RIPPLES [A Fairy Tail Fanfiction]

Chapter Ninety Four - Dragon Slayer Boot Camp, Part One

1. Merry Orthodox Christmas, Kristina (AO3) and anyone else who celebrates!

2. I'm super sorry for the long delay. My depression has been acting up, but I've got a psychiatrist appointment on Wed. so it'll hopefully get fixed then. For now, updates my slow down. Expect a chapter a week from now, maybe, for me to get back into the grove?

3. Also, thank you IceHound (Fanfiction) for pointing out what the Wikia says about Rogue's name.

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Chapter Ninety Four - Dragon Slayer Boot Camp, Part One

It's a lot easier to beat the shit out of Natsu than I thought.

Of course, this is probably because I was mentally comparing him to the Natsu of my time, vs the small, ten-year old he is, while I myself am impervious to fire.

I forgot about that.

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I went for Natsu first. While I was a bit more worried about Gajeel (considering where he ended up), Jose Porla was occupied with the other guilds at the Grand Magic Games, and Gajeel was a bit older than Natsu.

Natsu, however, was going to cause trouble, especially if Makarov isn't there to find him like in the last timeline.

I came across him right as he was waking up.

"Igneel..." the pink-haired kid said quietly, before waking up more suddenly and springing to life. "Igneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel! IGNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL! WHERE ARE YOU?"

I sighed and teleported directly in front of him. Natsu jumped immediately and came at me, fists blazing and screaming.

I batted him away, and he crashed into the ground.

Oops.

I winced and pulled him out of the hole, settling him down.

"Calm down, Natsu. I'm a friend, alright?" I said. "Now let me heal you."

He wasn't scratched up very badly, but using Saturn's Healing Winds helped him, and also helped him gain some trust in me.

"Who are you?" the ten-year-old whined. "And where's Igneel?"

"My name is Eleanor Rigby," I said. "Though I tend to go by Elle. I am a member of the Fairy Tail guild, a magical guild that functions as a family. As for Igneel...he had to go away..."

Tears began to pop up in Natsu's eyes. "When will he be back?"

I hugged him. "It will be awhile, Natsu. A few years."

He let out a sob, and I rubbed his back.

"Igneel loves you very much," I said quietly, rocking him a bit. "And what he's doing is to help everyone, but especially you. No matter what happens, just know that Igneel is here," I tapped his chest, "watching you. So make him proud, okay?"

Still sniffling, Natsu wiped away his tears and backed away from me, wrapping his hands into fists and jumping excitedly. "Yeah! I'm all fired up, now!"

Well, that actually went a lot faster than I thought.

I smiled at him. "Now...are you ready to pick up your cousins?"

Natsu cocked his head. "Cousins?"

I nodded. "Igneel is a dragon who raised you as a dragon slayer. But he isn't the only dragon that adopted a slayer. And all of the dragons had to leave for this important mission, alright? So your cousins are out there, wandering, and alone. You ready to help me find them?"