Jade Force

Chapter one: Aubrey Nephrite

#Author note:

Time wise, this is set in X777 for Fairy Tail, and fourteen years pre-timeskip for One Piece.

"Dad!" Aubrey called, scaling the treacherous Boscan mountain range. "Hey, Quartzerine! I know you're here! Where'd you go? Come on, you can't tell me you changed Nests again! What's the big idea, sending me to those human towns –" she struggled briefly when her coattails caught on a shrubby outcropping – "and then moving nest? I know it's to train my nose and homing senses, but, Dad –!" Coffee-coloured hands grabbed at a deceptively stable rock, green eyes widened behind jade-studded glasses, and white hair fluttered as she fell.

"Hisuiryū no Hokou!" She roared, using the jade shards to propel herself back onto the mountain side. "Dad, please!" She whispered. "It's been a week already… Why did you move Nest whilst I was still sleeping? Where'd you go?" Thunder growled on the horizon, causing her shoulders to stiffen. Lightning crackled, and from the north, the rain came pouring down in bucket loads. Aubrey barely managed a whimper before the sheets hit her, turning the mountain earth into mud in seconds, and causing its integrity to crumble so quickly that it could no longer stand her weight.

"Hisuiryū no Hakari!" Aubrey cried desperately as the mud gathered her up, her body now covered in scales of varying shades of green. She struggled to keep herself above the mud, but it kept sucking her under, and even her impressive strength was waning.

Quartzerine, she whispered in her mind, just before everything went black.

_ * . * . * _

It was warm, and almost uncomfortably soft. What had Aubrey fallen asleep on, a sheep? Her fingers twitched, trying to decide.

"I think she's waking up!" Someone cried excitedly. Aubrey's brows furrowed – that was human, the language Boscan. What was going on?

Opening her eyes with some difficulty, Aubrey looked around the room, blinking once. "Where am I?" She asked quietly, hand still searching for her glasses. She only needed them for reading, but their weight was a comforting one.

"You're in the Wiseman's hut!" A small boy of about eight exclaimed, looking at her excitedly. No doubt she was the most interesting thing this boy had ever seen in this no-doubt secluded village, with her dark skin and bright hair.

"You are a very lucky young lady," a man in his late forties told her in a gravelly voice, passing her her glasses. "to have survived a mud slide like that."

Aubrey swallowed, then whispered, "I don't feel very lucky." Her hand reached for the metal at her throat, and her eyes widened when she couldn't feel the chain her father had placed there only the other day. "My pendant! Where is it?"

"Pendant?" Asked the Wiseman, confused. "Young lady, you just escaped the mountain with your life. A pendant is hardly an expense –"

"Don't lie to me!" Aubrey growled, getting out of the bedding on uneven legs, barely sparing the borrowed clothes a glance. "That was the last thing Quartzerine gave me! It's my treasure, now give it back!"

"Young lady!" The Wiseman exclaimed, drawing himself up to his full, unimpressive height. "Are you accusing me of theft?!"

"I don't care who took it!" Aubrey growled back, eyes dangerous. "My father gave me that before he disappeared, and it's precious to me, so give it back!"

The Wiseman backhanded Aubrey, sending her staggering. "Learn your place, woman!" He snarled.

"You shouldn't have done that," Aubrey whispered back, head still turned to the side. Her face snapped back to meet his, her eyes now slitted behind her glasses. With barely two steps between the two of them, the Wiseman registered only that her form seemed to blur briefly, and suddenly his head snapped back with a resounding crack!

"Now where is my pendant, and where are my clothes," Aubrey growled.

The small boy, staring up at her aghast, whispered, "You're a mage!" He drew breath to scream – for help? in fear? Aubrey didn't want to know – only for Aubrey to cover his mouth with her hand.

"My name is Aubrey, and I'm the Hisui no Metsuryū. Who are you?" She asked gently but firmly, removing her hand briefly.

"I – I – I'm Thom!" He squeaked. "I found you, I'm the Wiseman's Apprentice!" He shook like a leaf.

"It's nice to meet you, Thom. Do you know where my pendent is? It's a silver chain with a large green gem at the end."

Thom shook his head quickly, though his eyes glanced guiltily to the Wiseman's immobile form.

"Thom," Aubrey said quietly, crouching down and looking up at him, catching his eyes. "Do you know what the Jade Dragon stands for?" He shook his head furiously. "We stand for Truth. So I know when people lie to me. Let's try an easier question. Where are my clothes?"

"O-out the back!" Thom exclaimed. "They were covered with so much mud that the Wiseman said to toss them!"

Aubrey tried not to let that get to her – her clothes must have been filthy, for sure. "See? The truth isn't so hard to tell, now is it?" Thom shook his head again. "Now, let's try again. Where is my pendant?"

Swallowing hard, Thom shook his head more than ever. "I – I can't tell you! The Wiseman is my Master!"

Aubrey's eyes softened. "Well, I can respect that. You are certainly a brave one." She smiled at him softly, before striking a nerve at the back of his neck, stunning him. Placing the boy's body down gently, she then moved to the Wiseman and pushed the neck of his robes aside, revealing her pendent. Sighing in relief, she took it from him, and placed it back over her own neck, stroking the surface once softly. "Where are you, Dad?" She whispered, looking down at the borrowed blue nightdress. It wouldn't last long in these mountains, so she moved quickly to the back door, following the traces of her own scent mixed with mud, planning to put her own clothes on overtop as protection about the chilly mountain nights.

Her coat looked as though it belonged to some great brown lizard, it was so caked in drying mud, and her underclothes had barely fared any better: her green pants and halter-necked shirt were still sticky with it, and even her armbands – once a pretty white and blue, a gift on her seventh birthday – were the colour of not-very-nice-things. The boots she'd been wearing still had miniature bogs inside, so she decided to repay the villagers their kindness, and 'liberate' some shoes instead.

Finding nothing in the Wiseman's house, she moved stealthily over to the next building, ears sharp as she did so.

The first house she tried smelled like Thom – his home, probably – and she could hear his parents talking inside. Finding a pair of sturdy boots outside of the next house that reasonably fit her, Aubrey listened to the conversation as she secured them with an extra buckle she made out of jade.

"Thom said the girl was covered in scales, when he found her!" A woman whispered worriedly, light footsteps pacing the interior and hiding any possible noise Aubrey made.

"Scales?" A man replied. "You don't think she's a mage, do you?" There was an undertone of panic in both their voices, sending a sick feeling to the very pit of Aubrey's stomach.

"The Wiseman told me that there was a carving of a dragon on the inside of her pendant!" The woman burst out suddenly, as though the words had been eating away at her. "And that boy they chased out of town this morning, who claimed he was looking for a metal dragon!"

Aubrey's eyes widened. Gajeel-kun! She thought desperately, hoping that they'd keep talking, give her more information.

"I'm sure it's nothing, love," Her husband soothed, footsteps moving towards her voice. "That boy is too busy licking his wounds in the forest, or better yet, dead, to do anything to u –!"

He choked on his words, staring at the teenaged girl holding him by the neck against his own living room wall.

"Where. Is. Gajeel-kun." She snarled.

"Who?" He stuttered.

"Metalicana's brat! The Tetsu no Matsuryu!"

"I – I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You were just talking about him!" Aubrey yelled, at the end of her patience. "He's only ten, and he's not that bright, so do us all a favour and tell me where you chased him off, so that I can get the hell out of here!"

The father scowled. "Mage scum," He wheezed. Lips twisted into a snarl, Aubrey threw him across the room, disappearing whilst the Boscans were occupied.

Aubrey ran around the town edges, casting about for Gajeel's scent. Guess I'll just have to find him on my own, she thought grimly.

It was going to be a long night.

Translations and Author's note:

Metsuryū Mahou – Dragon Slayer Magic

Hisuiryū no – Jade Dragon's

Hokou – roar

Hakari – scales

Hisui no Metsuryū – Jade Dragon Slayer

Tetsu no Metsuryū – Iron Dragon Slayer

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So, what do you think? Please review! I love constructive criticism! (will also give me an idea as to how soon I'll continue the updates – they're planned, just not written yet)