Art by @khaoticvex, do not repost

Chapter 10

The patrol had begun like any other, Natsu had waited for the others to fall asleep and left using the rear entrance. He flew around the mountains, keeping his eye out for nests or any other signal enemy dragons were nearby.

He'd only encountered a few so far, but they'd been smaller than him. All it had taken was a few roars and some aggressive flying to convince them they should go somewhere else. He'd never even had to use his breath weapon.

He just had to be thorough and make sure he marked enough areas that other dragons would think twice before encroaching on his territory. Marking was an incredibly long and tedious process, but it was necessary and had to be done daily. It was the most important part of his job.

Atlas had taught him how to secrete a particular solution into his saliva. He used it to mark as many surfaces as he could, outlining the vast swath of land he had claimed as his territory. With so many people living in the town, Natsu had expanded it to the point it now took him about four hours to mark all of it.

He finished his marking. His mouth felt dry, but the unpleasant taste didn't bother him anymore. Erza hadn't scheduled them for a first shift in the morning, and he was looking forward to getting a full night's sleep for once.

He felt something cold cover his wings, colder than any of Gray's attacks. Natsu tried to shake it off, but found he wasn't able to move his wings at all. He'd let himself get distracted, and he should have known better.

Natsu panicked and let out his most ferocious roar as he fell. He still hadn't even seen what had attacked him. He kept trying to move his wings, hoping the effect was temporary, but no matter how much strength he used, they wouldn't budge.

A flash of silver wings entered his field of vision, too fast to even focus on as he continued to fall. The dragon circled him, and Natsu could finally see it properly. It was a silver dragon, smaller than Natsu but apparently more experienced in combat.

Fuck! He'd never been attacked by a dragon before, and he couldn't seem to remember a single thing that Igneel and Atlas had taught him. He howled in pain as he felt something even colder pierce the scales on his back. He'd never been so scared in his life.

Think Natsu! Everything depends on you. If he kills you, he'll attack the village and kill everyone in it. It's all up to you.

He could hear Igneel's patient voice in his head. "Natsu, the most important thing in a battle is to keep your head. You have plenty of weapons at your disposal, but if you let yourself panic, you've already lost."

Calm down... How the hell am I supposed to do that when I'm being attacked by something I can't see while not being able to fly?

Natsu closed his eyes, knowing that despite his thoughts he had to try. He held on to the soothing sound of his father's voice and slowed down the sped up beating of his terrified heart. He quickly switched his thoughts to Gray, using his love for him to bolster his ebbing morale.

There was no way in hell he would allow something that horrible to happen to his mate again. When he opened his eyes, they glowed, reflecting his newfound determination to live and to protect the people that were most important to him.

Fuck this. This is not where I die!

Natsu roared as loudly as he could and heated his body more and more until it was covered in his hottest blue flames. It made him feel more confident, and he found that within a few seconds he could move his wings again. He got his descent under control and flew up to meet his opponent, his breath weapon already aimed at the smaller silver dragon that had attacked him.

He got as close as he dared before unleashing what even he acknowledged was an unnecessarily large cone of fire. Attacking from behind might be an excellent strategy, but it was cowardly, and Natsu was pissed. The amount of pain he felt in his back worried him, and he didn't want this fight to go for very long.

The silver dragon had barely moved, apparently too surprised to understand what was coming his way. Natsu heard the other dragon hiss as the fire made contact with his face. Instead of retreating as he'd hoped, the silver dragon flew straight at him and used the double talons on his wings to impale Natsu's side as he flew past him.

He could feel the blood gush out of the puncture wounds and he cauterized them quickly, ignoring the pain for the moment. He made sure to not take his eyes off his foe. The bastard had earned his complete attention.

Battle lust took over, and Natsu channeled even more fire to his hindquarters, charging at the dragon and using the extra thrust to power his kick, which hit the dragon in the center of its chest. The silver dragon screamed as it hurtled towards the ground.

It regained control, flying back towards Natsu but keeping a healthy distance. It peered at Natsu warily, the fight no longer looking as easy as it once had.

Natsu marked the indecision and used it to his advantage. He unleashed another ridiculously large cone of fire and roared loudly, stretching his wings and the rest of his body to make himself look as large as possible. The silver dragon turned tail and flew away. Natsu followed until he was satisfied the dragon had left his territory.

That's right, asshole! Turn and run!

So much adrenaline flowed through his body that he made it three-quarters of the way home before his injuries bothered him. His body felt heavy, and fatigue soon overcame him. His thoughts became increasingly disjointed. The last thing he remembered was falling.

0-0

Natsu heard noises he didn't recognize and opened his eyes. He tried to sit up but now that he had moved his back felt like it was burning up, which for him was strange. There was also a pain in his side.

Ow?

The small clearing he was in looked familiar, and he could smell himself, so it was an area he'd marked the night before. It took him a minute to realize he wasn't alone. There was a red dragon sitting some feet away. It looked to be a whelp. He studied Natsu with curious eyes.

"Are you well, your Highness?" The dragon asked him in an exceedingly formal tone.

"Your High--, what?" Natsu asked in confusion.

"Your Highness. That is who you are. Is it not, son of Igneel?" The dragon looked at him with deference.

Natsu was well aware of who he was, but to be called that while in his human form was disconcerting.

Wait, his human form? When had he changed back? He decided not to waste much time worrying about it. Not when even the slightest movement made him wish he was dead.

"I am the son of Igneel," Natsu agreed.

He couldn't help but feel like he somehow knew this dragon. He shifted to get a better look and had to bite his lip to keep himself from crying out. Now that he'd been recognized, Natsu felt like he needed to live up to his role. "How did you know?"

"You smell like him."

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" Natsu asked, trying to place the whelp. He didn't see many young dragons, except for that one. Could it be?

"Yes, Your Highness," The whelp replied, "You and the Sky Dragon Grandine's daughter saved my life."

"I'm glad to see that Wendy could help you. We were worried about you." Natsu smiled at the whelp, glad to see him doing better. "You don't need to be so formal, my name is Natsu."

"Natsu," The whelp repeated cheerfully, "Aye, sir!"

Natsu had to smile at the whelp's enthusiasm. He supposed he could live with an occasional sir. It was better than Your Highness.

He tried to sit up again but grimaced at the immediate jolt of pain that shot up his back. He sank back down in frustration, realizing he needed to get himself to help.

The whelp whimpered at Natsu's obvious discomfort. "Natsu is hurt, I help?"

"Do you think you can get me back to my cave?"

Natsu hoped no one had woken up in his absence. He didn't want to worry his friends. He supposed he should have expected this would happen eventually. A small smile teased his lips as he thought that while he might not have won the fight, he hadn't lost it either.

The whelp nodded eagerly. Picking Natsu up as gently as he could manage, he took off in the cave's direction, which Natsu supposed all red dragons knew about.

He contained his screams as best he could, so as not to scare the young dragon. The pain in his back, as the cold air pressed against his injuries, was overwhelming. He bore it for as long as he could but didn't fight the darkness that engulfed him, already looking forward to the relief it promised.

o-o

"How many more times are we going to do this?" Gajeel growled at the oncoming figure of the ice mage. "You're never going to get past me."

They'd had this fight almost every night for the last few months. Gray getting more clever in his attempts to reach their cave. Gajeel noticed, however, that this time there was something different. The ice mage looked agitated, and it unsettled him.

He didn't believe in premonitions, but he couldn't deny the chill that had settled over him, and for once he was sure it didn't come from the ice mage. He still had a job to do, though.

"When are you going to get it through your skull? If Salamander wanted you to know what he was up to, he'd tell you."

"Gajeel, I'm only going to tell you this once," Gray snarled, "Get out of my way."

Gajeel had never seen him look this hostile before. Had something happened?

"Can't do that." Gajeel crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Go home."

He could feel the air around him freeze to temperatures that would be dangerous even to him. There was no mistaking the source. This was all very out of character. Gajeel could be dense, but he wasn't stupid. Those two were close. Something was up.

"What's wrong?" Gajeel stubbornly refused to let Gray see that his magic was affecting him, although he was uncomfortable as hell.

"I don't know exactly," Gray admitted with some reluctance, "I heard him call for me. He's hurt."

"Whoa, what do you mean you heard him call for you?" Gajeel asked in disbelief, "What are you talking about?"

"I don't have time for this. Move out of the way," Gray tried to advance, but Gajeel refused to budge, "I will freeze you."

Gajeel would have usually laughed at the attempt at intimidation, but he could see Gray was very much on edge and he wouldn't put it past him to make good on his threat. As he debated what to do, he heard dragon wings approaching and tensed.

Shit! He was well aware of the ice mage's stance on dragons, and something had already riled him up.

Gajeel risked a peek and saw a young red dragon holding something, no, someone, in its talons. Although it was still some distance away, he could see that it was Natsu the dragon was carrying.

The ice mage had been correct, Natsu was indeed in trouble.

Sting and Rogue chose that moment to come out of the cave, both rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"What's with all the yelling? We were hoping to get a bit more sleep. We have the morning shift, you know."

Sting looked around Gajeel and to his surprise saw Gray standing near the cave's entrance.

"What's Gray doing here?"

Rogue nudged him to be quiet and then added while pointing at the sky, "Look over there."

"Is that Natsu?" Sting asked in disbelief. "Rogue, go wake up Wendy."

Rogue hurried inside, and they heard quiet noises from inside the cave. A sleepy Wendy ventured out in her pajamas.

"What's going on?" Wendy grumbled, as she also rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Wendy, is that—?" Sting sounded hesitant to complete his thought, and Wendy could soon see why.

"Yeah, it is," She whispered.

As the dragon got closer, Wendy recognized the scar she hadn't been able to heal completely.

The dragon slayers were so intent on the incoming dragon that they failed to notice Gray going around Gajeel and running towards the approaching red dragon.

"Natsu?!" Gray yelled with undisguised concern.

He continued yelling, trying to get a response from his partner. He heard a response in his head.

Gods Gray, could you please stop yelling, it fucking hurts!

You're okay! Gray became eerily quiet, and then a beatific smile exploded on his lips. Wait, you can hear me?

Yeah, Ice Block. I can hear you. Don't do anything stupid to the dragon. You've already hurt him once.

"He's okay!" Gray yelled to the others happily. The dragon slayers looked at each other in confusion.

"I think he's finally lost it," Gajeel watched the ice mage, mesmerized.

"All that ice," Sting said slowly, "it must have finally affected his brain."

Wendy frowned at the two dragon slayers before looking back at the dragon. It would land any minute.

She noticed that even though it was holding on to Natsu carefully; it kept looking at them nervously. No, not at them, at Sting and Gray. Of course! The unfortunate thing was probably still scared of them.

The dragon circled above them.

"Sting, Gray, you need to leave," Wendy commanded. They both protested.

"Come on, Sting, " Rogue grabbed Sting's hand and tugged, leading him down the mountain path. "We'll get some breakfast in the village."

"I'm not going anywhere," Gray announced, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"You brought this on yourself," Gajeel said, understanding what Wendy was getting at. "That's the dragon you attacked, moron. So if you want your boyfriend to get healed, then you better make yourself scarce."

"He's not my boyfriend, and I'm not going anywhere," Gray repeated, his tone even more determined than before.

"Whatever you say, Ice Princess," Gajeel smirked, "Remind me again why you're here?"

"Just shut up," a red-faced Gray replied.

"You're both being childish," Wendy scolded, " I'm sorry Gray, but I'm not sure the dragon will come down with you here. Now both of you stop wasting time, I need to look at Natsu's injuries."

When neither of them had made a move, Wendy growled in anger. She gestured to Gajeel and snapped," Just take him into one of the rooms!"

"Fine," Gajeel grabbed Gray by the arm and dragged him inside.

The dragon descended slowly, being careful not to jostle Natsu with his movement. He touched down and showed the body to Wendy.

"Natsu's hurt," The dragon told her, "Can you help him?"

Wendy smiled and nodded. She moved carefully, trying to remember the sounds she had imitated last time, wanting the dragon to remain calm while he was holding Natsu. Even though he would still be considered young in dragon terms, he had doubled in size since the last time she'd seen him.

"Can you bring him inside?" Wendy asked.

The dragon shook his head, "I shouldn't enter Igneel's cave."

"I'm sure Igneel wouldn't mind," Wendy assured him, "Natsu is very important to him."

The dragon looked nervous but must have seen the wisdom in her words, for he carried Natsu inside and put him down where Wendy showed him. She noticed he put Natsu down on his stomach and was about to ask why, when she noticed the angry-looking burns with more trailing up his back under the black vest he always wore.

Wendy hissed at the sight. She asked the dragon to hold Natsu up again so she could remove his vest, wanting to get a better look at his back. When Natsu was once again on the ground, she got to work.

She could hear Gajeel and Gray arguing about Natsu somewhere in the cave, but she tuned them out. She didn't have time to worry about anyone but her patient.

The burns that covered Natsu's back were puffy and swollen with liquid. They had an unhealthy bluish tint to them, even though the edges were a sickly gray. Upon further examination, she saw another wound near his hip bone that looked like someone had cauterized it.

She'd have to wait until she could turn him over to get a better look at it. When she touched one of the burns, she heard Gray yell from wherever he and Gajeel were.

She startled at the unexpected noise. Thinking about what had just happened she tried touching a different burn. As expected, Gray howled again. Wendy looked down at Natsu and smiled happily. She thought things might be going better between the two boys than Natsu realized.

Regardless of how Gray and Natsu might pretend to feel about each other at the moment, that Gray was capable of both hearing Natsu in his mind, and feel some of his pain could only mean that their bond had strengthened since Gray had arrived in Talos. He was acting the role of a protective mate, whether he realized it or not.

Wendy heard the dragon whimper and looked up to see that Gray had walked away from Gajeel and found his way into the main room. The sight of a proud dragon behaving that way made Wendy angry, and she had half a mind to touch another one of Natsu's burns, but she controlled herself.

The intensity of the glare that Wendy sent his way surprised Gray. He raised his hands up in a gesture of peace, letting her know he had no interest in starting anything. Gray was well aware that any aggression on his part would not only get him kicked out of the cave, but would also put him into a fight with Gajeel. He was there for Natsu. He was willing to let it go this once, as long as the dragon didn't do anything,

The dragon continued to cower, whimpering in the shadows.

Wendy looked at it with sorrow, "Why don't you follow Natsu's scent to his room, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

The dragon did just that, keeping to the shadows the whole way. Once he'd gone, Wendy brought her attention back to the unconscious Natsu. Gray had moved closer, examining Natsu's back.

Wendy watched him clench his fists, face contorted in abject fury. "What's the matter, Gray?"

"Those are ice burns." Gray fumed, "How did he get those, Wendy?"

"Do you know anything about where he's been going?" Gray was tired of all the secrecy. He observed her, looking for any hint of deception.

"I honestly don't know," Wendy replied, still trying to figure out the best way to tend to the burns, "Whatever he's doing he won't tell us, or let us help."

What were you up against, Natsu? Why must you stubbornly insist on shouldering your burdens on your own?

As Wendy healed Natsu, Gray examined the ice burns on his back carefully, trying to determine who would have been able to inflict such damage.

It was much worse than anything he or Lyon could do, and Natsu was used to fighting off ice attacks. With the burns being on his back, that meant the attack had been unexpected. Surprising Natsu was almost impossible, his senses were extremely sharp.

Ugh, none of this made any sense, and honestly, he just wanted Natsu back to his usual self. Gray just wanted to yell at him about what an asshole he was for making him worry all the time.

When he'd heard Natsu call out to him, he'd headed straight for the field, assuming he would find him there, like he always did when this happened. Gray had already concluded that Natsu wasn't aware he was doing it, yet he never once considered not responding to the call.

That first moment, when Natsu awoke and opened his eyes to find him there, was the best part of Gray's day. At that moment, Natsu was at peace, and the smile that always graced his lips was happy and free and only ever directed at him. And even though it was fleeting, at that moment, Gray knew without a doubt that Natsu loved him.

Even if he had come nowhere close to admitting it. In that one brief moment, they were happy together. And while Gray wanted more, he would take what he could get.

Natsu's burns were healing, but the progress was slow, and Gray could tell that Wendy was already tiring. Even after expending most of her magic, Natsu looked little better than he had when she'd started, making Gray think the wounds might have been much worse than they'd thought. His curiosity about this attacker was growing by the second.

Natsu, who did this to you? Gray reached out with his mind, but no answer was forthcoming.

"I've done all I can for the moment," Wendy looked at her patient, disappointed at her slow progress. "I need to go to the village to get some supplies. I'm worried those burns will get infected before I can finish healing him."

"If Grandine were here, she would have been able to help more than I did," Wendy sighed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Kid. Salamander got himself hurt, as we all predicted he would."

Gajeel spoke up, startling the two mages, who had not heard him enter the room. "You did everything you could, and you can always try again after your magic replenishes."

"I'll go down to the village, Erza's going to want to know what happened. Make me a list of what you need, and I'll bring it back," Gajeel looked over at Gray, "Want me to tell Lyon where you are?"

Gray nodded absently, eyes still on Natsu who had whimpered in discomfort. He wanted to make him feel better somehow, so he sat down next to Natsu's head and ran his fingers through his hair.

Though Gray was not aware of it, his face revealed more than he would like. Enough to make two dragon slayers look at each other with knowing expressions before moving away to give them some privacy.

A/N: So I have to go into Boston tomorrow and that means you get the chapter one day early! :) I hope you like it, as I said things will start moving along now. Next Update will be on July 6th.

I also wanted to let you know that Gratsu Week 2019 has announced and if you would like to take part in this year's event you can find more information on their Tumblr blog @gratsu-week

My side blog @fuckyeahgratsu has also announced our summer event, Gratsu Bingo. More information on that on the blog as well.