Summer's Rain (夏の雨)
Prologue
"…Thanks for all your hard work," whispered his sullen voice. Rayne could barely make out the silver in his hair with her failing vision. "Rest well."
"See you in the next life." She replied in jest, but her heart had never felt heavier.
No one would have ever expected her to sacrifice herself for a host she thought of as an idiot. Even she was surprised by her sudden altruism. As the world grew silent and dark the thought of death crossed her mind. She humored the possibility of an entity being annoyed with her, though likely not as bad compared to her host who danced in and out of its domain like a rotating door.
Willful goodbyes aside, the sullen and newly deceased found herself unable to welcome death with open arms. Not like before, not when she wanted to keep going… to see him again.
An unfortunate impossibility now.
Blind and detached from all her other senses, Rayne's mind drifted in an endless void, wondering if this was all there was to death. This timeless emptiness. This… loneliness…
Was she to drift aimlessly for all of eternity?
"…Oh!" A girlish voice broke through the darkness gleefully.
Apparently not.
All at once the world returned, pushing away the empty void that had held her captive. A scream threatened to rip out of her throat at the sudden surge of sensations after spending so long deprived of all else.
"Ngh…" Rayne groaned, brows furrowing as she forced her golden eyes open against what felt like viscous glue.
Immediately, the world in her vision spun in a blurry haze. She shook her head in a groggy attempt to clear the fog crowding her mind. Slowly, as though she was pulling herself out from under water, each of her senses returned. The sound of chattering voices, the earth scent of wood burning away in a fire place and a noticeably wet and thick slime coating her body.
Far from comforted by such sensations, she was more distracted by the fact that she once again had a body. Barely getting a chance to completely clear the fog in her mind, a sudden barrage of images and voices bombarded her mind in harsh succession.
"…Everything is for the kingdom."
"The magic in this world is vanishing!"
"The children will defeat the dragon slayers."
"This is… your mission."
Magic? Dragon slayers? What on earth is— Rayne wheezed, eyes wide as she took in her first breath. The sound and images worsen with each passing second as she tried to ground herself.
"Wow! It hatched! It hatched! I can't believe it finally hatched!" cheered the girlish voice from earlier before a pair of delicate hands pulled her away from her wet prison.
Wait… hatched? Am I not human? Confused and held at an arm's length away. Rayne found the visions fade away, replaced by the smiling face of a blue-haired girl of maybe four or five in age. Behind the child was a crowd of people donned in tribal clothing.
"Be gentle Wendy," chuckled the elder with a large decorative headpiece. "You don't want to accidentally hurt the poor thing do you?"
"Of course, not elder!" gasped Wendy as she gently cradled the newborn creature in her arms. "I'll take good care of her! I promise!"
What am I? Confused, Rayne glanced down to her new body. At first she thought maybe she was a lizard or a bird since the girl mentioned about hatching earlier. However, at the sight of fur rather than feathers or scales, the confusion seemed to continue to grow. Instead of hands or wings, she found paws in place of what should have been hands.
"I'm sure you will," said the elder heartily as he encouraged the girl's enthusiasm, but it did nothing to reassure Rayne.
Confused, Rayne wondered what sort of furry-pawed creature hatches from eggs. Mammals don't hatch from eggs like birds and reptiles, they're born into the world. For a moment she wondered what she ever did to deserve this type of punishment, but then she remembered how she used her previous host—a pubescent child—to enacting genocide on the battlefield. Karma certainly had a way with getting back at her.
A frown crossed her face as she attempted to wiggle the individual digits on her paws. Though the lack of maneuverability and opposable thumbs was unsettling. It was nowhere as disturbing as finding a furry appendage hanging on her backside. She almost wished that she was reborn as a human male rather than… this furry thing.
"What are you going to name her, Wendy?" asked the elder.
"How about…Carla?" suggested the girl brightly.
Carla? A distaste crossed the Rayne face. "How about… no?"
The girl froze and the room fell silent. No one expected her to be able to talk.
"Oh," murmured the girl with quiet uncertainty. "Um, since you don't like the name Carla. Do you have a name? My name's Wendy. Wendy Marvell."
Wendy Marvell. An awfully familiar name. Rayne glanced at the girl once more and took note of her wide innocent blue eyes. Having seen so many child-soldiers, it was a jarring to actually encounter a normal child for once. Then again, normal was rather relative.
Even with the lack of familiarity with her current body, something didn't feel quite right about the elder and his tribal kinsman. Something about them gave off the impression that a reckless introduction was not a wise decision.
"Wendy is a nice name." The nonchalant compliment sent the blue-haired girl flushing red with a bright smile.
"T-thank you," said the girl sheepishly. "So… um… your name?"
Had this girl shared the slightest similarity to her previous host, Rayne would have no qualms in acting petulant and have her guessing until she stumbled onto the right name. However, there was a sinking possibility that she might have imprinted on the girl from the moment she laid eyes on her. Try as she may, she couldn't seem to draw up any ill will towards the child. All she felt for her was a sense of safety and comfort.
"…Rayne." She replied at last, eyes still not quite trusting her instincts to give into the child's whims.
"Nice to meet you Rayne!" continued the girl cheerily. "And welcome to the Cait Shelter Guild."
Rayne paused, repeating the name of the guild once more in her mind… Cait Shelter Guild. Realization like a bolt of lightning and suddenly everything made sense. The voices, the visions, Dragon Slayers, Wendy and the name Carla! This was the world of Fairy Tail and she… was reborn as a cat!
A—god—damn—cat! She seethed. If ever she got her hands on fate, she would surely gut the entity with an honest to god smile on her face. However, she digresses. Having died in a world with ninjas and now reborn into a world of wizards, there was only one word that could encompass the entirety of her feelings and one word only.
"…Fuck."
Author's Note: First off, Rayne is originally part of the SI story Iryo-nin Kasa. It's not necessary to read that story prior to this one, but if you're interested in how Rayne died, feel free to skip to the interlude chapter in Iryo-nin Kasa for more details. Otherwise, this story could be read as a standalone.
A couple of notes, Rayne will be taking place of Carla. Wendy's around 4 or 5 at this point in time and I'm not sure how the updates are going to be on this story since I'm still trying to work out the story direction, but thanks for reading and I hope to see you guys in the next chapter!