Chapter Text
Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Magma Dragon King! With Juvia becoming the newest Dragon Slayer, a Sea Dragon Slayer, she now needs to get practice in with her new magic and learn the basic Dragon Slayer spells. Thankfully, she has a dragon sister with an element that’s liquid like hers to practice with and learn from. Meanwhile, Quests need to be taken to keep money coming in and to continue climbing the ranks within the Guild. But Wendy’s presence within the Dragon’s Den and Fairy Tail brings something new to everyone, the rarely heard Dragon Song.
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Chapter 58 – Dragon Song, Practice, and Quests
The normally rowdy Fairy Tail Guild was much quieter than normal to the citizens of Magnolia that walked by the large guild hall. It wasn’t silent or anything, there was noise, music it sounded like, coming from within the building. But compared to the often raucous and loud noises that Fairy Tail was known for, it was as close to silence as anyone had heard from the guild.
Within the guild hall, on the stage, Wendy stood with an ocarina to her lips. The mostly white instrument appeared to be made of two seashells, the larger white one and then a smaller orange one at one end to seal the opening of the larger shell and create a resonance chamber for the instrument. Wendy’s fingers moved to cover and uncover the small holes in the ocarina, both on the white shell and the smaller orange shell. A light sound, typical of woodwind instruments, filled the air with music that seemed to resound within both the building and everyone that heard it, as if it was somehow louder than it should be.
Everyone was listening to Wendy’s song as the Sky Dragon Slayer played the ocarina, the pleasing melody reaching higher notes before moving down to deeper notes, giving more than a few people the image of ocean waves in their minds. While everyone was feeling the subtle power of the music, the Dragon Slayers felt their magic within flowing to the sound of the song, making a soothing feeling fill them. Juvia, in particular, smiled at Wendy on the stage, never taking her eyes off the Sky Dragon Slayer as her magic seemed to resonate with the song and swell like the ocean tides.
As the last notes faded into the air, Wendy lowered the ocarina and smiled at everyone. “That was the song of the Sea Dragon: Lugia; I hope you all enjoyed it.”
It took everyone a moment, as they enjoyed the lingering notes in the air, before they cheered for Wendy and her song. None louder than the Dragon Slayers, of course, as they all stood up to give Wendy a standing ovation.
Wendy beamed at everyone before making her way off the stage.
“And that’s the power of Dragon Song.” Natsu said with a smile still on his face from the music.
“It’s beautiful.” Juvia said, her voice filled with warmth as her eyes followed Wendy still.
Lucy grinned and pointed subtly towards one side of the guild hall. “I see something that’s cute too.”
Everyone glanced over to where Lucy was pointing and saw Gajeel sitting at one of the far tables, a small smile actually on the Iron Dragon Slayer’s face. But it was Levy next to him, sitting much closer than would be considered normal, that made the scene cute. The two were only a short distance (and maybe Gajeel’s arm around Levy) from cuddling right there at the table.
“Oh~?” Mira giggled teasingly. “I see those two have finally gotten closer.”
Lisanna shared in her older sister’s giggles. “It’s cute~ I hope they make it official soon.”
“Took them long enough.” Cana smiled, her words followed by a little snicker of amusement.
“I believe others may be disappointed by this,” Erza said, looking at Jet and Droy, both men sitting at the table closest to the one that Levy and Gajeel were at and seemed to have crocodile tears of frustration at how close their longtime crush was being with the Iron Dragon Slayer.
“Levy turned both of them down already though,” Lucy said, having heard the story from her friend and fellow book lover. “Jet and Droy are good enough friends to respect Levy’s decision.”
Lisanna’s soft laughter got everyone’s attention. “Those two are so dense!” She put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.
It wasn’t hard to see what Lisanna was talking about. Over at the bar, where Evergreen was working today while still on her suspension, she and Elfman had practically been leaning against each other while Wendy had been playing her song. But shortly after the music faded, the two seemed to realize what they’d been doing and Evergreen had shoved Elfman backwards. Now it was a small argument between them both.
“Why’d you shove me?!” Elfman demanded with a grumble, having almost fallen off his bar stool.
“You know exactly what you were doing, you brute!” Evergreen pointed at Elfman, her cheeks a light red.
Mira shook her head at the two beginning a back and forth. “Never saw those two getting close like that. Then again, Evergreen wasn’t ever around that much either, none of the Thunder Tribe were.” If her little brother was going to end up dating Evergreen, she wouldn’t stand in his way.
“Did you all enjoy the song?” Wendy asked as she stopped by the table the Dragon Den members were sitting at together. She had a bright smile on her face, having been complimented by everyone that she’d past on the way.
Juvia hugged Wendy with a beaming smile. “It was wonderful, Wendy!” Her magic was still tingling within her from the Dragon Song.
Wendy giggled as she accepted the warm hug and squeezed Juvia in return.
“It was a great song, Wendy!” Natsu smiled brightly at Wendy.
“I loved it!” Mira said as she gave Wendy a thumbs up.
Erza joined the hug, since Juvia still hadn’t let go of Wendy. “A very beautiful song. You’re quite talented at music, Wendy.”
“Thank you very much!” Wendy said with a beautiful smile from between Juvia and Erza.
Cana managed to pull Juvia off of Wendy with some playful tickling along her sides. “You remember that we have to go and practice today, right?”
Juvia wiggled in Cana’s grip and small giggles escaped her lips. “C-Cana! No~”
“We need to head outside of Magnolia though.” Cana was now hugging Juvia from behind with a grin. “Can’t have my alcohol poisoning the forest or the water around town.” The sheer amount that the Booze Dragon Slayer could create with her spells would be the same as poison to most living things if it got into the water or the soil.
“We could all stand to take a Quest or two, I think.” Lucy hummed thoughtfully, thinking about the last Quest that she took. “If I complete a few more, I think I’ll be close to my next promotion.”
Lisanna agreed with a smile. “It would be nice to go on a Quest together.”
Mira was already walking towards the board. “Then let’s see what we have available!”
Carla, having been following after Wendy, looked up at her friend who had just been freed from Erza’s arms. “You could stand to take another Quest as well, Wendy.”
“Yeah, it’s been a couple of days since my last one.” Wendy chuckled sheepishly, smiling down at Carla. “Let’s go see what jobs are available for my rank!” She trotted after the others to check the board with a warm laugh.
-Mt. Ivor ~ Later-
The rocky crags and spires of Mt. Ivor made the area surrounding the towering stone mountain barren of vegetation as little to no water pooled in the area, rain simply running off the stones and evaporating in the sun. This place made for a good area for Cana to train Juvia in Dragon Slayer spells. The fact that it was only a few hours away from Magnolia on foot, a boon to a Dragon Slayer as strong as Cana since they didn’t have to take any form of transport to get here, meant that the two Dragon Slayers had most of the day to practice together before returning home for the night.
“Booze Dragon’s Roar!” Cana threw her head forward and blasted the swirling torrent of pure alcohol at Juvia, tearing up the stones in the path of the spell from sheer force.
“Sea Dragon’s Roar!” Juvia responded in kind with her newly learned spell, an equally large torrent of spiraling water blasting from her mouth.
The two liquid spells slammed into each other with force, shattering the rocky area at the point of impact and flooding part of the area with crashing waves of water and alcohol.
Cana grinned at Juvia from her position atop one of the protruding stone spires. “You’re doing great, Juvia! You get all of the spells down after only a couple of tries!” Truly, no one compared to Juvia when it came to Water Magic.
“Thank you, Cana!” Juvia beamed at her dragon sister for the praise. Water gathered around Juvia’s arms and she launched herself into the air with a powerful blast of water from her feet. “Sea Dragon’s Wing Attack!” Juvia came down on Cana with massive maelstroms of water.
“Booze Dragon’s Piercing Shot!” Cana threw her hands forward, her fingers clawed, and twin projectiles of alcohol shot at Juvia like bullets.
Juvia brought her Wing Attack down on Cana’s spell, the swirling water crashing into the two shots. Only for the shots to pierce through Juvia’s spell and then her body, which she’d turned to water to avoid damage. By forcing Juvia to use her spell for defense, Cana bought herself time to leap backwards out of range, watching the maelstroms shatter the stone spire she’d been standing on.
Cana saw Juvia looking confused and smiled at her dragon sister. “Confused on why my spell managed to pierce through yours?”
“Yes… Juvia put quite a bit of power behind her spell.” Juvia said as she looked between her hands and Cana.
“Dragon Magic versus Dragon Magic means that both spells can disrupt each other.” Cana explained how her smaller spell had managed to pierce through Juvia’s larger spell. “My spell focuses a lot of power into a small area, making it into piercing magic, so with close to equal power, my spell punched through yours.”
Juvia brightened up as she understood the reason her spell had lost out. “Juvia understands! So… If Juvia has greater power in her defense, then your attack would be the one disrupted!”
Cana smirked at Juvia as alcohol swirled around both of her arms in a very familiar way. “Let’s find out! Booze Dragon’s Wing Attack!” She brought her arms forward and unleashed the spell straight at Juvia.
“Sea Dragon’s Tidal Shield!” Juvia’s body exploded into a massive wave of water that rose up high into the air and swallowed up Cana’s spell without issue.
“Did you just come up with that off the top of your head?!” Cana nearly squawked as she threw her hands forward as the massive wave was about to crash down on her. “Crash!” The wave of water gained a grid pattern of white lines across it before bursting into tiny droplets that fell to the ground like rain.
Juvia pouted at Cana once the water stopped falling. “You cheated, Cana! Only Dragon Slayer Magic was the rule!”
Cana laughed and rubbed the back of her head once. “That was before you were about to deluge me with a tidal wave…” Seeing the adorable pout on Juvia’s face, Cana couldn’t help but smile.
“Cana?” Juvia blinked as Cana, still smiling, approached her. “Kyaaa!” She cried out cutely as Cana pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek.
“You’re so cute when you pout, Juvia~” Cana nuzzled her cheek against Juvia’s.
Juvia, blushing cutely, allowed her dragon sister to snuggle her for a bit longer before speaking up. “Shouldn’t we continue practicing?”
Cana grinned at Juvia. “Sure thing!” She skipped back a bit and then threw a roundhouse kick towards Juvia’s head, alcohol swirling around her foot. “Booze Dragon’s Talon!”
Juvia ducked low, letting the kick pass over her head. Water swirled around her hand and she lashed out at Cana with a clawed hand. “Sea Dragon’s Claw!”
Cana pivoted to the left to avoid the spell and watched the water cut through the solid stone of the ground. “You’re doing great, Juvia!”
The two still had hours left to practice before they’d need to start heading back home.
-Great Plains ~ Central Fiore-
“It’s around here somewhere…” Natsu sniffed the air again, faint traces of a reptilian scent on the wind.
Mira looked out over the grasslands, picking out marks among the grass and ground that showed something large had moved through the area. “It’s heading northwest.”
“What is it tracking? There’s nothing large enough out here around this time of the year to be prey, right?” Lisanna questioned as she also sniffed the air. “There were some mammals around here a while back, I’m sure, but at this time of year they usually migrate south, not north.”
Erza narrowed her eyes as she looked towards the horizon. “Could there be another one? Maybe a territorial dispute?”
“Maybe?” Natsu considered Erza’s suggestion as he breathed in deeply and parsed through what scents he could smell. “I don’t smell a second scent though.”
Happy, standing next to Lisanna, looked around the vast grasslands. “Should we fly out further? We can’t miss a drake from the sky, can we?”
The Quest that the four Dragon Slayers had taken was an investigation (and potential elimination) of a drake that had been spotted traveling close to several villages among the grasslands. As drakes, like many dragonkin, were somewhat rare to encounter and had very high resistance to magic and weapons, a Quest had been put out for mages to track the drake and, if necessary, eliminate it to protect the various villages in and around the expansive grasslands.
“Let’s fly, buddy!” Natsu grinned at Happy.
“Aye, sir!” Happy’s Aera wings appeared on his back and he flew several meters away before glowing golden and growing to a large size with his Titan Magic. “Ready!”
All four Dragon Slayers got onto Happy’s back and in no time the massive blue cat flew into the air in the direction that Mira told him to go. They flew for a while before the drake they were looking for came into sight.
“There it is!” Happy called out as he made a wide bank in the air so that Lisanna, Natsu, Mira, and Erza could get a good look at the drake.
Drakes were dragonkin that looked like wingless dragons, though smaller than actual dragons. Still, just like other dragonkin, their scales were strong enough to repel swords, spears, and even bolts from ballistae, even cannons only left minor damage. They also possessed the high magic resistance inherent to almost all dragonkin, making them hard for even skilled mages to take down. This particular drake had grey and blue scales and curved black horns on its head. It traveled across the plains with purpose, as if it knew where it was going.
“It’s traveling in a nearly straight line.” Erza pointed out that the drake didn’t deviate from its course at all.
Lisanna looked a bit worried as she looked towards the horizon. “If it keeps heading straight, I think it’ll hit one of the villages in time.”
Mira agreed with her little sister. “Should we stop it now before it can cause trouble?”
“We should find out what it’s after first.” Natsu said, wondering just why the drake was traveling in a straight line like it was. They weren’t known to be any smarter than any other apex predator, so it wasn’t like the drake had planned far ahead with whatever it was doing.
“Got it!” Happy said as he glided through the air, following after the drake.
It was a while later, and many, many kilometers traveled, before the target of the drake’s relentless pursuit became apparent.
“Are those yurts?” Mira questioned loudly, seeing a few of the nomadic shelters up ahead.
“They are.” Erza confirmed, her eyes narrowing on the drake that was heading straight for the yurts.
Lisanna noticed something odd though. “Is anyone even using them?” The yurts set up below weren’t in the best shape, one having a large hole in the side and a partially collapsed roof, and the other two weren’t in much better shape. “Have they been abandoned?”
“Happy, get us there before the drake, buddy!” Natsu requested his friend.
“Right!” Happy shot forward with a single flap of his wings and the world blurred as his speed massively increased. In only a minute, Happy was gliding down in front of the three ragged yurts and landing on the grass.
Mira, Erza, and Lisanna all hopped off Happy’s back and went to check a yurt each. Natsu dropped off Happy’s back and the blue cat shrank down to his normal size with a long exhale. His magic power was about half of his full reserves after using both of his Magics for the last few hours.
“No one’s here.” Mira called out after checking one of the yurts.
“Same for this one.” Erza said as she stepped out of the yurt that she’d checked.
Lisanna came out of her yurt with a cloth stained with red. “Someone got injured.” The stain was easily identified as blood with only a sniff from the Dragon Slayers. “It’s only a day or two old.”
“I smell animals too, goats, a lot of them.” Natsu sniffed around, checking all the scents that still remained. “Probably one of the nomadic groups that travels across the grasslands to do trading.”
Mira sniffed the bloodied cloth and her blue eyes widened a little. “Is that…reptilian?” Aside from the strong scent of human blood on the cloth, there was an unmistakable reptilian scent lingering on it as well.
“Has the drake been chasing them?” Erza questioned, starting to put the pieces together about the situation. “It’s tracking them, probably after their livestock or maybe something they’re carrying with them?”
“They couldn’t fight a drake, so they ran from it as it ate its fill from their livestock…” Lisanna said as she tried to figure out how things had happened. “…but after traveling for a full day after the first attack, they probably thought they were safe.”
Natsu sniffed around the yurts a bit. “I think you’re right. These damaged parts have a reptilian smell on them.” Considering the size of the plains and how long the drake would be full after stuffing itself with livestock, the nomads had probably been chased for the better part of a fortnight. “This is probably the last time they planned to stop after being attacked multiple times, that’s why they left these damaged yurts behind.”
“Then we know what we have to do.” Mira punched her fist into her opposite palm. “Time to turn the hunter into the hunted!”
“We don’t have much time before it gets here.” Lisanna said as she looked in the direction of the approaching drake.
Erza kneeled down and put her hand against the ground, closing her eyes as she focused. “It’s heading directly for us still…”
Happy launched himself into the air with his Aera wings and got high enough to see the drake coming before the others could. “Here it comes! I don’t think it knows we’re here yet!”
“Fine by me.” Natsu took up a fighting stance as heat poured off his body, making a rippling heat haze in the air surrounding the Magma Dragon Slayer.
Just as the grey and blue drake reached within one hundred meters of the three damaged yurts, Erza cast the first spell of the fight. “Earth Dragon’s Rampart!” The ground rumbled before thick stone walls shot upwards in a circle, the rock and earth flowing together to make a solid barrier that trapped the drake with the four Dragon Slayers.
“Raaarrrr!” The drake let out a roar as it realized that it was trapped.
“Forest Dragon’s Leaf Storm!” Mirajane cast her own spell, wooden branches growing from her arms and filling with lush green leaves that swirled through the air like spinning blades, all aimed at the drake.
The drake proved swift on its feet as it tore across the ground, avoiding dozens and dozens of the blade-like leaves as they pierced the earth. “RAAAUUURRRR!!!” The drake opened its jaws and a colossal blast of wind was unleashed straight at Mira.
Mira evaded the blast, only for all four Dragon Slayers to watch as the breath attack punched a hole straight through the thick stone wall. That made all four of them instinctively raise their magical power further. This drake was older than most, and it had developed a significant amount of magical power over its long life.
“Fire Dragon’s Brilliant Flame!” Lisanna came at the drake from its blind spot, a massive fireball above her head that she launched at the drake.
The drake whipped its tail so fast that the air snapped and a blade of wind cut the spell in two, making it explode. “RAAARRR!!!” The drake rushed Lisanna, its jaws opened wide, fangs glistening as it tried to snap her up in a single bite.
“Magma Dragon’s Erupting Fist!” Natsu shot towards the drake’s side with flames blasting from his feet. His lava-coated fist slammed into the drake’s flank and launched it into the stone wall in a wave of molten earth.
“SHHRREEEE!!!” The drake screeched and thrashed to throw the lava off itself.
Erza came straight at the flailing drake in a blur. “Earth Dragon’s Blade Fang!” In her hands was a large greatsword made of sharpened stone glowing with her magic power. She brought the sword down on the drake, only to meet its tail as the dragonkin swiped at the sword.
BOOM
Wind slammed into earth and Erza’s sword shattered as she skidded backwards.
Mira, taking advantage of the drake’s distraction, streaked forward with a large wooden horn aimed straight at the head of the drake. “Forest Dragon’s Horn Strike!”
“RAAARRR!!!” The drake snapped down on the wooden horn, splintering it with is fangs, though the force of Mira’s charge knocked it over onto its back.
“Fire Dragon’s Sword Horn!” Lisanna fell like a meteor from the air and slammed into the drake’s softer underbelly with her spell, setting off a massive explosion of flames.
“Great job, Happy!” Natsu called out to his flying buddy who had taken Lisanna into the air.
“Aye, sir!” Happy yelled back as Natsu and Erza both rushed the flailing drake together.
The drake thrashed and managed to get back on its feet, the scales on its underbelly blackened by Lisanna’s attack. With a full turn of its body, the drake whipped its tail around and there was a whip-like crack that shattered the air and a blade of wind passed through the entire area faster than the eye could track.
Crack
Rmmmble
The stone wall that Erza had created collapsed and shattered from being cut through. But the four Dragon Slayers had managed to either block or dodge the wide-spread attack in their own ways. Natsu’s body was covered in thick basalt scales that were glowing with lines of burning magma beneath them. Likewise, Erza’s body was covered in granite scales from head to toe. Lisanna had blasted fire from her feet to escape the attack by launching herself into the air. Mira had dodged by growing a tree from the ground and avoiding the blade of wind entirely…though her new tree was sliced through near the base and began to fall, Mira kicked it straight at the drake and the dragonkin’s claws were surrounded in wind as it slashed it apart.
“RAAARRR!!!” The drake bellowed loudly, nearly shaking the air. As the Dragon Slayers grimaced at the volume, the drake inhaled rapidly, creating a nearly vacuum-like effect as it sucked in massive amounts of air. Natsu, Erza, Lisanna, and Mira braced themselves against the ground to not be dragged into the vacuum, watching as the drake’s midsection swelled up like a balloon until its underbelly dragged the ground. “BAAAAAWWWRRR!!!” The drake unleashed a massive breath attack that tore up the ground and shredded the damaged yurts to nothing.
“Magma Dragon’s Roar!” Natsu blasted an eruption of lava at the incoming gale of shredding wind.
“Earth Dragon’s Roar!” Erza unleashed a landslide of soil and stone.
“Fire Dragon’s Roar!” Lisanna breath attack exploded into a concentrated flame that was almost white.
“Forest Dragon’s Roar!” Mira’s breath was a tornado of leaves, wood, thorns, and untold amounts of forest debris.
BOOM
The five roars exploded into a cataclysm of destruction that nearly leveled the area. Thick black smoke rose high into the air as the drake flipped itself onto its feet, having been blasted backwards from the blast. Its grey and blue scales were covered in soot and dust, and it was bleeding in more than a few places from where shrapnel had hit it and tore parts of its scales away. “Rrrraaaahhh…” It breathed out heavily at having to use so much of its magical power.
“Forest Dragon’s Bramble Thicket!” Mira cast from within the thick black smoke. The wooden brambles burst upwards from the ground and ensnared the injured drake, pinning it in place as the large, sharp thorns stabbed through the drake’s scales.
“RAAAUUUHHH!!!” The drake screeched in pain as it tried to force its way out of the brambles.
Lisanna blasted forth from the black smoke, flames surrounding her body like a blazing aura. She grabbed the restrained drake’s throat as best she could, given their large size difference, and growled at it, baring her fangs. “Fire Dragon’s Crushing Fang!” A blast of flames exploded straight into the drake’s neck with incredible force, blasting away the scales entirely and burning the hide beneath. “Fire Dragon’s Grip Strike!” A second spell, this one entirely focused on the unprotected hide that Lisanna’s hand was now grabbing, exploded inward, rather than outward, piercing through the drake’s neck and severing it completely. “ROOOAAARRR!!!” With a draconic roar, Lisanna tore the head away from the steaming stump of neck and held it high as blood poured down onto her, covering her hair, her face, and her clothing before soaking in and covering her skin.
“ROOOAAARRR!!!” Mira, Erza, and Natsu all roared loudly in victory with Lisanna.
Happy covered his ears up in the air, as even the distance between him and his family didn’t do much to lessen the volume.
Natsu stepped forward and Lisanna, seeing her Mate, dropped the drake’s severed head in front of him. Amber eyes met blue eyes as Natsu and Lisanna shared an intense gaze. Without a word, the two were flush against each other and kissing deeply as instinct flared within them. The drake’s still hot blood covering Natsu’s clothes and skin.
Mira pressed herself against Lisanna’s back, nuzzling her little sister with instinct-driven pride, not caring in the slightest about the blood getting all over her. Lisanna rumbled at her big sister’s affection and nuzzled her back after pulling her lips away from Natsu’s.
Erza nudged Natsu aside, wrapping her arms around Lisanna’s waist and pulling her into a deep French kiss as well. Lisanna moaned into Erza’s mouth, her bloody hands moving to cup Erza’s cheeks, leaving bloody handprints on Erza’s face without a care.
“Are they gonna…?” Happy hovered in the air as he saw what the four Dragon Slayers were doing. The slight shift in the magical power still in the air made Happy’s fur stand on end for a short moment before the feeling passed. The ground rumbled as another earthen wall rose up to encircle the site of the kill, followed by trees rapidly growing atop the wall and throughout the cratered ground within the circular wall obscuring Happy’s view from the air. “Yeah… They’re doing it…” Happy sighed as he glided to the ground outside of the wall, knowing that Natsu, Mira, Lisanna, and Erza would be ‘busy’ with each other with their instincts running high after a fight against a strong dragonkin. “This is why I keep some fish in my bag on Quests.” The blue cat said to himself as he pulled a rather large fish from his small green backpack with drool coming from his mouth.
The temperature of the air noticeably getting hotter made Happy’s left ear flick once. It seemed that Lisanna and Natsu were already going at it. Once the trees and grass in the area started growing and flowering, then it would be Mira. Then when the ground started shaking, Erza and Natsu would be the ones going at it. For now though, Happy just enjoyed his fish, knowing that he might have to fly a bit further away depending on how intense the four Dragon Slayers got with their instincts riled up like they were.
-Boundary Forest ~ Southeastern Fiore-
Near Fiore’s border with the country of Seven was a vast and sprawling forest known as the Boundary Forest. It was infamous for housing many gigantic monsters. But also for its abundant flora with different trees and plants, many of which were magical or medicinal, or both. It was enclosed on two sides by high mountains and had many tall formations of rocks throughout and valuable magical crystals could also be found in the depths of the forest.
“This Quest hasn’t been anything special.” Gajeel scoffed as he walked through the thick forest. “The worst part was having to take the train for so long.” He muttered out, his stomach briefly having phantom nausea from recalling the experience. “If Levy hadn’t had taken a Quest with Salamander’s starry Mate, I could’ve brought her.” Now that the two had become close enough, Gajeel found himself wanting to be around Levy even more than before. “Let’s just find these magical crystals that the Quest giver wants.”
“ROOAAARRR!!!” A huge, boar-like monster with stone-like fur roared as it charged at Gajeel the instant it spotted him.
Gajeel’s arm turned into a massive club with large studs. “Shut up, I’m busy!” He roared right back and slammed his Iron Dragon’s Club onto the boar monster’s head, crushing it and cratering the ground below. Returning his arm to normal, Gajeel moved over to examine his kill. He sniffed it a few times, seeing the blood pouring out of the monster’s shattered head. “It doesn’t smell poisonous…” His stomach rumbled slightly, reminding him that he’d ended up vomiting up part of his breakfast during the train ride and had been too nauseous to eat lunch while traveling. “Guess you’re dinner. Gehee!” He smirked at all the meat he’d get to eat.
“You took down a Stone Boar in one strike.” An unknown voice said from somewhere in the trees. “That takes some real power.”
“You can’t have any, it’s my kill.” Gajeel said to the mysterious voice, sniffing at the air while forming iron claws from his fingers. “Who are you anyway?” He spun around and looked directly into the branches of one of the large trees.
Red eyes with draconic slits met dark black eyes as the speaker revealed themselves.
Gajeel’s eyes went wide as he saw the person that had spoken to him.
The speaker looked up at Gajeel because of their height difference. “What? Is there something on my face?”
“C-Ca…” Gajeel pointed at the person.
“You’re an odd one, aren’t you?” The speaker cocked their head to one side and crossed their arms over their chest.
“A cat!” Gajeel finally exclaimed. “A talking cat!”
The person was indeed a talking cat, though unlike Happy or Carla, this particular cat had black fur and rounded ears, with white fur around his muzzle, plus a noticeable scar next to his left eye. He, judging by his voice, wore dark green pants and no shirt and had a small sword (appropriate for his size) strapped to his back.
“I suppose you’ve never seen an Exceed before?” The black cat questioned, his tail flicking side to side behind him. “But that’s precisely why I’ve been watching you.”
“Be my cat!” Gajeel requested (or demanded might be more accurate) of the Exceed, kneeling in front of the black cat and picking him up. “Salamander and Wendy both have cats, I was starting to feel odd for not having one!”
The Exceed struggled out of Gajeel’s hands. “I’m not some pet!” He suddenly glowed for a second before growing to a towering height and bulking up considerably, his sword growing to match his new size, revealing its own magical nature. “I am Panther Lily of the Exceeds! A warrior that protects Extalia!” he drew his sword and held it at the ready. “Human, state your name and your reason for entering this forest!”
Gajeel grinned at Panther Lily’s words and his combative nature, eyeing the sword aimed at him. “Heh! I’m Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragon Slayer!” He punched his fists together, making a metallic clang ring out. “And I’m gonna convince you to be my cat!” He’d practically forgotten his original reason for coming into the Boundary Forest in his excitement of finding ‘his own cat’ and was gonna brag to Wendy and Salamander that his cat was the best when they got back!
“Dragon Slayer…” Panther Lily’s eyes widened just slightly, memories of the Queen and the ill-fated mission for various Exceed eggs that had happened years ago. “…so, you are no normal human!”
“You could say that!” Gajeel smirked and his right arm turned into the Iron Dragon’s Sword. “You look like you want to fight! When I win, you have to be my cat!”
Panther Lily refocused and shifted his stance, aiming the tip of his sword at Gajeel’s chest. “I will not be beaten so easily!”
A loud clang of metal against metal rang throughout the Boundary Forest a second later.
-End Chapter-
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Well now… Without Edolas getting in the way, other Quests have time to happen!
Wendy entrances all of Fairy Tail with her Dragon Song! I’m sure many will recognize it: Lugia's Theme on Ocarina #Shorts
Cana and Juvia go out of Magnolia to practice with Juvia’s new Sea Dragon Slayer Magic! Juvia is so attuned to water magic that she’s managing to learn the spells rather quickly! The power that she and Cana have might just turn the area around Mt. Ivor into rubble though!
Lisanna, Natsu, Mira, and Erza go to investigate a drake sighting in Fiore’s Great Plains region, only to find out it’s tracking a human nomadic group and the dragonkin needs to be eliminated.
But upon slaying the drake, Lisanna getting the kill and hoisting the slain dragonkin’s head high, instincts take over a bit! Blood covering all four of them, a shift in the magic that sends Happy’s fur standing on end, and then the four making a secluded area around their kill as they get frisky portends to Happy having to wait a while until they all calm down.
Luckily, he’s packed fish for just such an occasion!
But that means something like this has happened before! Kek!
Gajeel takes a Quest into the dangerous Boundary Forest and meets someone unexpected! Has Gajeel found HIS cat?! Lol
It’s honestly kind of odd how often Gajeel wanders/gets lost in some random place and ends up stumbling upon something important, huh? In this case, he’s ended up close to Extalia, the land of the Exceeds! Or at least where the island ended up after crossing over from Edolas via Reverse Anima years ago.
What’s this about Lucy and Levy being on a Quest together? Is it an easy Quest where Lucy can playfully tease her friend about her new relationship?
Keep reading to find out!
Until I get your reviews, later!