Never Forget Your Roots [Open]

One would think that the small, Midian ducktail who joined the classy guild Fairy Tail 6 years ago would have lived a wonderous, adventurous life of prices, excitement, suspense and climaxes. So he did, but in a much more different fashion than he expected. Once a symbol of ease and trouble become a symbol of the grey zone and the necessary - and who would have been able to truly fathom the weight of the grey zone if they hadn’t gone through dark and light with each other on their backs? In fact, it barely phased Mura - despite the hard times, he never quitted it. He surely remembered a few giving in from the changes… but what about their roots?

He would never forget his roots… right…?

You know, he was a foreign to this day. A prominent wizard among wizards in Fiore could not run away from his prideful legacy. And that legacy grabbed him, not by force, but by right. A specific landsman from Midi had travelled to the capital of Crocus - Mura only caught news of him through wandering souls who had soared across all cities in their search for a place to rest. This man claimed to lead nothing else than a cell in Mura’s home country that, according to other sources as well, had made a name for themselves throughout the sakura forests and ninja villages. He also lead something more worrying… a change. He kept talking about this change, something rising up as if it was about a revolution. As if Mura wanted nothing more than a darn revolution. He had gone through enough concerning his home seed, and seeing some random people flip the table over was the last thing that he wanted.

At the top of Mercurius, birds and other flying creatures covered the air. Crocus was a very crowded place, and the most efficient open place was the skies. The top of the dome was also a very good place to get a very good view over the city as you could look directly at every corner of Crocus only from here. Mercurius was a very tall tower if something like that was possible. “He’ll meet up here to greet the general in the evening… best we prepare to wait,” he spoke to his two ghostly companions. The dome’s top was a little flat and made up approximately 12 meters in diameter. He had a bag and a small pot along with wood, branches, a spoon and stuff to cook. He would wait a long time, indeed…

Walking through the streets of the capitol of Fiore, Haru had been just trying to get out and take a walk; but ended up here instead. With an exceed on his shoulder as usual, the young man was excited to be in the capitol. I mean, no matter the country; the capitol was always filled things to do and people to see. Musicians playing on the street after a long winter; families shopping together, girls his age too. Although he couldn't help but to think of Leila with a 'hmph' as usual as he continued to walk around.

Stopping in front of "Saint Row" he witnessed statues of Deniel, his grandfather, Shuhei, Ardere, Elyx, Zack Rose, and Zeno. Stopping in front of the towering statues, he looked up at Zeno's a hooded figure standing with his arms folded in front of him. Even his grandad had looked up to him. Turning to Ardere's statue, he had samurai like armor on and one hand resting on his hilt. Smiling as he carried his name as a middle name; he finally turned to his grandfather's statue. Scarf hanging low even in stone, his grandfather was pointing north as if he was exploring or spotting a new horizon. An emotional smile and an eyebrow raise later; Rose would look up at the statue and get somewhat sad. Noticing this, Haru would look to his shoulder and her.

"Let's go for a fly?" as he said this, she looked surprised but grateful. Scooping him up in a quick motion that left wind behind; they soared into the skies of Crocus, with a few 'ooohs' from people who were near their takeoff. The houses below them so small, Haru was at peace up here. It was then that he felt a very familiar magic power. With a wiggle of his nose; he would point towards the palace as Rose nodded. "I feel it too, it's him." they would soar as wind trails left behind them. A lone figure on the roof of the palace was spotted ahead, not a guard on roof patrol either.

When he got closer, he spotted his guildmate and rival. Mura Kensho. The best swordsman in Earthland as far as he knew from his legend alone. When they arrived, they would loop around once so Mura could see them. With a landing, Haru would stand again and walk over as Rose would land on his shoulder. "What a view huh, Mura?" she said as Haru walked up and stood next to him.

"Everything ok?" he said without looking at Mura, just gazing out at the city with him.

On second thought, it wasn’t so bad camping up here. Mura was safe from thieves, not so much buzz, a peaceful atmosphere, fresh air, beautiful birds flying around and the music of blowing winds keeping him company. As he sat down in front of the pot that he was preparing food in, Kyuken and Zirconis looked around with question marks floating above them.

“I’ve been through more than Mura. May Midi stay as safe as possible.”
“I wouldn’t hope too much for that, sword fella-“
“Please, I know… troubles are bound to happen, but… I gave all the years of my life to serve her, our matriarch Midi. What if it wasn’t enough…?”
“… Don’t get all emotional with me, now. It’ll be handled quickly, just like last time. You’re fretting too much over it.”

Mura had let the pot warm up under the campfire and enjoyed the view when a specific bird turned out to be his two guildmates, Rose and Haru. What in the world were they doing here? Did they search for him? Or did they have other business here by chance? Either way, yay!

“Mhm,” he replied to Rose as his eyes devoured the spicy colors of the blue sky. The sun had made it past zenith, and it was making its way to the west side of the globe. “… A strange man from Midi is going to visit this place soon. I’m waiting for him.” With that said, he’d sit down and pick up the warm pot and leave the campfire burning for Haru to devour it if he wished. “Tonkatsu?”

As he stood on the rooftop, he looked down at the building he was standing on. So much was decided here. This was historic landmark, and here he was standing on it. Taking in the tiles of the roof he literally bent down and placed a hand on the royal palace. As someone born in Terra Ignis, a Fioran; this building meant a lot to him. Smiling at it, he continued to bend down and touch it.

When Mura spoke up and offered him some Tonkatsu ramen, he would have an expression that was filled with a blush and a lip furrow as he really wanted some but didn't want to show it. With only a "Yes...please." he couldn't wait as he moved over to the cooking array Mura had set up; leaning over and checking out the floating pieces of pork and vegetables inside of the broth with the noodles; the smell driving him wild. When he got his bowl; he would drink most of the soup before using the chopsticks to get to the noodles last.

"Two mages from Fairy Tail eating on the roof of the palace...you know when the patrols get up here they're going to raise their weapons.....Kyuken, Zirconis, why do we let them do dumb crap like this...." she asked them both as she floated nearby with her wings out; shaking her head at the two of them. "This is definitely a violation of the law!" going into Erza mode she actually began scolding them as Haru merely slurped his noodles in response and raised an eyebrow at her.

"A strange man? I mean.....what does he do? Is everything Ok back there?" Haru asked about the foreign country honestly, since his own city; Terra Ignis. Was founded by a person from Midi; Ardere Kasai. He held the middle name himself, so he did care for the foreign country. After all...this ramen he was munching on originated from Midi. "Don't tell me the whole place is about to go to war or something..." he said stirring his noodles with is chopsticks and bending his eyebrows seriously at his guildmate.

Huh. He sure was hungry after some Tonkatsu. It was a new dish that Mura remembered after several years of random rice bowls and mizu soup. A little variety wouldn’t hurt, and Tonkatsu was delicious. Even he needed some slurps after Haru’s turn. “Mhm…” he expressed his delight as Rose reminded them where exactly they camped at - this was Mercurius, a palace and settlement slash home for the royal family. What made Mura camp up here, though, was even beyond himself.

“Nah, it’ll be fine,” he assured the deep-red exceed, “In a way, I have business to do with someone here.” “Besides, who’ll see us? This palace is enormous…!” Kyuken commented. Mercurius could probably house people who never even met each other, that was how big it was. “… Things are fine, Haru. Don’t worry about that - my father would’ve informed me if anything happened. But have you heard of this new guild…?” The shaman would hand a piece of paper with his notes concerning the rumors of a guild called ‘Five Star’ roaming Midi as they spoke. It was rather subconscious how Mura found them suspicious, despite them just being wizards in a guild like himself… right…?

“Think about it. Midi’s military force is already strong enough to uphold the law and safety over there, and their concentration of magic is double as high as here in Fiore. All previous attempts on a guild seated there… well, they never seemed to have any purpose. What about this sudden guild, then?”

As he finished his dish, he would look over at Mura with an exhale. Thinking for a moment to himself. "Hm....maybe it's about options. Think about it, Midi has never really forced anyone to become a Samurai if they have magic...but it was the only option. People love to have a choice." he said in his usual serious tone. But in a joking one he finished. "Doesn't sound like they're doing anything sinister....they've already given their name out for one...for two...people know about them. Guilds of mages that end up evil don't usually act like that.....but hey, could be a diversion." as he shrugged he would look out onto the rooftops below, the city looked nice on this spring day.

"Way to be positive and negative at the same time." Rose said with a joke of her own as Haru shrugged. "Well, if our guild can get involved with theirs that would probably be a good thing, Fairy Tail has always been on great terms with that country."

Nodding as they talked, Haru wondered if Mura was considering making a trip to Midi. He'd never really been himself. Usually a loner, he spoke again. "If you go I'm coming with you." he said to Mura, without saying where because he knew his guildmate would know. Without looking at him he would look toward the huge stadium on the other end of the huge city. "Grand Magic Games.....huh." just turning seventeen he did still have dreams of competing in that annual Tournament one day. They had some real winners on their guild. Who knew, they might win it all.

”True… hey, I wonder if they’d be willing to form an alliance with us in the future. Better find out now than later,” he replied to the habanero-haired fire wizard. A lot of information would be needed, too; he couldn’t help but be curious about a new guild of wizards in his own homeland - this was something that not even Infinity Hydra could equal even with their inspirations and themes from the very same land. Besides… it had been such a while since Mura had a real, Midian talk with some from his own country; with all due respect to Haru and his ties to Terra Ignis, the young man didn’t speak Midian. When was last time that Mura had ever spoken that language? There was something magical to it that drove him to interact and socialize with other Midians through that language. It was missed…

It was expected yet not thought about. It kind of surprised Mura to hear that Haru wanted to come with him - most likely on a future trip to Midi. The shaman would be glad to greet Haru to his family at the District, visiting his father once again, have a talk with his countless cousins and aunts with their extremely sweet Taiyaki. Imagine a fresh, homemade Taiyaki filled with a Nutella-like essence - it made his mouth water a little. “Hell yeah…” he almost moaned in pleasure. Meanwhile, Kyuken and Zirconis eyed the arena further ahead - the Grand Magic Games’ main arena which could be seen from up here.

“Grand Magic Games, huh… pfft, if you’re interested in arena history, then you should hear about my own Grand Games!”
“And what exactly have you been going through? Let me guess, a bunch of swords?”
“W-Well, imagine a hundred men against one. They’re all heavily armored, and the battle is equally as heavily biased. Imagine yourself as an infamous figure, a face that people tend to fear… and boom… all hundred men, on their knees or sent to the realm of the dead, all because of a worn out Midian with two katanas in his hands. I tell you… I’ve never been so afraid yet excited about anything in my entire life.”
“Wait, the battle was biased? What do you mean by-“
“Yeah- wait, is that all? No ‘whaaaat’ or ‘impossible!’? Are you serious?!”
“Just get to the point- what do you mean by biased?!”
“As I said, I was quite infamous… there was this highly respected man among the judges who plotted my death. Now that I think about it… he kind of looked like you…”

Kyuken’s eyes would dart over to Haru’s, his soft chili-red hair reminding him of Dojimaru, the rather mentally ill man who wanted reputation in Midi by tracking down and killing potential threats, especially among ronin.

The sun was slow today, so Mura wanted to let Haru talk a little. “So, uh… anything on your mind? You know, things that boys talk about? Any irritations over something, excitements, ambitions or-“

“What he means is, you got any lady on your mind?”

“-That too… I mean, I hope that Eris hasn’t gotten to your head, she’s a little dangerous…”

He obviously meant that with a good intent in his heart. Uhh, *men* aside, he could never read that kitsune, and he feared complicated troubles in the future. Besides, even Mura had his own, only girl in his mind all the time…

“Or do you rather want me to read your mind?” he began teasing, a childish grin appearing on his face, “I mean, I’m quite good with this kind of stuff… given your reactions with Eris, I can say that you have an interest in fluffy yokais. The only other yokai in our guild… is…”