Wanted: Mage assistance . Multiple mages will be needed, prefer a team possibly two.
Job description: Capture male and female pairs of a rare type of bird.
Location: Several, all travel expenses will be paid by client.
Duration. Varies, duration will be however long it takes for the team (s) to capture a pair of each variety of this rare species.
Reward: 1 million jewel per pair safely captured and brought to client.
To accept contact: Fiore Zoological Society. Fiore Zoo, Crocus. Astrid Colbinger special acquisitions director.
The request had caused a serious stir through the guild. When it came in Mira had double and triple checked the reward amount, it was true. The Fiore Zoo in Crocus had been given a very large grant to put together a new exhibit of a rare species of birds in all their varieties. The wanted pairs so that a captive breeding program might be started to prevent the birds from going extinct.
"Why would they need mages for that?" Bickslow frowned standing beside Cobra who gave him a dark look for invading his space.
"The birds are magical, they use various forms of magic, they're not as strong as a human mage of course, but normal people can't handle them safely so they want mages to do it. With your magic, you'd be great for this Bickslow…" Mira said brightly. Bickslow frowned slightly "I can't possess animals Mira...or well...I can't do it well anyway...I do know somebody though…." He smiled suddenly and tugged on Cobras sleeve urging the man to follow him.
They had become fast friends, Bickslow and the Poison Slayer, oddly enough. Bickslows Seith magic somehow kept Cobra from being subjected to having to listen to his soul and Cobra found that silence very appealing. So, while Bickslows overall behavior sometimes got on Cobras nerves, in general, his liked the guy and Bickslow found Cobras soul listening abilities fascinating, his nasty sarcasm fun and all together enjoyed Cobras sometimes unfriendly but always brutally honest company. Cobra was in the Raijinshuu, had been for almost a year and since he'd been pardoned, he'd gotten himself a nice apartment near the guild and was enjoying being a legal guild mage instead of a criminal on the run.
There was a lot to be said for having a home,and a warm bed in a safe place to sleep every night.
"What's going through your head Bix?" He asked as they moved away from the others, mildly interested in the teams vying to take the job on. Makarov was being picky. He'd already reduced Levy to near tears by sternly telling her she and her team were not strong enough to handle the job unless they grouped up with a bigger stronger team.
"So, I know some people, my brother Kalebs guild has a couple of beast masters, either one could probably charm those birds right out of their feathers…" He was saying
"Won't work. First team the zoo sent was 4 beastmasters and a wood make mage to make cages for the birds. The beastmasters couldn't control the birds because of some unique quality they have," Laxus was suddenly there and Bix and Cobra both looked at him, Cobra frowning faintly, the bugzapper was all into wanting to land this mission.
Laxus had already called the requester and spoken with her at some length about what the Zoo had already tried.
Bickslow frowned. "Well shit...what would work then?"
"Not here, lets go to my place and talk, Freed and Ever are already on their way there, lets move. Gramps isn't sending anyone right away, wants to go over the teams asking for the mission, I have some ideas." He smirked, sliding his narrowed blue eyes over the group of mages that had collected and were talking about the lucrative job.
His eyes met and sparked on Natsus and he smirked, if Cinderbutt thought he was going to get his hodgepodge clutzy demolition team in on a delicate mission involving catching rare birds? The idea alone made Laxus laugh.
"We gotta land this mission Luce." Natsu said in a half growl glaring over at Laxus. Lucy rolled her eyes. If she had learned anything during her brief stint as Natsus girlfriend, it was that he was horrifically competitive. Finding out his abusive tendencies including eating all her food, breaking into her house and wrecking her things didn't get better just because they were sleeping together and that "dating" Natsu meant going on fishing trips and doing things she usually didn't consider fun...not even in the same universe as fun really, had soured her on the whole thing pretty quick.
His fat jokes at her expense and teasing her about her weight didn't go away either, so she decided they were far better off as friends, broke it off, had Levy and Freed put protection runes and wards all over her apartment building that nicely kept Natsu out unless he had her express permission to be there and she'd found, after crying and drinking way too much in Hargeon night clubs with the girls a couple of times, she was happier.
She knew their team would be a horrendous choice to capture rare birds. Did she want the money? Of course! But aside from herself, there was nobody on their team except Erza capable of delicacy and Erza only held that out when cake was involved.
"Natsu, they don't want burnt dead birds. Lets find something else." She sighed. Natsus glare turned on her. "Hey! I can catch some dumb birds without hurting them!" He snapped.
Lucy barely managed not to roll her eyes. "Of course you can Natsu, but it would be a serious pain in the ass trying to find those birds and we could get another job done and the money in our pockets way before we ever even found a bird." she reasoned.
"Pfft, bullshit, you don't think I could do it! Well I'm gonna land that job Luce. I'll talk gramps into letting us do it." He said confidently.
"Little birds that resist control methods sound like a tall order for our team Natsu." Lucy sighed.
"Geeze Lucy we're not wrecking balls." Gray up behind her.
"Yeah! That's your designation anyway with your big heavy butt." Natsu snorted. Gray and Lucy both made a face.
"Gods Natsu when are you gonna grow up and quit the bullshit nasty jokes?" Gray asked in disgust.
"Fuck off iceprincess, Lucy can take it, she's one of us." Natsu sneered.
"Yeah takes it so well she dumped your ass." Gray sneered back. Lucy managed to side step the pair as they jumped on each other and started their standard brawl.
Looking up she watched Laxus lead Bickslow and Cobra from the guild hall, no doubt to strategize landing that bird job. She'd love to be part of it, that kind of money would really do a lot for her.
Sighing she went to the bar and ordered a strawberry milkshake, Natsu could stick his insults up his fiery ass.
Lucys comments didn't get past Laxus, he heard them as he led Cobra and Bickslow away. He glanced back right before the doors closed to see her looking wistfully after his team.
"Such a waste." He muttered.
"Yeah she has this weird loyalty thing to that team but she's really wasted there, so is Erza, hell, anyone working with Natsu is usually wasting their time." Cobra snickered and Laxus did a double take and sighed, nothing got past Cobra.
"Not much." Cobra agreed with a smirk.
Bickslow rolled his eyes "Talking about Cosplayer?" He asked. Laxus nodded "Yeah, she's talented, smart, strong with her magic, she's stuck on a team of half crazed wrecking balls, Natsu treats her like shit, Happy is a fucking asshole, Erza never listens to her and Gray is too busy being moody to pay attention to much of anything aside from dodging Juvias endless grabs for his dick." He said.
Cobra chuckled "Bout sums it up. Never have understood why she stuck with them after they all dumped her when the guild disbanded."
"Yeah, she'd even just broken it off with Natsu before Tartaros started and he just left her a fucking note when he took off." Bickslow said bitterly.
"I'd steal her over to the Raijinshuu if I could." Laxus admitted "She'd work so well with us." he'd enjoy seeing Lucy have a chance to shine instead of struggling endlessly like she did. The truth was, Lucy was better off as just friends with her whole damn team.
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The following day, Makarov took the stage at the head of the guild and smiled out at his children. For the last year since Fairy Tail had come back together, Makarov had been working with guildmasters across Earthland trying to forge a better network and alliances with strong legal guilds.
Bickslows father had been instrumental in the forging of the alliance Fairy Tail had forged with the large Boscan guild White Sea. The last few months had seen some of Fairy Tails members taking advantage of the exchange programs. Standing before the guild, Makarov, smirking, eyes bright with wickedness, announced he was going to take part in it himself personally.
"I will be trading places with White Seas Guild Master for 6 months. I will run White Sea in Bosco and Master Kaleb will take over Fairy Tail here. I expect you all to behave yourselves and show White Seas master the respect he really does deserve and not force him to show you how he earned his position. He's run a guild several times the size of Fairy Tail for several years now, so he'll serve well and I plan to really enjoy some time by the Grass Sea and try out Boscos bath houses." He said "and particularly their bath attendants…" he thought.
There were some groans then, from Natsu "What about who's going on the bird job?!" He demanded.
Makarov smirked "Oh I'm leaving that choice up to Master Kaleb, so keep that in mind you brats, you want that job, you'd better be good for him!"
There were groans throughout the guild hall except at the Raijinshuu table where Bickslow was grinning broadly. Master Kaleb was, after all, his older brother.
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Cobra started heading for home when Mira started shooing everyone out of the Guild Hall so she could close for the night. Bickslow strolled along beside him "I am so not ready to call it a night...I mean, my brother is going to be running the guild for 6 months, he's got two of my other brothers coming with him, maybe even one of my sisters and we've got a damn good shot at that big jewel job since Makarov decided to leave it to Kaleb to pick who got it." The Seith said brightly.
Cobra smiled faintly, the Seiths enthusiasm was infectious and he knew how close knit Bickslows family was, they had all but adopted the Raijinshuu, Arman even sending Cobra some exotic poison infused chocolates he'd had their family chef make for his birthday...those things were fucking amazing too.
Packages from Bosco were something all the Raijinshuu about burst with glee over when they got them, even Laxus, who had spent time in Bosco during his exile from Fairy Tail, had even had a little fling with Bickslows sister Xally while he was there and learned alot about his Dragon Slaying magic with Cristoff, Bickslows younger brother who was a Lunar Dragon Slayer that had been raised by the Lunar Dragon Nurem.
Cristoff was a healer primarily, but had strong fighting skills as a knight of the Royal families private guard. In Bosco, enrollment in the military at 15 was required of everyone including mages, and his abilities had been noticed by the Order of Immaculate Light so he'd been tested and gone through induction, emerging from the light branded as a battle healer and officer.
It had been very good for Laxus, the study of his own magic with someone near his own age that was fun to hang around with, patient and knowledgeable, then the travel and exposure to a new culture, he'd sown his oats pretty heavily in Bosco, Xally was a typical Boscan woman and had friends she didn't mind sharing her lover with.
"So what you got in mind then?" Cobra asked.
"I'm thinking maybe the Silver Swan club." Bickslow smirked. Freed rolled his eyes and Evergreen blushed and snapped her fan shut. "Not me, I have no interest in that place, It's barely legal!" She declared.
Bickslow chuckled "It's legal Ever, maybe not lacy princess enough for you, but it's legal, you should so take Elfman there on a date some time." Bickslow declared and even Freed snorted at that.
The Silver Swan was more than a strip club or bar, it was a fetish club that catered to kinks and served exotic drinks that did border on illegal, probably crossed the lines now and then.
It was clean though, well run, had some serious bouncers the owners had brought in from Atla that didn't mind breaking bones if somebody got out of line so if someone was curious, it was probably a safe way to appease that.
Cobra had been there a few times with Bickslow, liked that the bartender had no trouble serving him some nasty poison laced drinks that actually did get him buzzed now and then. Place required be did some good screening so he wasn't bombarded with people's bizarre fantasies but in Bickslows company he could focus in on the Seith, who was sweet pleasant static to him and drown most everything out. Freed stayed with them, Laxus made a face and like Evergreen, headed home. Watching Bickslow sling an arm around Cobra who snarled at him but was ignored while Bickslow slung his other arm around Freed and ushered the two men along with him.
Laxus shook his head, The Silver Swan required him to be in a certain mood to enjoy and he wasn't in that mood right now.
Bickslow had confidence his older brother would be favoring them but Laxus knew Kaleb, he was an indulgent older brother and friend but a strict Guild Master used to running the largest guild in Bosco and Laxus knew Kaleb had his top people coming with him. This wasn't a social visit with Kaleb on vacation, His abilities as a Guildmaster were going to be under scrutiny by the curious Magic Council and Royal house of Fiore so he wasn't going to be goofing off or accepting bad behavior.
It was a good thing, Gramps was too easy on some of the members and Kaleb no doubt wouldn't be that easy, plus...and this was more personal for Laxus. Bickslows father had said while he was staying with the family during his exile that he wished Emzadi was there, Laxus had never gotten to meet Bickslows youngest sister.
He and Xally had really enjoyed his time in Bosco, though both had known and been fine with that just being a temporary thing. Xally was in med school at the University and enjoyed the thrill, as a water mage, of sex with a Lightning mage. Emzadi though was a Dragon Slayer, and a heavy hitting one by all accounts, full on pure battle oriented like he and Natsu were, Gajeel, Wendy, Cobra, Cristoff even Sting and Rogue from Sabertooth all had ways to use their magic for things other than pure combat, open melee, only Laxus and Natsu were pure combat...and Emzadi it seemed.
A female slayer, double s class ranked no less like himself, who was purely combat trained and according to Bickslow, she was normally melee. Laxus was eager to meet her.
He walked instead of teleporting back to his home, giving himself time to think about the days ahead and what the change in leadership might do for Fairy Tail over the next six months. It was going to be a hell of a ride, of that he was certain.
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The guild opted for a party two nights before Makarov was to hand the guild off to Kaleb and depart for Bosco to take over White Sea. A going away party was organized, Mira insisted it was a must and nobody was willing to argue with her, it was easier to do as she said.
White Sea was no different, wanting to see their master off in style and have a great time doing it.
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In Bosco
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The music was pulsing, resonating bass making the floors thrum as bodies moved in rhythm with it.
The center of the action was the circular stage where the band was playing, a tall man in black leather held the mic "Guild Master Kaleb of WHITE SEA bout to be leadin the Fairies in Fiore bringing the party to Magnolia!" He shouted and everyone screamed as he shifted into singing.
Bodies moved, the dancing was filling everyone with excitement. Kaleb laughed watching his baby brothers antics on the stage, nobody could get a crowd going like Vander. This going away party seeing the Guild Master and the members chosen to go and support him in Fiore off would likely continue well into the following day but he was having fun.
He was a young guildmaster, one of the youngest in Earthland and by far the youngest in Bosco, so it was good for him to join his people and he did, pressed in between two of his mages, Thessaly in front of him, Trissa behind him, Thessaly grinding back into him while Trissa gripped his hips and pressed into him from behind.
He was handed another stiff drink and tossed it back, feeling it burn down his throat and smiling. He could drink a barrel and it wouldn't affect him, the light burning in his veins and pulsing through his body kept impurities and toxins from being able to get a hold , he couldn't get drunk, but he could enjoy himself without that, especially with beautiful women grinding against him, he didn't even resist being guided toward one of the recessed booths in the guild hall where curtains could be pulled for privacy, knowing it meant the party was about to get a lot better for him.
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In Fiore
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Makarov was laughing, Gildarts leaning in beside him pointing out which of the many young mages dancing before them was interested in another but still too afraid to do anything about their feelings.
"This is going to be an experience for them...a big change." makarov laughed. Gildarts was grinning, he was going with Makarov to Bosco, and was hugely looking forward to it.
Makarovs eyes fell on Lucy, who was sitting looking torn and unhappy, though her face lit with a mask of happiness and excitement when a friend's eyes fell on her he knew it was forced, she'd been through a lot.
The beautiful blonde had trouble accepting her own feelings and desires mattered, she was a passionate young woman and deserved to enjoy her youth and have her feelings, wants and needs respected.
His eyes fell on Levy, dancing with Jet and endlessly pushing him back from her, a blush tinting her cheeks if they got too close, irritation flaring in her hazel eyes if Jet got too pushy about touching her, Levy had more insecurities than Lucy did, so many she had become almost as much of a heart breaker as Cana was, starting relationships with men then ending them suddenly when things started leaning toward becoming serious.
Not that his young men were much better, He caught sight of Laxus, his grandson had a serious problem with giving his feeling credit or respect if they edged into real depth beyond a need to endlessly prove himself. He knew where that came from but the tall handsome young man had so much to offer, and with a good woman at his side, hell with a good man at his side, just somebody to damn well love and be loved by he would be so much happier, have the stability he didn't even realize he was lacking.
He couldn't figure out just how to get his children to let their hair down and stop being so...uptight…
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In Bosco
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He'd already seen Cristoff dragged into a booth almost an hour ago by three women and one of the newer men, with the Lunar Dragon Slayer it rarely took long, Cristoff was as popular as Vander was, the difference being Cristoff was actually a romantic, Vander was all about the sex.
He'd started dancing on stage with Espilon, their resident explosion mage, she could sing, and had set her sights on him a few weeks ago, they had burst into "Timber" and had the whole guild wildly dancing while women stormed the stage to dance around Vander who was only in his tight black pants now, letting Espilon rip away his shirt, she only in her underwear. He was a little surprised Espilon hadn't cornered his little brother earlier, but he could be hard to catch busy as he tended to be.
This upcoming exchange with Fairy Tail was going to be interesting.
They had all visited Fiore to see their brother, and all been somewhat impressed by how reserved and...repressed the people were, prudish and almost afraid of their own bodies and desires at times, Kaleb laughed again as the brunette in front of him yanked his belt open the moment he gave his consent and the blonde behind him opened his shirt to push it down his arms and start kissing his bared skin.
"Too long Master Kaleb...I've wanted you too long…" Trissa groaned as her hands started moving over him. Kaleb growled when he felt teeth but laid back, hearing Vander rising the energy by switching up into one of the club songs he'd picked up, silly but fun and the beat was good, still being fucked and eating a woman out to "cake by the ocean" as the guild stepped up their dancing just past the thin curtain and made the floor vibrate, was an interesting experience.
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In Fiore
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Natsu snarled at Gray when the ice mage slung Juvia out and backed up noticing Natsu sitting on a table instead of dancing. Something he said made Natsu furious and the pinkette lunged at him, the two fighting right into a table and crashing through it, Lucy leaping out of the way and bumping into Bickslow who spun and caught her before she fell, his eyes narrowing on the brawling pair and taking his own swing but Natsu fell as Gray kicked his legs out from under him and Bickslows swing connected with Elfman who jumped at the Seith only to hit Cobra who slung the big man hard right through Gray and Natsu bowling them over.
Makarov sighed, watching his children start venting their frustrations into the only thing they seemed ok with doing...property damage.
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In Bosco
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The curtain parted shortly after the blonde got off and slid down to lay on the bench beside him and Kaleb was occupied seeing Thessaly to her end. He barely noticed the hands sliding around him, lost in the atmosphere and sensations rolling through him. "Master...please...may I..?" The breathy request drew his lavender eyes to meet the burning wide eyes of his top beast master and Kaleb growled, Beck had been begging for years and he would be going with Kaleb to Fiore. He pulled back from Thessaly, hand shooting out to Becks arousal, smiling when he found the man hard he nodded toward Thessaly and Beck frowned slightly but slid into the space Kaleb made for him as his master pushed his pants down.
Thessaly grinned when the massive beast master slid over her when he slid into Thessaly though his eyes rolled back as he felt Kaleb press in behind him, "Once Beck, no more...bend over and dont deny Thessaly…" Kaleb purred in his ear and Beck groaned as Kaleb pressed into him from behind, the Guildmasters thrusts into him guiding his into Thessaly and he snarled at the overwhelming pleasure.
They were Boscans, this was part of what they were and obsession was never healthy, so he would give Beck this so he could move on.
He heard Vander pull a woman on stage and she was singing at him, by her breathy groans starting into the mic Vander was making her performance more pleasurable than most, the party would spill into the booths and the booths throughout the hall, nobody was shy, he knew the curtain to his own booth was open, Beck hadn't closed it when he'd pulled him in and there were hungry eyes on them.
People were laughing, some dancing had decidedly degenerated into making out, the alcohol flowed, the music pulsed, he heard Cristoffs voice take over on stage and when Thessaly came Beck was taken with her and he closed his own eyes, losing himself for a moment as the two beneath him collapsed, he sat heavily on the bench, only on his own a few moments before another mage was sliding into his lap purring their request that he nodded his consent to, he didn't plan to refuse anyone tonight, lest he leave someone frustrated in his absence.
He saw Cristoff, nearly naked in nothing but the snug thong their sister had insisted would look better on her muscular brother than his usual boxer briefs. "Oh come ON Cris, with your ass? Do the world a favor, you know you'll get stripped down early in the night, why not wear something they won't mind seeing remain on you?" Emzadi had said.
The moon nearly full, the following night aboard the airship to Fiore would be a hell of a thing, it had made sense to have the party before Cristoffs effect on everyone would be too overwhelming to manage.
Vander had clearly been drug off stage by Espilon. Kaleb was drawn to the steaming waters of the large community bath, they had pulled the curtains that usually separated it from the main hall so the party could include its steaming waters that were pumped up right from the Grass Sea less than a mile from the Guild Hall, heated and used as the ultimate medicinal bath for White Seas members.
Some party goers were already in it or near it. Kaleb was pulled into the waters and quickly surrounded, he knew the water mage who had wanted him here and knew why she had as he felt her start enjoying his body, Gods...sex with water mages in the hot baths...he'd almost forgotten how immensely good it was…He'd been too damn busy with the business of running such a huge guild, didn't spend nearly enough time with his people. Fairy Tail was tremendously smaller, he was looking forward to getting to be more personal with its members than he could be with his own.
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In Fiore
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"I'll put you out!" Cobra snarled, slamming Natsu down into the bath waters of the mens bath house, the brawl had somehow spread there and Natsu had been trying hard to burn the Poison Dragon Slayer who had taken Grays side in the fight after Natsu had decked Bickslow.
Makarov turned to Gildarts and smiled " I think I might leave handling the after effects of tonight to our visiting Guild Master." he chuckled. Gildarts threw his head back and laughed, reaching out so his fist caught Elfmans jaw as the big man charged him hoping to draw the crash mage into the fight. Elfman soared across the guildhall crashing through the far wall.
"Well, it will give him a glimpse into what he'll be handling for the next few months!" Gildarts laughed.
Bickslow hopped his babies and shot over the gyrating crowd showering them with beer while Laxus' lightning chased him and tested his agility. Lucy was already edging to the door, she'd had about enough, was nicely buzzed and since her break up with Natsu tended to dodge the brawls he was always involved in because she had no reason to stay and endure them.
She'd seen him piss Cobra off and didn't doubt his ass would be poisoned and sick soon and she didn't want him even thinking of turning to her for comfort so she was better off making herself scarce.