Fairy Tail
StingYu Week 2014
Day #1 - Meeting
A scowl etched into his features, Sting Eucliffe drags his feet down the streets of Crocus. The bustling activity of the capital city of Fiore - the merchants peddling their wares, travelling mages performing small acts of magic, people running to and fro to meet up with old acquaintances or visit the various restaurants - does nothing to alleviate the young man's foul mood.
"Damned Master Jiemma…"
Managing those few words through clenched teeth, Sting feels an overwhelming urge to punch something. Fuming to himself, Sting casts furious glances in the direction of anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. Given the virtroil bubbling in his irises, it helps to accentuate his scar; the mark above his right eye standing prominently.
"How I suddenly became Sabertooth's pack mule," he mutters. "I'll never know."
An aggravated sigh passing by his lips, the White Dragon Slayer regards the slip of paper in his hands. Written in Jiemma's aggressive script, it details the materials required for the Sabertooth guild for the current month. Shaking his head, Sting crumples the paper as he comes to a stop.
Giving the immediate area a cursory glance, Sting finds himself at his destination: a specific magical establishment amidst the crowded shops of the city. Shading his eyes with a hand, his scowl pulls up into a smirk when he finds that it is indeed the building he's been searching for.
Yukino Aguria, a Celestial Spirit Mage, trails her suitcase behind her. Curiosity shining in her eyes, she studies all the various shops around her. She's somewhat confounded by the variety; there's shops selling outfits of the magical and the mundane; shops selling jewelry and scrolls and books. It's just as she's examining a confectioner's store - candies as far as the eye can see - that a sound greets her ears.
Yukino feels heat creep up the back of her neck at the loud rumbling of her stomach.
"I guess it's time for lunch." she muses, looking up at the sky with shielded eyes. "although," she turns her attention back to the various establishments. "I should find that shop I was looking for."
Journeying through the busy streets of Crocus, it isn't long before the young woman finds the shop in question. A simple brownstone edifice, the general unremarkable appearance belies the magical nature of the goods sold within. Given the rumors she's heard - how the proprietor of the establishment is rumored to sell goods in excess to the famed Sabertooth guild - Yukino is intrigued to discover what the vendor sells.
And if he or she happens to have a Celestial Key they'd be willing to part with? All the better
However, just before she could walk through the double doors, she ends up colliding with someone with blond hair.
"Oi, watch where you're going!" Sting shouts, putting a hand against his aching head.
As if this day wasn't bad enough!
Groaning in pain, Sting supposes that's what he gets for his inability to think ahead. In hindsight, it wasn't his best idea to walk around with several boxes obscuring his vision, let alone returning to Sabertooth in such a fashion.
"Me?!" the young woman, her hair light blue, squeaks defensively. "I'm not the one whose vision was impeded by carrying so many boxes!"
At the mention of said boxes, Sting removes his hand from his head. Surveying the ground around them, his eyes widen at the sight. Sure enough, scattered here and there are the lopsided boxes he had been carrying.
"Shit!" Sting curses. "They'll kill me if anything happens to this month's shipment!" he turns his gaze up to glare at the young woman. "You!" he hisses. "I don't know who you are, but you are going to help me clean this up."
"Of course!" she exclaims, her previous indignation seemingly forgotten as she bows in apology over and over again. "I'm so sorry!"
"You should be." Sting mutters, picking up a box. He shakes it slightly, hears a slight creak, and curses again. "This is going to end well."
Putting the box underneath an arm, he uses his other hand to run it through his hair. When he does, he finds the young woman staring at him; her brown eyes focused, unwavering and unnerving. "What are you looking at?"
"Are…" the young woman stammers, sounding to lose her voice. She raises a hand, points at one of his shoulders. "Are you a guild member of S-Sabertooth?!"
For a brief moment, he wonders how she could know that. He quickly realizes that, given Sabertooth's fame and how a majority of Fairy Tail disappeared, it would be something for someone not to know who he was. He supposes it helps that his guild mark denoting him as a proud member of Sabertooth is in quite the visible location.
"Damn straight!" Sting declares proudly, an arrogant smirk on his face as he uses his free hand to indicate the white mark on his shoulder. "Sting Eucliffe in the flesh."
A timid smile appears on the young woman's face. Trembling with excitement, she holds a fist over her mouth. "Sting Eucliffe."
For some odd, inexplicable reason, the aforementioned man feels his pulse quicken.
What the…?
He doesn't have much time to ponder it as the young woman gasps in alarm. "Wait, you're part of the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth! I've heard so much about you!"
"Got that right!" Sting confirms, her words causing his cocky smirk to widen minutely. "The strongest team in all of Fiore! Stronger even than one of Fairy Tail's own Dragon Slayers!"
"I see." she says. "You may be right, but they were powerful as well. I wonder if they'll even be seen again."
"Those weaklings?" Sting barks, scoffing. He narrows his eyes, the young woman now giving him pause. "Wait a minute, why did you want to know if I belonged to Sabertooth anyway?"
"Well, I…" she starts, a light pink blush dusting her cheeks. She hesitates, clears her throat. "I wanted...to join." she pauses for a brief moment, tightened her hands into fists, continues. She looks him directly in the eyes as she says: "I want to join Sabertooth!"
"You do, huh?" Sting murmurs lazily in response, raising an eyebrow.
The young woman nods her head enthusiastically. "Yes, I do!"
In spite of himself, the possible state of the magical goods, Sting chuckles. He supposes that that was why his pulse had quickened a few moments prior. Simple, explainable male hormones.
"Well, what's your name?"
"My name?" she repeats. "My name is Yukino Aguria, a Celestial Spirit Mage."
"Well Yukino," Sting starts, unaware of how effortlessly her name rolls off his tongue. "what makes you think that you're Sabertooth material?"
"S-Sabertooth material?" Yukino asks, clearly taken aback.
"Yeah." Sting confirms. "Only the strongest mages in all of Earthland can join Sabertooth." he shakes his head as he adds, "No exceptions."
"The strongest mages?" Sting hears her whisper under her breath.
Yukino looks down and away, clutching a hand to the opposite arm.
"Hmm?" Sting murmurs as he finishes picking up the last of the four boxes of magical supplies. Wordlessly, he accepts the fourth one Yukino soon hands to him. Putting all four of them down on the ground, he rests his chin and both his arms atop the boxes.
"Let me guess," Sting begins, regarding Yukino as his usual smugness is uncharacteristically gone from his voice. "while you may be a mage, you're not a very powerful one, are you?"
Yukino looks at him only fleetingly before looking at the ground. "No, I have only three keys and my magical power isn't that considerable."
Sting hums thoughtfully in the face of such information.
"I guess I'm not strong enough to join Sabertooth after all." Yukino says, picking up the suitcase that escaped her custody during the collision. She turns, makes to leave. "I apologize if I wasted your time."
As Sting watches the back of her retreating figure, he feels a strange need to go after her. To pursue her and perhaps at least try to fulfill her dream of joining Sabertooth. The more rational part of him, however, wants to brush her off as just another pitiful mage wanting to join Sabertooth.
In any event, his irriationality wins out in the end. Picking up the boxes, two under each arm, he gives chase.
"Yukino!" Sting shouts, deftly avoiding a trio of tourists. "Wait!"
The young woman in question stops cold in her tracks, soon turning around to see the young man chasing after her.
"What is it?" Yukino inquires.
"You said that you wanted to join Sabertooth, right?" Sting asks.
"Yes." Yukino answers, the halting quality of her tone denoting how she's unsure of how the conversation will proceed. Honestly, Sting's a bit unsure himself. "But you said that only the strongest mages can join." looking crestfallen, she adds, "And I'm not very strong at all."
"Whether or not you're a strong mage remains to be seen." Sting asserts. "At any rate, I'll make you a deal."
"A deal?" Yukino echoes.
"Yep." Sting confirms. "I'll lead to Sabertooth and you can join…" he trails off, donning a serious expression upon seeing Yukino's face light up. "On one condition. You must beat me by using your three Celestial Spirits in order to join."
"And if I fail?" Yukino asks.
Smart girl. Cautious, too.
"Hmm…" Sting murmurs thoughtfully. "If you fail, you must kiss me."
It seemed that all the blood rushes to Yukino's face, her eyes widening at the terms. "K-Kiss you?"
"Yep." Sting confirms. "A fair deal, wouldn't you agree?"
"But why?" Yukino asks. "What does that have to do with it?"
Sting shrugs. "Should be worth it to become a guild member, besides," an arrogant smirk appears on his face. "any woman should be more than ecstatic to have an opportunity to kiss me. It's a win-win either way."
Yukino stands silent, fiddling with the hem of her top. Presumably, she's considering her options: on one hand, the perfect opportunity to join Sabertooth is right in front of her but if she failed, she would have to kiss the young man before her. She shakes her head, appearing to come to a decision as she looks him straight in the eyes. His piercing blue eyes look unto collected brown eyes.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yes, I accept these terms," Yukino says, keeping her eyes on him. "but if I lose, the kiss whill be on the cheek."
"Just the cheek?' Sting asks, lips pulling into a slight pout. "That's no fun. What if I want it on the lips?"
Yukino balks, shortly recovering her composure. "Just the cheek."
"Fine." Sting relents, picking up the boxes. "Have it your way."
The White Dragon Slayer and the Celestial Spirit Mage stand facing each other in a nearby empty field. Aside from them, it's devoid of any life except the grass and trees, stray animals, random passersby
Sting gets into a fighting stance - arms raised at slight angles, feet and legs apart - as Yukino pulls forth one of her keys.
Inscribed on it is a bow that bears the symbol of the Pisces constellation on a dark background. It's flanked by two elongated fish with large and visible fins and tails as they overlap in correspondence to their small heads and the tails themselves. The end of the key's blade takes the shape of an anchor.
"You ready, Yukino?' Sting asks. "Because I won't be holding back."
"I wouldn't expect you too." Yukino admits. Pulling the key across her mouth, she thrusts it above her. "Open Gate of the Two Fish! Pisces!"
The magic runes appear above her as from either side the Celestial Spirits cross over into the physical world from their world. The mother and son duo weaved threateningly around each other, hovering a few paces away in the air. The obsidian and alabaster creatures soon converge on Sting's location in an attempt to deal a blow to him. However, the young man's reflexes are quicker.
Jumping away from the point of impact, he readies his own attack.
"White Dragon's Roar!" he bellows, a small laser shooting from his mouth. The attack ends up hitting the obsidian fish above the eye. Although he flinches, it becomes clear that it will take more than a scratch to bring a Celestial Spirit low.
"Interesting." Sting remarks.
The alabaster fish, incensed on her son's behalf, charges at Sting. Once more, he's ready as he jumps onto her.
"White Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Covering his left fist with a sphere of light, Sting punches the fish. He does this over and over again before something unexpected happens, forcing him to stop. The obsidian fish charges in the space above his mother, knocking Sting off. That isn't the end of the assault as he continues to push him down until both of them collide with the ground.
While Sting recovers, gets to his feet and brushes himself off, he's surprised. He honestly wasn't sure what to make of Yukino's self-deprecation. Is she overestimating herself or underestimating her abilities. Quite obviously it appears to be the latter.
The twin fish hover above him once again.
"Impressive work." Sting admits. "Going to take a lot more than that though to best me."
He follows up his boast by joining his palms together as his fingers come in contact with each other. Then, he separates his palms whilst maintaining contact through his fingertips. Light generates in the hollow part between his hands as it expands from the holes between his fingers, The White Dragon Slayer completely separates his hands before extending them horizontally at his body's side as the light he generated takes the form of a large sphere.
From this large sphere comes a number of white rays which are fired at the twin fish.
"Holy Ray!"
The ensuring bombardment causes the twin fish to grimace as they seem to lose both consciousness and altitude.
"While you may have weakened Pisces," Yukino says. "You haven't met my other Celestial Spirits."
What she does next surprises Sting.
She smirks.
And from what he knows about her in the brief moments of conversation, he has an idea that that is not a usual sight.
Like before, Yukino pulls a key across her mouth. Inscribed on it is a bow that in the center features the crest of the Heavenly Scales. The end of the key's blade is thicker and bears resemblance to a horseshoe. The design of gleaming circles on the sides of the bow and the top of the handle appear to be the pans of scales.
Yukino closes her eyes before taking a deep breath.
"Open Gate of the Balance!"
She opens her eyes, pointing her key at the sky.
"Libra!"
The magic runes appear above her once again. After they dissipate, a curvaceous woman with dark hair tied in an ox horn style materializes. A frilled and striped bikini top matches the patterned loincloth that sports pom-poms at the waist. She wears numerous bangles on her arms and legs as her neck was concealed by a thick necklace. A simple pair of sandals adorn her feet, her head dressed with a zigzagged headband. A cloth that bears the symbol of the Heavenly Scales is tied around her head, concealing her lower face.
The final thing are the pair of scales dangling from her hands. Thin cords run from her fingertips to the sides of the scales. And as she moves in a delicate dance, it's almost as if she's playing puppeteer with them.
"Huh." Sting says. "Interesting outfit."
"You'll soon find that to be the least interesting thing about her." Yukino warns, thrusting an arm out in front of her. "Libra, increase the target's field of gravity."
"As you wish." Libra says tersely. She moves her scales in a sort of elegant dance. Afterwards, the motion appears to have the intended effect as Sting feels the gravity around him increase.
Considerably.
"Hmm." Sting says, grimacing at the added gravity pressing down on him. "Never dealt with this kind of magic before."
"Now Pisces!" Yukino commands.
Rendered helpless by Libra's Gravity Change, Sting is unable to do anything but watch as the mother and son duo collide into him. Just like his previous assault with his fist, Pisces unleashes a frenzied assault upon the young man. It's several moments before they relent.
Pisces retreats from Sting's form as sand swirls in the air.
Before Yukino can so much as speak, Sting moves, showing her through his actions that he's still conscious.
That he can still fight.
"For someone who says that they don't have a lot of magic power," he mutters, struggling to get to his feet. On shaking legs, he stands, brushes his shoulders free of sand. "you're giving me a real battle." hardening his gaze, he smirks. "The fun ends here. What I'm about to unleash is the power that kills dragons."
"Hmm?" is all Yukino offers in response.
Flickering in and out of existence, an aura of bright light soon encompasses Sting. The sheer energy of it radiates off of him whilst white scale-like markings cover parts of his body.
"White Drive should make quick work of this battle." Sting declares, voice dripping smug confidence.
"We'll see about that." Yukino retorts.
The two opponents - the White Dragon Slayer and the Celestial Spirit Mage - stare each other down as confidence is clearly displayed on their features.
When Yukino speaks next, Sting's confidence fades to confusion, frowning.
"Pisces, Libra!" she shouts out. "Gate Close!"
The aforementioned Celestial Spirits promptly disappear in puffs of golden smoke.
"What are you doing?" Sting asks, his usual confidence seeping through, a smirk on his face. "Forfeiting already?"
"Not exactly." Yukino replies ominously, something in her voice sending a chill down his spine. She draws forth an obsidian key whilst pocketing her previous keys. With her drawing it across her mouth, Sting watches at the field starts to become surrounded in a dark, purple fog in anticipation of the inevitable arrival of her last Celestial Spirit.
"Not exactly." Yukino replied ominously as she drew an obsidian key. Drawing it across her mouth, she watched as the field started to become surrounded in a dark, purple mist in anticipation of the inevitable arrival of her Celestial Spirit.
"Open! Gate of the Serpent-Bearer!" Yukino declares, sinister magic circles appearing above her head. "Ophiuchus!"
The suffocating, violet mist covering everything in a menacing hue, a los hiss fills the air. The sound serves as a herald of a ginormous snake-lake creature, the entity emerging from within the inky darkness.
Glaring at Sting, the purportedly most powerful - and most intimidating and forbidden of the Celestial Spirits of the Golden Zodiac - narrows her eyes into slits as she moves slowly around the battlefield.
"A giant snake, huh?" Sting muses, his smirk of confidence never leaving his face.
"You won't feel so confident when she unleashes her true might." Yukino state severely, her face a stoic mask.
As the two magi stare each other down - Sting's aura of confidence and his Dragon Slayer Magic increasing subtly by the second and Yukino's presence of calm dignity - Ophiuchus unleashes a ferocious, unearthly roar, causing the two combatants to cover their eyes to block out the ear-splitting volume of it.
When the roar fades, Sting remains unfazed.
"Is that the best you got?" he sneers.
Instead of rising to the bait like he expects, Yukino's lips twitch upwards at the corners. It takes him by surprise. He raises an eyebrow, about to ask what she's grinning about before it hit hims.
With a horrible, wracking cough, one half of the mighty Twin Dragons of Sabertooth falls to his knees, his eyes widening as they're riveted to the ground beneath him.
"What—" Sting starts with another cough, struggling to get back on his feet only to fall to his knees. He's crouched low to the ground, gritting his teeth. One of his knees begins to make an indentation in the ground whilst he glares at his opponent. "What kind of magic is this?!"
Yukino releases a calm sigh, a ghost of a smile flitting across her features.
"Ophiuchus' real strength lies not in her stature nor in her menacing appearance, but in her ability to infect anyone she deems as an enemy with various debilitating illnesses."
"That's—" Sting mutters darkly, coughing, blood forced from his system unto the sand before him. He struggles in vain to his feet. "That's fucked up."
"In any case," Yukino says, thrusting an arm in front of her towards her Celestial Spirit. "Ophiuchus' power is absolute."
"Oh?" Sting says, a challenge. "We'll...see about...that." he wheezes and coughs before managing to speak once more. "We'll see...how it holds up against Dragon Slayer Magic."
Despite whatever illnesses have befallen Sting, the exertion they visit upon his body, the young man manages to not only get to his feet, but stay on them. Coughing once, he rears his head back, preparing an attack.
"White Dragon's…" Sting manages. "Holy Breath!"
Gathering a large quantity of light in his mouth, Sting unleashes a large beam of magical energy directly at the large snake. Unlike his previous attacks, his current one seems particularly powerful. And potent, if the pained hiss that escapes the Celestial Spirit is any indication.
Sting doesn't falter in his assault.
The concentration of his attack appearing to grow stronger and stronger with each passing moment, Ophiuchus soon chooses to retaliate. Slithering around for a better position in which to face Sting, the thirteenth Celestial Spirit opens her mighty jaws. Revealing two alabaster fangs in the roof and floor of her mouth, a stream of dark purple mist comes gushing out. And promptly hits Sting directly in the chest.
Regardless of the assault's strength, Sting stands firm.
Forcing himself to take a step forward, the action causes his attack to collide with Ophichus'. As the two forces war with each other, each becomes more and more intense. Given the display, it's clear that neither wish to give an inch.
All too quickly, it becomes apparent which force is greater.
Continuing to take step after step, signs of fatigue showing on Sting's face as a trail of blood begins to drip from the side of his mouth, he soon gains the upper hand. Injecting more force into his attack, focusing upon it, the stream of magic growing stronger still, it begins to push back against the stream of mist. Eventually, it reaches a point where, just as the attack is about to overwhelm Ophiuchus completely, an explosion occurs.
An explosion of Sting's pure white magic intermingling with Ophiuchus' dark purple mist swallows up Yukino, Sting, and Ophiuchus in a deep, impenetrable fog.
Slowly, but surely, as the fog dissipates, the victor of the battle becomes known.
Collapsing on her knees, Yukino pants heavily whilst Ophiuchus vanishes and the dust from the ensuring battle clears. The white markings and intangible glow around Sting dissipates as he pants. Raising a hand to brush aside the blood from the side of his mouth, his entire body is caked with sand and dirt.
He soon closes the distance between himself and his opponent as she remains hunched over on the ground.
"That was some battle Yukino." Sting remarks.
"It was quite the match." Yukino agrees, though she doesn't meet his gaze.
"Guess you know what happens now, don't you?" Sting asks.
Yukino takes a shuddering breath. "Yes."
Standing up, she looks him in the eyes.
And it promptly startled by them. She expects to find overconfidence, smugness, and perhaps even a waiting expression complete with a lascivious smile. What she hadn't expected was to find something akin to admiration in his eyes.
"Yukino, how does being a member of Sabertooth sound?"
She feels her heart skip a beat. "W-What?!"
"Of course, I'll have to talk with Master Jiemma about it," Sting says. "But given our battle, I'm sure if I put in a good word, you'll be a member in no time."
"But…" Yukino stammers. "But I lost the battle!"
"That's true." Sting admits. "But if you ask me, you've shown me that you're more than capable enough to become a guild member of Sabertooth."
"I am?" Yukino asks and when Sting doesn't contradict her, she grins ear-to-ear. "Thank you!"
Sting waves the gratitude off and shrugs; an air of nonchalance settles over him. "Whatever. Anyway, guess it's time—"
Yukino's rumbling stomach interrupts any further attempts at conversation.
Sting smirks in amusement as Yukino's cheeks color dark red in embarrassment.
"Hungry, huh?"
"I suppose I'm a bit peckish."
Sting snorts. "That's an understatement."
Walking to the edge of the field, Sting picks up two of the boxes filled with magical supplies. And after he jerks his head in a not so subtle motion in her direction, Yukino moves to pick up the other two.
"Luckily for you, Sabertooth has some of the best food in Crocus."
The drool threatening to escape Sting's mouth helps to convince her.
Sabertooth. An actual guild member…
Yukino can hardly believe her luck! If all goes well with this "Master Jiemma" character, she'll become a full-fledged member of the Sabertooth guild!
"I'm a guild member of Sabertooth?" Yukino repeats.
The sentence tastes foreign on her lips.
"Yeah." Sting assured curtly. "Providing everything goes well with Master Jiemma. We'd better—"
Sting's advice remains unspoken when Yukino presses a chaste and simple kiss to his cheek.
"A Celestial Spirit Mage never goes back on a deal or breaks a promise." Yukino explains to his confused expression. "And also, consider it thanks for even trying to help me become a guild member of Sabertooth."
Sting stares at her dumbly before shaking his head. "Whatever."
Yukino suppresses a laugh at his reaction, following after him. And as she did, she cannot help feeling she is walking to the rest of her life.
Little does she know in that moment, in more ways than one.
Originally Added: May 4th, 2019.