Fandom ~Fairy Tail {Rogue x Akari and Gray x Sakura}~

[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~
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Excited, Sakura grabbed hold of Gray's hand and began to drag him to follow after Hibiki. She smiled up at Gray before giving his hand a gentle squeeze. She followed after Hibiki and glancing behind she saw that Akari and Rogue were coming as well. She noticed that Natsu was being dragged off by Sting and could only let out a small giggle. Guess Natsu was going to have some alone time with the White Dragon Slayer. Sakura saw Akari and Rogue and sent Akari a knowing smile while she cheerfully began to increase her pace to catch up to Hibiki. She looked around the dark forest, as Hibiki was trying to analyze the dark aura in the forest with his Archive, Sakura reached a hand out and lightly touched a trunk. It felt cold...as if the tree was dead or in a deep sleep of some sort. She glanced back up at the sky in silent contemplation.
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Sakura snapped out of her musings when she heard Gray's suggestion. A grin soon enveloped her features as Sakura immediately answered, "I'm in! Let's go!" she turned around and began to delve further into the forest. Sakura felt a shiver go down her spine as they ventured deeper in. The darkened forest was completely dark as the trees blocked sunlight from filtering through the leaves. Sakura looked around in caution as she completely ignored Hibiki's flirty comment directed her way, something about protecting her and if she is cold then she can always jump into his arms or something along the lines of that. Sakura saw that they were getting closer to the strange cloud as it became darker and darker as the group continued to walk. Unconsciously, Sakura walked and stood closer to Gray as she looked for any sort of signs. That was when she noticed something, speaking up Sakura said rather calmly, "Is it me...or is this forest dead?" 
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~ Rogue Cheney ~
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Rogue felt his clothes begin to dry up as he stood huddled around the fire along with a couple other mages. He felt Akari so close to him that their elbows were basically touching. Feeling his cheeks redden slightly, Rogue decided to just look elsewhere while he focused on the mission at hand. He listened to what Jura had to say and then felt someone hold his arm. Looking down he saw that it was Akari and at her comment he was about to answer with a smile until he heard her comment about Hibiki flirting with her. His eyes narrowed the slightest of fractions as he merely answered her back, "Of course I would love to go along with you to scout. And I have a feeling that Hibiki-san is more after Sakura-san..." at this Rogue looked over to see Hibiki attempting to converse with Sakura again. He glanced back down at Akari in silent contemplation, of course he would go where she goes, he would say yes in a heart beat honestly. Shaking his head, Rogue turned around to look for Sting while asking him, "Hey Sting, what are you going to do?" 
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Sting turned over to glance at the two before he sent a sneaky grin towards Akari and declared loudly, "I'm going to go search for food! Natsu-san, you're coming with me!" Sting reached over and began to drag a protesting Natsu away from the two 'couples' as Sting would like to categorize the two. Well it really was just Sting's own way of matchmaking in a sense. Rogue titled his head in question but accepted the fact that Sting wanted to go search for food with Natsu. He turned to glance down at Akari while saying, "Guess Sting is gonna search for food...I hope you don't mind just me?" he gave her a small smile as he turned to follow Hibiki and seems like it was Sakura and Gray who were coming as well. As they entered the forest, Rogue agreed with Gray, "Let's go deeper into the forest...just make sure to stick with someone so as to not get lost." Rogue looked meaningfully towards Akari when he said it.
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@AnimeGenork
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[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaya
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The forest was a bit too dark for Akari's taste, but with a Shadow Dragon Slayer nearby, she was sure to be safe. She agreed with Gray's suggestion, though she didn't voice it. Hearing Rogue's words about sticking close to someone, she glanced up at him only to catch him looking at her. A smile spread across her face. Was he worried about her, or did he want to specifically spend time with her? Reaching out her hand and twining her fingers through his, she saluted with her other one and said, "Aye, aye, Captain Cheney!" Squeezing his hand, she grinned up at him playfully, glad he was with her. Especially since the darkness was growing thicker the deeper they went into the forest. Stepping closer to Rogue, Akari glanced around. "Is a wizard causing this darkness, or is it something else completely? Like some sort of magic?" She bit her lip in concern.
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The trees, as Sakura pointed out, were indeed dead. What kind of magic did this? It certainly wasn't Zeref; his magic didn't leave behind traces of darkness, but rather killed the environment around him quietly. Was this just the prelude to something worse? By now, they were nearing the center of the island, where the smoke seemed to be coming from. "Rogue, if anything happens, I want you to go find Sting, alright? Someone needs to go back to tell the others what's going on. Okay?" She looked up at Rogue earnestly, hoping he'd agree. More than anything, she didn't want him to get hurt, and she'd feel better if he was the one to warn the rest of the group. At least she'd have Gray and Sakura, fellow Fairy Tail wizards, to back her up. Right?
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Gray Fullbuster
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Sakura's remark gave Gray pause as he glanced around and noticed the dead look of the trees. They hadn't looked like that when they first entered the forest. Was this the effect of the magic closer to its source? Would it affect them, too? He hoped not. Any words that the others said didn't register as Gray focused on Sakura's hand in his. Glancing back briefly, he saw Akari and Rogue in the same state. A smirk flickered briefly across his face. How funny that even with Hibiki here, they were still able to stay together. Looking ahead again, he realized he couldn't see Hibiki anywhere. "Hey, wait a minute. Where did Hibiki go?"
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Coming to a stop, Gray looked around. "Did any of you see where he went? He was just in front of us a moment ago." The even greater question was, Did this have anything to do with the dark magic? If they didn't find Hibiki, they probably wouldn't be able to return. Gray began to run through the forest, dragging Sakura along with him. For the moment, he didn't care if he left Akari and Rogue behind; they at least had each other. But Hibiki was alone, and considering they had no idea what was going on, that was practically a death sentence for him. He could only hope that they wouldn't be too late.
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@AiAi
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{Attempts to plot }
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[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~
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Sakura was staring at the dead trees surrounding them when she heard Gray's comment about Hibiki. Swishing her head left and right, Hibiki was no where in sight. She glanced over to see that Akari and Rogue was still here and so when did Hibiki disappear? She tilted her head confusedly, but soon let out a small yelp when Gray began to drag her off into the forest. She gave one final glance towards Rogue and Akari and then focused back on Gray. She began to run alongside him but kept her hand intertwined with his. She looked around while running, trying to see where Hibiki could have gone off to. Sakura was about to ask Gray something when she heard a familiar voice from nearby. She stopped her running which in turn caused Gray to stop as well. Sakura tuned into her hearing and tried to locate where the sound was coming from. That was when her head snapped towards the left side. She began to slowly head towards there while keeping a tight grip on Gray's hand.
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As they neared the spot, Sakura peered out and saw Hibiki struggling on a tree trunk in the middle of the clearing. The moment she stepped out, Sakura called out to Hibiki, "Hibiki-san! We're here!" Hibiki's head whipped towards the two as he shouted in horror, "No! Don't come! It's a trap!" Sakura was confused and was about to ask him what was wrong when suddenly the ground below her began to turn into something like a quick sand. Her foot was quickly sinking into the ground, she glanced over and saw that the tree Hibiki was on wasn't sinking in. She let out a small breath of relief, glad that Hibiki would be safe, now how were they going to get out of this one? Sakura made a thoughtful face before she snapped her fingers and quickly she got part of the surface to be covered in crystal. However she felt herself weaken when she did so, feeling faint, Sakura leaned against Gray while murmuring out, "I...I think whoever's magic this is...it sucks away any other magic..." How were they going to get out of this now? 
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~ Rogue Cheney ~
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Rogue slightly stiffened when he felt Akari's hand intertwine with his own. He glanced down at their connected hands before looking back at the cheerful and cheeky Akari and Rogue could only smile gently back at her. She was silly at times, not that he minded of course. He gently squeezed back and noticed just how much larger his own hand was compared to hers. Rogue continued to walking deeper into the forest as he kept Akari close to him and also Frosch. He looked around and noticed just how dark it was becoming, though due to his dragon slayer magic being shadow Rogue was used to the darkness. Rogue approached one of the trees and touched it just like Sakura did and indeed it was cold. He spoke up, "Hmm...I don't know of any magic that can cause this...unless it is a side effect of the magic being used?" 
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As the group continued on towards the center of the source, Rogue heard what Akari said to him. He snapped his head towards her direction and a visible frown was present on his face. He shook his head and told her, "I rather you tell them that yourself Akari..." he turned around and continued walking forward, he appreciated Akari's concern for him, but he definitely did not want to see her hurt. However, his attention was soon on what Gray said. Looking around, Rogue noticed that Hibiki was missing. He looked around, but couldn't see the blond anywhere in sight. He glanced over at Sakura and Gray and looking down at Akari, his grip on her hand slightly tightened as he said, "Should we split up to search for him?" But as he was speaking, Gray was already dragging Sakura off to go search for Hibiki. He let out a sigh and looking over at Akari he said, "Well, guess we're splitting up. Let's go this way." he pointed the right side, opposite of where Gray and Sakura went off to. 
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@AnimeGenork
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[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaya
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Akari was about to argue the point of who would go tell Sting (after all, didn't the Twin Dragons work together better than her and one Dragon?) until Gray noticed Hibiki's disappearance. Eyes wide, she glanced around, wondering how she hadn't noticed the Blue Pegasus wizard's absence. It was kind of hard to not notice when one of those guys was around. They were just so...flashy. In any case, this was a real problem. Gray must've thought so, too, as he took off running in the direction where Hibiki had been going. They veered sharply left, and Rogue pointed to the right, remarking that they seemed to be splitting up. Akari reluctantly agreed, and followed Rogue in the opposite direction.
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The trees only seemed worse the farther they went in, and colder, too. She refrained from shivering, but, teeth chattering, she said, "I don't think he would've gotten this far, if he had just gone ahead..." The trees began to thin out, revealing a clearing, but just before they ran into it, Akari came to a halt, dragging Rogue back. She hid behind a tree and peered around it into the clearing. There was a group of masked wizards gathered around, casting some sort of spell. Was this the source of the magic killing the trees? Something about the spell was causing dark smoke to rise from the magic circle. Looks like they'd discovered the source of the dark aura around the island. Akari whispered to Rogue, "We should go back and tell the others, before they spot us."
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Gray Fullbuster
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Gray followed Sakura silently, deep in thought. Had Hibiki been captured by someone, or had he just gone on ahead when the rest of them weren't paying attention? But soon, they came upon Hibiki, strapped to a tree trunk. He warned them not to get closer, but Sakura didn't heed his warning and started sinking into quicksand. Gray was about to grab a dead branch to get her out, but she turned the sand into crystal to make it easier. She sank against him, and Gray looked down at her, worried. This magic drained other magic? That was concerning. How were they going to find the source of the dark aura if they couldn't even use their magic?
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Pulling Sakura out of the quicksand, Gray looked over at Hibiki. Was this really him, or a copy? He stepped around the quicksand and walked over to Hibiki, carrying Sakura in his arms. Hibiki's eyes flashed, his face twisting with fear. Gray paused. What was Hibiki afraid of? "Hibiki, what's going on here, man? First you disappear on us, and now you're tied to a tree? What happened?" Hibiki shoke his head, his gaze darting around nervously. Gray looked around the clearing, too. Maybe this place really was a trap, like Hibiki had said. He murmured to Sakura, "Maybe we should go find Akari and Rogue and go back to warn the rest of the group..."
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@AiAi
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[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~
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Sakura felt bad that Gray had to carry her over to safe ground, but at the same time she was thankful. As they reached solid ground, Sakura felt her magic come back as well. Maybe it was just the quick sand that sucked their magic? She shook her head and looked up at Hibiki only to blink. What was making him so afraid? Hibiki muttered out, "We shouldn't have come to this island...it was a trap....just...run.." Sakura was about to smack Hibiki back into sense when she heard what Gray said. Still leaning in his arms, Sakura looked up at him and with a slight frown she said, "We need to save Hibiki...we can't just leave him here...." she then noticed that the cloud was getting thicker and thicker. Somehow she felt a bad feeling about it all. She looked over at Gray and smiling lightly she said, "Plus if there's you and I, I'm sure we will be fine, right?" 
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She turned back to Hibiki and cut the ropes holding him up on the tree. He came to a crumble as he fell, not even trying to catch himself. He was shaking as his eyes held a far away look and he kept muttering the same thing over and over again. Sakura glanced down slightly concerned at Hibiki and then turning to Gray she said, "I think we need to take Hibiki back to the others before we go any deeper..." Sakura's head snapped to the right when she heard something. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she poised a crystal arrow ready to shoot any moment. But her hands came down to her sides when she saw who it was. Looking over at the person next to her and then at the person across from them, Sakura muttered out in surprise, "Hibiki...san?" There standing in front of her, Gray and Hibiki was...Hibiki!? Sakura looked between the Hibiki next to her and the Hibiki across from them. The one across from them spoke up, "Sakura-chan! Gray! You two need to get away from him! It's a trap! I'm the real Hibiki!" Sakura looked in disbelief and then the shaking Hibiki next to them spoke up, "No...no...no! He's lying!...Don't go to him! I'm the real Hibiki!" Sakura looked between the two Hibiki's back and forth before turning towards Gray. Her eyes spoke out to him, what were they going to do now?
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~ Rogue Cheney ~ 
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As the two went deeper and deeper into the forest, Rogue wondered briefly if Akari was okay since the air was getting colder as it became darker. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and made sure to keep a firm grip on her hand, his hand tightened by the slightest. His attention was suddenly on what Akari pointed out. As she dragged him to hide behind a tree, Rogue placed a hand on her shoulder as he peered over her head. He narrowed his eyes as they found the source. He silently nodded to Akari and began to lead the way back to the others. He turned around and froze however when he couldn't recognize the path before them. He looked around, he was pretty sure they didn't come this way...Rogue then turned his head to the other side and it was the same here. Were they lost? But how? 
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As he contemplated this, the group of dark mages seemed to be muttering something as it became louder and louder until a shriek was heard from one of the hooded figures. Rogue's head snapped back to the group and saw that the smoke was become more and more dense as they spoke and the air became even colder around them. He saw the grass on the ground beginning to wilt as all signs of life around them slowly died. He grabbed Akari's hand and began to run into a random direction as he felt a sudden need to run away. Somehow...the dense smoke and things dying must be related...Rogue's eyes narrowed as he tried to sniff out Natsu and Sting, perhaps they could help...Rogue's eyes widened as he glanced at Frosch. "Frosch! Can you fly ahead of us and go tell Sting and everyone else that we found the source?!" Frosch looked confused for a moment but knew of one thing, go find Sting. And so he nodded his head and flew into the sky as Rogue kept running. As the air around them became lighter and there was more life around them, Rogue came to a slow. He placed his hands on his knees as erratic breathing came in and out of his lungs. He glanced over at Akari and said, "You alright?" 
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@AnimeGenork
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[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaya

These dark mages were seriously starting to freak Akari out, so much that she barely noticed Rogue's close proximity. What exactly were these mages up to? And what was their goal? She turned away from the scene to follow Rogue. However, he paused, looking around in confusion. It was then she realized she didn't know which way they had come from. She'd bet a thousand Jewel that the dark mages had cast a spell on the forest to cause such confusion. With a shiver, she glanced back at the mages just in time to see the smoke thicken and the life all around the magic circle wilt. The air became even colder than it was before, and one of the dark wizards even shrieked.

Thankfully, Rogue tugged her away from the circle and began running in a random direction. No way was she going to deal with that all by herself, even with Rogue around. If Sting and Natsu had been there, the story might be different, but for right now, she couldn't even form a coherent thought, much less a plan of attack. As Rogue sent Frosch ahead to get Sting and the rest of the group, Akari glanced back her, noticing the already dead forest darken from the thickening smoke. After a while, however, they reached the lighter part of the island, where nothing had died yet. She put her hand on a tree trunk and tried to catch her breath. Smiling weakly but reassuringly at Rogue, she replied, "I'm fine." After a moment, she asked, "But what should we do about those wizards?"

Gray Fullbuster

Gray grimaced, uneasy at the thought of staying here any longer. Sure, they should help Hibiki...but even he was acting suspiciously. And his suspicions were only confirmed by the arrival of the "real" Hibiki. Honestly, Gray had seen too many of these situations to not have picked up a few things by now. The Hibiki they'd found tied to a tree--and Sakura had just cut down--had been extremely suspicious...not to mention he hadn't called them by name. The "real" Hibiki called Sakura "Sakura-chan," which was honestly more than enough evidence for him.

Stepping in front of Sakura, Gray put his right fist in his left palm, glaring between the two Hibikis. "How stupid do you think we are?" he asked, crouching and bringing his hands up and to his side. "Ice-Make..." he began, glaring at the Hibiki Sakura had freed, "Ice Block!" With that, he froze both wizards in a block of ice. The first Hibiki's image wavered, as if whatever magic was making him look that way couldn't hold together anymore. "Thought so," Gray murmured, unfreezing the ice around the real Hibiki. "Now we really should get going and head back to the others to tell them what happened. Maybe Akari and Rogue will be back there." Hibiki nodded, panting a bit. Gray grabbed Sakura's hand and immediately ran off in the direction of the beach. Whatever was going on, it couldn't be good.

AiAi
{SO SORRYYYYYYYY! First the update and then school hit me hard and now I'm preparing for a band trip! I'll try to be more timely next time!}​

 

[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

Sakura was confused as she looked back and forth between the two Hibiki's. She was about to voice out her confusion, when Gray stepped in front of her, shielding her from both Hibiki's views. She glanced curiously up at Gray and asked him softly, "Gray?" But then her voice died down as she saw what Gray was planning. She kept silent as she watched everything unfold. If this is how Gray thinks will work, then she will not question him, Sakura trusts Gray enough for that. She saw the Hibiki standing next to them to begin wavering. She saw a black cloaked figure, but the face was hidden and hard to see through the ice. She did however, see it's pure white orbs staring straight towards her and Gray. Sakura blinked a few times, but before she could even point it out, Gray have already grabbed her hand and began to lead her away from the frozen fake Hibiki.

Sakura kept pace with Hibiki and Gray as she took one final glance towards the fake Hibiki. He was still glaring at the retreating figures of Sakura and Gray. For some reason, Sakura couldn't shake off the glare, it...gave her a bad feeling. Sakura looked forward and spoke up finally, "Mmm, I agree with you Gray...and Hibiki...you have to tell us what exactly happened...where did you go?" She was curious as to what really happened to Hibiki, but he seemed to not want to speak of it as he remained silent. Sakura looked forward until they reached the shore, though she glanced around to see no one around. She was positive they came from this direction...Sakura looked over at Gray and said, "Do you think we came out from the other side of the island...? But that's impossible...we weren't even in the center of the island yet..." She wondered if it had something to do with the black magic that the forest was filled with.

~ Rogue Cheney ~

Rogue was leaning against one of the tree trunks as his eyes darted around. He was making sure that they were safe here to rest for even just a second. Everything was still green, and he could hear life around them as birds were chirping in the air. Seeing that as a good sign, Rogue let out a sigh and ruffled his black hair slightly as he looked over at Akari. He was glad that he didn't lose her in there...he shuddered for the slightest moment when he thought of what if it had been Akari who went missing instead of Hibiki. Shaking his head, Rogue nodded his head and said, "We'll go back and confront them...but we should have more people, it's a bad idea to just go in with just us two....let's go back to the others, hopefully Frosch already found them."

Rogue turned around and holding his hand out, he said over his shoulder, "Let's hurry, Akari." he turned back and began to head towards the exit of the forest, he hoped to find Sting and the rest, so they can all head in and find Hibiki...and there was also Gray and Sakura too. His eyebrows furrowed as many worries began to plague his mind. He was first worried about whether Frosch didn't get lost and found his way to Sting, and then he was also worried about Hibiki and the other two Fairy Tail wizards. Of course Rogue was also worried about those black mages...but for now all he can do is to keep Akari safe and go find the others. He hurried his pace as his worries kept clouding his mind.

AnimeGenork (Sorry about the wait~!!! ) ​

 

[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaede

"You're right," Akari responded, nodding in agreement to his plan. "Facing magic like that takes more than just two people." She took his hand and followed him to the edge of the forest, briefly wondering if Frosch was able to find Sting. The Exceed had a tendency to get lost easily when he didn't mean to. Not only that, but what about Gray and Sakura? Had they found Hibiki? If not, where was the Blue Pegasus wizard? Hopefully Eve and Ren would have a way to find him if it turned out that her fellow Fairy Tail wizards had failed to do so themselves. Her thoughts drifted back to the dark mages, which were unfortunately a more pressing problem than a missing wizard.

Finally, they broke through the trees and onto the beach. The rest of the group were about a mile or so away. Akari let go of Rogue's hand and ran toward them, desperate to tell all of them what she and Rogue had seen. "Sting! Natsu!" she called, nearing the two Dragon Slayers. Natsu turned toward her, looking confused upon seeing her. Coming to a stop in front of him, Akari panted out, "Hibiki...missing...dark wizards...causing smoke...need to...confront them...with everybody..." After a few deep gulps of air, she straightened and looked into Natsu and Sting's eyes. "There's a guild of dark mages here on the island with us. Only if we bring the whole group do we have a chance of finding out what they're up to. Will you guys help us?"

Gray Fullbuster

Gray tried to shake off the glare of the cloaked wizard, but something about it gave him an uneasy feeling. He could only hope that the guy wouldn't be able to get out the ice for a while. However, as he ran through the forest, he felt a bit turned around, as if he was going in circles despite going straight. "If we keep going, we should be able to find the beach, at least. If we entered at the other side of the island, at least the beach bordering the forest is safer than near the center of the island." Gray's top priority was finding the rest of the group to tell them what had happened.

Soon enough, they broke the edge of the forest. Looking around, Gray saw specks a few miles away, presumably the other wizards. Glancing at Hibiki, he said, "Stay close, man. Let's not lose you again." With that, he tightened his grip on Sakura's hand and ran toward the specks ahead of them. He hoped that Akari and Rogue had also found their way back to them. No way was he going back into that forest without a few more wizards backing him up. He could only hope that their group of wizards would be enough to figure out what was up with the island, and who was behind it.

AiAi
{No worries at all! ^^ }​

 

[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

As Sakura was looking around, she felt Gray tug on her hand again. She looked his way to spot what he was looking at, though she had to squint her eyes a bit. Sometimes she wonders if Gray has an animal instinct or something, how did he spot them from this far off?! Shaking off her thoughts, Sakura ran ahead of Gray and Hibiki, somehow breaking free from Gray's vice-like grip on her hand. She was worried about Akari and Rogue and seeing Akari's figure from afar made her run faster. Finally reaching the group, Sakura ran and jumped onto Akari's back, if Rogue didn't pull her to the side and away from Sakura's bear hug. And so, instead Sakura crashed into Natsu and Sting thus her ending up in Natsu's arms.

Sakura let out a small whine, but looking around she said, "I'm so glad you two are safe!" she noticed Hibiki and Gray coming up from behind and said quickly, "We found Hibiki-san! He's alright!...kind of." Sakura jumped out of Natsu's arms and straightening up, she said calmly, "So we got split off a bit when Hibiki-san disappeared. That was when Gray and I found him tied to a tree...which was surrounded by magic nullification type of traps, or well we thought it was Hibiki-san, until the real one approached us from behind. Well either way, long story short, thanks to Gray's quick thinking, we were able to escape and we thought finding you guys would be first before anything else." She paused for a moment before glancing back at Gray and saying, "I'm not sure if you saw...but that mage that we left in your ice...did you see his eyes? It wasn't normal at all." She turned to Akari and Rogue and asked, "Did you two find anything out?" Sometimes, it seemed like Sakura liked thrilling adventures as her eyes were slightly shining as she explained what happened.

~ Rogue Cheney ~

As they reached the end of the forest, Rogue let out a sigh of relief when he spotted everyone else just a mile or so away from where him and Akari was. However, before Rogue could even get a single word out of his mouth, Akari was already running across the sandy shore towards the rest of the group. Rogue could only clench his fist slightly from the loss of Akari's warm hand and was quick to run after her and towards everyone else. However, he was too late to stop Akari from starting her panic talk. Rogue just arrived on time to see Akari calm down enough to explain a bit more slowly to Natsu and Sting.

Rogue looked around quickly to make sure Frosch was already there and fortunately Frosch was currently standing next to Lector. Just when Akari finished explaining, Rogue approached the three only to have Natsu and Sting's eyes on him. Rogue blinked a second before composing himself and said, "What Akari said is right....but during all this...Hibiki disappeared on us and that was when Akari and I split from Gray and Sakura...and currently...I don't know where the other three are." That was when he saw Natsu's eyes flare in rage at hearing his two guild members were still missing. Sting had to hold Natsu back as Rogue continued, "There was nothing we could do! Anyways, the first thing we have to do is go in there and stop those dark mages and find the others!" Just as he spoke this, Rogue felt a presence closing in fast on them, more specifically on Akari and so on instinct, Rogue grabbed Akari's arm and tugged her to his side. Only to see a head of pink crash straight into the other pink haired mage.

AnimeGenork ​

 

[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaya

Akari didn't even see Sakura coming until Rogue yanked her out of the way. She blinked first at her guildmate, and then up at Rogue. In his effort to pull her out of "danger," she ended up pressed against his side. Her cheeks went slightly pink as she gently extracted herself from his embrace, though she really didn't want to do so. Seeing Frosch with Lector, she crouched down and hugged the Exceeds before looking up at Sakura. "We just told Sting and Natsu. Rogue and I saw a bunch of dark wizards casting a spell that's causing this dark smoke to surround the island. We don't know why they're here, but we figured we should probably get the whole group to confront them together instead of just a few of us."

By now, the rest of the group had noticed the scouting team's return, and they were beginning to gather around. Ren and Eve checked on Hibiki while the others listened intently to Akari's account of their apparent enemy. Glancing at Jura thoughtfully, she asked, "What do you think, Jura? Should we go face them all together or come up with a different strategy?" Standing up and brushing the sand off her knees, she stepped a bit closer to Rogue, somehow feeling more at ease with him beside her. Natsu had calmed down significantly with the appearance of Gray and Sakura, which was a major relief. Whenever he was angry, Natsu tended to rush into things and ruin a set plan. Maybe this time he'd be able to keep himself in check.

Gray Fullbuster

Shaking his head, Gray chuckled at Sakura's failure to tackle Akari. He followed a bit more slowly with Hibiki just behind him, coming to a stop as he reached the small group including Akari, Rogue, Sting, and Natsu. He met Natsu's gaze evenly, and the Dragon Slayer's eyes seemed to lighten, no longer angry at the thought of his guildmates missing in the forest. He listened quietly as Sakura explained what had happened to them, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring off toward the center of the island, where Akari and Rogue claimed a group of dark wizards was casting a spell to summon the dark smoke. When his attention returned to his friends, he saw that the rest of the group had gathered around them. Jura was thoughtful, Lyon seemed ready for a fight, and the Mermaid Heel girls were warily eyeing the trees. Hibiki at least had recovered from the mild shock of separating from the group and then running into an impostor of him. That was a relief.

Gray commented, "I don't think we should confront them right away, but it is better if we all go and check them out. We all need to see for ourselves what's going on." After a brief pause, he added, "I say once we get there we all hide somewhere in the forest close to or with someone else and observe these dark mages. Our best bet is that they'll all be blabbermouths and spill their plans so we know how to stop them. If they find one or two of us, the rest of us will either be able to retreat or help them from our positions." He shrugged. "It's just an idea." He didn't seriously expect them to like his idea, but he at least thought he'd throw his hat into the ring. This was a serious problem, and the sooner they fixed it, the sooner he could go back home away from this wacky island.

AiAi ​

 

[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

Sakura was quiet as Akari explained their side of the story. She stood in between Natsu and Gray as she felt most comfortable there. Plus this way, she can keep both Natsu and Gray in check and also reassure Natsu that his two Fairy Tail guild-mates were safe and back. Sakura knew that Akari would be safe as she glanced over at the Elemental wizard standing between the twin dragon slayers. She smiled lightly as she knew those two dragon slayers would risk their lives for Akari. Shaking her head, Sakura focused in on the conversation at hand, though luckily she was half listening to the important parts of the explanations.

As she heard Gray's suggestion and then Rogue's right after, she nodded her head excitedly, "Why not just combine those two ideas together? I think it'll work out great!" she saw that Jura was thinking the same thing as he also nodded his head in agreement. It seemed like the rest of the other guilds also were agreeing. She then heard what came out of Rogue's mouth next. Her pink head and along with several other heads quickly snapped their direction towards Rogue. Sakura snapped out of her stupor by saying with a pout, "Whaaat, already picking the partner? Then I choose...." Sakura turned her head around to face Gray and Natsu, Natsu seemed like he wanted to pair up with Sakura, but Sting immediately tackled Natsu while asking him to be partners with him. Sakura giggled at the dragon slayers antics before continuing her sentence, "I choose Gray then!" she jumped over to Gray and glomped him as she looked up at him with a smile, "That's okay, right Gray?"

~ Rogue Cheney ~

Rogue watched as Sakura ran into Natsu and Sting, he felt bad for the two dragon slayers, but he didn't want Akari to get crushed by Sakura either. He shook his head lightly at the other Fairy Tail mage wondering how come all Fairy Tail mages were so...eccentric. But he then smiled as he glanced over at the pink faced Akari, then again, being eccentric wasn't entirely a bad thing was his conclusion as he looked at Akari. Rogue nodded his head along with what Akari explained as everyone else began to gather around the scouting team. He felt relieved once Akari was by his side once more. He also glanced over at Jura along with everyone else. They were all curious of what one of the Ten Wizard Saints had to say.

Rogue's mind was racing as many possibilities came to mind. A part of him was concerned, but another part of him was just excited for this thrilling adventure. And on top of it all, he glanced down at Akari, he was able to experience all this with Akari. He smiled as he reached a hand out and patted Akari's head lightly. Realizing what he did, Rogue quickly pulled his hand away as he turned his attention back onto Jura, acting as if he just didn't do that. However, before Jura can even answer, Gray placed his input on what to do. Rogue looked thoughtful as he thought that perhaps that idea would work, he then added, "Well...what we can also do is, once we split up into teams of two...we can try and separate those dark mages and hopefully get rid of them one by one?" He already decided who his partner for this would be. He glanced over at Akari as he asked her directly, "Akari, will you be my partner?"

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[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaya

The plans proposed by both Gray and Rogue seemed pretty good to Akari, and thankfully, Jura seemed to agree. His opinion mattered the most, as he was the most experienced wizard out of all of them. She was distracted from this thought by Rogue patting her head. Of course, being Rogue, he quickly retracted his hand, and Akari, blushing still, tried to refrain from reaching up to touch her head. It was such an affectionate gesture...she didn't know how to take it. At first, she didn't hear his question, until she shook herself and looked up at him to hear the word "partner." Smiling widely, she responded, "Of course, Rogue!" Glancing past him, she saw Sting tackling Natsu and giggled. How like the blond Dragon Slayer.

The wizards from the other guilds were beginning to pair up, too. Ren "grudgingly" went with Sherry, Lyon with Jura, Eve with Hibiki, etc, etc. The Mermaid Heel girls stuck together since the number of wizards was odd. Once they'd all worked out their partners, Akari took Rogue's hand in hers and said, "Shall we get going, then?" She set off into the woods, hoping upon hope that they'd all be able to find the center of the island where the dark mages were. Akari had faith in the combined plan put forth by Gray and Rogue, but even so...plans could always go wrong. Swallowing nervously, she tightened her grip on Rogue's hand and pushed on, silently praying that everyone would make it out of this safely.

Gray Fullbuster

Gray hadn't seriously thought that Jura of all wizards would agree to his plan, though he was grateful for Rogue's addition to it. Sakura's enthusiasm made him crack a grin, which widened as soon as Sting attacked Natsu and demanded to partner up with him. Natsu tried to protest, but he was dragged away with Lector and Happy laughing and flying along behind. Akari and Rogue were already heading into the forest by the time Sakura hugged him and asked to be his partner. Smiling down at her, he said, "Sure. This'll be fun." The other wizards had partnered up and were now heading into the woods after Sting, Natsu, Akari, and Rogue. Gray gently grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her along with him. "C'mon, we should catch up."

The woods seemed a tad familiar as he entered them. This was the stretch of forest he and Sakura had previously entered with the other two. What a coincidence. With a larger group of wizards on their side and a buddy system going on, they were less likely to lose anyone. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed Hibiki had a nervous expression as he stuck close to Eve. Gray instinctively wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulders to keep her close. His eyes scanned the woods for danger as he followed Akari and Rogue to where the dark mages were spotted. This wasn't going to be easy, and he knew that. Hopefully, though, with the overwhelming amount of magic energy all of these wizards possessed, things would be a little easier. At least, he hoped so.
​

AiAi​

 

[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

Sakura's face broke out into a wider grin as Gray accepted her request to be partners. She gripped onto Gray's hand as she agreed with him. As the two began to follow the rest into the forest, memories of earlier came back to Sakura. This forest was looking familiar and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Sakura noticed how tense everyone was, well she couldn't really blame them. They were about to go and face the cause of this dark magic after all. She felt Gray's arm grab hold of her shoulders and bring her closer to him. She glanced up at Gray curiously though for some reason Sakura felt her heart race slightly and her face turned a light shade of red. She looked away in hopes that she wasn't coming down with some sort of cold. She noticed how frightened Hibiki seemed to be and she wondered what he exactly went through when he went missing earlier.

As Sakura's mind began to whirl with many thoughts, she began to space out and allowed Gray to lead the way. She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt the sudden chill descend down her. She looked around as she tried to pinpoint the reason for her discomfort. That was when she noticed how all the greens were dead and nothing was heard except for everyone around her. She felt a piercing stare before looking over, there it disappeared again. She got closer to Gray as she felt as if someone was watching her every move. She noticed Rogue's signal and immediately everyone began to disperse to go and stand behind different tree trunks. She hid behind one along with Gray, she peered over the trunk to see exactly how these dark wizards looked like, only to see nothing? Sakura was confused until she felt the piercing stare once more. She turned around in time to block several arrows that came flying towards her and Gray. She created a crystal shield to block it off. Just as Sakura was about to voice it out aloud, a sudden scream could be heard from nearby. Her eyes widened as she tried to pinpoint the exact location, that sounded like one of the Mermaid Heels!

~ Rogue Cheney ~

Rogue watched as Sting did exactly what Rogue was assuming would happen. He held back a chuckle as he watched with amused eyes as Sting literally threw himself at Natsu and asked to be partners. Immediately the two dragon slayers were already heading towards the forest. Rogue shook his head and turned his attention back to Akari as he heard her answer. He smiled gently towards her, glad that she had accepted. He allowed for her to grab hold of his hand and he simply responded by intertwining their fingers together. Though it took quite a lot of his will to force down the blush that was daring the burst out onto his face at any moment. He shook his head to clear it of distracting thoughts and nodded his head at Akari's question. The pair began to head off towards the forest along with the rest of the group whom are also in pairs.

As they finally began their journey to the center of the island, Rogue felt Akari's grip on his hand tighten by the slightest. He glanced down at Akari to see her rather nervous expression. His eyes softened slightly as he tugged on her hand and pulled her until her shoulder was bumping into his own. He gently rubbed soothing circles onto the back of Akari's hand as he murmured out, "Don't worry...we're all here...I'm here." he smiled down at Akari before focusing his attention back to where they were heading. They were getting close. The greens began to diminish as the forest slowly began to darken as signs of life began to disappear. It soon became silent except for the sound of everyone's footsteps. He was one of the first leading the group and so lifted a hand to signal to everyone else that they were near and to be quiet. He began to approach the clearing up ahead, gulping slightly as memories of earlier came plaguing his mind. He kept Akari behind him as he peered over to see...no one there!? Yet there was still the dark cloud floating right above the clearing. Rogue looked around in confusion, what is happening?!
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[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaya

As soon as Akari's shoulder bumped into Rogue's, she looked up at him questioningly. Her face reddened when she felt him drawing little circles on her hand, and her heart started to beat erratically. The words "I'm here" made her smile, and she finally noticed that their fingers were intertwined. How sweet. But when she opened her mouth to say something in response, he stopped walking and held up his hands to signal the others. They all began moving behind tree trunks, and Akari took that as a cue to drag Rogue behind one. She pressed her back up against the tree, Rogue now in front of her, and peered around the trunk. A dark cloud was floating above the clearing nearby, but no one was there. Was this some sort of magic to trick them. Biting her lip to keep from calling out, she strained her eyes to see if she could spot the others, but to no avail.

Narrowing her eyes at the dark cloud, she twitched her fingers, the air around her responding immediately. She pointed to the cloud, and a sudden gust of wind sped toward the cloud, attempting to disperse it. It didn't work, but it at least gave Akari something to go off of. A scream pierced through the air, sounding vaguely like Kagura. What could possibly be powerful enough to surprise her? Akari wanted to rush off to help, but that could possibly endanger Rogue. She shut her eyes tightly, her face twisting in a grimace. Please be okay, please be okay, she prayed silently, hoping that someone else close by would be able to help Kagura. Most of all, she hoped that everyone else was safe.

Gray Fullbuster

Glancing down at Sakura, Gray noticed she seemed a little antsy. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he glared at the surrounding trees, sure he'd felt someone looking at him. "What the..." he muttered, but he was interrupted by Rogue's signal. He followed Sakura to huddle behind a tree trunk near the clearing Akari and Rogue had described earlier. The back of his neck prickled again, and Gray turned just in time to see Sakura create a crystal shield to block arrows that were flying at them. That's a low blow, Gray thought, his eyebrows lowering over his eyes in a glare. He put his hands together and said, "Ice-Make...Lance!" An arrow of ice sprang from the ground and shot in the direction of the attacker, and he smirked as he heard startled shouts. They were quickly overtaken by a piercing scream from his left.

Gray whipped around, listening closely to the sound. Was that...Kagura? Had Mermaid Heel been attacked? He sprinted in the direction of the sound, suddenly worried. Ducking behind other bushes so as not to be seen, he came to the tree trunk where the female wizards were, only to see that Natsu had gotten there before him. He was wreathed in flames and punching the lights out of a mage in a dark cloak. So much for keeping a low profile. Gray sighed and tried to Natsu off of the guy while calling to Sting, "Hey, Sting, a little help here?" The dark mage scrambled to this feet and ran away in fear. Gray sighed. The plan was falling apart fast. Looking around, he realized that in his rage, Natsu had failed to realize that the Mermaid Heel mages were gone. "What do we do now?" he exclaimed.

AiAi ​

 

[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

As the scream echoed around the dead forest, Sakura saw Gray suddenly dash off towards the source. It was close by. Sakura hurried after Gray and saw the sight in front of them. She frowned slightly as she noticed that Natsu was out of control. Sakura was about to go and help Gray to calm Natsu down, when she saw that the dark mage was running away. As Sting got out of his shock, he quickly scrambled to his feet and began to help Gray hold Natsu down. Sakura quickly turned and began to chase after the dark mage. Her eyes narrowed as she began to form crystals to her hands while murmuring out, "Crystal Make: Bow and Arrows!" She could hear someone shouting after her but that didn't matter at the moment, what mattered was to at least capture one of them.

Sakura readied her bow and aimed towards the running mage. She released her hold on the crystal arrow, watching it fly across the forest and hitting its target, the dark mage. Sakura smirked as she saw it land just where she wanted, the leg of the mage. She saw the mage fall to the ground for a moment before standing back up and limping away. Sakura didn't chase after him, after all her magic will do the rest of her job. She stood there panting slightly as she was out of breath from the sudden running and the adrenaline was still pumping through her veins. Her blue eyes widened slightly as something or rather someone jumped on top of her head. She looked up to see blue fur and letting out a sigh just then she saw Sting come running up after the two exceeds as Lector was also there and asked her, "Where's that wizard?" Sakura smirked as she said, "Don't worry, we'll find him soon enough." She didn't really put to mind the danger she just was in, leaving the group chasing after an unknown enemy by herself, yup, she barely sensed danger at times.

~ Rogue Cheney ~

As Rogue was looking around in confusion, he heard a scream suddenly erupt from nearby. He swished his head side to side as he tried to figure out the exact location from where the scream came from. He knew it was one of the Mermaid Heels, or well that was how it sounded to him. He looked over to see how Akari was doing only to frown at the sight in front of him. He didn't like seeing Akari make a face like that and so he did the only thing that came to mind at that moment. He pulled Akari to his chest and muffled her face into the crook of his neck so as to block out any sight or sound of anything for that moment. He murmured out, into her hair, "Don't worry...they're not alone...we're not alone. We will get through this...together, right?" He pulled back slightly to smile down at her.

Before Rogue could say anything else, he felt a sudden presence appear in front of them. He narrowed his eyes as his grip on Akari tightened by the slightest. He glared at the sudden appearance of one of the dark mages. So they knew that they were about to be ambushed? Or that the forest had some sort of trigger that alerted the group about Rogue and the rest? Regardless, now it was time to do what Rogue suggested, get rid of them one by one. He could see a flame rise up into the sky for a moment from nearby. He smirked slightly, guess Natsu already started. He spoke up to Akari, "You ready, Akari?" He watched carefully as the mage began to chant something incomprehensible. Rogue narrowed his eyes in confusion until suddenly a black smoke began to make its way towards him and Akari. Rogue easily picked Akari up and jumped a few yards away from the smoke. All the little bit of life left were now gone as it was consumed by the dark matter. Great, now how were they going to approach him? Wait, but shadows...Rogue smirked as he let Akari down and checked to make sure she was safe.

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Akari Kaya

Akari felt herself being pulled into a tight embrace, and she blushed as she realized it was Rogue trying to reassure her. He was so damn sweet sometimes; she was never quite sure how to respond to him whenever he was like this. But she appreciated the gesture, and she smiled up at him when he did finally pull away. It was like getting out of a warm blanket cocoon. She suddenly felt cold. Then she saw some of Natsu's flames and grinned. That idiot was probably being impulsive as always, but hopefully he'd helped the Mermaid Heel girls.

Spotting the dark mage in front of them, Akari was about to cast a spell until Rogue leaped out of the way of an attack with her in his arms. She watched in horror as the black smoke the mage cast swallowed up the tree they'd been behind, and she had to remind herself to breathe. Now that she was on her feet, she glanced over at Rogue, who was smirking for some odd reason. Ah, it must be the shadows. Akari stood slightly behind him so she could better back him up. With luck, she'd be able to deftly use her limited Shadow Magic here. If not, she'd resort to her fire. Speaking of which... She shoot a fireball at the dark mage to distract him, nodding at Rogue to do whatever he need to do.

Gray Fullbuster

In his hurry to hold Natsu back from doing something stupid, Gray saw a flash of pink hair and realized that Sakura was going after the wizard he'd just been fighting. He exchanged a glance with Sting and immediately sprinted after her, not caring anymore about what Natsu would do. They soon caught up to Sakura, along with Lector and Happy. Somewhere in his periphery, he saw the wizard she'd been chasing limping away with one of her crystals in his leg. He probably wouldn't be able to go more than a couple of feet before her magic did its job.

As soon as he reached her, Gray hugged her tightly, his voice strangled as he muttered, "Don't you ever scare me like that again." The moment he'd seen her run off, he'd imagined the worst case possible, in which she would disappear like the Mermaid Heel girls. He loosened his grip a little and pulled away. "The Mermaid Heel wizards are gone. That already puts a wrench in the plan. Maybe we should regroup with the others and see if..." Just then, he heard more sounds of battle. He could've sworn he heard the sound that his ice made when it formed. Lyon? Then he must've been fighting with Jura. "That sounds like Lamia Scale! Let's go help them and ask Jura what to do about Mermaid Heel!" he urged, already running toward the direction of the sound. His chest was tight from running so much today. Either he needed more training, or he really needed to stop all this running business.

AiAi
(So sorry!)​

 

[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

Sakura heard Gray and Sting approaching her, as she turned around to tell Gray that they caught one of the dark mages, she was soon muffled by his chest. Sakura's eyes slightly widened as she stared up at Gray, a tinge of pink dusting her cheeks. She could literally hear the worry in his voice and felt slightly bad for running away. She didn't really put it to thought what could have happened to her. She placed her arms around Gray's torso and murmured into him, "I'm sorry...I won't do that again." She then heard Sting mutter something about Natsu-san and running off again and he was soon out of their sight as he went to go find Natsu along with Lector. Sakura watched the Dragon slayer run off once more. Before she could mention it to Gray, a sudden noise from close by caught her attention.

Sakura turned to Gray and nodded her head though she remembered about the dark mage she caught. Oh well, they can get to him later, since Sakura's magic will soon be crystallizing the dark mage's body into crystal, the only way for him to revert back to being human would be through Sakura's doing; no one else can undo her magic besides herself. She followed after Gray while saying, "Okay! But we need to go and get the dark mage's body later for Jura-san!" So they can go ahead and question him. Sakura was feeling tired from all the running around they did today, but she couldn't cave in yet! Even though it was getting harder to breathe as her lungs tightened and burned, Sakura continued on. Soon they arrived in a small clearing or well it was probably a forest but after Jura's magic, it was now a clearing. She saw Jura and Lyon fighting another of the dark mages. So did they all know that there were other wizards on this island and that they would be targeted? Well regardless, they will soon find out. Sakura made a gun shape with her fingers and began to shoot out crystal bullets to distract the dark mage. It worked for soon Lyon and Jura captured it in ice/rock. Sakura waved to the two while saying, "Hey~ Are you guys' okay?"


~ Rogue Cheney ~

As Rogue eyed the dark mage from across of where they were standing, he heard Akari's voice and saw that she shot a fireball towards the dark mage's direction. His smirk grew wider on his face as he nodded and moving along with the fireball, he murmured out a quick thanks to Akari before speaking in a louder tone, "Shadow Dragon's Crushing Fang!" As he spoke, shadows began to generate from his hands as he guided it towards where the dark mage was standing. The mage was busy dodging the fireball that Akari has sent and so didn't have enough time to dodge the incoming wave of shadows. The shadows did it's work by inflicting damage onto the dark mage. However, the mage was soon up and about once more.

Rogue glared towards the mage and spoke up, "Tell us, who are you people and what your objective in this island is!" He wanted answers, hopefully they can answer without him and Akari having to nearly beat him to death. Rogue wanted to try and talk it out if possible. Though he knew better than that as he saw the dark mage begin to mutter something again and this time Rogue didn't give the mage time to recite his spells as Rogue began to send more shadows out to capture him this time. Rogue was about to put the finishing touches when a spark of light came out from the side. Out jumped Sting as he landed on top of the dark mage thus successfully knocking the dark mage out. Sting rubbed the back of his head as he looked over and grinned at Akari and Rogue saying, "Oh hey guys! Have you seen Natsu-san around? He ran off on his own again..." he looked down to see the unconscious dark mage and said, "Oh! Looks like we caught another one! Oh, Sakura-san caught one earlier you see...anyways, we need to find Natsu-san! But...we have to take this mage to Jura-san as well..." Sting stood there unsure of what to do. Rogue held back a sigh as he said, "Well how about we go take this person to Jura-san, then us three can go search for Natsu-san afterwards?"

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[AiAi]

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[AnimeGenork]

AnimeGenork ?

I'm so sorry, my access to Internet has been limited lately because my neighbors (who I was piggybacking off of) changed their provider, so I'm unable to get on except at school. That arrangement doesn't really help either since, you know, school. I'll get a reply up today. I'm sooooooo sorry!

 

[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaya

Akari watched in awe as Rogue's attack took the dark mage by surprise. She grinned, a bit proud of him, the type of feeling that always seemed to be present whenever she was with him and Sting. Though they should've inflicted far more damage, the shadows seemed to have only minimal effect on the dark mage. The Elemental mage growled and shot another fireball at him, watching him yelp as he had the first time. Grabbing onto Rogue's shoulder, she was about to vault over to the dark mage when Sting appeared and knocked him down instead. Akari blinked before smiling brightly at her other Sabertooth friend.

Grinning at Rogue, she threw her arms up and exclaimed, "That sounds like a great plan! The Twin Dragons and Akari, together again!" Hopping over to Sting, she picked up the dark mage and slung him over her shoulder, noting that he groaned in his sleep. "Geez, Sting, you really did a number on this one. Take it easy next time, alright?" Stumbling back over to the boys, she looked up at them and asked, "Now, which one of you knows where Jura is, anyway?" She understood the importance of finding Natsu--if they didn't, the island might very well burn down--but getting this witness to the wisest wizard of the bunch was top priority. Hearing a shout and the distinct sound of ice forming somewhere in the distance, she said, "Never mind. That must be them."

Gray Fullbuster

Gray was so focused on helping Lyon and Jura that he barely registered the absence of the Dragon Slayers. Natsu would be fine, he always was, and knowing Sting, he'd probably gone off to join Rogue and Akari. His burning cheeks cooled as the air whipped his face. His hugging Sakura had surprised even him... He didn't think he was capable of such emotion. But something about Sakura...well, he'd leave that thought process for another time. Preferably when they weren't in the midst of battle.

Glancing over his shoulder to check that Sakura was still there, Gray pushed forward until he came to the clearing Lyon and Jura were. Sakura distracted the mage they were fighting with her crystal bullets, and Lyon and Jura worked together to trap him in a mixture of ice and rock. Lyon smirked smugly at Gray, who rolled his eyes, while Jura smiled kindly at Sakura and thanked her for helping them. "Jura," Gray interrupted. "The girls from Mermaid Heel have been taken by the dark wizards. What's worse, Natsu ran off somewhere. If we don't find him or the girls soon, the island could erupt into flames." Yeah, he was probably exaggerating. But with Natsu, you never knew.

AiAi ​

 

[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

Sakura kept up with Gray as they arrived where Jura and Lyon were fighting. After helping the two with the fight, Sakura smiled happily up at Jura as he thanked her for helping. She simply grinned while replying, "It's no problem!" Sakura's happy smile slightly got smaller as Gray went directly to the point. She smiled lightly over at Gray, he was always one to just get straight to the point, not that she hated it; rather, Sakura admired that side of him at times. Realizing her train of thoughts, Sakura shook her head and added in, "We caught one of the dark mage's too, or well my crystal did. I could locate where he is right now so later we can go and get him." She could feel her crystal magic a few ways off from where they currently were, that mage couldn't have gotten far for her crystal worked rather quickly.

Sakura made a slightly concerned face as Natsu's name was mentioned. It was true though, that guy couldn't more like shouldn't be left alone for too long. Otherwise he might just destroy half of this island...it wouldn't be the first time for him to do such a thing after all. However, before Sakura could offer to go ahead and go get the crystallized mage and find Natsu, a new voice entered the area as a small thud sound could be heard. Looking over, Sakura saw it to be Rogue along with Sting and Akari. Sakura skipped over to Akari before giving the other girl a quick hug and a once over to make sure the Elemental Wizard was safe and unharmed. Sakura went silent for a moment before she suddenly said, "Oh wow! We already got three of them then?! If we keep this up, we can actually achieve our original objective, right Gray?" Sakura tugged happily on Gray's arm as she smiled up at him. She decided to stay close to Gray, since the last time she left unannounced, he didn't seem that happy.

~ Rogue Cheney ~

Rogue visibly relaxed once Sting entered the area, it was a huge relief to Rogue that Sting was around. Plus Akari was there too, which made it even more better since for Rogue, as long as the three are together nothing is impossible. Or that is how he likes to think. He lightly shook his head at the usual antics of Sting and then smiling over at Akari he agreed with her. Yes, the well-known trio was back. However, before Sting or Rogue could react, Akari went and picked the unconscious mage onto her shoulder. Sting stared wide eyed while Rogue let out a sigh and shook his head. He walked over to where Akari was standing and took the guy onto his own shoulder. He looked down at her while saying gently, "I'll carry him." Sting could only comment about how strong Akari was.

When the three heard the shouting and ice forming in the distance, Sting chuckled while Rogue smiled. He turned to Akari and said, "Well then, shall we get going?" He began to lead the way as he kept a tight grip on the guy, making sure that if he even moved, then his shadow dragon magic will unleash onto him and form a shadow rope onto the mage. As they got closer, the sound became louder until soon enough a loud sound was heard and upon entering the small clearing, it was clear that they got their opponent. For Rogue could see a large pillar of rock and ice with a figure in the center of it all. He turned to see Jura along with Lyon, Gray and Sakura. He walked over to Jura before unceremoniously dropping the guy onto the ground in front of the group. He simply said, "We caught one as well."

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Akari Kaya

Sting and Rogue seemed surprised at her ability to pick up the dark mage, though he wasn't really all that heavy. However, she couldn't help but pout when Rogue took over carrying him. His gentle smile calmed her, though, and she whispered a soft, "Thanks," before turning to Sting. "Of course I'm strong, silly! How else would I drag you two everywhere when you're motion sick?" She chuckled playfully and ruffled Sting's spiky blond hair, checking to make sure that Rogue had the dark mage securely in his grasp. The Shadow Dragon Slayer led the way to the source of the shouting, and Akari trailed along behind him, with Sting bringing up the rear.

Akari laughed as Sakura hugged her, returning the embrace happily. The idea of the guild wizards having caught three of the dark mages already certainly made her happy, but she couldn't help but be suspicious. "Other than the Mermaid Heel girls, it seems like we're taking down these guys all too easily. What if this is all a ploy to trap us?" Nervously, she grabbed Rogue and Sting's arms, adding, "I could be wrong, but... It's still really suspicious." Looking up at the boys, she murmured, "Don't you think?"

Gray Fullbuster

Gray looked up as the Sabertooth wizards arrived with Akari and one of the dark mages in tow. He grinned down at Sakura, who seemed pleasantly excited that they were taking down their enemy so easily. Akari's suspicions wiped the grin off his face as he considered her theory. "It's possible they're tricking us, but the most important thing right now is figuring out what they're up to, not to mention the fact that the Mermaid Heel girls are MIA." Looking to Jura, he said, "Every time we split up, something bad happens. Maybe we should take them on as a group?"

Just then, a flame came out of the woods straight at Gray and Sakura. He quickly shouted, "Ice-Make...Shield!" to block the flames. Peering past the shield, he saw Natsu sprint out of the surrounding forest, poised for a fight. The Fire Dragon Slayer looked around and realized that the wizards surrounding him were his allies, and he chuckled guiltily. Gray sighed, "Well, at least you didn't burn down the place, Pyro. Now that Natsu's here," he continued, turning to the others, "we should probably try to find the wizards from Blue Pegasus. Hibiki could probably help with finding the Mermaid Heel girls."

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[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

Sakura put a finger to her chin as she took in Akari's idea. "Hmmm, Akari-chan is probably right...but you kno-!" her words were cut off as Gray shouted all of a sudden. Staying behind Gray, she saw him create an ice shield and then a large burst of flame went around the two as it was deflected by Gray's shield. Once the flame died down, Sakura looked to see it was Natsu. She could only smile as she ran over and gave him a glomp, "Natsu! Where have you been hm? What have I said about wandering off on your own?" With each word, Sakura's voice was as sweet as honey as she placed her hands on his shoulders where crystal particles could be seen forming. Although she sounded happy, she was most definitely not happy with him running off on his own like that.

Once Natsu has calmed down, Sakura turned her attention back to what everyone was discussing. It was quite a difficult question however...just where on earth did the Mermaid Heel girls' go off to? How could they disappear without a trace? As everyone was contemplating this, Rogue asked Sakura a question. She tilted her head towards him as she blinked a few times. She then closed her eyes and located where the mage was and that was when her eyes snapped open. She looked at everyone before looking over at Gray directly and explained, "It's moving...the mage is crystallized that is for sure...but someone or something is carrying him off to somewhere...to the East!" She pointed towards the eastern side and sure enough there was a rather looming mountain in that direction. Hearing Rogue's question, Sakura glanced over at Natsu then Gray and smiling she grabbed hold of Gray's hand and with a slight squeeze she answered, "I think it's worth a shot to check out that mountain. The important thing is to get the Mermaid Heel girls' back to our side safely." Holding Gray's hand was just her own way of comforting herself. She was so near the girls' yet she couldn't prevent them from being taken. She felt rather upset at herself for that.

~ Rogue Cheney ~

Rogue just smiled as he watched Akari interact with her fellow Fairy Tail mages. He was glad that Akari had friends within the guild as well, though it did make him feel a tad sad inside as half of him didn't want to share Akari with anyone besides him and Sting, but his other half was happy Akari had many friends and allies. Shaking his head free of such thoughts, Rogue focused back on the topic at hand, though he made sure that Akari was besides him. He thought for a moment before agreeing with Akari's suspicions, "Akari is right...it's too easy...and most importantly the disappearance of the Mermaid Heel wizards is a concern...those girls are not weak." Especially Kagura, she would be considered one of their stronger allies in their group, yet those girls' got taken away just like that. Something was going on, but what exactly?

A sudden disturbance from the woods caused Rogue to be on high alert as he pushed Akari to stand behind him as Sting stood next to Rogue, both shielding Akari from any danger. Only to see a burst of fire and an overly hyped up Natsu emerging from the woods. Rogue let out a sigh of his own as he shook his head. Why does this not surprise anyone anymore? It was just Natsu's usual antics after all. Once things were calm and Natsu was finally back with them, Rogue spoke up, "Yeah, we should find the Blue Pegasus members as well...though I would like to begin questioning one of the mages we have caught so far...Sakura-san, do you know where that mage is that you captured?" Hearing Sakura's answer, Rogue smirked as he said, "Looks like they're leading us right to them....whether it be a trap or not. What should we do then? Allow us to fall into their trap? Or go find them some other way?" He looked mainly at Akari as he wanted to know what she wanted to do rather than hear everyone else's opinion.

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[AnimeGenork]

Akari Kaya

Akari was secretly pleased that the others agreed with her theory, especially Rogue…not that she would tell him that. Suddenly, he pushed her behind him, and Sting also stepped in front of her. As sweet as she found the gesture, she was mildly annoyed that they also seemed so dead set on protecting her. Gently brushing their arms aside and peeking through them, she grinned as she saw Natsu come out of the woods. That boy certainly knew how to make an entrance. Now if only he could learn to control his impulsivity…

Listening calmly to the others discuss things, she glanced up at Rogue as he addressed her. After a moment of thought, she shrugged. “Honestly, we’re probably walking into a trap either way. But questioning the mages would definitely help with finding their base, if it even is on that mountain.” In the distance, she heard more sounds of battle. “And that must be the Blue Pegasus wizards.”

Linking her arms through the boys, she told her friends, “I think we should go help them and ask Hibiki to help us find Kagura and her guildmates. We can meet back here once we find them. Although…” Looking around, she spotted an especially tall tree. “Natsu, do me a favor and burn part of that tree so we’ll know this is the spot to meet.” Akari nodded at the other mages and said, “If it’s alright with you all, can you go question the mage Sakura captured? The boys and I got this. Thanks!” With that, she dragged Rogue and Sting off into the forest toward the noises of battle, an excited smirk creeping up her face.

Gray Fullbuster

Gray chuckled as Sakura held Natsu in place with her crystals. He wasn’t going anywhere any time soon; that was for sure. Lightly punching the Dragon Slayer in the shoulder, he muttered, “You get wilder every time I see you, Pyro.” Sure, the pink-haired mage was a bit useless with strategy, but there was no denying his power. Still, it’d be helpful if he’d stop running off.

The news of the crystallized mage moving didn’t particularly surprise Gray, though he supposed he should be a bit angry about it. The guy couldn’t wait five minutes, could he? He said, “We should definitely catch him—or them—before they have a chance to disappear.” He nodded at Akari’s words, in full agreement with her. Smirking slightly as Sakura took his hand, he agreed, “It seems splitting up is unavoidable at this point, no matter what we do. There’s not enough time to run around doing everything.

Natsu did as Akari asked, and Gray nodded to the Sabertooth mages and Akari. “You got it, Akari.” Squeezing Sakura’s hand, he started running in the direction she’d indicated earlier. “Natsu, Lyon, Jura, let’s go beat some sense into these guys!” He left the other captured mages to the Lamia Scale wizards as Natsu joined them on their way to the wizard Sakura had captured. He could only hope they’d get there in time.

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[AiAi]

~ Sakura Sylvia ~

Sakura grinned as a plan was finally formed. She saw as Akari led the two shadow and light dragon slayers off with her. Sakura was waving towards her friends while saying, "Okay~! Have fun~! Oh! But be careful too~~~!" Sakura was grinning as she turned back to the rest that were with her. She watched as Natsu burnt the poor tree into a black crisp, Sakura felt Gray squeezing her hand back and she just smiled at that.

She listened to what Gray had to say before he ran off towards the East side of the island. She called behind her shoulder, "Natsu~! Hurry or we'll leave you behind~!" Natsu was quick on his feet as he yelled at the two to slow down. She waved at Jura and Lyon while saying, "Take care of those two~" She grinned as she faced forward and relished in the feeling of the cool wind rushing past her face. She could still sense the mage she captured from earlier and it was getting stronger, they weren't that far ahead of the three. Sakura spoke up to the two, "I can feel his presence! It's just up ahead now!"

And surely enough, as the three continued running, up ahead could be spotted Sakura's crystal and inside seemed to be a mage crystallized. There were about two men pulling the crystallized mage with some ropes. They seemed to be struggling, something in which Sakura was enjoying. Of course a crystallized mage would be heavy! She was grinning as they got in range of the dark mages. Letting go of Gray's hand, Sakura spoke up, "Crystal make: Bow and Arrows~!" She produced her signature weapon while aiming for one of the mages, it struck the arm and she smirked at that. She watched as Natsu tackled that mage to the ground.

~ Rogue Cheney ~

Rogue listened to what Akari had to say before nodding his head in agreement. Yes...it was quite obvious to most that it was a trap either route they decide on, but he still wanted to ask what Akari wanted to do. Before he could comment about it, he along with the rest of the group heard the loud noises and occasional glimpses of snow from nearby. That must have been Eve's snow magic Rogue concluded to himself. He blinked a few times before noticing that Akari was now dragging him and Sting off, heading straight to the source of where Blue Pegasus was most likely.

Sting was waving good bye to the rest of the group as he didn't seem to mind being dragged off, though he soon was complaining about how Akari was too strong for her own good. Rogue could only smirk as he soon set himself upright and walking next to Akari instead of being dragged off. He glanced back to see the group walk off and the scorched up tree that Natsu burned up. Rogue looked ahead and smirking he said, "Well then, let's get this over with then!" He was a bit excited since it's been a while since the three of them got to fight together like this. It was nice.

As they approached the clearing, they saw that it was indeed Blue Pegasus and it seemed like they were fighting about two of the dark mages. Why was there two for this case? Was it because there was three instead of two? Or is it because Hibiki, one of the Blue Pegasus, have had encounter with one of the dark mages? Rogue's eyes slightly narrowed, perhaps Hibiki saw something he shouldn't have and so they sent more mages to get rid of him for good? Well too bad the three just arrived then. Rogue smirked before he sent a shadow figure to block an incoming attack that was directed straight towards Hibiki. Hibiki glanced towards the three in surprise as Rogue spoke up, "Are you guys okay?" Sting added in, "We're here to help you guys! Now let's kick some butt!" Sting seemed quite hyped up.
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