Fairy Tail In the Playground IC [FTiTP]

[AnimeKid]

Spider looked at Skye in shock. His life on the streets had always taught him that when the going gets tough the ones that stay behind don't live long. Yet here was this guy acting like this was another day on the job. He was acting like there was no way he could die. This guy was a fool, a complete idiot. Then again, even fools know the meaning of bravery. Spider steps forward besides Skye as he says, "I must d*mn well suicidal. There's no way we can win this. The odds are against us a million to one. I may be suicidal, but I won't let someone let you call me a coward." He pulls out one of his cards as he gets ready for battle. Determination lighting up his eyes. "Hey don't die on me okay? You got friends back there at Fairy Tail. It would be a pretty piss poor way to repay them if you died on a mission cause of me eh?" Being desperate does amazing things to you. Like when Spider throws his bladed hat at the machines chest trying to stab at whatever was glowing inside and making this anti-magic field. 'A million to one odds huh. I wonder can I beat those odds once again? Can we beat those odds?'

[DiscipleofBob]

"Die?" Skye grins as he stares down the machine in front of them. "Screw that! I ain't ever dying!" The hat strikes against the machine's chest before the Wave Magic blasts it back, a mangled version of what it was before, but it plus the elemenal explosions from before leaves the tiniest crack on the machine's chassis, "No tin can is gonna kill me!" Skye grabs the sword from one of the bandits and charges forward, thrusting the blade into the tiny crack and making a deep gash in the machine's armor before the sword shatters from the Wave Magic, the largest pieces of shrapnel imbedding themselves in Skye's gut, though the Storm Mage seemed to pay the wounds no mind, "If Death himself comes for me, I'll just beat the crap out of him too!" The weapon gone, Skye thrust his own body into the Wave Magic field. It felt as if he had stepped into a meat grinder as his arm shot inside the small hole made by the earlier attacks. The hole was far too small, and as he forced his arm inside the edges cut open his skin, and when the machine moved the parts inside closed in even further on his arm. The cracking of bones could be heard. "If God tries to smite me, I'll just kick his ass!" Still, Skye pressed forward even as the Wave Magic and the machine itself tried to rip him apart, as finally his arm found what it was searching for: the magic lachryma orb powering the hunk of metal. Apparently the Wave Magic didn't apply to inside the automaton, otherwise it would nullify its own source of power. But now that magical energy was being diverted to a different source as Skye grabbed ahold of it. "GIGAVOLT!" There was a blinding light which filled the train car, followed quickly by a deafening roar of thunder. When everything settled, Skye was standing beaten, bruised, and bloodied, but the automaton was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the entire rear half of the car was gone, having been blown off with one giant spell. Skye, panting heavily, let himself fall backward on his back, laughing loudly despite his arm and chest wounds. "And that is why I love train jobs."

[AnimeKid]

Spider looks on in shock once again, it seemed to be becoming a common thing with Skye around. This guy...was a complete and total idiot! However he was a cool idiot, and that was okay in his books. "You did it...MY GOD! You crazy son of a b*tch! You actually did it! Well I am amazed." He walks forward picking up his hat sadly before setting on his head. Maybe he could find someone who would be able to repair it? He then turns to Skye and tries to help him to his feet, being careful of the places where he skinned himself and the sword shrapnel in his gut.

[Mina Kobold]

Nimbus

Nimbus looks curiously at the flying skull, but seems to find nothing strange about the expressions of it. Bowing yet again, the cloud conjurer greets York.

"My greetings, I am Nimbus, master of the clouds."

Standing up again and dramatically pointing Gabriel out, the "master of clouds" continues.

"And this would be Gabriel, who have requested my assistance on his Job"

[Xondoure]

"I'm Gabriel Flora: plant mage and herbalist. Its nice to meet you both."

[DiscipleofBob]

Skye

Skye weakly bats Spider away, content to lay on his back for the time being. "Of course I did it. This is still a slow day for me." Skye laughs as he coughs up some blood. "I'm all tapped out though."

Emilia

"Emilia MacCrowley, currently in between mage guilds."

"Hey, Emilia, 'in between guilds' implies that you've been in a guild and you've already got a new one in mind, neither of which applies to you."

"And the flying paperweight who thinks he's funny is York."

[AnimeKid]

"Well hopefully those bandits have finally exhausted all there resources. You know now that the threat of immenent death isn't staring me in the face this was actually pretty exhilarating. I can see why you like it so much." He then sits down with his back to one of the walls as he waits out the rest of the ride.

[DiscipleofBob]

"They won't be coming back. Anyone who didn't get scared away by that will take one look at this car and assume it's either been already hit or too dangerous to try and rob, and they'd be right." Skye was content to lay down for the rest of the train ride to try and restore his magic, seemingly napping.

Later at the next station...

"W-WHAT THE HELL?!" After the train stopped, the conductor inspected the train to find half the rear car missing. "WHO DID THIS?! I THOUGHT WE HIRED PROTECTION FOR THIS SORT OF THING?!" The conductor ranted for several minutes until Skye groggily jumped out of the train car. "Oh, it's Skye," the conductor calmed down, still irritated but understanding. "Anything lost I should know about?"

"How the hell should I know? It's your train. I think I got most of it moved beforehand though."

"I... I see..." The conductor said nervously, "Payment?"

"Just wire it all to Fairy Tail under the usual methods. Oh, and you don't mind if I take the next train back to Magnolia for free do you?"

"O-Of course not. Help yourself." Skye nodded and went off to find the nearest train to Magnolia, opting to sit on the roof and ride the rest of the way back to Fairy Tail.

[AnimeKid]

Spider gives a small salute to the conductor and follows Skye as he hops onto the train to catch a ride to Magnolia. As they travel thought fill his head about his first successful job and whether or not his performance was good enough for Skye.

[Viera Champion]

Tana Bariet - Fairy Tail

Back at the Fairy Tail base, Tana Bariet is passing out drinks to NPCs and cleaning off tables.

[DiscipleofBob]

The train ride is peaceful and uneventful, Skye spending the entire time on the roof of one of the train cars. Apparently he bandaged himself up somewhere, possibly with supplies stolen from the train.

When it arrives in Magnolia Town, however, Spider cannot find Skye anywhere on the train. By the time the train arrives, enough of Skye's power has returned that he flies back to the guild on his own, leaving Spider to walk.

Skye was powerful, he was loyal to his guildmates, he was crazy and fearless, but he was still kind of a d**k.

[Viera Champion]

Tana Bariet - Fairy Tail

Tana greets Skye at the door with a drink.
Where did your friend go sir?

[AnimeKid]

It's about twenty minutes after Skye arrives that Spider runs in through the door a little out of breath as he says, "Skye! Is a complete and utter d*ck!" Spero seeing the newbie comes in chuckes, "Don't worry about it Spider, most of us here learned that the hard way." Feeling like stretching his legs a little he gets up and peruses the job board as he says, "So Sparky, what did you think. Did he make the cut?"

[Xondoure]

"Pleased to meet you Emilia. You too York.
(can continue conversation if you want but for the sake of getting the plot rolling...)
Once they arrive at the station Gabriel makes his way over to the booth and purchases two tickets before turning to Emilia.
"Our train leaves in fifteen minutes. Your welcome to come along if you want. I'm sure our guild would be happy to accept you if you helped us with our task."

[Viera Champion]

"Pleased to meet you Emilia. You too York.
(can continue conversation if you want but for the sake of getting the plot rolling...)
Once they arrive at the station Gabriel makes his way over to the booth and purchases two tickets before turning to Emilia.
"Our train leaves in fifteen minutes. Your welcome to come along if you want. I'm sure our guild would be happy to accept you if you helped us with our task."

Varium is right behind him, purchasing a ticket as well.

[Mina Kobold]

[Station of Stationary and Not-So-Stationary Things]

Nimbus is busy examining the train times while the others talk, seemingly growing slightly taller than before while reading the fine print.

[Dorizzit]

Spoiler

Show

The sudden movement alerts the creature, causing its head to swing to Sayd's direction. It has no eyes, but the dragonslayer could swear it's looking at him now. It's not quick enough to dodge the bolt wholly, though, and it clips its shoulder... but its flesh offers no resistance to the blow, flowing aside as if Sayd had just tried splitting a blob of quicksilver. The bolt hits the cave wall behind the blank creature.

Startled, it slides away from the pentagram and Sayd, stopping some distance to his right. It brings the burned spear into a guard position, as if not realizing its weapon is broken.

Sayd takes a step back as the creature takes his attack indifferently. This would be more difficult than he anticipated. First things first, however, the spear could well be more dangerous than it looked if the monster was using it as a weapon. Sayd lunges forward and fires another blast of solid shadow at the spear, trying to break it in half. Once he has released his attack, he glides away again, taking up a defensive stance.

[DiscipleofBob]

Skye

Skye takes the drink and chugs the whole thing down in one sitting before slamming the cup back down on the nearest hard surface, open side down. "I'm sure Probie can find his own way back." At that moment, Spider runs up. "See?"

Spero seeing the newbie comes in chuckes, "Don't worry about it Spider, most of us here learned that the hard way." Feeling like stretching his legs a little he gets up and peruses the job board as he says, "So Sparky, what did you think. Did he make the cut?"

"Eh, he didn't get in my way too much I suppose." Skye shrugs as he gives Spider even more of a hard time. "If you want him you can keep him, but you've got to promise to feed him and bathe him and change him. Having a Probie is a big responsibility you know."

"Now, if you don't mind me, I've been far too productive today." Skye leaves the guild hall and flies up to the roof to his usual napping spot, leaving a small trail of blood dripping from his wounds. A quick check of financial records would indicate that the entire reward for the train job had been wired under Skye's name to the guild, none for Spider. After all, he was only there as a probational member. It was one last trick on Skye's part, not that the money really mattered since every jewel was donated straight to the guild's treasury.

Emilia

Months of practicing her professional demeanor for interviews allowed Emilia to suppress her inner self squealing in joy at the prospect of a possible legitimate guild membership. There was no way these guys could be Fairy Tail, they were far too normal. "I'd be happy to help," she says managing to suppress her cheers into a mere smile. She follows suit, purchasing a ticket (with what happened to be a sizeable portion of her remaining funds) and boarded the train, still unaware of the gun mage behind her who had yet to make his presence known.

[AnimeKid]

Spero looks as Skye goes off and shakes his head, "That guy huh? Well Spider looks like you managed to pass Skye's little test. Know you will be working with multiple members of the guild so it's best to introduce you to them. The pink haired girl over there is Cecilia, my partner and the guilds resident Celestial Mage. The green haired barmaid is Tana Bariet, the waitress of Fairy Tail and pretty much everyone here's friend." He then looks around his hand on Spiders shoulder, albeit a bit heavy handedly as Spider was sagging slightly under Spero's strength. "Huh, I'm not sure where Kuhn, Nimbus, and Gabriel are at the moment but I'll introduce you to them when they get back. Anyways have fun and try to get along with everyone."

Spider nods and says, "Thanks man, and thanks for not turning me in for a crime I didn't really commit." He then turns to walk away and grab a table and get something to drink when Spero put his hand on Spider's shoulder to stop him. "Aren't you forgetting something? I need the money we agreed on or my partner is gonna kill me." Spider mumers something under his breath that sounds like 'whipped' before digging in his pockects and gives Spero 450,000 Jewels. He then continues to head to his table while Spero goes to split the loot with Cecilia.

[Viera Champion]

Tana Bariet heads over to Spider.
Can I get you anything sir?


Cecilia grins in delight.
With this money I can get that new key I had my eyes on!

[Frozen_Feet]

[Under the Earth]

The creature tries to block the blast with a swing of its spear, but it's little more than a piece of charcoal now - it snaps in two at the point of contact, pieces of it crumbling and falling to the floor. The blast hits the creature's side, or so it seems - it's pushed aside, gliding across the floor like a ghost.

The thing holds pieces of the spear in its hands, then lets them drop to the ground. It adopts a weaponless guard stance, though many small things will seem off to Sayd - its body is twisted in a strange manner and it seems to be facing slightly past him, conveying the sense that it's not looking at him - though it's questionable if it perceives the world via sight at all.

---

Why?

Why is that thing attacking him?

Where did his weapon go?

Who and what is attacking him in the first place?

The person inside the shell feels shocked awake. Something that seemed like distant past but a moment ago is becoming reality again, a scene frozen in time thawed and brought to life again like flower seeds after winter.

What is the lone agressor after? Is it armed? Regardless of the answer, he feels woefully ill-equipped.

He needs a weapon. He'd had more than one of those, right? He mouths the words, trying to call for one...

---

To Sayd, it seems the beast is onto something as it suddenly reaches up with its left hand, motioning as if pulling something down from the air. He can feel a sudden gust of air - sign of magic, no doubt, confirmed further by a circle of faint silver runes briefly glimmering above the demon. But when the spell is over, it's still left empty-handed - and judging from the way it freezes completely still for a moment, it's equally surprised by the fact.

[Xondoure]

Aboard the Train.

Gabriel sat down next to a window in order to watch the passing country side. The car they had chosen was loosely filled. An elderly gentlemen up by the front was flipping through a newspaper with the headline "Jack the Ripper Strikes Again." Elsewhere a motherly woman was attending to twins who were more than a bit excited to be on the train.

[AnimeKid]

Spider taps his chin as he thinks before saying, "I'll have some orange juice please." He gives her his usual dazzling smile before realizing the effect was ruined by his trashed hat. "Hey we got anyone capable of repair magic here?"

Spero meanwhile is smiling at Cecilia's excitement. Then looks up towards the ceiling as he puts a finger to his chin and says, "You know I don't think you mentioned what that key was before. Also great job back in town, I told you your silk magic was useful."

Kuhn

He was on the train as well, though he was several seats away and had a news paper in front of him to disguise himself. After all he should at least give the rookies a chance. Plus it would double as a field examination for the girl who wished to join them. It would at least save her the hassel of having to pass a 'test' for Skye.

[DiscipleofBob]

The Train

The conductor gave York an odd look, but didn't say anything as Emilia took her seat and tried to give off a good impression. After all, this was the equivelant of a job interview for her. "So..." she tried to break the quiet, "What sort of job is this?"

[Viera Champion]

The Train

The conductor gave York an odd look, but didn't say anything as Emilia took her seat and tried to give off a good impression. After all, this was the equivelant of a job interview for her. "So..." she tried to break the quiet, "What sort of job is this?"

Varium acts nonchalant as he listens in on the conversation.

-------

Cecilia grinned at Spero.
Saggitarius.

[Xondoure]

"There is a bog demon thats been terrorizing a village a few hours train ride from here. They need some help clearing it out so they put up a notice. Truth be told I'm pretty new at jobs like this. So I'm not sure what else to expect. But whatever it is I'm sure I can handle it. Especially now I have you and Nimbus here helping me out."

[DiscipleofBob]

"A bog demon, huh?" Truth be told, this sort of thing wasn't Emilia's specialty, but they couldn't all be quelling undead spirits. She thought through her possibilities. York's showmanship could distract thugs, but it wouldn't do much against a demon. Raven was still fairly new to Emilia. She wasn't sure how his earth magic would work in a bog. There was only one way to find out, and if the bog demon had a death toll, she might be able to do some proper necromancy.

[Xondoure]

"That's what it says. I expect we'll learn more in town."

The rest of the trip passes in a rather uneventful few hours until they reach their destination. Gabriel happily led the group of misfits out into the town. It was a small place with little in the means of technology or progress outside of the station. A wooden sign stood in the square just outside with the words "Welcome to Willowsworth." By the time they arrive the sun is already starting to settle below the trees and most of the stores have begun to close.

"It seems we should find a place to sleep for the night. I'm sure the tavern has a few rooms. And they might not even charge us if they know what we're here to do."

At least I hope so. He thought to himself. I don't have the coin to pay for the night.

[DiscipleofBob]

Emilia

"I'm not sure I've ever seen a smaller town," Emilia casually remarked. This was the first time she'd ever been this far out of a large city or the family estate. As she followed Gabriel, she noticed what few villagers who were still out giving her the stink eye. More specifically, they were staring at York. It wasn't the first time Emilia had to deal with such stares, but never before had she felt so totally surrounded by them.

"Yeesh. Tough crowd," York muttered quietly to York, "Hopefully the bog demon is all we'll have to deal with here."

[riccaru]

The glares from the townspeople are fierce, and yet there's something more than the hatred of necromancy. They move slowly and deliberately, and more than once the young mages hear mutterings or could just sear someone was following closely.

Before they reach the tavern they are stopped in the streets by a man. A man of the cloth, his eyes fierce yet sympathetic. "Hello, children. My name is James Sinclair and I've been appointed the de facto leader of Willowsworth. I'm the one who sent the request to your guild in order to rid the world of a monster." His words flow over them like only a man trained to speak can do. His voice is deep and laced with a charismatic flavor. "There are rooms available to you in the local inn or you may stay in the church.The holy work is always welcome."