Oc's are CLOSED! I will not accept anymore. I have just enough. If I PMed you, then you know I accpeted you character. I might Pm you back to request some more information. Your Oc's will begin to make appearances starting Chapter 5 (It was going to be 4, but this chapter was running long so I cut it in half.)
Any questions?
Review Below, Let me know! ^^
On the coastline of town, the more luxurious houses resided. In one of these houses, Rave Skyler was finishing getting ready to go out. She had just put on her head band and looked out at the clear sunny day.
"Alright!" she said. "I'm gonna kick some ass today!"
Rave petted her pet rock, which was a small boulder, as she ran out the front door. She was on her way and passed through the market district. It was still early and she could see the merchants getting ready for a busy day. Rave stopped as she heard some poor pathetic bum lying on the sidewalk starting to moan.
"Oooohh... someone turn off the sun..."
"Oh my God! Ash?!" Rave shouted.
Asharu rolled over and looked up at her, his eyes bloodshot red. "Rave, not so load." He groaned as he held his head. "I'm in a lot of pain..."
"Oh, sorry." Rave hushed her tone. She noticed that a merchant selling musical items was nearby. She grabbed two cymbals, went back to Asharu and banged them together.
CRRASSH!
"AAHHAHAAHHHA!" Asharu exclaimed in agony, holding his head.
"That's what you get for underage drinking." Rave scolded him.
Asharu put sunglasses over his eyes so no one could see how red they were.
"What are you doing sleeping in the middle of the street, anyway?" Rave questioned.
"I don't have a place to stay." Asharu answered. "At least the streets are cleaner."
"Why didn't you just sleep in the guild's bar?"
"'Why didn't you just sleep in the guild's baaarr'?" Asharu said in a mocking tone before realizing something. "... Damn, that would have been a good idea."
"Look, if you need a place to stay, you can stay at my house."
"How the hell can you afford your own house?"
"Daddy bought it for-"
"No deal." Asharu got up and walked away.
"Oh, come on, Ash! Can't you just let it go?"
"No, I'm stubborn like that."
"Come on, Ash, that was years ago."
Asharu stopped and turned around to face her. "Rave, it's because of him I had to leave the island. I had to leave my home, leave my friends. I'm never going to forgive him for that. I don't care how good his intentions are, he turned on his own son. End of story!"
Rave looked at him with a sad look, but Asharu just kept walking toward the guild.
Upon arriving at the guild, Asharu and Rave saw that Angel was at the bar and she had been drinking a little bit.
"Clawda-Clawdaw, I'm not a bimbo, am I?" Angel asked in a slur.
"Of course you're not a bimbo." Clawdaw answered. "You're a very pretty girl."
"Ah, what do you know? You're just a stupid crab." Angel said, then turning to the two who just entered. "Ashiesers! Ashes! Ash Ketchup! Fire Ash! Am I a bimbo?"
"Of course you're not a bimbo." Asharu responded. "You're a very pretty girl."
"Yay!" Angel said, giving Asharu a hug. "That's the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me." Angel nuzzled her face into his shoulder. "And you're so warm, too."
"What will you have, Asharu?" Clawdaw asked.
"Any tonic would be nice." Asharu responded. "And ice. Lots of ice."
Almost immediately, Clawdaw placed a bag of ice on the counter and Asharu placed it against his forehead. As he looked up the counter, he noticed there was a piece of paper attached to the request board.
"A job?!" Asharu jumped up from the counter and grabbed the paper. "We actually got a job!"
Rave and Angel, who suddenly sobered up, peered over Asharu's shoulders to look at the paper.
"It's an escort job for 20,000 Jewel." Asharu read. "Awesome, I can get my own place with this now!"
"Hey, you're gonna split that, right?" Rave asked. "We've all got to work."
"What do you need to work for? Why don't you just have 'Daddy' buy everything for you?" Asharu asked.
"He just got me the house." Rave stated. "I still have to pay for food and utilities."
Angel took the paper out of Asharu's hands and looked at it. "Hm... 20,000 split three ways. How're we going to do that?"
Asharu took the paper back. "What makes you think you're going?"
Angel just smiled and placed her finger on his chin. "Come on, sweetie, you know you want me to go."
"As much as I want another hangover." Asharu said.
"Oh, I know you don't mean that." Angel said.
"Why don't you guys wait for Kisha?" Clawdaw suggested. "That way you can split the reward 4 ways between you 5,000 each."
"Are you kidding, Clawdaw?" Asharu asked. "That's hardly enough to rent a cardboard box in this town!"
"If you want, you can stay with me." Angel said. "It'll be just like a sleepover... with very little sleep."
"Seriously, no one talks like that." Asharu stated.
Kisha came in through the front door and saw everyone over by the bar. "What's going on?"
"We got a job!" Rave responded.
"Really?!" Kisha hurried over and looked at the paper.
"Apparently some sort of bandits are attacking the diamond transports from the mine here in Harbor Bay meant for the town of Tjuin." Asharu read it over again. "All we have to do is protect one shipment and we'll get paid."
"Well, if the three of us go, we should be able to protect that shipment." Kisha said.
Angel glared at Kisha. "What do you mean 'three'?"
"Well, I didn't want to say anything." Kisha said. "Btu between the four of us, only Ash, Rave and myself have strong magic for fending off bandits. While you'll just turn into a little girl, run and hide."
Angel banged her head against Kisha's forehead and the two just pushed off against each other.
"Oh really?!" Angel asked. "I never seen you do any sort of magic!"
"Oh, you want to see my magic, huh?!" Kisha growled. "I'll be happy to show you!"
Meanwhile, behind the bar, Asharu and Clawdaw just glared at the girls as they continued to bicker.
"Seriously, is this going to be a thing between these two?" Asharu asked.
"You should just pick one of them and get it over with." Clawdaw answered.
Asharu looked at him with a confused look. "'Pick one of them'? What are you talking about?"
"Seriously?" Clawdaw asked. "Mr. Hits-on-every-hot-girl-that-he-sees? You don't understand what I just said?"
"... Not really." Asharu answered.
Clawdaw sighed. "Those girls could do so much better."
On the outskirts of town, near the back mountains, the four wizards met up with seven carriages carrying boxes filled with beautiful diamonds. A single Rune Knight was there to greet them.
"We're here for the job." Asharu told the Rune Knight.
The Rune Knight nodded and led Asharu to the front of the convoy. "The bandits have been sighted just outside the Tjuin." The Knight explained. "From what we know, they're few in number, but they're magic users. The Rune Knights would have dealt with them ourselves, but we're stretched too thin across the island."
"Go figure." Asharu said.
The Rune Knight took one of the boxes and opened it to show off all the beautiful diamonds. The wizards all gathered around in awe as the sparkled like stars in the sky.
"There are five boxes on each caravan." The Rune Knight stated. He closed the box up and sealed it with magic. "Each box contains approximately 75 million Jewels worth of diamonds. And each is sealed with magic."
"Hold on a sec!" Rave said. "75 million per box, 5 boxes per carriage 7 carriages."
"Holy, that it is a crud load of money." Kisha said.
"If for any reason the magical seals are broken or any of the boxes missing, not only will you not be paid, you'll be arrested for theft." The knight stated. "Am I clear?"
"As clear as diamonds, sir." Asharu responded.
"All right, good luck then." The knight said.
The caravan began to move through the mountain pass and each of the wizards walk alongside them.
After about ten minutes of walking, nothing seemed suspicious. Their path was rugged, but passable. Lined along the side were trees, housing birds that were chirping blissfully. Engrossed by the song, Rave whistled along with the birds' song.
"Aaaggghhh!" Angel groaned. "Are we there yet? My feet hurt!"
"Well maybe you should put some shoes on." Kisha told her.
"I would if I could." Angel said, looking down at her bare feet. "Once I get paid for this shop, I'm stopping at the shoe store to get the CUTEST pair of sandals!"
"You seriously don't have any footwear?" Kisha asked.
Angel shook her head. "I came here straight from Hargeon with only the stuff I'm carrying with me right now. I'll be honest, I did have some money, but I kind of needed to spend it."
Kisha glared at her. "On stupid stuff I bet."
"On food!" Angel said. "I couldn't starve!"
"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate anything other than-"
"And there was this beautiful black dress that showed off my body perfectly! And this sexy lingerie that would drive all the guys in the city crazy!"
"Yeah, that's more like it."
Angel jumped onto one of the carriages and sat on top of one of the boxes. "Asharu, are we there yet?"
"No, we still got a ways to go." Asharu responded.
"How much longer?" Angel asked.
"Once we get to the crossroad, about two hours." Asharu answered.
"And how far is the crossroad?" Angel inquired.
"About another hour." Asharu answered. "It's right by the Baron's mansion."
"The Baron's mansion's not there anymore." Rave pointed out. "The Rune Knights tore down most of it. Then they rebuilt it and created their own little fortress."
"So it upgraded from a disgusting eyesore to a plain eyesore?" Asharu asked.
"I mean, it makes sense." Rave said. "It's a strategic location right by the crossroads. They can block travel between any of the towns in the event of a crisis. And should one of the towns be attacked, they can get a messenger to this area and send them into the other three areas at once."
Asharu gave Rave a quizzical look. "You sound just like a general, Rave."
Rave put her hand behind her head and just smiled. "Nope, I'm just smart."
Crossroads Fortress, a mini-citadel built at Diamonte's mountain crossroads. On the side of the mountain stood a castle which overlooked the four-way intersection. A series of walls was built around the crossroads with a gate over each road which all connected back to the castle. The convoy had stopped at the first gate and were being inspected by the Rune Knights.
"Well this certainly wasn't here before." Asharu commented.
"Where are you all heading?" One of the guards asked.
"To Tjuin." Asharu answered calmly. "We're delivering diamonds."
The Rune Knight looked at the other Rune Knight, who nodded at the other Rune Knight, who looked back at Asharu.
"Please wait here while I confirm." The knight said, walking through the gate.
Asharu just slumped back against the carriage. He looked up at the castle and wondered. *I wonder what they're doing in there?*
On the top floor of the fortress, 5 high ranking Rune Knights stood in a plain room and were discussing the most recent news. Lieutenant Franklin Skyler was in the room, seemingly disinterested in everything in the room.
"News is that the Raldan fleet has anchored itself back into their harbors. It seems we've successfully prevented the invasion this time." Lieutenant Julien Voask said to the room. He was a pudgy man whose blading head was too big to wear a helmet.
"Then we were successful." Lieutenant Anthony Rizzo said. He was a skinny, older man with a receding hairline and white sideburns on his face. "We can return to the mainland now."
"It's not that easy." Lieutenant Gren Scills said. Unlike the other Lieutenants who wore armor, he wore a gray robe and carried a golden staff with a ruby at the tip. "If we were to simply just leave, someone could monopolize the diamond mines again. Not only that, if we're not here and Raldan decides to go through with an invasion and occupy the island, that would put Fiore in a very difficult position in what to do."
The Lieutenants were all talking in the presence of Captain Petrey Reznov. An intimidating looking man with a stone-like face with a neatly stylized beard and mustache. His armor was more decorated than the other Lieutenants, as if trying to show how important he was. "Lieutenant Skyler..." Captain Reznov spoke. "What do you think?"
"I think they're just stalling." Lt. Skyler answered. The other Lieutenants looked at him in confusion. "They wasted no time in trying to organize an army to invade Diamante. They want this island."
"Then why would they send a demand to Fiore ordering for the demonopolization of these mines?" Lt. Rizzo asked.
"To keep up a ruse." Lt. Skyler answered. "They are basically saying that the prices for their jewelry is too high so they're going to invade another country. Go to war and risk millions of lives just so a young man can propose with a diamond ring? Does that not make sense to anyone else?"
"So you think they're going to invade us anyway?" Captain Reznov asked.
"Not exactly." Lt. Skyler responded. "They're just looking for a reason to invade. How else will they sell it to the people? Raldan is already at war with three other countries on their continent. How can they justify invading a kingdom across the ocean while their people are wary from war?"
"So we just don't give them a reason." Lt. Scills responded. "We just need to keep the peace."
"But there's still something I don't get." Lt. Skyler said. "Why here? Why Diamante? Why do they want to invade here?"
"Tell me, Lieutenant, do you know who the king of Raldan is?" Captain Reznov asked.
"No, sir." Lt. Skyler answered.
"That is why." Captain Reznov stated. "Raldan is known as the 'Empire of a Hundred Kingdoms'. It is by far the largest and most populated kingdom in the world that we know of. They conquer lands to spread the influence of their king. That is the sole purpose of any soldier in their army. Even the wizards must enlist to support their king if called upon. If you don't even know who the king is, then the average citizen of Fiore does not know who he is. In the end, Raldan will look toward Fiore no matter what, putting all 17 million citizens at risk of war."
"It just seems too simple." Lt. Skyler said.
"Life is not complicated, neither are people." Captain Reznov said. "The smallest of reasons can drive forward the largest of ambitions. Dismissed."
The Lieutenants all saluted and left. Once the Lieutenants left, a figure seemingly materialized in the shadows, still hiding to conceal their face. The figure pulled out a pocket watch as if to check the time.
"That's a great quote." The figure said. "They put quotes like that in the history books."
"Any trace yet?" Reznov asked the figure.
"These mines are deep. Probably go under the ocean floor. Could be decades before we find anything."
"Well keep looking." Reznov ordered. "We need to find it and destroy it."
"Whatever you say." The figure said, closing the pocket watch and seemingly disappeared into the shadows.
After a long hour of waiting, Asharu and the others finally got the clearance to pass and went through both of the gates on their way to Tjuin.
"Geez, that took forever!" Asharu groaned. "Come on! Let's get moving!"
Angel was still sitting in the wagon, swinging her feet back and forth.
"Oh, it's no fair." Angel overheard a voice. She looked over and saw that Kisha was looking at a magazine centerfold in Sorcerer Weekly.
Angel quickly took it away. "What's no fair?"
"Hey, give that back!" Kisha tried to take the magazine back.
Angel kept it away and looked at the centerfold, which was a photo of Mirajane in a bikini.
"Wow, I thought you might swing that way, but I wasn't entirely sure!" Angel smiled, then glared at Kisha. "Does this mean I have to watch my back from now on?"
"In your dreams!" Kisha snatched the magazine back. "It's unfair because she's just so damn gorgeous!"
"Well, damn her for having natural good looks." Angel said.
"You just don't get it." Kisha said.
Angel looked at her confused and noticed that Kisha was peering over the convoy to where Asharu was.
"Oh, I see..." Angel realized. "She and Ash had a little thing going on, didn't they?"
"No!" Kisha responded. "I mean, I don't think so. I hope not."
Angel just laughed and took a seat right next to Kisha. "Don't worry, they didn't. Trust me. If he had been with all that," Angel motioned to all of Mirajane in the photo. "He wouldn't be nervous whenever I used all of this." She motioned to her own body.
Kisha looked at her confused. "What?"
"Listen." Angel threw her arm around Kisha. "Ash might talk like he's a big player, but trust me, he's about as innocent as a virgin on their thirteenth birthday."
"That's a crass metaphor." Kisha stated.
"But it's true." Angel said. "I can just smell it on him. That just leaves on question: Whose gonna be the lucky girl to take his innocence?"
"Do you have to phrase it that way?" Kisha asked.
"Yeah, that's the kind of pervert I am." Angel answered. "I just like men holding a long, strong... sword."
Kisha looked at her with disgust. "... I'm just going to walk now." Kisha got off the wagon and started walking alongside it.
"Don't act like you don't want to grab his sword, too!" Angel called out.
Back at the crossroad citadel, Lt. Skyler was out in the main courtyard, about to return to his post back in Harbor Bay.
"Hey, Franklin!"
Lt. Skyler looked over and saw Lieutenants Rizzo and Voask approaching him.
"Is it true there's a new guild in your city?" Lt. Rizzo asked.
"Yes." Lt. Skyler answered. "The Lunar Knights."
"That's very good." Lt. Voask said. "Guilds really help the economy out. Just goes to show how far the city has come from being a slum."
"Not all good." Lt. Rizzo said. "I heard they got one kid from Fairy Tail to join the guild. Nothing but a bunch of demolitionists, that guild."
"Hey, as long as it's not the Salamander, we've got nothing to worry about." Lt. Skyler said.
"Naw, I heard this kid destroyed that ancient bridge in Rose Lake." Lt. Rizzo stated. "They said he did it on purpose, too. Cut down the supports without a second thought. Then the kid left. Didn't even apologize. Didn't even pay for the damages. The world would be better off without little shits like that."
Franklin thought for a moment and stepped up to Rizzo in a very threatening way. "That little shit... happens to be my son. I expect you to watch your mouth about him."
Rizzo stood that, gulping his own sweat, but Voask put his arm between them and lightly pushed Franklin back a little.
"You're son, eh?" Voask asked. "If he starts causing trouble, you'd better be ready to do what's necessary. Captain Reznov won't let any nepotism slide."
"I know my duty." Lt. Skyler said. "In order: my family, my home, then to the Rune Knights. I've turned my back on him once, I will not do that again. Now, if you'll excuse me."
Franklin turned his back to them and walked off.
It was about another hour of walking, Rave was still whistling the birds' song, but stopped as something seemed irregular.
"Huh? That's strange." Rave spoke up.
"Break your tongue whistling? Good." Asharu said.
"No, I don't hear the birds no more." Rave stated.
Asharu stopped and Rave was right. Everything was quiet... way too quiet. The wind began to blow and the trees around them swayed. The leaves fell from the trees and began to swirl around Asharu and Rave.
"This is weird." Rave said.
Asharu kept his guard up and one of the leaves cut him across the cheek like a blade. Asharu felt the side of his cheek and noticed the drip of blood coming down. "RAVE, GET DOWN!"
Suddenly, a tidal wave of leaves flew out of the forest and completely overtook Asharu and Rave. A quick explosion of fire erupted as Asharu requipped into his Sun Armor. He quickly looked back at the caravan and noticed the tidal wave of sharp leaves were heading toward Kisha and Angel.
"LOOK OUT!" Asharu shouted.
"Ring magic!" Kisha activated one of the rings on her fingers. "Bubble Shield!"
A giant bubble surrounded, Kisha, Angel and two of the caravans they were protecting. The leaves just bounced off the shield, doing no damage.
"Okay, they're safe." Asharu sighed in relief. "Rave, you all right?"
Rave was huddled down on the ground, covering her head with her hands. "I'm all right!"
As she got up, she noticed that three figures were standing on the side of the road watching them. They were three young men wearing black cloaks and each had a black and white mask. Each of them had a insignia on their cloak that looked like the outline of a fanged wolf, lusting for blood.
"Who are they?" The first one asked.
"Wizards?" The second one spoke. "They came all the way out here?"
"No, they're from the new guild our master told us about." The third one responded.
"That insignia," Asharu said. "Who the hell are you guys?!"
"We are apprentices of the Dark Guild: Black Fang!" The first one Spoke. "And we're going to kill you!"
(To be continued)
