Clouds drifted lazily across the blue ocean skies as a flock of colorful feathered birds squawked in tandem following their leader's flight pattern gracefully and in an orderly manner. They soared in accordance to their instinct and performed a wonderful dance in the air but a loud ruckus below them ruined their focus, scattering in different directions.
Below the chaos was caused by a much worst case of disorder within the town of Magnolia. As usual, the townspeople sighed, sweatdropped and shook their heads with a smile on their faces, mentioning the same answer, knowing where the usually loud noise and minor tremors came from which may be overlooked from Kardia Cathedral of Magnolia Town, the guild of mages who lived among them – Fairy Tail.
"Raaah! You call that a punch Gray?"
A whoosh of fire can be heard within the building of mages, one of the structure's windows out letting the same fire and dissipated in a few seconds.
"Hm! Is that a challenge Natsu?" A voice lower than the first countered with an ice punch – his fists covered with ice created from the user's magic.
Their rambunctious behavior and roars caused a domino effect, making most of the Fairy Tail mages join the fray but with their own opponents.
"If you're a man, fight with your fists!" A bulky man with stitches below his right eye shouted.
"Elfman, you're just encouraging them…" A blonde girl annoyingly sweatdropped as a blue talking cat jumped with a raised paw.
"Aye!"
"Why won't anyone at least try to stop this?" The same girl sighed.
"Are you an adult Lucy? Cause you seem to not know how to have fun. Gu-hu~" Happy, the blue cat kept his laughter at bay from teasing Lucy.
"I… I do know how to have fun!" Lucy exclaimed with flushed cheeks and saw her white haired friend in her usual lolf form.
"Yuki!" Lucy called out and walked towards her but before she could even reach her friend, Natsu was thrown off on her, making her fall over and get crushed by Natsu's weight.
Natsu was quick to recover and charged at Gray once more with a cry of anger.
"Take this, droopy eyes!"
"Are you okay?" Yuki said amidst her growl as she held out a furry hand to help her up.
Lucy was seeing mini lolf Yuki's running around her head and cleared it with a shake upon hearing Yuki's voice and accepted the help, muttering her thanks. Lucy was about to say more when she was interrupted by a loud declaration.
"Fine then! The first to complete this job request wins! Natsu held out one of the papers ripped off from the request board where Nab usually stood most likely staring at the printed sheets and not daring to pick one at all.
"Heh. You wouldn't even be able to stand on such a journey." Gray offered a smug look on his face.
Natsu raised a brow and turned the paper over to read its contents. His eyes bugged out that in the midst of their fist fight did he randomly grab a job request as he gave a cry of despair.
"Nani?!"
The job was all about protecting the ship as they transport its goods to the next port.
…
The waves rocking the boat in a to and fro motion caused a certain dragon slayer slumped on the ship's deck floor with an awful motion sickness, his eyeballs white with bloated cheeks and saliva pouring out of his mouth.
"Heh! Good luck Natsu. You'll definitely need all the fortunes of lady luck you could get with this one." Gray said with a toothy grin.
Lucy sighed as she lay back on a straight chair in her bikini. "Why were we dragged along with their competition?"
"Whoa! Lucy stripped like Gray!" Happy exclaimed. His mouth formed an O of surprise.
"I do not! Plus it's hot out here and why not make the most of this trip." Lucy pointed out and Gray suddenly stood beside her leaning on the wall with just his underwear.
"This will be a piece of icicle cake."
"Kya!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise, her hands ready to do a karate chop in defense.
"G-gray… Your clothes…" Yuki pointed out with a sweatdrop.
"Guoh!" Gray looked down at his person in panic.
Natsu's bloated cheeks toned down and his feeling of motion sickness replaced with the sense of ominous atmosphere.
"What's this feeling of danger?" He stood up searching for the source.
"Alright ya seafarers! Brace yourselves for I see thy trouble is a comin'." The ship's first mate warned them which surprised them of his sudden appearance.
There was tons of debris that littered across the ocean's surface, ranging from destroyed ships of all sizes. What's more surprising was that the presence of blood and dead carcasses of marine creatures floated from whatever harm that befell them.
"Take up arms men! It's coming." A female shouted with eyes narrowed who emerged from the captain's cabin wearing a tricorn hat with a skull symbol and two scimitar swords clashing before it. A sword that of a katana rested by her waist, awaiting to be withdrawn to taste flesh and blood in its wake.
"Aye, aye Captain J!" The sailors and buccaneers called out.
"Whoa! They all sound like Happy." Natsu commented, his motion sickness strangely not affecting him.
"Aye!" Happy flew diagonally, agreeing to Natsu's claim.
"Don't just stand there you fools! This is what you're all hired for. Did you think this was some kind of vacation?" Captain J glared at them and it was especially directed at Lucy.
"Eek! H-hai!" Lucy said stiffly, afraid and reminded of her powerful celestial spirit, Aquarius with the look the captain gave her. She definitely doesn't want to summon her with a client harboring the same personality and she wouldn't want Aquarius to capsize the ship along with whatever they are protecting it from.
Yuki stood at the Bowsprit intending to protect everyone when the enemies attack up front, steadying herself from falling over by holding onto the rope that was attached to where she perched. She sniffed the air and just got the warm scent of the ocean's waters aside from the mixed and confusing scent of everyone aboard the ship. Something didn't feel right but she just couldn't put to what it was.
Everyone on board was tense as they scanned their surroundings, their eyes glancing from every direction with their heads steady in defense. Only the captain aboard seem to stand perfectly with eyes closed as if nothing's happening.
Yuki then now realized the lack of wind the moment her fur seized from being blown by the ocean's breeze. It's as if one's breathing has stopped and the lungs burned being prevented from receiving oxygen. She then felt a slight prickle on her back, her ears perked and eyes shot open, turning to whatever evil she sensed.
"Above the captain!" The female lolf howled, making Gray respond quickly.
"Ice make, lance!" His ice pierced through a couple of scaly dark creatures that were dripping wet.
More appeared, shooting out of the waters and the pirates aboard were at a frenzy. The Fairy Tail mages fought as well and have truly shown their guild's reputation. Natsu barreled through a group of these scaly creatures with a fire wing attack like a bowling bowl to a set of bowling pins. Lucy summoned Sagittarius and the latter aimed at the creatures that were crowding over Lucy with his bow and arrows. Gray created a protective ice shield before some injured pirates while those unharmed carried their mates somewhere safe. Yuki slashed at the enemies even when she wasn't that much of a fighter that kept her at her perch and used the ropes as well as the flying jib to swing across and land by the forecastic deck, toppling some of the creatures over board. Happy was doing what he could do best and was keeping the creatures from taking a certain item that of a long case that held something heavy within it among the other goods on deck as he flew away with it. It seems that these creatures were after it as a whole lot of them tailed the flying blue cat.
…
Alas! The scaly creatures were defeated and everyone jumped for joy, exclaiming their victories.
"The fun isn't over yet." A wavy haired woman spoke, wearing a tricorn hat and wielded a cinquedea dagger that was sheathed behind her back and a sawed-off shotgun held within a holster that's worn on a belt that hugged her waist.
"Captain Rez!" The pirates exclaimed in surprise.
"Eh? Another captain?" Lucy had a look of confusion on her face.
"She's right. Those were just scouts." Captain J spoke.
"What are they anyway? And what do they want?" Natsu inquired.
The wind picked up that rocked the ship a bit, bringing Natsu down to succumb with his motion sickness once again. Captain J started to explain under a sky full of fluffy gray clouds as the ship sailed to wherever the wind and current would take them.
"They're scaly creatures called Rin Ke. Creatures that have unknown origins and have sprouted to wreck havoc on ships passing through this part of the ocean and the port of Washima – the forgotten island."
"It is thought that they are searching for an item that would calm their souls. If not found, they would take whatever soul that would momentarily do so." Captain Rez continued to explain.
"S-souls?!" Lucy's voice wavered as she shivered not wanting to participate in this adventure anymore.
"Could it be the item they're after was this?" Happy held out the black rectangular case.
"It's best if you leave that to me or you'll perish." Captain J leaned close to tell Happy and the latter surrendered the item to her. She then stashed the item within the captain's cabin and returned to where the others gathered.
Yuki found this strange and Gray shared the same suspicion towards what they're clients were hiding.
"Those creatures… They were definitely monsters." Gray commented.
"Aye… 'Tis one of Zeref's magic that haunts these parts." The first mate nodded.
"Zeref?" Lucy was surprised as well as the Fairy Tail mages.
Yuki suddenly lifted her muzzle in the air and sniffed. She growled whilst informing the others with a mild tone.
"I sense more of them coming!"
Everyone once again tensed with a sense of foreboding, the injured seem to grow restless and insecure to face a grueling battle as the skies turned darker than usual.
"Hoh? The skies turned black for some reason." Happy voiced out, staring up at not clouds but a horde of those Rin Ke monsters that flew across the sky above them in huge numbers.
"Kiiii!... I want to go home now." Lucy looked on in fear, tears daring to flow down her cheeks, quivering at the sight of countless monsters.
"This is going to be fun." Gray beat a closed fist on his open palm, ice magic daring to be formed as its vapors caused that of a smoke around his hands. "Natsu! You better get into shape for whoever takes down the most number of these monsters, win!"
"Gah! I will –" Natsu burst out but the boat's swaying along with the currents brought him back down in a pathetic state.
Don't worry Gray. As promised, I will protect you. Yuki vowed as her eyes glowed in determination.
The black mass of creatures swooped down in a swift motion and engulfed the whole ship, not even sparing its underbelly as the waters turned murky and killed nearby marine life from their toxic bodies. They swarmed like bees to its nest but in this case, they were there to take out everything and everyone in it that's not part of their kind.
The pirates tried their best to ward them off with their guns and swords, keeping the Rin Ke monsters away from their fellow injured and the quarter deck. Some used magic but it wasn't great compared to the mages from Fairy Tail that have accepted this job request.
Gray and Yuki fought side by side in a combination of ice magic and beast take over.
"Kuh! How many are these things anyway?!" Gray took them out in groups but every time he did so, another set of Rin Ke buzzed and crawled around him.
Yuki slashed with her claws and bit with her fangs in quick successions, not letting a single scaly armor touch Gray though she knew that she has to use ice magic if she's to truly defend the person she vowed to protect.
Natsu unfortunately was strewn along with the many injured pirates but due to the defense having a lot of openings did a flying Rin Ke picked him up like some kind of prey along with the others.
"Natsu!" Happy called out and flew towards his buddy but was rammed in the air by a Rin Ke and fell towards the ship down below, unconscious.
With quick footing, Captain J caught the blue cat and fought off the creatures with her katana on one hand. She was able to free some of the captured men but unsuccessfully wasn't able to reach the others. It was a storm frenzy and everyone seemed to become exhausted both physically and with their magic power.
"Don't let them siphon your energies!" Captain Rez shouted fiercely, slashing with her cinquedea and shooting the beasts down with her sawed-off shot gun.
Gray was caught off guard and his energy was being sucked out and consumed by the Rin Ke.
"Gray!" Yuki snarled and slashed down the creature.
She took Gray by his arm somewhat whimpering for being too late and held his waist. She took off to the part of the ship that had most of the injured and is being defended by others.
Lucy has been summoning most of her golden key spirits minus Leo and Aquarius. She was troubled if ever she got down to her last.
"Yuki! Watch out!" A male voice in formal attire called out, punching down the creature that came close to siphoning the she lolf's energy as she tended to Gray.
Yuki turned wide eyed to hear and see Loke also known as Leo the lion.
W-what's he doing here?! She exclaimed in her thoughts, forgetting the part that he was a spirit and one of Lucy's contracted spirits. Her heart beat in a fast rhythm. Doki doki! It felt as if she can hardly breathe. A few moments passed, she recalled their situation and grimaced at the fact she wouldn't love again after all she had known and experienced the bitterness of loving someone who loved someone else. Her focus now on Gray, Loke frowned at his chance and continued off to fend the ship's occupants especially Lucy. Yuki released her beast form and was human again. She felt herself shaking, holding Gray's pale and cold face with her hand to inspect him.
"I'm sorry Gray… For being weak. I won't let everyone suffer from this anymore. Tears flowed from her eyes and she took off in her lolf form, climbing up to the main topmast and stood on it.
An ice shield encased around the ship, creating a huge orb that contained an artifact filled with precious friends and clients they have sought to protect. The Rin Ke's within the ice shield were all finished off by the mages and pirates, leaving them to ponder upon the ice dome they were all in. The first mate stabbed at the ice with his sword a few times but its end was reshaped in an odd bend, then he shouted to inform the captains.
"Captains! This thing 'ere is as hard as diamonds!"
"This is Yuki's." Lucy rubbed a hand on the ice before her. "She's not… Loke!" Lucy realized and remembered Yuki's actions back then with Laxus's games.
Loke nodded, remembering the same, knowing that he should do something before anything bad happens to Yuki once again. He jumped on one of the wooden poles nearby the main topmast and posed with a closed fist before his bowed head.
"Regulus is finally awake. Shishi Kouyou!" Light bathed around Loke and reflected by the ice, reaching the monsters outside that blinded them, making the Rin Ke's fly, swim and crawl in disorder, accidentally attacking and ramming onto one of their own.
Yuki noticed this and made her move by raising her head and gave a loud howl. It resounded around the chaotic Rin Ke's as they behaved in a manner that the very noise has impeded their senses. Some imploded and some fell from where they were.
Everyone then heard a battle cry and a fiery spell casted on the creatures, burning them, and being punched around from the dancing flames.
"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed in relief.
Gray was beginning to regain consciousness and witnessed Natsu and Yuki fighting beyond and outside a shield of ice dome around the ship. He tried to get up but felt very weak to the point he slumped back down in pain as if he was used as a punching bag.
A combination of fire and ice reflected back like flashing lights within the dome. The hordes of Rin Ke's were now obliterated and Natsu whooped for victory with a flaming punch into the air.
"It's not over yet." Captain Rez warned which made her receive puzzled looks as if pointing out what she was talking about.
"She's right. Those were merely the front line soldiers." Captain J responded with a serious tone.
"First mate Khun! Relocate the injured to the hold!" Captain Rez instructed.
"Take along with you those capable of defensive magic and perform a barrier around yourselves!" Captain J this time added.
Men scrambled to do so and picked up Gray like some kind of luggage.
"Oi oi oi. I'm still able to –"
"Face it mate. You're in no condition. Let the captains handle this." The bulky buccaneer that carried Gray, took him away with two others slumped on his broad shoulders.
Captain J handed an unconscious Happy to first mate Khun and spoke.
"They're here."
As if in sync, humongous serpent like Rin Ke's emerged from the ocean's depths giving a loud cry that rang on everyone's ears that felt like they could burst from the inside out. The boat shook from the shifting of waters that became waves and crashed on the side of the ship and everyone instinctively covered their ears to prevent more damage but it was too much. Some of the crews fainted and a light colored smoke left their bodies as if their very souls have left them and were sucked from the monster's cry.
Yuki whimpered in pain the most due to her being in her lolf form that would have intensified her hearing abilities and reverted back into human form. Natsu endured this, took hold of Yuki in his arms and faced the creatures angrily.
"I won't forgive anything or anyone that hurts my friends!"
Yuki looked up at Natsu with teary eyes, still covering her ears when one of the serpents smashed its head to where Natsu stood, breaking the ice. Natsu jumped off in time and landed on the ship's quarter deck where the captains stood, placing Yuki down. He then gave a flaming uppercut on the serpent's toothy jaws but it wasn't enough to take it down.
With the shield down, more of the Rin Ke foot soldiers started to board and fly around the ship, harassing its occupants once more as they sucked the energies of their victims along the way. Everyone were at a frenzy, keeping one another from being siphoned dry by these creatures.
Lucy fought side by side with Yuki and Loke while the captains and the rest of the crew fought before them. Loke somehow noticed the captains and their crews have been fighting nearby and on the quarter deck, keeping the creatures from even touching the ship's steering wheel or enter the captain's cabin. He pondered about this but shook his thoughts for he had priorities and that is to protect the two girls behind him – his key owner and the girl he loved along with their clients.
Everyone was getting rather exhausted once more and are running low on magic but the three Fairy Tail mages noticed something off about the two captains and the first mate. They seem to be in tip top shape than everyone else.
Natsu, who was fighting on the front lines was also getting low on fuel, his flames dying as more serpent Rin Ke's popped out like mushrooms from the ocean's depths. He was thrown harshly and was caught onto the main sail then falling onto the quarter deck.
"Natsu!" Lucy ran towards him and held him onto her lap. She felt him becoming cold, his face becoming pale.
Wide-eyed, she believed his energy was siphoned until Natsu's cheeks bloated, his motion sickness kicking in. Lucy was shocked and annoyed at the same time for worrying about Natsu. Yuki and Loke sweatdropped at the scene but since Natsu was down once again, they faced the Rin Ke in desperate attempts to survive and protect each other. Seeing this, the captains suddenly called out amidst a dire situation.
"Lia!"
A young fair maiden woke up from her slumber within a transparent glass that's surrounded by light magic that dispersed like glitters and became one with the darkness. Dressed in black and blue clothing, she strode out from the corner of the shadows of the captain's cabin and took out a metal pole from a black rectangular casing that rested on a table in the middle of the room then headed to the quarter deck. Wind blew out making the new arrival hold onto her tricorn hat, keeping it from being blown away.
"Captain Lia. I have prepared it." First mate Khun bowed respectfully, gesturing at the ship's steering wheel which turned into some kind of a complex mechanism that replaced the helm where the steering wheel parted half way and transformed into a magical receiver. It was like that of an outlet that can convert magic and powers the very vessel.
She nodded then stabbed the pole on the transformed machinery. A magic circle appeared above the boat that created a transparent shield dome around the ship. With another defense in the way, the Rin Ke's started to attack violently.
Captain J held the metal pole Captain Lia also held and casted a spell.
"Restore!"
The occupants then began to feel a sweeping motion pass them that replenished their magic and healed any injuries. Damaged parts of the ship started to restore into their original state.
"Everyone! Focus all your magic towards the ship!" Captain Lia ordered.
Everyone, even those within the hold concentrated their magical powers with their heads bowed and light poured around the ship.
"Yosh! It's my turn!" Captain Rez bounded towards the other captains with a toothy grin and held the pole.
"Energy Blast!"
Dark and negative energy seeped out from the monsters and was then absorbed into the vessel, converting it into a massive energy blast that caused the Rin Ke's to dissipate and disappear into thin air. The attack left the Fairy Tail mages exhausted once more.
"Lucy. I guess I have to go back and recover." Loke said and gave a moment's glance towards Yuki before disappearing back to the spirit realm.
With the recovery spell that healed everyone earlier, the effects seemed to have been received by Natsu lately for he just suddenly rose up with renewed energy, flames coming out of his mouth as he demanded.
"Where are they? What happened? I want to turn those monsters into fish kebabs!"
"Natsu. Calm down. It's over. I… think?" Lucy looked over at the three captains, believing that one of them might inform them that those were just the generals and foot soldiers. Wait 'til you see their leader', is what she imagined and was relieved to have not received an answer like that.
…
The rest of the trip was uneventful. Gray and Happy finally regrouped with their team, Yuki in human form running towards Gray worriedly, hugging him. Lucy was back to sunbathing and Natsu suffering from his motion sickness, asking pitifully towards the captains to use that power which made his weakness go away. Although his cries never reached them since he babbled incoherently at them as if cursing their clients for his woes.
They have finally reached the port of Washima when Yuki spoke up, though shyly, she voiced her queries.
"You're not from here, are you?"
"Of course not. They're pirates. They sail through the seas." Natsu pointed out as he happily walked around the shore nearby the docks.
Everyone's eyes momentarily averted from the pink haired mage and focused their attention on the captain and Yuki.
"What I m-mean is…" Yuki started to stutter when everyone gazed at her, cheeks flushed from all the attention.
"Y-you're all not human, are you? I… I sensed a different scent from all of you w-while I was in m-my lolf form." She then hid behind Gray, hiding her embarrassment and thoughts of mistaking their clients and calling them not human.
A slow consecutive clapping sound made her peek from her hiding place and saw Captain J doing so.
"Well, well, well. You're right. We're not humans." Captain J spoke as the three captains flashed a toothy grin.
"Everyone on board is… unique~!" Captain Rez stated.
"We can finally return to our usual dwellings now that the Rin Ke's have been eliminated." Captain Lia spoke.
"And that's thanks for luring them to us." Captain J added.
"Wait. Does this mean we were just bait?" Gray concluded, unhappily.
"Right again. All we wanted was the Rin Ke's souls. They prey on human beings." Captain Rez grinned.
"What about the goods? Wasn't that the reason for our being here?" Lucy asked, uncertain of their earlier explanation.
"There weren't any in the first place." Captain Lia pointed out and Lucy's jaw dropped, disbelievingly.
"No wonder there wasn't anything at all down there…" Gray pondered, recalling that the ship's hold didn't have anything in it.
"Aye! Happy didn't even see a single crate or barrel down there and the goods up here seemed to have disappeared." Happy included.
"I don't care! We finished our job, now where's our reward? I want to buy tons of food with it." Natsu climbed aboard the side of the ship.
"That's not the point!" Lucy scolded him.
"Reward?" The three asked in unison, glancing at one another then their eyes landed on the first mate.
"There isn't any." First mate Khun spoke indifferently.
"Figures." Gray commented, expecting something like that with all the puzzle pieces put together.
"M-my month's rent…" Lucy was aghast.
Natsu was about to speak about how he could get some food now when the first mate spoke again with a finger raised before him.
"But! You there! Miss Yuki." His finger pointed at the white haired woman.
She was surprised to be called all of a sudden and especially when things started to go downhill. Gray protectively shielded her while Natsu became serious, a fist ready before him.
"For noticing, this is your reward." First mate Khun set aside, gesturing at the ship's steering wheel.
The mages were befuddled at the turn of events and the guys brought their defensive positions down. Yuki looked astounded by this but shyly stepped forward and hesitated to touch it.
"It's all yours." Captain Lia said.
Yuki then held them in fascination.
"Besides, our mission here is complete." Captain J added. "Not to mention, I believe the one who won your rivalry and bets go to Yuki and Lucy. You men have merely been out of commission and acted like damsels in distress."
"Guh!" Natsu and Gray froze in shame on how the truth really hurts.
"How come Happy does not get to be added?" Happy pouted but was somewhat ignored though Lia held him and patted him like when one does with a pet cat.
"It's a shame we don't get to have your souls. Or have we?" Captain Rez smirked.
The hairs on Lucy's neck stood on end at that and made her shiver in uncertainty. Her feeling got worst when one by one, the crew started to change and transform into some kind of undead beings. Some turned into demons that looked more sinister than those that they met at Galuna Island and finally the three captains along with the first mate turned transparent. Happy fell off and dropped to the floor from Captain Lia's grasps now that she's beginning to vanish along with the rest of the crew.
"Let's go hunt more soulz, shall we?" Captain J told her fellow captains and crew.
"Ou!" They all agreed and everyone on board except the Fairy Tail mages, disappeared.
The island they have docked on also disappeared, leaving the Fairy Tail mages alone in the middle of the sea on the ship that was once owned by pirates.
"G… G… Ghosts?!" Lucy exclaimed in fright after they found out that they don't exist.
…
It took the team a while, more like a whole week to navigate and dock their newly acquired magical ship in front of Fairy Tail guild's back door. Everyone at the guild was surprised and Master Makarov even thought that they stole it and whatnot.
Gray's team retold their adventures and discovery but everything else was left a mystery for a lot of it was not explained well at all by their ghostly and demonic clients. Some of them brushed off the ghost part and most of them envied Yuki for acquiring such a strong magical piece but all in all, Yuki kindly told them that it's for Fairy Tail. It was soon turned into one of the guild's official ship for ocean related parties and defensive naval artillery.
There were smiles on every face until Natsu and Gray started another challenge for their previous scores during their adventure and latest job was null and void. Their fight however was stopped by Fairy Tail's strongest female mage – Titania.
END? ;3
I decided to have this posted. A fanfic story I did last year.
Had to rewatch ft to get this story written and at least try to know their personalities.
Washima Island and Rin Ke was created by me XP I also added OCs of mine and friend's OCs (with their permission) to fill up some characters instead of them being unnamed. I'm not good at writing and so I tried. Romance is not my forte so I chose adventure and a bit of action instead with probably some mystery and humor(?) in it? Although I know it's not that great compared to others.
I feel like I made everyone OOC hahaha.
Written 10/15,17,23,28,29/18
Typed 10/19,30/18
Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima
Yuki © FeistyyWolf
Lia © Callia-Sapphira
Rez © reza-delavega
J, Khun, Rin Ke's & unnamed bulky pirate © JhanLi / draquilax / Aeghloux
