Fairy Tail In the Playground IC [FTiTP]

[DiscipleofBob]

"Th-that's nice." The sudden friendliness of one of the mages who, a few seconds ago, Emilia was worried would attack her for her magic, caught Emilia off guard. She genuinely tried to be nice, but right now the tension at least to her was still high. They could always report or capture her just for practicing magic without a guild sponsorship, but Emilia wasn't sure if they would or not.

[Viera Champion]

Cecilia Lugard

Well, if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.

[AnimeKid]

Spero chuckles as he says, "Cecilia your going to give the poor girl a heart attack. We should at least let her get her bearings first. Poor thing looks like she's going jump out of her skin. Besides we just found out she's a necromancer. She most likely thinks we're going to attack her or something."

"You wouldn't actually do that would you?" Spider seems generally disturbed by this line of thought. "No, but necromancers are rather infamous. Seeing as she's is not one of the many rouges and is a good necromancer Cecilia and I wouldn't attack her, but there are plenty of other mages who would, just because she is one."

[DiscipleofBob]

"I... I think I'm going to go now," Emilia started to slowly back away, hoping the mages would let her go. Today was just too weird for her. She wondered if this was the effect Fairy Tail's presence had on every day.

Suddenly, Ezzio, who'd been standing in the background, seemingly appeared out of nowhere in Emilia's path, "Excuse me, Miss. Just got to get some good close-ups." The flashes from the magical camera momentarily stunned Emilia as Ezzio made sure to get several shots of Emilia and York. "Thank you very much." He then rushed over to Spider and started taking more pictures, flashing the camera in Spider's face, "Ezzio Ratsi for Sorcerer's Weekly. Any comments on these events?"

Emilia, quickly snapping out of her daze, tried leaving the scene again.

[AnimeKid]

Spider is wholly confused by the paparattzi, mostly because he had never seen one before being a street kid and all. "Um I was just recruited into Fairy Tail. Thats pretty awesome I guess. Then again I'm a pretty awesome guy!" He says regaining his smoothness midway and flashing a million gigawatt smile at the end of his statement.

[DiscipleofBob]

"Thank you very much. I'm going to go ahead and submit something for the magazine. I look forward to working with you in the future." Ezzio smiles and dashes off to meet his deadline.

[Viera Champion]

Cecilia Lugard

Cecilia sighs.
Ezzio and his work...

[AnimeKid]

"Well at least he's enthusiastic. Come on, lets get to the guild and sign up the newbie. After that you uphold your end of the bargin. Okay? Spider nods and sighs at the fact that he made quite a bit of money from that casino. Oh well, he looks off to where Emilia is walking away and shrugs. He really didn't know the girl that well except for the fact that she was driven to do something. However he had a funny feeling he would be seeing her again as the trio heads back towards the guild.

[DiscipleofBob]

Emilia

"Rest in peace." Emilia spoke the incantation and York reverted back his usual self. "So that was Fairy Tail, huh?"

"Changing your mind about wanting to join them?"

"As if. If I joined Fairy Tail, it'd be worse for my goals. Instead of redeeming necromancers in the public eye, people would only see me as another reckless mage in a reckless guild. No, I need to find a more respectable guild."

Skye

When Skye wasn't out on a mission or in the guild hall, his usual place was the guild's roof. It was there he lounged when Spero and Cecilia arrived, plus one more. Scowling, he waited until the three were just about to the guild's entrance when he leapt off the roof, landing squarely in front of Spider, obstructing him from entering the building. Skye looked the card mage over, "And where do you think you're going?"

[AnimeKid]

"If you would get out of my way I would be going inside." Spider wasn't normally this rude. Something about this guy however just ticked him off.

Spero sighs as he says, "What are you doing Skye? Don't worry he's a new recruit. I vouched for him myself. Is there a problem."

[DiscipleofBob]

"If you would get out of my way I would be going inside." Spider wasn't normally this rude. Something about this guy however just ticked him off.

Spero sighs as he says, "What are you doing Skye? Don't worry he's a new recruit. I vouched for him myself. Is there a problem."

"Yeah, who died and made you guildmaster?" Skye snapped. "We can't just be taking in every stray puppy you find off the streets. The guildmaster has to approve any new recruits, and last I checked we were still in between guildmasters." Skye walked around Spider, eyeing him up and down, "Just because Bubbles here says you can join doesn't mean anything. As an upstanding member of the guild, I have to make sure no weaklings or spies infiltrate our ranks."

[Viera Champion]

Varium Pointe

Emilia may hear avoids behind her.
Why don't you just start your own guild?

[Dorizzit]

[Eastern Mountains]
Southern Reaches

The dank insides of the cave flickered in the supernatural fires that had been placed in a circle at the edges of the cavern. No natural light reached this place, hidden as it was down a twisting network of passages from a concealed hole in the mountainside that was barely three feet across. The cavern itself, however, was quite roomy, easily large enough to fit a small building. In the center, an pentagram had been painstakingly drawn using an ink that resisted the natural wear brought on by the constant wetness inside the cave. Scattered around the cave stood various mages, some resting, others speaking in low tones, and a small number clustered around the circle, making final adjustments to it before the beginning of their ritual. They were collectively known as Bee Wing, a minor dark guild of little repute.

If all went as planned, that would soon change.

In their search for power, they had uncovered the location of a sealed demon, one they hoped would grant them the power necessary to achieve their most cherished goal: the annihilation of Fairy Tail. Bee Wing had once been a legitimate guild, but had secretly engaged in many criminal activities. Due to the actions of a Fairy Tail guild member some years ago, they had been exposed to the Mage Council and had their status revoked. For this, they sought revenge, and it seemed that the day was finally upon them.

The guild's leader, a man by the name of Graham Apoidea, stands from his crouching position at the end of the circle and turned to address the guild.

"It's time! Soon, we shall have our vengeance on Fairy Tail! Our days as a laughingstock are over!"

The guild stands to attention and begins cheering in response as Apoidea and two other mages stand around the pentagram and begin their chant to resurrect the demon. At the edge of the cave, a shadow detaches itself from the entrance, gliding agilely behind the nearest guild member. An arm shoots from the darkness and wraps around his mouth, pulling him backwards into the darkness. A few seconds later, his unconscious body is hurled across the length of the cave to slam into the far wall, one arm twisted at a sickening angle.

Shocked, the whole guild, except for the ones performing the ritual, turn to face the direction the body came from. A single man stands there, a dark cloak draped around his body and concealing his face. Atlas, the guild's second-in-command, recovers quickly.

"Don't just stand there! Kill him!"

A wave of mages charges the figure, beginning to call upon their various types of battle magic. Just as the first one is about to strike him, the man twists into action, ducking under the extended arm and grabbing it, hurling the mage over his shoulder and into a wall, hard enough to leave cracks in the stone. Rushing forward like a phantom, he glides into the crowd of mages, flowing through them like water and striking back like lightning. Dozens of brutal, incapacitating strikes lash out from the man, and in a few seconds almost the entire guild is unconscious. Atlas is the last to fall, choked into unconsciousness before being tossed aside. Turning his attentions to the ritual, which is reaching a crescendo, the man snaps one hand open and creates ball of shadow. He swings it in a wide arc, becoming a wave which knocks the desperately chanting mages out of position. Apoidea alone stands, but the man sends him into unconsciousness with a single blow to the stomach.

Straightening up, Sayd dusts his hands off before lowering his hood to survey the carnage left in his wake. The lights in the cave were extinguished by their creator's incapacitation, but it is no trouble for Sayd; he can see as clearly in the dark as he can on the sunniest day. He had been tracking Bee Wing's activity for the past month, wanting to know exactly what they had planned. Now that he knew, he had little interest in them; he would contact the authorities and let them clean up here. As he is about to leave, however, Sayd realizes something is wrong. There is still light in the cave. Turning back, he sees that the pentagram is glowing, the ritual interrupted a few seconds too late. Slowly, a figure begins to rise out of the circle.

Unfortunate.

[AnimeKid]

"*sigh* Really Skye, are we really going to do this? Look just..." Spider then walks forward till he is just a few inches from Skye's face. "That sounds like a bet to me. So before I sucker you I should warn you of something. I never lose a bet. So bring it on tough guy. I can anything you can dish out." Spider tips his hat slightly as he does this.

[DiscipleofBob]

"*sigh* Really Skye, are we really going to do this? Look just..." Spider then walks forward till he is just a few inches from Skye's face. "That sounds like a bet to me. So before I sucker you I should warn you of something. I never lose a bet. So bring it on tough guy. I can anything you can dish out." Spider tips his hat slightly as he does this.

Skye

Skye breaks out in hysterics, laughing uncontrollably for a few seconds, "Oh, that's rich. Don't worry, I'm perfectly secure that one-armed and blindfolded I could lay you out like a Solstice Tree. But let's, for the sake of an absurd argument, assume we lived in a universe where I wasn't awesome. All beating me in a duel would prove is that you aren't a weakling. Not that you're trustworthy. So," Skye claps his hands together and grins, "I need to figure out if you're safe enough to leave alone around the more delicate guild members." He doesn't directly say or gesture at anyone, but the feeling is pretty clear he's talking about Cecilia. "Now normally I would beat around the bush here but since this is Bubbles if I make him start guessing we'll be here all night. So here's my proposal: You do a mission with me. No Bubbles or Princess to hold your hand. Just you, me, and whatever job I find most appropriate. What do you say, Ace?" Skye's face is now inches from Spider's, daring him with his grin.

Emilia

Emilia shot upright like a threatened cat at the voice. Normally she'd be used to random voices out of nowhere, but those were spirits, and she could sense spirits. This wasn't. "York, did you...?"

"Yup."

"Let's go."

"Yup."

Still no immediate persons in sight, Emilia tried to leave the area before whatever possessed the voice could jump her.

[AnimeKid]

Spero grumbled under his breath at the crack Skye made at him while Spider smirked. He takes out his deck of cards and starts shuffling them rapidly. He fancily bridges them before drawing the top card, his lucky Ace of Spades. "Well my chances look good. Alright then sucker. I'll do a mission with you no problem. One piece of advice though, try to stay out of my spotlight capesh?"

[DiscipleofBob]

Skye's magic flares up around him, and for the moment it looks and sounds like all four are in the dead center of a violent thunderstorm, lightning crashing down all around them. Although the bolts came close, they always stop just short of actually hitting anyone, except for Skye, the lightning bolts coursing through every part of his body.


"Well let me return that with three pieces of advice, rookie.

One: Stow your damn card tricks. They might be good for swindling idiots and picking up chicks, but you're playing with the big leagues now. I deal with real magic, and you ain't impressing $hit.

Two: Half of this little exercise is figuring out if you can work with others. And if you're going around acting all cocky and complaining about a spotlight, you're in the wrong guild and you can turn around right now.

Three: Even if I do accept you as a guild member, you start off at the bottom, just like everyone else. That makes you the cabin boy, the dishwasher, the bloody new guy, and if you want respect from me or ANYONE you're going to have to damn well earn it. You can ask anyone here, I'm the resident pompous *******, and there's only one giant ego allowed on this trip. Now stay right there while I find something worth breaking you in on." As Skye literally stormed off, the field of lightning around them dissipated, all that was left was a small, gray storm cloud above Spider that actually looked a bit grumpy. It fired a tiny bolt of lightning at the card shark, and then another one every few seconds, following his movements. Not actually enough to do any real damage of course, just an annoying shock every now and then.

It only took a minute for Skye to come back out with a job in hand. "You're in luck. These kinds of jobs are some of my favorites." Grinning, Skye hands over the paper for Spider to look at.

WANTED

Cargo and passenger train seeking escort from Magnolia to Krastia. We need to go through routes that have seen recent activity from bandits and possible dark mages. Experienced mages preferred. 250,000 Jewels reward.

"Sound simple enough for ya, Probie?"

[AnimeKid]

Spider fights to keep the smirk off of his face as the thinks to himself 'Mission: Piss off the Pompous A*shole variant of guild memeber? Status" accomplished.' Spider spider gets another annoying jolt before he smiles and says, "Yeah I can help do it. Don't worry so much buddy, your blood pressure's gonna go through the roof. Don't worry I owe these guys here so I'll play by the rules just like I always do. So lets get er done. Oh and that was just my lucky ritual. I always do it before I take on a tough task. Don't worry Sir. I'll be good."

Spero shakes his head as he just had to find someone who would be willing to take Skye head on at his own game. For some reason though he had a feeling that Spider saw his little verbal spar with Skye as just that, a game.

[DiscipleofBob]

"Good. Train leaves in 30 minutes. Don't be late." Skye took off flying towards the train station, leaving Spider to make his own time. Which was interesting, since the train station was 45 minutes away by foot.

By Skye's flight it only took a few minutes, however, and he quickly landed on top of one of the train cars and waited. A few of the people at the station stared, but no one said anything. Skye did train escort missions all the time, they were one of the few monotonous jobs he actually enjoyed.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Eastern Mountains]
Southern Reaches

The pentagram is glowing, the ritual interrupted a few seconds too late. Slowly, a figure begins to rise out of the circle.

It's a humanoid form, though there's something... strange in the way it staggers up. Or maybe "ooze" would be a better word. It's completely white and featureless, save for a white skirt which seems like it might as well be part of its skin. Or maybe it's covered in armor of some sort?

The form sways slightly from side to side, its surface gleaming. Its right hand is grasping tightly to what looks like broken and charred-black shaft of some weapon. It is taller than Sayd, though still within range for a human. The pentagram under it keeps glowing with a sickly green radiance as it steps forward.

---

Nothing.

Around him, there is nothing.

It is a strange feeling. Because for all this time, he'd been constrained by something. Pressure of untold tons of rock, deep dark sediments unseen to the eyes of men crushing him together.

But now that abyssal weight is... gone. He is light, and standing in a space where there is nothing.

No... that can't be right. There must be something for him to stand on. But he can't feel it... he doesn't remember how to. But the answer comes to him as, by instinct, he takes his first, wobling step in aeons. His heart almost stops when the sensation ripples through his body, and then through the nothingness, ringing and echoing through space and giving it form.

Sound.

The space around is vast, but not without limits. He's still not under the open sky, then. However, it is not closed - there are holes at its edges, of depth he can't measure yet. Where would they lead.

But as he takes his second step, he becomes aware of another sensation - warmth. The temperature around him is not constant - before him, on the floor, there are many glowing blobs, shaped like - people?

Odd. There's a faint memory on the back of his head, of fighting and killing, but... it's so distant. He feels like he's been gone for ages, so it can't have happened recently. Reason dictates their bodies should be cold already.

Slight whispers ripple through the air and touch the barrier that separates him from the rest of the world. Breathing. They're all breathing.

This observation distracts him from the fact that one of the breathing figures is still up, and facing him.

[Xondoure]

Walking out of the guild hall Gabriel stopped for a second and then brought his hands in front of his face.
"NIIIMBUUSSSS!"

[Mina Kobold]

[Outside Fairy Tail hall]

From the roof of the guild hall, a hooded figure sees the pocketed plant mage and hears his yell, leaping off with ambiguous goals toward the ground in front of the mage.

Landing in a pillow of wispy Stratus clouds, staggering a bit to stay upright, Nimbus faces Gabriel.

"Greetings, Gabriel. I believe you called for me? What news do you bring before me?"

The hooded mage inquires with a dramatic tone and bows when a pair of nearby children claps at the performance.

[AnimeKid]

Spider knowing that little fact about the train station immediately sprints of at a good pace. You have to know how to run if your going to live on the streets. He wasn't worried, sure if you took the main road it would take you 45 minutes. However Spider knew almost every back alley and shortcut in Magnolia. Using his street smarts and acrobatic skill he runs without slowing down to the train station managing to get there 5 minutes before the train leaves and panting slightly from exertion.

[DiscipleofBob]

"Ah, there you are," Skye grins, sitting on top one of the cars.

"The train will be departing in twenty minutes on schedule!" the conductor yelled.

Skye snickered a bit, having purposefully given the wrong time earlier, "Isn't that much better than just running laps? Come on in. You might want to get a feel for the layout of the train before it starts moving."

The train was five cars long. The first obviously being the engine where the conductor and engineers stayed along with the kitchen and the rest of the staff. The second car was the only passenger car, including dining. There weren't any cabins on this particular train. The third, fourth, and fifth cars were all for cargo, but the third was open-faced, carrying a large pile of lumber. Skye seemed to already be familiar with the train, and mostly looked through the cargo cars, occasionally moving some boxes around.

[AnimeKid]

Spider looked around and familiarized himself with the train his eyes darting all over the place, taking in exit points, which could double as entrance points and most of all watches Skye. While he was ticked at that trick he pulled he was the one with the most experience with this situation. That meant that Spider needed to follow his lead. 'No need for Skye to know that though', he thought to himself, 'Cocky bastard doesn't need any more of an ego boost.' He starts fancily shuffling his deck of 52 cards as he waits, a nervous habit. "So... why are missions like these your favorite type Skye? Never thought someone like you would want to sit still on a mission."

[DiscipleofBob]

"Heh, you'll see once we start moving. Help me move some of these boxes, will ya? We don't want them potentially getting in the way in case we need to throw down." Mostly Skye was moving boxes from the fifth car to the fourth, but he made sure that 1) there was a straight path through each car, and that 2) certain windows were blocked while others were purposefully left unobstructed.

[AnimeKid]

Spider follows his lead moving the boxes the way Skye specified. He wasn't sure he liked that grin on Skye's face but figured that since he took this kind of mission often he knew what he was doing. It is after they finish that Spider looks around to see how unobstructed they were. After getting the layout he sits down to wait.

[DiscipleofBob]

"All aboard!" The conductor yells. The steam engine sounds and the train starts moving, quickly speeding up as it leaves the station.

"All right. Follow me, but watch your step. If you fall off the train, it's immediate disqualification." Skye leaps out the window and effortlessly flips to the roof of the fourth car.

[AnimeKid]

Spider follows him only using the slightest bit more effort due to not being used to using his acrobatic skills on moving objects. He adapts rapidly enough though. After getting up there he looks at Skye as he says, "I'm guessing this is where our initial guard point is going to be? The wind speed might cause me a bit of trouble though nothing I can't handle." He holds one hand to his hat to make sure that it is not blown away by the wind eventually using the straps on it to pin it down to his head.

[DiscipleofBob]

When Spider reaches the roof of the car, he sees Skye walking around, almost dancing with excitement, not having any difficulty with the roof of the car. "This! This is how you know you're alive! Hurtling across the countryside at a hundred miles and hour, and when the wind and physics try to knock you back down to earth, you just give it the finger and go right on ahead!"

"Pay attention, Probie. Class is in session. We probably won't have to deal with any dark mages, just mundane bandits. Train jobs don't pay enough these days for Dark Guilds to get involved. However, the bandits might've gotten their hands on some custom magic items or weapons off the black market, so you've got to be prepared for that.

"Now first, the bandits need a way to catch up to the train. There aren't many animal mounts which can go that fast, so they'll probably be in some sort of high-speed car, truck, or even a train on a parallel track. Usually you need a mage to drive any of those, so they'll either have a patsy driver or some kind of artificial magic source. Either way, they should be easy to spot as long as you're looking. Now I know what you're thinking: 'But Skye, you handsome devil you, what if they're on the passenger car?' Simple: They're not. I got to the station early so I could case the crowd, and thieves who try to infiltrate the passenger car are easy to spot: they always arrive early to case their prospective targets, they don't talk to anyone or carry more than a small amount of luggage, and if there's multiple infiltrators, they keep pretending to not know each other while acknowleding each others' presence.

"In short, if we get attacked, we get attacked en route. Now, if you see something suspicious approaching, if you have any long-range magic, DON'T try and snipe them. Best case scenario you hit something you could hit after it gets closer anyway. Worse case scenario you miss, waste some of your magic, and they realize the car they're attacking isn't defenseless and get a chance to prepare. Wait until they get close.

"They'll most likely enter from the fifth car since that's the easiest for them to reach. We've limited the possible entry points to the main exits on either ends of the car, and the most likely windows that a bandit would try to use have all been blocked. They're too far away to tell if a window's blocked until they try to enter it. Some will try to go over the roof to get around guards on the bottom. I'll be able to take care of those no problem. The problem is the third car, which is one huge open entry point for the bandits. They probably won't reach that far, but just in case, you need to watch for that as well. The best place for you to be is at the rear entrance to the fourth car with the door to the fifth car open. That way you can see anyone try to come in.

"Any questions?"