[Fairy Tail] Collapse the Cartel (Job w/ Rina)

Leila had decided to change up from her usual attire for her current mission, deciding instead to adorn herself with the appropriate clothing for that in the desert, covering herself from nearly head to toe to avoid the sun's heat. While she was normally all for sunbathing, she knew better than to let her skin burn in a place such as this, and while she found it a little stuffy in her dark purple desert robe, she forced herself to deal with it. Besides as long as she could still use her magic, it didn't matter what she was wearing. The Neko girl had been sent here with someone from her guild, Rina, for that she was thankful. While they had only spoken once briefly before when she had first joined Fairy Tail, she was grateful to know she had someone more powerful with her to ensure the job would be a success. From what they had been told before leaving the guild a large shipment of lacrima had been stolen by a group of bandits, calling themselves "The Cartel", before it had reached it proper destination of Era. They would be dealing with 'brutal warriors', and while Leila was sure she could take them out alone, it wouldn't be without consequences. However, with Rina by her side, it should be a simple task.

Leila's amber eyes scanned around the desert, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bandits, however, so far their efforts had been in vain. She would turn to her partner, with an earnest look, "What should we do? Do you think they would have traveled deeper into the desert, or be simply hiding along the edge, waiting to come out and strike again? They got away with quite a hefty haul, it's not like they'd be able to take it too far." Leila stated in a serious tone. Her ears and tail twitching as she spoke, as she tried to sense the presence of any of the bandits. Her magical abilities in this area were also still quite limited, so she couldn't sense very far, she just hoped Rina could do better than herself. After speaking Leila allowed her eyes to once again wander over the desert view, it was quite beautiful in its own way, the way the stone pillars decorated the ground around the sand dunes, it was rather pleasing to the eye. Not only that but they would also cast shadows, which she would require once they found their targets, she doubted they were going to give up their loot without a fight.

Leila nodded, glad that know that Rina had come to the same final conclusion as herself, with that they would need to continue their search. After a while they found themselves making their way up a small hill made entirely out of red stone, the Joyan girl's cat ears twitched as they heard something, she quickly lay down, bringing herself against the rocky ground, signaling for Rina to follow suit. Leila would then slowly ease her way towards the top, finding herself against a small cliff face, about ten meters above the ground below as she strained to listen out for the voices. "Why do we have to be the ones that suffer out in this heat anyway?" one voice grumbled, "It's so goddamn hot."

The Neko girl almost thought he was talking to himself as there was initially no reply, however, after a few moments she heard a gruff 'Mhm' of someone agreeing. She narrowed her amber eyes as her ears twitched, they sounded as if they were just below the cliff's edge, careful she peered over to see two men, the smaller one held a scimitar in his right hand as he paced back and forth restlessly, while the other was to his right, leaning against the cliff face, a long sword resting next to him. Both of the men were wearing white turbans that covered their head and mouths completely, matching white, albeit somewhat dusty boots, while the rest of them coated in black desert robes. These indeed were the men they had been looking for, they fit the description given to them perfectly. Leila quickly pulled herself back, not wanting to be seen for now. She searched around for the sun's current location and what she had to work with, the sun was slowly starting to set in the west, left of the cliff face, this caused some of the stone pillars in that direction to cast shadows towards the men, she would therefore need to attack from there.

However, this was not a solo job, she needed to remember that, Leila would look to Rina, as if to get confirmation that she was ready to strike as well before silently making her way over towards the red, rock pillars. As she moved she would make sure to keep an eye on both Rina to watch her actions as well as look out for the men that were below, however, soon she would find herself on level ground with them, when she did, it would be best to take one by surprise before he'd have time to react, she would leave the other to comrade, Rina. Leila found herself in position, hiding within the shadows, they still didn't seem to notice her presence, good. The Neko girl waited for the shorter man to turn around in his pacing, deciding it best to strike him from behind. She gathered some of the shadows around her hand, turning them into large fists in the shape of cat paws before leaping out and striking him in the back with a quick, one-two punch with each first, successfully knocking him out.

Leila then looked up, hoping to find that the woman she was working with had managed to deduce the plan from her silence and do much the same with her target. If she had done so she would give a quick nod and a serious, but friendly, "Good work." to her companion, to let her know that she was happy with the result of their ambush. If not she would now be finding herself face to face with a man now armed with a long sword, something she did not really wish to attempt to fight due to her own current combat style.

Leila released the breath she'd been holding in, sighing in relief that her partner on this job had been more than capable of doing what was required of her without a single spoken word. "Thank you, I'm happy to see you're smart enough to react to my movements." Leila responded with a serious expression, there were many people she had met in her time in Fiore that she was certain would not have been able to do the same. The Joyan girl was glad she had someone of skill as a partner for this mission. However, when asked about her magic, Leila was a bit apprehensive, her magic was a strange thing, not entirely one type either thanks to inheriting her mother's power to control all elements. Although, truth be told she was still quite inexperienced in that department, currently her power consisted of only bending the earth to her will, but she knew over time she could learn to control wind, fire and water as well. It wasn't that she was embarrassed about knowing how to control other elements other than her regular shadows, it was the fact that if word got out about a Neko that could use multiple elements was in Fairy Tail, those potentially tracking her would have an easy job.

With that in mind Leila finally answered the light mage's question, "I manipulate shadows." was all Leila had to say on the matter. It seemed good enough to her, now that that conversation was over, she could move on to the rest of their mission. They had only taken out two guards, but what exactly could they be guarding? The raven haired girl looked around curiously, as she spotted a small wooden door behind where the guards had been standing before being brutally beaten up. Leila walked over to it and had a look, it appeared that there must be a cave of sorts within the stone hill, a great hideout for those on the run from the law, no doubt. Leila went to attempt to open it, but it seemed locked, perhaps one of the guards had a key? The Joyan girl made her way over to the two bodies, examining them carefully with her amber eyes, nope, no key. Well no wonder the short one had been a little anxious about being forced to guard a door they had no access to entering.

Leila made her way back to the door, appearing deep in thought, her eyes glazing over, there were a few ways they could go about this and each was just as dangerous. They could just knock the door down to gain entry, but that would definitely draw the attention of the rest of the cartel and they'd have to deal with multiple opponents for certain. They other option was for her to sink into the shadow beneath the doorway and enter alone and see if she could open from the inside. That could potentially be just as dangerous if there was someone just behind the door in case the guards out front were not enough. Through all these thought processes she'd nearly forgotten she wasn't alone. She turned to face Rina, whispering so that no one could hear, if they had been listening, "So, should we just barge our way in, or would it be better if I attempted to sneak in and unlock it from the other side?" she asked, her tone as serious as ever. Once she knew what Rina wanted her to do, she would follow her orders, she was after all the higher ranked mage and had far more experience than Leila did on these matters.

Leila listened intently to her comrade's suggestion, while learning that Rina could glow in the dark was quite an illuminating discovery, her plan seemed to be fine. While the Joyan wasn't usually for distraction tactics as it would leave people vulnerable on occasion she was certain that her partner this time was strong enough on her own to take out any threats regardless of any situations that may unfold. "Sounds good to me." Leila said with a small nod, she had no reason to argue with the more experienced mage's idea, so she would go along with it for now. The Neko then headed to the side of the cave before slipping into the shadows and melding into them, till her body was completely absorbed into the darkness. While she was still conscious in this form, it always felt strange, particularly because she had no real physical shape and could only move along already formed shadows and her vision was somewhat blurred.

However, the young Joyan girl was used to this type of thing by now as she had practiced and perfected this technique long ago, she waited, watching her partner as she would enter the cave hidden within the desert, if necessary she would leap out and attack, taking out people with a few punches or kicks where necessary before retreating back into the shadows, without straying too far from Rina. For the most part it seemed her partner found most of the enemies they came across to be mere child's play, which Leila was thankful for, this meant it wouldn't be long before they would be coming face to face with whoever was in charge, then they just had to take them out and retrieve the goods.  If Leila had been in physical form she would have given a slight smile towards her comrade, she was more than pleased to be working along side someone of such skill, alas the light mage would never know, at least not for now as she continued to remain in the shadows as was their plan.

Leila leapt from the shadows as soon as Rina spoke, dark magical energy covering her fingers, turning them into sharp, razor like claws that she used to slice at the man she assumed was the guy in charge, the king of thieves. Her claws connect and she smirked, however, her victorious feeling was short lived as suddenly she was hit with an invisible force that sent her flying into the cavern wall, causing her to yelp out in pain. The man then drew his sword, it was beautiful and glistened in the light that shone from Rina's body and the few lanterns that were used to light up the base. Leila's amber eyes widened as he sent it flying towards her, she barely had enough time to drag a shadow across her face and shield her from the attack. "You damn wizards..." She heard him mutter as the sword withdrew from her shadow shield and return to his hand. So he used telekinetic magic, huh? Leila's magic wasn't all that dissimilar in practical use, she could manipulate shadows as he manipulate space, however, she remembered she wasn't alone, she would have to make sure both herself and Rina got away from this fight victorious.

Her hands were still coated in the sharp razor claws, this time she stretched it out quickly, sending it flying towards the male's face, but... missed. What? Leila blinked, he was gone, simply disappeared, just what was going on, her cat ears twitched as she heard something behind her, turning around too slowly to see he had teleported behind her, successfully striking her back with a telekinetic force that sent her face first onto the ground. This fight was getting seriously painful, perhaps she was not as strong as she had thought. Leila slammed her hands against the ground, causing the earth to shift beneath her and four small cat face shaped pieces to emerge, circling around her body. They would at least protect her from any further attacks for a while. The Joyan looked to Rina for help, she knew already she wasn't strong enough to take this man alone.