Well back again after far too long. I've had a really rough year that killed most of my motivation to write even if the ideas didn't stop coming. Mostly dealing with an addiction that was causing some pretty bad marital issues. Still trying to get it under control but doing better now than I was.
This chapter is a little short but I hope you enjoy it anyways.
The Legend of Fairy Tail Revised:
Chapter 6
To Catch a Thief
X779
xxx
"So what did you need us to come for?" Link's tone was bored from where he sat leaning against the train booth window, his head rested on his fist. His words were addressed to the redhead sitting across from him who was staring thoughtfully at the job flier in her hand. The little ball of light that was Spryte hovered next to her ear while the fairy inspected the paper as well. Beside them the two younger Strauss siblings sat with different expressions on their faces. Elfman was shifting nervously next to Erza alternatively clenching his hands from time to time. Lisanna sat next to the aisle and was practicing softly on her ocarina with a beaming countenance. The eldest of the trio, Mirajane, was sitting with her arms and legs crossed next to Link with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Well it was only a matter of time until Erza would need to ask the assistance of a mage better than her," the white haired goth sniped at her rival.
Erza's only visible reaction to the jibe was the slight twitching of one eyebrow. After a moment she let out a low breath before folding the paper neatly and setting it aside. She gave Mira a sidelong glare before responding to Link's question. In truth Erza had only asked for Link to come along with her but she had made the mistake of asking him while Mira was within earshot. The white haired girl had jumped at the thought of her rival needing help and had insisted on coming along which, of course, made her siblings want to come along as well.
"I asked for your assistance because the nature of this job lends itself towards a cooperative approach rather than a forceful one. We're on our way to apprehend a thief that has been causing trouble in Oshibana. The local authorities have been unable to pin the culprit down despite multiple attempts so they are offering a sixty-five thousand jewel reward for his capture," She leaned back in her seat and folded her arms. "It is easier to corner a rat as a group."
Link nodded once and then leaned back in his seat, cupping his hands behind his head. He continued to stare out the window watching the landscape as they rolled down the tracks. His first time seeing the train had been quite the experience for both he and Spryte. Fiore had a significantly higher level of technology than anywhere in Hyrule so seeing such things were wonders to the two of them. Link had ridden on the train several times now but the experience still hadn't dulled. He idly wondered what Lyre and her sisters would think of the contraption, assuming they didn't already know about it. It was hard to tell since they had been in hiding for so long but the tracks that ran through Magnolia also went through the part of the forest so the spirits might be aware of them.
During his studies in Fairy Tail's library Link had found the forest spirits mentioned in a compendium of magical creatures. Well actually Spryte had found the book but they had read it together. The book was mostly full of speculation rather than actual facts about the various creatures inside; at least concerning the more 'mythical' ones that nobody was really sure existed. It went into pretty good detail about a large number of the known fauna in Fiore. The forest spirits he had become so well acquainted with were among the speculative category although the author had called them 'Dryads', a name that Link had used from then on. The author had speculated that creatures like the dryads, fairies, mermaids, and other such beings were far more plentiful in the world at one point but the ancient wars of old had either driven them extinct or into hiding. Seeing how the Dryads of the East Forest had been in hiding for who knew how long due to the sudden presence of the Forest Vulcans, Link was inclined to agree with him. It made him wonder what other creatures were still out there and if any of their situations were similar. He continued to ponder such thoughts while his fellow mages kept bickering.
"You need help to catch a simple thief?" Mira laughed. "That's rich!"
"I didn't say I NEEDED help," Erza replied icily. "Just that it would be easier. I would rather not waste my time on something so menial when the task could be solved much more quickly through a joint effort. Besides," She continued with a glare. "I don't remember asking YOU to come along at all."
"Like I was going to miss this," Mira replied glibly, Erza's comment only fueling her self-satisfaction.
"Big sis you shouldn't cause so many fights," Lisanna paused in her practice to give her elder sister a reproachful look.
The eldest Strauss almost looked chagrined for a moment before she scoffed and tossed her head.
"If the old floozy needed someone else for this job then she should have just left it for us."
"As if I would trust a hot head like you to handle something as delicate as criminal investigation," Erza shot back with a sneer.
"Are you saying I'm not smart enough?!" Mira was suddenly in Erza's face, the comment having finally touched her easily stoked temper.
"What if I am?" Erza snarled right back pushing her own face against her rival.
The two girls quickly began to shout insults at one another while trying to strong arm the other back into their opposing seats. Three of their four companions visibly slumped seeing the argument that they had all known was inevitable but secretly hoped wouldn't come to pass. The fourth had fluttered over to Link at the first sign of a sparking fuse and had settled comfortably with her legs crossed at the knee on the brim of Link's hat. She leaned forward with interest, resting her chin on her hand, and watched the drama unfold.
Link shook his head wearily, which caused a yelp of protest from his fairy friend, and turned his attention back out the window, ignoring the fight completely. He kept a half ear tuned to Lisanna's practice noting with a bit of pride how much the girl had improved. She was really quite gifted; a lot better than he had been when Saria had started trying to teach him how to play.
After a moment of listening while staring out the window, Link noticed Elfman watching his younger sister with a dejected look. He frowned slightly, wondering what could be on the boy's mind. Elfman was a kind and caring individual who loved his sisters dearly but seemed to struggle with his confidence. It was no secret that he was the magically weakest of the three Take Over siblings, only being able to transform his right arm for some reason. Lisanna took to her Animal Soul magic like a child born to it and Mira…well Mira had more problems keeping her power in check than anything else. It was a constant source of misery for Elfman and Link couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Apparently his younger sister's musical talent only added to his feelings of inadequacy.
Link was just starting to think of ways to help when Spryte leaned forward from her perch to look at him.
"Hey, as entertaining as this is, don't you think it's about time to break them up?"
Link quirked an eyebrow at her but a quick glance around at her gesture made the point rather clear. With a sigh he pointed his finger at the two fighting girls who had only escalated their argument and shot a little bolt of magic toward them. The missile burst into a bright flash of light right between their faces causing them both to yelp in surprise and jump away from each other. Shaking their heads in an effort to clear the spots from their eyes, the two girls turned to glare at Link. He met their gazes with his own impassive stare, uncowed.
In the few short months since he had joined Fairy Tail Link had somehow joined a rather exclusive club within the guild hierarchy as one of the very few, besides the Master himself, who could break up the fights between Erza and Mirajane. He wasn't really sure how that came to be given that he wasn't as powerful as the two girls. He sparred with both of them fairly frequently and had yet to decisively beat either of them, though he often gave as good as he got. Oddly enough he wasn't the one that sought them out for said fights; it was always the girls that came to him. Somehow, despite not being their magical equal, he had won both of their respects.
When he had asked the Master about it the old man had given him a rather toothy grin.
"It's quite simple my boy, you have more experience than they do," Makarov explained.
"What do you mean?" Link asked with a raised eye.
The guild master took a swig of his drink before giving Link a serious look.
"I know you haven't told them your whole story but they can tell you've been through a lot. You carry yourself differently and your eyes have a depth to them that none of your peers possess. They can sense on some level that you've seen and overcome far greater difficulties than they have. Those two have both had rather tragic pasts; ones they are still running from. Perhaps they can tell on some level that you overcame what they could not and that draws them to you. You might not be as strong as them right now, but you possess inner strength and wisdom far greater than theirs and that attracts them to you."
"I…guess that makes sense…" Link replied slowly with vacant, haunted eyes.
"It also helps that you give them both a run for their money through sheer skill despite their power." The Master chuckled at him. "There isn't anyone else in your age group that can do that."
After the old man had explained things to him, Link had settled into the unique position within the guild hierarchy that he unwittingly found himself in. It was a rather interesting experience for him. Link had never really fit in with the other Kokiri while growing up. Most of them didn't openly dislike him but he was always considered somewhat of an outsider. During his adventures he had picked up friends and allies along the way but Link had always been too busy to really sit down and build strong relationships for any prolonged length of time. Now however, his situation in Earthland had landed him in the middle of a group of eccentric people with nothing better to do than work on said relationships.
And Link loved it. For the first time ever he was truly starting to feel like he had found a place where he belonged.
His unspoken position at times like this really helped to keep the peace. A lot of the unwillingness of others to intervene between Erza and Mira stemmed from a combination of the girls' greater power and the sheer intimidation of their rage. Having one or the other level their wrath towards them was enough to cow even the most boisterous of the guild mages; having them both glare at you was nightmare inducing.
Link, having fought with and defeated far greater nightmares, was one of the few who could stare them both down, their gazes washing over him like water over solid granite.
He held their glares for several long moments before he spoke.
"That's enough you two; you're disturbing everyone else on the train." He rolled his eyes to indicate the area around them which caused his fellow mages in the stall to look about. He was right. The argument had intensified to the point where the two girls had started channelling large amounts of magic and their shouts had drowned out all other noise. The other passengers were either staring in their direction nervously or actively trying to avoid looking at them.
Both of the girls had the good sense to appear chagrined for a moment before they turned back to glare at each other. By some unspoken message between them the two female mages both huffed, tossed their heads and plopped back down on their respective seats so they could start ignoring one another altogether. Link snorted in mild amusement before turning his head back to the window, the tension in the air visibly lifting and allowing normal conversation to resume throughout the train car.
A flubbed note caught the attention of everyone in the stall and they all turned when Lisanna, who had not stopped playing during the whole argument, let out an indignant huff of irritation at herself before restarting her song.
Everyone laughed.
xxx
The mayor of Oshibana was a short, excitable man with a well groomed moustache who greeted the group with enthusiasm.
"Oh thank you young wizards for accepting our request!" He shook each of their hands with manic energy that somehow managed not to ruffle his custom tailored suit. "I tell you this thief has been a right nuisance to our poor town! Nothing we do seems to matter and we can't catch him!"
"What has he been stealing?" Erza inquired in a thoughtful tone that indicated she was in professional problem solver mode.
"A better question would be what has he NOT been stealing," the mayor sighed heavily. "He's stolen everything from paintings and sculptures to books, clothes, and even a basket of apples. It's gotten to the point where everything that isn't bolted to the floor is a potential mark for him. The only real comfort is the fact that he hasn't hurt anyone yet."
"That seems rather odd," Erza mused aloud. "So there is no discernable pattern to his thievery?"
"None that we can see. The only thing we know is that everything he has stolen has been considered valuable by the owners, even the apples."
"So he is taking objects of personal value as well as monetary?"
"It would seem so."
"Hmmm…then there is no way to tell what he will take next…" Erza began pacing back and forth as she thought. "How has he managed to avoid capture all this time?"
"He is surprisingly fast," The mayor replied. "He usually outruns his pursuers, laughing all the while, and every time we get close to cornering him the thief ducks into an alley or turns a corner and simply vanishes."
"He disappears?" Erza stopped her pacing and quirked a surprised eyebrow.
"Without a trace," The mayor nodded.
"Do you suspect magic then?" Link inquired from the side.
"What else could it be? We've checked for hidden passageways and other hiding spots."
"Interesting," Erza smiled lightly. "We will have to be on guard for any of his tricks. Since we have no way of knowing where he will strike next we will simply have to patrol the city."
"You are welcome to stay at the hotel just down the street. Rooms have been provided for you at the city's expense."
"That is most generous, thank you."
"My dear if you manage to apprehend this menace then it will be I who thanks you," the mayor bowed to her. "I will inform the authorities of the situation and they will coordinate efforts with you. If they catch wind of the thief then word will be sent to you at the hotel."
"That would be very helpful," Erza nodded again. "If you will excuse us, mayor, we will get started immediately."
"Of course, best of luck to you!"
They left City Hall and made their way to the hotel the mayor mentioned. After checking into their rooms they all met together to plan their next move.
"I believe we should split up to cover more ground," Erza announced once everyone was settled. "We need to speak with some of the victims and learn what we can of this thief."
"Someone should stay around here in case the police find him first," Link added. "Elfman and I can hold down the fort while you ladies explore the town."
"All right then," Erza nodded. "We'll reconvene later tonight to discuss what we have learned."
The two boys watched the girls leave before Link turned to Elfman and gave him a long thoughtful look.
"What?" Elfman asked nervously after a moment.
Link didn't respond right away. Instead he inhaled deeply before gesturing for the boy to follow him. Confused, Elfman hurried to catch up to his fellow guild mate. He found Link outside standing in a small park area next to the hotel.
"Link? What are you doing?"
"We need to talk, Elfman," Link replied flatly, crossing his arms. "I want to know when you plan on pulling your weight on jobs."
Elfman blinked in surprise. "What do you mean? I always try to help!"
"I know that," Link nodded. "You are a kind and helpful person but you are also weak."
Elfman flinched at that and looked away shamefully. "I know that…I know that my sisters are both way stronger than me…"
"Then why don't you do something about it?" Link asked. His tone was firm but not accusatory.
"I've been trying…" Elfman replied glumly. "But I just can't get the hang of the Full Take Over like my sisters. They're so much better at it than I am…"
"So?" Link snorted. "You can still fight can't you?" He shifted his stance and raised a hand to gesture at Elfman. "Show me what you got?"
Elfman blinked again. "What?"
"I said fight me!" Link glared at him. "Come on!"
Elfman took a startled step back before he focused his magic and lunged forward. His right arm glowed bright with magic power before transforming into a bestial fist. He swung with all his strength at Link but the green clad boy stepped into Elfman's attack and rammed a powerful uppercut into his gut. Elfman doubled over with a gasp and clutched at his stomach, loosing hold of his Take Over.
"That was slow, sloppy, and easily read," Link stated flatly. "Now get up and defend yourself."
The white haired boy slowly got to his feet and had barely managed to raise his head before Link was on him, throwing another powerful punch at Elfman's head. He yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards but Link kept coming following his first attack with another punch that knocked Elfman back to the ground.
"Come on Elfman," Link goaded. "You can do better than that!"
Adrenaline and instincts began overriding Elfman's surprise and timid nature as Link continued to attack him. He somehow managed to re-engage his Take Over in time to block another strong punch from the Hylian. Link took that moment to disengage and allow Elfman to catch his breath.
"That's better," he said.
"What…" Elfman gasped. "What was that for?!"
Link shrugged. "You're a Take Over mage Elfman. Magic naturally enhances your physical attributes no matter what type it is but Take Over is also a physical art, which means your strength is increased even more dramatically. You can take a hit or two."
"But why?"
"Because you need to get stronger Elfman," Link declared. "You're the weak link between your siblings when you should be the one protecting them both."
"But I can't! Even if I could do a full Take Over, Mira is just way too strong."
"So?" Link shrugged. "That doesn't mean you can't protect her. Just be strong enough that she doesn't have to fight the things that would threaten her."
"But how?" Elfman asked sadly, looking down at his arm.
In response Link took a stance and made a fist with his right hand. "I'm going to hit you with this hand. Try to stop me."
He didn't give Elfman a chance to reply before he darted forward. He tucked the arm in close to his body, hunched down slightly, and moved into Elfman's range with a quick weaving motion. He threw a quick jab at Elfman who tried to block the punch and counter but Link planted his foot, pulling back sharply and around Elfman's counter, before crashing a straight punch into the boy's cheek.
"Again." Link stated and charged again. This time Elfman tried to meet his attack with one of his own. Link sidestepped the blow, grabbed Elfman's wrist and flipped him over his shoulder onto the ground.
"Again."
They continued in this manner several more times. Each time found Link landing a direct blow against Elfman in some way. All with his right hand. Finally Link pulled back to give Elfman a break.
"You see Elfman? You don't need Full Take Over to be effective. If you can't do Full Body then get good at what you CAN do. I just beat you senseless using the same arm your Take Over affects. You can do that too. It's time to stop being sorry for yourself and do something about it. Man up and stop letting your sisters carry the weight!"
Elfman groaned and struggled back to his feet. He was battered, bruised, and weary beyond belief. He raised half lidded eyes to Link between gasps of breath.
"A real man turns weakness into strength," Link stated.
Elfman stiffened at that and then took a deep, slow breath. He straightened his posture as he inhaled and squared his stance. He exhaled in a loud cry of defiance and charged forward, his right arm changing once again into beast form.
xxx
"So what do you think about all this?" Spryte asked curiously from where she sat on Erza's shoulder. The armour wearing mage walked along the path that the thief had run after one of his heists, tracing his route to try and find some clues. This was the third such route they had taken, having spoken to several of the victims and local authorities alike. Some of them had been dubious about talking to a young girl but after she had shown them her official guild mark they had all freely shared what information they had.
"Well we know the thief is male and is targeting things of value to the owners regardless of their actual worth. We also know that he has never stolen anything without attracting attention and outruns his pursuers by losing them after ducking into dead-end alleyways. He seems to enjoy the chase as much as the actual stealing."
As she said this she turned to face one such ally entrance. There didn't seem to be anything particularly strange about the alley, in fact it looked fairly typical all things considered. Some scattered stacks of crates along the walls, a clothesline hanging between the buildings, and other random detritus decorated the otherwise empty dead end. The buildings on either side were rather tall and Erza had to crane her neck up to see how high they went.
"Do you think he went invisible or something?" The fairy asked.
"Hmmm," Erza mused aloud, raising a hand to her chin in thought. "Possible, but doubtful. Invisibility is a rather difficult form of magic…"
"It is?" Spryte cut in, surprised. Erza sighed.
"For humans, yes, it is." There was no doubt in her mind that if the fairy didn't know how to make herself invisible now then it wouldn't take her more than a few days to figure out. Spryte's magical experimentations and successes were becoming almost legendary amongst the guild. "If he is using magic to hide his presence it is more likely that he is using some form of camouflage rather than invisibility. Though that might not be how he is doing this at all. Do you sense anything out of place?"
Spryte took a moment to fly around the alley, pausing here and there to inspect things more closely.
"No…" She said slowly after a moment. "I can tell that magic was used here at one point, but not what kind or how long ago…It's faded too much. Just like the others."
"Unfortunate, but understandable. At least we can reasonably conclude that the thief is indeed a wizard of some sort."
"Yeah," Spryte agreed. "The magic used all feels the same so it was probably cast by the same person. Unless there's someone else running around and casting magic in the same alleys our thief is running through it's probably our guy."
"We'll have to figure out some way of either tracking him down or catching him in the act."
"Any ideas?"
The red haired girl shook her head. "None at the moment."
"How do you think the other two are doing?"
xxx
"Miraaaaa! Slow down!" Lisanna whined to her sister as she flapped her wings in an attempt to keep up keep up. She had to change into a bird form after Mira began charging through the streets at a breakneck pace.
"No way!" Mira shouted back. "I'm not gonna let that bimbo Erza catch this guy before me!"
"But you don't even know where to look!"
"All we have to do is find a shady character that knows how to use magic. After that we'll beat a confession out of him!"
Lisanna sighed heavily to herself…there were a lot of people in this city…
xxx
"I don't think we should rely on their contributions," Erza replied, her eyebrow twitching irritably.
Spryte laughed cheerfully and resettled back on Erza's shoulder. "So what's our next move?"
"If we can't find any solid evidence to help our investigation then we're just going to have to patrol around the city at night and see if the thief strikes again."
The fairy let out a long suffering sigh. "Awww maaaaan…that's gonna be sooooo boring…"
"Perhaps," Erza smiled. "But it is the best course of action we can pursue at this time. Without any discernable pattern we have no way of knowing what he may steal next."
"Well…in that case we should probably head back to the hotel and make some sort of plan."
"Agreed."
The pair made their way unhurriedly back to their lodgings to meet up with the others. They found Link sitting on the entryway steps casually playing his ocarina. Erza quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Where's Elfman?"
Link paused in his playing to shrug. "Last I saw he was sleeping in our room. He was pretty worn out."
"Oh? From what?"
"School of hard knocks."
"I see. And how did he do?"
Link shrugged again. "Not bad. He has potential, just needed a push in the right direction I think."
Erza nodded.
"So what did you find out about our thief?" Link asked.
This time it was Erza's turn to shrug. "Not much beyond what we already knew or suspected. It seems like we're going to have to patrol the city and wait until he strikes again."
"I figured as much," Link nodded and blew out a few more notes in the tune he had been putting together. After a moment he paused again. "Well nothing to do but wait then."
"But waiting is boring!" Spryte piped up with a whine. She fluttered over to Link's head and landed on his hat with greatly exaggerated ennui.
Link didn't miss a beat. "If he's using magic to hide himself or get away, how do you think we can stop him?"
Spryte sat up straight at that. "Huh, you know that's a good question." She lifted a finger to her chin. "It would depend on the type of magic he ends up using…hmmm…" She brought her hands up and began weaving a basic magic circle in the air. "If he's concealing himself with some kind of illusion or camouflage then maybe something similar to the Lens of Truth would work…I wonder if I can replicate that…or maybe identify the type of magic being used as he casts it…"
The fairy soon became lost in her experimentation and Link returned smoothly to his playing. Erza couldn't help but grin at the dynamic between the two of them. Link hadn't even paused to consider how to respond to Spryte's statement, he simply took the comment in stride and gave her a task that would occupy her mind for a good while as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
'They really make a good team,' She thought to herself and moved to sit next to Link so she could listen to his music. His playing had quickly become as much a part of Fairy Tail's atmosphere as the constant brawling its members did. It never failed to brighten everyone's day and Erza in particular had discovered surprising comfort in the melodies Link's ocarina produced.
It wasn't long before she had lost herself in the music, eyes closed and leaning casually against the step. Erza had no idea how long they remained that way but the approaching huffs and stomps of annoyance signalling Mira's return eventually broke her out of the reverie. She cracked an eye and smirked at her rival's dishevelled appearance and angry façade. Behind her poor Lisanna was swaying with exhaustion from trying to keep up with her elder sister.
"I take it you didn't find anything?" Erza asked rhetorically.
"Shut up," Mira snarled and stomped past them into the hotel.
Erza couldn't suppress the giggle of amusement that escaped her lips before she mastered herself and moved to help Lisanna. Sometimes it was just too easy…
xxx
Despite their best efforts to track down the culprit, several days passed without any progress being made. The close proximity and frustration from the lack of results made tension between Erza and Mira stretch to new levels of terror, even Link was having a hard time reining them in. Luckily the city was large enough that they could separate while on patrol otherwise a kleptomaniac would have been the absolute least of Oshibana's worries. Even so, if they didn't find the thief soon then the master would be receiving yet another reprimand from the Magic Council.
"ARGH! WHY CAN'T WE FIND THIS LOSER?!" Mira roared to the sky. The dark aura of her displeasure and frustration was so palpable that nobody within a twenty yard radius even dared to look at her. "I swear if I have to spend ONE more night in the same hotel as that red-headed bimbo I'm gonna crater this whole damn city!"
"Miraaaa!" Lisanna cried desperately. "Don't say things like that!"
"I mean it Lisanna! This guy is dead! DEAD! I'm going to kill him for this!"
Lisanna could only shake her head in exasperation. Her sister was beyond any reasoning. The only thing that would calm her down would be to catch the thief and deliver him to justice. She just hoped that Mira wouldn't follow through with her declaration; the job poster specifically stated he was wanted alive…
They continued to walk around the city streets, Mira grumbling the entire time, until the sun began to set with no luck finding their target. They were just about to call it a day when the high pitched wail of a police whistle cut through the air.
"Finally!" Mira shouted with glee and immediately dashed towards the sound.
"Hey! Big sis wait!" Lisanna cried out, changing into bird form to try and catch up.
Mira raced through the streets like a bat out of hell following the repeated sounds of the whistles from the local authorities.
"Oh yes!" She cackled. "I'm coming for you now!"
She rounded a corner just in time to see a laughing man running merrily away from a small group of officers. He wasn't anything special to look at, average height and somewhat lanky build with messy brown hair. His plain clothes and appearance made it so that no one who saw him would have thought he was a thief. No that little feature was given away by the brown sack thrown over his shoulder and the absolutely shit-eating grin plastered to his face as he ran.
"Hahaha! You'll never catch me boys!" the thief taunted over his shoulder. His merry jog easily kept him ahead of his pursuers and it didn't look like he was even putting forth much effort into it. No wonder he had managed to evade all pursuit before.
Mira chuckled darkly. Well unfortunately for him she was a little bit faster than normal people. She charged forward a smirk already stretching across her face as she thought about getting her hands on the reason she was here in the first place.
The laughing thief paused in his merriment for just a moment when he noticed the young goth girl racing towards him.
"Oh ho! What do we have here?" His grin stretched even further. "Isn't it passed your bedtime little lady?"
"I'll show you little!" Mira snarled channelling magic as she prepared to punch his lights out.
"Ah a mage is it? Come for my bounty no doubt," the thief nodded cheerily, never pausing in his stride. "Well you should be fun, catch me if you can!"
With that he suddenly turned just before he met up with Mira and darted down another street.
"COME BACK HERE!" Mira roared charging after him the thief's merry laughter only spurring on her rage.
She followed him through several roads and alleys never quite able to close the distance between them. Every time she tried he would either change direction suddenly or knock some obstacle over in her path. Finally he turned down a long narrow street with few things that could be used to block her.
"Got you now you little wretch!" Mira muttered and increased her speed. Soon she was almost within arm's reach of the still laughing man. "Just…a…little bit..mo-"
Her words were cut off when the thief suddenly turned another corner with a cry of 'Olé' and she crashed headlong into Erza. Apparently the red-head had been charging from the opposite direction hoping to pincer the thief before he made it to the side alley.
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU IDIOT!" Mira screamed in anger as the two rival mages struggled to untangle themselves from the ground.
"GET OFF ME MORON!" Erza roared right back
The two continued to shout and curse one another as they struggled to right themselves and only succeeded in getting in the other's way. There fight was cut short when a pair of overripe tomatoes suddenly splatted them both in the face. The two girls froze in sudden shock and disgust. Slowly, mechanically, they turned to see the thief grinning at them from the far side of the alley.
"Now now you two, it's unladylike to fight. Weren't you supposed to be chasing me? It's no fun if you start clawing at each other, although if you were a little older I might enjoy watching." He laughed uproariously at his own joke before turning to continue his run.
The two girls barely noticed him leave. They stood slowly, their figures hunched and their faces shrouded by their hair. Rotten tomato juice dripped from them to the dirty alley floor in tiny drops that seemed to echo around them in the silence. As one they turned to where the man had run off, a miasma of pure fury wafted off them, their eyes burning red with the promise of pain.
That man was going to die.
xxx
The thief's taunting laugh echoed throughout the city streets as he continued to run from the two powerful young mages now united in their need to end his existence. Unfortunately he was just too slippery for them to catch. He seemed to know the streets and alleys like the back of his hand and took great joy in lobbing random bits of garbage and detritus at them at every opportunity. After several minutes of this the Erza and Mira were both covered in bits of trash and they had long since given up on trying to be civil. Mira took every opportunity to try and blast the man with magic and Erza had several opportunities to bifurcate him with a sword by cutting through other streets. One only had to hear the explosions to know where the chase was happening, which was how Link and the others found them.
"Aiyah…those two are sure making a racket…" Spryte huffed.
"Well they have been really stressed out lately," Lisanna admitted. She had lost Mira fairly quickly after her older sister had charged off and had managed to track down the others to tell them they had found the thief. The four of them were now racing to try and help.
"Doesn't sound like they've caught the guy though…" Elfman huffed. "We need to help them."
"Hmmm," Link nodded. "We need to try and head him off. Let's move to higher ground."
With that darted towards one the nearby buildings and pulled out his hookshot. Without breaking stride he shot the chain out and pulled himself up to the rooftops. He turned to wave at the two younger mages, beckoning them to join him. Lisanna paused for only a moment before she shifted back into her bird form and use her talons to haul Elfman up to the roof as well. Link gave the two a nod of approval and started running and jumping across the rooftops. It didn't take them long to reach the chaos that was Erza and Mira's chase.
The thief in question was apparently having a blast evading the two livid young women. They watched in somewhat morbid fascination as a blast of magic from Mira was deftly avoided and what could only be some kind of stink bomb, if Mira's reaction was anything to go by, was returned. Erza fared no better as she tried to stab him from above only to miss and get a face full of egg for her troubles.
"That's…kind of impressive," Spryte admitted. "He's really quick and agile; no wonder no one has been able to catch him."
"Maybe so but they're both nearly S class wizards. If they just calmed down a bit they could probably catch him fairly easily." Link shook his head in mild dismay. He knew there was very little chance of that happening right now; maybe if they had found him a few days ago but not with the two girls' tempers so frayed.
"But he's not using any magic so how did he disappear into those alleys?" Elfman asked, squinting to try to see better.
As if in answer to his question they suddenly heard the thief shout out to the two girls who had basically been nothing but his evening's entertainment.
"Well it's been fun ladies, but I think it's time to call it a night. I'm getting a little hungry," He grinned at them and ducked down an alley out of their sight but unfortunately not of sight of his rooftop watchers. They watched as a magic circle appeared at his feet right before he shot into the air and up to the rooftops.
"Ah, Jump Magic," Spryte clapped a fist into her palm. "That explains it."
"Pretty straight forward actually," Link admitted. "Well if that's all he's got then we should be able to wrap this up easily enough." He turned to Lisanna and Elfman. "You two go get the girls and tell them where this guy is going. No doubt they're going to start fighting with each other if you don't. I'll chase after him."
"Right," Lisanna nodded.
The Hylian darted away after the man who had dropped back down to the streets below in order to further confuse any followers who may have seen him jump to the rooftops. Link stayed up high and managed to follow him fairly easily.
"Looks like he's being a lot more careless now," Spryte noted.
Link nodded in agreement. "He thinks he's gotten away."
"He's in for a bit of a surprise then. How are you going to catch him?"
"Like this," He replied holding his arm out as he ran. A brief flash of light later and he was holding a boomerang. He took a few moments to close the distance between them a bit more before he leapt forward into a long arcing side flip over the street. Half way through his spin Link snapped his arm out and flung the curved weapon towards the fleeing man. The spinning projectile arced through the air and struck the thief in the head with a resounding WHACK.
"Bullseye!" Spryte laughed merrily as she and Link dropped to the ground. Link raised his hand as he walked forward in time to casually snatch his magical weapon on its return flight.
"Easy enough," Link nodded, bending down to look at the unconscious man at his feet. He shrugged and grabbed the back of his shirt to drag him off towards his friends. It wasn't long before the others rounded a corner to find him approaching with his prize in hand.
"Did you get him?!" Erza demanded angrily.
Link nodded and tossed the thief forward. He hit the ground with a grunt and groaned as the impact jarred him back into consciousness. What he saw when his eyes opened made him immediately wish he hadn't.
Erza and Mira were standing over him with looks of pure hatred and cracking knuckles.
"Eh-heh hey there ladies…fancy meeting you again…listen sorry about all that back there, I was just having some fun. That's all this whole thing has been really, just away to have some fun! I didn't mean anything by it."
"What about all the things you've been stealing from people?" Erza glared at him.
"Harmless knick knacks and stuff. I just wanted to see if I could get away with it."
"Well your thieving days are over now!" Mira declared, venom dripping from every word. "Now it's time to face your punishment!"
"Hey you two take it easy," Lisanna stepped in front of them in an attempt to block them from the now cowering man. "We caught him and our job is finished so we can just hand him over to the police now right?"
For a moment it looked like the two girls were going to push right through her to get at the thief who had made their night hell but if there was anyone that Mira would bend over backwards for it was her siblings. Erza was of a similar mindset to her fellow guild members and for a moment it looked like the two rivals were going to back down.
"So what did he steal tonight?" Elfman asked aloud and reached into the thief's bag and withdrew a pair of lacy pink panties.
Silence fell over everyone as they all stared at the article of clothing in Elfman's hand. The young boy turned crimson red at the sight and immediately dropped both it and the bag. The sack fell to the ground in a heap and they could all see that there were quite a few more examples of said clothing within.
And just like that whatever restraint that Erza and Mira had was gone.
xxx
"Well that was a pain," Mira grumbled under her breath from where she sat back on the train. After extracting their much deserved pound of flesh from the thief and turning him in, the group had received mixed praise from the mayor for catching the criminal and some rather pointed criticism for the destruction caused while doing so. In the end though they had been thanked and paid though Erza was rather worried that they would be hearing about it from the master after the official complaint that was sure to come from the Magic Council.
"Perhaps," The red head agreed. "But we managed to apprehend the criminal so the mission is complete."
"I guess," the goth girl sighed before stretching her arms out high. "I'm just glad we got to pound that creep into pulp."
"It was rather satisfying wasn't it?" Erza nodded in agreement. "I don't think I've ever been more incensed in all my life. I still don't understand where he kept all that garbage…"
"Right? Disgusting! I thought I'd never get the stench out of my hair."
As the two continued reminiscing over their recent unification against a common enemy, the others couldn't help but smile at them. The two girls were such bitter rivals that it was hard to imagine them being anything else but moments like this sometimes made the possibility of something more believable.
"It's nice to see them getting along for a change," Lisanna whispered to her brother.
"Yeah, maybe they'll start fighting a bit less now," Elfman nodded. "What do you think, Link?"
The older boy turned from staring out the window to look at them and then at the two girls sitting across from them. After a moment he shrugged and raised a hand with all fingers spread. Slowly he ticked them down one by one counting back from five. As soon as he was done he pointed towards the two girls.
"Of course we wouldn't have had that problem if you hadn't gotten in my way earlier."
"Excuse me?! I got in YOU'RE way?! YOU crashed into ME!"
"Only because you were too slow to catch him before that!"
"HAH! Not like you did ANY better you red headed floozy!"
"FLAT CHESTED HAG!"
"ARMOURED BIMBO!"
And just like that they were back at each other's throats.
The two Strauss siblings groaned and sagged back in their seats. So much for that…
Link merely chuckled to himself and turned to look back out the window. He let a contented smile tug at his lips as the argument between Erza and Mira blended in with the sound of Spryte snoring under his cap and he let himself relax amongst friends.
xxx
A/N: So yeah. Back again. Next chapter is probably gonna be in this fic again because I've had a few ideas burning in my head for it. Apologize again for the delay but it's been a rough year.