Alrighty, dudes and non-dudes, sorry about that last chapter. I just truly need some help on le ole battle match ups. Fairy Tail versus Kindred Spirit is the only one that's been decided. The question is "In a game of Who Can Punch Who the Hardest" who do you want to see versus each other. So... yeah... Some assistance would be nice, my lovelies.

Here is the real chapter four, so you all don't flip out on me. Again, sorry about the details. That was just my Help Wanted Flyer.

Alrighty then, tally-ho. Enjoy this lil' tidbit of good ole Katja.

Lodging

Katja kept her head hung but her eyes peeled. She may be feeling awful about what she'd accidentally done to the master of Sabertooth, but she hadn't expected him to hug her. No one hugged her. Well, Sven did, but he didn't count because he could. No one other than Sven could touch her. That was a fact of life, and one she would have to deal with for the rest of her life.

Long ago, Katja had come to the conclusion that she would be by herself for the rest of her life. Today just reminded her of the day that fact had been made brutally clear. That boy… The one in her memory was the first person Katja had ever had to put in her Time Out Box. Katja didn't want to have to put Sting there, too.

Her eyes traveled over towards where Sting was laid out unceremoniously between Yukino and Rogue. The frothy saliva her poison had given him had been wiped off and hadn't come back. In other words, Katja could tell that her brother's anti-venom had worked.

She was thankful.

There wasn't a medicine known to man to counteract her poison other than Sven's venom, and her poison was the only thing that could cure his venom. Even so, the transfer was risky business. Too much or too little and the victim would die either way.

Over the years Kat and Sven had mastered their venom and poison curing. Now, they almost always knew how much or how little they needed to balance out the venom or poison. It was good because they could never turn off their magic, and just a slight slip in control could kill an ally. Katja thought, Case and point are sitting right in front of you, Genius.

Mentally, she slapped the devil sitting on her left shoulder. She did not want to listen to him right now. As a matter of fact, he needed to go find another shoulder to perch on. Katja was never in the mood for him.

"Stop thinking about it," Sven's rational voice grumbled from beside her.

When she turned towards her brother, all she saw were hazel eyes turned to blue flames by the setting sun. He was worried.

"I'm not thinking about it," she lied. Katja was so thinking about it.

"We're not mad about it," came a feminine voice. Katja turned in the direction of Yukino. "Sting's the best at getting himself into impossible situations. I'm sure that when he wakes up, he'll be more interested in fighting you than fearing you."

Katja forced a gentle smile to cross her lips. "Yeah…" Her eyes turned towards a studious gaze that had been checking her out the whole time.

Rogue's crimson eyes watched her like a hawk. Katja lived in shadows. She wasn't used to being exposed at all, clothing or visibility. The fact that she was being watched just unnerved her further.

Looking towards her brother, Kat asked, "Are you going to be over Mermaid Heel and Fairy Tail still?"

Sven just gave a slow shake of his head. His entire body was in protective brother mode. Even that way he was sitting made himself look bigger, more like a threat to anyone that wanted to mess with her. "The Polterom Twins are coming in to meet Fairy Tail. They offered to take our place to watch over the guilds, and K-I mean, Isaac wants to be around Kagura as much as he can. I'll be watching Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus, and the Band of Fallen. What's your three?"

"Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, and Grimm. For some reason Isaac said that my Poison Body Magic would be perfect for Blue Pegasus since they always get handsy with the girls. Isaac told me to wear tank tops around them, and if they touched me, to put them to sleep." For some reason her admission got the Sabertooth guild members to snicker.

When she raised her brow, she got her answer. Yukino explained, "Blue Pegasus thinks that they're a bunch of studs and charmers. They're very well dressed and attractive guild members that make womanizing look like an art."

Just that comment got a low growl to roll in Sven's chest. "Isaac and his schemes," he grumbled.

Katja was thinking about making a comment on that until the carriage stopped. The driver walked around the side to open up the door, and her mood almost immediately brightened.

Up ahead Kat could see snowy peaks being kissed by large, fluffy flakes of ivory snow. Even at this distance, Katja could hear magic snow mobiles running. She had suspicions about what the preliminary event would be to knock guilds down to the top ten. The fact that she was hearing people working on the Icere mountain range was just turning those suspicions to fact. Kat would have to make sure that she would represent Isaac's Royal Guard if the event wound up being snowboarding. The Winter Viper had to maintain her image.

"This is where I have to leave you," Sven mentioned, breaking Kat from her plots and plans.

"Huh? W-why?"

"The Band of Fallen and Lamia Scale have just arrived. I have to get back at the dock to make sure it's safe for Lamia Scale."

"How do you know?" Katja wondered.

Her eyes shifted around, and when Sven merely pointed to one of King Isaac's shades, shadow messengers that relayed information in Lance, she immediately understood. All it took was Isaac's shades reaching out and connecting to another person's shadow to receive and give information through the capital. It was how the Royal Guard communicated.

Wind gave a harsh gust to the back of her head, sending locks into her face. She tucked a strand behind her ear then gave Sven a nervous grin. "Well, be careful then."

Sven's flat lined mouth curved up into a slow grin. He leaned close to his older sister to press a kiss on her forehead, a habit he'd formed after being around Princess Adamine for so long. "You'll do fine. If any of those guys get out of hand, just touch 'em. Easy fix."

Katja offered up her most sincere of fake grins before watching her brother turn on his heel back towards the carriage. Her rib cage constricted when she watched the driver crack the reins. As soon as the two made their way back down the snowy mountainside, Kat forced herself back.

"So, ready to board the cable car?" she wondered, forcing her voice to sound cheerful. "Oh! Rogue, keep this pill bottle on you. I'll have to take it from you when the Grand Magic Games start, but for now you can keep it."

His hand reached out to snatch the bottle, but Rogue didn't miss when her hand flinched at the contact of his bare hand to her gloved one. Something bad had happened to her long ago. Rogue wanted to know what.

He didn't get a chance to ask because Yukino asked, "So, do you have any idea what the preliminary event is going to be?" The white haired girl had just settled herself down inside of the cable car.

Rogue couldn't pop the motion sickness pill in his mouth fast enough when Katja encouraged him to step foot in what looked like death suspended over death with only a thin string of hope holding it up. Once he sat down and leaned Sting up against one of the metal walls, he tried not to show the fact that his entire was one taut guitar string ready to break with just a single touch.

Katja caught him off guard when she replied, "No, but I have a good idea." A smile, a real one this time, slipped up her face. "They've been getting the snow ready all day, so I'm sure we're going to be on Mount Glacia." Like they weren't riding a death trap, Katja rose from her seat to point to the mountain they were heading towards. "That's Mount Glacia. It's the roughest, most difficult mountain to snowboard on because of all the cliffs, rocks, and trees. I'm sure the king wouldn't put us on the hardest slopes since not all of you know how to snowboard, but if it has anything to do with Mount Glacia, you can be sure that I'll be your opponent."

Rogue admired the way that Katja's eyes glistened when she looked upon the snow kissed mountain. It was obvious that was her favorite place to be. He supposed it only made sense that they would be staying on that mountain of all places.

"Do any of you know how to snowboard?" Katja asked, sitting down beside Yukino since the girl showed an interest in snowboarding.

"I don't have a clue," Yukino intoned.

Rogue shrugged, "We live near a mountain, but I have motion sickness so…" He let her fill in the blanks.

Orga beamed with his pearly whites. "You can bet that I know how to snowboard."

Rufus smiled in the direction of Katja. "I've done it before and remember it well."

"Nice!" Katja proclaimed. "So, now I know to look out for at least two of you during the competition. Don't think that I'll go easy on you either. I'm not called the Winter Viper just because it has a nice ring to it."

Yukino leaned forward in her seat and mentioned, "I wonder if anyone from Fairy Tail knows how to snowboard. I don't see Lucy being big into winter sports. She's more an artsy writer type."

"Adamine knows, and Erza asked her to teach her," Katja explained. The Princess of Lancet and Kat had gotten close to each other after their initial confrontation, a confrontation where the princess had handed Katja her ass on a silver platter. That woman had a right hook that had made Kat's jaw sing for days. She knew never to get in Adam's way ever again.

Rogue mentioned, "Well, you can be sure that I don't plan on snowboarding if I'm not allowed these pills. This is the first time I've been able to ride on anything without getting ill."

Katja beamed, and easily she and the members of Sabertooth entered a bout of conversation. They bandied information back and forth between each other. Katja went into detail about the capital of Lance. She told the group of its many tourist attractions from the mage battles recently being held in Thor's Field to the snowboarding and skiing. The biggest distillery operation of what used to be illegal whiskey was now made legal since King Isaac enjoyed it so much. Now that Sabertooth had made it obvious they were fine with her and the abilities of her skin, she became more animated, eagerly chitchatting like any other girl. Even Orga started to lose his initial dislike of the female.

Soon enough, the cable car ride ended, and Katja was leading the group into a winter wonderland. Several octagonal cabins dotted the top of Mt. Glacia. Heavy timber created the perfect image in winter lodging, and suddenly, the backpacks being carried by everyone started to feel just a little bit heavier.

Turning back into a tour guide, Katja spun around. Her dark brown hair whipped in the snow, and choice flakes dotted her tanned skin. "This is your lodging. These five cabins have been chosen specifically for the top guilds in Fiore and the top guilds in Lancet. Like my brother and I discussed earlier, you'll be bunking with Fairy Tail." Katja snapped her fingers, and two shadowy forms of herself erupted from the snow covered ground. "King Isaac allowed me possession of some of his shades. Give them your stuff, and we can go inside. You can hand Sting over to them as well. Unlike me, they can be touched." Even though she was trying to be chipper, that last sentence came out with a twinge of hurt in her voice.

Once Rogue handed over sleeping Sting to one of the shades, he shrugged his backpack off. The shadowy figure of Katja stretched out, grabbed both the man and the backpack, melted into the ground, and slithered away without a word. Hmm. Perhaps, Rogue should see if there was a way for him to be able to do the same thing.

His crimson eyes rolled upwards from the shadows shooting off to one of the lodges then he noticed Frosch walking with Katja. The green Exceed was walking close to the woman like she knew she was upset.

"How do you like it up here, Frosch?" Katja wondered to the Exceed.

"Fro thinks it's beautiful!"

"You and me both," Katja chimed, falling into conversation with the Exceed like how Rogue did.

Smiling to himself, Rogue caught up with the two. Katja blinked at his sudden presence but didn't comment on it. If anything, she smiled at him then just went back on with her conversation with Frosch. Yeah, that Exceed could win anyone over.

When she got around the same wooden door that the shades had disappeared underneath, Katja's hands wrapped around a deer antler that had been made into a door handle. "Now, this is the best part," she explained, opening up the door.

What Rogue saw inside was absolute lavishness.

The inside of the octagon was massive. Heavy timber beams stretched the entire expanse. A crackling fireplace beckoned along one of the far walls. There was a pool table set dead center in the middle of a platform. An expansive bar was stocked with Lancet whiskey, rum, and beer. Lining the entire perimeter of the room were warm glowing lights that made the room appear even larger. All in all it was a beautiful piece of work reflecting warmth and relaxation. Again, they felt the weight of their journey growing.

"Treat it just like you would your guild hall. Since a lot of the members of the guilds couldn't come due to the long distance, we were able to fit more guilds into single spaces. I just hope that you and Fairy Tail don't start a huge fight. Their guild will be here later tonight."

To Rogue she might have just said that Gajeel was going to be here tonight. The preliminary event would be going on midday tomorrow. Perhaps, Rogue could train with Gajeel before that time. He may have won their last battle, but Rogue wasn't going to let a mistake like that happen twice. Gajeel was going to lose this time. Rogue was certain.

Katja's hands lovingly ran across the wood on the pool table. She looked like she was about to ask them something until one of King Isaac's shades appeared in front of her. Judging by the way her eyes widened at the same time the shade fused with her shadow, the message wasn't good.

She snatched her scarf up from the pool table before winding it around and around her neck. Once that two inches of exposed skin was covered up, she explained, "If you need anything, talk into the lacrima. King Isaac designated two shades to each lodge. Also, curfew is at midnight. I wish that I could have stayed here and told you more about the lodgings, but I have to go."

Katja's body was in front of the door in an instant. She laid her hand down on the knob and twisted. As soon as the door opened, the sharp elevated winds of northern Lancet kissed her skin. It reached inside of the room, blowing snow inside with its arctic breath.

With how jerky and hasty her movements were, Rogue knew something must have happened. Had another murder gone down? Was there suspicious activity? Rogue had to know. Grabbing the black jacket he'd brought to this frigid land, he explained, "I'm going to see what's going on. Yukino, could you take care of Sting?" Turning to shadow, Rogue began his secret mission in the Kingdom of Lancet.