The Red Dragon

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lyon kicked Gray when he stirred. He was tired of waiting, and he'd already run out of things he could realistically do to pass the time.

"Ow, what the hell, Lyon?" Gray sat up, rubbing the pain in his side. He looked around and saw that it was already getting dark.

"Well, you definitely got your ass handed to you," Lyon commented as he evaluated the bruises that covered what he could see of Gray's body. "You should probably get Wendy to look at you. Then again, she might not be all that willing to help you."

He absently created some eagles out of his ice and practiced controlling them.

"I was holding my own until the scarlet menace got involved."

"Is that what you think?" Lyon mused, intent on making his eagles fly in formation. "From where I was standing you lost the moment you overlooked what it was you wanted."

Gray seemed to mull over Lyon's words, but only looked confused. Lyon could only marvel at his denseness.

"Why are we in this podunk village, Gray?" Lyon raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Don't get me wrong, it's nice and all. But we could have gone anywhere. You were determined to come here. Have you already forgotten why that was?"

Lyon could almost work out the second Gray finally understood what he was getting at. "Natsu." Gray groaned, putting his hand to his aching head and releasing some of his ice to soothe the pain.

Lyon nodded affably. "Indeed. The hothead himself. So why is it then, that ever since we've been here, you've done nothing but antagonize him?"

Gray startled at the unexpected question. "How should I know?"

"Well, you better figure it out soon because I think you crossed a line today," Lyon said, and the seriousness in his voice made Gray take notice.

"What do you mean?"

"As much as it pains me to admit it, Natsu was right," Lyon dispelled his eagles and turned his gaze towards his brother, "What we were about to do was a senseless slaughter. That dragon never attacked us, even after we attacked it. We went after it because of what it was, and I for one am ashamed of doing so."

"It was a dragon." Gray snarled immediately.

"It was an innocent creature, and if it ever attacks people, it will be our fault." Lyon corrected. "We just taught it to be afraid of people. I understand your hate, Gray, but maybe you need to work on limiting it to the dragon that deserves it. If you don't, you might lose the one person you were so determined to find."

"Why does he care about them so much?" Gray shouted in frustration.

"I don't know, but it's obvious that he does." Lyon answered, already becoming disinterested.

Gray eyed Lyon with suspicion, "Why do you care about this so much suddenly?"

Lyon shrugged, "I can respect someone who stands up for what they believe in. Especially when it so obviously goes against what they want."

He chose not to mention the expression he'd seen on Natsu's face when he'd looked at Gray. It might very well already be too late for Gray to make amends. Lyon had done the best he could. The rest was up to them.

"By the way, the scarlet menace, as you so charmingly call her, asked me to tell you you're working all weekend," Lyon informed his brother, freezing the smile that wanted to creep in as he thought of Erza. He was kind of glad they had ended up in this village, not that he would ever admit it.