Are You Ready For?;; Job w Strawberry,

424 of 4,000 total
https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t28443-hunt-of-the-wilds-treegaurd
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It was a general order that had been given out to legal guilds and such by the magic council, demanding they look at this mysterious new portal that had opened within the spooky forest. Fluffy, normally did not take jobs, her guild thought she was just some common small two tailed feline pet, no one in Golden Phoenix knew she had actually once been human and retained that level of intelligence alongside possessing fire control abilities. Thus normally the twin tail stayed in the guild hall expect when a guild member wanted her company when she went out on some job, but this time it was different. Since the request was so general and largely spread? She could head out towards it on her own, knew all the details even without formally taking the job on herself, because it was an open request! Thus she had snuck out of the guild early that morning, transforming into her larger feline form before anyone could see her and flew at top speed off to the spooky forest, so she could investigate the portal without revealing to the guild that she was actually human level intelligent or such.

Normally the Kasha did not look like much since she stayed in her small form, however her large form was the height of a person and twice the length, she was huge in this form so she was bound to draw someone's attention if they spotted her! Of course she had interacted with other's before so this would not be an issue, she just did not want the issue of her guild-mates knowing. With a small rumble the feline took a few more steps into the forest, walking towards where the portal was suppose to be, eventually coming upon it. "Right where the paper's said it was." the voice emitted through her saber fanged mouth, ruby optics narrowing at the portal slightly as she lifted one black patterned paw to feel the air around it finding no sharp difference in temperature. "Now to investigate it, doesn't seem like anything has come through it, so I guess that's good, the only thing to do is go through it and see what's on the other side." with those words the cat took a few steps forward sticking her nose in it before pulling back quickly, nodding when she found no damage, seemed it was safe to pass through.

On the other side there would be a camp, and an adventure to be had, but she had to jump through it first.

It was general knowledge among mages that there was a crack in the Spooky Forest, otherwise known as a portal. The Magic Counsel requested light guild members to go investigate the portal and a surge of dark energy that came from it, but the Counsel didn't realize that making the request so open could have unseen consequences - one of them being that the dark guild Grim Heresy also caught wind of the disturbance. Grim Heresy, being the sly guild that it was, wanted all knowledge of the portal to see if it could benefit their motives, and as such sent out a mage to investigate it. That mage was the robot maid and loyal servant Strawberry.

Little did Strawberry know they only sent her there because she was the most expendable out of the mages. She was a pure pacifist completely incapable of willingly fighting, and she had no actual useful magic. She did hear of an upgrade coming her way soon, but had no knowledge of what it could possibly be. However her pacifistic nature would hopefully not be a hinderance in this mission, as it was simply recon. She had to go there and look around, and if she came back she could tell the story and if she didn't... Well, Grim Heresy knew there was a potential threat. Regardless, the maid stepped through a Doorway in the guild hall, and once she stepped through she walked directly into the forest, right in front of the portal - long before Fluffy got there.

"Okay! So all I have to do is... Look inside and get information on the surge of dark power. I can do this."

She tapped the side of her head. When this happened, her eyes became cameras, recording all that she saw. The best part about this was that she looked no different, and quickly stepped through the portal. Being from Grim Heresy, she quite knew the extent of portals and doorways, and the lack of harm they possessed. So she stepped in, and observed a camp. She walked around, not seeing anyone or sensing any magic presence, and as such either thought everyone was dead, or there were no mages here. This suspicion was confirmed when the people began coming out of their tents to greet the maid. They didn't speak for quite a while, merely staring at the robot as though to size her up. And Strawberry returned in kind, looking them over and seeing how their bodies were in a state of peril - they were starved. Some looked like they were driven to insanity, others just had a look of permanent anger. Strawberry had seen it all before, being in her guild came with "seeing some sh*t" in the job description. As she began to look around the camp and record, however, a sound was heard behind her... Footsteps? Someone else stepped through the portal?
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910/4000

1047 words of 2,000 personal wc.
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"MONSTER" one of the people instantly shouted the word when the five foot tall feline with saber fangs leaped through the portal landing neatly on the ground a few feet behind the robot maid, eyes bright red as the small flames licking around her paws and the tips of her twin tails. Clearly? The non-mages were startled by her appearance, if it was her size, the fire or simply being an animal she didn't know, but she now had a choice to make, to speak in order to calm them down or let them run off. Fluffy decided trying to calm them so she could get information them was likely the best option presented to her at the moment, even if she did not like the option too much. "Wait, I'm not-" she couldn't say she wasn't a monster, she thought she was a monster herself. "I won't hurt you." but she could promise not to hurt them because she had no intention of harming bystanders or such, she just wanted to figure out what was going on.

"My name is Fluffy, I know that I appear as a monster, but I'm no threat to you. I simply came to investigate the area." her voice was a bit gruff as if her throat was hoarse but she was now unpleasant and her tone was soft for the size of her body. "Is there anything you can tell me?" the feline asked the question walking up alongside the maid glancing at her, realizing she looked different from the other people standing here. "I'm guessing you're not with them but from the same side of the portal as me?" she questioned the maid, waiting for the humans looking at them to overcome their fear of her. Quickly enough fluffy had an idea for lessening the fright of the skinny campers around them, shifting down to her smaller form which was barely one foot tall and certainly much less intimidating, though the flames that surrounded her when she morphed startled them for a second. "Is this better?" hopefully now they would be less frightened of her and more able to communicate any information they may have that could be helpful. If shifting forms did not help? Fluffy was mostly out of options for earning their trust.

"Well you can't stay with us demon cat! We barely have enough for our-self!" one of the people living in the area snapped, glaring at her now much smaller form making it difficult to maintain her smaller body since they were starting to feel threatening. "We would have enough if it wasn't for black magic making that treeguard come to life, but now because of it we can't go into the woods without being attacked by it." considering they mentioned Black Magic made the problem they had, the female guessed it might be that same black magic that was leaking through the portal into fiore. "Alright than, thank's, I think I'm going to go track down that tree and see what's up with it." likely destroy it, but that was secondary, especially since the thin maybe slightly mad people jumped when she shifted back into her larger form.

Fluffy looked back at the woman in the maid outfit, flicking a single ear. "If you're here to look into things same as me you might as well hop on, we're going to the same place and I'm extremely fast, plus I fly." she could actually go two times swifter than a normal person if she was not fighting, that was sixty miles an hour if she was sprinting. Hitching a ride on the feline? Was likely a very good idea if the maid was not frightened of her or such.

As the group yelled out "MONSTER," the maid could do nothing but turn and see what they were claiming to call a monster. Perhaps it was nothing more than one of her guild mates - a lot of them have been called that particular term as well. "Monster..." it wasn't very fitting for much of anything really. That alienates something and automatically gives the assumption that it'll be evil and want to kill all humans or something of that sort. What if that was how they were born? Their natural instinct, something they couldn't escape? It made no sense to the maid how someone could so easily be written off by society, but then again she didn't know much of anything about society herself.

As the feline "monster" began to speak, Strawberry's assumptions were confirmed. She wasn't anything hostile, but interesting nonetheless. The cat was some sort of demon, or a magical creature regardless. Either way, Strawberry had seen it all the more before. So, she was soon asked two questions, or rather a question and an assumption that came close to the form of a question.

"I can not tell you anything you don't already know, as I simply got here minutes before you did. But yes, I am from the same side of the portal as you, assuming it is only two-way and you came from Earthland's Spooky Forest. I'm Strawberry, the loyal maid and servant. Glad to meet you, Lady Fluffy. Pleasure is mine."

After introductions were over, the cat - Lady Fluffy - furthered Strawberry's suspicions that she was but a diplomat. However, catching wind of the crest that Fluffy had on her collar, it was unmistakenly the crest of the legal guild Golden Phoenix. This was to be expected - legal guilds investigating the mysterious portal, but this was even better for the maid. She zoomed her vision in to the collar to be sure, then zoomed out. This wasn't noticable, however as she still looked as though she was looking at the cat as she spoke to the campers. So Golden Phoenix had their own pet demon cat thing, and she caught it on video. Now if only she could catch her magic...

Strawberry's prayers were answered when one of the men spoke of a "Tree Guardian," one whom prevented them from going into the forest to get food. If they wanted, couldn't they just cross the portal into Earthland and catch food there? It seemed pretty dumb to sit around and starve when only one form of food production gets wiped out. Regardless, Fluffy had taken the offer to go "take care of it," which Strawberry assumed to mean kill. This was the most useful that Strawberry's been in... Ever! The maid light up with glee - figuratively, not literally, and stepped forward as Fluffy offered for her to ride on the feline's back. Interesting offer, but a good one nonetheless, however Strawberry had to make sure one thing.

"How much weight can you support? I weigh almost 500 lbs - an understatement should my body be fully carved out of steel and not with my innards. If you can hold me, then sure, I'll ride."

Should the cat say yes, Strawberry would hop on. Otherwise, she'd just begin walking towards the direction of the forest
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1039/2k

1,743 of 2,000 personal wc
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Most would assume that Fluffy was incapable of supporting the weight of something like Strawberry, it was quiet the heavy load and for most average beasts of burden it would take several to pull such a thing much less carry the person on their back! However? The kasha had found since transforming she was anything but some average thing like that, she knew herself very capable of carrying something around five hundred pounds easily, she would struggle with something six hundred pounds maybe be unable, but Strawberry was something she could carry perfectly fine. "I can support that much weight, it just means I can't take another full size person expect for you." she explained it very simply, adjusting her stance so it would be easier for the maid to mount her as some people could have trouble with that due to her height. "Just please be careful to stay centered on my back, you can grab my mane but don't nudge into my ribs or such to direct me, it can throw off my balance which is dangerous at the speed I move." she certainly didn't want the two of them crashing somewhere!

Once the maid was seated firmly upon her back the feline instantly sprinted off at somewhere near her top speed, something humans could not achieve, it was more compared to some car than anything else. By now? Fluffy was used to moving so swiftly with everything in the forest largely a blur, she could still make out some of the basic things required of her and sense magic. Though someone who could see things clearly moving this fast, well that would be incredibly useful, but it was unlikely to ever happen. "If You Can't Fight Get Off!" suddenly she shouted out when she stopped running, giving the maid a moment to get off if she needed to before jumping back to dodge the large spider that had leaped out at her, the snarl of dogs being heard just out of sight as her head began to hurt. "I'd say we're in the right place." the cat scoffed it, breathing slightly heavy as her flames burst to life preparing her to start battle.

The enemies soon became clear enough, four spiders one on the ground the other three each on a separate tree, a pack of five dogs just coming out of the brush and two shadowy bird figures rising from the ground. Fluffy realized this fight was not going to be easy! "Be careful, alright Strawberry, if you can't fight just hide, I can take care of them myself but not if I have to protect someone while doing it!" she evaluated the threat of each once more, honestly even if the birds happened to be stronger, the hounds were the biggest threat as they matched her in size and could easily gang up on her, so she needed to handle them, than the spiders and lastly the birds. She moved swiftly, running through the middle of the dog pack to the other side, running up a tree to dodge when they turned on her, each of them clearly having been burned by her flames. Quickly she targeted one of the spiders biting into the creature and tossing it a few feet from her, turning to scratch the next one with her claws before shooting a fireball at another so it flew back into its fourth ally, dodging the birds and thus heading back towards the dog pack she unleashed a large fire breath catching the six that had grouped together thus damaging them again before bailing to the side to avoid being hit herself.

However one could notice her flames may be burning a bit too brightly, she had also exerted the effort to burn the spiders with melee hits which meant she had lost some mana she would not have otherwise her tails lashing the birds causing them to appear behind her pushing Fluffy to sprint forward getting bit by a spider before she threw it off once more. Clearly she was capable of fighting, but not incredibly experienced, her speed was mostly what aided her towards winning the fight.

So, the demon cat could support the robot's weight. That was good to know, as this was somewhat a test of strength porsay, as the maid looked into learning as much as possible about the demon feline. This was one of Strawberry's only chances to be useful, and she wanted to make sure that she was getting the most out of it. So, she mounted Fluffy and grabbed hold of her mane, and was shocked when the cat burst into speed, bobbing and weaving expertly through the forest. It wasn't that the speed was what caught her off guard, but instead the speed while carrying so much weight. Would she be even faster without Strawberry on her back? The maid wouldn't know. The feat of speed was all of being tremendous, amazing, and awesome. Strawberry had to literally hold onto her headscarf to assure it didn't go flying about. One hand rested on Fluffy's mane with a hard as steel grip... Literally... and the other being on her head.

Suddenly, the two came to a stop, and the maid was issued a command to get off of the cat's back if she couldn't directly fight. This was considerate, as Strawberry actually COULDN'T fight, so she did happily oblige. Quickly making her way backwards, but something quickly gave her a literal jolt and shock, and she stumbled back for a bit. Her vision quickly blacked out, and staticked like on a television set, but quickly returned to normal just as she heard the cat give her a command.

"I'll hide, don't worry..."

Strawberry nodded to Lady Fluffy, and quickly ducked behind a bush but peeked through to visualize the enemies that came forth. A pack of dogs, some giant shadowy birds, and a pack of spiders. Strawberry opened a pocket dimension, and grabbed from it her trusty frying pan, one that she had easy access to at any time. She could use it to defend herself if anyone wanted to come at her. It wasn't like they could handle her, she was Strawberry! Loyal servant to Grim Heresy! And she could easily beat some lowly enemies like -

What was she thinking! She couldn't FIGHT! Not only did she not like fighting nor wanted to bring harm to any living thing, but she was physically incapable of bringing harm to others. It was impossible, and the robotic maid wanted to slap herself for even thinking such thoughts. For now, she wanted to watch over the fire cat, one that was in the midst of combat with the dogs and spiders. Her fighting was all but proper - she relied more on instinct than on combat efficiency. Her speed especially served as an aiding factor, which was what she relied on quite a bit. Her spells - fire based, as the maid suspected. The fight seemed like it'd be over, and Strawberry caught the most of it on video. Her combat style, although rash, would provide her guild insight should she ever become a direct threat. Strawberry was about to step out, until her vision blacked out and staticed again. Her body sensed damage - as she could not feel pain - and her body was sent flying into a tree, and smacked right into it, causing her to slide down and put a few tears in her uniform. She could see the creature coming forth slowly, as if taunting the maid for her inability to fight. It wanted to make her fear it, and suffer as it brought her to shut down. Although, as it came closer, Strawberry staticed more and more, and then she blacked out. A few seconds later she came to, but she was vastly different as the effect of the shadow's presence kicked in. While someone normal would receive a headache and begin feeling insane, this shadow directly attacked the part of Strawberry's programming that gave her her pacifistic nature.

Gripping the frying pan, the weapon soared through the air without a second guess. One would say it was thrown, if not for the handle being attached to the hands of the quickly rising maid, bringing the cast iron heavy kitchen utensil to the bird's face. The bird, caught off guard by this attack, was sent stumbling, which gave Strawberry the chance to advance forward. Another swing, although lower, struck the bird in its underbelly, bring its head forward to be on the receiving end of an overhead slam. Each hit that connected released a different sound that all resembled a large clunk or clank. The bird finally got its bearings, and then began to fly into the air and charge at the maid headfirst, and it succeeded. It however did nothing more but damage not only Strawberry but itself, as the maid was ready for the attack this time and endured it. While she did stumble back a bit, the 500 lb maid didn't fly nearly as far as she did a second ago. However, the bird wasn't expecting this, and a final slam from the cast iron frying pan brought it to dissipate into shadows, although its effect on Strawberry didn't release itself. Perhaps it was tied to the other birds, but the maid almost mindlessly walked out of the bushes like a zombie.

Sensing the new approach, the four spiders turned their assaults towards the maid, but the dogs still focused on the cat. The birds also turned towards the robot, but they wanted to oversee the spiders to see their rate of success, which was nearly impossible. The four spiders were all low on vitality, due to having taken the beating from Fluffy, and they weren't that intelligent, so they all attacked individually instead of in unison. The first one approached, and Strawberry smacked it with the pan, as did the second one, and the third, and the fourth. They all went down in a single hit, so Strawberry figured that she either hit them really hard or the cat crushed them to near death. But regardless, the maid now went for the birds, jumping and bringing the frying pan down and crushing the wings of one, while the other used its talons to tear an entire hole in the back of Strawberry's uniform, and even leave a slight scratch on the steel of her body. Strawberry sensed damage though, and quickly turned around to smack the other bird in the face, which left her open to another head bash from behind from the crippled bird. Fighting 2v1 was difficult, but not impossible. The maid decided to take one out completely, then even the playing field. So she turned to the crippled bird, and overhead slammed the pan into its back not once but twice, only to sense a hit from behind that launched her a bit forward since she was caught off guard. Her own vitality was running low - she couldn't take anymore hits without powering down, and that'd risk all of the data obtained on this mission. But the birds' effects had such a strong grip on her, so she trudged forward, smacking aside the first bird that charged her and watching it crumble into shadows, and then using the momentum from that swing to hit an extra hard hit on the second. Strawberry knew she was pushing her luck, but she advanced forward, and stepped onto the bird's physical body, and slapped it twice until it dissipated. This released the effect on Strawberry, and she quickly came to.

"I harmed those creatures... Nay, I KILLED those creatures! The poor spiders! I guess I couldn't care less for the dark birds but... Those spiders had a will to live - they were merely protecting the forest that they loved! And I didn't cater to their desire to live... This is horrible! I have... Completed what I came here for! I saw what rested on the other side of the portal, and now I'm leaving!"

Strawberry would cry if she had the function to, but instead she just ran back in the direction opposite Fluffy, which she remembered the location of the camp. She didn't kill any "TreeGuard" or anything, but then again she never said she would.
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WC complete. Leave topic

The dogs were really the only thing remaining at the moment, so she charged them once more grabbing one with her fire bite and tossing it in order to get the attention of the other's so she could strike all of them with her flames before breathing fire on all six of them when they grouped up once more. Clearly most of the canine's were about down, lots of them seemed on their last legs and one of them certainly was. Fluffy focused on the stronger one's left first, lashing out at them once more with claws and her fire ball attack. Once she reached that point? It was easy to take them down the rest of the way, standing over the corpses or near corpses of the hound. However she was now nearly out of strength magical wise and thus did not believe going to face whatever the tree-guard was would be the best of idea's, instead she walked forward to pick up some items the animals had dropped. Likely? It decided to leave after seeing how they managed to take down all its minions without much trouble, so the creature would be no problem anymore she could not sense its aura again this time.

"She ran off." clearly she was not going to be able to chase down strawberry, at least Fluffy did not think she would be able to. Honestly the Kasha did not truly think to attempt since she had been fighting still when the girl left and thus did not realize everything involved with her fleeing from the realm. The female finally started walking back towards the portal, deciding it was likely time to go home herself so that she could get some rest since she had completed what she came here for, investigate the portal, and it wasn't like she could turn in a formal report to her guild since she did not even know she was capable of speech. "At least it was somewhat enjoyable." she was able to get out of the house for a while so to speak and that honestly was what had mattered to her because she had been getting subtly stir crazy again. Hopefully she would find more things like that soon, enjoyable activities that did not require her to reveal the level of intelligence she had to her guild-mates. Fluffy could do with some more getting out and about.
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WC Complete.