A Disastrous Date [Job with Haru]

Leila was honestly not overly fond of zoos, being part cat herself, she found it somewhat cruel to cage up the animals. At the same time she understood that while they were trapped to live their life in a small area, they were being cared for and by breeding them it prevented some species from going extinct. When the Joyan girl had first heard about Clover Town Zoo's Grand Opening she initially was anything but interested, however, she overheard some guild members talking about how it would be a good way to spend some time with each other without having to deal with dealing with any beasts. The raven haired beauty saw this as the perfect opportunity to invite Haru out and spend some time with him, especially since it seemed like he was avoiding her lately for some reason. Leila had basically had to stalk him down and corner him to just invite him out, practically forcing him to agree, she was now waiting outside the entrance to the zoo, waiting for him to show up at the time they had arranged.

The Neko girl had decided to wear something a little more suited to today's events, while it was not exactly combat appropriate that wouldn't be an issue for a simple day at the zoo. She had selected a simple, short black dress that flowed nicely across her curves and ended just before her knees and a white button jacket to cover her shoulders. She had left the jacket open for now, as it was a little warm, but should it cool down she could always button it up to keep herself warm. Lastly she had a pair of stylish black boots upon her feet to complete her feminine outfit. Like all of her clothing she had ensured that her current outfit was enchanted such that if she wished to transform it would magically shift with her body changes to avoid issues.

For some reason she felt the need to dress up, she wasn't sure what exactly had come over her recently, she seemed to be doing things irrationally when it regarded her flaming friend, she would have to think upon it later when she had the time and figure out what was going on. Leila flicked her black ears backwards, tapping her foot against the pavement as she impatiently waited for her friend to join her, irritated that he was now a minute late, especially after all the time she had spent getting ready for today.

Leila glared at him after he tapped her ready to hiss and complain about him being late, narrowing her eyes as he mentioned them 'coordinating', well they did match somewhat, she couldn't deny that, but she was still peeved. That was until he said she looked amazing and suddenly took her by the hand, catching her completely off guard and making her feel weird, the only way she could think to describe it was nauseous but in a good way, her heart feeling light and her stomach fluttering. The Joyan turned her face away afraid that she was probably making a somewhat stupid expression, she didn't understand, she was fairly used to physical contact, after all, she was from the land of known for their rambunctious and lustful ways. While she tended to keep to herself, she had been known to occasionally join in with her village's festivities from time to time. Maybe it had just been because she had been surprised by the redhead's actions, yea that had to be, she was just caught off guard is all. Still, Leila found it somewhat irritating that she seemed to be rendered completely speechless from something so simple, it made her feel like she was an idiot.

The Neko girl couldn't continue to look away as Haru started to speak to her again though, that would be rude, so she quickly composed herself, trying to act like she wasn't phased at all, she just hoped he was blind enough to not notice. Finally she felt herself able to form words without the chance of stuttering. "I would suggest that you stop caring what others think, but I know that's easier said than done." Leila responded calmly, there was truth to her words, she herself up until she ran away had always done things to please her family and the villagers, it had eaten her up inside. It was not an easy thing to dismiss their opinions and wants from you, she had merely ran away on a whim, and while she knew her choice would eventually cause a lot of issues, she had decided to live in the moment for now, rather than think about what the future held for her. As he let go of her hand, she felt somewhat saddened but relieved at the same time, simply nodding as he mentioned that he only did so because of his mother.

Leila's ears and tail twitched as she follow his gaze, noticing he was staring at the caged tiger, making her feel somewhat uneasy. Seeing a fellow feline trapped like that made her feel awful, but she also knew that it would at least be well cared for here and there was no chance of poachers hunting it for its coat. She thought about how she was in a fairly similar position now, while she was unable to return to the village she belonged at least she was not having to constantly fight off raiders attempting to capture the Joyans to use them as slaves. It was the one thing she worried about the most, she was one of her villager's best fighters and she just hoped they would be okay without her there to help protect them. Leila let out a small sigh as she realised she had got caught up in her own thoughts, realising too late that Haru had made his way past the barrier that was supposed to stop people from losing their fingers, or worse. "Idiot." She muttered to herself, mentally face palming as she scowled in his direction, while the zoo keepers dragged him back to her. Leila didn't lose her composure often and now she was about to do so twice within the span of a few minutes? She felt her face heat up as people stared at the two of them, mostly at Haru, but there were a few onlookers that gave her a look of pity, as if being associated with the boy must be awful.

"Let's go see the penguins or something..." Leila hissed in a low voice, already marching off away from the prying eyes of the nosy onlookers. The raven haired girl continued to keep up her ridiculous pace, glancing at the signs till she found what she was looking for, eventually making her way to the exhibit filled with fluffy little flightless birds. While generally she always felt her feline urges to hunt birds that flew by, she always enjoyed penguins, they were different, she didn't see them as prey, but just cute, cuddly creatures. She also appreciated their love for fish, her favourite thing to eat no matter what the species, although, she did envy the penguins ability to swim so easily through the water, as if they were flying through the liquid. "Wish I could swim." She whispered quietly to herself as her eyes followed one penguin in particular that seemed to be really enjoying the water.

However, her thoughts were interrupted abruptly by loud screams, her ears instantly flicking in the direction of the sound, her eyes scanning the surroundings for where it had come from. This was not a joyful scream of someone enjoying themselves at the zoo, it sounded almost as if they were being attacked. Before she could even move, her eyes widened as she saw something heading in their direction, a creature that most definitely should be behind bars, it bared its fangs as it noticed her, a deep growl rumbling from its chest. It wasn't alone either, no like most canines it was in a pack and soon its growls were joined by many others, her amber eyes flicked between them, trying to count just how many there were. This was certainly not good, they had most definitely escaped from their cages, but it's not like she could just kill all the zoo's wolves, no she would have to find a way to subdue them. Leila could hear screaming again further in the distance, could more creatures have escaped? That seemed unlikely, someone must have been releasing them, a realisation that made her seethe. Innocent people's lives were now in danger all because some dirt bag decided to free the animals, most likely someone with the worst intentions.

Leila knew she didn't have time to think about them for now though, no she had to find a way to get herself and Haru out of this situation. Oh right, she suddenly became aware of the fact she wasn't alone and didn't have to do everything on her own. Although she wasn't entirely sure how much his fire would help in such a situation, perhaps he could use it to scare the creatures? Ah not exactly the best sounding idea, but it would have to do. "Haru, I need you to use your flames to scare all the wolves into a bundle, I can trap them all at once with my shadows if they're huddled together." It was a fairly simple plan, but of course there were many ways it could backfire, they didn't know for sure that the flames would even scare them, or if the herding technique would even work, for all she knew it could scatter them instead. Of course that was just a risk she had to take, as she moved to follow the flaming red head and prepare to send paws of shadows at all the wolves' feet once they were grouped enough.

Leila has almost got completely distracted by Haru's flaming head of hair, he was definitely far stronger than herself, although she already knew that, it also gave her a reason to keep fighting and improve her own skills. Snapping out of it as he told her to continue her plan, "Ah right..." she muttered, getting ready to cast her spell, only she was having a little bit of a tricky time. The flames were producing so much flickering light around them that the shadows she had initially planned to use to trap them were all about vanished. "Goddamnit." She mumbled, she would have to do something a little different than usual, focusing as much as she could on each shadow that the wolves cast themselves, while the fire made it somewhat tricky, they still all cast shadows under their own paws. The Joyan girl, closed her eyes, sensing the shadows around her, rather than seeing them, before forcing them to create cat like paws that erupted from the ground beneath each of the wolves, digging their shadow like claws into their legs in a painless but effective way that rooted them all in place.

The magical wolves howled as they fought to release themselves, but to no avail, at least they seemed to be trapped for the time being, but she couldn't hold the spell forever. It would only be a temporary measure, she looked around, trying to see past the circle of flames. They stopped her from being able to cast any further magic due to the lack of shadows for use, but perhaps there was a non-magical method she hadn't thought of. Leila's mind raced, while her amber orbs searched, but she started to worry as she came up short, the lack of ideas causing her to start panicking. Her heart was definitely racing and not in a good way like it had earlier, however just as she was starting to lose all hope she saw something that made her relax. A few of the zoo keepers had arrived with what appeared to be tranquilizers. Leila raised a hand to her chest as she sighed loudly in relief. One by one, they shot the darts into the beasts, causing them to lose consciousness, as they did, Leila released her grip of shadows, so they could be moved once Haru released the magical circle of flames.

The Neko focused again, there were more than just these wolves, "Come on Haru, we need to check out the rest of the zoo." She stated almost too calmly considering their current situation. She was thankful her plan had been somewhat successful, however, there was the obvious issue with the fact that they couldn't necessarily knock out the creatures, they would need one of those tranquilizer guns and a few darts. Leila took off in the direction that the zoo keepers had been, they had a left a few by a vehicle they were using to transport the wolves back to their enclosures and she carefully grabbed one with a small ribbon like shadow that stretched out and around, gripping the gun and bringing it to herself. Her outfit was causing issues though, it was difficult to move in something so tight fitting, and when she ran, the dress started riding up her legs, she found herself having to stop occasionally to brush it back down, cursing herself for not wearing her usual get up.

Even with her having to periodically stop to fix her dress, it wasn't long before the duo would find themselves back at the tiger enclosure, however, Leila noticed something was definitely not right. She looked into the cage, scanning it. "Damnit, they're gone too." she stated with a small sigh, knowing they were going to have to track down the large kitties was not entirely her idea of fun. Thankfully, as luck would have it, they wouldn't have to look far as behind them they heard a fearsome roar, turning around she'd come face to face with one of the big cats, although, it didn't seem to be aggressive. Leila tilted her head, 'Could it be...?' she walked up peacefully to the creature, looking carefully over at the markings on its face, sure enough it was the one that Haru had approached earlier, although it seemed to be showing its true magical nature now, with two large horns protruding from its head and strange purple growths from its shoulders, still it didn't seem vicious, at least not towards the duo.

Leila sighed knowing she had to make sure it wouldn't harm anyone else though, she raised up the tranquilizer gun, "Sorry." She whispered to the majestic beast before pulling the trigger, sending a dart towards its shoulder. With a direct hit, it growled out, suddenly mad at the girl, of course it would be. She had broken its trust after all. No doubt Haru would scold her, but it was the safest course of action. The tiger grew sleepy, attempting to pounce towards the Joyan, only to fall short as the drug took hold, causing it to collapse on the ground. Leila walked up, kneeling down to gently stroke its soft fur on its face. Such a beautiful animal should never be caged up, but it wasn't her place to decide its fate. As she sat petting the the striped feline she failed to notice three pairs of eyes belonging to similar creatures staring at her, about to make their move and attempt to strike her down.

"Haru, it could have hurt someone. It could have even hurt you, even if it's usually caged it's still a wild animal that could turn on you at any minute." The raven haired girl asserted, she certainly wasn't wrong, even pets had been known to suddenly turn on their masters for no reason. All animals could be dangerous, even herself. Leila had been so preoccupied petting the dozing tiger she had previously shot that she hadn't even noticed the other three till they were already leaping in the duo's direction. She went to cover herself with her arms but Haru was already reacting, making the Neko curse to herself for being stupid enough to let her guard down, of course there would be more than just the one. Leila readied herself, raising up the tranquilizer gun, it wasn't an easy task with them moving all about but as the flame driven boy managed to subdue them long enough she would raise the gun, pulling the trigger with precision as to not miss her target and accidentally hit Haru instead, a risk that was always possible in such a situation.

Luckily her aim was true and it wasn't long till all the tigers were fast asleep, although the one in the penguin enclosure nearly gave the Joyan a heart attack as she heard her beloved little flightless birds screech out in panic at the beast suddenly thrown in with them. She had to wait till it got out of the water before shooting it though, to ensure it wouldn't drown, but made sure to take it out as soon as she could so that it wouldn't harm any of the feathered creatures waddling around in a frenzy. She audibly sighed in relief once the massive beast collapsed, the penguins all seemed to be fine, well other than their incessant squabbling, but that was to be expected, who wouldn't panic after having a creature one hundred times larger than yourself suddenly fall into your home?

Now that things were slightly calmer, Leila had time to think upon Haru's comments in the middle of his fight with the tigers, "What was that you said about a date?" she growled as she scowled in the dragon slayer's direction, semi furious as her ears flicked back and tail twitched awaiting his response. While on the outer she seemed rather angry at Haru, truth was her stomach and heart were full of flutters and she was simply angry at herself for not being able to open up to her own damn feelings. It was far easier to pin the blame on him after all, that way she would never have to admit anything to him, besides she was more than happy to remain friends, things would be easier that way. Their conversation was short lived however, as the zoo staff approached and spoke to the duo, thankful that they were here to help. They have Leila more darts, to which she thanked them, she hadn't even noticed, but she was indeed running out of ammunition with only one dart left prior, now she would have plenty to take down whatever was up ahead without any issues.

Leila chased after her teammate, only just keeping up to his jog, goddamn why was he so much faster? Well it’s not like that mattered, he’d mentioned a lion’s den and after taking out a handful of magical tigers she was fairly confident they could hand a simple lion, a small smirk on her face at the thought of something so easy. However, her smirk vanished as they reached the enclosure of the large cat, outside standing a creature far larger and more fearsome than all the previous tigers combined. Leila’s stared in shock, yes it was similar to the lion, sharing the head and body like features meaning it had teeth and claws that could tear you to shreds, but its tail was massive, the end of which appeared somewhat like a spiked mallet that would certainly pack quite a punch should it hit someone. Then on top of that it also had two huge wings similar to that of a bat protruding from its shoulders, allowing it to take flight if it so wished. The Neko girl gasped, eyes wide, unsure how to handle such a creature, it would certainly take more than one dart, but just how many would be enough? Two? Three? She wasn’t certain, but she also didn’t want to overdose it, she should have asked the keepers for more instructions when she took the ammo. Leila internally cursed at herself for being gullible enough to believe the tigers would be the hardest thing to deal with.

When the beast noticed them it didn’t hesitate to attack, instantly darting towards Leila with ferocity, the look in its eyes reflecting its intent to kill. She was caught in shock, her eyes locking with the monster before her, she wanted nothing more than to move, but her body just wouldn’t react to her commands. Before she even had a chance to react it was already on top of her pinning her down, its claws digging into her far smaller shoulders as she felt herself crushed under the weight of the lion. "AHHHHHH!" Leila screamed out as pain shot through her, she could feel blood already dripping down herself where the claws had dug in, now that she had snapped out of her shock she tried to move, but she found herself too weak to force the creature off of her, it roared in her face, causing its reeking breath to blast in her face. The Joyan girl glanced around, noticing she had dropped the tranquilizer, "Damnit." She cursed to herself, which was becoming quite the habit today, she could only hope that Haru would do something and fast, before the beast decided to destroy her.

Leila took in a deep breath, finally able to feel herself breathe again as Haru shoved the beast of the lion off of her, it was an incredible relief but at the same time agonizing. She had felt the sharp pain of the claws removing themselves from her body, tearing even more at her flesh and leaving blood pretty much gushing out all over her and she cursed at herself for refusing to learn that healing spell that her father had been trying to teach her a while back. Should they all get out of this alive, she would be certain to train herself in it, that was for certain, she did not enough this feeling of utter helplessness. Thankfully, some medics ran over to help, putting pressure on her wounds to hold back the bleeding so she wouldn't pass out from blood loss. The Neko was still feeling somewhat dizzy though, she had come fairly close to passing out, but with a little bit of help from the medical team she found herself starting to sit up a bit, although it was still incredibly painful to even move, her entire body aching from the earlier pressure it was under.

Leila wasn't so concerned for herself now, her amber eyes darted around, trying to look for wherever the flaming red haired boy had vanished to. She spotted him fighting one on one with the beast as a man nearby taunted him, she winced in pain as she tried to get up, wanting to help. "Sit still!" one of the medics ordered her, "Or you'll reopen the wounds, I've barely finished closing them." Leila scowled, she really was helpless, she'd never felt more useless, if she had just moved and dodged the lion, or even just shrank into the shadows to save herself. The Joyan girl hated herself right now, but she was more focused on the scene before her, Haru was losing it and her eyes widened in horror as she watched him completely roast the poor lion. Sure it had attacked her, but it was just a wild beast, it didn't deserve such treatment. Her eyes followed him as he headed towards the man, begging for his life, trying to plead with the anger stricken boy. Yes this man put hundreds of other's lives in danger and yes he would probably have gladly let Leila die, but his punishment should not come from the boy, but from those with authority. She looked back at Haru, her eyes widening as she studied him more closely.

The hate and contempt in his face, the murderous look in his eye, he was definitely not himself, although she had only known him for a short time she knew that he was certainly not thinking clearly, overcome with rage. Leila panicked if he killed this man, in front of all these people, Rune Knights no less, it would be trouble for more than just him, but for the entire guild, but how could she stop him? She was barely able to move without it causing complete agony, all she could do was scream out and hope he'd listen to her, "HARU! STOP!" she yelled, tears starting to swell in her eyes, slowly the salty drops began trickling down her face. She was scared, not for herself, but for her friend, what was wrong with him? "I-I'm f-fine, please s-stop..." She cried, unable to hold the tears back anymore. Afraid that her words weren't reaching him properly, Leila stood up, ignoring the pleas of the medical team to sit still and limped over towards him as fast as she could, the claw marks reopening, causing her severe pain, but she ignored that too. All that mattered was calming him down. Leila came up behind her friend, instantly wrapping her arms around him, trying to stop him from moving. "Stop..." she whimpered, as she pressed her body close against his back, blood from her shoulders staining his clothing as well, but she didn't care, clothing was replaceable, Haru was not. The raven haired Neko hide her face from onlookers in his shirt, causing the liquid from her eyes to dampen the material, but it was better than everyone seeing her in such a weak, pathetic state. 'Please, please, please listen to me' is all she could think, if he refused to do so there was a strong possibility the entire Fairy Tail guild would be blamed for such an event, causing them to be classified as a dark guild and find themselves on the run from the law.

That wasn't what worried Leila the most though, she was more afraid of losing her one and only friend in Fiore, it was the last thing she wanted, he was the only one that she ever let her defenses down. Goddamn if it was someone else in his place she wouldn't be crying right now, what was it with this boy and making her feel stupid emotions that she was usually so good at keeping behind an emotionless mask? Maybe she really did have stronger feelings for him than she had initially thought. Did she perhaps think of him more than just a friend. She had had friends back in her village in Joya, but she hadn't ever seen them as more than that, nor had she ever had issues with emotions like she did around the fiery male. Leila was in no way ready to admit it to him, nor was she certain she'd ever do so, besides the last thing she wanted was to complicate things between them, but she was willing to at least admit her feelings to herself, she loved him. She was in love with this stupid, hot-headed, prideful boy.