Enter the Druid (Crystal Swan Only)

It was midday over the railroads of Fiore when the train from Hargeon to Magnolia made its usual rounds, carrying passenger and cargo alike. However, on this seemingly normal run, the train carried with it an unusual package. One that would attract some unexpected attention, both good and bad.

Somewhere near the tracks and far from any other signs of civilization, a young man could be found perched in a tree. At the moment, the grey-haired male was fast asleep, wearing a charcoal colored trench coat, a black shirt, and some brown pants. More than just a sleeping figure though, any who gazed with some level of focus might think him apart of the tree or even the forest itself. Not because of his appearance; he was as human as anyone. No, it was the stillness, the slow rhythm of his breathing that matched the sway of the branches in the wind. Even the animals seemed to be indifferent to him, neither approaching nor avoiding him. The man may as well have been invisible. And then, all at once, this tranquility was shattered.

The loud sound of snapping metal suddenly filled the air, rousing the sleeping man awake, along with the rest of the forest. To eyes, one blue and one gold, snapped open at the sound, which was followed by the train skidding to a halt. It would seem the locomotive just barely avoided toppling over from the momentum, even after a number of its wheels had shattered like glass. With a sudden sense of curiosity, the man sprung from his perch and landed skillfully on the ground below, approaching the train thereafter.

Having received a tip about a train robbery going down, Theo saw an opportunity to be the hero he had aspired to be since coming to Fiore. His newly acquired pirate-like airship loomed a blooming shadow on the area below as it descended. Much of the area was simply trees, so the aspiring sky pirate didn't worry much about how the wind might disturb the trees and creatures below. Now, most people would use a rope to descend to the top of a train car, but not this guild ace. No, when possible he took advantage of his magic's perks, like being able to turn his body into jello for maximum bounciness and squishiness. Through an event that happened before that shall remain unnamed, he learned he could jump off the Crystalli while it was in flight and plummet to land and not die, so simply jumping from his low flying ship to a nearly stopped train should be a piece of cake!

Taking a flying, confident leap off his ship's deck, within seconds he impacted the top of a middle car, bouncing a couple times before landing on more solid feet with a stumble. Lucky shot! Only not so much, since that car had a sun roof he stepped the full momentum of his stumbling weight on, causing the glass to shatter and him to tumble through the hole onto the walkway below with a loud yowl. Theo was quick to recover, however, and after making sure no passengers were injured by the glass he'd rained down on them, he set to searching for the perpetrator. "Has anyone seen someone shady, trying to rob this train?" he asked, arctic hues darting around for shady looking individuals. Even if nothing had been stolen, damaging the wheels and nearly crashing the train was a pretty crappy thing to do.

It didn't take long for the young man to get to the left side of the vehicle, having been near the caboose when it stopped. After finding the wheels that had been destroyed, it became evident that this not caused by any projectile spell, but rather a trap. Furthermore, their was no explosion of any sort. Moving back to the tracks, the pseudo-investigator found where the wheels first began to break apart, leaving a trail of broken metal rather than a crater. He stooped down and placed a hand on one of the rails, immediately pulling it back; the metal was freezing. Following a hunch, the man held his hand over the track and gently hovered it over the steel length, eventually finding a spot radiating enormous heat, not a meter away. Instead of detonating the spot, the spells were designed to rapidly heat and cool the wheels in succession, making them brittle and causing them to shatter. This is why the train merely disconnected, rather than fly off the rails entirely.

'You seem awfully curious about this, eh boy?' A voice came to the young man, heard by none other than him.

'Piss off, old man, I don't need you're jawing.' He snapped at the voice internally, not uttering a sound out loud.

Before he could investigate further, the passengers of the train burst out of the car in an enormous panic. "Someone shady's trying to rob the train!" One of them shouted amidst the chaos. Before long, the entire train was now clear of its patrons, leaving the young man confused beside the tracks.

"Wait! What the hell?!" Came a shout not long after that, followed by a group of what were clearly bandits rushing to the scene. "We ain't even showed up yet! Who the hell are we supposed to rob now?" As if on cue, the group turned to face the woodsman, a deadly intent on their faces. "You got somethin' to do with this pal?" The man in question couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?" The stupidity of the question should have been obvious, given where he was. "Don't screw with us!" Came a side-long shout from one of the dumber, more testosterone induced thugs as he rushed to grab the man in a headlock.

Almost on instinct, the target of this misguided attack duck and jammed his left elbow into his assailants gut, following up by grabbing the bandit's shoulder and jamming a knee into the same spot as the aforementioned elbow. He then pushed the thug back just enough to leave room for a strong heel kick to the same spot again, sending him off his feet and onto his back. Naturally, his fellows were less than pleased, beginning to circle around their new target lest they turn out like their now incapacitated comrade.

'Shall I assist?' The voice asked him, clearly mocking. They young man looked about his opponents. 'Nah, I got this.' He lowered his stance just a bit, but making no other changes in his position before addressing the punks.

"Well then...let's get started."

Alright. So the train was empty now and with a little investigating, he saw nothing worth stealing. Pausing to stand and think, Theo's hands rested on his hips, face displaying confusion. He'd really hoped this would be more exciting...like there was priceless art or jewels on board. Maybe some secret Magic Council blueprints. The rumor had sounded juicy and like something from an action movie, but this was boring! Now that he thought about it, it was possibly he'd assumed some things and romanticized it. Oof.

Obviously disappointed, Theo was just about to make his way back topside to bounce back to his ship when he heard some voices. Not the frightened ones that had escaped the injured train, but ones disappointed like him, but also sounded a little stupid with a pinch of angry. He made his way to the back of the train, poking his head out and choosing to watch for a couple seconds.

There was a gray haired person fighting what was obvious even to him as a band of thieves. Ah, so that had been the plan. Disable the train then board it and rob the passengers. The non-bandit seemed capably scrappy at least, but with the numbers stacked against him and closing it, Theo thought it best to step in and lend a hand.

Getting a bouncing start inside the train car, in a couple seconds a curled human form was launching at the group like a missile. Hitting one of the foes in the back full force, the two bounced away from each other. One hit the floor, while Theo uncurled mid-air and landed on his feet. Before the guy he hit could recover, a large blob of jello curled up around his body, keeping him form moving further, and also leeching on and surrounding the guy next to him too. "These guys aren't too tough, right...guy?" he asked the stranger he aided, awkwardly fumbling over the lack of name. Where'd he come from anyway? He hadn't been on the train so...the forest? They were in the middle of nowhere!

As a new figure suddenly entered the fray, the woodsman initially prepared himself for another attack. However, despite his assumptions to the contrary, this newcomer among newcomers was not on the side of the bandits. This might not have made a difference to him had he not seen the rather disturbing magic the other wizard produced, something the young man had never seen before or wanted to see.

'You know, I believe that is food among humans.' Said the voice from earlier, heard again only by the young woodsman.

'Yeesh, people eat that crap?' His thoughts practically reeled at the image.

'If memory serves, it is a regular delicacy.' There were things the young man would never understand about his species. However, before he could pursue this thought, another of the bandits made to attack. This time, the assailant attempted to swing a large ax at the him from behind, confirming that they had now surrounded him. Fortunately, the opponent was loud and predictable, allowing the woodsman to easily sidestep the downward swing and follow up with a powerful kick to the face. After the bandit hit the ground, there were ten of his allies remaining.

"The hell are you, anyway?" The gray-hair asked just before ducking a sword swing and kicking out a bandit's knee, following up with a swift strike to the nether regions. "You have anything to do with the train?"

Nice guy, this one. However, the prickliness didn't get under Theo's ultra flexible skin. "I'm Theo Silversong," he replied, ducking a sword himself from another bandit. These days it was hard to find someone who at least hadn't heard his name, being a former Rising Star in a group of other former Rising Stars called the Sugar Squad, and also an ace of Crystal Swan. He wasn't too much on titles or renown, so it didn't bother him if this stranger had or hadn't. He was a humble guy. Someone as clumsy and friendly as him couldn't bring himself to be snobby, since his mistakes would make him look like a self-important buffoon otherwise.

The bandit sliced again to try and knock him off balance, but also worked in tandem with a shorter, stronger guy who attacked at the back to try and take advantage of the duck. However, with a fruity scented 'pop!' the jello man disappeared from sight and reappeared behind the backstabber. Blobbing him in a giant mold of lemon jello, he gave him a kick forward and into the first guy, allowing them both to share the translucent yellow prison. These small time crooks should be careful who they pick on. If he got serious, the S rank could easily devastate them, but for now he chose to take it less seriously. "Some news came to Crystal Swan about a train robbery, so I came to stop it. I admit, I thought it'd be a little more exciting," grinned the onyx haired man, icy hues alight with mischief as he turned the ground under everyone into slippery jello and watched most of them tumble.

"Who are you?" he asked the gray haired boy next, curious about him. He knew how to fight, even if he was a grouch.

The wizard, or Theo as he called himself, seemed to ramble on about a lot of things the stranger didn't understand. Crystal Swan? He'd been all over these lands and never had he seen a swan made out of crystal. "I'm-" Before he could even properly begin his sentence, the ground beneath him seemed to melt, causing him to slide a bit. Thankfully, he was able to regain his footing just as the bandit next to him attempted one last swing of his club before he fell, to which the boy responded with a kick to the left temple. Unfortunately, as the bandit was knocked to the ground, the woodsman slid even more on the one foot he had on the ground, falling hard himself on his back.

'And now you've been defeated by food. Where did I go wrong boy?' The voice mocked.

'As long as I live, I am never eating this stuff...' The boy complained internally. Despite his grievances, however, he and Theo seemed to be victorious. As he regained his footing once more, now more accustomed to the slick surface he stood on, the boy observed the strange magic at work.

'So this is magic, huh?' He thought to himself, despite being answered anyway.

'Indeed. This land is full of many different forms of magic, all of them unique and strange in their own ways. Learn to broaden your views, boy.'

Before he could ponder on these words, a shimmering light caught his attention, drawing his eye to some sort of lacrima in the bandit leader's hand. "Nobody said anything about wizards..." He said, holding a knife in his other hand. "Good thing I brought a little magic of my own!" With that, he plunged the blade into the stone, causing a flash of light and heat. As the light subsided, a twelve foot tall golem of molten rock stood in its place.

'Now?' The voice asked eagerly. The man looked to the wizard next to him.

"Mind getting rid of this crap so I can take care of this thing?" As soon as the ground was solid once more, he dashed to the left and rolled in order to avoid a fireball from the beast. "I invoke the Great Wolf..." As he spoke these words, his pupils began to glow silver and his irises grew pitch black. "Hati!" The spirit wizard stretched out his hand and gathered a silver aura, which then formed into a massive wolf, twice the size of the normal variety. As soon as it had feet to carry it, the canine shot forth like a bullet. "What are you doing!?" The bandit shouted at his golem. "Stop that thing!" Either as a reaction to the command or perhaps Hati himself, the monster threw several more balls of fire at the beast charging toward it. The wolf, however, deftly out maneuvered each projectile, closing in on its target and leaping into the air. Before the golem or its master could react, Hati sank its teeth into the stone that constituted its head. "Ha! What, you think you're gonna bite through solid rock? Good luck with-" Almost immediately, the stone in the from of the golem shattered to pebbles under the wolfs bite, exposing a now fragmented lacrima. It's source of power gone, the guardian fell to pieces, leaving Hati to land gracefully on the ground where it once stood. "You were saying?"

Without giving a response, the bandit turned to runaway, only to receive the woodsman's fist in between his eyes. Upon landing flat on his back, the thug finally fell unconscious. With that out of the way, Hati turned to Theo. "Greetings, I am Hati," he said politely. "And this dolt of a wizard is Dmitry Kazakov. I do apologize for his rudeness."

Dmitry huffed. "Piss off, you decrepit bastard..."