Igneel?!

"KYAAAHHH!"

Lucy tripped on a root and tumbled down a hill, getting scrapes and bruises from branches and rocks. Not to mention mud all over her cute outfit. Sure she was hiking through a forest, but that didn't mean she couldn't look cute!

She rolled and flipped until she landed with a groan at the bottom of the hill, breaking through the trees to a field. She stared at the blue sky above her, assessing her injuries. Luckily she was just roughed up and not seriously hurt. She sat up and pouted. She needed a good rant out of her system.

"Damn it all! Damn you Natsu! You're always leaving me behind like I'm a porcelain doll that would break too easily! I'm not so weak. I could help you find Igneel if you would let me help you! I can help, I'm the smart one, you idiot! What kind of mage leaves his partner behind?! Damn you! Here I am trying to follow after you and help you find your dad like a good partner would do! I've been searching this damn endless forest for two weeks! Two fucking weeks filled with dirt and bugs and sweat! Where the hell are you idiot?!"

Lucy started pounding her fists against the dirt like a child in a temper tantrum, her human ears not picking up the amused snickering behind her.

"UGH! You know what? This is really all Igneel's fault. Showing up in the middle of a vast forest? And who would abandon their child? No, even before that! Who would raise such a moronic kid! No manners, no sense of privacy, no hygiene, no holding back or self-control, ugh the list could go on forever! And obviously no sense of loyalty if he just abandons me but takes that damn cat with him everywhere! Seriously what am I, chopped liver? What an idiot! Only idiots raise idiots! This is all that dragon's fault! Let me give him a piece of my mind! Oh once I get my hands on that fire-breathing overgrown lizard I'm gonna-"

"Ahem."

Lucy gasped and shot up from the ground, twirling around with her hands on her keys to face the stranger. Once she saw the sight before her she stumbled backwards a few steps before falling on her butt once again. Fear paralyzed her. Her eyes popped out of her head as her mouth gapped open. Her heart quickened and every nerve in her body was screaming RUN. Fight or flight was pretty useless against this opponent though- you would die no matter what you did.

A dragon.

A big, red dragon.

Wait.

What?

"KKYYYYYAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Lucy stared at the huge dragon before her. She felt something important in the back of her mind trying to tell her something, but she brushed it aside. Now wasn't the time to be logical- it was the time for instinct! Her experiences with dragons were not good. She didn't know which one this one was or why it was suddenly here but it hardly mattered. There was that prickly thought again trying to tell her to use her brain, she shoved it away. Only she would be unlucky enough to stumble upon a dragon when they were supposedly missing or extinct! This dragon would try to eat her! And possibly steal her clothes to humiliate her first.

"KYA! NATSU! NATSU WHERE ARE YOU HELP MEEE!" Lucy screamed and tried to scramble backwards, although her legs weren't cooperating at all. She had turned to jelly because of the pure fear racing through her veins. All logical thought left her. She hoped Natsu was close to her and would hear her...

"Child. Stop screaming. Na-"

"OH MAVIS THIS IS JUST LIKE LAST TIME. NATSU HELP ME!" Her spirits wouldn't do much, as she knew from experience, she needed an actual dragon slayer!

"Last time? Would you please stop screaming, child..."

"OKAY IF YOU'RE GOING TO EAT ME PLEASE MAKE IT FAST AND PAINLESS. JUST KILL ME QUICKLY! AND PLEASE LET ME KEEP MY CLOTHES THIS TIME!"