Find those puppies(Solo/Job)

Aria was excited, she was in front of the guild's message board for available jobs and mission and she was about to pick her very first mission. "Which one should I take?" thought the the masked mage. While she was busy ogling the board her guild mates were busy checking her out. They had been doing that since the first time she joined the ranks of Blue Pegasus, a lot of rumors have been spreading around as to why she is wearing that ungodly attire, not only was it an eyesore, they also bet that it was hot inside. Aria paused as she suddenly felt the hair on her back stand up so she turned around. The same time the onlookers pretended to eat or converse with each other. "Funny, I thought they were staring at me or something." Just as she faced the board again, one of the fliers attached fell off. She picked it up and read it." Help wanted in finding puppies. This seems easy, might as well take it." She waved goodbye to their guilds bartender and went on to the location of her first job.

Aria hoped off the train.It was a long 2 hour train ride but she was finally here. Magnolia, capital of Fiore's kingdom and home of the the famous light guild Fairy Tail. She had been her of course but the sight always gets her every time. As if remembering the reason why she was there, she dug into her pocket and took out the job flier and began to read it.

"Hey mama, why is that woman wearing a custom?" said a young boy to her mother. The mother who was quite shocked as well answered "Well...Umm." Then as if a good idea came to mind continue "Well, she's a circus performer who came to town. So you better stop staring or you wont get to see her perform." And the two continues on their way.

Meanwhile, Aria finished reading the sketch of the map on the fliers back. "Alright! Onwards to Mr. Miyagi's Petshop!" and she start her journey towards the city's business district.

The streets of Magnolia's business district are filled with people. Surprisingly, not too many people stared as much when she was on the train station. They probably are used to seeing mages dressing up in eccentric costumes. "Lets see, the pet shop is located at the corner of the business district." She looks around to look for any signs. The markers read "Business District" and "Market District" Well she was in the right place, she took another look around and there it was in bright red lettes. "Magnolia's Premiere Petshop"

She entered the place and was amazed at the variety of pets on display. As she was busy admiring the various pets a man in his mid thirties approached her and asked. "Hello, are you lost? The mask men convention is at the podium, its just in front of the amphitheater." Without saying a word, she took the flier out and gave it to the man. "Oh your hear for the job, you should have told me that from the beginning." The man took her to the back part of the shop and briefed her.

From the man's briefing, she had learned that seven cute puppies managed to sneak out of their holding pen. They were seen running in various locations so its going to be hell to find them in this large city, assuming that they haven't been taken in by anyone. But the manager has assured him that no one is going to adopt any strays. Its forbidden in magnolia, the cities sanitary and health department prohibits it. With luck they will end up at the pound, but he already visited the pound and there were no such puppies there. Only cats, turtles and alligators? So it all ends up to her to find them. "Any idea where I should start looking?" she asked the store manager. The manager paused for a while the spoke "I believe there have been reports of dog poo remains at the cities park. You might wanna check there first." She man a salute for no apparent reason and went out on her way.

She arrived at the town's park without any hitch. There were but a handful of people frolicking at the park. Most of the people she passed by are going the opposite direction, towards the amphitheater. Some people even told her that she was going the wrong way, that the competition was on the other direction that she was heading. They probably thought that she was once of the contestants joining.

She went to the center of the park and began to scan the area. There were few trees to hinder her vies of the whole park which was good, bushed and other plant growth usually grows within the shades of the trees. Less tress means leas area to cover. If any puppy really went this way then its probably her best shot. One by one she searched the undergrowth, systematically she marked them as she continued on her search. This went on for minutes, until finally she got to her last tree, it was an old oak tree near the pond. She was about to approach it when she heard a growling sound.

The growling was coming from the bushes. It got louder and louder as she approached it. And when she was but a few meter away, two shadows dashed towards her. The growls turned into barks of excitement as she was tackled by two puppies. They were licking at her like crazy. They left slob all over her boots, her gloves and mask. "Hey cut it out, your messing up the merchandise." The relentless puppies however payed no attention to her, they continued on with their lick assault. "What to do, what to do. Oh I know." With a loud voice she said "Heel!" and the puppies stopped and sat before her.

Wow, it worked. Good thing these puppies are trained." she thought. "Of course were trained, master taught us well." Aria blinked. Oh she must have been broadcasting her thoughts again and she must have linked with puppies wave length. She smacked herself in the head. Why didnt she remember that earlier, her costume might have been saved from the slob if she remembered to use her telepathy on these puppies. "Alright guys, calm down a bit and im going to put these lovely collars round your neck." she told them as she brought out two leather collars attached to a leash.

The puppies were so hyper active. They are always running to and fro dragging the poor girl along with them. "You guys sure were going the right way? I have seen the tree twice or thrice already." The puppies barked "Yes master who is wearing that tasty dress, though its faint we can smell the scent of our older brother's pee." The puppies continued sniffing. They sniffed the trees, the bushes, the pile of rocks, the dead tree stamp and the grass and dry leaves which carpeted the forest floor. Yes the forest floor, in their ever relentless search for their brothers, the puppies noses brought them to the towns outskirts and into the towns forest. At first she was against the idea of heading into the forest with these two puppies, she had no idea if there were any aggressive creatures lurking within the forests confines. But if there were any, its all the more reason to go and find them. The sun was still high anyway so they might still have time...That is if they would stop marking the trees and bushed that they sniff every minute or so.

What seemed like hours of circling the forest finally payed off. Aria and the two puppies arrived at the foot of a hill, and not too far from a glen near by the edge of the hill was a small cave. As if detecting their brothers, three small head popped out. One black, one white with a spot of brown on its left eye and a grey one with really pointy ears. "Uhh, hey guys, is it normal for you guys to have pointy ears." she mental asked the two puppies. "Nope nope, we all have dropping ears, we got it from our mom." The spotted white puppy answered. "Then how come one of your brothers have one." Both dogs tilted their head as if confused "What do you mean?" then turned and looked at the three peering heads from the cave "Ohhh, you mean him, that not our brother. I think that's a wolf pup."

"Wolf pup? It means mama wolf isnt very far." and she was right, sitting by a high ridge by the hillside was a silver grey female wolf. And it was eying her as she looked at the three pups waiting by the caves entrance.

The mother wolf rushed down towards the cave's entrance, barring Aria from getting closer to the three pups. The wolf gnarled at her "Leave now! This is my domain and these are my babies." Aria approached her slowly, her hands by her side were the wolf can see it, then she spoke "I mean you no harm, but im sorry for I have to retrieve those two puppies you have there. I have been tasked in returning them to their rightful owner." The wolf continued to snarl at her. "Humans! Thinking we are just things they can own, we are the lords of the forest, this is our hunting ground even before the likes of you ever came." Aria stopped "I am not questioning that, I just want those two dogs. You do know that they are dogs right? And not wolf pups." The wolf barked "Of course I do, you take me for a fool? I nursed these two when they arrived all shaky and hungry. They are mine now, so leave us be." Aria shook her head, "I think we will have a problem. Look I dont want to hurt you but if you leave me no choice, I will use force. " The wolf howled then said "Lets see if you bark is worse than your bite!" and she lunged straight at her.

"Drat, I cant fight well while towing two puppies." She had no choice, Aria let go of the least and thru telepathy ordered the two puppies to go hide in the cave and with few seconds to spare, she then cast Phantom Form upon herself. There was a bright flash of green light and she was gone. The mother wolf was stunned as she landed on the spot were the interloper was once. Never letting her guard down, the wolf crouched lower in case she has to make an impromptu attack. "Though I may not see her, her scent has not completely gone. She must have used some kind of magic to make herself vanish." The wold sniffed and sniffed, then the wolf turned "Behind me!" was her last thoughts before Aria appeared seemingly out of nowhere and delivered a powerful chop at the back of its neck. The mother wolf was down and out for the count. To make sure, she tapped it twice with her feet. "Good, she is sleeping like a baby." she said as she approached the wolfs den. Problem is, the pups seemed to have been terrified by what they had seen. They were shaking all cuddled up together, except for the young wolf pup who stood defiantly.

The wolf pup was growling at Aria, baring his pearly whites at her. Of course, wouldn't you do the same? I mean if you saw your mom got attacked by some total stranger, wouldn't you feel enraged. "Easy, I mean you no harm. I just want to get the puppy dogs back to their rightful master. I never meant to harm you mom. It was self defense." Aria reached for the pup as if to pat in on the head when the wolf pup snarled at her and bit the approaching hand. The bite wasn't that deep, it didn't even penetrate the gloves she was wearing, still the pressure was hurting her hand a bit, but she let the wolf pup do as it please...till it finally gave up. "Look, im sorry but I have my duty to do so please just let me take them with me." One of the puppies she brought with her stepped forward and barked "Yeah, let our brothers go. We have to be reunited together. And that freaky lady wearing a costume is not a bad person, or at least we dont think so." With a regretful sigh the wolf pup stepped aside. "Fine, go along then. You bnch of ingrates." The four puppies barked at the wolfling and licked him a lot, then they ran towards Aria. "Great, four down 3 more to go."

Once again, Aria and her new found buddies are strolling down the road. This time, the pup's nose are bringing them back to town? It was quite a sight to see a masked mage walking her four puppies. Four rumbustious little doggies. She hated using the main roads, too many people. She preferred gliding thru the sky than walking or riding vehicles. She was in the middle of debating with herself why she hated walking then the four puppies stopped simultaneously almost tripping her. Then the little demons run of in unison. Towards a disenchanting alley, this route probably leads to the city dumps and rec centers. And she was right, she had never been in this part of town before so she was amazed at the sight that she saw. Garbage was segregated and those that can be recycled are brought t the rec center. The rest are either buried in the ground or incinerated by fire mages. Aria then felt another tug, the puppies had had found another trail, and it leads to the cities recycle center.

The rec center was big, its walls even bigger, its a good thing its open or she might have scaled the wall and be mistaken for as a thief. Heaps of scrap metal, rubber tires, bottles and broken appliances were stacked everywhere. This surely would be a good place to play in...I mean if you were a dog. Even the little ones were wagging their tails at the assortment of chewable stuff they can get their little teeth on. "Hey, first things first. We have to find your brothers or you get no play time in junk heaven." That must have worked for as soon as she said the the puppies went into hyper drive. Sniffing here and there. Going into nooks and crannies just to get a whiff of their brothers scent. Till their sniffing took them to a small shack at the middle of the rec center, where a man was lazily lounging in his chair. "Can I help you?"

The junk yards custodian. An old man wearing denim overalls, a straw hat and a smoke pipe. He had a homely face and his voice was deep and soothing. "Umm, well I guess you can." Aria said nervously. "Have you by any chance seen puppies go by here?" The man lifted his straw hat so he can see her better. Then the old man eyed the puppies she had in tow. "You mean like the ones louver got in you hand?" Aria nodded in response to the mans question. The man stood up and motioned for her to follow. "Crazy little critters, woke me up one night when they accidentally caused a stack of forks and spoons to tumble down." Aria's face lit up at the mans revelation. "Ive been feeding and taking care of them ever since, they keep me company in my down time. Though its hard to keep up with them given my age." the man continued as he opened the door to a mini pen at the back of his shack. There in a corner of the pen, three little puppies lay asleep on top of each other.

Aria arrived back at the pet shop with a big basket in hand. "Mister, Im back!" The store manager was ever so happy to see her. "Your back! Wait where are the puppies?" Aria pointed at the basted by the floor. Inside the basket were 7 sleeping puppies, all huddled against each other. "My my, you must have driven them to work so hard. I have never seen then sleep like that in all my life." Aria didnt say anything, she just stood there. "Ok...let me get my purse so you can claim your reward and so that you can be on your way. Who knows, you might even make it to the annual Costume event in the amphitheater." the manager said jokingly hoping to get a laugh out of her. "No? Nothing? Ok im just gonna go.Be right back."

Aria was silent because she didn't do anything to wear out the little pups. She just granted the old man's wish to let him play with the puppies one last time before they go. The old man had so much fun, and so did the pup. In fact they were so tired after, that they didn't even wake when she placed them in the basket that the old man gave.

A few seconds later, the manager returned with reward in hand. "Thanks for the help. I hope I can count on you if I ever need help again." With her reward in safe in pocket Aria bowed to the managed and began her travel back to their guild.