A/N: And here we are with yet another chapter.

I don't own Fairy Tail.

I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 22: A Plan

July 29th, X784

Nika let out a sigh as she stepped into the guildhall for the day, watching construction workers run back and forth through the building, Katashi barking orders, a hardhat on his head while Miyako sat on one of his shoulders, wearing a little hardhat of her own while she imitated her father.

"How goes it?" Nika asked as she walked up to the father-daughter pair, the large man turning to look down at the much shorter woman.

"Nika-sensei! Hi! How are you!? Good morning!" Miyako said happily, a bright smile on her face while she waved enthusiastically at her teacher.

"Ah, Nika. We've almost finished repairing the second floor and getting it stable again so the roof won't fall down on all your heads," Katashi stated, his maroon eyes staring down at Nika, "Should have it ready and finished for you before the end of the week."

"That's… really quick," Nika gawked, "You're serious?" she asked before looking at the man's dour face, "No, of course you are. Thank you for being so prompt with this."

"The little one here would never let me hear the end of it if I put this project on the backburner," Katashi said as he reached up to pat Miyako on the head.

"It must be repaired!" Miyako declared while striking a heroic pose while Nika softly laughed at the young girl's antics.

"But I need to talk to you about something," Katashi mentioned as he lifted Miyako from his shoulder and set her on the floor, "In private," he added while shooting Miyako a look.

"Okay," Miyako pouted before running off to the bar, Zavid and Rena there and beginning to pester them as Katashi and Nika began walking off to Nika's makeshift office, the pair of them stepping inside before Nika let out a sigh.

"Sable," she called out before the black-haired woman appeared out of thin air, laughing nervously before walking out of the room, "Sable," Nika warned as she let out a small burst of electricity, causing Sable to reappear in the corner of the room with a yelp.

"Soooorrrry," Sable apologized before leaving the room once more, Nika looking around the office until she was certain that the other woman hadn't snuck back in before walking around her desk and sitting down in her chair, Katashi opting to remain standing.

"So, what did you need to discuss with me?" Nika asked as she looked up at the man.

"It's about Miyako," Katashi began with a sigh, "She's been talking more and more about joining your guild over the past few days and you know how much I worry about her and her sisters. But she is far too young to be galivanting around as a mage and I need to make sure you don't get any ideas about recruiting her."

"It… wasn't anything I was thinking of doing for a few years at least, Katashi. She's too young right now and she's still learning her magic. The youngest mage in the guild right now is Zavid and I worry about him constantly since he's only fourteen," Nika explained as the large man continued to stare her down, "You… really don't have to worry about it. Right now, I'm just her teacher."

"I suppose that's good enough for now then," Katashi sighed, crossing his arms, "I know one day she'll join and there'll be nothing I can do about it. Hoshiko is encouraging her after all. She's proud to watch her daughter follow in her footsteps, but I'm just worried about her safety, especially after what happened here with Fairy Tail."

"I know, but rest assured I am doing everything I can to make sure that never happens again," Nika stated, "We just need all this nasty business with the Magic Council to end first so we can get our footing as a guild."

"Understandable, they seem to have it out for you since you're still probably associated with Phantom Lord in their eyes."

"Most likely. And Councilor Seigrain has a soft spot for Fairy Tail for whatever reason, so he's trying to stomp us out before we become a problem," Nika said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Jose's still screwing us all over from behind bars somehow."

"You deal with the cards your dealt, unfortunately, but these are problems I can't help you with," Katashi stated bluntly, "But that's all I wanted to discuss with you," he said as Nika nodded in response, standing up to follow the man out of the office and back out into the main room.

"Are you done talking secret stuff?" they heard Miyako ask as she came bounding over to the two of them.

"Yes, yes we have," Katashi chuckled as he knelt down, Miyako quickly hoisting herself up Katashi's torso and up onto his shoulder where she sat down.

"What'd ya talk about?"

"It wouldn't be secret if we told you, Miyako," Nika said as a soft smile appeared on her face.

"Boo! No fun!" the young girl pouted as her father stood back up, lifting Miyako high up into the air atop of him.

"Too bad," Nika chuckled as Miyako did her best to pout even harder, scrunching her face up as much as she could while crossing her arms, though they were soon distracted by the sound of the front door opening as Darling and Lillian did their best to drag Zeke through them.

"But I don't want Rena to heal my leg! I want to sleep!" Zeke protested as he held onto the door frame as best as he could.

"You're not getting away… with using… your leg as an excuse… to not go on missions… Zeke!" Lillian grunted as she and Darling pulled on the white-haired man.

"He's… deceptively strong… isn't he?" Darling stammered out as he tried to tighten his grip around Zeke's torso.

"Oh no," Nika sighed as she watched the scene, Miyako laughing at the antics taking place, cheering the two on to pull Zeke into the guildhall.

"Pullll!" Lillian shouted as she and Darling continued to tug on the man, his grip on the door frame only becoming stronger the more they pulled on him.

"This… has got to be some sort of violation of the Hippocratic oath, doctor!" Zeke protested.

"Hardly! Not when I'm trying to help you get better!" Darling countered as Rena hopped down from her seat on the bar and walked over to the three mages in the doorway, sighing quietly as she assessed the situation from up close as Lilly made herself known, hovering near Rena's head, seemingly whispering in the young girl's ear while Rena nodded along, placing her hands near Zeke's ankle before quickly pulling hands back.

"Done!" she quietly announced before Lillian dropped Zeke, startling Darling as the white-haired man dropped to floor with a loud thud.

"There! It's done! You're all better now, so quit it with the lazy attitude!" Lillian shouted while Zeke pouted on the ground.

"But my vacation," he moaned.

"Is done! This is hardly a time to be laying about!" Lillian snapped as Nika walked over to the mess.

"I actually want him on standby for a bit longer," Nika stated.

"What!?" Lillian shouted, "After all that work of bringing him all the way here!? He kicked and screamed the entire time!"

"Well, let's just say I have a plan to boost the guild's numbers and reputation once everyone that's already on a mission comes back," Nika explained, "We'll need all hands-on deck for it too."

"So I can sleep for a while longer yet then," Zeke sighed as he started to curl up where he laid.

"No, you're going to help Katashi with the reconstruction now that you're better," Nika countered.

"I… I'm not really sure I want that lazy bum working on my projects, Nika," Katashi muttered.

"Too bad. You're getting everyone but myself and Darling to help you fix this place up. We need to start our repayment and what better way than free labor?" Nika declared, earning a general groan of disappointment from everyone around her.

"Well, you lot heard the lady, come with me so I can give you assignments," Katashi sighed as the group followed the large man, Nika reaching out and grabbing at what seemed to be thin air before back of Sable's shirt appeared in her hand, revealing the woman.

"Not you," Nika stated as she pulled Sable in closer to her, "I've got a different job for you, Sable."

"And whatever might that be, O' scary boss lady that you are?" Sable asked innocently, twiddling her thumbs together.

"I know you've been snooping in my office," Nika said lowly.

"It's just so much fun!" Sable replied, a cheeky smile on her face.

"So I know that you know what I have planned."

"Oh my, whatever could you possibly mean? Certainly, it could not be ANYTHING to do with a certain four individuals!" Sable loudly stated while Nika shot her a deadpan stare.

"Plus one," Nika sighed.

"Oho! And here I thought there was too much bad blood with Mr. Metalface for you to want him here," Sable said as a sly expression caught her face, slowly brining one of her hands up to her face as she snickered.

"Unfortunately, I don't have much choice and Raoul will have to suck it up. Iva too."

"Miss Gloomy Gloom too?" Sable added as Nika responded with a disgusted noise.

"Yes, even her," Nika answered as she rolled her eyes.

"So, you want me to just drag them all here somehow?" Sable asked.

"No, just find out where they are for me. You've got three days," Nika stated as she held up three fingers.

"That's a lot of running around to do in a short amount of time," Sable responded, an unamused look appearing on her face.

"I believe in you," Nika answered flatly.

"Wow. I'm so enthusiastic about this now. What a motivation to LITERALLY run across the entire country!" Sable shouted.

"Clock's ticking," Nika pointed out as she examined her nails while Sable grew red in the face.

"Ugh! Fine! Off I go to run around aimlessly for three days!" Sable declared as she stomped off, leaving Nika behind, scowling at the woman as she left.

"Now I just have three back-to-back meetings with local businesses and town officials," Nika sighed, "No big deal, least I got all the rowdy members out of the way or too busy to leave a bad impression," she muttered before walking back to office.

. : + : .

Connor and Layla ran into the forest on the outskirts of Oshibana Town, panting heavily as they pushed their way through the underbrush, having seen a plume of smoke rising in the distance and believing that to be the Fire Salamander they were sent to hunt.

"Just a bit further," Connor panted before looking pant to see Layla struggling to keep up, the sun setting in the sky overhead, "C'mon! Hurry up! Or do you want those Fairy Rats catching up to us!?"

"No! No… It's just… I'm getting really, really tired," Layla yelled back, stopping as she bent forward to place her hands on her knees while she panted hard, "We've… run so far now… Are you sure it's not much farther?"

"Pretty sure. Now hurry up!" Connor shouted before taking off again.

"Waaaaaaiiiiiit!" Layla whined as she took off after him, the smell of smoke soon hitting their noses as they grew closer to the source of the smoke, Connor slowing down as the sound of fire raging could be heard, allowing Layla to rest more as they cautiously grew closer to their quarry.

"Dammit," Connor hissed as the Salamander came into view, "There's way more than one," he pointed out as Layla peaked out from behind a tree, seeing a large group of Fire Salamanders in a burnt-out clearing, a large swath of the forest behind them now on fire in the direction that the Salamanders had come from.

"Where did they even come from?" Layla asked as they watched the beasts idle about, letting out cries and roars from time to time as they walked around.

"Probably from the Web Valley east of here. It's a dry wasteland. Pretty common type of habitat for monsters like these," Connor explained as he pulled out his pistol, "So it's a right mess when they creep into forests like these."

"I can see why," Layla mumbled as she looked around at all the fire.

"I hope you got a drawing for water or some shit. We're gonna need it," Connor said as he took aim at one of the beasts.

"Oh! Gimme a moment!" Layla pleaded as she pulled out her sketch pad, hastily drawing a teal monkey before Connor pulled the trigger, firing the pistol and shooting one of the Salamanders in the head, killing it quickly before the other Salamanders turned their heads in near unison towards the duo, hissing before charging towards them just before the teal monkey Layla had been drawing jumped out of her sketch book, throwing orbs of water at the Salamanders while Connor continued to fire his pistol, dropping one after another until his pistol started click.

"Dammit! Out of bullets," Connor shouted as he tried to hold the pistol with his bad hand, "C'mon!" he shouted as he started to run away from the Salamanders, Layla following suit as her monkey struggled to avoid the Salamanders until it was burned to ashes by a torrent of flames they breathed from their mouths.

"Not more running!" Layla whined before Connor tossed the empty pistol at her, the unloaded weapon bouncing in Layla's hands before she managed to grab a hold of it, Layla looking over at Connor to see him reaching into his sling, pulling out a magnum pistol before turning around and firing at the Salamanders again, giving Layla an opportunity to stow the empty pistol away in her bag before pulling out her sketchbook again, drawing another Rocco-themed monkey to try and contain the ever-spreading fire as more and more Salamanders spilled out of the woods, slowly beginning to surround them before they tried to take off and escape again.

"A whole fucking colony must've moved into the forest!" Connor yelled before his magnum ran out of bullets, the gunman stashing the empty one back in his sling before reaching into his boot to pull out another gun, stumbling over and tripping over an exposed root while doing so.

"Connor!" Layla shouted as she reached into her coat and threw a card towards him, impacting against the ground and creating a barrier in front of him just before a Salamander leapt at him, impacting against the barrier and spewing fire against it while Layla hastily looked around at the encroaching beasts all around them, hastily drawing in her sketchbook until a blur of pink flew past her, flames trailing behind him and blasting several of the Salamanders away before sucking up all of the fire in the surrounding area into his mouth.

"Hah… I'm all fired up after a meal like that!" he boasted before looking around at the many Salamanders surrounding him, "Is this what they meant by Fire Salamanders then? Actual Fire Salamanders!? Tch… They don't look like Igneel at all!"

"The fuck?" Connor gawked as he stood back up on his feet, "The hell is an 'Igneel'?"

"I… have no idea," Layla muttered, looking just as confused as Connor, "Why wouldn't they have meant actual Fire Salamanders?"

"Hey! Flamebrain! I don't give a crap why you're here at this point, just help or get out of the way!" Connor shouted as Natsu quickly looked at him with a glare.

"The hell did you call me!?" Natsu snapped back as he quickly marched over to Connor, the two locking glares for a moment before Connor quickly took aim at another Salamander and shot it dead.

"We'll do this later!" Connor yelled while Natsu let out a huff.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled before fire ignited on his hands as he charged towards the monsters, ducking and weaving through them while landing hard punches and kicks on them as they approached him, devouring their flames whenever they used them against him.

"N-Natsu!" Layla heard the woman from earlier yell as she continued to draw in her sketchpad, looking up over her shoulder to see Lucy slowly running towards her with the flying blue cat hovering next her, Lucy coming to a stop to pant and breathe heavily next to Layla as Connor and Natsu continued to fight their way through the Salamanders, "He's already gone headfirst into him, hasn't he, Happy?"

"Aye!" Happy replied before landing on the ground, his wings disappearing while Lucy looked at Layla.

"Oh, you're that girl from the train. I didn't realize you were a mage," Lucy commented as she looked Layla up and down, who was looking back at Lucy with her mouth agape and a panicked look in her eyes, "What guild are you from?" she asked while Layla just stood there for a moment longer before starting to scramble away screaming.

"I'MSORRY! I'MSORRY! OURGUILDSARERIVALSANDICAN'TBEYOURFRIEND! DON'TKILLMEPLEASE!"

"You scared her with your ugly face!" Happy stated, pointing up at Lucy.

"SHUT IT CAT!" Lucy snapped before looking back in the direction Layla ran off in, "Still, I have no idea what that was about," she sighed before looking back where Connor and Natsu were now stomping the last moving Salamander into the ground, repeatedly, yelling profanities at the poor creature and each other, "Ugh… men."

"Coooonnnnorr! Let's go! Please!" Layla pleaded as she jumped out from behind a nearby tree, grabbing onto the cowboy's good shoulder, her sleeve falling down just far enough to reveal the pink guild mark on her forearm.

"Why does that guild mark look familiar?" Natsu mused.

"None of your business," Connor huffed, "We're done here, so we're leaving," he added as he reached down and grabbed the Fire Salamander by the back of its neck, dragging it along behind him while Layla nervously kept Connor between her and the Fairy Tail mages, "Damn Fairy Rats," Connor mumbled as they left the area, leaving a scowl on Natsu's face as they left them behind to clean up the mess, their own mission complete.

"Natsu," Lucy muttered worryingly.

"Yeah, I got a bad feeling about them too. That guild mark really did look familiar," Natsu stated as he continued to glare at the two as they left, certain this wouldn't be the last he'd see of this guild.

A/N: And there we go, one more chapter complete, and another mission finished, but leaving some, perhaps unfinished business between the two guilds.

Probably just a few more chapters for this arc since it was meant to be a shorter one, but I also started to set up the next arc with this chapter, which I'm excited for.

Anyways, I'd like to thank Benthino and Grimnack for the reviews, they are appreciated as always.

That's all for now.

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