Long live the King (Job for Kaisto and Astrid)

And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

Hunting Village. Out of all the villages Astrid had traveled to in her youth Hunting Village was maybe one of the ones she was most familiar with. Her home village of Peace Village often traded with them for meats and pelts, and were overall rather close due to it. While she herself hadn't visited the village for a very long time her grandfather was actually somewhat famous within the little population there. Often times he would fix their gadgets and other such things, even making himself friends with the chief when he fixed his heater during the harsh winter months. Little to say, the Foss family had made quite the name for themselves there. So when she received a personal request directly from them to dwindle down the lion population that suddenly seemed to bloom overnight, the slayer felt the need to do this as soon as possible, if not for her own then at least for her grandfather's sake. She would not be doing this alone, however. Seeing as she had not spent as much time with him lately Astrid took this opportunity to bring her old friend Kaisto alone. And Bastet too, of course. After all, he had not specified how many lions there were exactly. Just that their population had increased drastically over the last few months. And with an unknown number like that the guild master did not want to risk just bringing herself and Wolfgang along. While she did hold confidence that the two could take them down anyway it would not hurt to have a little extra help. And she got to spend a little time with them. It was a win-win.
Soaring through the cloudy sky the little exceed hung to the back of the elvish girl, his white wings spread out and gliding through the light breeze as he carried her light weight. This was much better than taking the train she would admit. It was strange how taking Wolfgang didn't effect her like trains and cars, but apparently anyone who they saw as a friend didn't matter to the rule. Kind of stupid in her opinion, and didn't make much sense. But really she wouldn't complain if this meant no motion sickness for her.
Purple eyes scanned down through the clouds for the familiar pointed roof of the huts, her features brightening when she finally found them after a passing cloud removed itself from her vision.
"It's down below" she directed the feline, looking up to him and pointing a finger down. Wolf nodded and brought himself to an angel, beginning the slow and soft descent to the ground.
After a minute passed they both landed upon the ground softly, Wolf slowing down near the end so Astrid would land delicately upon her feet. Retreating his wings back into his body the exceed crawled up from her back onto her head, taking a triumphant seat upon it.

"So dis is Hunting Viwwage?" he pondered aloud, taking in his new surroundings. Huts made of wood and cloth littered the edges of the street, gray smoke blowing out from the top of their roofs. The fronts of their homes held their weapons upon the side of their walls. Guns, swords, spears, you name it. Anything used to kill, they had. People walked along the edges, carrying pelts and other types of products produced from animals while the children chased each other around using smaller versions of the weapons. Far off in the distance one would even be able to see a group of brolly men dragging in their latest catch, what appeared to be some sort of Bison. Wolfgang's eyes sparkled and he drooled at the sight of the animal, some of the drool falling down and splattering upon Astrid's head. Annoyed, Astrid reached a hand up and closed his wide-open mouth, flicking away some of the drool.

"Yeah, just like i remember it..." she commented, feeling almost like it was the same exact way she remembered it all those years ago. But she could reminisce about this later. They had a job to do... But first before she could even do that, she needed to find Kai and then talk with the chief.
She began her walk forward in search for Kaisto and his companion. They hadn't really set a place to meet up per say, making this a little difficult. Hunting Village wasn't that big, but it was complicated and easy to get lost in if you don't know the area. So rather than trying to find them herself and getting lost she asked around, and it wasn't long until they found someone who knew exactly who they were looking for and pointed them in the right direction. Apparently all the villagers had been talking about them ever since they got here. No one knew who they were and why they were here, so to have two outsiders come in stirred up a bit of a sight. Especially since one of them had cat ears. The villagers probably thought of her as some animal they could skin.
After following the trail the woman put them on Astrid was easily able to see the two in the distance, talking, looking the other way, very obviously not knowing they were right behind them. This... Gave the slayer a sudden idea. A devilish smile took over her pale complication.
Using her White Dragon Light Speed the silvernette seemed to vanish and reappear in the air right behind Kaisto. She would then wrap her arms around the man in a tight and sudden hug, probably dragging him to the ground if he was not careful. Caught off guard Wolfgang hung to her head for dear life, swaying back and forth and flailing his small paws about.
"Hii~" she cooed, a light laugh laced within her words.

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And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

After a long and well needed hug Astrid removed herself from her fellow dragon slayer, releasing him from her tight grasp and pulling herself up from the ground. Once up she outstretched her arm to give him a helping hand up, a small smile gracing her lips. A hug, that was something she hadn't received in some time. She almost forgot how good they could feel. Despite being a small gesture it really did have an impact, soothing the girl's troubles if only but for a second. It probably also helped that Kaisto smelled like roses and a cool summer breeze due to his magic, which managed to bring a sweet scent to the embrace. She wondered what she smelt like... What did light and ice smell like combined? Of course, she was too used to her own scent to know, but it was a curious question. Kite smelled like baked bread whenever he used his magic. Did that mean all magics have their own scent? Now that was a good question. Maybe she would ask him about it next time she saw the demon slayer... He knew a lot more about magic than she did.
After helping Kaisto up Astrid would pat herself off to rid her clothes of any lingering dirt, meanwhile giving Wolfgang the chance to swing back up onto her head comfortably.
"I came here as a child some times with my grandpère, so i know the layout pretty well. Especially the way to the chief's hut. Him and my grandpère are close friends" she explained, wiping the last patch of dust from her front.
Making sure she looked presentable she looked back up to the two.
"I'd rather not keep the chief waiting, so if we're all good we should go in" she told them, pointing her thumb towards the large hut.
Once Kaisto and Bastet were ready the guild master would duck down and lift the low hanging cloth that made up the doorway and enter. Towards the back of the dim hut sat a small, old man sitting cross legged upon the floor, facing forward, almost like he had been waiting for them. Upon entering Astrid balled up her right fist and placed the knuckles against the palm of her right, bowing formally.
"Groete, Chieftain Adewale" she greeted before raising herself back up. If Kaisto did not end up doing the same right after her she would nudge an elbow into the man, trying to tell him it was the polite thing to do.
The old man's wrinkled face seemed to brighten upon their entrance.

"Groete. My my Lady Astrid is that really you, or are my eyes getting as clouded as my mind?" he laughed. "The last time i saw you you were only as big as my cane... I see some things don't change."
Though her height had always been a touchy subject for her Astrid laughed, a silver eyebrow twitching out of irritation at the joke.

"It seems your humor is also something that doesn't change" she responded, remembering how he had always been brutally honest. No wonder he and her grandfather got along so well, they both enjoyed picking things apart in their own special ways.
The chief's hummed delightfully to himself, his sunken eyes wondering from the elvish girl to the cat upon her head, and then to the two others who had entered with her.

"Who might your friends be? I don't see your brother with you... Such a pitty, his hunting skills was always quite magnificent."
Before Astrid could introduce each one the exceed managed to beat her to it. He stood up upon her head, raising a paw upwards.

"I'm Wowfgang!" he smiled.

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And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

The chief smiled and nodded. "Lucius is a great hunter. If he had been born here he would defiantly be among the top ten in the village. But even so, this hunt might have gotten to even a great of hunter as he is..."
Gaining a suddenly serious tone the old man lowered his head. "The lions have increased in number recently and have gotten even more ferocious than before. At least in past days if we avoided them for the most part they would avoid us in turn... But something has changed within them. They are no long noble beasts but ruthless monsters. Some of our best hunters have died due to them..."
Astrid frowned, feeling sorry for the man. He was usually always so happy and cheerful, it was hard to see him in such a sorrowful state like this. Those really must be some bad lions. She could remember watching some of the most skills hunters in this village when she was little. They could take down water buffalo in no time flat with such ease. But if people were losing their lives, the lions must be on some otherworldly power. No wonder he called them in. In no way, shape, or form did he have anyone here capable of taking them down. While some villages did have some mages Hunting Village was one of the smallest populations of mages born. Even so even if they are born with powers they are never honed or trained in them. As soon as they can walk they are given a sword and told to fight with their body. so their magic power stays as weak as a normal non-mage.

"That is why you called me, correct?" the guild master asked, really only for self confirmation.
The old man nodded in response.

"I have heard of all of your recent achievements from your grandfather, and i could think of no better person to do this" he smiled. To which the elvish girl grew a bit sheepish. While she liked her praise it was still a little embarrassing for people to do it. Why? She wasn't sure, it was just her natural reaction to it. Kind of like when a child gets praised and they suddenly get nervous because they have such a big idea to live up to. She just hoped in this case she wouldn't let them down.

"Thank you, chief. Both i and my friends will make sure to solve this situation quick." Before she got the change to turn around and leave the old man would interrupt her.

"Also, do not forget we will need proof of your defeat of the lion pack. Make sure to bring back something good." The chief's smile returned. Maybe not the full way, but at least part way, managing to comfort the girl to see him do so. The silvernette nodded and bowed, before leaving the way she came.

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And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

Something didn't feel right. No matter how much the silvernette thought she could not come up with an explanation as to why. Lions did not just go out of their way to attack people, no way no how. As long as you left them alone and gave them space they did the same to you. At least that's one of the many things she had learned here when she was younger. And by the sounds of it the chief said they were killing people left and right for no reason, going out of their way to shed blood. It was awful ballsy if you thought about it. The pride knew better than to mess with an entire village of trained hunters, they have been sharing the land with them for generations. It was completely out of character for them to start doing this, and it was bothering the hell out of the woman. To the point where she was subconsciously chewing on the edge of her thumb's fingernail while she thought about this, her legs moving forward on auto pilot.
"Uh, Astwid..." Breaking her thoughts was Wolfgang's lispy call, but it did not end up effecting the guild master in time as before she could stop she walked straight into a pole. The impact stung and left her dazed, making her paralyzed for a few seconds before she pushed herself away from the pole, feeling the small red mark throb upon her face.
Having dove off her head before the crash the exceed floated beside her, arms crossed with a 'i told you so' expression upon his feline features.
"I twied to wawn you."

Astrid either chose to ignore or did not hear her companion, as she quickly moved on and tried to act like she hadn't just run into a pole because she was dazing off.
"We're not killing the lions, not at first at least. I want to take a look at them myself before we we give such a harsh judgement to creatures who are not themselves." Killing them was not something she really wanted to do. Though, as Erika put it, she was a murderer. But she was not about to continue her killing streak. She would prove the mage wrong. The Astrid before she was born was not the same Astrid that she was now. She did not enjoy senseless killing and never would again.
Using both hands to try and rub the red mark from her face the slayer shook her head, regaining her dazed senses by slapping her own cheeks gently until she felt them tingle.
Wolfgang once again took a seat upon her head, flopping down upon his stomach and hugging her head to hold on like a rag doll.
She turned her head to look at the two behind her, beginning to jog in place to build up her stamina.
"If you want feel free to look around for yourselves. But i'm going on ahead to try and find them myself and see what's up. Follow if you can~"
In a flash of silver light, she was gone, tossing up an amazingly strong wind in her wake as she sped off into the dry land, no sign of her left except for the trail of dirt she left behind.

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And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

A race was not something the slayer had been opting for. Like she said, all she wanted to do was look around to try and find the lions. It just so happened that running at almost the speed of light was the way she thought was best to go about it. It wasn't until she felt Kaisto's presence behind her as she ran did she realize what he was doing. Honestly she was surprised he could keep up with her. White Dragon Slayers were known as the fastest among their kind, even more so than Lightning Dragon Slayers, being able to reach up to the speed of light itself. Granted she wasn't going her full speed right now. If she was there would be no land left beneath her feet and everything in her path could get destroyed. But even so she was going at least the speed of a bullet train, catching up to her was not an easy thing to accomplish.
She glanced behind her, seeing a tunnel of wind and rose petals. Her senses were correct, that was Kaisto. And Bastet too apparently, as she could sense the goddess also within it.
At first she didn't know what to do. The guild master wanted to concentrate and find the pride. There was no time to goof off and have fun, peoples lives were in danger. But the closer he got towards her, the more her competitive spirit was kindled. What kind of White Dragon Slayer would she be if she let him beat her? Not a very good one. That'd defiantly damage her pride. Astrid Foss did not lose, even to a friend. It was a bit silly, yes. She had just admitted to herself that she didn't have time for a race. But when her pride was on the line? You could forget about everything else. She did not want to lose, she was no loser. She could feel him edging her on in that wind tunnel, with a smug grin on his face, thinking he could win. And eventually, it was enough to ignite the fire within her. She looked back to the front of her, purple eyes narrowing and a smirk etching onto her lips.
"Think you can beat me? Think again."
The dragon slayer increased her speed slightly, distancing them a little by a decent sized gap. Every time he got a little closer, she would then increase it a little more. To try and throw him off she would hop from place to place, hoping to maybe confuse him and shake him off her tail. But he was good, she would give him that. He easily followed. Maybe a little behind, but he was defiantly able to keep up with her constant switching. But maybe the switching had been a little too much for him.
Having completely lost herself in the sport Astrid took a sharp and sudden turn, but it turns out Kai had not been quick enough for this one. Not watching her she was going she turned right in front of him, causing them to collide. Wolfgang was thrown off into the air as their bodies smashed together. Though thankfully he managed to land and cling onto Bastet's back, digging his claws into her skin and shook furiously, baby blue eyes wide and teeth chattering as if he had just gained PTSD from his whole experience.
Unable to catch herself in time Astrid abruptly prepared for the impact of the hard ground, watching herself get thrown forward and the floor get closer and closer to her face. But... The impact never came. Well, actually it did. But it was not the harsh feeling she had expected it to be. Instead it was... Soft... And warm. Like a hug. Closing her eyes upon feeling this embrace she grunted when the actual impact did come, but was quite surprised it did not feel as bad as she thought it would. In fact, it was quite cushioned. Feeling another sensation of herself getting picked up and carried Astrid opened one eye, and then another, seeing Kaisto's face above her own. Kai... Was he the reason why she did not get the full damage of that fall? She glanced over to his clothes, seeing them a bit torn up and dusty. Purple eyes widened, a small gasp sounding under her breath. It looked to be true. So that embrace she felt was him protecting her. He didn't need to go so far, look how torn up he was already, and they hadn't even started their mission yet.
At his question the girl nodded gently. "I-I'm okay. But do you mind letting me down?" she questioned. Not that she minded being carried. Well actually she did a little bit, but there was a time and a place when she liked to be carried, just not right now. There was a gnawing thought in the back of her brain that rejected this action. She wasn't some maiden in distress, she could walk on her own. So many people thought she needed protecting, when in reality she knew she could protect herself. And being in Kai's arms made her feel like she was being useless.
But before he would let her down, she would shudder once, purple optics shooting open wide and body jolting slightly in his grasp. She could feel someone closing in on them. No, not someone. Somethings.
There were many of them, each one holding a bucket full of malice and bad intent within their bodies.
"Kai, be careful. We have company..."

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And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

Astrid slipped out from Kaisto's grasp, landing daintily upon her feet. Upon landing she quickly grabbed the red string of heart-shaped beads from around her waist, causing them to loosely fall to the ground except for the part that was being grasped firmly within her hand. Yellow eyes peered over at the four behind tall patches of grass. Not that Astrid needed to see their eyes to know they were here. There were at least fifteen from what she sensed, and they all held a rotten stench of hostility. It was overwhelming to say the least. It seems their little race had caught their attention. Not exactly how she wanted to find them... But they found them nonetheless.
Purples eyes swept from left to right, trying to keep an eye on all of them to make sure they didn't get any smart ideas. They were severely outnumbered. If they all attacked at once they were cat food for sure. And if she or the others decided to attack first that would also cause them a swift and painful death. Even as an A-rank Astrid knew this many animals had a great possibility of killing her. And Kaisto was in even more danger, being one rank below what this mission should allow. They were stuck in a deadly stalemate.
Trying to see if she could scare some away the slayer cracked her whip towards one lioness in front of her, slapping the tip of the whip against the ground to make a sound that rivaled a roll of thunder. It seemed to work on two lionesses, the one in front of her and the one next to it, as they whimpered in fear and quickly ran away. Perhaps two of the youngest lionesses, as they looked rather small. Easy to scare away. However the rest stood strong, and did not give off the impression they were going to be running away any time soon. Soon after her action one lioness tore a roar from its throat and lunged towards Bastet and Wolfgang who was currently clinging onto the goddess' back. This gave the signal to the others, and in turn they all lunged towards the others. Ready to act Astrid threw her whip towards one of the lions, managing to wrap around its body. She pulled it towards her and spun around on her heels, causing the lioness to spin with it. It was lifted into the air and began to crash into the other lionesses charging at her, making them tumble over onto their sides.
Meanwhile Wolfgang managed to land upon one of the backs of the lions when he disconnected from Bastet's side and was now riding it like some kind of horse. It bucked and kicked, trying to throw him off. But the exceed had dug his gloved claws into its shoulder, making it so he was able to hold on despite the trashing about.
"Yeehaw! Whoa Newwy!" he shouted with a bright smile, treating the feline as though it was an actual horse. He was maybe having too much fun with his...

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And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain

❧

Wolfgang was scooped up by the cat goddess after the lioness kicked him off, and was placed upon her shoulder. To which the exceed did not mind and adjust himself to fit comfortably. He was more than capable of fending for himself, he did it all the time with his missions. But there was something about Bastet which he liked. Maybe because she was a cat, or because she was in legend a cat god. Or something. He couldn't quite remember. It was a strange feeling, but not one he would fight. Instead he accepted his new position as cat parrot with a smile on his maw.
As for Astrid, she just finished off her batch of lions. After knocking down the lionesses surrounding her she threw the spare feline caught on the end of her whip into the ground, making a decent sized crack before it fell upon its side, knock unconscious. She brought the whip back to her side before it lost the light surrounding it, turning back into the red heart-shaped beads it was before. She let out a sigh, turning to see the lionesses ended up killing. The elf had wished this to be a clean job without any deaths. After all she still though something else was causing the lions to be this way, therefore undeserving of death. But after her job with Kite she had learned sometimes killing could not be helped, especially with self defense. Kaisto was a rank lower than this job. He had to take every caution he could to ensure his safety. In the end, bloodshed could not be helped.
Astrid dropped the whip from her grasp, to which the red line instantly wrapped around her small midriff once again from which it came almost like a snake curling around its prey. Though of course in this case it didn't have the ability to eat, so Astrid was not in any danger. It just so happened this weapon was never allowed to be taken off of her, due to Minako's will. A little inconvenient, but it protected her, so she really didn't have any problems with it.
Curious optics rose once again when the lionesses strangely ceased their fighting and began to form into two neat lines, bowing their heads down when a single giant roar tore through the lands. Astrid turned her head, seeing the proud king of lions approach and stand before them, its face staring and intimidating, holding its head high and eyes steady. So, this must be the leader. At least she guessed from its powerful aura and bright fiery mane. It was common knowledge there was only ever one male in a tribe usually, so she had a pretty good chance of being right.
Being rather small Astrid actually had to stare up into its eyes like a child staring up to their taller parents. He was at least twice her size, if not even bigger.  But still she gave him an equally hard stare, keeping her eyes on him, as well as the lionesses surrounding him. Who knows, they could attack them any time they wanted to. Better safe than sorry. In fact... She might as well get rid of them now. The slayer has been practicing something lately, and she believed she had mastered it. Sound imitation. If able to recall a certain sound she was able to recreate it herself. And the lion's roar back there seemed like the perfect noise to see if she could handle it. If this worked this would even their odds.
Replaying the lion's loud roar in her memory she sucked in a huge breath of air and let it fill her chest, letting out a deep and mighty roar equaling his own. It honestly sounded like a genuine lion roar, but even stronger.
The lionesses, confused, rose back up and quickly slinked away, frightened by the loud sound. The king, however, was unfazed and remained in his tall posture.
Wolfgang, not wanting to miss out on this, soon after let out a roar too. Though it sounded more like a child trying to roar than anything else, and wasn't very powerful at that. Still, it seemed he was proud of himself anyway. It was a cool roar to him.
But... What was the plan now? She got rid of the lionesses, but now when facing against the king what were the supposed to do?
But the elf did not have enough time to think. Taking her sound as a challenge the king lunged towards her at full force, his mouth gaped open and showing off his razor teeth. Though of course a little caught off guard the guild master's physical speed made up for her slow mind. She was able to hold her ground and push herself into the lion, locking them in a tough stance. She grabbed onto its two canines and pushed, to which the lion pushed back, neither being able to move as they were trying to push each other away, but neither would let go. Even for a strong mage like Astrid she would admit the lion was strong, it was taking all of her energy to keep him from collapsing her arms, and she was actually breaking a sweat.
Astrid accidentally flinched for a second, causing the lion to move her slightly back. She closed one eye and clenched her teeth, regaining her grip and pushing back a little more in return.
I was a few more seconds before she noticed something was off. It wasn't her grip that was wobbling like she thought, it was his... Tooth. Every time she pushed back his right canine would wobble, and the lion would grunt in pain. She looked back to the gum, noticing the base was rather black.
Oh, maybe it was a loose tooth? Or rotten. Maybe this would give her an advantage.
Grinning Astrid took a chance and let go of his left tooth. And for a split second, it looked like the lion was going to chomp her in half. But in reality the slayer allowed both of her hands to become encased in light. Power soared through her arms, and before it could chomp down on her, she used both powered hands to pluck the tooth straight out of the mouth.
The lion roar in pain and fell backwards onto its spine as blood flowered freely from the socket. Astrid stumbled backwards, the rotten tooth firmly in her grasp. As if shrugging off the pain the king lion stood back up with one paw, and then the other before regaining its footing. It growled deeply and looked back at her, blue eyes glowing. Oh boy, looks like she made it angry. Maybe this ended up being a mistake instead.
... Or was it?
Noticing the feline's bad aura was gone Astrid allowed the lion to run back at her pick her up within its grasp. Except this time instead of trying to bite her head off... It... Began to lick her? Its giant tongue ran over her face as it held her in its large paws, leaving behind a wet and warm trail of saliva. But Astrid did not mind that, even when it was messing up her hair. She found its new behavior to be cute. The slayer just laughed, overwhelmed by the many licks it was giving her. "Quit it! Stop! That tickles!"
The king of beasts was actually just some poor sweet cat who had a tooth infection. Who would have known? She knew they weren't big beasts just by nature.

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