Chapter 5: The scarlet-haired little girl
The following two days passed very quickly for young Natsu, engaged in training with his father while dreaming of seeing the girl he had saved and the formidable sky dragon dwelling on the mountain. When the moment finally arrived, Natsu was so excited that he could hardly contain his joy.
"So are we going? Are we going Igneel?"
The great dragon slowly opened his eyes, awakened by his son bouncing up and down on his snout. Igneel couldn't fathom how such a small creature could make so much noise all by itself, and why it had such a desire to move. Had he gone overboard with giving him magic? Igneel, being a reptile, approached life at a slower pace, even though liquid fire flowed within him like all his kin.
"Go where?" The dragon blew a bit harder from his nostrils, knocking the child to the ground. However, Natsu immediately resumed his attack, grabbing him by a paw and vainly trying to drag him away. "To Grandeeney and the girl! Have you already forgotten? It's been two days!"
When Igneel had said "a couple of days," he didn't exactly mean two, but it was evident that if he didn't comply with Natsu's request immediately, the child would continue to throw tantrums for the rest of the day. And if there was one thing Igneel's old ears couldn't tolerate, it was Natsu's screams.
"Yes, yes, of course, I remember! Just give me a moment to prepare!" The dragon freed himself from the child's grasp, rising to his feet and stretching his large wings. Then, his body bathed in light, shrinking in size. Once the spell was complete, in Igneel's place stood a middle-aged man with disheveled red hair, a few wrinkles around his eyes, tall, slender, yet possessing a toned and muscular physique. The man wore nothing more than an unbuttoned white shirt, a pair of brown trousers, and old worn-out flip-flops. Natsu stared at him for a moment before starting to speak again. "Why did you change shape?"
"It's simple, my son! I don't want the girl to be scared seeing the head of a dragon like me poking into the cave. And don't you like this form? It's the same one I used to take care of you when you were younger. Didn't you miss it?"
"I like you better when you have wings. Not when you're all skin and bones." And Igneel, who had posed to show off his muscles, opened his mouth in surprise. "Well, I guess everyone has their preferences," the dragon admitted. "In the past, humans loved this form, especially women."
"And now that you can't fly anymore, how do we get to the mountain?" Natsu crossed his arms and pouted, but Igneel couldn't really see the problem. "What about... on foot?"
"But it will take forever!"
While it was true that they would reach their destination more quickly by flying, it didn't mean it was impossible to do it on foot. Igneel knew the perfect way to convince his son to do as he said. "What's the matter? Afraid to take a few steps? Let's bet on who gets there first." And just as expected, the dragon's words immediately caught the child's attention. "On my three, the race begins." Igneel continued.
"Are you ready? One, two, and three!" Before the dragon had finished counting, Natsu had already darted off, running at full speed through the trees. Igneel smiled, watching the scene and thinking about how easy that trick was: just challenge Natsu and provoke him a bit to convince him to do everything, even what he initially didn't want to do at all. However, he couldn't let him run off like that all alone; he had to hurry and catch up with him! Igneel also started, but after just a couple of steps, the flip-flop he was wearing broke with a crash, sending him crashing face-first into the trunk of an oak. But since when had he forgotten how to use his legs? Igneel grunted; now it was evident that Natsu would arrive first, and all he could do was hope that Grandeeney had no intention of really devouring him.
When Natsu reached the entrance of the cave, Igneel was still not on the horizon. The child was breathless from the long run, but he was so happy for the victory that he slipped inside without thinking. That's when he found Grandeeney blocking his path. The dragon woman stood in the middle of the cave, holding a large wooden shell in her hand and stirring a strange green concoction inside it with a stick. Natsu didn't expect to meet her so soon and found himself swallowing hard under her stern gaze. Why did she seem so angry? What had he done wrong? Oh, right! Once Igneel had explained that when entering another's den, one had to recite a formula first.
Natsu straightened his back, trying to look a bit more composed. "May I?" And Grandeeney rolled her eyes, moving towards the wall. "Now that you're already inside, what's the point?" muttered the dragoness as she collected some leaves and broke them into the concoction she was working on. Along the cave wall, there was a large shelf carved into the stone, on which numerous bundles of plants and flowers were gathered.
The rest of the environment was very large and spacious, with a vaulted ceiling decorated with a row of stalactites, while the cave's floor was almost entirely covered with smooth pebbles, similar to those found on riverbanks.
"Why did you come? I want no one here." Grandeeney hissed while working on a second bunch of herbs.
"But I want to see the girl that Igneel and I brought! How is she?" Natsu tried to explain. "Better," came the laconic reply. "I gave her medicine to make her sleep because she needs a lot more time to rest, and she won't wake up today for sure. And now that I've answered you, go away."
"But I want to see her!"
"I told you to go away!" This time, Grandeeney bared her teeth, revealing sharp canines that remained even after the transformation. "Don't you know that dragons hate the offspring of others, especially of their kind? If you make me lose patience, I could devour you in one bite!" Grandeeney was serious and had a terrifying air, but Natsu still responded with a smile.
"What's so funny now?"
"I know you won't eat me. Igneel said you're unpleasant but not evil."
At that point, the dragoness sighed. "You shouldn't trust other dragons so much..."
"Can I see the girl now?"
"NO!" Natsu was silenced by a blow to the head so strong that for a moment, the child thought it had broken. Grandeeney's hands were still as powerful as a dragon's paws. "What is it that you don't understand, huh? My patient is sleeping: she needs to rest, and the last thing she needs is for you to make noise and wake her up!"
"Can I see her if I stay quiet?" Natsu covered his head with his hands, his eyes watering from the pain, but he had no intention of giving up after coming all that way. Even Grandeeney was forced to admit that if she didn't allow him to see the girl, he would never stop tormenting her.
"And here I thought I had already seen the deepest depths of stubbornness and idiocy after meeting Igneel." Grandeeney grumbled. "But apparently, certain characters strengthen from generation to generation... Fine, you can see her, but only for a few minutes, and only if you keep your mouth shut."
Victory! Natsu smiled broadly and trotted behind the dragon woman.
"What should you say?"
"What do you mean what should you say?"
A second slap hit him behind the head with such force that for a moment, he thought his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.
"Thank you, Grandeeney." The dragoness hissed, and Natsu hurriedly repeated, "Thank you, Grandeeney."
The girl he had rescued on the beach was now behind some rocks in a deeper and sheltered corner of the cave. She lay on a bed of straw, and Grandeeney had put something clean and dry on her: a new green dress that seemed to be made of some rough vegetable fabric. Her arms and legs were covered with bandages made from long yellow leaves, and she had other bandages covering her right eye and part of her forehead, but she was sleeping peacefully.
"There she is," Grandeeney whispered, making Natsu sit in front of the bed. "You can stay here while I go finish the ointment from earlier. But when I come back, you leave, understood?" The child nodded and patiently waited for the dragon woman to leave before inching a few centimeters closer to his peer. She seemed to be much better than when he had found her.
Grandeeney hadn't lied to him; she had done a good job taking care of her. Natsu smiled with satisfaction and began to look around, trying to better assess the differences between him and the other girl: she was certainly shorter and had lighter skin. Her scent was also very different! Despite the strong essence of herbs and medicines she had been treated with, Natsu could still smell her fragrance: delicate, reminiscent of the strawberries that Igneel had taught him to find in the underbrush. But what fascinated Natsu the most was the color of the newcomer's hair and its scarlet red; it reminded him of the poppies that grew in the clearing during the summer and the sun setting over the sea. It also reminded him of Igneel's scales.
-—-
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