Icy Fire

Not my day

The Academy. That was the name of the place they were sending the new shifters. The pink haired boy was pressed against the seat he was sitting in. The train zipped along passing open fields under bright blue skies. The boy looked green. Most of the other shifters had moved away from him. One tentatively asked if he was OK.
“Seriously, you look like hell.” The guy muttered. “I get it though. I hate traveling this way. I mean we can fly!” He didn’t look much better than the boy before him. The kid didn’t even try to talk. He was afraid to even open his mouth. The weird thing was, he had a pet. Their kind, animals didn’t seem to like them much. The thing looked like a cat, but who could tell. It was scrunched up on the kids side looking like it was going to hurl any second as well.
The pierced faced guy watched over the inert pair. He felt sorry for them. Plus looking out the window only made his own motion sickness worse. They still had hours to go. “Try and sleep.” The guy suggested. He took his own advise and leaned back against the high leather seats. Nothing but the best for the beasts, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.
It was almost dawn when the train finally stopped. They were high up in the mountains. The Academy was a school. A school in which they were suppose to meet their knight. If they didn’t in tomorrow’s draft, they would be back on the train. This was what the life of a shifter was. You traveled around until you found your knight, or you managed to get free. That was hard. The people in charge of them knew how to keep them grounded.
The pierced boy helped his sick friend off of the train. They appeared to be holding each other up. Shifters didn’t travel well. None of the hundred or so humanoid figures looked to be feeling all that well.
They were herded with what little belongings they had into a warehouse. Here they would share a space with two others. The pierced faced boy dragged the nearly unconscious pink haired guy along with him. They met up with a large blond guy and fell into a room. Each one signed their name on the paper outside. Now they were left to sleep. That evening would be the draft.
“Hey, Natsu, time to get up.” The pink haired kid sat up sluggishly.
“Are we there yet?” he asked. The pierced faced boy chuckled.
“You have an hour to get ready for the draft. What does your cat eat? I will get us some food.” He offered.
“Um, who are you?” Natsu asked.
“Oh, names Gajeel Redfox, I’m an Iron dragon.” He explained in a gruff voice.
“Natsu Dragneel…” He began.
“Oh, shit, you’re the Salamander!” Gajeel cried. “I was told to stay away from you. You get into trouble.” He was smirking at this.
“Yeah, I have a bit of a temper when people mess with my friends. Oh, this is Happy. He eats fish.” He said picking up the dead looking cat.
“You named your cat after an emotion?” Gajeel looked surprised.
“Well, it’s not like he told me what his name was! Besides I didn’t have any friends and he made me happy when he started hanging around me.” Natsu stated.
“Hey, okay!” Gajeel held up his hands. “Go get cleaned up, I’ll grab us food.” Natsu nodded. He didn’t like how so many of his kind knew who he was. He headed into the make shift showers. Happy tagged along. The cat was strange, he wasn’t really a cat. Natsu smiled down at him.
“You think the big guy will find you fish?” he asked. Happy slipped under the spray of warm water. He was glad he had befriended a fire dragon. No matter what he always had a warm shower. Natsu took good care of him.
“A big one, I hope.” He told his trusted companion. Natsu laughed. The guy always thought with his stomach. They washed up as they discussed the night to come.
“I hope we find our knight, I really can’t take much more of this traveling.” Natsu complained. Happy agreed with him. Once dried off, Natsu helped his friend brush out his fur. They went to find their best clothes. For Happy it was a green bandana that Natsu could tie around his neck. He loved the color.
Natsu found his best pair of slacks, a nice tan color. He put his feet into black leather boots. He put on his best red shirt and white tie. He set aside the black sports coat until after he ate. Gajeel didn’t disappoint them. He carried in four large platters of food. Setting them down he passed around plates. Happy snagged the big haddock. Gajeel laughed at his antics.
“Little dudes hungry.” He joked.
“Little dude love fish!” Happy laughed sitting down with the juicy dinner in his paws.
“Wait, he can talk!” Gajeel cried.
“He is an Exceed.” Natsu explained. They were a cross breed of animal that had human like intelligence and could talk. Not many had heard of their race as they were almost extinct.
“Interesting.” Was all Gajeel said about it. He was dressed in a black tunic that showed off his powerful chest. His pants were a lose fitting black material tucked into black leather boots. They finished eating and cleaned up. Natsu helped Happy wash his face and spritzed him so he didn’t smell like fish.
The bell sounded for them to all line up. The order of the night would be that they would be on display. They each would have a five foot round disc to stand on. They wouldn’t be given a chair. The Knights would be paraded past in their finest attire. You were suppose to feel some sort of connection when your knight was near by. At least that’s what others who have bonded felt.
Natsu was nervous. As a fire dragon, his kind was sought after. Many people had tried to buy him in the past. They didn’t care that he was selected to be bonded. To be able to ride a fire dragon was to be the top tier of the kingdom. If you bonded with a fire dragon, you were instantly elevated to the status of nobleman. No matter what class you came from.
In this group, Natsu was the only fire dragon not bonded. There might be a reason for this. He hated people with fire magic. They were arrogant, snobby. They treated his kind like less than human, even though he was a dragon shifter! It was worse when they saw Happy. Many tried to kick him, or even kill him. That was when the dragon came out of Natsu. He was deemed uncontrollable. So far, only one person had been able to reel in his temper. Mainly because she was the only one who ever beat him in a fight.
She was the daughter of a high ranking nobleman. One who hadn’t found a dragon to bond with. There were times when Natsu almost asked her to buy him. She was someone he could understand. She fought for those below her. Stood by her morals, strong and fair.  Erza Scarlet was a just person, although, not a knight. She was a dragon tamer. One assigned to this train. Natsu had a feeling once he was chosen, she would find an assignment wherever he was placed.
She strolled up to him now. “Natsu, stand up straight. Fix Happy’s bandana. Make yourself presentable.” She barked. He smirked at her.
“Yes ma’am” He teased. He did everything she said. At least on nights like this.
“Alright, beasts, line up in the order I call your name.” The ring leader of this circus called out. “Natsu Dragneel, Gajeel Redfox, Laxus Dreyar, Wendy Marvell….” He continued down the line until he had all on hundred and ninety- three shifters lined up.  The dragons shifter always took priority. It was a privilege to bond with a dragon shifter. There were many other forms of shifters, there were the wereshifters.  These were people who turned into land animals like wolves, cats, bears and the like. Then there were the shifters. These were the ones who could fly, dragons, phoenixs, owls, ravens, or any other bird. The water shifters were called aqua shifters. Pretty much if you could turn into another living thing, you were a shifter. Oh and yes, there were plant shifters as well.
Natsu followed behind Erza as she led them out to the main fair grounds. They would have barely enough space to transform, if asked. Which, for Natsu, many did. Everyone wanted to see a fire dragon roar. None understood the heat and length of the flame even a small fire dragon could make. Natsu’s dragon wasn’t small. With his nickname of Salamander, many assumed this to be the case. He smirked as he strutted out.
He felt a tug to his right. He frowned. Turning he saw nothing. Two teens walked with a woman up to the line of possible Knights. The white haired boy leaned against the fence. Natsu could only tell the other had dark hair.  He shook off the feeling as nothing more than his nerves. Happy rode on his shoulder as they reached their mark. Not surprising it was set up right in front of the gates. He could see everyone craning their neck to get a look at him.
“Natsu, they want you to transform.” The man stated.
“It’s not time yet.” Natsu complained. They were only to transform once they bonded, or at certain intervals during the fair.
“Natsu!” Erza snarled. He huffed, glaring at her.
“I don’t…” She unscathed her fire sword. One he had forged for her. His fire dragon roar spell had imbued it with unbreakable abilities.
“Natsu, I will not count for you.” She warned. He huffed, a puff of smoke coming from his nose. Suddenly, instead of a teenaged boy standing on the small platform, a mighty ten foot tall, six hundred pound red beast stood there. Stretching his neck out to its fullest he sprayed his flame up into the night. There were cries of fear, awe and outright delight. He puffed another ball of smoke at Erza. She smiled.
“Good boy.” She taunted. He returned to his human form. No one quite understood the magic of the clothing.  It was a good idea, that if you were a shifter, you bought your clothes from a certain sect of witches’ and mages. They knew how to make them so that you weren’t naked as you shifted from one form to the other.
Once everyone was in on their platform, the gates opened. Young kids crowded around Natsu. There were somethings he could do in human form. He had learned to swallow fire, or make it appear as if he was breathing fire. This made the kids happy.
His own Happy would dance around either at his feet or scurry up his legs. They had decided a long time ago to not reveal his wings unless it was absolutely necessary. The kids loved the show. Many teenagers and adults also stopped by to watch. The antics of a fire dragon were nearly irresistible.
Next to him Gajeel was eating iron. He had blocks of the stuff. He would semi transform, which would mean he transformed only a certain part of his body. In this case, his right hand. Then he would smash up the blocks and eat it. More teenagers found this entertaining. The line moved onward.
After a half hour or so, Natsu felt the pull again. He looked around the crowd forming near him. The woman was walking by. The white-haired teen chatting at her side. The dark haired one had stopped dead. Now Natsu could see him fully.
He was tall, slender but with a muscular build. His white jacket hung open on his shoulders. He didn’t wear a shirt. His legs were clad in dark shorts, with saddles on his feet. His head turned toward the fire dragon. Dark blue eyes locked with the coal black of the dragon shifter. It was like a thread suddenly sprang up. Instantly they were one.
“Who are you?”  Natsu thought.
“But, you’re a fire dragon!” the other boy cried in his own head.
“HOW CAN I HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!” They screamed at each other.
“Gray, hey can you hear me?” the white haired teen was waving his hand in front of the boys face.
“I will not ride a fire dragon!” The dark haired teen screamed.
“Hahaha” The Salamander laughed. “Like I would let you! Freezer head!” He cried. For he had seen in the boys mind that he was an ice knight.
“Oh my god, Gary bonded.” The woman cried out coming to her son’s side.
“Oh, no. Natsu bonded.” Erza hung her head in her hands.