S.R: I'm just going to do a disclaimer and then get right into the story. Mostly because I can't think of anything witty to do as an Author's note.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL. I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN THE OC's SPECIFICALLY MADE FOR THIS STORY.

"Excuse me. Are you the one that posted this request?"

A slender and beautiful brunette woman asked as she approached an older man who was looking down into the valley below them.

"Yes, you've come to handle the creatures that are destroying our vineyard?"

"That's right sir. I'm Cana Alberona, from Fairy Tail. Though I have to ask. Is there anything you can tell me about these creatures that isn't on the request form?"

The elderly man nodded his head, having already spotted the woman's guild mark on her exposed stomach.

"Not really. The ground is so torn up that we can't even give you a proper estimate on how many of them there are."

"Right, well the I'm going to take a look around and see if I can get any ideas on how to handle this."

The woman said before walking down the trail that lead into the valley. Looking around as she moved, the mage noticed just how bad the damage was. The ground was torn up, enough so as to make identifying the footprints of the creatures impossible. The vines and wooden poles that the grape vines hung from were smashed and shredded. From her position half way up the hill she noticed several areas that seemed far more damaged than others. Deciding that those locations would be a good place to start her investigation the brunette sped herself up. At first she didn't notice, but after standing in the center of a rather sizable ring like section of the vineyard she realized it was warm.

"It looks as if something was trying to stamp everything down and forcefully make a clearing..."

Cana muttered, wondering what exactly was going on with the creatures. As far as the woman knew making a clearing like this was something monsters and animals did only when creating a home for themselves. But that wouldn't explain why she found no trace of the creatures anywhere. At least not until she heard a faint and distant roar.

The sound reminded here of the shouts from the Dragon Slayers when they were enraged. But it was familiar for another reason. The Card mage had taken a job once before that resulted in one of her most useful spells, but it was also the hardest quest she'd ever taken. She had to fight a blizzardvern. Which was a high level ice wyvern. But the roar was not as deep and booming, or as commanding a sound as the Dragon Slayers roars, or even the wyverns. Which meant it was a drake, the smallest and weakest of the creatures that made up dragon kind (if you don't count Dragon Slayers).

"Well it should be a fair bit easier now, that you're with me."

She muttered as she looked at her cards, the one on top of the deck being the new home for the blizzardvern after she captured it. But the roar was echoed after a moment, not just once but 7 times. If there had only been one or two echoing roars she would have been concerned, but confident she could handle the situation very carefully. However once she knew for a fact there were more creatures than she could handle with her magic alone, she slightly panicked.

"Holy shit! there's at least eight of them?! Fuck I need help on this one."

Cana swore as she began running to leave the valley. It didn't take long for her to find the old man she had talked to about the request.

"Well I've got good news and bad news."

"Alright then miss. What's going on?"

The man said as he noticed that she seemed to be a little shaken.

"First. I've figured out what the creatures are and have an estimate on how many. They're drakes and there's at least eight. I've faced a high level wyvern before, and based off that battle I'm confident I could take on at least two maybe three of these drakes before running out of magic. But eight? I'm not sure, even if I had the chance to rest in between them."

"Young lady, I know that I'm asking a lot but please don't abandon us."

Cana went wide eyed at the mans words, realizing he thought she was saying that the bad news was that she was giving up on the job.

"I have no intention of doing that. But I'm going to need help. I suggest you evacuate everyone from your vineyard and the surrounding area just in case I'm not fast enough. We've got a few stronger members back at Fairy Tail that I can ask for help from."

"Oh, that's good to hear. I was worried you were going to decline the job now that you knew it was beyond you."

"A Fairy Tail wizard never backs down. Once we accept the job we complete it."

"I see. Well then I will do as you ask and start evacuating the area. Please hurry back with help."

Cana just nodded as she began running towards the train station to return to Magnolia.

3 Hours Later

'One of the Dragon Slayers would probably be my best bet… Gajeel probably won't do it, and I'm not sure Wendy's ready for that level yet. That means Natsu or Laxus.' Cana thought to herself as she ran through the streets back to the guild hall. When she opened the door and glanced around she didn't see either of the two she was hoping for.

"Mira, where's Laxus?"

She asked as she approached the bar where Mira was working.

"Laxus is out on a quest with the Thunder Legion."

"Damn… What about Natsu then?"

"Natsu's out back helping Romeo test something. Why?"

Mira asked when she noticed Cana frowning. It was unusual for the Card mage to ask about someone from the guild.

"I need help on my job and the two of them are the best choices."

"Take Natsu. Erza and Lucy went on a job just the two of them and Gray just wanted to relax so you don't have to worry about him being needed by his team."

Mira said as she pointed towards the door that lead to the courtyard behind the guild. Ever since she retired from being an active mage, back when they thought Lisanna was dead Mira worried about everyone. If someone mentioned needing help, she'd force them to find it. It was her way of trying to prevent something like that ever happening again. Nodding at the white haired woman's words Cana moved towards the back door. Before she got half way there though Natsu came through it with Romeo on his back. Happy floated in the air behind them with a smile as he nibbled on some fish.

"Natsu I need your help on a job."

"Alright let me put Romeo down and get a top up from Macao."

The pink haired man said with a smile. He heard the urgency in Cana's voice and instantly agreed. After he agreed so readily Cana let out a sigh of relief, happy that they could get moving rather quickly. Happy just floated along beside him, which didn't surprise anyone.

"Macao I need a top up real quick."

Natsu shouted towards the older fire mage as he approached the man with his son on his back. Macao just smiled as he pointed a finger towards Natsu and purple flames flew out of his hand. Natsu just gobbled them down before saying 'Thanks'.

"I'm all fired up!"

He shouted as he smashed his fists together with a smile towards Cana. She nodded and gestured for him to follow. The two walking out of the guild hall rather quickly with Happy flying behind them.

"So what's the job?"

"Well there's a rather large group of drakes that have been destroying a vineyard in the town west of here. At first we didn't know what it was destroying the vineyard, but I figured it out when I heard the roar… And the seven echoing ones."

"Wait eight roars? Shit we've got to move."

Natsu commented as he started running towards the train station. Which surprised Cana since she knew how much he hated dealing with his motion sickness. Happy just picked her up and began flying at a faster than before. She was confused why, but then she realized Happy was flying faster than she could run. Which meant he understood why Natsu was rushing even though he hated trains.

They quickly caught up to Natsu and bought their tickets, before rushing onto the train. Because she was curious as to why Natsu was rushing them, and because she took pity on him, Cana sat down next to the pink haired man before gently lowering his head into her lap. Noticing that he wasn't feeling as bad as normal Natsu rolled so he could look up towards the ceiling and talk face to face with Cana.

"Thanks… I don't feel as bad as normal like this."

"Don't mention it. You just looked so pathetic I couldn't help but try to make it a little more bearable. Plus I need to know how bad it is if you're willingly taking the train and not complaining."

Natsu took a deep breath before answering, his voice a little less shaky, than it was when he thanked her.

"Well eight is all it takes to make a full nest, or pack of any dragon-like creatures. Wyverns, drakes, dragons, even Dragon Slayers. If it's a full nest of drakes destroying something then it means they're claiming it as their territory. Normally they'll take a couple weeks to claim new territory. First they'll scout out the area, creating a few clearings to sleep in. After that they spend a few days exploring and learning how many animals live in the area. Once they've determined that they start rampaging in a show of dominance. When things get that far, they kill everything that isn't part of the nest."

"Fuck that's bad."

Cana swore after Natsu's response. After that it was silent as they took the three hour train ride towards their destination. But when they got to the valley both could tell something was horribly wrong. Smoke was drifting up into the air, and the valley below them was glowing orange as flames crawled across the land. At the far end of the valley, Natsu's keen eyes could make out the sight of burning buildings. He could also smell that there were people trapped in the valley still.

"Shit. There's still people down there. Cana I'll leave rescuing them to you and Happy. I'll go handle the drakes."

Natsu said authoritatively before jumping down the hill towards where he could smell the drakes. He was slightly pissed off at the fact they were too late to save everyone, his enhanced sense of smell having already noticed the stench of death. Happy used his Aera magic to create his wings and picked Cana up, heading in the direction Natsu had pointed for them to go.

Growling in frustration Natsu launched himself at one of the drakes with a cry of 'Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!' His anger fueling his magic and strengthening it to the point that his flames burned through the scales of the drake he was attacking.

It roared in a mix of pain and anger as it swiped clawed hand towards Natsu. But Natsu just held up one hand and blocked the strike.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

With his free hand Natsu struck, smashing his fist into the drakes chin. The force lifting its body off the ground slightly. Natsu would have continued to attack, but he had to jump back as a tail was sent his way by a second drake.

"You've got guts. Why aren't you fleeing in terror like the other ants tried to?"

"Why the hell would a measly drake scare me when I was raised by a dragon?!"

"What foolish worm would raise a human like you? Maybe we should hunt that traitorous bastard down after we finish claiming our new nesting grounds."

"Don't make me laugh. You're fire drakes so you can't touch me, let alone Igneel."

Natsu commented as he dodged a tail attack once more.

The first drake he'd attacked didn't believe him and unleashed a massive plume of fire from it's maw towards him. But Natsu just swallowed the flames, as proof.

"Okay so you've proven your claim to being Igneel's spawn. But that doesn't mean we can't kill you."

As if to prove this both drakes attempted to shred him to pieces with their claws. Having expected it Natsu jumped into the air before flipping his body so that he began falling head first.

"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"

this time Natsu's attack pushed the drake to the ground, causing it to crater.

"Just surrender. I really don't want to have to fight all eight of you assholes."

"Never. Once we start a fight, it's to the death!"

Internally Natsu swore. He knew that the drakes would be stubborn, but he was hoping they'd listen to him since Igneel was the Fire Dragon King. After all he knew very well that it would be a fight to the death. But, he hadn't fought with the intent to kill since before he'd joined Fairy Tail.

Dodging another tail Natsu attempted to punch one of the drakes in the face with his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, but found himself blocked by claws.

"I can tell you're holding back. That halfhearted bullshit is going to be your downfall!"

One of the drakes screamed at him as they both prepared to bite down on him, having caught in in a pincer attack. Natsu shook his head in frustration 'Sorry gramps, looks like I'm breaking one of the rules you gave me back when we first met.' He thought to himself as he pumped his magic into the air around him, his emotions fueling his magic and strengthening it to the point that the heat was enough to bother the drakes, despite the fact they were Fire drakes.

"If that's how it has to be… I'm sorry for not taking this seriously from the start. Fire Dragon's Crushing Maw!"

Natsu said, shouting at the end as he raised his arms in front of him in the shape of a mouth. The flames of his attack raged around him as they formed a dragons head, before biting down on one of the drakes. Somehow the teeth of the flaming dragon head pierced through the drakes scales, drawing blood.

"That's more like it!"

Both drakes shouted, as they attempted to gut Natsu with their claws once more. Jumping over one set of claws and kicking off another Natsu brought his heel down on the head of the seriously injured drake. Using it's head as a spring board Natsu bounced off of it and up into the air. A little bit of lighting began sparking up along his left arm as he activated his magic once more.

"With the flames on my left hand, and the flames on my right hand… Bring them together.Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

With his chant ended Natsu threw the sparking ball of flames from his hands down towards the drakes. The moment it made contact they both roared in agony as the attack caused a small explosion. Happy that his surprise was far more effective than he'd figured it would be Natsu fell back to the ground but didn't move, waiting to see the results of his attack. Both were in bad shape, One had it's wings partially shredded during the explosion, the other was still bleeding heavily out of the bite wounds and moving far more sluggishly than before, but still able to keep fighting so Natsu continued.

"Fire Dragon's Pulverizing Iron Fist"

This time Natsu held nothing back, he let his full might flow into the punch, which meant there was a much larger force behind the blow. The impact caused a loud crack as his fist completely shattered the jaw of the closest drake, before it was thrown into the other drakes side, causing them to topple over each other in a tangle of limbs.

"Fire Dragon's Secret Art Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade"

Intending to finish them off and eat some of the fire from his surroundings before hunting down the other six drakes, Natsu swiped his arms in front of him in a spiral. The torrent of flames created for the attack raced away from his hands spiraling like a sideways tornado before impacting the two drakes, which caused a massive explosion that shook the land. When it died down and he could see the two clearly they were just barely holding on.

"You've bested us… Neither of us can move at this point, and we'll bleed out in a few minutes."

"I didn't want to do this. Killing you proves nothing."

"It may prove nothing, but killing us will help you grow even stronger. You may be strong for a whelp, but you still have a long way to go to truly be strong. After all the winner absorbs the magic of the loser with our kind."

Natsu was shocked by the drakes words. Confused as to why he didn't already know that, and why Igneel wouldn't tell him something that seemed rather important.

"How does that work? Why didn't Igneel tell me about that?"

"Igneel probably feared you would become like that monster Acnologia… when a dragon or dragon kind, kills another of dragon kind, their magic converts the soul of the defeated into a lacrima, that is then absorbed by their magic to grow even stronger. You don't even have to stay close to the body for long, as it does so near instantaneously."

Natsu was silent at that, unsure of how to feel. Yes he was getting stronger like he wanted, but it was at the cost of another living creatures life. But then he heard the approach of another drake, which shook him out of his thoughts. 'Survive first. Figure everything out later.' he told himself in his head as he began eating the flames that had been raging in their surroundings for the entire fight. But the amount of magic he felt return to him sharply increased for a moment, as the two drakes breathed their last.

"I'll kill you!"

The new drake shouted when it saw the dead bodies of its two nest mates. Natsu ducked under its lunge. Not really wanting to prolong it, he punched straight up into the drakes open neck with a 'Fire Dragon's Pulverizing Iron Fist" completely crushing it's windpipe. As it struggled to breathe Natsu took a deep breathe before finishing it off by using his Fire Dragon's Piercing Claw on top of the drakes head. His foot breaking through it's scales and digging in deep, just enough to deal damage to the drakes brain.

"That's number three…"

Natsu mumbled as he sniffed at the air to find the next closest drake. It wasn't too far off, just out of sight to the east. Taking off like a bullet, he slammed into the drakes side with his Fire Dragon's Sword Horn. His impact being similar to what a train would have done as it cause the drake to stagger sideways for a few feet. Natsu's head also slammed into some of the weaker scales on the drakes side, causing them to crack and fall apart.

"You bastard!"

The drake growled at him before trying to incinerate, the pink haired mage in a breathe of fire. Natsu ate the flames with a smirk.

"Thanks for the free meal. Fire Dragon's Pulverizing Iron Fist!"

The moment he finished consuming the drakes flames he lunged his fist hitting right between the drakes eyes, and shattering the scales. Natsu's right arm quickly sank into the drakes forehead, not stopping until his hand smashed into the drakes brain. Because he was trying to wrap things up quickly after the first two drakes he'd killed Natsu wasted no time in finishing the drake off, bringing his count up to four.

With Cana and Happy

"Thanks Happy. You can set me down here. Grab those two children there, while I gather up the rest. I should have enough magic to put them in my card dimension to make things easier for us. Take them to the train station. It should be far enough away to still be safe while Natsu handles the drakes."

Cana ordered as she pointed at two young children who could be no more than five years old. Happy wasn't sure how she wanted him to carry two people at once, but he tried to do as she said. When he flew off Cana threw a few of her cards towards the flames.

"Cards magic: The Prayers Fountain!"

She shouted, which caused a torrent of water to spray out from the cards. It pushed the fire back enough to buy her time to gather all the people together. There was one safe spot that had yet to start burning in the center of the small grouping of houses. It was set up as a park for the children to play at, but given the situation it was the best place for everyone to be.

"Alright listen up. I know you're scared, but I'm going to get you all to safety. I have a special magic that will make it so everyone can be carried away from here."

Cana shouted to make sure she had everyone's attention. As she glanced around to make sure everyone was listening Happy returned.

"I'm going to use these cards to put you in another dimension. Then my friend here will carry you all to safety."

She explained, glad that she'd thought to grab her entire supply of cards for this job. There were enough people that if she hadn't, Cana wouldn't have been able to use any magic other than her Blizzardvern card, because it would've been the only one left.

"Card Dimension!"

She shouted as she activated her magic. Dozens of cards flew out of her hands towards the people, safely trapping them inside. Once she was certain everyone was inside a card she and Happy gathered them all up before she sent the flying blue cat towards the train station once more. Feeling uneasy while she waited Cana explored, making sure that no one was trapped inside any of the buildings. Or at least she tried to. But after two buildings the ground shook as she had to jump away from a pillar of fire.

"Fuck. They weren't all together, so Natsu hasn't finished dealing with them all."

Swearing at her bad luck, she decided to deal with the drake as fast as possible. Throwing a card towards the drake she smiled when it began glowing as she poured magic into it.

"Cards Summon: Blizzardvern!"

With that, a large icy blue scaled creature burst from the card. It roared in anger, before lashing out towards the drake in front of it. Her blizzardvern, was much faster and far stronger than the drake. Not enough so to completely overwhelm it, but enough for her to breathe easy as she watched it tear the drake apart.

"That's one down at least. Hopefully Natsu has the other ones dealt with soon."

But she spoke too soon. The moment she finished saying her thoughts out loud a second drake appeared. Luckily her blizzardvern was still out, and free to fight. But the first drake had managed to wound it enough to make this fight much more even. In the end, just as she'd predicted, her blizzardvern managed to win, but was too injured to keep fighting.

"You did great. I know it'll be hard without you, but I can't let you die. Being able to summon you is one of my strongest spells after all. So rest up, okay?"

She spoke to the blizzardvern, proud that she had managed to bond with it after the shaky start they'd had. It tried to roar in protest, but Cana had already picked up the card that was it's home, and channeled her magic into it, canceling the summon. When the blizzardvern vanished back into the card she staggered, as her magic suddenly dropped. She knew it would happen, since her summoning spell ate up a large chunk of the magic inside her magic container.

"Shit, I thought I would be able to take another one on my own without the blizzardvern… But I don't have enough magic left."

She mumbled to herself, as she realized she'd used more magic than planned when she had cast her Cards Dimension spell earlier. Before she could start patronizing herself over it, there was a faint cry. She had only just heard it, but the sound made her freeze as her blood ran cold. It was the cry of a baby. A baby was trapped somewhere inside the chaotic mess that was the flaming ruins of the homes that the vineyard farmers lived in.

Cana knew that they hadn't been quick enough to save everyone, but when she heard the babies cry she only had one thought. That was that she'd be damned before failing to save a baby. Wishing that she had Natsu's senses she searched for the place the cry came from. Several houses with nothing and no crying heard for a full minute and she nearly broke down into tears that she'd failed. But then one more wail came, this time clear enough for her to follow the sound. The sight that greeted her wasn't a friendly one though.

The baby was being held in the arms of who was likely it's mother. But she was bleeding from a head wound, and her back was severely burned. Her legs pinned under some fallen timbers from the building they were inside. But the woman was struggling to make sure the child was safe. Until she saw Cana, and an accepting smile came to her face.

"Please…. Please take my daughter and protect her."

"Of course miss. I'll protect the two of you."

Cana replied as she tried to move the large chunks of framework that had fallen over the woman.

"Even if you could free me my wounds are too severe. I have no chance. But my precious baby does. Please get her to safety. Protect her please!"

The lady stated, as Cana struggled to free her. The smoke from the fires was beginning to get to them, as a coughing fit made her stop moving for a moment. Tears came to her eyes as she realized she wouldn't be able to save the older woman.

"I'll get your daughter out of here I promise. Even if it costs my life I'll protect her."

Cana, spoke making an oath to herself as she did. Happy wasn't back yet, and unless Natsu had already dealt with the other six drakes, there was a chance she find another one as she ran for the station with the baby. But she would make sure someone could care for the child, even if it meant she died to get the little one to someone that could raise her.

Gently taking the baby into her arms Cana, openly wept for the trapped mother as she fled the building. It wasn't until she saw the blue blur that was happy approaching her that she managed to regain control over her emotions. But what she didn't notice at first was that Happy was being chased by a drake.

"Cana help!"

The blue cat cried out as he neared her, not noticing the bundle in her arms. His words drawing Cana's attention to the drake, before she began running calling out for Happy. Though she wished she was as confident as she sounded.

"Hurry up and get to me so I can have you take this baby to safety while I deal with the drake!"

S.R: Okay. So. This is kinda a cross between two of Digemsmack's stories. His Master Dragneel story and Dragneel's Little Dragon. I say kinda because there are things that won't happen in this story that happened in those stories (so basically it's just inspired by them). This time the story pairing is Natsu x Cana.