Ninjas in the Night

Cat Burgler Mission - B Rank

Page 17, Post 417

Indra had hard about the town known as Hosenka, a town similar to his own homeland of Midi. He had to admit, he had wanted to check it out. Perhaps a part of him was a little homesick, but he knew he couldn't easily go to Midi anymore for his past crimes... but that was for another time to dwell on.

The streets were lit with paper lamps, oriental buildings lined the streets, offering unique shops and restaurants that had several venues to check. It was like every night was a festival, something Indra had enjoyed on his few chances to see growing up in the monastery. However, this town was clearly a tourist trap meant to recreate the same atmosphere. Something for Fiorans to come and indulge in the culture while still being within Fiore. Indra really couldn't tell if it was clever or sad to do such a thing.

One thing that made it pay off... wast the abundance of hot springs and resorts around. He was not one to take things easy, but he felt this was one chance he could afford to relax and enjoy himself a little bit before he returned to the guild hall.

The sky was now night and lit by the stars and lamps around the resort as Indra had checked into one of the more elegant ones. He now was chest deep in the warm waters of the hot spring, his head back against a large rock. It was one of the few baths that were co-ed, but Indra had the bath pretty much to himself at that hour of night. In the back of his mind, he hoped he would find a young lady come and enjoy the baths so he could see how that go...

... but the only other company he had was killing his mood.

"Da-da-da-dab-da!" Tailong whistled happily as he sat in a small 'scoop' that fit his tiny size. The miniature dragon easily scrubbed his red scaly body with the warm water and a drop of soap beside him he had with him. He was covered in bubbles from it, happy to be among the warm water. "Nothing beats a warm bath after a long day, huh, sparky."

Indra grumbled at the nickname, Sparky, as it was particularly belittling. "I could do with a beautiful woman and not a mouthy dragon..." Indra sighed as he sank into the water, the water rested just at the Sabertooth tattoo he had over his left pectoral.

"Well, aren't you a pervert," The dragon teased, more playful in intent.

Indra just didn't reply. He didn't deny it either... one of the many reasons life as a monk in Midi never suited him.

WC: 453

A rough day was an understatement. Luna was on her way back from a job, she stopped in Hosenka for the night, although she healed her injuries, she still figured it was best to wait until the morning. Her job was supposed to be simple, she was supposed to explain to a creepy stalker that the man was not in love with her. The woman was so delusional that she tried to kill Luna thinking she was the one stealing him away, but in all actuality the man was gay. For her safety, Luna took the woman to a specialized hospital, after which that the man had no jewels to pay her. Luna was not happy about that but informed a guild specializing in debts about the incident.

Figuring she deserved a break for once in the wild day, she and Neptuna went to a resort. The bath was co-ed which presented no problems for the duo, Luna grew up around four males and is used to them, and Neptuna seemingly has little shame to begin with. It was seemingly quiet, Luna guessed the duo would have a peaceful time. Luna gave Zygmunt, her iLac, and her Fire whip to Neptuna who stored them away. She didn't trust the bathhouse provided lockers to store anything magical or valuable, just her clothes were in there. She carried Neptuna in with one arm after she diverted back to her default size, figuring it easier then having her switch her tail to legs.

Luna gently let the mermaid down first before she followed, her towel around her neck as she entered, submerging to chest level before she heard a familiar voice speak up. "I could do with a beautiful woman and not a mouthy dragon..." Neptuna squeaked a bit as she and Luna turned their heads to notice the dragon slayer and dragon. Luna couldn't believe her luck as she saw the duo. "Be careful what you wish for Indra. Or was it Tailong that wished for me?"

The the mermaid was confused, being absent from the previous encounter she was missing a few details. "Mommy, you know these two?" Luna nodded, patting the girl on the head as she tried to calm the young mermaid. "Yeah, these are the two I met in Motor city, Indra the dragon slayer, and Tailong, his, dragon, pet? or Companion? Life partner? I have no clue. Their relationship seems to have no binding aspect and incompatible on many levels."

Neptuna was confused, and tried to impress Luna by seeming smart. "Isn't that an ox moron? Don't slayers slay dragons? How can they be friends or like mommies and daddies?" Luna shrugged. "Nice attempt, you meant oxymoron, and I don't genuinely know either. But not everything is as it seems, most people thought I was human, and one fool thought you were a lamia." Luna could sense the direction things were going. Focusing back towards Indra, she figured changing the topic was going to be the best course of action.

"So Indra, what brings you to a place like this? Didn't expect to find you here."

WC 519

Things were calm till they heard a familiar voice-- Indra picking up the tone easier than ever. He was ashamed the steam of the bath obscured his sense of smell this time but he soon caught whiff of it. As the steam cleared, both Tailong and Indra could see none other than Luna-- wrapped in a towel and nothing else. Indra would have smirked at this, but he was soon taken aback by the cherubic like creature that was in toe with her. She seemed sweet like a child-- and soon addressed Luna as none other than "mommy".

"M-Mommy?" Tailong squeaked, twirling the bubbles off his body as he fluttered in the air above the bath.

Indra raised a brow at Luna. She clearly was too young to be a mom, and the mental image sort of tried to kill the mood of attraction he had to her. "Care to explain that one, Luna?" Indra asked, unphased for the moment.

That soon ended, as she tried to explain how the two were friends-- but partners-- and somehow grew into an awkward homosexual situation. Indra tried to keep his cool, but Tailong's jaw dropped at the insinuation made that went right into misunderstandings-- especially since the little dragon had a bit of a crush on Luna.

"N-Now wait a minute!" Tailong tried to stop mid-talk, but it kept going...

"We're Not a couple..." Indra said aloud, his voice almost a shout as he tried to interrupt the end of that last insinuating comment.

Tailong hovered over to Luna and her little child friend. The awkwardness had passed and in a rare show of embarassment, Indra's cheeks flushed a bit but relief the gay-insinuation was over.

"I finished a job in Rose Garden. Hosenka was on the way back to the guild, so I thought I'd take it easy a bit before I went back." He explained and readjusted himself in the water so he sat up, his golden Sabertooth logo glistening in the lamplight. "And trust me, as tempted as I am to slay Tailong, he at least is good for a laugh."

Tailong hovered over to Luna and her child friend. "Soo.. who are you, little girl? Does your mommy have a daddy by chance too?" he asked-- a subtle hint to wonder exactly if the girl was in fact Luna's daughter.

WC: 393

The reaction of the duo was something Luna didn't initially take into account, however Luna did note that it would come off as strange for Luna who was in her late teens physically and chronologically to have a pre-teen looking person call her mother would raise some questions. She listened intently as Indra explained his stories, however Luna made sure to note the approach of the tiny dragon.  She read the dragon like a book, she made a note of the dragon's location, preparing to get the dragon with her bare hands as she eyed the situation.

Neptuna was barely able to speak, but she still tried to talk to the dragon. "Mommy never met daddy. Daddy died, bad me. bad men ripped him apar-" The girl started to cry before Luna held her close, trying to keep the mermaid from having a panic attack. She cooed to the mermaid. "It's okay, I'm here. Everything is fine." Luna turned her focus to Tailong as the mermaid calmed down. "She's adopted twiceover. First by a school of fish, then me. She has bad experience with, evil fishermen. I adopted her from a town where they were, stoning her. I got between the rocks and the idiots that accused her of the source of their bad luck. I couldn't let her be alone, couldn't find a place to leave her, she became attached, so on, and you see how it is now. Besides, I'm a fairy, my maturation rate is much faster then hers. No big deal."

Luna however looked at Tailong as the last encounter was starting to come back to her as she recalled the day after. How she did the fly of shame back home. "Tailong, I do have some, questions about how the three of us parted. Why were there tiny red dragon scales, in my bra that would have no place being there? Also Indra, you owe me for the repairs to the motel room that I covered. Between the torn curtains and fracture in the bed frame, came out to about five hundred jewels. You can spot your half later. The manager was too afraid to ask you for the jewels despite the room being in your name." Neptuna looked confused, unable to connect the dots. "How did the bed break?"

Luna's face turned red as she herself had to find a way to explain this. She pinched Tailong's lips shut as she tried to think of a conceivable story. "Well, you see, none of us did our research. Indra is a big, heavy man. The bed was not a strong design, and when he sat down on it, the bed frame cracked." Luna was not out of the woods yet, if not for the fact that they were different species, Luna would think Neptuna was her honest to Shirain child. "What about the curtains?"

Luna was growing concerned about the dragon, so she made the easiest to see through lie possible. She hated lying, but she didn't want the most plausible explanations to be true. "Indra discharged small bolts of lightning in his sleep, the curtains couldn't light significant fires so with a series of small burns the curtains fell apart." Neptuna stared into Luna's eyes for a brief pause, before nodding. "Makes sense." Luna let go of the dragon's lips and mouthed the words "Play along" to Indra, hoping to avoid an awkward conversation.

Luna made quick work to change the subject, by talking about recent history instead. "So, me and Neptuna are just stopping in Hosenka. Had a rough job, seemed simple enough, get a stalker to stop stalking. I succeeded, however, the guy didn't pay up. Informed the debt collector guild in the area before I left. I don't like those guys, seem too close to dark guilds, but sadly, they are needed."

WC 641

Indra tried to just let the awkward moment past while Tailong apparently was digging his own grave with his words with the little blue haired child. The talk about the 'father' being killed made Tailong quickly flutter over to the little girl. "Gah! Oh, I'm so sorry, little girl. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. Please don't cry." he said in a soft tone, trying to comfort her. Despite his smart-mouth, he had a very genuine care for people it seemed.

After it was clear how the two were connected, Tailong grew a nervous tick as he saw Luna talk about 'that night'-- something that Tailong, nor Indra thought they would have brought up in front of the kid. If Tailong wasn't red to begin with-- his face probably would have been flushed all over.

"Er, what...? MMPH!" he said, more for the sake that the little girl was hearing all of this. Still-- Luna quickly silenced Tailong by covering his mouth.

Indra chuckled, remembering the night. Sure, he was intimidating and could get away with stuff like that, but he didn't expect the woman to pay his share like that for 'damages'. The talk of why it broke made him frowned. "Okay... that didn't make me look good with that comment," He replied, seeing the hint of the obvious weight joke. He just was built like a mountain-- not fat.

Things went from awkward to unbearable as Indra sighed... and Tailong tried to struggle out, muffled protests coming out from her hand as she tried to silence him. Still, Indra said nothing and just held his comments for later. Still, appearance spoke louder than words... as he just lounged them as welcomingly as he had that night.

Despite the exchange here-- he remembered the night, and the wild time they had. He didn't regret a single torn piece of sheets or furniture that happened during it. She didn't seem to complain till now about it either. He just smirked, the water just hiding his... 'goods' from view.

In a change of pace, Indra heard about her job and glad things pushed away from things as she finally let go of Tailong. "Gasp! Ugh... thank you..." the dragon breathed.

"Well that sucks. Want me to go over there and put the fear of god into them to give you your money?" Indra offered. "Also, of course, ill give you what I owe... probably with interest if things pan out tonight." he hinted playfully.

This time, Tailong was the one to give Indra the dirty look. Dude, not in front of the kid, look.

It was then that Tailong turned to the little girl, hoping to distract him. "I'm so sorry for before. What is your name, sweetie. By the way, what is your name?" he asked.

WC: 468

Luna almost wanted to kill Indra for a moment as she tried to avoid the earlier subject but he nearly had it turn back. However she realized that anger wouldn't help her cause as well. However, she did disregard the offer to retrieve the owed money. "Indra, don't go after him. That would be overkill if a dragon slayer with the ability to fry a normal man with a single hand tried debt collecting. Debt collector guilds exist for that reason. Besides, Sabertooth is a legal guild, you gotta think how that would look if you shook a civilian for money."

However Luna was not interested in a repeat of the last time, nor having the work of trying to hide it from Neptuna nearly undone. Not even able to look at Indra as she spoke to him. "Last time was just the alcohol talking. Remember that well Indra."   Meanwhile, Neptuna shyly responded to the dragon. "M, my, my, name is Neptuna." Luna made sure to keep an eye on the mermaid, however she was more concerned with the perverted dragon. Unaware she was telepathically broadcasting to the dragon. "One wrong move and I swear to Shirain I'm gonna become a Dragon Slayer the old fashioned way. Hitting on me is one thing, but by all standards Neptuna is too young, also shy."

Luna stared at the sky, the stars seemed to be better from down bellow. "Gotta admit, the starts from a mountain are breathtaking, but sometimes, from down bellow they look more, beautiful. It's been hell, I joined Aurora, and let them know I was not gonna live in the castle. Yet I'm still primary on call nurse." Neptuna looked into the eyes of Luna as she was glaring, she seemed to be admiring the beauty, but there was a cloud of strain from the stress. Neptuna almost whined to "You told them you wanted to take care of Aunt Zina, you still need to work to afford to send Aunt Zina to school, so why are you always on call? It isn't fair, you get no time for what you want."

Luna took a moment to reflect on the question, the answer eluding her but she rationed it to the most likely. "Since as a Nature Fairy, I possess healing abilities, and I've learned a fair bit of first aid from the line of work. Plus I do get time, I only spend about ten hours on a bad day if I'm kept around. Maybe an average of six hours, not like I'm just in the infirmary." Luna turned her focus to Indra "People have their duties, right Indra? I'm sure there's something you do around Sabertooth."

WC 451

The mental threat made the little dragon rigid and jerk at the cold stare of Luna. With all his mental might, Tailong gave a response back. L-luna, I would never do that. You know I'm as sweet as a kitten. I wouldn't do such a thing. , he insisted honestly and fluttered around the mermaid playfully. "Neptuna. You wanna play? Any games you want to play that you want to do? " He continued to flutter around her, like he was already trying to play a game of tag.

With that, Tailong would successfully distract Neptuna to play-- taking on the role of a pet dragon for the little girl to play with to her heart's content. He could swim races with her, or allow himself to be held while she splashed around. Her temporary guardian beast if needed and play companion.

Indra sighed, realizing what she said about legal guilds. "I never really understood that stuff, nor cared. Someone wrongs you, you deserve to be repaid. Simple as that," he said but shrugged in a nonchalant gesture, raising an arm from the water. "But I will respect your call. Just you know no one is better than bumping heads than me."

The sheer confidence... or arrogance of him, clearly had little to be desired, but only added to his 'roguish charm' that Luna had become familiar with. He clearly was a person who didn't care for human laws in the face of the grander scheme of things, and probably why they got along better beyond just friendly banter. Had they not been in separate guilds, they would have been closer.

He knew that she was a medic and probably was in far bigger demand than he was for missions for her talents. He sat up, to be in more attention. "Not really. I am more in demand for mercenary work, bodyguard duty and other odd jobs. I'm too new to the guild to be put into anything guild-related yet. " he explained, "Not that I mind either way...So far, Sabertooth has been good to me. If asked, I would help out. Only thing I have seen so far is just tavern duty. Don't care for that. "

His gaze would look over her form now hidden in the water, the glimmer of lustful interest in his eye.

WC: 389

Luna was grateful that Tailong wanted to play with Neptuna, she patted the mermaid on the back gently as she gestured it was fine if the Mermaid wanted to play. Neptuna slowly tried to chase the little dragon around. .

Luna knew the man was blunt, but his disregard for the reputation of his guild came as a slight surprise to her. However being approachable was also quite a problem, as demonstrated by the earlier example of their previous encounter's end. "Nobody wanting to 'bump heads' can also be a problem. If a weaker wizard would wish to talk to you, they might be too intimated to speak immediately, which in the field, one moment of hesitation and you risk a lot. Bar maids would be running for the hills, unless your at a bar in the hills. The timid who have valuable information might not come forth to you, and so on."

Luna tried to imagine what tavern duty entailed, she imagined cleaning and restocking as Indra's, charm, was not of the bartender sort. She hid her confusion as she chocked it up to no where else to help out. It wasn't her place to think of, however as she examined his eyes, they weren't focused on hers. Seeing his eyes trail, she focused on the water, triguring the magic forced on her. Her skin turned blue as her hair seemed to be made of water. Her eyes taking on a aquamarine color before with a flick of her hand, releasing a minor water (aura) pulse upward, splashing water playfully towards Indra, obscuring his view. "Keep your eyes above my neck. Anyways, been tough trying to balance jobs and the infirmary, it's expensive trying to pay to send a child to school. Moved my younger sister in with me so at least one of my five siblings gets a formal education."

Luna sighed as she looked to the mermaid, wondering what fate had befell her birth parents. Being left all alone, Luna wondered, was the separation to protect Neptuna, or was it worse. When Luna once inquired about them, Neptuna seemed to have absolutely no memories. Either a fate of kindness, or the worst thing possible. She moved a bit closer to Indra, "It's sad, she never felt her mother, her birth mother's embrace. She has no memories of them. I tried digging, but not even Integrated mind revealed anything. I always wondered, why was she abandoned? Fate is always cruelest to children..."

WC 414

Tailong would play innocently with the little mermaid girl, dipping under the water as a means of tag. After a bit, the little dragon would let the little girl catch him-- which ended in a series of pets and hugs that she loved while he splashed around.

The talk about tending to the weaker among him bored Indra. Going on like that normally he would spat that right back in another's face, but he knew Luna meant well and he would never want to force his ideals on her. He just let it slide off his back like the water on him as he shifted up-- then was met with the comment to stop gawking at her body.

He had to laugh a bit at this as he still kept that cocky smirk on his face. Even the splashed water didn't deter his good mood at her presence. "Sorry. Believe me, I know you work hard, but if you work hard, you should play hard too, isn't it so? You deserve time for yourself, and why else would you be here?" He hinted to the resort around them.

It was then the topic changed to one that killed Indra's mood a bit... the lack of parents and home. With no memories. IT was legitimate as she clearly wasn't the young woman they had one steamy night together, but one that had responsibilities. He frowned as he looked away. "I wouldn't know..." he said as he overheard the little girl try to splash Tailong. "I was abandoned on a monastery doorstep. No fucking clue who my parents are either..." He had a grumpy look for a while, but sighed, and tried to enjoy things as they were. He found no point to look to the past. He was what he was now, and didn't care about what could have been. "For what's its worth... " he said as he dared to reach over and held out a hand to hold her shoulder... initiating a tender close moment. If anything "... For what's its worth, you really are a good mom if looks up to you that much. That is what matters to her most now."

There was a moment that he touched her that seemed to pass all the bad stuff and push it right out the window as he soon moved in attempting to pull her towards him in a tender and passion-filled embrace. He was about to land a kiss to both push his incentive and silence her when...

... "THIEF THIEF!! SOMEONE HELP!!" Someone yelled.

Indra froze and his eyes widened. "Son of a bitch!" he swore. He couldn't catch a freaking break!

He pushed up away from the water as he heard the shrieks come from back in the hotel. Needless to say, it killed any mood to do anything steamy in the hot springs.

WC: 479

Luna wasn't aware the topic would have struck a nerve with Indra, but then again, she knew very little about the man. Seeing him without the walls, was something she wouldn't have expected. She could tell he was starting to open up in some way as he pulled her close, her golden heart skipped a beat as the blue skin on her face started to blush red. She wasn't sure of how to feel but couldn't break way, she was looking for a way to escape the moment when fate lent the girl a hand.

After hearing the cry for help, Luna got out of the bath, Neptuna quickly followed as she jumped out of the pool, shrinking and landing on Luna's shoulder. Neptuna enveloped Luna's frame in a brief flash of a blue light as she clothed her adopted mother in her spare attire. However she messed up as she thought she had strapped the fire whip to Luna's side, but ended up with the lighting ring on her finger. Luna wished she had time to dry off, or break from water integrated state. Going through the bath house, she got to the main hotel lobby as she followed the scream.

She looked around, wondering what was stolen. "What happened? Is everyone alright?"

WC 214

With Neptuna jumping free-- Tailong looked puzzled as the little girl literally went flying and somehow joined her adoptive partner. He looked around-- almost tempted to grow into full size so he could react properly. "H-hey what is going on?" Tailong shouted.

Indra, however, was far faster than anyone else as he reached over for a better towel and tied it around his waist. He wasted no time and quickly entered a heightened state. Though still wet from the hot spring-- he was now clear and lightning struck his form.

The Raijuu-- his trademark spell that amped his speed greatly as he literally vaulted well overhead of Luna and reached the other part of the resort with a quick hop off the tall fence.

In the gardens-- just outside of the main plaza of the oriental resort-- a mysteriously, oddly feline figure broke out of the doors used to keep the cold out. He literally burst from the paper-separated membranes and into the night air.


The feline figure was a creature clad head to toe in black, in a sleek design most commonly seen in Midi. What features he did have, however, was the black fur and ash-colored striped features of a tiger. he wore similar striped shoulder guards and a red scarf around his neck-- a common muffler seen on shinobi. Needless to say, his movements were as swift as one as he easily leapt from spot to spot, an object under his arm. The thief had taken off with a rare vase of some kind-- taken from the resort's dining area.

As the tiger ninja entered the gardens of the resort--, Indra soon caught up to it to see the thief. "Hey!" Indra shouted, pointing at the tiger-man. "You're ruining my night off, whiskers! Go rob someplace else!"

The tiger stopped, crouched down on one of the stone dragon-lions of the oriental garden. He arched his brow at the man. "Feeling a draft? How about you threaten me when you have pants on," the tiger teased, poking fun at the towel wrapped around Indra's waste.

Pissed off, Indra raised a fist-- and lightning crackled around it. With a burst of speed and powered by Raijuu-- he charged for the tiger thief. "Lightning Dragon-- THUNDER FIST!!"

The impact smashed with lightning and Indra as he landed--smashing the statue to pieces. However, the tiger thief had dodged just in time, evading the wide-area impact of the lightning-powered blow.

WC: 410

Luna was surprised to see the thieve, she wasn't expecting a feline thief, or Indra to show up wearing nothing but a towel. However she had her goals locked on focusing on maintaining the collateral damage to a minimum, it was clear that if both wizards went after the thief the amount of damage would be too high. Luna tried to reach for her fire whip but it wasn't there, she soon saw she had her Lightning Dragon Eye on her finger. She knew this was not gonna be easy, before Neptuna could start to feel remorse, Luna snapped her fingers and Neptuna hopped off her shoulder, and resumed back to her human like form before running off and hiding.

Luna turned towards the resort, before several drops of pink liquidized magic towards the curious bystanders, each drop landing in a line before a wall of Ivy was made, blocking off any risk of bystanders walking out onto the field, being a distraction, or risk of a hostage. Thinking all imminent risks covered,she started to make her move.

Seeing the stone statue destroyed made keeping her goal a lot harder, but the ring around her finger might be enough to help her get done what needs to be done. Luna dashed towards the feline from behind as she timed things to work. In a single dash, she aimed to be behind the feline as she tossed drops of liquidized magic to beneath the feline. "Tangle vines"

As the vines would grow from the ground, trying to grab the feline by the knees and keep him there if they would be successful, while making a move to snatch the vase out of the clutch of the cat like individual. "You two, are both reckless! The amount of property damage you'll cause is going to be hell if you keep fighting like this."


WC 311

Indra tried to keep up with the tiger-- but he had yet to use his Lightning Dragon Cloak to increase his speed. Even with teleporting, he could but he always thought with his muscles first, not his magic-- in this case desiring a melee fight before he resorted to more powerful magic. Of course, things stepped up as Luna entered the fray.

The tiger was startled as he felt the coiling of vines at his feet. He looked down, baffled and bothered as the vines tried to grab him. Of course-- Indra could do without her harping on destruction. Smallest of his problems. "I'm a lightning mage! What do you expect!" Indra shouted back.


The tiger however just smirked as he let his free hand go-- and a twirl of metal distracted them. A kunai in hand, the tiger slashed it across the vines before it could climb up more and soon freed himself. He jumped high to gain some distance, but was in range of Indra's next spell. "Lightning Dragon... ROAR!!!" he released a blast of electricity from his maw.

The lightning struck instantly as it hit the tiger-- causing his body to fall towards the water. Excited, Indra quickly moved in, attempting to get a hold of the tiger. "Alright you stupid fur ball. That's what you get for ruining my ni--huh?" AN irritated look crossed his eyes as he looked at the 'body' in the water.

Somehow, in an instant, the tiger had been replaced by a 'dummy' made of cloth, straw, cotton and a silly painted on tiger face with a tongue sticking out. The word 'dummy' was written in Midian, further adding to the dumbfounding substitution.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" he shouted, and kicked the dummy out of the small pond.

It was then that the tiger was seen-- on the far side of the garden, out of range from Indra's immediate reach.

WC: 320

Luna was glad as soon as the electric attack hit and seemingly subdued the thief, ending the night. Unfortunately, the dummy was a surprise to Luna as it seemed that the feline was toying with the Dragon slayer. "Really? A dummy? How'd he do that? Shadow manipulation magic?" Luna had caught wind if the location of the tiger, it was too far for her reach. However she had some tricks of her own.

A yellow liquid drop seeped out of Luna's wrist and slid down her hand as it hardened into a seed. Luna took a step forward with her left foot as she pulled back her right arm. Doing the calculations in her mind as she threw the seed in a strong pitch. It crashed through a rose bush before a twisted root rose up, unwinding halfway, a magic circle appeared on the formed platform as Luna spoke the incantation.   "I call forth from the forest beyond the horizon, the hunter of sins, Aegis!"

Aegis:

The nature wolf jumped out of the magic circle before it disappeared and looked around, he saw Luna in the distance who then pointed to the feline thief. She yelled to the wolf brief instructions, factoring in the essence of time. "Catch the cat! Keep collateral down!" He nodded to the fairy "Roger that.", before he lunged at the cat, starting his chase as he made notes of all details possible about the creature. One look and he could size up the thief, and he did not like it one bit.

"Damn sinner, thieves have tried escaping me. No one is safe from the natural order.  Luna turned her focus back to Indra for the meantime while her companion was going after the wolf. She was worried that he would start to go overboard.  She liked the man, but she also did not want to be repaying for damages.

"Indra, you good? Power alone can't get this guy, either speed or intelligence can beat someone with his skill set. Aegis is a skilled tracker so unless he can teleport over a kilometer, Aegis can maintain a pursuit."

WC 351

Indra felt baffled by the substitution, but soon recovered-- and luckily keeping his towel on. By then, Tailong had joined-- having transformed into his larger form to keep safe and cover distance far faster. He joined Luna and Indra, the dragon raising a brow. "You didn't have time to grab some pants?" the dragon quipped.

"I don't have time for that right now!" Indra growled, not really caring or not.

However, the flowery, nature spirit wolf was another story as Luna explained the creature was a great tracker. As the wolf would give chase against the tiger thief-- the tiger would glance behind him and see the great wolf chase him. The tiger gave a surprised growl, not liking the turn of events. "D-dogs? Why did it have to be dogs? Go find a fire hidrant or something!" he growled and ran back for the resort.

The hunter might of had a great nose-- but the ninja was sharp as he made a straight dash for the wall of the inn, heading back for it. By then Indra also tried to corner it with his lightning speed.

The tiger was now at a wall. He could of jumped up and scaled the wall to the roof or run another direction. But this time he just placed a paw on the wall and grinned at his persuers. "Smell you later, dogs..." the ninja tiger said-- and in an instant, his hand began to slip right through the wall.

His skills became more and more ninja like as his arm, body and head soon just passed right through the wall as if he was a ghost. All was left was a shadow of him as he slipped into the wall and vanished from sight. Expert tracking or not, the wolf wouldn't be able to persue him easily when he could make short cuts through solid objects.

WC: 315 WC

Luna was starting to get annoyed as the ninja was quite skilled at his craft.  She tried to move, but she stopped suddenly before clutching her chest. Luna's skin returned to normal as her Integrated state wore off as the pain kicked in at full force. She keeled over and fell towards the ground. Meanwhile Aegis was consumed with his frustration that he nearly let the status of Luna slip, however he manged to catch wind and he rushed over at max speed. He dived so with his body he cushioned Luna's fall. "Lunaris! That fiendish magic is going to be the end of you, your heart can't handle it. It's pure gold."

Luna slowly got up, the nature hound used his body as a crutch to help Luna stand. "It's not important right now. Right now there's something more pressing." Aegis didn't want to get angry, but he still had to raise his concern. Luna looked around as she tried to determine what her next move should be. However she had an idea.

"This cat, seems to have no goal. I think he just wants attention." Aegis sighed, he knew the struggles all too well. "I was just having the same problem with one of my pups. Now you drag me here to the same thing but with a cat?" The fairy slowly followed the path the cat traveled, deciding to try and see if the cat could be deceived. She turned to Indra, and spoke deliberately loud enough for the cat to hear. She winked to Indra, hoping he got the cue. "Indra! Still got that diamond tooth in that filthy mouth of yours, not sure why you'd switch out a wisdom tooth for it."

Luna folded in her thumb, preparing her move. Aegis looked at her confused but realized what she was planning until he realized it, speaking to her in the code she used. "You, you can't be serious? Are you honestly trying to get someone killed? You know that's stupid, right?"

WC 336

Indra frowned at the attempt as the cat seemed to have escaped. However, there was one thing that couldn't be helped. The scent of the tiger could be detected, just the use of the walls was indeed a hindrance. It would have kept that way, as he tried to figure out how they could catch such an elusive enemy. Indra was at a loss, and was going to go back into the inn and follow it by scent. "We can chase it via scent but if it uses the solid walls to evade us, this could go on all night..." he grumbled, trying to think-- till the things about his teeth came up. He cocked an eye at the woman. "Excuse me?"

That was the most stupid thing ever and doubtful the ninja tiger would take the time to try and pull a tooth from someone.

The more they talked, the further this elusive thief would escape. It was then that Tailong became the voice of reason as he hovered over the garden and their heads. "Look, he is getting away. We got two choices. We either chase it and try to corner it, or we try to set a trap for him? You know catch the tiger by the tail?" the dragon said.

"If we want a trap. We need real bait. Something valuable. Do you have anything like that Luna?" Indra asked. "If not we should ask the hotel if they have anything. I'm sure they are having grief from this thief as well. "

When the obvious decoy failed, Luna sighed, she thought that the feline was juvenile enough to fall for it. However on the subject of value, that put Luna in a hard spot. She could confess that she had a ring designed to support or harm lightning slayers, she crossed that off her list, even if her whip was on her person it was not valuable enough, leaving Luna with two options that she hated. "It's gonna be hard to chase someone who can pass through solid walls and teleport. A trap is the better way to go about this."

Aegis could sense the tension in the fairy, and pawed at Luna, who knelled down so Aegis could whisper into her ear. "You don't want to involve the bystanders any further, so you got two options. Either a sample of your Mediocris Lacrimis, or your body by pointing out your heart is a rare form of an organic gold compound or risk your fairy wings."

Luna acknowledged both possibilities and sighed, she had no choice but to use one of them. She stood up, making sure her back was to the resort as she reached inside her cleavage through the top of her qipao blushing almost embarrassed, and pulled out a tiny vial of what appeared to be a silver and pink glittery powder substance. "Mediocris Lacrimis. A special form of fairy dust and basically one of the most effective pain killers and healing medicine in one a normal man would hope for. On the black market, this could sell for at least a good 50 grand, as this can cure a variety of common illnesses, and it's the genuine thing."

Aegis snarled, as memories were stirring for him. He remembered the countless fairies he had seen killed for a sample of fairy dust. "Yeah, thieves who can get that are regarded as fairy hunting masters. Thieves have died, or only escaped because they had to use the stolen goods on themselves to do so." Luna patted him on the head, and he silenced himself. The plan seemed to have the elements needed, but Luna still had a few concerns, like how to use the bait when the target is trying to flee the scene. "He'd be a fool to pass this up. It's a genuine article, easier to transport and sell then the art work from this resort. So, how do you propose we trap him when he's running away from us? Use Tailong to give him a whiff of the goods and lead him to us?"

Luna turned to Tailong, making sure that she was proposing something that he was alright with.  "Would you be willing to do that Tailong? Let's face facts, you're the best one, slim, compact, flying, and able to squeeze through tight spaces."

WC 468

Indra was quick to interrupt before Tailong could stop. "We won't let it get that far. Idea is we control the terrain so that furball won't slip through our fingers. Even I can still smell him too," the man said as he knelt down to one of the imprints the man-tiger left. "And I am willing to be that person has been staking out this place. There were some rumors going around that things had been going missing of late. But you might be on to something... he does seem juvenile to go after just random things..." he explained and rose back to his feet.

Despite the hulkish appearance Indra had, he had a sharp mind to how they would stop that annoying feline from slipping through their fingers.

"There is one thing we need to do first..." Tailong said in his larger state.

"Yeah?"

"WILL YOU PUT ON SOME PANTS ALREADY!?" the dragon roared, encouraging Indra to finally go change instead of the single towel around his waist.


They would adjourn to the room Indra had rented for the night-- now the night having gotten even later. Indra had also had finished getting changed-- though in the simple kimonos the resort provided. Using the small bit of lacryma that Luna provided, Tailong agreed to shrink down and hold onto it and brag as if he had scored some precious substance. The room was normal as usual, but this time not only did Indra have set a small trap in the center-- Tailong could grow instantly to stop him.

The rest of them hid in the rather spacious closet. If the enemy could just slip through solid objects, he could probably slip in through any wall to get to where he wanted. At least here they had a chance to corner it and with plenty of ways for their magic to influence the fight. For now, they just had to be quiet and wait.

"Oh, look at my pretty shiny! How I love this thing. I am so glad, I, a dragon, have aquired such a valuable piece of jewel to add to my HOARD Of treasure back home. " the little dragon spoke aloud to no one in particular as if to announce himself.

Though the plan was solid-- the little loud-mouth dragon's acting had much to be desired.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts with this damn plan..." Indra grumbled softly from their hiding place. Still, it wouldn't be long till they found what they wanted.

(He will appear next post) WC: 419

As the group had set up in Indra's hotel room, Aegis had vanished back to his native world. Luna was wondering about the whole plan, and several ideas came into conflict as she wondered how the feline ninja would be lured into the room, and the dragon's shouting was not exactly what she had in mind. She was coming to a part in the night when she just wanted it to be over.

Hiding inside the closet, Luna wished she could facepalm but at the pure stupidity of the dragon's acting. She felt that what she said was taken under the wrong light. They didn't have all night, as they still ran the risk of the thief losing interest and just leaving. "I knew Tailong was a bad actor, which is why I suggested he flew about! leading the feline to us." Luna sighed as she leaned against the wall, annoyed at the whole concept of intervening. "I swear, I hate this. I trained my whole life to be a house wife and here I am trying to catch a ninja cat with bait i produced of my own body being poorly exaggerated by fifth rate acting skills. I'm overworked and even when I want a minute, I am still working..."

Luna let out a breath as she was done venting, almost ready to just sit down and let things pass. She felt her exhaustion almost get the better of her, but she was still wiling to get the job done. Her positive attitude was broken as she hoped that the cat would just show up so she could be done with the whole fiasco.

WC 275

Indra raised a brow at her complaining. He could of easily made a sexist comment but he bit his lip to not use his words poorly. "I call this a hobby than work. But I don't see you much of a housewife person. But I suppose that ship has sailed. You are what you want to be. " he commented quietly.

He was tempted to get out there-- stuff something in Tailong's mouth to stop the horrible acting job. But then he smelled something. A familiar scent he had from the fight. He held up an arm, silently telling them to be on alert.

While Tailong continued to snuggle the vial of jeweled powder-- a shadow began to move from the ceiling. The shadow soon revealed the shape of ears, stripes and yellow colored eyes. Like a spider, the cat began to descend out from the very ceiling to try and pull a "mission impossible" on Tailong.

He waited-- waited for the right moment till the cat was just above Tailong with paws reaching down like a silent specter to grab the dragon and the vial.

"Lightning Dragon... "

THe crackle of electricity made the cat's fur stand on end as the closet door was thrown open, a hand of lightning crackling from Indra. "... THUNDERCLAP!!" A wide spread of electricity shot out from in front of him as he threw his hand down. The wave of lightning flew right to them and nailed the tiger, landing a solid hit.

... and inadvertedly hit Tailong as well who was shocked, but no different than how Indra would usually do.

"D-damn it Indra! SHOCKING ME WAS NOT PART OF THE PLAN!" Tailong growled as he rolled over with the vial in his claws.

THe tiger's fur was now on end, the lightning crackling around him from the impact. He now knelt down , recovering from the shock to his body. "T-that was a dirty trick," the tiger growled.

"You're one to talk," Indra said as he stood before the tiger. "You gonna give up or will I have to catch you by the tail," Indra warned.

The tiger, however, despite the electricity paralyzing him a bit, just smirked. "I'm not done just yet. We ninjas always have more up our sleeves."

In that moment, the tiger let go of his paw-- and released a few marbles like pellets to the ground. Indra's eyes widened to react but was too late as they exploded.

Smoke bombs-- as the small objects created a cloud of smoke that began to fill up the room. Though they caught the tiger offguard, the fight was far from over.

WC: 442

Hearing Indra's thoughts on her rant wasn't entirely comforting as she started to see how little he knew about her. She wondered if he even wanted to know, as he seemed to be dead set on his priorities.  She knew she explained a fair bit of herself to him once before, but then again, everyone can forget things. "Damn, he really doesn't get my priorities. I'm only a wizard because that's my only choice."

When the Thunder dragon slayer burst out with intense power after the feline had caught the bait, Luna jumped out to the side. Luna watched as the feline took the electric attacks. She knew that this was mostly a setback and not close to finishing it off. Seeing the smoke bomb was just a nuisance as she wanted to sleep the night off. She charged her energy into the ring around her finger as the gem lit up. Luna grabbed the Stone of the World out of her pocket, it glowed in her hand giving her attack quite the boost.  While the smoke clouded her vision and made her choke, she was still able to sent the life force the feline put out. A ball of Lightning formed in her hand as she aimed towards the cat."I've had enough of this game. I didn't want it to come to this, but.."

Luna would then let the lightning free as it traveled in a bolt towards the cat, striking with brute force. "I hate causing harm, I hate flexing my strength, and I hate resolving by violence.  Face it feline, if I start taking this seriously, you might not survive." Luna was partially bluffing, she knew that display with Lightning could only be done once, however she could still fight with tremendous force if need be.

WC 299

Indra had to admit, he did like the smoldering angry side of Luna as he let out a swift whistle at her. "Heh, anyone tell you that you're irresistible when you're angry?" Indra teased. It was clear that both of them were opposites with very different moral views. It probably would only be a matter of time if things tore them apart. But he wouldn't think on that. He was impressed that Luna had keen senses to see through the skilled smoke bomb.

"What are you? A masochist?!" Tailong cried out, having been struck by Indra's reckless lightning attack as well.

It wasn't what Indra had thought, but she nailed him with one clean shot of her own lightning magic. Just as he would of tried to phase through the walls again. Instead, he was hit and gave a sharp, loud 'meow' scream and fell to the ground, paralyzed all over this time from both lightning attacks.

As the smoke cleared, the tiger now laid on the ground, too weak to move on its back. A sigh escaped Indra as he brushed some of the smoke bomb residues off his shoulders. "Looks like that is the end of it." he said, the thief subdued.

After a moment, a sudden puff of lighter smoke erupted from the cat. It was brief, like a pop, and soon the smoke cleared to reveal the creature was now far smaller! It was almost similar to Tailong's transformations. In place of the intimidating were-tiger ninja was now a smaller, cuter version of him in the same clothing and style of fur.


"Mrrow... " the tiny tiger grumbled as he tried to sit up but failed. "Was that really necessary? "

Indra raised a brow in abserity. "The hell? This squirt was the thief all along?"

Unknown to Indra, the cat was an EXCEED. A cat-like creature now native to Fiore. Though different kinds were known to exist, this one was indeed once such creature. No doubt Luna would know what it was.

WC: 339

Luna nearly scowled at Indra for the comment about her anger, as she recalled an instance where someone did comment on her anger, and the answer was not surprising. "Yes, in fact it was you. After the third round of drinks."

When the tiger cat creature reverted forms, Luna was not surprised as she did have her suspicions that the creature was in fact an Exceed."That's an Exceed, a feline species privy to Aera magic. Since I didn't see him sprout any wings I couldn't be sure until now. I met a few, one's in my guild." Seeing the tiny body was now just assurance that she was right, however she found the dark Exceed quite adorable. She walked across the room, taking the vial of Mediocris Lacrimis back from Tailong,and concealing it back inside her qipao before she walked over to the feline and gently picked up the tiger like Exceed. "He's quite cute in this form though, Exceeds are a cuddly race. He was probably flexing magic to hold that large form."

She hugged the Exceed tightly for few seconds, unable to resist the urge to hug the cute creature any further. "Such a soft kitty, I almost regret trying to zap him a minute ago..." After a moment she stopped squeezing the life out of the cat remembering he needed to breathe, and answer a few questions. "So all that's left is this, Who are you, what's your game, and what do we do with you? I'd love to take you home with me, but..."

Luna imagined the Exceed fighting Murphy, and how it would end with a pile of indistinguishable black fur and internal organic matter. "Aurora is a redemption guild, but our guildhall caretaker sorta doesn't take kindly to his kind. He tries to kill our Guild Master on a regular basis for being a former thief."


WC 312
TWC 4072

An, Exceed, huh? Indra raised a brow at the little tiger as he was still paralyzed from the lightning shocks but was slowly recovering. But even so, he would be in no condition from transforming into his bigger form anytime soon. Naturally he was easy prey to Luna's snuggling. He let out a snuffled meow as he was picked up and snuggled. He tried to struggle out but didn't have the strength to escape. "Mrrow! Nooo... anything but the hugs!" the cat squeaked, clearly embarrassed as he was reduced to the same state of a house pet. "I'm a mighty, cunning ninja! Bewa--" He was soon snuggled more, muffling his mouth a bit.

Indra let out a chuckle as the cat had a tough side he admired. After a bit, the cat was loosened by Luna to ask what was his goal. Indra crossed his arms and waited to hear the explanation. The cat's ears were pulled back, showing some sense of embarrassment. At the questions of his name and goal, the cat gave a little grumble to give in to the demands. " Kage. My name is Kage, " the cat meowed. "I was training to be a ninja by myself, and i needed targets to sneak around. Plus i needed money to buy food so..." The cat grumbled, unwilling to say more on his 'financial trouble'. Still it was clear this little cat had no real home and was probably only stealing cause he had no real choice. "Anyway, I was trying to polish my ninja skills and found plenty of things here to pratice on."

A smirk came to Indra at the thought. "Polishing your stealth skills by stealing things from an inn. Wish I thought of that," he commented--- earning a dirty stare from Tailong. "And where did you learn that those tricks? Passing through walls and smoke bombs..."

"I read some scrolls from Midi. I was born close to there and I admired the culture. I wanted to be a ninja. Wait-- are you a ninja too? You handled yourself like one. " Kage asked, no longer struggling in Luna's arms. At least, until she mentioned something about someone trying to kill their guild master. The cat began to struggle again and soon had the strength to get out of her arms. "I'm sorry. Please don't send me somewhere. I won't steal from here again-- or anywhere. I'll be good. Promise. "

It was then that the cat gave Luna a 'cutesy' look, trying to appeal to the woman via a sense of cuteness. Indra just rolled his eyes, knowing he did that on purpose. Still, as a ninja (ex-Monk technically), he had some appreciation to this cat's style and drive to practice his skills.

"I think he learned his lesson. Sure, he is a crafty cat, but I think he knows there are BETTER ways to train, right?" Indra said with a knowing tone.

WC: 491
Total word count for mission turn in: 5,105