The circle of life

After her escape into the forest, little Erza spent many more days in the cave under the attentive care of Grandeeney. During that time, the dragon woman ensured to craft an artificial eye for her and replace her right eye, from which she had lost vision. At a glance, no one would have ever noticed the difference as it was so identical to the original: it had the same color and shades, moved naturally, and Erza couldn't even feel the distinction. However, this new eye, constructed by Grandeeney, possessed magical properties.

Over time, if the girl trained enough, she would learn to use its powers to see beyond the illusions of mages and discern traces left by spells in the air.

During those days, Grandeeney began teaching Erza the basics of dragon magic and her proficient healing arts. Eventually, the dragoness started taking her into the forest for long walks, showing her the place she called home and teaching her how to navigate the trees safely without encountering dangers or attracting fierce beasts.

During their excursions, Grandeeney explained the properties of herbs and fruits, distinguishing between the edible and the potent poisons, and she educated Erza about the habits of other inhabitants of the East Forest. It was an extensive amount of information that sometimes made young Erza's head feel like bursting, and by the evening, she often felt like she couldn't remember anything. However, the girl pushed herself to do her best.

She didn't want to disappoint the dragoness who had taken her in and cared for her. She wanted to excel in learning the magic she was being taught. She dreamed of becoming stronger and learning to defend herself, never wanting to be in danger or enslaved again. But there was another reason motivating little Erza to strive: the idea of living in the forest with Grandeeney, Natsu, and Igneel appealed to her, and she didn't want to force the dragoness to send her away because she behaved like an incompetent apprentice.

The girl tried her best to follow every instruction given by her teacher and stayed close to Grandeeney during their forest excursions, just like that day. The little one followed, as usual, the dragoness's trail through the greenery, holding a wicker basket to collect various plants.

"What magic does it take to make this?" When the dragoness turned, she found Erza absorbed in observing the object and sighed to herself before resuming her walk. "It doesn't take any magic, just like it didn't for your dress. If you learn the properties of plants and how to use them, you can create many things." The girl blushed, embarrassed by her earlier foolish remark, and quickly caught up, running after the dragoness. By the time she reached her, Grandeeney placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Let's take a wider route."

It took Erza a moment to understand why: a few meters ahead, among the trees, there was the carcass of a deer, almost picked clean to the bone. It must have fallen prey to wolves or bears or some other monster that lived in the forest, and it couldn't have happened too long ago. The blood on the grass still seemed fresh, and there was no foul smell coming from the body.

At the sight, the girl quickly averted her gaze, taking an extra step closer to Grandeeney, although it wasn't the first time she faced death up close. Not only had she witnessed her parents' killing when slavers arrived in her village, but during her captivity, she had seen many fellow prisoners die at the hands of their tormentors.

"It's sad when someone dies..." Erza sighed, but Grandeeney, who was accompanying her, interrupted her thoughts. "Why should it be sad? Death is an inevitable law of nature. It's part of the circle of life, just like all other things."

"The circle of life?" Erza repeated without understanding.

"Yes, life is like a circle, always remember that." Grandeeney explained. "All things are born, grow, and then die. Living beings borrow energy from nature to be born and grow, and when they die, they return it."

"How?"

"Take grass, for example." She tried to explain further as Erza struggled to keep up with the conversation. "Grass grows by absorbing energy from the earth, sun, air, and water. Deer eat the grass to live, and wolves eat the deer. But when wolves die and their bodies break down, they enrich the earth with their energies, allowing new grass to grow. Do you understand now?"

The girl nodded, enchanted by the secret she had just discovered. Grandeeney continued to walk, explaining that nature always moves in a circular way, like the seasons.

"What happens then when you die?" Erza continued with her questions.

"Didn't I just tell you? When we die, we cease to exist: it's like falling asleep and never waking up again. Humans often talk about things like hell or paradise, but nothing like that exists. Dying is simply disappearing, dissolving. But it's not that sad if you think about it; thanks to the energies we leave behind, new lives can be born and thrive. In a way, we still remain part of nature."

Erza nodded, even though she wasn't sure if she had understood everything Grandeeney had said. Nevertheless, she tried her best to nod, taking note in her head.

"I want to tell you one last thing today, this time about the magic of sky dragons." Grandeeney added, reigniting her curiosity. "Sky dragon magic is closely connected to the circle of life because it manipulates air and, therefore, breath. The spells I'm teaching you will make you a sky dragon slayer one day and give you the power to give and take away air. But I don't want you to misuse these techniques: always apply them for good and never for harm. Remember that air, earth, water, and light are the elements most connected to the circle of life. Fire, ice, shadow, and steel are instead those that are more linked to the destruction of the circle. Be careful in the presence of these other elements." And just as the saying goes, talk about the dragon, and you'll see its horns. Grandeeney hadn't even finished talking about fire and everything else when something leaped down from a tree branch screaming like a monkey: it was Natsu.

"Hi Erza! Want to come with me to the lake?"

"What were you doing up there?"

Natsu took a moment to realize that the question came from Grandeeney and that he had completely forgotten about her. "Ah, hi Grandeeney! I was hunting wolves, but then you guys came, and..."

"Hunting what?"

But Erza covered her teacher's shocked voice with a little laugh. During the last few weeks, she and Natsu had seen each other very little, and she had genuinely missed the boy. When they were together, they had fun, and Natsu made the forest seem like the most beautiful place in the world.

"Can I go, Grandeeney? Pleeeease! You said it was the last lesson!"

The dragoness paused for a moment before taking Erza's basket and sighing. "I'll accompany you." She didn't trust the idea of leaving them alone, considering how terrible and irresponsible Igneel's son was.

Erza rejoiced, Natsu less so, but the trio set off in the chosen direction. It took a few minutes for them to reach the large lake in the East Forest, just below the mountain slopes. When they emerged from the trees and Erza finally saw that vast sparkling expanse under the sun, she opened her mouth in wonder. The lake was truly vast, and a small waterfall feeding it collected and carried all the water produced by the melting snow on the mountains downstream. A slow, placid river then left the lake towards the sea, which was not even too far away from that point. Tall grass and green reeds framed the entire water surface while colorful birds of all kinds splashed and flew all around.

"It's beautiful!" Erza exclaimed, but before she could approach the water to get a better look, Natsu sprinted past her, threw his clothes to the ground, and dived in with a splash. A wave of spray inundated her.

"What are you doing?"

"Bathing! Igneel said it's an important part of the dragon slayer training! I have to do it at least once a week!" Natsu didn't know that what his father had told him was a little lie to convince him to stay clean, and he had taken the bathing business very seriously; he was already rubbing his arms vigorously. "Jump in too!"

"NO!" And that was a "NO! NOT EVEN IN MY DREAMS!" Erza turned abruptly, extremely embarrassed by the idea that her friend had just plunged in without even a hint of clothing. While it was true that she hadn't bathed in a while, too...

"The water isn't as cold as it seems!" Natsu was not the type to accept a no as an answer, no matter how emphatic it was. The girl didn't even have time to move before he grabbed her, forcibly removed her dress, and dragged her into the water with him. Summer made the lake genuinely warm, but Erza still let out a somewhat inhuman scream as she fell in, sending an entire flock of birds into flight.

"Ahaha! Did you see that? It's not so bad, is it?" Natsu laughed despite the other girl's incredulous face. He was so busy laughing that it took him a little longer than usual to realize that something was wrong. "Uhm... Erza... Did you miss something?"

"What?"

Natsu barely had time to gesture towards her legs before a burst of spray threatened to drown him, filling his mouth. "YOU'RE THE ONE WITH SOMETHING EXTRA! I didn't lose anything!"

Faced with that scene, Grandeeney let out a sigh and comfortably sat under the branches of a willow tree. She wasn't sure it was a good thing that Igneel also had a human pup, especially if Natsu had maintained the same character and remained so restless and adventurous as he grew up. She wondered if Igneel was really capable of teaching him everything he needed. For her part, she would do her best with Erza, teaching her all the laws of nature but never prematurely, as nature has precise timing.

"I'm saying it for your own good! You should get yourself checked by Grandeeney!"

"Stop talking nonsense! I'm fine!"

"How can you be fine when you're missing th-" Gurg! -

No. Grandeeney shook her head. Igneel and Natsu were absolutely not a good combination.