The world was a blur, magic pumping through my veins in order to push past my limits and reach speeds I wouldn't be able to without it. Adrenalin and my beating hard rapidly pounding in my chest, blood pumping out of fear. I had been on a lot of jobs these past years; monster hunting, relic searching, even bodyguard duty, but none of them put the fear of god into me if I failed quiet like this one did. If I messed up, if I made a single mistake from this point on, I was going to be the one responsible for those girls being sold as pleasure slaves. I refused to let that happen.
"Where is it, where is it!"
I eventually had to slow down as I came upon the street I was looking for and scoured the area for the house I was looking for before moving down the path. Something was wrong here.
People were milling about, but the majority of them were standing outside my target house, the door only hanging on by a hinge, obviously from having been forced open.
"Shit! Everyone move away from the house! I'm a Fairy Tail mage here to investigate a crime scene, please allow me through!"
It took more time than I would have liked, but the people made way for me and I was able to look in and cringe at what I saw. Blood covered the halls, the scent of iron permeating the air, a trail leading down to the basement, looking like a dying person had been dragged across the hardwood.
Requipping my sword, I moved through at a cautious pace in case any one was still there, lying in wait for me. When no one jumped out, I made my way down into the basement and cringed at the sight. The body of who I assumed owned the place was draped across the top of a empty cage while words written in blood stained the brick wall.
Too Late!
"Fuck!" They had gotten here before me, but that meant they must have been warned that we were coming, which only three people knew. The mayor of the town, Captain Rinehart and Master. I could obviously discount Master from the list, but that still left me with two other options unless there was something I had missed.
"Zeph! Did you find anything?"
"Don't come down here! We were too late."
I punched the wall in my anger, cutting the skin on my knuckles bad enough to bleed before clenching my hand in anger. There must be something here!
"Ka, ka!"
The body on the cage suddenly coughed and I rushed over to see him lightly open his eyes.
"Hey! Where the hell did they take the girls! Tell me!"
"I can't believe those bastards tried to kill me so they could take my cut of the money. They said I was a liability to the operation."
I began to panic, realizing he was fading away fast by the way his voice was getting lower and lower in volume. He was the only hope those girls had now of being sent home.
"Yeah, that's right! Those bastards tried to kill you, so tell me where they went, throw a wrench in their plans in revenge for what they did to you. Come on, tell me!"
The man's eyes closed, finally fading after telling me a single word.
"Hargeon."
Hargeon, the only major port close by to this town that would be able to dock ships big enough to hold an operation's worth of slaves. It was also three hours from here and I had no idea how much of a head start they had.
Rushing up the stairs, I grabbed Cana by the hand again and rushed out onto the streets, taking off towards the entrance of town.
"What did you find?"
"They're heading to Hargeon Port, but I have no idea how much of a head start they have."
"But the train doesn't leave the station for another hour, how are we going to catch up?"
"Like this!"
I threw Cana onto the back of a magic motorcycle before sitting in the front, Sif jumping into the sidecar, and snatching the keys out of the hands of the man about to mount it.
"Hey! What's the big idea asshole!"
"Emergency, life or death, take the jewels!"
I tossed him the pouch I usually kept my money in, the amount probably more than the bike was actually worth, before speeding off down the street. There was no time to actually explain the situation to the man unless we wanted to lose the trail entirely.
"What the hell?!"
Cana turned around to the man who was fading in the distance and called an apology before turning back around and wrapping her arms around my midsection.
"Have you even driven one of these things before?!"
"Not in this life!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"
I ignored her response to my answer and revved the engine so hard we did a wheelie before speeding off and leaving the town before heading in the general direction of Hargeon.
"Sif, track!"
"Graugh!"
With the occasional need to change direction, the journey really had no complications except for my speeding dangerously, only stopping to switch who powered the vehicle through the SE-plug.
"Look!"
Ahead of us, there was a group of cars in the distance that we were closing in on fast. Pretty soon, we could see people struggling in the back seat of one of the vehicles.
"Cana, take the wheel!"
"What? I've never driven one of these things before!"
"Well they say experience is the best teacher!"
On that encouraging note, I switched places with her before leaping onto vehicle with the girls once I got close enough.
"Trail from a safe distance and try to take out the other cars with your card magic! Aim for the tires and the engines!"
"Okay!"
There was a clicking sound and I rolled to the side before rapid machine gun fire peppered the roof where I had been standing.
"Fuck!"
Losing my footing in the process, I jammed the katana I had requipped into the vehicle and held on by the handle before managing to pull myself back on.
"Boss, he's still on us!"
"Send the hired help, I don't have time to deal with some goody-two-shoes legal mage!"
"You heard the boss! Get him Ikaruga!"
The one who shouted screamed over to the car next to us where a pink haired woman kicked off the door and climbed onto the roof of her own vehicle.
"Oh my, if the boss says so I guess I have no choice but to deal with such a meddlesome brat. Prepare yourself!"
Shit, I knew who this was, didn't I? But she wasn't supposed to make an appearance until the Tower of Heaven arc! What bullshit!"
"What, no words to throw around, no pre-battle banter? That's quiet boring, considering you're facing the greatest sword user on the continent."
"Yeah, I got a few words for you! What's with the hair? You trying to imitate a pig or something? Sheesh, I can smell you from over here too, isn't that right Piggy? Oink, oink!"
I could feel the killing intent that radiated off of her and brought up my sword in a ready stance, prepping one of my spells.
"I'll gut you like the prey you are for mocking me! Yasha's Empty Flash!"
I fell to my back to dodge the attack, knowing that if that touched me or my weapons I would be done for, before preforming a kickstand and slashing in the same motion.
"Yakkodori!" The blade of energy scythed through the air towards her, but Ikaruga deflected it with her own blade with seeming ease.
"Oh my, is that all the little boy has to offer, perhaps you just need a good example of real sword magic! Garuda Flame!"
"Shigure Soen Ryu: Utsushi Ame!" Surrounding my blade with water, I swung upwards to create a wave of water with my reflection in it before using the power of my swing to jump upwards.
"Sword Slam!" In the same motion I launched myself downwards at Ikaruga while she attacked the reflection, only to block the attack.
"Oh? It seems you're quite a bit better than I believed you were, but I will still slice you like the wind slices through the air!"
The two of us began to rapidly trade sword slashes, with me having to switch to different blades every time she broke one of mine. Without taking my eyes of her I yelled to Cana.
"Leave me to deal with her and keep following the car with the captives! Try to take out the others so they can't interfere as well!"
"On it!" For someone who was worried about being able to drive a magic vehicle, she was doing surprisingly well.
"Garuda Flame!"
Quickly, I dropped to my back again, but instead of doing a kickstand I spun on my shoulders and kicked at Ikaruga before standing again and clashing blades.
"I must admit, you're the most skilled sword user I've ever fought Ikaruga."
"Oh, I must also admit, you are quite skilled as well, but I'll have you know I've never lost a fight before and I don't plan on ending that streak."
"That maybe so, but the stronger my opponent the more power I can pull out! Dark Cloaked Avidya Slash!" I released a wave of dark magic that sucked both the light and magic from the air as it shot towards the pink haired swordswoman.
"Yasha's Empty Flash!" Ikaruga attempted to slice the attack, but it was no use.
Dark Cloaked Avidya Slash was a technique that sucked in both light and magic that was used against it. The only way to stop it was with physical force alone. Anything else would just empower it further.
The blade of dark magic grew as it took over her spell and continued on until it clashed with her blade, the screeching sound of metal and magic clashing. The force behind the attack knocked her off the roof of the car we were on and onto the dirt behind us.
"Sorry! You were too good for me to waste time trying to beat you, so I decided to end it in a draw like this. I'll be ready for you next time we meet!"
"No! Get back here so I can beat you properly! I won't allow this stain on my perfect record of winning all my fights!"
Her voice just kept getting quieter and quieter as the vehicle sped away from her as she ran to catch up with us again, but I simply stuck my tongue out at her and jumped through the air and back onto the bike with Cana, who had taken out the rest of the vehicles.
"You sure it was a good idea to not take her down? She might come back for revenge later on."
"Let her, I'll be ready and waiting. Besides, we don't have time to play around while trying to save those girls. Slash!" I slashed at the last car left, taking out the tires and causing it to slow down until it was at a complete stop.
Coming along aside it, the three of us walked forward and opened the door to the vehicle, and looking at the six women in the back.
"Hey, it's okay now. We're from Fairy Tail and we've been hired to rescue you from these bad men."
"Zeph, I got us a ride back!"
I turned to see Cana had taken out the rider of the car I had been standing on previously and had driven it up alongside us. The two of us began ushering the kidnapping victims in before I turned to the drier of this car who was struggling to get up from the abrupt stop.
"Tell me what you people were planning!" I socked him so hard in the face that a few teeth flew out onto the ground.
"I won't say nothing!"
"First, proper grammar dude. Second, Sif!" My wolf stalked forward, growling and with her hackles raised and I could see the fear enter the man's eyes.
"If you don't tell me, I'm going to let my friend here eat your arms, and then both your legs before leaving you here to die. So, I would choose your next words very, very, carefully."
The smell of urine was my answer and the man blabbed like he wouldn't live past the next few minutes, which wasn't that far off from the truth if he hadn't told me what I wanted.
The operation was headed by Bora of Prominence, the same guy from the first episode of the series, and it was supposed to be their biggest haul to date. They had gotten a big cruise ship and sold people tickets to sail from Fiore to Seven, while in actuality they would be drugged during the first night of the voyage and locked up until they got to Bosco. The people Cana and I had caught were supposed to bring in people from surrounding villages in the hopes that having extra product would result in an even bigger payday. It was also set to leave in the next few hours.
Knocking out the goon and tying him up, I rushed back over to Cana and relayed the information that I had been given.
"Well we're going to have to split up."
"Yeah, I realized. I'll take Sif and head to Hargeon and warn the magic knights in town before stopping the ship and taking down Bora. You take the girls back to the town and call Master once you get into the car. Hopefully this will all be over within the next couple of hours."
"Alright, just be careful. I know you're strong but if you get hurt too much I'll be cross with you."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
"Yeah and good luck." She reached over and squeezed my hand before turning the magic vehicle around and taking off.
"Let's go Sif, we've got people to save and slavers to beat the shit out of."
"Graugh!"
With haste, we mounted the bike and took of in the direction of the port again, the town soon coming into view over the horizon. The guards at the gate waved at me to slow down but I sped right past them and over to the barracks about two hundred feet away, crashing through the door and right up to who I assumed was the captain, given the make of his uniform.
"Who the hell do you think you are-"
"Shut up and listen. I'm a mage and recently took a job and long story short, the cruise leaving for Seven in a few hours is actually a big plot to sell all the passengers into slavery in Bosco. If we don't do something now, a lot of people are going to be lost to us."
"How do we this isn't some prank, huh? All the ships have been verified and checked out!"
I had had enough of this bullshit, reaching over the counter I grabbed the man's collar and pulled him over the top of the table he was sitting at.
"Listen here you shit! I have had to fight my way from Thyme all the way to Hargeon in order to try and save these people! I'm tired, sore and angry and if you don't do what I say right now I will shove my boot so far up your ass that you'll taste leather. Call Captain Rinehart if you don't believe me, but I'm heading over to stop that ship!"
Without an answer, I got back on the bike and rode down to the port and across the harbor until I came to the only cruise ship that was docked, just in time to see Bora walk up the plank and disappear over the side. Revving the engine, I rode up and crashed my bike through some of the crew before Sif and I jumped off.
"What is the meaning of this! I have to leave in an hour and I can't have some snot-nosed punk-"
"Bora!"
The man seemed surprised that I knew his name, but wasn't given long to process that information before I rushed over to the man and attempted to take him out, only for my blade to be blocked by one of the crew members sword.
"So, you know my name, what has that got to do with anything?"
"Bora! I've uncovered your plot to sell this ship's passengers into slavery and already took out your crew from Thyme. I've notified the magic knights and they're on their way now, so surrender and I might take mercy on you!"
The man and his crew looked at me, at each other and then back to me before bursting into laughter and tears, some even rolling on the floor. Bora wiped a tar away before speaking to me.
"Oh, that was a good one kid. I haven't had a laugh like that in a long while. What are you, fourteen or fifteen? Even if you took out a part of my team, you look dead on your feet from rushing over here to stop me. So here is what I'm going to do for you! I'll let this slide and allow you and your little pet to walk away from here, you can go back and drink milk with mommy, but if you really think you can stop my entire crew, than go ahead and try me."
He wasn't wrong. The amount of magic energy I had used in order to make it to Hargeon in time as well as my fight with Ikaruga had left me with only about a fourth of my magic container left, especially from using Dark Cloaked Avidya Slash, not to mention having to fight through the twenty or so people who were surrounding Sif and I. But it was a good thing Sif was her own pack, wasn't it?
"Sif! Wolf Pack Salvo!" Quickly, Sif formed a group of clones that took on the crew, knocking some members out instantly while stalemating with others, keeping them occupied while I ran after Bora, the cowardly man taking off when he realized his crew was being take down.
"Sif, take care of the crew, I'm taking down Bora!"
I didn't wait for a response as I ran through the halls of the ship, the man throwing fire at me that I either dodged or slashed apart with my blade.
"Come back here you bastard! Take your beating like a man!"
"No thank you!"
Bora rounded another corner, but when I went to stop him, I was punched by a pale fist.
"Oh, you think you can take down the man paying my group huh? Well I guess-"
"Out of my way! Gravity Core!" Without letting the rocker looking character finish his monologue, I sent him crashing through the wall and knocked him out before taking off again.
I didn't have time to deal with any distractions. Pretty soon, I found myself in the cargo hold of the ship after continuously trying to find Bora and was met with the sight of the man cowering behind a humanoid owl.
"Ho ho ho! It seems that Vidaldus was no match for you. I suppose it is up to me, Fukuro the warrior of justice, to take you down!"
"If you're a warrior of justice, than why are you helping this guy sell people into slavery?"
There was a moment of awkward silence as the owl-man seemed to have an internal crisis before laughing obnoxiously.
"Ho ho! I will not let an evildoer like you talk me out of my mission! Jet Ho Ho Hou!" Fukuro used his jets to launch himself at me while I rolled to the side.
"Shut up with the 'ho ho'! I get it, you're an owl, just shut up and lets get this over with! I haven't got all day."
"Very well! Justice Ho Ho Hou!" A blast of magic energy came my way which I sidestepped before attacking.
"Shigure Soen Ryu: Shajiku no Ame!" Surrounding my blade with water, I charged forth and attempted to stab Fukuro, but he took to the air to avoid the attack.
"I see, a user of sword magic! I haven't collected something like that yet, Darkness Ho Ho Hou!" Taking a deep breath, the owl-man breathed out a cloud of shadows that saturated the room, causing all light to fade and make it impossible to see.
"Now that I have analyzed you, it is time for a Capture!" While I couldn't see him, I calmed my mind and used my other senses to stab towards my right, earning a cry of pain in response.
"Dead Calm."
Suddenly I could tell exactly where he was by emptying my mind and began blocking his attempts to absorb me and my magic. Eventually, the darkness disappeared leaving Fukuro panting from holding the spell that long.
"I don't understand! The warrior of justice always wins, so why am I losing?!"
"You don't get it. If you're losing, that must mean that justice is on my side! Explosion Technique: Bakugeki Dance Explosion!" In a single instant, I pushed my speed to the limit and struck the owl seven times with Explosion, appearing behind him while a chain reaction was set off where I had struck.
With that fight over, I turned to Bora who hadn't done the smart thing and run away while I was distracted with my fight. The man had tears running down his face as I cracked my knuckles upon my approach.
"Now let's have a chat about why you shouldn't sell people into slavery."
~x~x~
By the time I had dragged three bloody and beaten mages to the top of the ship, Sif was sitting atop of a pile of beaten sailors, wagging her tail in happiness.
"Good girl Sif! Let's add these three to the pile and get the magic knights to arrest them all."
"No need, we are already here. We called Captain Rinehart and he confirmed everything you said about the slavers, we'll take it from here. Thank you!"
The man and his underlings bowed in my direction, which made me feel kind of awkward, but I accepted the thanks none the less before detailing the events of what had happened before leaving Hargeon. Thankfully, the train ride was pretty much uneventful until I got to Thyme and was greeted by a bone crushing hug.
"You did it! I was so relieved when Captain Rinehart got the message and said you had captured them all."
"Glad to know you were worried Cana."
"Dummy, of course I was. Who else would I have to take me on S-class jobs." That gave me pause and made me ask.
"What do you mean?"
"After hearing about what happened and the scale of the operation that we shut down, the mayor decided to have the job class and pay upgraded to an S-class job. He said it was thanks for all the effort put into helping the town." Cana held up a bag that was definitely larger than what the original reward would have been and a note from the mayor to Master about the upgrade so it would say so on our mission files.
"Well, that's good, because I gave that guy I stole the bike from most of my jewels when we took off. This will help me save up a bit again."
"Yeah, but enough about that! Let's get back to Magnolia and report to Master."
"Of course."
Within a few minutes, the three of us were seated, and while Sif slept at my feet, I looked out the window, watching the world flow by and thinking.
I just took down two-thirds of Trinity Raven as well as Bora of Prominence. How was this going to affect things later down the line when Lucy joined the guild and during the Tower of Heaven arc? Had I made things worse? All these thoughts went through my head at lightning speed before Cana spoke up to me.
"Hey Zeph," I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and made a go on gesture, "we made a good team for this job, didn't we?"
"Yeah, definitely."
"And we also made a good team whenever we went on jobs together in the past, right?"
"Yeah? Are you surprised that we made such a good team when we work together?"
"No! It's not that! I just… look, remember that I wanted to speak with you before I got interrupted by the train's PA system."
"Yes?"
"Well, I was wondering if you maybewantedtoformateamwithme!"
I looked at her blankly for a second, having never seen Cana this embarrassed before.
"Cana, I don't speak whatever it is that was. Slow down, I'm not going to bite if you don't rush your words."
"I wanted to know if you wanted to make this permanent. Do you want to form a team with me when we get back to the guild?"
That gave me pause for a few seconds. The thought had honestly never crossed my mind to form a team with someone before. I had always taken the majority of my jobs with just myself and Sif once I had reached a certain level of strength, and Sif was like bringing an entire pack of wolves in one and if Cana had asked any other time I probably wouldn't have said yes, but this mission showed me how good it could be to have backup.
I wouldn't have been able to fight Ikaruga if Cana wasn't there to drive, I wouldn't have been able to get those girls back to Thyme and taken down Bora's operation without Cana there to split the workload… holy shit! I would have failed this mission if Cana hadn't been there/asked me to take a job with her. There really was only one answer I could give in light of this.
"Yeah, I'd love too."
"Oh, I see. Well that's… wait what?"
"Yeah, I'd love to form a team with you. I probably would have said no like you thought I would, but this mission, I wouldn't have been able to save those people if you weren't there with me to help. So, lets form a team together, you, me and Sif. We'll be the strongest!"
Cana seemed stunned for a second before smiling brightly at me.
"In that case, we need a name!"
"Team Sword Saint!"
"Denied!"
"Team Sif!"
"Also denied!"
"What, why not any of those?"
"Dummy, we need a name that represents who we are as a whole! Not just swords, not just Sif and not just cards, but something that really represents how we are."
I thought about it for a few minutes, but was having trouble coming up with anything until I looked at my feet and thought back to when Cana and I had first found Sif.
"How about the Wolf Pack?"
"Why that? I'm not saying no or anything, and it's good, but why?"
"Well, when we first met Sif, I promised I would be her pack, that I wouldn't let her be lonely again. I thought that I had kept that promise, but you can't have a pack with two wolves. There was a quote that I remembered as well, 'that when the snows fall and the white wind blows, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.' I thought that would be a good motto for us. Alone, we're all strong, but together we'll be able to take on anything!"
Cana remained silent for a few seconds and I feared that she would reject my idea but she nodded.
"I like it! As soon as we get back and inform Master of the mission details, we'll make it official. Fairy Tail's newest team, the Wolf Pack!"
And as we looked out the window into the sky, a snoozing wolf at our feet, I couldn't think of anything that could be better than this moment now.
~x~x~
4,724 words! I am on a roll lately. As soon as I finished chapter 7, I got this one done in about an hour or two, because so far this was my favorite arc to write. In any case, there have been more changes to canon as both Bora and two-thirds of Trinity Raven have been arrested and removed from the story. How will this affect the story going forward? What other changes will Zephyr make to the story and how will it change canon? On another note, Cana and Zephyr are now Fairy Tail's Wolf Pack, an official team and if you don't know where the whole "lone wolf dies but the pack survives" thing is from than you obviously haven't seen Game of Thrones or read A Song of Ice and Fire. In fact, the Stark family is also where I got the idea of Sif and her clone magic from, although she herself is based on Sif from Dark Souls. Any who, this wraps up the Kidnapping Arc, as I like to call it, and we move forward from here as well as have a time skip next chapter. Fun fact, I originally put the Alex character that made Zephyr really mad in because I planned on having him turn out to be a member of Bora's operation, but I changed my mind and pretty much made him run off after Zeph told him who's boss. In any case; favorite, follow and review with constructive criticism and I'll see you all next time on Sword Saint of Fairy Tail!