Damn it, you guys gave me such good feedback for my other five Fairy Tail stories, that I sat down and stubbornly typed this whole story up in 2 hours. I was originally going to hold this story in reserve, as I already have five other Fairy Tail stories up, plus another 7 stories from other archives and didn't want to take on more than I could handle… but the massive amount of positive feedback and encouragement I got, motivated me to do this one as well.

Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Fairy Tail anime/manga. All I own are my original characters and plot twists.

'Talking'

"Thinking"

*expression*

Flashback

Techniques

Chapter 1 – An Unexpected Encounter

'Ne Natsu, why are we going to Mercury Circus?' Asked Happy, a blue and white, winged, cat-like creature, who was currently resting atop Natsu's head.

'It isn't Mercury Circus Happy, it is Mercurius.' Said Natsu, a small pink haired boy, who appeared to be about eleven or twelve years old. He was clad in a red, long-sleeved shirt and dark yellow shorts with brown trim and simple brown shoes. Along with this though, he possessed a white scaly scarf, which he kept wrapped around his neck.

'Yeah, yeah Merry Row City, but why are we going there again?' Questioned Happy, as he yawned atop Natsu's head.

'*sigh* Because Igneel is a King and a King should be in the palace, right?' Explained Natsu.

Natsu had picked up his blue haired companion, in the form of an egg a week ago. Natsu had been roaming various towns and villages, looking for hints on where Igneel might have been. Of course, people looked at him strangely when he explained that Igneel was a large, scaly dragon, but Natsu didn't give up hope. One day, when he had been roaming around Magnolia, he found an egg that he mistook for a dragon's egg. Natsu had eagerly waited with the egg until it hatched, however, it was no dragon. Despite this though, Natsu was happy to have a companion after such a long time and thus, named the blue-furred flying cat, Happy.

'Aye sir.' Cheered Happy, before falling asleep in Natsu's hair.

Natsu gave a soft sigh at this before smiling, he was really glad that he found Happy's egg. Truthfully, Natsu had been getting lonely all by himself. Natsu had, at one point, considering joining a guild in Magnolia called Fairy Tail, however, when Natsu was roaming around Magnolia and asking about dragons, a mean spirited, white haired girl, bearing the Fairy Tail insignia, had laughed at him and mocked him for believing in dragons, which dissuaded Natsu from that particular idea. After asking around Magnolia without success, he headed off into the forest, in the direction of Mercurius and had found Happy's egg, nestled within a tree. Since then, Natsu and Happy had been inseparable, of course, it helped that Happy got tired if he flew for too long and thus, spent most of his time perched on Natsu's head.

'Hey, Natsu.' Muttered Happy sleepily, as he briefly roused himself from his nap.

'Yeah buddy?' Asked Natsu.

'Are we almost there yet?' Asked Happy tiredly.

'Almost buddy, we're maybe a day or two out from there, I think.' Said Natsu, as he furrowed his brow in thought.

'Ok, wake me up when you find some more fish.' Said Happy, before slumbering once more.

Natsu softly chuckled at this. Happy, despite his diminutive size, had a serious appetite for fish, being able to all but match Natsu on a regular day, assuming Natsu hadn't worked himself too strenuously. It had made for some very interesting eating contests between the two.

Natsu noticed that the sun was still fairly high, indicating it was either three or four in the afternoon. As Natsu trudged on, he wondered if they would be able to reach Mercurius by today.

"Hmm, I hope we get there soon, I really want to see Igneel." Thought Natsu, as he picked up his pace a little.

Exiting out of the tree line, Natsu found himself on a fairly well maintained dirt road. The road itself was very smooth, with only a few rocks scattered here and there, making for a somewhat, unnatural appearance.

'Hmm, if the road looks like this… it must mean we are close to town.' Declared Natsu, before breaking out into a small jog, just making sure not to rouse his sleeping partner.

Coming over a small hill, Natsu noticed he indeed could see the capital in the distance.

"Awesome, we are almost there." Thought Natsu in joy, as he continued to jog.

Eventually, Natsu's nose picked up on the smell of smoke. Knowing where there is smoke, there is usually fire, Natsu picked up his pace, hoping to catch a quick meal, before heading into town. Natsu quickly raced towards his destination, causing a slightly disgruntled Happy to wake up.

'Natsu, there better be fish.' Mumbled Happy sleepily, not at all pleased at his abrupt awakening.

'Sorry buddy, but we are almost there. Look to the left, that's Mercurius. I just smelt some smoke over there and decided to get a quick snack before we head in.' Explained Natsu.

'I want fish when we get there then, it wasn't nice to wake me from my nap.' Muttered Happy in annoyance.

'You got it Happy.' Said Natsu, before kicking up his jog and starting to sprint, now that Happy was awake and clinging to his hair.

Natsu could now see where the smoke was coming from and noticed a wooden carriage, with gold and silver designs on it, along with numerous jewels placed around it, was smoking a little, looking as though someone had burned the corner of it. Outside the carriage, stood a small green haired girl, who appeared to be the same age as Natsu, and a knight clad in silver armour, who looked as though he had seen better days, as he was down to one knee and was using a sword to support himself. In front of the two, stood four scruffy looking people, two of them had staffs, one had an axe and the other was barehanded and seemed to be the leader of the group.

As Natsu neared the group, his enhanced senses picked up their words.

'Now old man, just step aside, you wouldn't want us to hurt you anymore now, would you?' Questioned the leader of the assailants, who was clad in a black robe and possessed dirty blond hair and blue eyes.

'Just hand over the Princess and we will let you walk away, well, that is, if you still can, with that wound.' Said the leader, as he gestured to the knight's leg, which seemed to have been pierced through with something. There was a small circular hole, about the size of a cherry, on his left leg, just under and to the left of his knee, out of which, a rather heavy flow of blood was pouring.

'Never, I won't let scum like you take the Princess, as her guard, I won't let any harm befall Princess Hisui.' Declared the knight, as he struggled to stand, before dropping back to his knee.

'Arcadios, please don't move you're hurt.' Said Hisui in a nervous voice.

'Princess, do not worry for me, I am your guard and I will not let any harm befall you.' Assured Arcadios, before finally standing up.

'Oho, you have some fight in you, however, this just means you're going to suffer more.' Said the leader, before clicking his fingers, causing the axe wielding man to make his way towards the two, menacingly raising his axe as he did so.

'Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!' Declared a voice, grabbing everyone's attention, before a small pink haired boy landed a flame infused fist, right into the face of the axe wielder, knocking him a few metres away, as he dropped to the ground unconscious.

The five remaining, still conscious humans, gaped in shock and surprise, at a little boy knocking out a fully grown man.

'Fire Dragon's Roar!' Declared the boy, before launching a wave of fire at the trio of muggers.

The leader and one of the staff wielders were able to escape, but the other staff wielder took the attack head on and slammed into a tree, also unconscious.

'Lightning Burst.' Said the leader, as he launched a small bolt of electricity at Natsu.

Natsu barely dodged it and charged at the last two aggressors.

'Fire Dragon's Claws!' Shouted Natsu, as he swung his left leg in a roundhouse kick, aiming to knock both attackers out at once.

The leader dodged the attack, while the remaining staff wielder blocked the kick, but was unprepared for Natsu to launch a point blank roar at him while upside down, blasting him into unconsciousness as well.

Natsu's world was then rocked, as he felt an immense pain in his gut. There was a small cherry sized hole in his stomach, with blood gushing out of it.

'Natsuuu.' Cried Happy in fear, as he flew over from his hiding spot in a tree, to his now kneeling partner.

'Heh, you might have got lucky kid, taking out my help, but I'm no pushover, now, say good night.' Said the bandit menacingly, as he aimed his index finger at Natsu's face.

Natsu shifted, hoping to be able to dodge the attack, which would almost certainly prove fatal if it hit, despite the blood gushing from his stomach, but stumbled. Natsu closed his eyes in fear, seeing his brief life flash before him, before he heard a thump. Natsu opened his eyes to see the assailant knocked out on the ground, the previously injured knight had mustered up enough strength to stand up, and had struck the bandit in the back of his head with the hilt of his sword. Seeing his life was safe, Natsu collapsed and passed out.

'Come Princess, we must get you to safety quickly.' Said Arcadios, as he turned away from the downed Natsu and walked over to the Princess.

'Eh, but we can't just leave him there Arcadios, he will bleed out.' Said Hisui sadly, as tears started to gather in her eyes.

'My first priority is your safety Princess, he did his duty as a citizen of Fiore: protecting you. Once I have assured your safety, I will come back for him.' Said Arcadios, in what he hoped was a persuasive voice.

'N-Natsu, are you okay? Come on now, it isn't *sniff* nap time. I-If y-you wake up now, I'll g-give you a fish.' Said Happy with tears in his eyes, as he used his tiny hands to prod Natsu, hoping to rouse his bleeding friend.

'I'm not letting him die for my sake Arcadios, if you won't bring him along, I'll just have to carry him.' Said Hisui firmly, as she walked over to the downed body of Natsu.

'Princess, please be reasonable.' Said Arcadios, as he held his arms out in a pleading gesture.

Hisui, undeterred, walked over to Natsu and, with some difficulty, slung his right arm over her shoulders and proceed to lift him up, uncaring of the blood that was currently staining her white dress.

'It's ok, your friend will be fine.' Said Hisui to the sobbing cat, hopping to comfort him.

'T-thank you, I'll h-help you.' Said Happy, as his wings appeared, and helped lift Natsu up as well, grabbing onto his left arm and pulling with all his might.

'Princess Hisui, please be reasonable.' Pleaded Arcadios one last time, in a futile attempt to dissuade the Princess.

'No, my mind is made up Arcadios, now quickly, we need to get him to the palace before he bleeds out.' Said Hisui, before she, along with Happy, carried Natsu to the carriage.

Arcadios sighed, before helping the Princess and sobbing blue cat, haul the pink haired youth into the carriage. Once he was inside, the duo of princess and cat clambered inside after him, with Arcadios heading to the front of the horse drawn carriage and urged the horses onwards. Natsu was rested on one side of the carriage, with Hisui sitting at his head and Happy at his feet.

Hisui saw the blood was spreading from his wound and quickly tore a strip off her dress, which she wrapped around the boy's bloody midsection, before pressing down on it.

'Please, just hang in there, I couldn't bare if someone… was hurt for my sake and I couldn't thank them.' Said Hisui, hesitating at using any word related to death or dying.

'Natsu, hang in there.' Snivelled Happy, as he patted Natsu's leg.

'Is that his name, Natsu?' Asked Hisui, hoping to distract herself from the possibly dying boy next to her.

'Y-yeah, his name is Natsu Dragneel and I'm Happy, he found my egg a week ago and we ate a lot of fish together since then.' Sobbed Happy.

'I just know, any second now, he will wake up… and tell me he is hungry and wants a fish.' Continued Happy.

'N-Natsu is my first and only friend.' Finished Happy, with a sniff.

'My name is Hisui E. Fiore, I'm twelve years old; do you know how old Natsu is?' Asked Hisui softly.

'*sniff* I think Natsu is twelve as well, I'm not too sure, I'm only a week old after all.' Said Happy quietly.

'You're rather smart for someone who is only a week old.' Complimented Hisui.

'Aye, Natsu's been teaching me how to speak, while we made our way to Merry Circus.' Said Happy sadly.

'Did you mean to say Mercurius?' Questioned Hisui with a soft smile.

'Aye, that word is hard to say, but Natsu says his dad would be there because he is a King and a King would be in a palace. Natsu's been looking for him for a while now.' Said Happy with a small sob, calming down somewhat, thanks to Hisui's conversation.

'Really, who is Natsu's dad and what is he a King of?' Questioned Hisui in surprise.

'Natsu's dad is Igneel and he is the King of the Fire Dragons, he even taught Natsu his magic.' Said Happy proudly, even though he was frowning.

'A dragon? Really?' Questioned Hisui in shock.

'Aye, no one believes Natsu, but I know Natsu wouldn't lie about it. People are really mean though and tell Natsu to stop lying and to go away, so he hasn't been able to find him yet.' Said Happy sadly.

'That's because dragons haven't been seen for years, so it is hard to believe.' Explained Hisui softly.

'Does that mean you think Natsu is lying too?' Asked Happy tearfully.

'No, I believe him. If you say Natsu wouldn't lie about something like that, then he must be telling the truth, right?' Said Hisui with a smile.

'*sniff* I like you pretty girl, no one has ever believed Natsu before, except for me. It isn't fair that people think Natsu is a liar.' Said Happy, with a chocked sob, as he noticed his friend was going pale.

'That's true, don't worry though, once we get Natsu all fixed up, he can tell me all about dragons.' Said Hisui, with a small smile.

"Please don't die." Thought Hisui desperately, as she pressed down on the boy's wound and shed a tear in sadness.

-line break-

A pink haired boy groaned as his eyes fluttered open. Natsu blinked as he adjusted to the light and looked around. Lying on his chest, was a snoring mass of blue fur. Happy, Natsu realised, before turning to his left side. A white wall, from what appeared to be marble, greeted his face. The stone was as smooth as could be, without a single blemish. Natsu then turned to his right and saw the same green haired girl he had tried to save before, her head leaning against his arm, with the rest of her almost falling out of the wooden chair she was sitting on. Looking at the rest of the room, Natsu noticed it looked like a small medical facility, with another seven beds in the room with him, a window in-between each pair of beds, which allowed the rising sun to illuminate the white room.

Natsu made to sit up and felt a harsh stabbing pain in his stomach, which caused him to hiss in pain.

'N-Natsu, are you awake?' Questioned Happy sleepily, as he blearily rubbed his eyes.

Natsu blinked, as once Happy had stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at Natsu, his eyes widened before he tackled Natsu's neck.

'Natsuuu, you're okay!' Wailed Happy, causing the girl next to Natsu to stir.

The green haired child gracefully sat up and stretched a little while cutely yawning, placing her right hand in front of her mouth as she did so, before rapidly blinking her eyes and looking at the bawling Happy first, before seeing Natsu's open eyes.

'You're awake, thank goodness.' Said the girl, before giving a soft smile.

'Uh where am I?' Asked Natsu groggily.

'We are at Mercy Curious Natsu, we made it.' Said Happy happily.

'Hehe I keep telling you Happy, it is Mercurius.' Chuckled Natsu weakly.

'He is right though, you are in fact in Mercurius.' Said the girl, drawing Natsu's gaze.

'Y-you're that little girl right? That's good, I was worried you might have been in trouble.' Said Natsu, with a small smile.

'Wait, if we are at Mercurius, where is Igneel.' Asked Natsu curiously, as he once again tried to sit up, only to wince in pain once again.

'Please don't move, your wound is still very dangerous and might open up again if you move around too much.' Cautioned the green haired girl.

'Uh ok miss…' Said Natsu, trailing off at the end.

'Hisui, my name is Hisui E. Fiore.' Said Hisui.

'Fiore? Isn't that the name of this country? Did they name you after the country?' Asked Natsu in confusion.

Hisui giggled at this, before answering Natsu.

'No, my name is Hisui E. Fiore because I am the Princess of Fiore.' Explained Hisui.

'Wow, a real Princess, so wait, does that mean you know where Igneel is, he is the Fire Dragon King?' Asked Natsu eagerly, as he sat up before Hisui could stop him, ignoring the brief stabbing pain he felt.

'No, I'm sorry, there is no one named Igneel around here and no dragons either.' Said Hisui sadly.

'You believe me?' Questioned Natsu.

'Yeah, Natsu, I told her that Igneel was your dad and that he was a dragon and she believed me. She said, that if I said you weren't lying, then she would believe it too.' Explained Happy happily.

'Really? Do you really believe that? Believe me?' Asked Natsu curiously, as he narrowed his eyes slightly, studying the Princess.

'Of course, why would you lie about that?' Replied Hisui instantly, causing a smile to spread on Natsu's face.

'You know what Hisui, I like you, want to be friends?' Asked Natsu suddenly.

Hisui was surprised at this.

'What, just like that, you want to be friends? Why?' Asked Hisui in surprise.

'Anyone who believes me about Igneel is a friend of mine already and you are the first person to believe me, aside from Happy of course.' Explained Natsu.

Happy also nodded his head in agreement.

'I'd like that, to be friends.' Said Hisui, with a smile.

'Awesome.' Said Natsu, with a smile of his own.

'Oh, I see you are awake.' Said a short man, wearing striped overalls, held up by a belt at the waist, under a cape.

Next to the short man was the knight from before, his armour was still present, except for around his left leg, which was heavily bandaged.

'Hey it's that knight from before, you're okay as well!' Exclaimed Natsu cheerfully.

'Of course, a simple flesh wound would not bring about my end.' Replied Arcadios.

'Hmm, but who are you old man, the doctor?' Asked Natsu, as he squinted his eyes.

Arcadios spluttered in shock, while Hisui merely giggled. The man in question, merely gave a loud guffaw in amusement.

'No, my dear boy, I'm most definitely not the doctor.' Answered the man cheerfully.

'Hmm.' Said Natsu in thought, as he tried to figure out the identity of the small man, who seemed to be enjoying the Dragon Slayer's antics.

'Natsu, this is my father.' Said Hisui after a moment.

'Oh I see… wait, if you are the Princess and he is your dad…' Said Natsu, before trailing off at the end.

'Yes my boy, I am the King, Toma E. Fiore, nice to meet you.' Said the King.

'Oh wow that's so cool, my dad's a King too you know, his name is Igneel and he is the King of the Fire Dragons, do you know where he is?' Asked Natsu excitedly.

Toma sighed and shook his head.

'No my dear boy, I don't, I'm sorry. Dragons haven't been seen, or heard from for decades now.' Answered Toma sombrely.

'But Igneel raised me since I was a little kid, he has been around since then and only disappeared this year and I've been out searching for him since.' Said Natsu quickly.

'*sigh* I'm sorry my boy, but no one has seen a dragon in years. It is possible that there might be a few still around, but no one can find them if they are.' Explained Toma sadly.

Natsu went silent at this and thought on the words of Toma.

'Sorry to ask you my boy, but why did you get involved with Hisui and Arcadios?' Questioned Toma.

'Well I smelt smoke and was following the scent, since I was hoping to find a fire I could eat.' Started Natsu, only for Toma to cut him off.

'My boy, did you say you were going to try and eat fire?' Questioned Toma incredulously.

'Well if I found some, yeah, but I didn't and instead found Hisui and the knight over there in trouble.' Answered Natsu.

'Yeah, Natsu was hungry and wanted a snack before we got to Mere Curious to look for Igneel.' Added Happy.

'Erm, did you perhaps mean Mercurius? Questioned Toma.

'Yeah, Happy is still having trouble pronouncing it properly.' Said Natsu, before he patted Happy on his head.

'But did you say you were going to eat fire?' Questioned Toma curiously.

'Yeah I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer so I can eat fire, it depends on the type, but sometimes fire can be even tastier than meat, Igneel's flames were really delicious.' Said Natsu happily.

'I see, although why did you help Hisui and Arcadios?' Questioned Toma.

'Well, the knight guy looked injured and Hisui looked scared, plus those guys smelt bad, so I decided to help them out, that's all.' Said Natsu, shocking the king.

'So you mean to say you helped Hisui and Arcadios just because, and would have helped anyone in the same situation?' Questioned Toma searchingly.

'Yep, Igneel taught me to be nice to people and help them, even if they all call me liars and say dragons aren't real.' Said Natsu happily, before ending on a sour note.

'I see, that is quite a good mindset to possess and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for helping protect my daughter.' Said Toma gratefully.

'No problem, although, since Igneel isn't here, I guess I will have to go look for him somewhere else. Hmm, maybe if I go join a guild, they might be able to help me find him.' Mused Natsu.

'Why do you have to go?' Asked Hisui nervously.

'I have to go find Igneel, I need to find him and find out what happened and why he left me.' Explained Natsu firmly.

'Hmm, would you be open to another idea?' Questioned Toma, seeing how his daughter appeared sad, at the prospect of the pink haired boy leaving.

'What's the idea?' Asked Natsu curiously.

'Well, if you were to stay here, you would be able to get help from the whole kingdom, including all the guilds in Fiore.' Proposed Toma.

'Are you sure about this, my Lord?' Asked Arcadios in a whisper.

'Of course I am. A boy as kind-hearted as him deserves some assistance.' Replied Toma, as he turned to Natsu and waited for his response.

'Hmm, I dunno, I mean it sounds good and all, but I don't think I can just leave the search for Igneel up to others.' Said Natsu with a frown.

'Oh no my dear boy, you can still look for him, by all means, but if you were affiliated with the King and Princess of Fiore, you would have a lot more support in your search.' Said Toma.

'Also, we have a large library, with many books, which just might have information on where dragons might go to.' Added Hisui, hoping her new friend would stay.

'Hmm, I don't know, what do you think Happy?' Asked Natsu.

'Do you guys have lots of fish?' Questioned Happy cheerfully.

'We can gather as many fish as you want.' Said Toma cheerfully, with a laugh.

'Natsu, let's stay here, they have lots of fish!' Shouted Happy excitedly.

Natsu looked to Happy who was already drooling, before looking at the King, who had an expectant gaze, while the knight merely looked stony-faced. Natsu then turned his head to look at Hisui, who gave him a soft smile. Natsu nodded to himself and turned back to the King.

'Alright then, I'll stay.' Said Natsu with a grin, getting smiles from the two members of royalty and a cheer from Happy.

Man I almost made myself tear up writing the carriage scene, or maybe that's because it is 3 in the morning and I'm more sensitive at this time… or just sleepy…
In any case, same drill as for the other stories.

The multiple pairing options for this story are as follows: Cosmos, Kamika, Flare, Meredy, Yukino and/or Jenny.