Shadows extended over Era Town as it basked on the brink of twilight. The flyer in her hand, she casually strolled the streets as she carefully read its message. The client seemed to be someone named Daragast, who was in some sort of employment with the Magic Council. Whether he worked with them or for them didn't matter much, as she finally had work to do. According to his message, there is a wolf that roams the streets of Era after dark, mercilessly killing anyone unfortunate enough to cross its path. It seemed to have already reached an impressive body count and that number was reportedly growing by the day. Her mission was to find this wolf and end its reign of terror so that the citizens of the magical capital could sleep soundly again. This should be a piece of cake with her heightened sense of smell as a Dragon Slayer. Surely a wild animal would have a pungent enough odor that the ice mage could pick up from a mile away.

Sufficiently exhausted from the previous few days, Tori doubted she could make it through the night without any help, much less be of any use in a fight. It was then Tori found a small coffee shop tucked in between what looked to be a couple of apartment buildings. Walking in, the blonde was immediately overtaken by the heavenly smell of all the different blends of coffees mixing together in the air. Most would notice the aroma, but to someone with a good sense of smell, it was an entirely different experience.

It appeared to be slowing down for the day, as the need for coffee was no longer needed as most people would be home in their beds within the next couple of hours. Walking up to the counter, Tori ordered a medium sized coffee with two cream and three sugar. As the barista was preparing her drink, Tori looked down and noticed a case filled with different pastries as well. After perusing for a second, she also requested a chocolate chip muffin.

Her things paid for, Tori asked if she could sit at one of the tables at the patio. "Of course. Do keep in mind we close soon, though." the girl answered. She was not much shorter than Tori herself, but couldn't have been any older than 16. "Would it be at all possible if I could loiter for a short time after you've all gone home for the night?" she asked, already knowing how creepy that sounded. She figured it would be best to explain herself. "I'm a mage from out of town and I'm taking a request that forces to be out in town at night." she explained, assuming that the teenager would probably assume that it was to eradicate the wolf. "I'm wanting to wait a little longer in the evening so I have a better chance of accomplishing my goal. I should only be another hour or two?" she said in an inquiring tone, asking again if this was acceptable. The barista ran it by her manager who said that it was indeed fine, as long as she kept the wolf away from his business. She nodded and laughed, assuring him that would be no problem as she made her way outside to the patio.

She would sit at a table alone, assuming she would be the last customer for the night since it was already so close to closing time. She would nibble on her muffin and sip her coffee while she just waited on time to pass, taking in the sights and sounds of Era as she did so. Nice as it was, she knew it was going to be a long night.

631/2000

Sitting on the patio and enjoying the crisp evening air, Tori had just finished her snack when she heard a familiar voice ring through the quiet. Still chewing, she looked over to see none other than Fairy Tail's own Kazumi. This girl was just popping up everywhere lately! Covering her mouth with one hand, and holding up a single extended finger telling her "one moment," Tori hurried to finish her bite. Hurriedly, she swallowed before answering her black haired guild mate. She had asked what Tori was doing out this late, and before answering, Tori would think that question would apply to her as well.

"Oh, nothing much. Just taking a job from the guild. Something about a wolf that has escaped and is killing citizens. Now I'm supposed to get rid of it." she said plainly, a hint of remorse in her voice. She felt upset about having to kill it, but at the same time, the lives of the citizens of Era are more important than that of a rabid killing machine. "The manager here let me loiter a little while as the night progresses to give me a better chance to find it. What are you doing out here?"

She would wait until Kazu finished replying before deciding to get on her way. If Kazumi decided to come along and give her a hand, she would welcome her with open arms. If not, she would simply bid her farewell and tell her that they would meet back at the guild for some R&R. She finished her coffee and discarded her trash into the can on the patio before setting off. As she explored the city streets, she would have small talk with Kazumi, should she have agreed to join her in her endeavor. After walking for about 20 minutes, Tori started to detect a slight twinge in the air, like wet dog. Tori knew this had to be the wolf she was searching for. She turned a corner and, lo and behold, there it was. A large wolf stood in the middle of the street, its snout buried in the entrails of his most recent kill. A girl about 16 years old by the look of it laid in the street with a look of utter horror on her face, what you could see of it behind her fiery red hair. Tori let out an exasperated sigh and a deep breath, which caught the animal's attention. It neglected its meal as it walked over the teenager towards the Fairy Tail mage, death in its eyes. This was it. Go time.

1068/2000

The heat of battle had started to rage as the wolf started to close in on Tori as she took a fighting stance, ready to punch through the wolf's very body, so to speak. As it neared, Tori readied a punch, but did not have time to deliver as a knife made of crystal flew from the side and pierced the wolf, causing it to turn its attention to the source of the blade. Not recognizing it, Tori turned her attention slightly as well, seeing Kazumi pull back her hand as if she had just thrown an actual knife. "Oh, so you use crystal. Pretty." she commented, noticing the wolf now paying no attention to her and instead to the one that harmed it. "Oh, that's how it is?" she thought to herself formulating a plan in her head. "Alright then, how about this?" she said quietly as she ran to the side wall. She jumped onto the wall about a meter above the ground and bent her knees to launch herself from the building. She encased her fist in magic with solidified into ice before delivering a powerful blow to the creature's blood covered maw. The wolf spun around slightly, clearly taken aback by the sudden blow to the face before turning its attention back towards the ice mage and snarling with a look of pure death in its eyes. A few more blows like this and they Fairy Tail duo would make short work of this threat. Tori backed up a little to see that the wolf's attention was now focused on her. If the wolf only pays attention to the last person that hit it, this would be easier than she thought. "Kazu, quick! Fire something off at it!" she yelled to her friend as the wolf readied itself to pounce on the blonde.

If Kazumi didn't react in time, the wolf would grab a hold of Tori's leg and attempt to shake her to rip it off. She would reply in kind, of course, but she would rather not limp away from this fight if she had a choice in the matter. Tori's little experiment just had to pay off. It just had to. She only hoped that the crystal mage picked up on her idea.

1448/2000

525/550:

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As Tori backed away from the wolf, it seemed her little plan worked like a charm. After hearing Kazumi make a sarcastic remark about the blonde's ice magic which mimicked her own remark about the crystal magic, the black haired female shot a stream of crystalline butterflies that tore into the beast's side. She followed up with a slash from her sword in passing as she dodged the wolf's retaliatory attack. Now revving to lunge towards her guildmate, Tori used the wall yet again to propel herself into the air. This time however, she would spring upwards instead of towards the creature and cross her arms to conjure an orb of ice magic in front of her chest. She forcefully separated her arms to shatter the orb of light into many tiny shards of solid ice. As they glimmered in the moonlight, the shards flew towards the wolf, landing with pinpoint accuracy directly in between its shoulders. The location of the wound would make it difficult to walk swiftly afterwards, giving the two Fairy Tail mages even more of an advantage.

Taking an example from her sister in arms, Tori would also follow up with a second attack as she came down to the ground. She would encase her fist with ice as she did before, only this time the punch would be brought down straight onto the animal's head, likely giving it a severe concussion. Regardless of the severity of the wound, the wolf would be assuredly more disorientated than from her previous punch. The two women could use that as an opportunity to finish the job once and for all. Having landed, on one side of the wolf while Kazumi was turning around on the opposite side of the creature, she saw the sword in the crystal mage's hand and immediately knew how to finish it off. She was no more than a meter or so away from the wolf, so it would be simple. While the wolf was still trying to figure out where it was, the Dragon Slayer positioned her arm just so to form her own sword, again made of ice. The sword was almost as long as Kazumi's from the looks of it, so it was perfect. "Kazu, quick. While it's discombobulated, if we use both our swords at once, it might be enough!" she said in a hurried and raised tone, meaning to signal urgency. "One, two, three!" she shouted as she plunged her blade of ice forward, into the wolf's chest, and hoping her friend followed suit.

Assuming Kazu took part in the combination attack, the wolf would crumble to the ground as many vital organs were punctured, no matter how much pain it could withstand. If Kazu didn't use her sword as well, for some reason, Tori would attempt to get vital organs but would likely miss, given the wolf's chest was a decent size all things considered.

1935/2000

450/550:

As the two women composed themselves from the battle, Tori leaned against the nearby wall for support. She didn't exactly trust her legs at the moment, but needed a second to regain herself and get her head on straight. Kazu wiped the blood from her sword on the dead girl's jacket, and made mention of the mess in the alley way. She said that it should probably cleaned up and pointed out that the girl's family should be informed of her untimely demise. Tori simply nodded in agreement, reluctant to be the bearer of bad news as much as she was sure her guildmate was.

"What's going on down there?"

A shout was heard, followed by footsteps as a town guardsman approached the scene. "Ah, I see you two young ladies got to the wolf that was giving us so much trouble." he exclaimed, a glimmer of happiness in his voice as he made the realization. "Too bad it was after he had gotten to her." he said, his voice now soaked with sadness as his gaze was directed towards his latest and last victim. He spoke into some kind of radio lacrima before turning his attention back to the Fairy Tail mages. "We appreciate everything you ladies have done. Please accept this reward for ridding Era of this beast." he said as he handed a bag to the two women before walking away and continuing to speak into the lacrima.

"Well, Kazu, what do you say? Lunch back at Fairy Tail? My treat."

-exit-

2000+/2000