Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In a field on the outskirts of Fiore

"How did you get us into this?!"

"Me? You were the one who picked the job request!"

"Only because you were seriously content on a fight to the death with Erza in between us!"

The ice and fire mage respectively proceeded to shout various other insults, obscenities, and general curses at each other across the field they stood in as the person who requested the job looked on in a panic. "Please, both of you! The horses will get spooked if you-"

Just as he spoke a full-grown horse with a wild black mane and a thick brown body burst from the field right above where Gray was and charged him. Gray barely had enough time to put up a shield before he was kicked by the rampaging stallion and collapsed on the ground. The horse snorted in disgust and promptly dove back underground.

Natsu howled in delight at Gray's misfortunate. Karma was swift, however, as seconds later another horse emerged from right below Natsu, this time taking him up on his back as it leaped up. The dragonslayer immediately turned green as the horse seemed to not slow down as it plowed across the field; the sick mage unintentionally holding on tight to its mane.

The ranch owner rubbed his temples in frustration at the carnage. More than half a dozen holes lay scattered across the field, each one created by a horse that had been disturbed by the noise. He had tried to explain to the two when they arrived that they needed to be quiet and delicate when stepping on the field as the horses were ripe to come springing out. One thing led to another and the two were stranded in the middle of the field, screaming at each other and making the horses spring out like popcorn. The rancher wanted people to help grab his crop before it burrowed further underground, but at this rate, he would be lucky to capture one horse by day's end.

He winced as Natsu was finally bucked off and the horse dove back underground. Now the two were even further into the field. "Ok, I get that you two don't like each other, but please just slowly walk back and we can start on your actual job-"

Before he could finish once again, yet another horse sprung out of the ground, this time butting Gray in the head and kicking Natsu in rapid succession. The two lay dazed on the ground as the rancher threw up his hands in disgust.

Forget a week; it would take the rest of the month to harvest the horses properly. If they even managed to get out of the field alive.

Chapter Text

"Gajeel?"

"Yes, Lily?"

"Why exactly are we here again?" The feline–in his small form–peered out over the edge of where they stood. It wasn't solid ground, and it wasn't part of a building. Instead, it was a magnificent airship docked in its port. The side they peered out from was a steep cliff downwards. Gajeel rested himself against one of the railings on the ship and sighed.

"Didn't I explain to ya before? I took a job as a bodyguard. This is where we're guarding."

"...Oh a ship. A flying ship, nonetheless."

"Yeah. What's the problem?"

Lily sighed. "Gajeel, normally I don't ask this of you, because I respect you, but did you hit your head on something recently?"

"Hey! I'm perfectly fine! Ain't hit nothing that couldn't take it at least." He seemed genuinely disgruntled at the fact that Lily asked if he was right in the head. Then again, he did tend to get more emotional around the Exceed. Lily refrained from sighing again.

"Very well. Then may I ask why you would take a job in which the location of guarding people is the same place where you'll be ill the entire time?"

At this, Gajeel laughed. "Oh, Lily, is that what you were concerned about? No problemo then! Let me explain the plan...

"So, when the thing's moving and we gotta be on the clock, you just use your wings to keep me off the ship! And if anything happens we just slam right into the suckers at mach speed!"

"Wait, wait. Your entire plan is to use my Aera to keep yourself off the ship so you don't throw up?" Lily threw up his tiny paws in disbelief. "Gajeel, surely you don't think I can sustain it for the length of the whole night!"

The dragonslayer tilted his head downwards. "Well, then just half the time, maybe I can keep just one foot on the ship while you rest?"

"What on Earthland would that accomplish?!" The Exceed groaned. "Besides me being exhausted from trying to keep you up on a moving, flying airship, what if they need more than one person to fight? You'll be puking in no time if I drop you!"

Gajeel sniffed disdainfully. "We don't need both of us. I mean we do but…we're working together! That makes us twice as strong!"

"That's not how math works. Not to belittle our teamwork, but I'd rather not have to babysit you if you get knocked to the floor of the ship and deal with whatever enemies at the same time! You just can't handle vehicles Gajeel."

His partner folded his arms and grumbled. To any normal person, it would look like Gajeel was planning a murder. To Pantherlily, it was merely sulking. The tiny exceed shook his head at the childishness his partner was displaying.

"Well, we'll just have to back out. It won't look good on the guild's reputation, …but it'll be worse if we…what are you doing?" Pantherlily watched as Gajeel began furiously hopping up and down on the main deck of the ship. The airship shuddered ever so slightly with the power behind the jumps.

"Proving. That. I. Can. Handle. It!"

"Gajeel, no! You'll break somet–"

The dragonslayer took a deep breath before soaring into the air with a jump, doing a forward somersault, and landing with a mighty BOOM. The entire airship trembled from the jump. Then, an ominous creak echoed

"...Ok, but that was a pretty sick flip don't you think–"

The airship gave a mighty groan before quickly slipping away from its docking station and down the cliff below. Lily zoomed over to Gajeel, wings activated, and promptly scooped him up and off the airship as it tumbled down the sheer side of the cliff. The two watched in silence as the ship disappeared into the depths, and tried hard not to think of the horrible crashing sounds that followed.

"..."

"..."

A screech of another kind soon followed. "My ship!" the owner cried and dropped to his knees, for the moment unaware of the two people right in front of him. His eyes went blank as he saw his pride and joy literally slip from his fingers.

Gajeel drew his eyes to Pantherlily and signaled to fly him away. Oh no. He wasn't getting away that easily. Instead, he dropped him off right in front of the man, despite his hissed protests. Gajeel reluctantly coughed to get his attention, even though he still didn't even turn around to look at him. "So, about the ship. My bad, really. But hey, at least no one's on board, and the cargo could still be salvaged."

Just then, a mighty explosion filled the cliffs below. And the man's eyes went even more dead than before. Gajeel looked up at Pantherlily and shrugged.

The Exceed resisted the urge to take his partner and throw him off the cliff as well.

Chapter Text

How…how had Laxus gotten himself into this?

"Now look here, sonny. Mik over there's gonna do a tackle on ya, and since yer the heel he's gonna play it up as some big 'ole feat."

He wasn't drunk, was he? He searched his recent memories. No, definitely sober. When he was younger he'd been on some insane benders, and those were a sight to behold. But he always woke from those violently, his head pounding and whole body on fire. This felt more like slowly blinking awake from a daydream. Which reminded him to pinch himself in case it was a dream. It was sort of hard to see for some reason.

Wait, was there a mask on his face?

"But you don't let 'em get away with it completely. It's a fierce struggle at first but eventually, you get yer comeuppance, and boy, won't that be right nasty."

There was a cape as well…maybe Freed could pull it off. Maybe. Laxus turned his thoughts away from the absurd outfit to think back on when this all started. He knew he entered the town about an hour ago, and then…

What was he even doing in this town an hour ago?

He gazed down at the man giving him instructions. He was short, although he could have been slightly taller if he wasn't hunched over. Wiry, with eyes just a bit too wide for Laxus' liking. He peered at him like a hawk having found fresh meat–and Laxus was the bigger one. The man was the same who'd "scouted" him earlier as he was making his way into town for a job. A job...

Wait, right. That was why he was in town. For a job. What had occurred that made him sidetrack onto this…sideshow. His head felt groggy the longer he thought about it. The man's constant, snappy instructions didn't help.

"Awright, showtime sonny!" The thin man pushed him from behind–a surprising amount of force behind it–and Laxus stumbled forward.

"Ah! If it isn't the Masked Captor! What evil has thou brought to us this day?!" Another man in a bright costume shouted as he spread his arms out and looked straight at Laxus. Oh no. He didn't mean him, did he? The people on the street began to turn their heads at the noise. This prompted the man to continue. "Never fear! For I, the Gallant Galivar will take you on."

Laxus looked back to see the thin man had vanished from sight. Well, that's fine. Better to throw down the mask now and book it before anyone caught sight of his face. Then he'd skip town, sleep out in the woods for a night, and–

A man only slightly smaller than Laxus suddenly tackled him.

The so-called "Gallant Gavilar" hissed in his ear. "Listen, buddy, I dunno what Telkar said to do, but don't just stand around dumbly! Fight me! You're gonna lose but at least put up a fight!"

Right. This was some sort of...performance? Fighting act? Laxus had been confused by the initial premise and obviously, no one had elaborated. What he could guess was that he was supposed to be fighting...but not really. Maybe. If only he'd actually listened to what Telkar had been saying and not just pretending to be. It wasn't like Telkar to talk so fast usually, perhaps he was just stressed because the show wasn't doing so well recently. Laxus remembered that much at least.

Wait. Why did Laxus remember that?

He struggled inside the man's grip, only to have it tighten on him. Mik's hands were impressively strong, restraining him from doing much more than grunt. Well, that just wouldn't do now. He took a deep breath and drew upon the ethernanos deep within him. Sparks flew from his body, enough to give most people a mild shock. Laxus merely felt its power.

Mik risked a nervous glance at him. "Uh, what's this exactly here bud–" He was silenced as electricity coursed through his body and he screamed. Seconds later his grip released and he fell to the ground, more burnt body than noble hero. Laxus hadn't killed him, just shocked enough to leave him a little smokey.

Ripping off the mask, he pointed at Telkar, who he now saw standing in the back, a bucket for "donations" for the show. Something had been weird when he'd come too, but now that he'd shocked himself back to full awareness, he was sure of one thing now.

"You charmed me into your show. And I bet you're the one who's on the wanted poster I'm chasing. That's why you intercepted me before I could investigate. Too bad for you, a little longer, and maybe you could have gotten away."

Telkar hunched back even further, his face breaking out in a sweat. "Curses! Your electricity wore off the effects!"

"Oh, is this part of the show too?" An onlooker murmured. Laxus winced. It would be bad if things got ugly now, with a crowd. Then, he glanced down at his cape. Well, it was gaudy, but maybe it could be put to good use after all. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for what he was about to say next.

"You...Telkar. I will defeat you...or I'm not...the Masked Captor."

"..."

"He talks pretty quietly for a heel."

Oh Mavis, save him. He ripped off the cape in a flurry of motion and launched himself at the wanted man, telling himself that this time, he'd keep the damage to a minimum...barring any other unfortunate surprises that crossed his path.

Chapter Text

Elfman was used to people staring at him. He was a big guy, and he only seemed to increase in muscles every year since his teens. No big deal. He'd taken enough rude stares to last a lifetime with his sister. If people made a face, they just didn't care enough to get to know him. And he didn't care one way or another.

Although this time, it wasn't just him they were staring at.

Townsfolk gawked as he passed. Some screamed in terror, others froze in fear. A few even yanked their children into the house and slammed the door. Elfman might have been led to believe they were overreacting, but how were they supposed to know the ten foot long creature slithering alongside him was harmless? He was just glad no one seemed ready to light the torch fires…yet. He tried hard not to look directly at the creature as he made his way through town, the residents giving him a wide berth to reach his goal. Since its eyes were covered by a cloth, he had to steer it with his body, making it rub up against his side, almost up to his hips, and at least as thick as his waist. It was big, like him.

He made his way through town until he came across the biggest (and shiniest) building in town. The sign out front said "Town Hall" so he made his way inside. Immediately there was a panic. The employees running in panic with a large man and nearly as large snake slowly making their way further in. With no open space to freely flee, people took to shouting, pointing, and even fainting. Elfman definitely heard something that he was going to pretend wasn't a window being smashed so some poor soul could escape just a bit faster. He noticed that the creature's low height and girth meant it kept getting stuck in the cramped building. Not wanting to be there any longer than necessary, he opted to pick the thing up and fling it over his shoulder, rubbing its underside to keep it calm. It reacted about as much as a limp noodle, only with added tongue flicks.

The man at the front of the desk–with a plaque with his name and everything–trembled as Elfman approached. "Y-You! Why would you bring such a creature here! Have you come to kill us?! Or even worse, rob us!"

"This is what's been terrorizing your town, right? The basilisk?" At the mention of the name, the man went even paler. "You sent out a job request to capture it for the guilds, remember?"

"Of course, I remember! I remember saying to capture it dead." He waved a finger at the creature, who flicked its tongue at a rapid pace. "That is clearly still alive!"

"Well, I was about to, but…seemed kinda cruel if you ask me. Wouldn't have been very manly."

"What."

Elfman gave the flabbergasted man a flat look. "Yeah, I mean from the description you guys gave it sounded like a horrible monster that stalked the forest…but when I found it, it was just holed up in its den and could barely eat. I think it's pretty old; might be better to just relocate it somewhere."

"But, but! It's a beast! It turns people to stone!"

Elfman scratched his head. True, a basilisk's one defining ability was being able to turn people to stone, but once he actually got the den of the thing…

"It's completely blind. I know they can't turn people to stone unless they can see the target and then will the thing to turn." That was something Evergreen had taught him, an interesting factoid he felt quite proud to retain. "So that problem won't ever happen. And the only reason it tried to bite me was because I was in my beast form." He imagined that the basilisk thought him a fellow creature when he took over a beast soul. Poor thing had shivered in fear even as it clamped down on him. Not that it hurt much. A bit lacking in the teeth and jaw strength department. Either way, once it calmed down and didn't recognize him as a threat, it was clear that it barely left its den, never mind going out and attacking people.

The man in charge didn't see it that way though, as he just backed away further from Elfman and the basilisk. "I don't care! Just get rid of it then! We'll chop off its head if we have to!"

"Hey! You don't have to go that far! Look, it's barely able to move around." He set it down and removed the blindfold he put over its eyes. An unnecessary gesture but one that at least would placate anyone too scared to even glance at the thing. Maybe if he could show them…

The thing's eyes were a milky blue, clouded over and completely unseeing. Normally its most fearsome tool, reduced to little more than two useless organs. "See? You can look directly at it and nothing will…"

He stopped when he didn't hear anything from the man. Had he finally gone catatonic from fear? Elfman glanced over at him and froze. The man was frozen…in stone. His mouth was wide in shock, hands still gripping his seat. The Take Over mage blinked. But how?

Then he noticed something, the creature appeared to be staring straight at the man, unseeing eyes locked on him. Somehow, the creature had turned the man to stone, despite its blindness! Elfman had never heard of such a feat. That would mean the creature was doing it through sheer mental willpower, whether or not it could see the target! Even though it placed him in even more trouble than before, he couldn't help but grin. What a manly snake! Pushing past its limits to achieve new feats!

Then he realized where he was and sighed, putting the blindfold back over its eyes and flinging it back over his shoulder. He murmured an apology and gave one of the few people still on their feet a card for the guild. He was going to go and see if he could get a cure for the guy that was frozen, and of course take the basilisk somewhere far, far away.

But…maybe he'd do one of those things slightly faster than the other.

Chapter Text

Carla wasn't so sure this was a good idea.

True, Wendy needed to put herself out there more. It was something the Exceed had been saying practically since she hatched. But–mentally pardoning herself for language–this all seemed pretty freaking stupid.

And she regularly interacted with Natsu.

"O-Ok everyone! Hold up your kitty companion!" A dozen some people picked up the cats they held in their lap and moved them so they "waved". Wendy did the same with Carla in her lap, the latter looking decidedly displeased. "Now, let's go around in a circle and say one thing we like about our cat and one thing we like about ourselves. Bunge, you go first." She pointed to an older teen boy sitting to her left. His overgrown hair shielded his eyes, and combined with his lanky frame, he looked quite gloomy. To contrast, the tom on his lap was so round he was nearly a perfect circle. Bunge pet his cat on the head, the tom's eyes barely open.

"I...I like that Randell is so soft, he takes really good care of himself, even with so much fur. And um, about myself…," he trailed off, mumbling. Wendy spoke up.

"Bunge! We all need to hear you!"

"Oh, sorry! Um...I like that I get to take care of Rand." His voice rose only slightly above a whisper even the second time around. Wendy found this acceptable and moved on to the next person. Although initially nervous, she soon settled into a rhythm of getting each person to talk about the cat, then themselves.

Carla suppressed the urge to sigh. This particular exercise was something Wendy wanted to do with nearly all the villagers; meaning that it would take the better part of a whole day to go around just once. Carla couldn't help but think there must be a better use of their time.

Wendy had found a job at the edges of Fiore, right near a cluster of small villages. The problem was a strange one. The citizens were coming down with strange ailments, mainly of lethargic or apathetic dispositions, despite bodies that were perfectly healthy. On top of that, a sudden influx of cats had started wandering into the nearby villages, getting into trouble even more so than usual due to the attitudes of the villagers. When she'd been unable to cure the energy problem with her normal healing methods–determining it to be a mental condition and not a physical one–Wendy had attempted to think of a solution that helped both problems.

But...did it have to involve talking to and working through the emotional state of all these people?

Apparently so. A strange determination had overtaken Wendy when she realized her usual approaches wouldn't work in this situation. Along with the cat problem, she strived to improve everyone's mood up to at least manageable levels before they left. Carla did find that admirable, despite the fact that she was stuck listening to all of them now, glued to Wendy's lap.

"I'm not even a cat for goodness sake!"

Only after several heads turned towards her did Carla realize she'd spoken out loud. Clapping her paws over her mouth, she wished she could use Aera and fly far, far away. Wendy looked down at her with a frown.

"Well, it's not our turn yet, but if Emmie doesn't mind, I think Carla should go next."

"I don't mind deary," Emmie, an older woman with a content-looking calico spoke. She scratched her cat behind the ears. Content turned to soft-spoken delight as it purred. "I wait all the time nowadays, what's a little more waiting?"

Carla frowned pointedly. Wendy squeezed her slightly. The Exceed could feel a pout coming on if she didn't respond soon. She hated pouting.

"I…I…" Great, what exactly was she supposed to say again?! Something about…herself? But she was the cat in this scenario. A talking one, mind you, but wasn't the animal supposed to stay silent? Her eyes traced up and down the circle of people in front of her. They were staring with curious expressions. Occasionally the cats too, the ones that weren't sleeping at least. She gulped and forced a deep breath.

"I like about myself…that I can remain cool and calm under distress." A few chuckles. Carla was glad a blush was harder to see under fur. "And I appreciate that Wendy has grown enough to lead something like this with so many people." Several "d'aww's" rang out. Carla waited for Wendy to continue, or speak up, but nothing but silence followed her statement. Confused, she glanced up, only to see Wendy's face growing redder.

"Uh-uh, right!" Wendy suddenly declared. "I like that Carla's, um, my best friend! And I like that I can be her best friend!" Smiles and giggles broke out among the group, which Wendy attempted to stifle by calling upon the next person to start. Her face was still a little red, but she seemed determined to finish up with the group.

Carla settled down in Wendy's lap, watching as the people in the group grew a little brighter after speaking. She chuckled and shook her head. Maybe it was helping them in some strange way. Wendy may have been young, but she certainly understood the pains of losing confidence in oneself. Perhaps Carla could let this little embarrassment slide today…as long as one of the villagers wouldn't mind brewing her some tea before they left.

Chapter Text

An old rancher looked out onto his field and sighed, leaning forward on the fence around the field's perimeter. The sun was now halfway down the horizon, casting the land in twilight hues. Faint stars shone in the ever-encroaching night sky. Soon it would be too dark to safely (what safety one could muster) capture the planted horses, and the mages he'd been sent would have to retire for the evening.

The rancher stifled another sigh as he gazed towards the two lads, who stood a few yards away from each other in tense stances. Both were bruised and bloodied–from the horses as well as each other–but both had refused to come inside even as the hours and injuries stacked up. He'd tried to explain to them how people normally harvested the horses, but between the yelling and the kicking and the overall chaos the mages brought with them, he soon found even his patience tested. He'd left them alone after that, figuring that either they would get themselves knocked in the head and go home or give up. So far, to his surprise, neither had happened yet.

At this point, they might as well just come in and get treated along with a meal. As frustrated as he was with their inability to do their job, he also wasn't cruel enough to send them back home in such a state. He was about to yell out to them when the wind shifted, blowing a cool evening breeze across his back and the field. The two youths staring at each other gave faint nods as if the wind was a signal for something, and in that moment they began to move.

A scarf fluttered through the air as the fiery youth–Natsu he remembered–leaped up and slammed into the soil with one foot. Just as quickly, Natsu leaped back, landing softly. Not a second later a full-blown Plant Horse erupted from the ground below. It snorted, turning in Natsu's direction to charge him. The youth yelled, "Gray!" as the horse advanced.

Gray–the topless lad–(he wasn't topless when he arrived, to the rancher's faint recollection) immediately stretched out a palm and made a fist. "Ice Make…" he began, ice crystals forming in the air around him. The horse snapped its head towards Gray, sensing the magic being cast. Natsu put two fingers in his mouth for a shrill whistle. The creature whipped back towards him and whinnied, unsure of who to target first. And that was its fatal mistake.

"Ice Make Jaws!"

"Fire Dragon's Kick!"

The two things happened simultaneously, as far as the rancher could tell. He couldn't do magic, and to be honest he never once was jealous of the people who could. He'd always lived a simple life on the horse farm, and it was the simple things that called to him. But even he couldn't deny the flutter in his heart at what unfolded before his eyes.

Natsu launched into the air, delivering a fire-laced kick to the top of the horse's head that sent it into a daze, stumbling and nearly tripping. The fact that it wasn't knocked unconscious spoke of the sheer bulk of muscle Natsu was pushing through to even get it to stumble. And then before it had time to recover the other thing happened. A set of jaws, carnivorous in appearance, set their way right in the middle of the horse's path, the mouth opened just wide enough to entrap the horse without squeezing the life out of it. There it lay, perfectly nestled in between the two rows of teeth, the sheer cold finally pushing the creature over the edge, and it passed out within the jaws.

The rancher whistled. Well, I'll be.

And that wasn't the end of the miracles, as the rancher then watched the two men tiptoe quietly over to the other before wildly flailing their arms in celebration, their feet never leaving the ground. They even hugged. For two men who hadn't gotten along since they arrived, it almost brought a tear to the rancher's eye. Well, that and the fact that one of the creatures he asked them to capture was finally caught.

"Well done lads!" he bellowed from the fence. The two flinched and turned towards him sheepishly. He chuckled. It seemed they'd forgotten his meager presence entirely in their desperate battle against the Plant Horse. "I'm glad you found a good strategy to use on them!"

"Right, strategy...um, how many of these did you have planted again?" Gray called out.

"Well, let's see, I think we have a bumper crop this year so about two to three hundred, maybe more if we got lucky. So I'd like at least half of them picked–"

The two, who had been so full of joy and light, went pale in an instant and looked down at the field numbly. Natsu murmured something unintelligible from the distance which made Gray punch him in the shoulder. This made Natsu bare his teeth and punch back, a little harder. Gray rubbed his arm and then retaliated. Whatever he'd said, the camaraderie that'd built itself like a bridge between them was now smoking. The two devolved into a fistfight, completely losing themselves to the battle.

"Wait! Fellas!"

Two horses erupted from the ground beneath them, knocking both youths into the air before roughly landing back down. The rancher gave a low whistle when the two didn't get back up immediately. At least the first horse was trapped…for now. He should probably advise one of the two to carry it over here. If they could pull off the moves they just did, they should be able to move a horse no problem. That is when they woke up. He sighed again and yelled out towards home.

"Catherine! Ya better put on some food, these two louts will be hungry when they get inside!" He turned towards the setting sun, the sky growing darker and darker, and wondered just what on Earthland their guild must be like if every person in it were half as powerful, and half as stubborn, as those two.