Just let him go."
"I can't do that."
"Why won't you listen to me?" Natsu yelled in frustration.
He noticed Lyon had backed away and was standing next to Sting, seemingly content to let the two of them hash it out.
"Because you're wrong," Gray said calmly, right before he attacked with an ice lance.
Natsu ignored all the feelings that were flooding him and focused on countering Gray's attack. He raised his body temperature to melt the oncoming lance and then ran at Gray, tackling him to the ground.
Gray screamed in pain as the heat of Natsu's skin burned him. Natsu quickly lowered his body temperature. He had no desire to hurt him. All he'd really wanted was for Gray to listen to him and consider what he'd said. They continued to wrestle, both getting as many punches and kicks in as they could.
"What's going on here?" Erza's roar washed over all of them, but Natsu and Gray continued their fight, "Natsu and Wendy, why haven't you reported for duty yet?"
When she got no answer, she stomped over and grabbed Natsu by the collar of his vest, allowing Gray to get a free shot in. Erza turned around and grabbed Gray by his hair since he was missing his shirt as usual.
"One of you is going to explain to me what is going on, and the other will work all weekend." Erza hissed, "Do I make myself clear?"
Both boys tried to speak at once, causing Erza to knock their heads together harder than she'd expected, knocking both boys out. She let them go, their bodies collapsing to the ground. She moved over to the other guards.
"Well?" She raised an eyebrow at Lyon, who was busy staring at her as if he'd never seen her before.
"We were going to kill that dragon when Natsu and Wendy tried to stop us," Sting answered with his head hung low. "I'm sorry, Wendy."
Wendy looked up at Sting and tried to give him a smile, but everything that had just happened had left her rattled. Erza walked over to her to get a report.
"What is going on with those two?" Sting asked Lyon, "I thought they were friends."
Lyon shook his head. "I don't know. I wasn't expecting them to escalate like that. Had I realized, I would have tried to interfere."
Erza headed back their way, shouting orders before she was even close to them. "Sting, you're to help Wendy with the dragon. She said she knows a good place to take it. Lyon, you are to wait for those two idiots to wake up and make sure they don't start fighting again. Tell them they are both working all weekend."
Lyon nodded at her and walked over to find a comfortable place to sit while he waited for Natsu and Gray to come to. He watched over the two of them thoughtfully.
Natsu was the first to wake up. He groaned as he rubbed his head. Why did Erza have to whack them so hard? He sat up and watched Gray for a few seconds before realizing they weren't alone. He turned to see Lyon sitting nearby. Everyone else had left.
"What happened to the dragon?" Natsu asked stiffly. He still didn't like Lyon, and today's events had not helped improve his opinion of him.
"Sting and Wendy took him somewhere safe." Lyon told him, "Erza asked me to tell you that the two of you will be working all weekend."
Natsu took it in stride. It was no less than what he'd expected. Although he wished Erza would learn to communicate less violently.
"What happened back there?" Lyon asked, "Ever since I've known him, Gray always spoke of you as a friend."
Natsu looked back at Gray's unconscious body and gave a resigned sigh. "It's complicated. He is my friend, my first friend."
Natsu thought back to when they had met. Everything had been so simple at first.
"When we were younger," Natsu recalled with a smile, "he rescued me from a tree, and we spent several great days together."
He met Lyon's gaze and gave a small shrug, "It didn't end well, and I guess I'd just hoped that he'd changed."
"Natsu, I'm not a threat," Lyon said seriously. "Gray's like my brother."
Natsu shrugged, "Why are you telling me that?"
"Because it feels as if you don't like me very much, and I would like for us to get along well enough to work together," Lyon responded. "In this type of work, you have to trust others to have your back. Frankly, there are plenty of better reasons to dislike me."
Natsu sized up the boy in front of him and had to admit he was right. There were plenty of better reasons to dislike him. He laughed despite himself, as he counted them out in his head.
"Ok. You're right. For what it's worth, I don't think it matters anymore. This is something we will never agree on."
Lyon remained quiet for a while before saying, "Give him time, Natsu. He's stubborn as hell, but I know he'd hate to lose you."
"I'm not going anywhere, I'm sure in time we'll be friends again." Natsu sounded more confident than he felt.
It relieved him to learn that Lyon wasn't as bad as he'd initially thought. He turned and ambled towards the village, registering the aches from all the hits Gray had gotten on him.
Natsu had to admit Gray was a pretty good fighter. Neither of them had held back. He knew he'd gotten in just as many hits. They'd been too angry to exercise any restraint. He stopped for a moment and looked back to the field with sadness and disappointment.
He could feel Gray slipping further and further away from him.
It was so cruel. Natsu had waited all this time to see his mate again, dreaming of the future they were supposed to share. Had cherished their bond from the moment he'd discovered it, all those years ago. He'd foolishly put all his hopes into the idea that Gray would be the one to understand him. To take him out of his loneliness and make him feel like he ultimately belonged.
Yet here they were, together again, and it hadn't taken long at all for the dragon issue to blow up in their faces. He couldn't see a way around it, not when Gray was willing to kill an innocent creature just because it happened to be a dragon. For the first time, he considered the possibility that Gray might try to kill him if he ever found out what he was.
For his own safety, he would need to distance himself from the person he loved the most.
Natsu hoped Wendy and Sting were able to help the baby dragon. He hadn't been exaggerating, there weren't very many being born. Igneel complained about it all the time. The war was destroying their numbers in more ways than one. Sting was going to get an earful when Igneel returned and found out his part in the attack. Then again, Natsu had his own earful to look forward to.
He kept walking, dreading his impending chat with Erza.
A/N: It's kind of odd to do these so long after the chapter was written. This chapter establishes Gray's baseline for his hatred of dragons. It is still very irrational and blinds him from seeing anything else. At this point Sting, Natsu, Rogue and Gray are 14, Lyon, Gajeel and Erza are 16, while Wendy is 12.