The Tempest (Tabitha)

The day had started out well with her having spent most of it simply exploring the town of Hargeon and mingling with the locals. They’d gone through a heck a lot due to having been attacked by a large sea monster but the kitsune had to admit that they’d certainly held up well since. The people had recovered well and not seemed to have spent any time moping about what had happened which she approved of. All they could do was bounce back which was precisely what they’d seemed to do, much to her joy. In fact, part of the reason for her turning up had hopefully been to spread a little cheer and judging from how their faces had lit up at the sight of her, it had seemed to have been successful. The town was rather nice despite the added defences and after spending a few hours merely wandering, she felt about ready to settle down at the nearest tavern for a drink and perhaps find a lovely partner to spend some time with.

That was the plan anyway but as usual with her, they always seemed to unravel kind of fast although at least this time, it wasn’t her doing.

The blue sky would suddenly become hidden by a horribly dark cloud and the atmosphere would change completely. The happy seaside town would revert to a living nightmare and no sooner had the sky clouded, bolts of lightning would start to strike at regular intervals, damaging buildings and causing the locals to scream and take cover. Menka was naturally used to storms and merely looked upwards, noticing a strange kind of vortex among the dark sky. It was for sure no ordinary storm and with a twitch of her nine tails, a bemused expression crossed her features. It didn’t feel natural to her and she couldn’t help but ponder if this was the work of someone dastardly  After her first meeting with Mura and having been attacked by the summoning maniac who’d thought she was a spirit, Menka had begun to realise just how nutty some humans could be and her mind had been opened to the idea of those who used magic for evil. It wasn’t something that she’d ever considered of course but she was at least aware of it.

Brought back to herself by the sound of screaming, the vixen would turn to see that the roof of one of the buildings had caved in and in a surprisingly selfless act from her, she’d quickly sprint over to it and start to burrow through the wreckage. Her sensitive ears could at least pick up a couple of voices which only caused her speed to increase and she was soon easily hauling up bits of wood and building materials, tossing them aside out of harm’s way. She could hear the thunder roar above her which only caused those around her to scream more but all she could do for the moment was to get those trapped out. Just what was going on?

Using her slayer enhanced strength, she would bodily throw the largest and final piece of debris which had trapped the innocent folks but what happened next was truly baffling. For rather than look up at her thankfully, their expressions were clouded, much like the storm clouds above. Their screams stopped all of a sudden and without any hesitation they lunged for her, much to the vixen’s disbelief. The kitsune had to react fast and jumped backwards, giving herself space, while the group of what turned out to be three trapped people would stand up too. They almost had a zombified look to them and given that they were soon darting towards her again, she sadly assumed that they weren’t just frightened.

“Hey! I’m one of the good girls here! No need to be scared!” She pleaded with the trio, in the slim hopes that she could get through their addled minds.

Needless to say, it didn’t have much effect and they were soon throwing punches and kicks in her direction. So much for gratitude although perhaps that was a bit unfair. They did truly seem out of their minds.

Dodging punches and kicks from the confused men and women, Menka would quite easily be able to handle the danger that they posed. Striking firmly but not enough to hurt them in order to handle them. She didn’t even use her magic and merely used her natural strength to knock them out. In all, there was one middle aged male and two younger women. Fortunately, the fight did not last all that long and none of them stood a chance against the slayer in all honesty. A couple of well aimed blows were enough to each and they were soon laid out on the ground. She wasn’t all that happy about having to do it but what choice had she? Using her magic would have been far worse for them. All she could do then was drag the trio to a safe spot so that they could rest and hopefully recover, before turning backwards and sprinting back into the storm.

So much for a nice day of relaxation.

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The commitment to a guild seemed to be like a very crazy dream that Tabitha never really envisioned herself doing of her own accord. Then again, none ever seemed as sane and persevering as Meliora Vitae, so who was she to turn down a chance to make the difference she always wanted to do. Granted, most of that was just to be able to go out and do her own thing in the world without her family overshadowing what she did. Someone of her position within it didn't go against what she was told to do... not that she ever intended to do so. Bred into her of undying loyalty was both a burden of paranoia should a task come to fail, but a blessing that she always felt she had somewhere to go if she had to lean on someone.

A loud crack of thunder caused the neko to flinch. Her ears albeit seizing from the eruption of the loud noise. Resting in a bar within the town of Hargeon for the last day or two now, she had noticed the picking up of this storm, but there was something different about it that the locals seemed to be taking more of a notice to than she had. The shadow mage noticed the lights within the bar she had been enjoying a fine glass of wine had flickered. At first, the bartender had assured her and the couple patrons within it not to worry. The storm worried a number of sailors and cruises, to which they had all departed early to avoid the storm delaying them. So, the business of the bar was taking a harder hit than it had around this time of the month. Or at least that's what she had been told by the bartender. A rather handsome gentleman maybe 10 years older if she had to guess who always wore a smile during his work. Or perhaps just around her.

The lights flickered once more and this time the power went out. Letting out a small sigh, the neko took her glass and finished off her drink and set it down before she got up from the bar. Her ears perked up suddenly, then twitched at a sudden sound. "Mew have to go, nyow." The girl warned, looking over to the bartender who seemed to be confused. Just then, one of the large wooden foundation poles cracked. And now just some small, subtle crack. It created a fissure of sorts extending up along the entire shaft of the pole from the ground to the ceiling before it spidered out to the ceiling. The two patrons inside booked it out as soon as they noticed and the bartender tried to grab a couple of items before running around the bar to the front. Getting ready to run themselves, the front of the bar building itself collapsed and with it, their exit as well.

Trying to think fast, Tabitha grabbed the bartenders hand and ran towards a shadow cast portion of the wall and ran straight into the shadows themselves. Pulling the bartender in with her, she did the same once more as she exited from a shadow across the street and watched as the bar crumbled before their eyes. He turned to her and thanked her for what she did, only to receive a blushed face and a nervous chuckle. "Mew don't need to thank me. Just find somewhere to hide." She replied before hoping back into her shadows and vanishing from sight.

Not far away she could see from the shadows as some more deranged seeming townsfolk had tried attacking a multi-tailed fox woman and the people she had assumed were taking to safety. Making sure she had a grip on things, the woman easily knocked them out with a few melee punches and assured the hidden shadow mage that she was not out to harm anyone. As they had continued to a safe location not far away when three figures appeared nearby. Something didn't seem right about them, as if they had just manifested from the air itself. But the kitsune hadn't seemed to take any notice, or at least she didn't act like it. A nearby flash of lightning gave her an idea. Waiting a moment to watch the next flash appear. Not a few seconds passed and one came upon, chained with a second flash and in that moment, she struck. Through the flash of lightning in the sky above, the Sinisterre snaked her way behind the trio with a use of their own shadows when a black looking shape swung, taking off the head of one of the strange people. His body and decapitated head caught the attention of the other two and they spaced themselves out in the surprise.

Oddly enough, the body and head simply vanished before her eyes after it hit the ground, which only affirmed her actions to be just. "Need any help there?" She asked, watching the two while directing the question towards the brunette fox woman.

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Blinking in surprise as one of the bizarre people fell to the ground, Menka would turn her gaze towards the speaker. A sweet looking Neko by the looks of her but judging from how quickly she’d dispatched of the mysterious opponent, clearly skilled. In any other situation, the kitsune would have replied with a flirty comment of some kind but sadly, that would have to wait until later. It seemed like they were the only two mages around or at least the only ones with their brains working the right way. It seemed though that the other two odd figures did have some kind of magic too as they both began to summon elemental magic with one in particular having the kitsune in its eyeline. The caster seemed to be a young woman but she looked so distorted that it was difficult to truly tell.

“By all means,” she called out to the neko, grateful for the offer, “If you’d like to take out the other one then it’d help out a lot.”

That was all she was able to say before the odd looking figure fired a fireball in her direction, forcing Menka to quickly dart out of the way. It was a potent enough attack but the kitsune was fairly swift in her movements, as well as with a grace that had been developed over the centuries. The fireball soon became more than one and the brunette haired vixen was soon forced into an almost dance, jumping and rolling out of the way. In a way, she sort of enjoyed it. Oh, not the fighting itself but the way that she was able to tease and play with her foe, simply by evading their attacks. Remaining elusive, she’d look for her chance, summoning a javelin made of the holiest of lightning in her right hand, feeling the tingle of it as it rested in her hand. It seemed that her foe wasn’t going to let up but finally the moment came where the fireballs stopped, allowing Menka to hurl her javelin towards her target. The mage simply shrugged and summoned a wall of flame in order to defend itself but Menka simply smiled as her javelin began to spin, penetrating through the wall and striking the flame mage hard. Reeling back, the bizarre creature would unleash a powerful plume of flame from its mouth, tearing towards Menka with great speed but as before, it just didn’t reach the target. The kitsune would leap up high, over the attack, before opening her mouth and unleashing a mighty roar of lightning towards her foe. A powerful strike and one that caused sparks to fly all around the target, reducing its own movement speed.

It was nothing if not tough though and refused to drop, instead standing upright again and facing the vixen head on. There didn’t seem to be any fear within it although in truth that was never the impression that Menka tried to instil on her foes. No, it just seemed to be an emotionless face and the fact that the figure would again tap into its magic and create a flaming blade and shield were testament to that. It only seemed to want to destroy, a fact that was so sad in the eyes of the crimson eyed kitsune. Blind destruction never solved anything and nor did it bring closure. It was just the act of a monster, a being that had no sense of reason. Menka was no angel and you only had to ask any of her partners about that but violence was something that had never invigorated her.

Her attacks had certainly been potent though despite her reluctance and as her wounded opponent struggled to come towards her, Menka would once more tap into her magic and create a whip of wicked lightning. Crackling and sparkling, the weapon would eagerly sit in her hands, waiting to be launched and strike its foe but in a final moment of leniency, Menka would crack it in the oddities direction in a final attempt to get it to back off. The fire mage simply ignored it though and continued trudging onwards. So, with little other option, the kitsune sighed and delivered one powerful crack of her whip. With its speed reduced, the fire wielder had little chance of getting away, resulting in the attack hitting its mark, striking the creature across the midsection. Dropping its sword and shield, the creature would collapse, turning to nothing more than shadow, much as its companion had before.

Her whip disappearing, Menka would rotate her shoulders a few times to loosen up a bit. She had no idea how many more of them were about but it seemed that her and her new friend were going to be in for quite a work out.

“How’s it going?” She called out to the emerald eyed mage, her gaze turning from her fallen foe.

The sounds of thunder were increasing with intensity as time passed too and Menka couldn’t help but wonder if defeating these things had anything to do with that?

(850 Words)
(2559/5000 TWC)

The stranger seemed to be up for a little bit of assistance in her predicament and thankful to comply to it, the neko wasn't going to pass up the chance to have a little bit of fun letting loose without the worry of hurting anyone unnecessarily. Having removed one of the threats, the closer of the two didn't take kindly to its comrade being killed in front of him... or beside him technically. The sparks of lightning caught her ear as well as the shadows cast from the fire mage that was also with the other. Feeling some slight chill from the third one, it was safe to say getting rid of this one made their job a little bit easier. It wasn't going to be an easy task for either one to get the first strike off either, so in the moment of the realization that she was going to be going to fight this next strange mage, the fire mage had gunned for the kitsune.

Paying less mind to her temporary ally's fight, a bolt of lightning crashed down right on top of Tabitha's position. Leaving a small crater in the ground left nothing but a shadow like mist. With no body in its place, the mage began to look around for the girl when they had spotted a crescent like shape of shadow aimed right for the mage. Firing a smaller bolt of lightning from their hand, they had caused a small explosion, but with the dark area it created her next opening. Pouncing right out from the shadows came the cat girl and her right fist colliding with his face and then following it with a swift low jabbing kick into the knee of the mage. Knocking their leg out from under them, she took a small jump up and then spun her body around until it went a full circle, bring it around this time to clock the mage in the head with her foot and separating him from his ally.

Landing a few feet away, she moved to get away from the fire mage before they had any chance to launch a sneak attack and moved in toward the lightning mage. While trying to shake off their cobwebs and focus, another harsh kick landed directly into their face and knocking them back down. An sudden and panicked bolt of lightning shot from them again, aiming for Tabitha but missing by a great length as the shadow mage had not even been in front of him anymore. tapping on his head, the cat girl sat on the other side of his body, giggling with amusement before placing a dagger made of the shadows held in her hand jabbed its way into his skull from the beneath his jaw and a twist of her hand caused a jerking of the body before it became limp. As she had stood back up to her feet, the girl had noticed the other animal ear and tailed girl had nothing no enemy left.

Brushing her clothes off, the neko flicked one of her twin tails over her shoulder to the back of her and moved towards her, the dagger used now nonexistent. "Purrrfect!~ A nice warm up, honestly. And mew?" She asked, her eyes grazing over the womans body for wounds.

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“No problems here,” Menka replied with a chuckle, her nine tails briefly wrapping around her playfully before adding, “Like what you see?”

Now that the fighting had seemed to have stopped for the moment, she couldn’t help but notice just how adorable the neko was. She’d met quite a few of the girl’s species over the years and had always had a soft spot for them. There had been quite a few occasions where Menka herself had been referred to her as such. It was an easy mistake to make, she supposed, even though she was always keen on teaching those she met the differences. Not all kitsune were as laid back as she was and she could only imagine how angry her mother would be if it had been her instead of Menka. In the brunette’s own opinion though, there were far worse names that could be called. Who wouldn’t be flattered if they were referred to as an adorable cat girl?

A loud crack of thunder once more returned her to the present and the frequency of lightning strikes was definitely continuing to increase and although lightning did little to her, that wasn’t going to be the case for everyone else but how could the two of them solve the issue? Killing the mages had only seemed to make matters worse but perhaps it was needed to draw something else out? Her mind was being surprisingly active, a rarity in her case but perhaps for once she was actually thinking clearly, without being corrupted by the usual filth that tended to dwell there. Either way, they had to do something and as another explosive bolt of lightning struck the earth nearby, the sound of screaming soon followed. The longer this went on,. The worse it would become.

“Any idea about what in the heck is going on?” She asked her team-mate for the day, “I have an affinity with lightning but this storm is anything but natural. It doesn’t feel right and I’d take a guess that it’s being manufactured by someone or something, lord knows what that might be.”

As she spoke, a few more figures appeared in the distance, seemingly just as confused and befuddled as before. For the moment they simply stood still, as though waiting for order although Menka could make a pretty good guess as to where they would be going. They almost seemed like puppets and perhaps that was what this all was. A magical puppeteer having his or her fun with the town? She wouldn’t put it past someone nefarious to do that although it’d take a real piece of shit to do it. Mind you, she’d already seen someone who treated their summons like slaves so why was the idea of someone else doing that with people so farfetch'd?

“I’m Menka, by the way, newest member of the Fairy Tail guild,” she then added, “Sheesh, that sure feels weird to say. What’s your name?” Hardly the best time to introduce herself but who knew what was going to happen next.

(511 Words)
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The ebony haired girl raised a brow, having no real interest in the flirting like question and actions the other woman was trying to put on. Certainly this wasn't how all fox people were... Shooing away the tails with her hand, her arms folded at her chest afterward and left the embrace of the tails. "Nyat really. The multiple tails are interesting, but this isn't the time for mew to be flirting." She replied, her eyes peering around her shoulder towards her. There wasn't any anger or malicious intent from the look, but she was one who kept business and pleasure separate, and until this storm passed, this would be all business.

With the next crack of thunder, her ears flicked from the sound, gritting her teeth and then letting out a small sigh. "I absolutely despise loud noises like this." She muttered, not caring much if the other mage heard her at all. She frankly had no care or worry about what she did currently, but she turned back to the woman when she began to ask her if she had any clue what was happening. "I have no idea. I've only been in town a couple of days now." She paused and looked up at the storm, taking a couple sniffs of the air and then shrugging lightly. "You may be right. Even in normal rain, mew can still smell the harbor and sea life." The neko concluded, being able to always enjoy the smells of nature, she had become fluent in shifts in nature from natural or unnatural ways.

Turning to face the kitsune, Tabitha had not taken a notice to the pair of new figures in the distance from them. The woman then introduced herself as Menka, a mage from Fairy Tail. She'd heard of them before --the guild anyway. And fresh to the idea of being in a guild in it of itself, it seemed she'd gone quite some time if ever for being a member of a guild, but it made the cat girl chuckle a little. "I'm Tabitha. Tabitha Silverwind from Meliora Vitae." She returned the introduction, smiling and realizing how new the name would be for others. "In case mew are interested, we're a nyew independent guild whom -to put it simply, is about preserving the harmony between man and nature." But with that out of the way, she held out a hand to the woman. "It's nice to meet mew, despite the circumstances."

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“The pleasure is all mine,” Menka replied playfully, shaking the neko’s offered hand. Honestly, the brunette kitsune hadn’t heard of Tabitha’s guild although judging from what she’d just been told, the reason was pretty clear. It was always nice to hear about the birth of a new group, even though the vixen was aware that not all guilds tended to last for too long. She hoped that wouldn’t be the case for Meliora Vitae, a rather unusual name in Menka’s opinion and sincerely wished them well. “Keeping the harmony between men and nature, huh? That’s quite a task.” The demon slayer had never thought much about that in truth, given how her most of her life had been spent focused solely on her own desires but when she thought about it deeper, it sounded like a rather daunting task. Man and nature didn’t always mix, after all and tended to lead to nothing but trouble.

Menka would be lying if she said that she didn’t find Tabitha charming and even the way that she’d batted away the kitsune’s tails was rather sweet in the vixen’s eyes. She hadn’t been offended by the action and just let it pass without saying anything, knowing deep down that the neko was right, despite the brunette’s own whims.

Yet, the issue of just how they were going to solve this mess was still a mystery and as Menka briefly glanced up at the sky once again, yet another loud bang erupted from it, followed by a crackling thunderbolt that hit the earth nearby. Menka couldn’t help but notice the accuracy of the lightning seemed to be increasing and was becoming far less random, as if it knew precisely where to strike or what was becoming more likely, being directed by something. There was still that vortex too, where the cloud seemed to be thickest and the thunder roared loudest. After a few more moments of thought, a sigh escaped her lips and she glanced at Tabitha, before flicking her head back up to the bizarre phenomenon. “I’m starting to think that we’re going to have to make for that thing up there if we’re going to find out the cause of all this. I have no idea what we’re going to run into but I don’t see any other option right now.”

As if on cue, the blundering figures from before would begin to come towards the pair, their expressions as clouded as the mages had been beforehand. They didn’t cast any magic and seemed to be planning on using just hands and feet. Menka sure didn’t feel intimidated by that after fighting the mages previous but it wasn’t as if there was time to be. These things were beyond reason and all the two could do was get rid of the shadowy creatures. “Perhaps whoever’s running the show heard me?” She joked, preparing for combat once again, feeling rather cheerful despite the danger but that was better then being all serious and mopey at least.

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The pleasure was all hers? If there was anything she’d heard about kitsune’s... that line was not much of a stretch to hear even if they were probably surrounded by enemies. Though given the unknown of this strange phenomenon, they may as well be. “Why am I nyat surprised...” She muttered, not caring too much towards whether the fox woman had heard what she said. But, in the spirit of the job, she brushed off the flirtatious act and pushed herself to keep to the task at hand. The woman then brought up the guild values brought up to her and just shrugged a little. “I can only imagine it will be. There was a great turnout for the banquet that was given the same day as the induction.” She said, recalling the event from the day and then smiling a little. “But I know alone we can’t do it all. It’ll take a lot more to do it.”

Without much more on the subject, she left it to Menka to see where she was going with her last comment. What she had taken into account was what the other woman had taken in about the nature of the striking lightning. As if it were being focused towards trying to hit anyone around them. The black haired girl looked up at the sky in Menka’s pointing out a particular point in the sky that she had seen. Thinking it to be the focal point of the storm or the source itself, the neko turned back to a pair of figures that appeared before them. The strange figures were very off, but at the same time seemed extremely similar as well. The shadow mage couldn’t make out anything about them that she could pick out, but the idea was none the less in her mind going to remain the same. It didn’t seem like a stupid idea for her, but perhaps it would be easier for pair to do it in this fashion.

“Mmm.... I have an idea, but it isn’t the most purrrfect one.” She started off, thinking on what she could do for alternatives if needed be, but she came back to this plan every time. “I can hold off if not paw-Verize them if mew think whatever magic you have can reach up there.” In the midst of her own fighting, she had not taken any time to see any abilities Menka had.. if the woman even did. Tunnel vision can be one hell of a drug sometimes and she was very heavily influenced in it on certain topics. Still, she wanted to know what was her opinion was before acting. At least until these shadow figures went after them. Though one thing did bug her about what she had thought was up there. Perhaps some form of a focus for a mages extended power or if Menka was possibly thinking the mage themselves sitting above the works and using that cloud to stir the storm to their whim.

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Tabitha’s idea seemed sound and frankly Menka didn’t have much in the way of alternatives. The vortex was rather high up but the kitsune wondered if perhaps she could use the lightning being cast against their foes? The element was the vixen’s domain and she suspected that she could take a hit from one of the bolts without suffering much in the way of damage. All she had to do was be in the right spot at the right time which could end up proving to be the most difficult step of all. Her senses were keen but lightning was always a tricky element to predict, all anyone had to do was watch Menka training as a kid to see that. How many times had she ended up electrocuting herself? Too many although it had always given her mother something to scold her for, something that Nakina had always relished. Grumpy old fox.

“I don’t think we’re going to get a perfect plan so I reckon we should give your idea a go,” she replied honestly, “My magic’s all about lightning so I can probably take one of those bolts and fire it straight back to where it came from. I’m a...Demon Slayer, yeah, that’s the term. Holy lightning or something like that.” As much as Nakina had tried to cram as much information into her daughter's head regarding her magic, Menka had tended to just let it roll right over her. If anything, she’d viewed her magic lessons as more of a chore than anything else. There were far more fun things to do in life then sit around discussing demonic stuff.

The creatures were becoming bolder and starting to approach at a quicker pace, causing Menka to turn her gaze towards them. “I guess they aren’t going to give us any more time so let’s get to it before we get overrun by these blasted things.” Saying that, Menka couldn’t help but briefly ponder about what might happen if the two were successful. If the kitsune could bounce the attack up there, just what would the reaction be from above? It could end up making the whole situation worse. Still, there was nothing else for it and so she prepared to move out but before she did so, the brunette placed a hand softly on the neko’s shoulder. “I’ll be as quick as I can. Hang tough, Tabi.”

With that, the nine tailed fox was off, channeling her slayer powers in order to hopefully attract one of the bolts towards her. She wasn’t sure how many of them she could take, as they did seem awfully wicked but she’d just have to be quick and open her mouth wide when it loomed towards her. Her body would begin to crackle once again with lightning as she sprinted, while her enhanced senses were constantly on the lookout for any potential lightning strikes. Her timing would have to be perfect or with any luck, a bolt would find her first.

(501 Words)
(5000/5000 Freeform 1)
(547 Spare WC)