The New World Pt. IV
After the brief interaction between Rory and Gray, along with Itami trying his best and failing to have the halberd wielding girl leave him alone, the caravan continued on its trek. The beaming sun shone brightly over them, the afternoon's heat setting in and making the ride somewhat uncomfortable for most save for Wendy riding behind Gray. The ice mage had a "cool zone" around his person when he felt the heat, usually making others around him feel it as well as a byproduct with hardly a complaint since they would benefit from it too. Gray was doing it subconsciously as his inner thoughts were busy speaking with Zero on the matter of Rory and how she was someone to be cautious around. The whole concept of killer instinct was still hard to fully grasp for the ice mage, though Zero kept making it out that it was the most basic of basic natures for any living being to possess to a degree.
"Honestly, if this cliffside were a tad bit higher and to the left of us then we'd be riding comfortably in shade." Carla complained as even though she was receiving the benefit of Gray's "cool zone", the sun still shone all over her and her fur was very much like insulation. "It feels hotter here than it does in the summer in Magnolia."
"It's okay Carla, we just need to bear with it for a few more hours and then the sun will start setting." Wendy tried to relax her cat companion until the rhythmic beat of wings echoed in her ears. "Gray do you hear that?"
Gray was still lost in the midst of his thoughts with Zero to have heard Wendy and it was only when she began to tap on his shoulder, did he come back to reality. He was about to ask Wendy what exactly did it sound like until he heard the same rhythmic beat and turned to scan the sky around him. He heard not one rhythm but two and there was a distinction between them; short and quick flaps and long, powerful ones and neither sounded good in Gray's ears. This set him off into high alert and knew he needed to act fast, time was against them and it was something they needed the most of.
"Wendy, take the skies and buy us as much time as you can while I'll get everyone moving. I've got two ideas of what those sounds are and they aren't great." Gray ordered and Wendy nodded in understanding as Carla braced herself and carried her caretaker into the air.
"You'll stay with me Happy, but be prepared for anything."
"Aye, Sir!"
"Everyone, move! The Fire Dragon's coming!" Gray began to shout but just as he started, he watched as a flaming wall of fire immolate three carriages behind him as many more began to scatter. "Damn it!"
Chaos erupted as the dragon made landfall, it's massive tail slamming against the ground had terrified the horses into fleeing which caused a number of them to trip and launch both carriage and riders into the air. Gray caught sight of Wendy launching her attacks with precision to avoid any collateral damage as many villagers were still in the dragon's vicinity. He could tell that they were dealing damage the more she attacked as gash wounds from the extreme wind pressure would appear across it left forearm. It flapped its wings to take flight once again, catching Carla off guard as the wind momentarily destabilized her and went off in chase of the escaping carriages.
Gray had seen how fast Igneel was in his final battle with Acnologia, so it hadn't surprised him at the speed this fire dragon was going at to try and catch up to Lelei's cart. The ice mage watched as the entire thing including themselves and the mule were wrapped in her magic, speeding off just ahead of the dragon's flame breath with Kato crying out in fear. Gray wanted to help them, but he had to save the villagers that the dragon had ignored after attacking. He sped up the Jack Rabbit as fast as it could go, instantaneously freezing any flame remnants as he went by, saving as many as he could from the flames and those that were trapped by flaming debris.
"Erza do your read me!?" Gray called out into the communication lacrima as he sped after the dragon.
"I hear you Gray, what's wrong?"
"I need you ASAP! The fire dragon's attacking and I'll be spread too thin at the rate its going!"
"I understand, hold off as much as you can. We're on our way!" Holding out was their best bet for the mean time, so he had faith in Wendy to do her best while he evacuated everyone else.
In the meantime, Wendy's latest attack drove the dragon's gaping maw down as it prepared to fire at Lelei again, causing the beast to switch its target back to the twin tailed dragon slayer. Lelei did her best to control the speeding mule away from the danger that was only a handful of meters behind her, but was amazed at the level of bravery Wendy was showing to face off against a fire dragon on her own. When she turned to look back at how she was fairing, she watched the dark-haired girl and Carla dodge a heavy claw swipe at them as the very air surrounding them began to swirl before Wendy's mouth. Lelei had never seen such a thing happen before, but she was blown away just seconds after as a vortex of air shot forth from the teenager's mouth. Grounding the dragon before it was able to take flight again, an impossibility within Lelei's knowledge of even the strongest of wizards in history and it was a shared amazement.
"Lelei, focus! We can stand in awe later, for now we must run for our lives!" Kato exclaimed as he shook his student repeatedly, trying to turn his life saving mule in the direction of the other surviving carriages. "Where are they going!?"
Lelei turned to see what her master was talking about to see the JSDF metal carriages speeding off after the dragon as well. Those were regular humans with no magical talent facing off against a mythical beast of chaos, Lelei's admiration for them continued to grow at such bravery. Though it wasn't exclusive to just them as it went out for Wendy and Gray as well once she caught sight of him going off to fight.
"Whether they're stupidly brave or bravely stupid to face a Flame Dragon, they are risking everything for our lives so we must escape Lelei!" Kato continued to exclaim as Lelei retook the reins and sped them off to safety.
"Why did it have to be an overgrown lizard!? Why not an army of soldiers!?" Gray cried out to himself as he fired off a volley of powerful ice lances into one of the dragon's hind legs. "The first thing I end up fighting is a damn fire dragon!"
The scales on this one were obviously much tougher than the lesser dragons he shot down back in Earth Land, so it was fine for him not to hold back. His attacks were doing some worth of damage, but Gray couldn't make a clear shot at it as it would thrash around in response to the JSDF's own attacks against it. the attacks only seemed to annoy it even further as the ice mage could see the impacts glistening the scales without leaving so much as a scratch. They were brave for being regular people, but Gray was aware that it was up to him to protect them if they were blindsided by the dragon's attacks. It was the least he could do for them risking their lives like he and Wendy were doing.
As for Wendy, the ice mage believed that she had done enough on her part as her healing magic was essential now to treat the wounded. She's the advantage they had fighting the beast for being a dragon slayer, but he couldn't afford to let Wendy exhaust herself before she could help heal the wounded. Gray was confident that he and the JSDF could hold the dragon's attention, so he activated the communications link they were given earlier on to signal her.
"Wendy that's enough, we can hold it here for now. Go and help the villagers."
"I'm a dragon slayer, Gray. I'm much more helpful here battling the dragon."
"I know you are, but you are their best bet to survive any wounds they had just received. They need your help Wendy, I know I can trust you to save their lives."
Wendy did not reply to him, but she launched a wing attack before Carla used her max speed to fly her away from the battle and towards the terrified villagers. Gray felt like he played on one of her weak cards, but it was for the best if they could save more lives than the ones the dragon had already taken.
Itami watched as the teenager flew away, but had little time to think on it as he continued to fire his rifle at the dragon. A comment went by that they were just using pea shooters at some point when their weapons had no effect, not even the Browning was doing much aside from annoying it from the looks of the dragon. He was more surprised that Gray, who was casting ice magic with his hands instead of steering his motorcycle, was capable of dealing some amount of damage to it. A quick thought had passed by the captain's mind as he had realized that dragon types were weak against ice types, but it was drowned out as Kurata yelled out a breath attack was incoming.
"Everyone, scatter before you're caught in the flames!"
"We're too bunched up, there isn't much room to move!" Itami hadn't noticed that their spacing had been jumbled thanks to the terrain they were fighting on and the dragon's spontaneous attack zones.
Itami prepared to face the intense heat, but watched as an icy blue wall rise high into air and deflected the flames away from them. Gray had managed to speed up his motorcycle in time to be ahead of them and created a tall wall of ice right behind him, blocking the flame from ever touching any of the JSDF vehicles. Coming as much of a surprise to everyone that the ice held out in the first place, as there was no way it could handle the intense heat the dragon's flame had. The captain grit his teeth after Gray stopped creating the wall as they were barely having any effect on the thing as it was and they were too far out to call for support that would arrive on time.
Not to mention that Gray seemed to be using lots of magic and might not have enough to keep fighting for much longer if all those RPGs he played had taught him anything about wizards without any mana potions in a prolonged fight. Itami watched as another breath attack began to build up in the dragon's mouth and really hoped that Gray was up for making another wall in time, but his anticipation turned to deathly concern as it wasn't aiming for them. The dragon's maw opened up again, this time firing a ball of flaming death towards the defenseless villagers and Itami was left to watch as the fire ball blew up on impact. All of their hard work literally going up in flames and the innocent lives they could have saved if they had drawn its attention even more.
The captain was unsure if he should order a retreat now that their primary objective had been wiped out, but a shining gleam was starting to blind him from the side mirror and he tried to get a clear look at what was the sun reflecting off of. To his shock, a towering shield stood strong as the remnants of embers began to swirl into the air until they were completely extinguished in the same manner that Itami saw Wendy inhale the air. Not long after the strange event, did he see an object launch into the air like a rocket at a tremendous speed although he couldn't make out what it was as the elf girl had awakened.
Itami could see her making a gesture and saying a phrase he didn't have time to translate, but he quickly deduced that she was referring to an eye. He shifted his focus towards the eyes of the dragon and discovered one of them had an arrow lodged deep within. This gave Itami a clear idea as to how to harm this beast, by blinding it entirely and ordered everyone to open fire at its one good eye. As they continued suppressing fire, the object the captain had noticed being launched was drawing closer and it was on fire.
What Itami didn't know since he couldn't see it very well was that it wasn't any object coming in, it was the FEF's greatest solution to a fire dragon problem. Natsu grinned widely as he and Happy were approaching the target, finally finding the challenge he wanted since coming to the Special Region. With no better way than having his best bud at his side, completely filled with joy that his blue furred friend was back with him safe and sound. Marking their reunion as a memorable one by teaming up and taking down a fire dragon.
"Alright, pal, it's time for the Flaming Torpedo! Max Speed the strafe run Happy!" It was a specialized moved they came up with during their one-year training, though it didn't have many practical uses aside from being really cool in their opinions. Basically, the move utilized Max Speed and one of Natsu's moves to deal massive damage at a devastating speed.
"Aye, Sir!" Happy replied as he flew higher into the sky and once at the appropriate height, he used his Max Speed and angled himself so that Natsu would have a direct hit at the dragon from behind.
"Release, Happy!" Natsu commanded as he engulfed himself in his flames at the right speed and aimed straight for the dragon's head. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He yelled, but seconds before his fist would connect, the dragon shifted its position.
Natsu knew he could still save the attack if he launched a fire burst to counter his momentum and propel him to the right, but as he was about to do so he watched a metal orb hurtling his way. With his fast reflexes, the dragon slayer changed his burst to counter the object and caused a massive explosion in face in doing so. Natsu took the initial shockwave of the explosion head on, while eating the rest of it as he hurled through the air onto the dragon's back. He swore he'd find out who was it that launched the thing at him in first place, once he was finished with this mindless beast that was an insult to fire dragons. Landing on its back was an accident, but a good one and Natsu would capitalize on it as he set his fist aflame. He struck the dragon's back with all his might and watched as the creature roar in pain as it tried to shove him off, feeling it bending forward with every punch.
In his assault, the pink haired slayer noticed Gray leading a number of vehicles away from the battle and assumed that he left it to him to finish off the dragon. He wouldn't complain about getting to fight a dragon on his own, but he wanted to get his first move done right so he fired off his beacon flame into the air. Soon enough, just like they practiced many times before, Happy came in at full speed and grabbed Natsu by the waist and into the sky. The Exceed was showing bravery in the face of extreme danger without anyone else at his side and Natsu couldn't be anymore prouder of his best friend.
"Alright Happy, let's do this again!" Natsu informed as Happy made his back to holding the dragon slayer by his coat shoulders and once again used his Max Speed.
"Now!" Happy let go of Natsu, changing his flight pattern to curve upward and back into the sky while Natsu went on his trajectory. "Let's see you try this one! Fire Dragon's Talon!" Natsu was aiming directly for the neck when the dragon shifted again to protect its head from something pelting it and needed to decide on a new target fast.
"If I can't take your neck, then I'll take your arm!" Natsu followed through with his claim as he used as much power as he mustered to cleave through flesh and bone from the dragon arm with blood splattering across his face as he crashed into the ground.
Landing on one knee, the dragon slayer superheated his body to evaporate the blood on his face as a massive object fell at his side with a booming thud. An entire dragon arm had been cut thanks to his attack, but Natsu was dissatisfied that a fire dragon couldn't even resist it compared to Atlas Flame who held his own. It was a threat to every living being in the Special Region and a disgrace to the dragon kind his father ruled over and he was set on cleaning the slate. As Natsu readied himself to attack again, the dragon roared in pain once it had finally registered that it was missing a limb and flapped its wings to take flight. The pink slayer couldn't believe that a fierce creature like a dragon was on the retreat, remembering how Acnologia may have lost an arm but he still fought on and sadly defeated Igneel.
"Get back here you coward! I ain't through with you yet!" Natsu yelled at the retreating figure of the flame dragon, prepping another beacon so that he and Happy can go chase it down.
"That's enough, Natsu! You already drew it away." Gray came up on his Jack Rabbit and Natsu wasn't glad to be stopped from hunting his prey.
"Letting it live is going to cause more problems for people, I need to hunt it down!"
"I know! But right now, there's more we need to do and we've got to be careful now that we aren't alone. You attacked and drove off what these people call a flame dragon, you just became larger than life and trying to keep a low profile is now going to be a lot harder for us."
"So? I helped you guys when you needed it, plus Erza saved all those people with her huge shield so she's bigger than life too!"
"I get, alright? Look, you're help came in time but this world doesn't know about dragon slayers. People like that don't exist here, Erza found a pass when the prisoners said she was a War Maiden. A woman of legend." Natsu did come in time, so the last thing Gray wanted to do was butt heads with the dragon slayer after already doing so many times because of their previous verbal clashes.
"A War Maiden? But they don't have dragon slayers?" It didn't make sense to Natsu that the Special Region doesn't have people of legend that defeated a dragon. "There's got to be dragon slayers, there's no way there aren't any."
"Who knows, but for now let's head back. We've got to deal with what comes after a dragon attack." Gray circled the Jack Rabbit around and offered Natsu a ride, but he outright refused and waited for Happy to pick him up.
Once Natsu did make it back to the sight of all the dragon attack survivors, he let the heavy feeling in his gut weigh him down on the inside as he helped move destroyed carriages out of the way. As he looked out onto the rocky plains for the first time, he saw the real destruction that dragon had done to these people. He was so focused on reuniting with Happy and fighting the fire dragon that he didn't take notice of what all these villagers lost. Lucy went on to look after any of the children who couldn't find their parents with the help of Aries and her wool to soothe their terrified hearts. It was a nice distraction she provided by summoning Aries and the ever-calming wool the spirit produced, but their fear was still lingering on their faces.
Natsu turned to look at Erza who decided to help Wendy tend to the wounded, mainly heavy lifting as she was the stronger of the two and explain to the chief how they were allies of Gray. She was level headed, but the dragon slayer could see the minor signs of regret on her face that she tried her hardest to hide from everyone. He could only guess it to being her want of showing up earlier after Gray had called on them. As for the ice mage, his powers were put to good use with flipping over salvageable carriages and repairing the ones that could recover from the damage. Gray still got on his nerves for his cowardly way of trying to avoid fights, but he had to acknowledge the fact that he and Wendy held off a dragon on their own especially as the people in green's weapons barely made a difference.
"You aren't like any normal fire mage and you're not afraid of facing a dragon, why?" A random girl with light blue hair asked as she seemingly came out of nowhere since Natsu was too distracted to pay attention.
"I'm a special type of fire mage and why should I be afraid of that overgrown lizard? It makes a mockery of what real fire dragons are like." To Natsu, this fire dragon could be a wyvern that breathes fire for all he cared as it was no Atlas Flame or Igneel. "Actual fire dragons are stronger and fiercer, not weaklings that can be so easily affected by ice magic."
"Odd, you seem more impulsive. Relying more on instinct and greater damage output than a strategy. Much different than Gray." Well what'll know, he already got compared to the ice ass by this stranger faster than anyone in the FEF. "Is it due to magic specialization?"
"The ice bastard is too cautious, makes things more complicated than they need to be. You barely met him, but you'll see that the way I do things is much more efficient." If people would follow his lead, Natsu knows that they could accomplish a lot in less time than any prediction made.
"There seems to be comradery between you and Gray, but you use derogatory nicknames. Why is that?"
"You got a lot of questions don't you, kid?"
"I'm no mere child, my name is Lelei La Lelena a young adult of fifteen years." She pridefully said towards the pink haired young man who rolled his eyes as he went back to searching for salvageable items the survivors could use.
"Well, from where I'm from you are just a teenager that still needs to grow up." Compared to regular people, mages do seem wiser for their age although some still want to act like they're teenagers.
"Inaccuracy, Wendy is but a year older than me and she is seen as Gray's equal. Your statement is slightly ungrounded by comparison."
"Leave the ice bastard out of this, I could care less how he sees things. Wendy's still a kid, she's just seen much more than anyone should for her age."
"Understandable, she fought the flame dragon once it started attacking on her own. Most wizards would have decided to run given the chance." It's suicidal to even try to face a dragon one on one and yet, Wendy did just that until Gray took over. The ice mage and his allies were very brave, even the JSDF in their iron carriages went for the attack alongside them.
"Not members of Fairy Tail, we're the bravest around and won't back down for anything, dragon or otherwise." Natsu took the time to be proud at his words and allowed Lelei to take a clear look at his exposed guild mark. "I think it's time for you to head back and help the others, I'm fine on my own over here."
Lelei had taken sight of the marking and made a mental note to remember the insignia, hoping to see if Gray's allies all shared a common one. She then bowed to excuse herself and went back to helping her master search for the books on health tonics to heal the wounded as it seemed that Wendy was tiring out from the healing she was doing. Natsu was back to being alone, finishing his tenth carriage with anything worth taking left on the outside of the broken carriages until a small group of children came up to him.
"Hey mister, is the dragon coming back?" One boy asked, his face tear stricken and a part of Natsu broke at the sight as it reminded him of all the familiar faces of children crying at the ceremony at the capital.
"Doubt it, so don't worry about that wimp, it isn't coming back." He was confident that it wouldn't return, it went running when it was beaten to lick its wounds.
"So you have to be like really strong with magic, just like Master Kato says." Another boy said who had seen him fly into the air with the blue cat Lelei found. "He says that only someone powerful can fight a dragon."
"I am strong with my magic, but I had an easier time because I have a special talent."
"What's that?" They said collectively and Natsu didn't see any harm in telling them, they were kids and most people think kids have overactive imaginations and come to random conclusions on their own.
"I was raised by a fire dragon and he taught me how to use fire dragon slaying magic." Natsu watched as all their eyes went wide in disbelief, unsure if they should take his word but it was easily seen that they remember what he did to the flame dragon.
"No way!" Excitement swelled within them as dragon slayers were fabled parties that risked their very lives to defeat a dragon, but they had no idea there was a magic for it. "But weren't you afraid that the dragon that took care of you would eat you?"
"Where I'm from, he wasn't the type to attack humans. Igneel was his name and he was the one who took me in, becoming like a dad to me."
"Does that mean you're like a dragon too?" One boy said and to an extent he was actually right, since he could've turned like Acnologia and became a dragon if it weren't for Igneel's intervention.
"Sort of, I can do a lot of things like a dragon except fly since I'm me, a human just like. I choose to be one and stay with my friends over turning into some giant monster people are afraid of." Natsu claimed proudly, but he didn't understand what was all the mumbling the kids were doing after he finished talking.
"Are there more like you? Dragon slayers that help out people?"
"There are a handful of us, Wendy's one of them too. She's a sky dragon slayer, so she can control the air however she wants to." Their mumblings continued on with an added dose of surprise when they discovered that Gray's companion was a dragon slayer too.
In hushed whispers the children started to piece the puzzle together as the pink haired man told them enough that the ice wizard was who they thought he was. The red-haired knight who protected them with her massive shield, the blonde woman with ability to summon beings from another plane of existence and the dragons that were human. It all came together perfectly in their minds that the ice wizard was in fact the Foolish Prince.
"I think you kids should head back now, there's still a lot of work he needs to do." Came the smooth, yet eerily calm voice of a girl wielding a giant axe that had the dragon slayer wondering how she hadn't dropped it yet.
"But Oracle, he's like the heroes in stories because he's a dragon slayer."
"Hero or not, you children need to return to your mothers. It's almost time to head out."
Many of the kids made to complain, but worried mothers called out to them to return and with defeated groans did they walk back to the main group. Natsu liked those kids, but he was glad they left for the fact that he came across the bodies of a family that had their carriage topple on top of them. He carefully pulled them aside and covered them with any available tarps as he went on with his job, doing his best to control his burning anger of what happened here and what could be happening to his people. It was going to be a long day for everyone.
"You are an interesting one." Natsu had completely forgotten the girl who sent the kids away in the first place and turned to see her perched on a salvaged crate. "You have the air of a very serious threat, just like the ice wizard."
"Gray doesn't hold a candle to me, so it isn't fair to compare him to me."
"My... A confident one, aren't you? It matters little to me how you view yourself since you both are two sides of the same coin in my eyes." Something wasn't right with the conversation Natsu was having with her, the girl was sending the strangest vibes that tried to unnerve him.
"Oh yeah? Who are you to judge?"
"Rory Mercury, an apostle of the dark lord Emroy."
"Am I supposed to know who that is?"
"Judging by your demeanor, I guess not but always remember that you've gained my attention."
"If you're going to be looking at me then you better remember the name; Natsu Dragneel."
"Very well, Natsu Dragneel, I will keep your name in mind." With that, Rory spun her weapon with ease in one hand and left with nothing more than a cute giggle as she went over towards the JSDF group.
"What a weirdo..."
The night fell upon them as they stood in silence before a newly made grave site for those who didn't make it through the dragon attack. The flowers of this world illuminated the night as wisps of blue light raised into the sky, a beautiful sight if it weren't for the saddening atmosphere and the quiet sobs of those who lost someone. The members of Fairy Tail paid their respects to the fallen as did the JSDF, but Gray and Wendy took it a bit harder after spending time with these people and connecting with them. The ice mage laid a comforting hand on the head of a tear-stricken girl who was left an orphan now, just like he was in the past. He could empathize with her pain and hoped that she would find the peace he found, just not by the means of trouble he had to go through.
As everyone began to disperse, Gray gave the graves one last parting gift of an unmeltable ice rose to each one. A token of remembrance as the harsher part of death is to be forgotten, something he wasn't keen of letting happen and as he placed the final rose down did the village chief come up to him.
"I must thank you for your bravery young man, I've already thanked the JSDF for their efforts as well but it was you and your allies who truly stopped the death toll from rising." The old man was grateful that many more lives had come out of this than the dozens more he had expected, it was just stone-cold fact when a dragon attacks.
"What will you do now? Will traveling at night truly be a safe option?" They made it this far of the journey together, so Gray was somewhat concerned to be parting ways.
"With the dragon forced to flee with its tail between its legs, we don't need to fear for our lives and the final leg of the journey is now the safest." That was good to hear for the most part, but Gray couldn't help but wonder what they plan to do with those who lost everything.
"What about them?" Gray asked as he pointed towards the group he was thinking about, hoping there was an option for them too. "Will you be able to take them with you?"
"The JSDF asked the same thing of me before, but I'm afraid that we must think of ourselves at this point. We can't worry for the others while also worrying about our own families." It was the reality of this world; the worst outcomes of life will befall anyone and Gray could only assume that it was rare to change things around.
"I guess you've all sacrificed enough that it's now a risk to think of others."
"I wish it weren't so, but life gives fairness at its own pace." The chief looked solemnly at the group, but did his best to perk himself up. "But I do not fear for them, Itami said he had something in mind for them. I trust that they'll be well taken care of."
"If you believe in him then I'll take your word for it. Again, I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop the dragon from taking all those lives at the end of the caravan." Wendy had heard it first, but he was so caught up in his own thoughts that he failed to realize what was coming their way.
"You mustn't trouble yourself, you are only human but you all did greater things than any of us could hope to ever accomplish. Your noble acts have given everyone hope, so hold your head up high young man. Youngsters are quick to put the whole world on their shoulders, but have to know that sometimes things will be out of their hands." The old chief patted Gray's shoulder and gave him a thankful smile, wishing to himself that he had something more to offer him. "Maybe it was destiny that brought all of you to us in our moment of need, I pray the gods watch over you and your allies."
"And safe travels to you and your people." The old chief smiled once more before heading back to his carriage, the other families already set and prepared to leave long ago.
Across from where Gray was having his talk with the old chief, Itami looked on with curiosity about the young man. He came about out of the blue with close to modern technology, his motorcycle and four-wheeler his allies came in, and magic at his disposal without showing a moments sense of hesitation when it came to engaging the dragon. The uniforms are unlike anything the chief had said when Itami asked and it looked like they weren't part of the Empire, so there was more the JSDF can do alongside them if they gave the chance. This was mere observation on the captain's part, but it couldn't hurt to have a guy who can rip off a dragon's arm on your side, right?
"Captain, we've already gotten everyone accounted for, what's our next order?"
"Kuribayashi, what's your new opinion about our new comers? Still think we should be careful of them?" The short woman was much keener on reviewing things with a critical eye than he was, thought itami wondered if she ever did relax.
"I do, Sir. We've seen what they're capable of now and need to watch how much we give away." She replied and the captain hummed in response to her.
"Well, we just showed that our weapons were like pea shooters against a dragon where their magic had way more of an effect in comparison." Itami saw someone rip an arm off with his foot on fire, so he was pretty much impressed with that, but that also reminded him of another matter. "How's Katsumoto doing by the way?"
"Slightly shaken up with what happened before and the earful he got from someone in another language." Kuribayashi saw the look of horror on the man's face when his launcher missed and hit the guy with pink hair, but found some relief when he popped out fine for the most part.
"Anyone would be that way if they thought they had accidentally killed someone, not to mention the yelling that came afterward from said person." Now that was shocking to see for a person to survive a head on collision with a launcher and come out unscathed. "For now, we should prepare to mount up. Looks like the chief is leaving with the rest of the survivors."
"Sir!"
Kuribayashi went off to inform the rest of the unit of the new orders and once the gear was stowed away, they had gathered to wave goodbye to the people they came to protect. Many of the survivors left with happy smiles and grateful calls to all of them, though Itami was taken slightly aback by the way Kuribayashi had taken it to heart as she wiped a tear from her eye. This was how their recon mission came to its end, a battle with a dragon and a farewell from the village they saved. All that was left was to take those who didn't have anywhere to go to with them back to base.
"So Captain, what will we do with the rest of them?" Kurokawa asked as she and Itami turned to face the remaining villagers.
"They're refugees, right?" Itami rhetorically asked as he threw up a peace sign and did his best to pronounce his next words. "Don't you worry, it'll be fine!"
"I knew you would say something like that." Kurokawa gave him a kind smile and Itami felt relieved that she was smiling in gratefulness and not in contempt like she did before.
"See, I can be humane too." Itami joked and felt assured that things were starting to change, but he quickly went after Gray as he was gearing up his motorcycle.
He ran his way over to him, hoping for the chance that he would agree with his little idea and, in a way, an outstretched hand to be on friendly terms with them. The ice mage was part of a military that didn't seem to be their enemy, they wielded powerful magic and may have some information at their disposal they could trade for. Itami couldn't let a chance like this pass up, or how his higher ups would be yelling at him about if he just left Gray to leave. And to think that some people thought that he didn't care about his job so much.
"Gray!" Itami called as the ice mage turned to look at him, more with confusion over anything else as he came up to the dark-haired young man. "You're heading out already?"
"I am, we stood by this village for its protection and now they don't need it. It's time I get back to my mission." He replied and watched as Itami began to fumble through his little book in search of the right words he wanted to say.
"I was actually wondering if you'd like to come with us. We can find a way to thank you back at our base." To be honest, Itami had no real idea of how to make ties with people or even coercing them to come along to something that wasn't one of his cons.
"That's fine, I don't need any thanks. We both put our lives on the line to protect these people, knowing that they made it out alive is fine as it is." Itami could almost feel the sense of a knight in shining armor or noble coming off of the ice mage, remembering the word passing around from the villagers that Gray was actually a former prince of some sorts.
"I insist, we can both help each other out in some way. We can even find a way to give you our support if you ever need it." So Itami didn't really have the authority to negotiate terms for an alliance like this, but maybe his higher ups could find a way to get around it and let him off with a slap on the wrist. It could benefit them in the long run anyway, so it's kind of like a win-win scenario.
"Hmmm." The captain watched as the ice mage thought about, glad that it was enough to get him to think it over which was a good sign for the most part. "It might not be a bad offer, but you'll have to take it up with my C.O."
Now that caught Itami's attention as he believed that Gray was in charge, but he was actually following orders from a squad leader or someone akin to that. He stayed in place as the ice mage walked off to his other allies, mainly towards the woman in armor and did his best to calm himself as they made their way back. She was a beauty with amazing red hair, that much was obvious and she just fit the part of this old manga series he read a few years ago about a princess knight and her many adventures. The character wasn't as busty as the red head, but the descriptions were similar to a degree and he smiled as she walked back into place next to Gray. The ice mage was at least a head taller than her, but she had an air of authority that Itami thought he was in front of one of his old drill instructors again, now realizing why she was in command.
"I'm Commander Erza Scarlet, Gray tells me that you have an offer for us. Care to explain what it is a bit further?" Well now, Itami was aware of her rank although not what she actually oversees but it was a start and he needed to keep building on this.
"We're an exploration force that's doing information gathering about this place. Gray says that he's doing something similar and after all that's happened here today, I thought that we can make an alliance between us. So we could both benefit, you know?" The red head thought about it and went into discussion with Gray in their native language, she looked to be arguing about it although it seemed like the ice mage was on board with the idea.
"I've come to a decision, we'll tag along with you and discuss a temporary truce between us. Anything else will have to be settled by representatives from each of our sides." Itami couldn't have hoped for anything better than that, it gives them a chance to win them over.
"That's all I ask for." So far, everything was working out fine and with any luck there'll be good fortune when things have settled. "By the way, what military band are you from?"
"We're with the Fiorean Expeditionary Forces." The captain had never heard of such a thing, but who knows what the future would hold for all of them.
"The FEF and JSDF working together, not bad if I do say so myself." Itami joked, awkwardly chuckling as it landed face first with the reactions he got from Erza and Gray. "In any case, let's mount up people! We're heading to Alnus Hill!"
A few days had passed since the villagers parted ways with the JSDF and the ice wizard, Gray, where many had found places to stay and work to support themselves. One such survivor had managed to find work in a tavern within the village her relatives were living in, entertaining the guest the best she could until it came to the story of her most recent escapade.
"They drove off a flame dragon!?" A group of men exclaimed in unison at her story about the brave men and women who fought against the terror of the skies.
"Yeah, that's right! I saw it myself!" She replied earnestly, seeing that these drunks were ready to call her ordeal nothing more than a tall tale.
"Bullshit!"
"You can't expect us to believe that, do you?" One of them said as his ale sloshed around in his half empty mug. "Seriously, men in green riding in iron carriages and a prince of ice fighting a fire dragon? You must've been out it!"
"It's true I tell you!" She implored, but she was starting to see that it wasn't going her way anymore.
"Yeah! You sure you didn't just bump your head and had a crazy dream?!" This comment got a barrel of laughs from the surrounding drinkers and the waitress rolled her eyes at the fact that there was no getting through to them.
"Don't believe me, then! See if I care." She huffed as she went off to serve the other tables; however, one table not far off was paying close attention to that story.
Those sitting at this table were dressed in armor, two women and two men who were in search of this mysterious enemy that had wiped the Allied Kingdoms' army along with the dreaded enemy that nearly wiped out all of the Empire's army in the Artisian Valley. They followed many a lead to figure out where this enemy was and along the way, this rumor about a prince and mercenaries in green began to circulate around them. They first heard of it in a small village they passed about a day ago, nothing that seemed remotely true and sounded like a children's story until the next villages they came across began to tell the same story. It was starting to become more fact than fiction at this point and it had the oddest of timings any of the group could have realized.
"What do you think?" One of the knights, a young woman with light brown hair, asked to her blonde ponytailed colleague as he took a sip of his ale.
"What do I think? I think this bar's filthy, the food is terrible and the only thing worse than that are the drinks."
"Norma, we're on a secret reconnaissance mission to Alnus Hill and the Artisian Valley, so focus on her question about the flame dragon." An older man said, his hair already expressing his advanced years as it was all silver.
"Lower your voices, all of you are being too loud." The last of the group, the princess Pina co Lada, finally spoke up as her companions were on the course of letting something slip. "Hamilton, keep going." She commanded as she looked over towards the light brown-haired girl.
"Right. This rumor is spreading like wildfire of mercenaries in green clothes fighting alongside a prince who wields ice magic, a young teenager who can control the very wind and a pink haired man who claims to be a "dragon slayer." It was some of the more prominent points that kept coming up, another claimed that a woman with hair like the Princess' conjured a massive shield that stopped the flames from reaching the villagers. "This all happened as they tried to evacuate the residents of Coda Village and had actually managed to drive off the flame dragon on their own."
"Are they sure it was a flame dragon? A wyvern or drakes or anything could have really been the attacker and have been mistaken for a flame dragon." Norma chimed in as there were a multitude of beasts that were similar to such a dragon, if only smaller in stature by comparison.
"It was a real flame dragon, Sir." The waitress from earlier said as she came by to refill their drinks, Norma merely laughing off her claim.
"You can't fool me!"
"I was there and I saw it with my own two eyes!" Some people had believed her and others let it fly over their heads, but the waitress truly wanted people to know that it actually happened.
"Would you please tell us more about the ones who defeated the flame dragon?" Hamilton saw this as an opportunity to gather more information from the very source, even if she was one of many sources.
"Hmm, oh I don't know. The details aren't so clear to me."
"I believe you." Hamilton said as she offered a copper coin for her cooperation and in an instant, it was swiped from her hand.
"Thank you, young knight! I'll have to tell you a very special story, then. For you to know about what happened the day we were attacked by the flame dragon, you must learn about the arrival of the ones in green with the magic weapons that resembled a great iron cock and later followed by the Prince himself."
Pina listened on to this tale about the warning of the newly awakened flame dragon to what transpired throughout the journey before the flame dragon had actually appeared. From what she was gathering so far, there were three different things she had taken note of; the Foolish Prince that was now being called the Prince of Ice, the Dragon Slayer with pink hair and the mercenaries in green that lead the initial charge against the dragon.
This "Prince" that seemed to be revered would be an interesting individual to speak with if she ever found him, the Dragon Slayer sounded like he'd prove useful as an ally if he already had the strength to tear the limb off a dragon and the ones in green sounded like a suitable link to the mysterious enemies they were chasing down. There was so much she had yet to discover and the dangers grow even more with the flame dragon on the loose, the enemies at both Alnus Hill and the Artisian Valley preparing for future attacks and a surge of bandits roaming the country side. Pina saw this as her sole mission to stop this before the kingdom she loves falls to pieces before her very eyes.