Aighty. Frosch is going to be deemed female in this story. Mostly because I don't like the idea of calling anything an it. I know that his/her gender is never explained, but judging by personality, eyes, and the fact that she wears pants, I'll say Frosch is a chick.
Poison Princess
Rogue was cautious even as he took in the sights of Port Regale. Anywhere mages could become target practice. Even with this many people concentrated in one space, no one was safe. If the Normans wanted to create a spectacle of their hate crimes, this would be the perfect time to do it.
Sabertooth was one of the bigger guilds on the scale of power and popularity. Whether Sting knew it or not, the target on their backs was neon and flashing.
He looked around the top of buildings. Crimson eyes checked in at every corner and shrouded alleyway. So far, nothing. All he took in were massive, brick and stone buildings. Even though it was only the outer rim of fall, snow looked ready to tumble down at any moment in this place. The entire place may have looked dreary and grey, but with the obvious festivities playing along the port and the people cheering in the streets, that cold façade was livened.
It wasn't until Frosch introduced herself that Rogue stopped creeping his eyes along the perimeter. A stunning woman was leaned down to put her hands on her knees. Her turtleneck allowed Rogue a view down her shirt, and at the apex of her collarbone she wore a guild mark. The mark was the mark of Exile, the king's royal guard.
Exile's mark was a round shield with Isaac's symbol in the center, a raven in flight. The wings spread out from the shield, and its beak was pointed upwards directly at the woman's throat. Well, she was their escort to the inn, but Rogue still didn't know her name.
The woman's feminine voice purred in the air. She asked, "And, what's your name?"
The green Exceed flashed an endearing smile, a smile that brought the same movement to Rogue's lips. "Frosch!" the Exceed cried out.
"That's a lovely name," the woman's sultry voice purred. A gloved hand extended, and the Exceed eagerly shook it. After that introduction was over, the Sabertooth escort rose to her full height. She was tall, though not nearly as tall as Rogue. The top of her skull was eye level to Rogue, but that alone made her taller than a few of the women in the guild.
Taking a curious look at Rogue, she addressed, "You must be Rogue Cheney. Pleasure to meet you." For a moment, she didn't seem like she was going to extend her hand in greeting. Then, she seemed to come out of a trance to do just that.
He took her slender hand in his. "I am. And, you are?"
"Katja Saab, Isaac's personal assassin and leader of the Magician's Alliance, a police force in Lancet," she explained. Once more, she took a second before adding anything to that. Was she nervous?
"So, I'm assuming that Sabertooth's trip here went smooth and without issue?"
"Of course, it did. Even if it didn't Sabertooth could have handled anything that tried to stop us from getting here," Orga called out from the background. His heavy footfalls sounded on the dock, and within a few seconds, he was joining in on the meet-and-greet.
"Exactly. We know about the hate crimes in Lancet. Had anyone come to stop us from our arrival, we would have easily taken them out," Rufus mentioned. He got down on one knee in the presence of Katja. Even though her eyes flashed wide when Rufus boldly snatched her hand up to kiss it, Rufus didn't let it deter him. His lips lingered on Katja's gloved hand when he chimed, "My name's Rufus Lore. It appears that a siren is here to lead us through this snowy country?"
Instead of falling for the man's charms, Katja just looked disturbed. Shyly, she withdrew her hand from his grasp. She looked like she was trying to hide herself when she mentioned, "I'm no siren, but I am your escort. You'll be staying in a cabin instead of an inn. King Isaac believed that letting you stay near the ski resort might deter any Normans from coming for you. They believe you'll be staying closer to Thor's Field, the arena." Her entire visage lit up, and she cast the group an almost devilish grin. "I hope you boys don't mind snowboarding."
"Snowboarding?" Yukino wondered. She appeared at Sting's side.
Katja took one look at the woman, checked her up and down. After making what looked to be some sort of sign of approval, Katja reinstated, "Yup. Snowboarding. Capital Lance is not only our governmental head. It's also a hot commodity amongst skiers and snowboarders." Her thumb jabbed near her chest. "Currently, I take the top spot as best snowboarder in the country. Does the name Winter Viper chime any bells?" Sting, Rogue, and Orga knew that name. Brows rose when they took in Katja one more time.
On lacrima TV no one knew the identity of the famous Lancet snowboarder. She never took off her goggles. Her hair was pulled back into a floppy toboggan then further sealed off under a black helmet. To know that this was what hid behind all those layers had Rogue gathering new respect for the woman who beat the slopes according to her presence.
She didn't let them revel in her fame for too long. She did a quick headcount of the members of Sabertooth. With the way her hazel eyes moved, the math she was doing in her head went faster than the movements on the second hand of a watch. "Alright, we'll be taking a cable car up to the top of that mountain." Her hands pointed like a tour guide would do. Before Sting and Rogue could go green in the face, she added, "Also, for any dragon slayers, Fairy Tail has provided us with Troia infused medicine."
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Fairy Tail? What do you mean Fairy Tail? Did they beat us here?" Sting howled, leaping in front of Katja.
The woman's body arched back, and her eyes grew wide. "Uh… No. There's this thing called exporting. The medicine was exported from Hargeon. A whole shipment of the medicine got here before any dragon slayers did, and Fairy Tail isn't set to arrive until tomorrow. They're under my brother's contract." A slick grin crept up her face. "If it makes you feel any better, Sabertooth will be bunking in the same lodge as Fairy Tail."
The look of sheer joy that crossed Sting's face was enough to get the whole team beaming. Rogue knew exactly what was on the male's mind, too. He was going to see if Natsu would spar with him. Hmm. Perhaps, Rogue could do the same with Gajeel. It would be worth it to show his role model that he was stronger than he had been last year.
Katja broke into Rogue's daydreaming when she pressed her gloved hands together. "Okay, now that we're all present and accounted for, I would love for everyone to fight the throngs of fangirls to get to the carriages King Isaac provided us with."
Her hands gestured over to a line of proud horse drawn carriages. Two shiny, black steeds huffed in the chilly air. One could see the frost as it poured from the horse's nostrils. Their proud bodies stood in the evening sunlight, and the whole day took on a certain flair to it. Apparently, the guilds were to be treated like celebrities.
Sting wrapped an arm around Katja's shoulders. He was going to draw her into a half hug and say something probably goofy until Katja's eyes shot wide. Sting's hand slipped underneath the thick veil of Katja's hair. Rogue could see her tan, bare skin for just a second. Then, something horrific happened.
With just the slightest of touches to Katja's skin, Sting's words came out in a jumbled bunch from his lips. Katja loosed a shriek then ripped from Sting's grip. Her hands gripped Sting's arm then threw it off of her. Like she had been the only thing supporting his body, Sting toppled to the streets.
Immediately, screeches sounded off in the air as fangirls flipped at Sting hitting the cobblestone. His body was a limp noodle, and he melted into a puddle on the ground. He was even foaming at the mouth.
"What the hell just happened?" Orga boomed. Electricity fired up around his body as he searched for anything that could have gotten Sting to drop so easily.
Yukino lunged for Sting. She was about to touch him, but Katja's hands shot out. Covering Sting with her body, she breathlessly explained, "Oh, my, goddess! I'm so, so, so sorry, but you can't touch him. I'm poisonous. My skin is poisonous. When he touched me—oh, goddess. Sven! Sven, I need you here now!"
Katja's gloved hands slapped Lector away from touching his master. She hissed, "What part of poisonous do you not understand? He touched me now he's poisonous!" Tears began to form in her big, hazel eyes.
"I told them I couldn't do this," she hissed with moisture brimming at just the rim of her reddening eyelids. Her fists curled against the streets. She looked like she was seconds from breaking out into waterworks.
Suddenly, a black figure appeared. Wearing a long, ebony trench coat that seemed to be a going trend in Lancet, a new male showed up. "Kat," a male voice called. Hands reached out to snag Katja's face as everyone else looked on in part confusion and part horror. "Kat!" the man barked louder.
"Gunna do it again. Can't touch people. Can't let them get hurt. The only thing that comes to people that love me is pain," she whispered in a daze. Her eyes looked like they were going glassy, dazed. Rogue could almost see himself reflected in them like mirrors.
"No! Kat, don't go there. Time Out Box, Kitten. Okay, Time Out Box. Do you hear me, Kitten?" the new man kept on. His bare hands reached out to smooth over her temples. In soothing strokes he began to calm down what looked to be a panic attack.
Almost immediately, Katja eased back. The body that had been completely quaking in nerves and tear inducing fear was soothing down. "Yeah, that's it, Kat. Shh. Calm down. Shh. Now, I need you to make the exact same poison, so that my body can make an antidote for it. Do you hear me, Kitten?"
Katja gave a nod of her head. That shivering movement caused teardrops to spill onto the cobblestone. Rogue looked on in confusion, and after a while Katja was being shoved at him. "Hold my sister," the male commanded with a deep voice.
"I-uh-s-sure," Rogue spat out, carefully making sure not to touch any of the woman's skin. Most of it was covered. From just holding Katja Rogue was amazed at how in the hell Sting had wound up in the one in a million chance of touching this woman's skin. She was covered from head to toe, and her neck was covered up in a turtleneck that came to her chin. Of course, Sting was the one to fall prey to touch based magic.
His red eyes shifted down to where Frosch was holding the gloved hand of Katja. The little Exceed looked like she was trying to sooth the shivering woman. Smiling softly towards Frosch, Rogue turned his eyes back to the stranger.
"Is he going to be okay?" Yukino wondered, calmed down a little bit but still concerned. Her hands gripped the bottom of her skirt in nervousness, and she was nibbling on her lip.
The man tending to Sting briefly glanced up as if he hadn't realized anyone was around him. Sudden nervousness seemed to fill him when he noticed how many pairs of eyes were seeking his response. With an audible gulp, he explained, "Yes. Luckily, Katja was able to reproduce the same poison. Where my sister is poisonous, I'm venomous, but I can produce anti-venom to disrupt her poison. We should just be thankful this idiot touched her when she was producing paralysis poison. He could have died."
"W-What?" Yukino hissed in astonishment.
"Yeah, my sister and I constantly produce different poisons and venoms in our bodies. When someone touches her, she has no idea what she'll be giving them if she's not actively controlling her magic. For me, I would have to bite someone." He licked the hand that had touched his sister's skin. "This might get a little gross for you," he admitted, sticking a dart inside of his mouth.
Everyone raised an eyebrow until Sven withdrew a saliva coated dart from his mouth. Then, everyone suddenly got it.
"You must be joking," Rufus whispered to himself. "I can't un-remember this."
"No joke, musketeer. Just science." The man shoved the dart inside of Sting's neck. "Your guild master will be out of commission for the rest of the day, but he should be fine tomorrow morning." His head whipped around to Yukino. "You!"
"M-me?"
"Yes, you. Make sure that he drinks a lot of fluids and rests tomorrow. He'll be fine, but he now has poison and venom in his body. Too much movement and my venom may change into something more potent. The less he moves around, the less it'll move in his bloodstream." He leaned down to pick Sting up. Hauling the man up then slinging him over his shoulder, hazel eyes cut aggressively towards the man on his body. "My question is how in the hell did he touch her bare skin?" This guy made it sound like Sabertooth had let Sting touch her.
"We can't be held accountable for what Sting does. He's ridiculous," Orga intoned, shrugging his shoulders now that the threat was over. "Besides, why the hell did King Isaac send out someone whose skin couldn't be touched without warning us first?"
In nothing more than a blur, the stranger had his hand wrapped around Orga's throat. With a voice calm but filled with menace, the trench coat wearing male asked, "Did I mention that just a scratch of my nails into your skin could envenom you?" Orga made a snarl, but he also made it obvious that the man's threat had been understood. "Well, now you know. Make one more rude comment to my sister, and you might as well consider that as a warning." The male gave a pause then looking towards Rogue who hadn't said a single word, he added, "My name is Sven Saab. Like my sister, I'm an assassin for Master Isaac, and I'm the head of the Magician's Alliance. Would you like to trade?" He hefted a groaning Sting.
"Sure." Rogue began to move Katja, but as soon as he did, he felt her hair whisper against his skin. Nerves shot through his body.
He just stood there waiting to be poisoned, but when nothing happened, he heard Katja whisper, "I-I'm going to go away now."
Sven tossed Sting at Rogue then hastily dipped in to extend a bare hand to Katja. In an obviously weak grip, Katja rose up from the street. Her head was hung like a whipped dog. One of her gloved hands kept running up and down her arm. "I'm so sorry," she managed once more. "Oh, goddess, I'm so sorry."
When her head lifted, Rogue could see tracks of tears running from her eyes. They were the lightest of purple like someone had dipped just the tip of a purple paintbrush into clear water. As soon as Rogue got to see her eyes, Katja tore them away from everyone.
Just like a whipped dog might do, Katja walked off with her tail between her legs. Sven took one look at her before turning back to Sabertooth. "Come with us. During this trip, Katja will still be your guardian. Upset her like this again, though, and I'll make sure that King Isaac assigns me to look over your guild."
Rogue simply inclined his head. With Sting on his shoulder, they followed the brother and sister duo. With a careful gaze, Rogue watched as Sven hastily ran up to his sister. He put an arm around her shoulders the same way that Sting had been trying to do then drew her close. Sven kissed the top of his sister's head then whispered something that couldn't be heard at this distance.
There was pain in that exchange. Just by the way that they acted, Rogue could tell that this wasn't the first time this had happened to Katja or Sven.
"Talk about a dirt bag," Orga grumbled out. His brawny arms were lifted up, his fingers interweaved behind his head.
"Don't be like that, Orga. Obviously, this isn't the first time this has happened to her. Don't be so inconsiderate," Yukino scolded, walking behind Rogue. She was looking at Sting and making sure that he was healthy and safe.
"Well, it's not like Sting did it on purpose. That guy makes it look like it was all his fault. I'm just saying that we should have known we were dealing with a Poison Princess in the first place since she'd so damned dangerous," he growled. Rogue hated to admit it, but he had a point. Then again, so did Yukino. A little heads up on both accounts would have been nice. Oh, well… They were still stuck with said Poison Princess.