Act 1 - Intro

Once upon a time, there was a family of 5, who were deep in debt. They worked hard day and night to provide for themselves, especially their eldest son, Natsu.

Everyday Natsu would go to work, and if he had time, find new jobs.

One day, he got laid off from the job that paid him the most. Disappointed, he went to his other workplaces, and one by one he was laid off until he had nowhere left to go. Natsu had no money to feed his family that night, so he resorted to something he never thought he would have to do.

Act 2 - Natsu’s family die

He stole a loaf of bread from a market stand just so his family could have something to eat that night. Though Natsu was expecting to get away with it, he was seen by a nearby stand owner and had soldiers called to arrest him.

He ran and eventually ended up in the woods. As the soldiers were nearing him, he was pulled into the bushes by a girl. Once the coast was clear, she cornered Natsu and started interrogating him as to why he was being chased. After hearing his story she introduced herself as Maki and told Natsu that he could stay with her until the next morning so the soldiers wouldn’t know where he was.

He accepted her offer and spent the night in her hideout in the middle of the woods. Natsu was fed a good meal and slept in a comfy sleeping bag. When he awoke the next morning, Maki wasn't there, she had left a note saying she went out to get materials. Once she came back, Maki had a letter addressed to Natsu. The letter stated that Natsu’s family had been jailed and executed for delaying paying their debt for so long.

After learning about his family's demise, he was overwhelmed by what was going to happen to him. Natsu eventually decided that he would learn how to fight, with the help of Maki, so if the soldiers ever tried to chase after him again, he could at least protect himself.


Act 3 - Fighting soldiers

Maki accepts his decision, and immediately starts training him. He immensely struggles at first and can barely hold onto the weapons he’s handed, but he learns quickly and ends up being able to use the weapons with ease, as well as being able to fight hand-to-hand combat. Even though he improves, Natsu still struggles to fight against Maki who’s had many years of experience. Maki finally decides to take Natsu along on one of her stealing runs, where she has to steal a weapon from a skilled weaponsmith market stand.

They successfully manage to steal the weapon, but due to Natsu’s clumsiness, he knocks over some propped-up weapons and the soldiers spot them. They get chased into the woods and Maki ends up fighting off most of them at once, while Natsu struggles to defeat even one. Maki eventually knocks out most of the ones who chased them and the one that attacked Natsu, and they both run away. Right as they're about to get deeper into the forest, one of the soldier's spears cut off Maki’s bun. Unfazed, they run farther until they reach the bottom of a cliff where they're cornered. Maki apologizes to Natsu for forcing him into the thief life, and they are never seen again.

Moral: It's ok to depend on others