Wishing Star

Job link

https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t35210-free-form-job

The black-blue sky above him was peaceful as he gazed up at it. The cool night breeze swept through him as he looked up at the big sky, the stars sparkling through the darkness of the night and the waning moon hanging in the distance. Zachary laid down on a lone hill that rose above the trees of the East Forest just outside of Magnolia. Though he was worried the city lights would hinder his view-- the stars remained bright and present than he ever saw back home. Though chilly, he felt comfortable clad in his blue jacket with the Fairy Tail logo marked on it. He quietly gazed up at the stars, loving the view.

Stargazing was one of his favorite pastimes-- something he never grew to understand when he was afraid of the dark. He was once terrified to go into the dark of night, till the man he considered his first magic teacher showed him the night sky that one night-- and that there was something wonderful that could only be seen when it was dark. Since then, he loved the stars and the magic they held.

Soft music played in his ears as his headphones played lightly nearby, adding the mood to him to relax. He had been with Fairy Tail for only a few weeks, and had slowly begun picking up jobs where he could. He still was trying to find a place to live in Magnolia, but he didn't mind the dorms that badly for the time being. For now, he had a day off and thought he would go star gazing.

As he sat there, Ruby Carbuncle-- a transparent spirit that would appear frequently as his familiar-- curled up on his chest as she looked up at the stars above. She purred softly as Zachary watched the stars, tracking the different constellations.

He wasn't aware if others were around or not, but he felt safe-- at least having his spirits on hand would help if a wild animal appeared. He had accomplished a good deal from joining his favorite guild since he was a kid, to find one of the legendary Zodiac keys. He felt happy to be a Celestial Wizard. Little did he know under that starry night sky, his future would never be the same.

WC: 411

Would Zachary really need to worry about some wild animal showing up as he watched the stars? Probably not. There was a different thing to worry about instead, and that was not being squished like a pancake while in his distracted state. Things may have been quiet for the boy and his celestial familiar down on that hill, but in the sky and further away it was less so. A different sort of celestial mage was there, debating a certain topic with the spirit she currently rode upon for transport. That was how it was when Janus, her portal spirit, was unavailable. Another would be used for faster flight travel, and there were only two options. Neither of them happy to do it when that unfortunate time came every other mission. This time she rode upon the cloned spirit of Anhur, who was in his Sun Form, and was probably a sight that stood out in the night sky. The two had left the deserts of Desierto some time ago and had made the journey back to Fiore, but now both were tired and far from being in moods that could stand tolerating each other for more than five minutes. This led to the lion spirit wanting to drop her off in the middle of no where. Actually throwing her off was more like it but he had a mild amount of self restraint. He'd just land on that hill that stood out from the rest of the area and toss her off before taking off. That had been the plan anyway, and he had just made it clear that he intended to do it. His descent to the ground began in a rapid speed that he did not intend on stopping. His angle would surely make his landing be right on top of the star watching duo.

Samira's eyes widened for a moment when she spotted the boy lying there and the expected result that formed in her mind if her ride kept moving as he did. "Anhur," she called out, her tone calm despite the situation. "You may want to adjust your course."

"Is that your way of trying to convince me to not leave you in the forest? I expected more effort."

"You should know by now that leaving me on top of a hill in a forest is only a minor inconvenience. I was more so trying to point out that if you are not careful you will end up landing on top of that person already on the hill."

"What? There is no one-" The flaming lion looked down to get a second and better look. "Oh." Well it was a little too not to land at all. By that point he was already nearing the ground at a rapid speed. He pulled up and altered his path a bit so that he went over the human and his pet and went past him. There would have been a hard force of hot air hitting him, but nothing deadly or harmful, especially if he had managed to move out of the way on his own in time or acted in another way to defend himself from the air current. The adjustment in landing was a bit rough but manageable, and both lion spirit and summoner now had their feet on the ground. "Is that human trying to be put out of his misery? Who decides to sleep on a hill that is the perfect landmark for landing? Are there no homes for everyone in this modern age?" Anhur complained, his already sour mood worsening. Ditching Samira aside, he didn't really want injuring a human boy to leave a black mark on his reputation. No matter how stupid he thought that boy was for... for just being there when he shouldn't have been!

"That is not really our concern," Samira replied in a nonchalant tone before taking steps away from Anhur to approach the boy and check on his status. "Are you all right? No harm came to you, did it?" It was a valid concern. His physical self seemed to be intact despite that barely missed impact, but just in case she was prepared to tend to him. Or rather have a spirit capable of doing that instead. The Saint looked a bit different than she normally did in the magazines and pictures, so it was possible for her to be unrecognized. Her hair was up in a pony tail instead of being down like it always was, and as for her clothing she was wearing the clothing she had worn for her job in the desert. Although it was pretty much way more dirty from all the sand and other things than when she had first bought it back at the desert town. In short, she did not look nearly as clean and fancy as she did in those pictures. It was the total opposite.

(Word Count: 821)

Zachary was pretty much enjoying the peace of the East Forest and the night sky. He caught a glimmer of a shining star in the distance but just considered it another one of the stars just twinkling brightly above. It was a meditative state as he laid there, his music adding to the ambiance of the starry sky--

-- that was till Ruby began to hiss loudly, her violet fur standing on end and the ruby-tipped tail was now up in alarm. Zachary glanced to her as she scrambled to his shoulder in alarm. "Ruby? What's the matter. Sometimes I worry your whiskers will get in a -- huh?" he gasped.

At first that glimmering star seemed to be just that-- till he saw the shape of wings and it grew brighter-- and closer. The thing was coming down fast, approaching at a fast speed.

"GHAAAAA!!" Zachary shouted as the shining beast pulled up right before him-- the wind caused by the creature causing him to tumble backwards in surprise. He landed dazed, Ruby somewhere in his presence but heard her sharp cat-like hisses of annoyance at whatever almost killed them. The boy was now face down in the grass of the hill, dumbstruck till he slowly pushed himself up.

At first, he almost thought he was seeing Leo-- his own Lion spirit. However, the creature that almost flattened them was a different lion with golden brown fur and two brilliantly glowing wings. As he grasped back his sense of awareness, he overheard the lion talking to whoever was with him. He wanted to retort back at the comment but still couldn't vocalize his retort from the fright as he caught his breath.

"Besides almost ... scared to death of your rude mount flattening me... yeah, I'm okay," Zachary breathed, still on his hands and knees from the scare. He soon got himself to gether and rose up, but Ruby was still pissed off as the little transparent Carbuncle creature hissed in the summon and summoner's general direction. He got a look to see it was a woman no doubt with light bluer hair -- almost similar to Zachary's mother. If he didn't know better they looked very similar.
The biggest difference was she appeared much younger.

Feeling better, he rose up to his feet and brushed off the dust from his jacket. "Sorry for sounding bitter. But yeah, I was kind of not expecting someone to flatten me. i was just stargazing since this is the best place to see it without the city lights getting in the way." he explained.

After Ruby calmed down, she sniffed in Samira's direction. She calmed down-- but still glared at the lion, giving her silent disapproval to the creature... though to the lion, Ruby would look like a cherry-flavored snack.

"Um, anyway sorry to cause you trouble on my part too... I'm Zachary, by the way." Zachary introduced himself and rubbed the back of his head modestly. "And um... who are you? I know this sounds strange, but you look familiar."

However, above them was something else... another shimmering object in the sky. As time passed while the two talked, it became brighter and brighter. Even the Celestial Spirits would sense it as Ruby let out a small meow-cry, looking up at the sky. The spirits would sense it-- of the odd 'disturbance' that was coming.

WC: 591

"Mou-MOUNT?!" Anhur growled in disbelief. That term was degrading him all the way to stable horse status. Being called rude had been completely ignored in comparison. Yes, he was rude and purposely so. He disliked people and no matter how many times he was around them that never changed. It only made him wish that he had stayed in that lost desert city Samira had found him in long ago. But here he was, now apparently being stared at with a look of disapproval by a... four eared rabbit... thing. It only made sense to glare right back, right? So he did. His own disapproval was sent in that tiny creature's direction. Not that he planned on attacking or eating it. In that factor the boy and his celestial pet were quite lucky. Had it been the flying serpent they met instead, they'd probably be offered up as snacks right about now. Anhur himself had no interest in such things despite the fact that he was a predatory species in nature.

As for Samira, she took no offense to the boy's outburst. It was an understandable reaction. "Oh," she blinked, processing the reply. "In that case, that is good." She more so meant that it was good that he was unharmed but considering that she didn't exactly apologize for nearly flattening him or by scaring him to the point that he had quite the tumble, one could probably wonder if she even cared about that factor. Probably not. It didn't happen and so there was no sense in worrying or stressing about it. Now that it was confirmed the boy was unharmed, Samira was prepared to leave him there and get going. Her thought process stopped, however, when he spoke again, that time apologizing for the dialogue that many would have considered rude. Her head tilted to the side and she blinked again, confused. "It was an understandable reaction. I do not feel as if there is a need for you to apologize when I have not done so for nearly... 'flattening' you." At least she now knew why he was out there nearly all alone on top of a hill. He had been stargazing, which was something she never really took the time to do herself. Samira was a celestial summoner, sure, and she even had a Zodiac key, but her connection was slightly different and her magic in a slightly different category when it came to the term "celestial". Not many of her spirits were actually constellations, and her interest in actual stars was not high on the hobby meter. She knew of them but that was as far as it went.

The boy said something else, but Samira was only partially hearing it. The world had been tuned out slightly, blurring and becoming a bit distorted. All except for one thing; the celestial energy radiating from Zachary and by proxy the spirits and summons that were connected with his magic aura. Many were not strong yet, that much had already been obvious from his magical presence before she noticed the celestial energy. However, there was one thing that seemed strong and had an aura that was very similar to a few others that she had run into during her own mage career. Was it possible that it was- Samira stopped herself and forced herself back to reality.

'So the brat is a celestial summoner, huh? Neat I guess. Just as long as he isn't like some of the others we have ran into. If there's a repeat in history I'm going to sleep through the entire episode,' one of Samira's spirits told her mentally. As usual they were all present and aware, even if no one else knew of it.

'Yes, wonderful. A new human friend to add to the list. However, I was more interested in knowing who the potential new celestial friends we will have are. Why did you stop focusing?'

'Knowing what spirits he has is not necessary at this time. Just because I can pry further and find out, does not mean that I should. And I doubt any of you are intending to befriend any of them.'

'I want to!'

Samira gently shook her head to better refocus on reality and ignore the spirit voices in her head. "Zachary, was it? Apologies if it seemed I zoned out for a moment." An apology for tuning out the conversation but still no apology for nearly turning the poor boy into a pancake. Her priorities for apologies was top notch. "You may call me Samira. As for why I seem familiar to you, I do not know. Maybe someone else has my features as well." It didn't quite dawn on her that she may seem familiar because she had a reputation for many things. Ace of Lamia Scale in the past, currently a member of Sabertooth, A Wizard Saint, been in the Sorceror's Magazine a couple of times, all of those not popping up on her mind until after she declared that she had no idea. It wasn't habitual for her to introduce herself with those titles, and she was still quite used to being an unknown while others got the spotlight. The summoner could somehow feel the facepalms of her spirits as they listened to her reply to the boy. Well it was too late to change her reply now, and she didn't care enough to add her status in. It wasn't important.

What was important, however, was the cute little spirit that was with Zachary. Samira stared down at the creature as it stared at Anhur. "Oh, how cute. She reminds me of Momo." For the first time since landing, Samira smiled and she knelt down closer to the spirit creature to get a better look and maybe pet it... or hold it. The intention to explain who or what Momo was did not exist. But wait, that was actually not important either. More like the shimmering object in the sky was what was really important. That time it was not some weird summoner with a non-observant flaming lion flying past. It was something else entirely. The creature made a cat-like cry as it stared up at the sky, and so Samira too stared up. "Well, that is not me this time." There was something strange about that new flying object in the sky. Samira just couldn't pinpoint why. "Do you feel anything strange?" She asked, not so much as to any certain person or spirit but to all around. Anhur did nothing more than look at it and growl, knowing full well that whatever it was it meant that it would prolong his day instead of it finally coming to an end. "It is not a normal falling star if that is what you are getting at. Whatever it is I don't care." To show that he meant it, he folded his wings and lied down on the grass with absolutely no intention on getting up to do anything about the falling object. "Just wish upon it or something so we can go."

(Word Count: 1182
Total So Far: 2003)

Zachary realized he had started things off on the wrong foot-- so he bowed to the woman in an apologetic manner. "I am sorry for my rudeness, especially to your lion. Anyway, its nice to meet you." he said, his tone more cheerful.

He didn't mind the pause as she thought as Ruby took an interest in her too. The little creature sniffed in her direction. Perhaps she bared the scent of Celestial Spirits on her as well and was familiar with the feel of the magic she gave off. She let out a soft mew and scampered down Zachary's shoulder. "Ruby?" Zachary asked.

The little spirit jumped off him and made a little circle around the woman Samira-- nudging her like a cat would. Once she had, the little Carbuncle hopped right up her back and proceeded to crawl up to her shoulder, much like she would with Zachary. The little spirit purred, sensing the goodness the woman had.

"Wow... I never seen Ruby take a shine to someone so fast. Even for Arcadia..." Zachary replied.

But that was when Ruby made her little cry, her attention up to the sky. IT seemed Samira sensed it as well-- but poor Zachary, his magical senses not that sharp yet, didn't sense it. It was only the lion's comment that made him dare to look up. "Wait what?" he asked and looked.

Above them he saw it-- another brilliant bright light that sparkled in the sky. It seemed like another shooting star, which he did like to think was as simple and beautiful as that. He almost fell for the lion's dry sarcasm and wanted to make a wish. "You're lion is a bit of a draaaaag...." he stopped and soon saw it. It was growing brighter, and faster as it sped up towards their general direction.

The look of wonder turned to shock as Zachary realized it was a meteorite! It glowed with fiery light as it charged downward-- seeming to aim right for their direction.

"Holy..." Zachary didn't get to finish it off as Ruby gave a sharp cry and the Meteorite came down--

-- by the luck of its trajectory, it flew right overhead, though the heat and gust of its path could be felt even though it was several hundred meters overhead. They could see as it arched ahead and aimed right for the path of trees in the east forest.

A white flash of light was released, followed by a bang and gust of air-- far stronger than before. The initial impact was almost a half a mile away, angled away from them... but the shockwave caused clearly was sweeping its way right towards them.

Zachary guarded his face and body with his arms, trying to brace himself-- but the chime of something else came out too.

It took a moment, but as the blinding flash of the meteorite's impact lasted, another being had appeared. A strange clock-creature/wizard that hovered in front of Zachary with its watch-wand out. Horologium-- the clock spirit, or Showtime, as Zachary lovingly called him.

Despite the nature of the meteorite's shockwave and resulting damage from debris, the debris and cloud would be frozen in the space before Zachary and Samira. The little clock spirit had stopped the localized time to create a magical barrier-- protecting them from the impact point.

"Tick-tock!Tick-tock!" Showtime chirped, waving his wand about erratically. Having acted in time, the clock spirit had appeared on his own power, not needing Zachary to summon him in that moment of urgency.

Zachary fell flat on his butt again, startled by the realization they almost got hit by a meteorite. "So much for a peaceful night." He said, Ruby beside him running nervous circles around both wizards now.

WC: 665

The little spirit creature had taken a liking to the summoner that was still a complete stranger at that point. It pleased the woman and her smile grew. Not many of her own spirits were that cute and cuddly. Or affectionate really. Well aside from a few oddballs here and there. She didn't really get a chance to comment on what Zachary said with Ruby taking a liking to her. That had been when the bright shooting star in the sky was noticed. "Forgive him. He is not one that enjoys the company of others. He tolerates it at best," she replied to Zachary when he commented that Anhur was a drag. She was distracted though as she said it, her eyes following the way the star moved. Her smile disappeared, leaving only a deep frown as things got a bit more serious. If she had not noticed it herself, the spirits that could see everything she could made a mention of it. Like she and Anhur had done so previously, that 'shooting star' was aimed in their direction. If not landing right on top of them then its trajectory was surely going to barely miss them. Anhur didn't seem to care, as usual. Only a "hmph," could be heard as he was insulted and then he went on to ignoring the two humans and small furball, as well as the obvious large flaming rock coming down on them. He showed absolutely no worry at all for he had none. Samira could take care of herself even with that phenomenon and the other two could get squished and burn for all he cared about. A mount. Really? It was an unforgivable insult that the lion spirit was sure to remember for as long as the boy lived, and even further than that.

Samira mentally prepared her own defenses, ready to use them if necessary. There was always a barrier around her that could protect her from the heat and wind, as well as common injuries. Being hit by a meteorite's full impact though was probably pushing her luck there. Something more would be needed to either switch its direction if that were even possible, or to protect her own well being before it hit. There were plenty of options, but most of them unnecessary and she was told as such by the voices in her head. Her silence as the meteorite flew overhead was likely awkward, as well as her stance of fully watching it fly overheard, although admittedly even she had to look away from the bright light once the large space rock had finally made its landing some hundred meters ahead. That was when she finally took action of her own. The resulted shockwave could be felt and that could not be ignored.

As one of the boy's own spirits came to the mortal realm to help out, so did one of Samira's. The spirit copy of the goddess Athena materialized in an instant, and as soon as she appeared the shield she carried created a pink transparent barrier that would protect both humans, spirits, and herself from the might of the meteroite's landing shockwave. Or so had been the plan. Everything had been frozen in time to prevent it from even happening in the first place. Sort of. Once time moved again it would likely complete the action. Team Samira blinked, confused for a moment. They had thought that Chronos had intervened, but upon telepathically asking him he had denied it. That led to them slowly turning their heads and gazes to look over towards the true being that had stopped the impact. They blinked again. It was a spirit that looked like a small clock, but with actual hands and eyes and... actually it looked a bit silly. The little guy was powerful, but a bit laughable in the wardrobe department. If Samira had pried enough earlier she might have realized that Zachary had the spirit of Horologium, or at least one of his incarnations. But alas, she did not and so it came as an interesting surprise that Zachary had a time altering spirit like herself, and so early on. Her own ties to one had not unlocked until much later. It was impressive really, given that time magic itself could be quite powerful. The current scenario as an example. Now if only the spirits in her head were not laughing at the fact that power belonged to the colorful clock spirit.

"I have grown accustomed to not having many nights of peace. If you get more spirits on your side then you may soon experience the same thing. Their many personalities do not allow for stress-free environments." She could have also added that being a mage in general, and being high on the levels of power, would make those moments of peace become a rarity but well, there was no reason to shatter that hope so soon. Or at all. There was still plenty of time to determine if he would even get that far. Samira poked at small pieces of debris that were floating, frozen in time, as she spoke, still in a nonchalant tone that was covering her actual worries and curiosity of what sort of damage that meteorite did at its landing site as well as what sort of power it contained. The woman wasn't really that learned in space topics, but she was certain that sort of thing was not supposed to be giving off an aura that was in a sense magical. There was also something else; a feeling of being watched. It would go ignored for now.

"I can only guess that this control over time will not last for too much longer. We should probably remove ourselves while we can. I intend on investigating what it was that hit. I suggest that you do not go there just in case there is danger, but I am not going to force you to go home." She didn't really listen to a reply or any words that may have been said to cut her off. Instead her body glowed yellow just before she took off running... in a speed that was probably impossible for Zachary to compete against at that point in his mage career. Super speed from a spirit that could move like the light itself. Samira really did intend to just ditch him completely. Surely he had his ways of following though. It couldn't have been that difficult to find the obvious crashed meteorite in the middle of the forest.

"I am going to ensure the energy from this impact does not reach the nearby city once the time effect has diminished." Athena told Anhur, who just continued to lie there, still not caring about a damn thing that was going on. The spirit then looked at Zachary if he were still there and gave a nod of acknowledgement and respect before she departed. That left Zachary and Ruby alone with a very grumpy lion if they still had not left to go check out the meteorite. Joy to the world. He too would take off before the shockwave was released. Assuming Zachary didn't have a way to cancel it out completely while it was in its frozen in time status. The boy better have a different ride to quickly skiddadle out of the way though. No way was Anhur offering.

(Word Count: 1234
Total So Far: 3237)

WHile Showtime's time magic was impressive from a budding wizard of Zachary's strength, the effects were generally localized. Time stopped within the non-organic material around them, hense simulating the stopping of the debris. After a period when the meteorite's dust settled, the shockwave and debris that surrounded them settled. In truth it acted like a barrier that froze time of all harmful materials around them. WHen the fallen object had settled-- it left a large crater in the middle of the woods, causing nearby birds to fly and animals to scurry away in fight. The large cloud of dust was kicked up into the air, creating a cloud that blotted out the view of the stars for the most part.

Zachary was in awe that her new friend, or acquaintance, had a defensive spirit too in the form of a woman with a shield and spear. Her magic also protected them and contained the meteorite's damage from them.

When she asked about time, Zachary chimed in. "Actually, Showtime's Time Magic can actually stop the time and momentum of non-living and magical objects. Don't worry. They just drop after--- " Zachary didn't have much time as she soon insisted that he go home and she vanished in a blur of motion to try and see what the meteorite was. "H-Hey! Wait a minute! COme back here!"

"BREEEEE--- Beeep-bop-breeee!" Showtime buzzed, making annoyed, irratic sounds like gears grinding that would probably annoy the lion's sensitive ears. Clearly the clock spirit wasn't happny.

The moment his time spell faded, the rocks fell to the ground with loud thuds and the dust wafted away in the breeze that blew out fast from the impact. Unwilling to wait-- despite the glare of the lion spirit, Zachary quickly took off after Samira.

A falling meteorite was WAY cooler than just star gazing. There was no way he was gonna miss this in a million years.

As Samira got there well before him-- she would find the gaping crater that now cut right into the East Forest. The trees were knocked over and blown back and now the crater left a steep hill into the ground--- the surface now a warm, soft soil that wafted steam from the impact. One would easily slide down the slope and soon find the object in the dead center.

The stone was a deep black with violet crystals that stood out from it. However, while the smaller crystals were just etches of it-- one part stood out. A large protrusion of the stone, that glowed softly with either the heat of the impact into the earth-- or by the mysterious magic.

While Zachary couldn't sense specific magics yet, Samsira would be able to sense it wasn't a scary or malevolent magic, but a peaceful, almost serene energy that radiated from the rock.

"WAIT FOR MEEEE!" Zachary called out as he caught up. He soon slid down the hill of the meteorite, catching up to her. As he huffed for breath, he rested his hands on his knees. "Come on. I couldn't pass up a chance to see a real meteorite up close!"

"Bwee-Bwee-Twee-to-Brrriiing!" The alarm clock sounds and beeps of Showtime went off. Unfortunately, the oddly shaped clock spirit couldn't keep up with small stubby legs and a round body as it tripped and rolled down the slope. He made a racket the whole way down till he landed on his back-- the arrows on his 'face' spinning around wildly to indicate he was dizzy.

Zachary felt baffled to explain as he glanced at Samsira, wordless how to describe the peculiar demeanor of his spirits. "Eh... they kind of broke the mold when they made Showtime-- if you catch my drift,"

As they observed the meteorite, they could see the steam radiating from the actual physical rock. Naturally it wouldn't be safe for a regular human to get closer and examine it-- but a creature accustomed to heat, like a fire spirit or sun spirit would do.

WC: 709

Samira had ignored the demand for her to wait for Zachary. She had already had her say on the matter before her departure and had absolutely no intention on waiting for him. The chances on him getting lost along the way were slim though, and the two spirits she left behind had already informed her that he had not gone home or stayed where he was. As expected he was following along, or trying to anyway at his normal speed. It was annoying really, but could not be helped. A young mage's curiosity was a powerful thing and she herself had been guilty of that same thing much in the past and even currently. The difference between them was that she could take care of herself much better now than before, and Zachary... well that was still up for debate. She only had her own experiences when she was at that same power level to compare to, which meant while he likely had his own strength and utility somewhere it would still be easy for him to get into more than he could handle, especially with things that were unknown.

Her dash spell ended as she reached the landing site of the space rock. A large crater had been made upon impact, and parts of the forest had been cut down as well as a result. That could be fixed by an advanced plant magic user most likely so that was not so bad. Thankfully there also did not seem to be anyone else in the area that might have been harmed. Unless they were under the rock, but the summoner just decided to go with the more positive side of that thought and assume no one was there either. All was clear. For now. An update from Athena had told her that the spirit was keeping others that noticed the flying rock from getting closer, which Samira was thankful for. There was already one kid to keep an eye on.

She slid down the slope of the newly established hillside and into the crater and just as she was trying to figure out what she was sensing from the rock the old saying of speak of the devil was made relevant. Zachary had caught up and was also sliding down the slope. Her head turned slightly to watch him until he was beside her. The mild annoyance she had did not show in her expression and it remained neutral. The kid's presence would just have to be something she would have to deal with, and maybe he would have his own part to play even if it was not evident just yet. Her emerald eyes then went upwards to watch the clock spirit that tumbled and clanked the entire way down the slope. Not the most graceful of spirits, was he? Well it was a good thing that they were not going for a silent approach, else both Zachary and his clock would have given away everything. "He is relatively normal in my experience. You have much to see and meet before he is the one considered odd." Even if she was not referring to her own spirits that somehow were created wrong in a sense, there was no doubt he would have many others in the future that would have their own unique personalities that would make even the clock spirit look like a balanced genius.

"Well," Samira began to say as she turned away from them both and started to walk towards the meteorite despite the heat that was still there. It didn't harm her really due to the barrier around her that absorbed it, but even that wouldn't last forever against such a thing. She had another way to get closer and get a better look at the glowing portion of it, but first..."You saw it so you can take your leave now if that is all you intended to do." One last attempt to get him to leave. There was something she was sensing, and it was not coming from the rock. It wasn't even just a magic aura really. It was more about being watched, and a danger sense that was made stronger during her time in monster filled lands. The two of them were not the only ones that made their way to the space rock.

If he argued Samira would stay silent for a moment. "Very well." Her magic energy sparked again, but this time covering her completely. Her hair and skin became bright with the intense coloring of the sun itself. Mini solar flares and eruptions of energy on her body could also be seen, but were more visual than harmful to anyone near her. At least for as long as she had control over it. That was not the full form of her sun spirit, but it would be enough for her to get closer to the meteorite and maybe even get a piece from it. "Keep a lookout then. We are not the only ones interested in this."

(Word Count: 839
Total So Far: 4076

Zachary's Total Thread Count So Far: 2376
Thread Total So Far: 6452
Total Needed for Job: 548)

Zachary could already feel the sense she didn't want him there. It stung a bit to his feelings-- at which of course, the Clock spirit got back on to and gave a few low-moody beeps. He had only met the woman and while he wanted to be polite, he felt like she saw him as a gnat that refused to go away. Perhaps she was more experienced. He had no clue the depth of her magic power, only that it was superior to his. Still, he wasn't about to shy away from adventure, let alone the chance to learn all he could about astronomy and magic. "Ms. Samira, with all due respect, I am a Fairy Tail Wizard. I know I am still inexperienced but I'm not afraid to be involved. I don't want to be rude, but I want to stay and see what this is--"

It was then they could hear it. Growls in the distance from the trees. Yellow eyes began to move about-- creatures drawn by the destruction that had fallen upon the East Forest. They emerged... as three large, green looking monkeys.

Forest Vulcans-- residents of this forest. They looked cranky, hungry-- and more so pissed off by the crash of the meteor.

"You! You two caused big boom!" one of them grunted in an primal tone, hopping up and down like the ape he was.

However, before Zachary could respond-- Lady Samira suddenly underwent a powerful transformation yet seemed totally seemless and effortless for her. Sparks of cosmic and holy magic seemed to radiate off of her. He wasn't sure if this was the intent of the lady, but Zachary wasn't about to be showed up. As Showtime let out angry buzzes at the Vulcan, Zachary stepped forward.

"I'll take care of them. Just leave this to me. " Zachary said. A bit of pride showing with his smile, he reached into the hem of his shirt to pull out something around his neck-- which turned out to be a cord that contained a shimmering gold key with fiery, leonine design. At first glance, someone of Samira's knowedge would know exactly what it was. One of the 12 Zodiac Keys... similar to the one she possessed as well.

"Open, Gate of the Lion!" Zachary cried and slashed the golden key before him. "LEO!!"

A flash of bright light released in front of him, and before him appeared a strange looking creature. A glistening white lion-- made of celestial metal and cosmic energy formed before them. Its simple aura radiated light as if the meteorite did when it struck. It let out a fierce roar that intimidated the Vulcans, causing them to pause.

Zachary looked with pride at Leo, his strongest spirit and friend he had grown to care alot about since they met. "Leo, could you please ward off those Vulcans?" Zachary asked kindly.

"Heh, no sweat. They don't even look that tough." Leo spoke proudly, growling at them.

However-- it was then that Showtime hopped up right in front of Leo. The lion raised a brow and growled in confusion. It seemed that Showtime wanted to steal the spot light and with a series of beeps and enerjetic rings, he began to wave his little wand back and forth before the Vulcans.

"Bah! Stupid cat and clock... We gonna..." The vulcan growled-- but began to wobble and his aggressive tone become weaker. "We gonna squish... ZZZzzzz.."

Before they knew it, the Vulcans began to fall asleep, dozing off before Showtime waving his wand. The little clock spirit was full of surprises as he cast his "Naptime" spell-- producing a hypnotic wave of psychic magic that lulled enemies to sleep and would make them groggy afterward.

Leo let out a soft grow of disappointment, as Showtime did his job before he could jump into action. "Well, that was anti-climatic..." the lion grumbled, having been called out for nothing of yet.

Showtime happily rang about, shameless that he stole Leo's thunder. For a defensive-type spirit, the little clock wizard spirit was rather animated and proactive. Zachary rubbed the back of his neck in embarassment. "Yeah... Sorry Leo," Zachary urged.

Meanwhile, as Samira would be able to approach the meteorite-- she would find the piece of it that would be easy to remove, the most crystalline part that stuck out from the actual rock. As she would hold it, she would realize it wasn't even too hot, the crystal being magical and woudln't require much effort to move. Besides small bits of the same crystal littering the meteorite, the majority was contained in the peace that could be held-- where the magic radiated from.

It was a fascinating find-- even more mysterious of what exactly was inside the crystal.

WC: 831

The vulcan attack really wasn't what Samira was referring to, but they were trouble all the same. A trouble that the Fairy Tail wizard should have been able to handle easily enough. She mainly focused on the meteorite once all the commotion started, but she still halfway paid attention to what was going on around her just in case he needed help or more appeared. It also helped that her spirits kept track of it. A couple of the keys left the keyring on her hip and floated upwards to be at the height of her face, the pin of each key pointed in the direction of the battle as if that were the eyes of the key to better watch what was going on.

"Terrific, another lion." The one with the grey colored glow said sarcastically once Leo had been summoned. "I assume you mean the Zodiac?" The Saint had felt the surge of energy from the summoning, and still could feel the spirit's presence. It was similar to her own Zodiac key, and thus it was an easy conclusion for her to make. So, she had been correct with her earlier senses that he did hold a Zodiac key after all. She was far from meeting the holders of all twelve, and even then the keys had a habit of switching owners time and time again. Still, at least she could check off having seen this incarnation of Leo and his holder.

"Oooo! I want to pet him!" The purple glowing one cried out excitedly.
"He doesn't look all that pet friendly to me. He's kind of... spikey. Is that even fur?" The orange colored one radiating energy that flowed like flames added in.
"Still Looks more like lunch if you ask me. Can I eat him?" The darker orange one asked, completely serious with the question.
"No. That would be rude."
"No, what's rude is waving lunch right in front of me and then saying I can't have it."
"Oh, shut up. You don't even need to eat, you gluttonous flying worm!" The grey glowing key ignored the hissing coming from the clearly agitated spirit behind the dark orange one and moved on. "Soooo, should we be worried about this brat here? Oversized monkeys are one thing, but we know that was not what you were concerned about."

"No, their aura started to fade away as soon as his Zodiac was called. They will not go after him regardless. He is but a stranger, and thus not of great importance to them. At least, that has been their pattern so far. None of the others I have met in recent days have been bothered."

"Yeeaaahhh, but very few of them had Zodiacs."

Samira did not comment further. As far as she was concerned things were fine and would continue to be so. If anything happened to change that then she would deal with it then. For now, she had pulled out the smaller part of the meteorite that had its own magical aura attached to it. The woman blinked, surprised and confused as she stared at what she held and the new hole in the larger space rock. "Huh, that was easier than I thought it would be." Not to say that she was complimenting her own strength because she wasn't. She barely even did anything, and she had expected that she would need to smash the thing apart to get it. It was as if it was meant to be removed, or had not really been physically attached in the first place. The magic portion wasn't even hot! Peculiar.

The woman turned around and begun to leave the large meteorite behind her. Her steps took her towards Zachary, and as she left the point of radiation and heat her spell faded and she returned to normal. Naturally she took the time to notice the sleeping vulcans, which was a bit eyebrow arching. She doubted Leo had done that and so it must have been the clock spirit. Her spirits neglected to inform her of that. Regardless, they both belonged to the same summoner, and he did deserve a type of reward. "For you," Samira said casually just before dropping the rock into Zachary's arms without warning. If he chose not to hold it then naturally the rock would just fall to the ground. Otherwise, there was a chance he might have fallen to the ground from the sudden new ownership of the rock... and from its weight. She couldn't really tell how heavy it was for normal people anymore. Regardless of how that was handled, Samira gave no real reaction to it, as if it were a normal thing. "So, you are the owner of Leo, I see." She smiled as she focused on the most important of things, the Zodiac himself. Like the purple glowing key that swirled around her, she too wanted to pet him and started to reach out and do so. If she were asked why the rock was handed over to him Samira would stop and look at Zachary, her expression clearly confused by the question. "It is a reward for your efforts. I saw and touched it, and that is enough for me for my own documentation. Maybe you can contact those of Silver Wolf to help you study it further. It has secrets that even I do not know." If he didn't ask though then she would still be trying to pet that Zodiac without even asking first. How rude!

(Word Count: 921
Total So Far: 4997)

Zachary's Post above completes the B Rank Freeform for original sign up
C Rank solo Freeform wc: 921

The Vulcans were now fast asleep-- thanks to Showtime. Both Zachary and Leo felt a bit disappointed to see that they didn't get a chance, but Showtime had the odd behavior to act like this. Finally, however, his time ran out as the alarm on his body went off. It soon followed with him glowing brightly and vanishing in starlight.

"That little guy is missing some of his gears, I think..." Zachary commented.

"Indeed..." Leo growled softly. It was then that Leo's form changed--- at choice of will, he converted his body to his dormant form. A more social-humanoid form he had that required no magic power for Zachary to use to have him around without expending the boy's magic energy.

It was a small gift Zachary had-- to create a magical aura that gave spirits the ability to be around him leisurely without consuming mass amounts of magic. The cost was, usually, his spirits would be in smaller, almost chibi-like forms. Certain spirits were the exception, like Leo, who now was a humanoid-shaped lion with tribal clothing and attire, a long polearm strapped to his back-- his fur appearing more softer and fluffy white-- through his main tied in parts of braids. While his previous form was when he resorted to combat-level magic power, this was a form he could take easily indoors and without spending too much of his own to survive in the human world easier.

As Leo and Zachary approached Samira, she casually dropped the stone for Zachary to take. Zachary caught it but the surprise to the weight made him lean over slightly. It felt cool in his hands and solid-- but in its core something was magical. alive.

"Why are you giving me this?" Zachary asked.

Given the answer, Zachary was speechless as he saw her approach Leo. She soon identified Zachary as Leo's owner and knew he was of the zodiac. Leo blinked as she extended a hand, and didn't hesitate being petted. He lefted his own to meet her's in greeting. "Lady Samira Nassar. You're reputation perceives you." Leo kindly greeted her-- more kindly Zachary recalled him ever showing to another human next to himself.

"AM i missing something? Why are you so nice to her after how much you distrusted humans-- present company and all that?" Zachary asked sarcastically.

Leo turned to Zachary, a puzzled look on his face. "Do you not know who this woman is? " he asked.

Zachary was silent, unsure as things were certainly happening so fast he might of missed a vital clue.

WC: 455

"Does it?" Samira inquired when the lion Zodiac spirit pointed out her reputation. Which part of her reputation she wasn't sure. A summoner? The holder of Sagittarius? Her past and current positions? Maybe it was for all the troublesome adventures she had, had in the past. Based on his kind greeting she doubted he meant all the things that would put black marks on an otherwise sparkling reputation for, just like everyone else, she too had spots on her record. Nothing that was worth noting now, however. She simply smiled and retracted her hand back to her side, pleased that she was able to actually pet the Zodiac, and even in his less animal-like form. It reminded her of one of the forms Anhur could take, but she made no mention of it. Instead the woman was left giggling at the boy's sarcastic statement. Samira had gently covered up her mouth with a hand as a way to hide and stifle the laughter before it came out, but the attempt had ended in failure. Just staring at Zachary made her realize that he was still quite confused and had missed a few hints along the way.

The glowing keys that had been floating in the air moved in towards Zachary and stopped a few inches from his face, as if they were getting a closer look.
"Wow, this kid is kind of dumb. He makes even Samira seem smart. Is this like... a common trait among summoners? Cause I am really starting to see a pattern here."
"This one. He looks cutely edible. Can I eat him instead?"
"Heeeeyyyy! I think he looks smart. Maybe. Sort of. A teeny tiny bit smart. Not sure about edible though."
"Well if you say he's smart then that must mean he's actually an idiot. I'm glad we got that sorted out. Right, Uh... Za.. um... the hell was his name again? Zap? Zigzag? Jack? Forget it, we'll go with rock kid on account of you holding a giant magic rock. Nice to meet you, rock kid."

"Honestly, now. You know his name, now stop bothering him." The woman sighed hopelessly as the spirits in the keys gave off varying responses while returning to the keyring on her hip. They were back to being silent for the outside world, but her head was filled with their comments and complaints. It was only a matter of time before they caused more of a headache than it was worth. "Well, Zachary," Samira started to say with a kind smile and a nod in his direction. "It was nice to meet you." The woman began to walk away from the Zodiac spirit as well as Zachary himself. There really was no reason to stay further, and there was the matter of reporting the incident to whatever authorities took an interest in that sort of thing. Not to mention reporting the findings of the job she had completed before nearly turning Zachary into a human pancake. So many things to do and not enough time for them all. "Do send word if you find out anything interesting about that stone there." Naturally she didn't give any information as to who she was or any reasoning as to why his spirit had acted the way he had. He could find out on his own if he was curious enough. To her, those extra details were not important. She was Samira and that was the only thing of significance about her.

As she walked, a portal materialized in front of her. Her portal spirit had completed whatever had kept him busy until then and to make up for the delay had immediately opened a method of transportation to remove her from the wilderness so that she could be where she needed to be. Anhur could make his own way back whenever he chose. Janus had not given him much of a choice for as soon as Samira entered the portal it disappeared. Of course, this also meant Zachary was left there. No one had even asked if he needed a quick way home. Somehow... they had all forgotten that. Well, it wasn't any of their faults that they were so used to other people having their own portals or magic transportation thingimabobs. Past experiences just made it an expectation by that point. Hopefully the boy and his spirits wouldn't hold it too much against her if they ended up having to walk the whole way back.

(Word Count: 746
Total So Far: 5743)

C Rank solo wc: 921 + 746 = 1667