New Discoveries

Gajeel was a strong, healthy male dragon in search of new territory. His current territory was barren and ugly and food was scarce… but it had been all he could claim in his youth. Now, however, he was a mature dragon. A strong one, no less. He was larger than many males his age, despite the scarcity of food in his land. It helped that he could supplement game with his element, iron… and there was much iron in his land.

But now his iron deposits were low and food was even scarcer. He needed to find new land, and now he could finally fight for it. Still… he'd rather avoid fighting elder dragons. They would have experience in defending their land, which would put him at a severe disadvantage. In his search for unclaimed land or land claimed by younger and weaker dragons, he flew far, far away from his previous territory… and into lands that few dragons seemed to venture to.

To get to these lands, you had to fly over miles and miles of wasteland. Even dragons needed to drink, and there was no source of water here. No food. Nothing. Even strong dragons struggled to make it past the wastelands… most turned back. Gajeel could see a few skeletal remains of dragons here and there. Those who tried and failed to cross. But he was stronger than them, and he was used to the arid lands, which were similar to his own territory. He'd stopped at a river beforehand, as well, so his belly was full of water and fish. He would make it.

And he did. It was hard, very hard, to just keep flying and flying. His wings ached and his back burned in the hot sun. Being a black dragon did not help. Thirst came to him first, but he pressed on. Then the hunger came. He still pressed on. It was far too late to turn back. He was seeing more and more skeletons, but he pressed on. Day and night, he pressed on without pause. The skeleton sightings stopped quite abruptly. Very few made it as far as he had. Fewer, still, survived as long as he had.

Just as the dragon began to think this wasteland went on forever… it suddenly turned into lush forests with large rivers. The suddenness startled the dragon, but he was too eager to land to care. He deposited himself next to a river and quickly drank his fill. He was dehydrated and starving… but he was alive. He had made it across the wasteland.

After a long rest and after catching himself a couple deer to eat, the dragon took his time to examine this new land from the sky. It was lush and vibrant. Uninhabited by humans, from what is seemed. He could smell a few dragons had been through here, but there were far fewer dragons here than on the other side. He was quick to figure out where territorial lines were drawn, and he figured he could find good land further in. Onward he flew, in search of the perfect territory.

He finally found what he was looking for, and it was unclaimed, to boot. A lush valley with a large river… and many mountains around it to build a nest on. The mountains were rich in iron deposits, and the valley was full of food. So much food that he could not deplete it on his own. It was perfect. He quickly set about marking the borders of his land, cutting down trees and scorching the earth with his fire breath to let all other dragons know that this land was taken. And then he went to explore.

And the first thing he found upon landing at the river was a very angry… very small… very cute female dragon.

He had not picked up her scent when he was scouting the land. That's why her presence startled him. But taking a closer sniff, he realized that this female's scent was so very light. It could only mean that she was rather young. She looked to be around the age where she would become sexually mature, so she was indeed quite young. Gajeel would place her at around two hundred years old.

She was a small dragon, lean and lithe. Her scales were light blue, alternating with white here and there, and the horns on her head were small and dainty. She looked weak compared to Gajeel's massive form, but that did not stop her from trying to intimidate him. She roared angrily at the male she saw as an intruder on her land, spreading her wings wide to make her look bigger. Even still, the tips of her wings barely reached Gajeel's snout as he stood at his full height. He stared at her in amusement as she roared at him, telling him to leave. She was cute. Young and small and cute and… temperamental. He liked it.

He snorted in amusement and told her he was staying, whether she liked it or not, but she was more than welcome to stay. She didn't like that one bit, and she snapped at him. He dodged her sharp teeth easily, huffing as she only further amused him. She had fire in her, that was for sure. He wanted her to stay in his land, so he told her he would protect it and give her space. He wanted a compromise. She was too weak to defend her land, especially from a mature male. And she was still growing. It would be dangerous for her to venture from the safety of the valley on her own, and she knew it.

She roared at him to leave again, and he just shook his head. She tried to attack him again, tried to bite him, but he didn't just dodge it this time. He quickly had her pinned in retribution, one clawed hand on her neck and the other on her stomach. She was not hurt, but she knew how easily he could have hurt her now. He'd gotten to both of her weak spots with great ease, her neck and her belly, and she'd been powerless against the fully matured male.

Gajeel told her, firmly, that he was staying. He wanted this land, and he had marked it as his already. He was not leaving just to appease a female. The female could only stare up at the much larger dragon. She knew how territorial males could be, and this male now saw this land as his. She could stay, because she was a female, and he would not hurt her… but she would not be forcing him out. She could leave, of course, but… it was dangerous to leave. She was young and small and weak… even a human could kill her as she was now. She couldn't even breathe fire yet. She had no choice but to stay…

So she relented with an angry huff. The male snorted in amusement and backed off of her, letting her up. He liked her spirit, he liked her temper. Maybe he could court her. She was quite young, but would be reaching maturity soon, and it was never too early to start a courtship. So he introduced himself in as charming of a manner as he could.

She rolled her eyes at him and gave him her name with an annoyed snort. Levy. And then she turned and started walking away from him, heading for her den. She'd not expected him to follow her, but he did. He even gave teasing bites to her legs and wings as he followed, which made Levy blanch. He was flirting with her? After stealing her land?

She growled at him to leave her alone, and he gave an amused growl in return. Yes, he really was trying to flirt with her. When the bites didn't stop and he kept following her, she turned and roared at him, getting in his face and telling him to back off. He snorted at her, blowing a puff of smoke into her face, his crimson eyes full of mirth. Oh, yes, he really wanted to court this female. She was feisty. And cute. Even her roar was cute. And he was moderately impressed with her spunk. She was so small and weak, but she was standing up to him like she stood a chance. He was easily twice her size with all the signs of a fully matured male. He had horns bigger than her head. But she still stood up to him. It was impressive.

Levy, meanwhile, was utterly annoyed by this male. She knew she couldn't physically fight him off, but that wasn't going to stop her from telling him off. It didn't take much for her to realize the male was going to try to court her even though she wasn't mature yet. It wasn't uncommon for females to be courted in their youth and then be mated upon their maturation. Levy had to admit, this male was impressive. He was larger than any male she'd ever seen before, and he was clearly powerful. His large horns and scars were a testament to his strength. He'd fought and won many battles. He was a fine specimen of a male, and any offspring of his would be strong and healthy… but he was so damn annoying. Or maybe it was just that he'd taken her land from her only a few minutes ago and was now flirting with her that annoyed her so.

Either way, she would not be making it easy for this male to court her. She would stay in this valley, because it was safe and he offered her protection from other males who might not be as kind. Some males would have killed her or forced her out despite her being a female, after all. But just because she stayed it did not mean she would be open to courting him. He'd have to work for it if that's what he wanted. Her angry roaring told him as such, but he only stared at her in amusement.

If that's the way she wanted to play, so be it. He'd win her over soon enough.

Hi guys! I've been working on this concept for a while now and I've posted snippets of it in my other story "Shots, Shots, Shots!" and got really good feedback from it. So I will be making it into a full multi-chapter story! Please, please tell me what you guys think! I love feedback and it really helps me keep writing! And I love hearing from you guys, so please leave a comment!

I will update this soon-ish. I have some downtime in a few days and will be working on this and some of my other stories. Please keep an eye out for me!

Thanks for reading!

-Nerdy12