Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Swordsmen and Thief. Enjoy the 1200-word chapter. I do not own any rights to Fairy Tale, Hiro Mashima, Kodansha and a few others that I may write about.

Clell brushed dirt off his longcoat and looked around. The caravan traveling by land meant they were vulnerable if anyone came from the trees around them.

This did nothing to worry the others who each decided to put 2 guild members on each of the 5 wagons.

"Don't tell me your scared." Erza stated while Clell chuckled with amusement. He was glad Erza eased up on being the team ice queen.

Then again? Clell hadn't been on the team long enough to really consider himself part of the Guild.

"Look at the trees," Clell said while pointing at the trees surrounding them. "Every single one of them is an ambush point. You think I haven't seen a caravan raid before?" Clell questioned while patting the holsters of his weapons.

He wanted to ask Laxus for more help with his Lightning Magic… But that meant telling the others he had magic potential which could lead to them not trusting him.

"Yes, but there's 10 of us plus the soldiers." Erza reasoned while Clell hummed.

"With all due respect Lady Slice and Dice?" Clell said which caused Erza to scowl at the nickname Clell had taken to giving her. "You don't know bandits and thieves. Their smart they can be desperate…." Clell pointed out as he gestured to the trees surrounding the caravan.

"You think their willing to risk something like that?" Erza questioned as Clell hummed and shrugged.

"I think that about as much as I know you and I enjoy sparing." Clell said before looking at Erza and letting out a small smile. "I mean, I enjoying sparing with you. It's interesting matching blades with you, trying to hone my skill against yours… I like sparing with you, it gives me and you something to bond over." Clell stated as Erza blushed and turned away.

That was before an explosion rocked the entire forest. Clell hummed and flipped out of the wagon and advanced forward. The explosion revealed flames which blocked the road as a trio of trees fell into the road.

"Told you." Clell said while drawing his knives as he walked towards the flames.

"Can someone please back me up?" Clell asked while he began to examine the downed trees. It was a bandit trap, alright. He could see the marks of gunpowder.

'Simple trap, a burn block' Clell said while Erza and Natsu walked over.

"It's a burn block." Clell said as Erza and Natsu raised their eyebrows at this. Clell let out a sigh in amusement. "They tie gunpowder to the tree which is linked to a wire… When someone pulls it? That sets off a hidden match. The match sparks off the gunpower which explodes, blocking us in… I've seen a group use it to ambush us." Clell stated before they heard the crack of something.

Clell blinked at the line of soldiers clad in green, orange and purple armor. They wore masked helmets with feathers forming a plume across the top.

Their armor also ended in blade like talons on the hands. Their greaves were spiked enough to use as weapons. They looked like they wore leather atop metal armor as well with shades of purple and green alternating squares on their armor.

They held stick like weapons… Clell realized they were holding rifles. Bandits didn't have rifles like this. Nor did they have mass produced swords with reptile like hilts.

"Soldiers?" Clell asked as Erza prepared to fight them. Nazsu looked ready to fight them as well.

"Wait!" Lucy yelled as she rushed up to them. That was before another burn block went off.

Behind the caravan, and this time? It WAS followed by bandits, some of which dressed in piece meal armor, charged forward at them.

"What the hell?" Clell asked as he turned to look back. The squad of soldiers had retreated into the forest.

"Those looked like soldiers from Gyanveer!" Lucy pointed out as Clell turned to her.

"Do we have proof of that?" Clell questioned before the group of bandits neared the wagons. Clell swept one off his feet and punched another to the ground. "Because I think there might be another army just like that around the corner." Clell snarked while glaring at the army of thieves in what could only been disgust.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Clell!" Erza shouted as Clell looked at her with a look at her and hummed. "We need to protect the convoy!" Erza added before an explosion cut the duo off. Clell looked at her while sighing.

"I know that, but currently?" Clell questioned as he knocked the bandit to the ground. The path started to turn into a war zone. "I don't think we can know that for sure." Clell added as he rubbed at his eyes and cracked his neck.

Clell knew for sure that these bandits would end up being an issue that would cause problems. They had encircled the wagons.

They had cut off the group's escape, so at least they knew what they were doing. Clell didn't know how really to fight off a group like this.

"Ugh, I hate crap like this." Clell muttered to himself as he rolled his eyes once more as he spun his knives over and over again. "Can we push past them?" Clell questioned the others while another bullet ripped through the tree next to him.

Clell looked at the bandits once more. There were dozens of them… Whoever planned this ambush knew that they'd be taking on S-Class ranked enemies.

This was either the best robbery in history… Or someone had planned for them and was trying to kill them. He didn't have time to analyze the tactics and come up with an idea of what was going on at the moment.

Then again? He really didn't care currently; people were trying to murder them. It was the time for fighting, not rational thought and battle plans.

"I really hate this…" Clell muttered before another explosion broke out. This one threw everyone in directions and sent a shockwave through the caravan.

Erza looked around at this. She knew for the fact that this ambush was far more deadly then it looked. Erza also knew that this battle was going to be a nightmare to handle.

Clell flipped to his feet while more shockwaves ripped through the group. He sighed and looked around. The bandits had given pause for only a moment before resuming their attack.

This was going to be a very long day for them…. A VERY long day.

Clell managed to grab his blades and rushed forward through the thugs.

Author Notes

Phew, another chapter done! I want to point out that the chapters will be down the road. Next chapter will be in a week and will show the fight against the bandits and all that. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: I'm sorry for the delays and all that. Next chapter will also start off another story or so until then.