"Of all the times to be called you just had to do it at the crack of dawn, I bet you enjoy watching me suffer." I whine at my stalwart companion, the Phoenix I have come to know as Okoye. She doesn't answer me, but cuffs my shoulder as she leads the way to the Eastern Forest. I sigh and move swiftly to keep her in sight. Mira had only just been stirring when I was on my way out the door, I left her and Elfman a note that I would likely be out for the day, the world of magical creatures rarely gets any sleep as far as I am concerned. My lacrima pulses, an echo of the call that was made earlier and I quicken my pace. I rest my hand over where the lacrima rests in my navel for good luck and reassurance.
I suppose I should explain what is happening here. My name is Cara Strauss, the youngest of my three siblings and a proud Fairy Tail wizard. Like my siblings I am a master of transformation and takeover magic, though I prefer magical creature souls to the souls the others use. I just turned sixteen last week (June 26, 784) the party lasted nearly all day (the guild hardly needs an excuse to party hard). I don't drink myself (for obvious legal reasons) but I reveled in spending time with my friends and family, and tried to ignore the fact that Lisanna wasn't there.
It has been almost two years since the accident, I wasn't there and I never asked Elf or Mira about it, not when it seemed like it would be too painful a thing to bring up again. I see signs of her everywhere, things she liked to do, memories and little quirks she was known for, they stung like a lash. I found that the call became more of a way for me to mourn in peace than be that vulnerable in front of the others, especially when both Elf and Mira seem to blame themselves. I took comfort in my companions (Okoye and so many others) . They have a simple way of living and it was always nice to step away for a while, but I would always go back home to Fairy Tail. I have a long way to go, and while I will never stop missing Lisanna, I will live my life in her honor.
I braid my long fair hair, streaked with various shades of blues and purples to contrast my natural fair tone, down my back to keep it out of my face. My fringe has grown out and swept to the side, almost long enough to tuck behind my ear. Okoye makes a resounding chirp to bring my attention to the tree she perched on. I saw the scratch markings on the trunk, even slashes from a blade, someone marked their path to keep from getting lost? I doubted that was all this call was for. The broken twigs had to have been caused by a creature, a youngling that had been separated from its kin, and was likely being hunted. I breathed deep, taking over the scent aspect of a Chaimera, tasting the air around me. The tang of magic hit me first, a human using magic and the natural musky scent that came with Nemian lions. So a hunter was after a lion cub? That made sense, their pelts are extremely resistant to magic and nearly invaluable, However I finally managed to convince the Magic Council via Master to allow the Eastern Forest to be decreed a reserve of Fiore. Making poaching entirely illegal in the area, so whoever it is that hunts now must be working for a dark guild, or isn't an official wizard.
I swapped the scent aspect for the hearing of a Gryphon ( their range can span at least 50 miles or so ) concentrating on anything that would give away the perpetrators location. Then I heard the yowl, a pitiful sound and the snap of a trap closing. I sprinted towards the sounds light on my feet from years of wandering the forest. The hunter let out a string of curses as the cub thrashed in the net, slicing out at the fellow. The cub was so small, hardly a few months past their weaning time, her cries broke my heart, driving me to action. He hadn't noticed me yet as he tried to subdue the struggling cub, so I scaled the tree thankful the combined noise covered my ascent. I summoned a manticore's tail, throwing a number of my spikes to pin the would-be hunter to the tree behind him. I dismissed the aspect and leapt down from my perch, swinging my bow staff from its place on my back, warning the hunter that I have the advantage here.
My lacrima pulsed with the power inside it and I knew it was the spirit of the last unicorn he saw, not a wizard of Fairy Tail.
"Poaching is not permitted on these lands sir, I suggest you leave swiftly lest the wild seek vengeance for your misdeeds." I warned the man, his hood had fallen back to reveal the clean shaved face of a boy who could hardly be older than myself. His brown eyes widened in surprise tugging at the spikes that held him firm.
"What business is it of yours what I do here? Last I heard that law was a mere formality to placate the tree huggers, doesn't really mean anything." His eyes narrowed as If he had suddenly realised something. "But you would care, I heard tales of your existence, the great shepherd of the Eastern Forest, you were supposed to be a myth." I let out a snort at the nickname and made a note to tell Mick about it later, she would get a kick out of the new name.
"I assure you I am very real, and you human, are not welcome here" I banished my spikes, freeing him at last. "The Magic Council may not take the safety of all living things seriously, but I do, so you will do no more harm here, lest you wish to see what becomes of those who upset the ways of life." I let my magic flare and wind around me casting my body in a luminous light, the boy fled from me, stumbling briefly over the roots of the trees and out of sight. I sighed through my nose taking in his scent in case he came back, and approached the cub, still tangled in the net. I find it is hard to explain what it is like when I speak using the creature's tongue. I hear myself speaking my own language but the creature hears its own brand of communication, it gets even stranger for an outside party looking in on the exchange. I let my magic rise to the surface enough to be a comfort to the cub, who likely knows of me even if we never met before ( as most creatures do ). I pull the netting off the lioness and rest my palm on her head, brushing my thumb soothingly by one of her ears before lifting her into my arms. Okaye let out another call for attention, I glanced up at my friend and then at the sky, it had to be around mid morning now, the cubs pack would worry if I didn't return her soon. Her fur was matted with small wounds she likely gave herself in the struggle. The tears that spilled onto her small form were from my own Phoenix form, with strong healing powers, and the wounds closed.
"There you are now, all better, there is nothing to cry about." I scratched her lightly behind the ears and she purred slightly, "what does the pack call you?" I ask, pushing off of the ground, tracking down the path the cub had been trying to follow that must have led to her home.
"Rasha" The cub announced, she seemed proud of the name and purred deeply before nestling closer to me.
"That suits you Rasha, a strong name for a strong female," I kept up a string of small talk as I wound my way deeper into the forest to keep her distracted on the journey. I could sense the dwelling ahead, less than a mile away, the tree coverage had begun to thin into a clearing around a rocky hill. The sun was high in the sky when I bade my new friend farewell, not turning away until I knew she was safe in her den.
" Tell me something girl," Okoye finally spoke for the first time that day, I glanced sideways at her from where she rested on my shoulder. "The Humans, or poachers as you call them, you disapprove of what they do and yet you hide behind a persona in the name of justice rather than be who you are, why is that?" She has asked me that question before, many times, never satisfied by my reasoning ( the council would see my actions more as a vigilante then a purveyor of justice ) in the end I think I dug myself into a hole I wasn't prepared to be responsible for, and I know I won't turn back. So I took on another life, a different version of myself to make the responsibility seem easier to manage, but with every passing year I can't deny the weight gets harder to bear. I ignore her question this time and I walk the rest of the way to our checkpoint in silence.