Deep in one of the many lush and green forests of Stella waited a blue haired werewolf. He lay beneath the shade of a nearby oak tree reading over his latest mission. Given how his last one went with Gene, he was hoping for a more relaxed one. Granted he didn’t mind all the fighting, in fact he enjoyed knocking some of those rebel’s heads together but how Gene went about it, it made even the battle-worn werewolf shudder.

As for today’s current mission, he said he was to be working in Stella, one of the few invaders of Bosco that teemed with nature to the point where it almost seemed unexplored. It made sense for Hildegard to want to do some good here. The Parchment detailed that Raymus and his partner would be going through the forests to look for any Dinosaur’s in distress, either from human poaching or enslavement. A curious note on his letter had the lad worried though. He was given no information on his partner but was told while carrying out the mission, not to enact any lawful arrest in accordance with Fiore’s law. And that was it, aside from knowing his partner would be a criminal all Raymus could do was wait for whoever it was going to be to join him. After that they’d need to scout out the area. It was a simple task on the surface but it was littered with potential problems if they weren't diligent.

Odin was loving the new countries that had recently reopened. First he had been given the chance to explore his ancestral homeland of Iceberg, and now he was enjoying getting involved in a power struggle for the throne of Bosco. Apparently the royal family of this country was even more complicated than that of Fiore (and Odin was pretty sure the current king of Fiore was the distant uncle of the former true king who had been deposed by his father at a young age before returning as the guild master of Grimoire Heart) so that was already saying a lot. Many mages had been hired to come to Bosco and assist whichever heir they believed most in: whether it be the warforged Wilhelm; the illegitimate cripple Reiner; Cassia who was… the girl one?; Brunhild who was never really going to like Odin; and Hildegard who the Lich had pledged himself to. Not only did she seem to be the kindest of the bunch, but her vision of Bosco actually aligned well with Odin’s. He believed she would bring peace and a greater harmony with nature.

On top of getting to explore new locations, Odin was also greatly enjoying another fact: the law of Fiore didn’t exist in Bosco. No one here could really arrest Odin, as there were no rune knights to take him away. That gave him a lot more freedom to work and also meant that, as he arrived at the predetermined position with his partner for the day. Whether this blue haired man was a criminal or the guild master of Fairy Tail -which Odin knew he wasn’t since that was Kazimir- meant very little, as there was nothing he could actually do. This was going to be fun.

Once he took his eyes off the paper, Raymus felt a cold jolt run down the back of his spine, setting the hairs on the back of his neck on edge as he jumped from his seated position. His crimson eyes now turned to slits looking toward the only humanoid looking figure in the thicket. “Oh you have to be shitting me.”
It would be clear to a blind man who this person was. “Please tell me you’re name is Bill…” He sighed knowing full well that this Lich was the one he had heard all the stories about and not some other side character Lich from a random forest. This bastard was without a doubt the infamous Odin.

No wonder the letter was so vague, any person in a light guild would have to at least try to apprehend the Master of Eternal Nightmare! Rune Knight or not. But then again they weren’t in Fiore and as of right now under a totally different Law. Besides, this bag of bones was supporting Hildegard. Still for what reason.

These thoughts and more raced through Raymus’s head as the Lich got closer. He did not trust his friendly stroll or even his mere presence. The sun overhead beamed brighter as it reached closer to Midday. Still poised, ready to knock the skull off his shoulders, (or spine? Anatomy of skelemen was hard!) Raymus stood there not sure what to say or how to proceed, wondering what to do with his hands.

Approaching the man, Odin learned quite a lot already about who his partner would be. For one, he seemed physically stunned when he saw the Lich, but it wasn’t a look of awe that would be afforded Odin if his partner was a criminal meeting their idol. It was much more likely that he was some kind of light mage, assuming he was even from Fiore, and his instant thought was to try and arrest the Lich. “Hi there. I’m Odin Morningstar, looks like we’ll be working together today.” An extended, skeletal hand would hopefully be taken as a sign of friendship. After all, Odin was holding back the auras of fear and power that both his existence as a Lich, and the staff on his back, possessed. There was no need to instantly antagonise everyone who was working for Hildegard straight away. At this exact moment, they all had the same goal after all.

Looking to the piece of parchment in the blue haired man’s hand, Odin would continue, “Were you given the information on what we’re doing here today?” He had a hunch that it would involve the native creatures of Stella: fearsome dinosaurs that would be more likely to aid the Beastmaster more than many of the people would. While manpower was definitely something worthwhile to the cause, nothing could top the awesome power of the dinosaurs. They could be incredible allies if approached correctly, but they were also subjected to terrible mistreatment by the people of Bosco, and even some Stellans.

Raymus looked at the hand and wondered how it was staying together. It made him uneasy and not the same uneasiness as before. His expression slowly changed from a scowl to worry. How would this work? Would he get in trouble for working with a known fugitive? Granted they were in a fairly remote part of the world. Yet the moral implications were weighing heavily on the blue haired mage’s mind.

“I know who you are.” He said finally after about thirty seconds of silent contemplation. “And we aren’t working together. We both have the same job, that's all.” He added. If he made it clear that they weren’t going to be all pally maybe he could absolve himself from any implications.

Instead of shaking the creature’s hand he elected to just hand him the parchment. Seemed as though Raymus was the one given the heads up and mission while the Lich was simply told where to meet up? Perhaps the quest giver was a little too frightened to give the job directly to the Lich for fear he could be added to his bone collection if the job was deemed below him. But then that begged the question, why was he paired with the Lich to begin with.

The note was fairly simple. It gave a vague description of the area they would be searching through. Their four corners consisted of a lake, waterfalls, a large tree with a twisted trunk and a sign to the nearest town. As for what they were looking for, well any sign of animal life really. If the animals seemed safe they were to look for any potential traps or snares and if not they were to deal with the threat. “Let’s go. We should move to the four locations given then do a few sweeps of the place. We have a lot of ground to cover.” Raymus would say in a monotone voice, moving on without looking to see if the Lich was following.

Wow, this guy did not like Odin.That was all the Lich felt as he received the cold reply from whoever his partner was. He didn’t even give his name, which was just extremely rude. It was possible Odin had previously killed his family or dog or something along those lines, but really there was no way to know. What he did know was that the man, who Odin would only be able to describe as ‘Blue’, had no real intention of working together with the Lich, showcasing the terrible racism that Odin had to face on a near daily basis. Arguments could be made that it was Odin’s mass murdering tendencies, rather than his race, that made people judge him, but no one alive had actually made that kind of argument to him.

Despite the fact he could definitely explain the situation to Odin, Blue instead decided to just hand him the letter, another sign of rudeness. So far, Odin had been nothing but gracious to the man, and this was his thanks? Some people just had no manners. The parchment gave a good idea of the surrounding area: four main sections that they could explore in whatever order they wanted and a nearby town as well which they could probably avoid until the end, as well as the request itself to locate and free any trapped animals that Hildegard could use in her fight for the throne. The monotone voice from Blue would cause Odin to look up just in time to see him disappear into the thicket, prompting a quick run after him as they made their way to, from the looks of the map, the waterfall area.

Was it any surprise that Raymus was rude? Was it any wonder that the blue werewolf was being rather cold and distant to the mass murdering Lich? Was it a shocker that this guy right here was causing some discomfort for the fact alone he was considered a catastrophic level threat to the entire country of Fiore? Well it was that and the whole literally being partially raised by wolves thing. Raymus wouldn’t know he was being overly rude to an otherwise pleasant individual on a normal day and considering the person he was speaking to, the thought never even registered. Even all the etiquette lessons he had received from Alisa wouldn’t have prepared him for a situation like this.

Raymus was brooding as he walked along. He heard the Lich try to catch up from behind, his bones clicking against the ground like little miracas. It was difficult not to imagine the man playing some music with his bones on his ribs or something and admittedly it made a small smile appear on his face. Looking over his shoulder, the werewolf let out a small chuckle seeing the Lich move around to avoid the roots of trees and other obstacles around. It wasn’t like he was bumbling or anything but having such an imposing figure try to catch up to him of all people. “You don’t get out much huh?” He teased wondering how well he would fare in the forest being entirely bone and no muscle.

Friendly mocking, outside of Zane who Odin had just accepted at this point would never change, was something the Lich very rarely experienced. Obviously, Blue wasn’t trying to be friendly, but arguably that made it more amusing. He probably wanted to arrest Odin, maybe even kill him, and every word was either sarcastic or laced with venom. “Haven’t been in a forest for some time, it’s a welcome change. A lot less people trying to kill me here”. He paused for a moment before adding, “not zero though.”

They continued further into the forest, Odin eventually catching up to Blue as they neared the waterfall sector. Almost instantly, voices began to filter through the bushes, although their words were still indistinct. He presumed Blue would also be able to notice them, and if he didn’t then he was welcome to walk up to them on his own, so the Lich gave no reason when he stopped in place. Snaking through the shrubbery, he looked out on the waterfall, and at the camp situated at its base. They were still a ways off from the camp, and thus it would be difficult for them to be spotted at present, but they could easily make out the figures and, more importantly, the cages. Dinosaurs, three of them from the looks, were all trapped inside cages, and the thunderous laughter of the group, who could only be poachers, traveled all the way to the two mages. Their intel had been accurate, and it seemed like they were about to have some fun.

“Any suggestions?”

“I suppose it’s never zero huh. I’d say even the ground wants to swallow you up.” He replied to the Lich’s attempt of small talk with more sharp words, but this time turned his head around and flashed a smile for all of 2 seconds before rotating his head back. “But if you’re including me in that list, don’t. I don’t kill people. Werewolves get a bad enough rap as it is and I don’t need to add to it.” The blue haired lad admitted as he continued on. “Besides, you probably read on that little piece of paper but as far as I’m aware I can’t even slap you on the wrist so long as we’re on the mission. So don’t feel too anxious about it, kay?”

As they moved forward through the forest it became very apparent that they were in the right place and the mission wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded. The voices of the men could be heard from where they were and Raymus had just managed to pick up their scent along with the three dinosaurs they had captured. Given how all three were given a bucket of grass Raymus assumed all were herbivores which meant no chance of releasing them and expecting any killer instincts to do their job for them. Odin asked if he had any suggestions but al Raymus could do was rub his chin. “I can try to draw their attention, make a diversion then you can go and release them.” He said before turning to face the Lich once more, now feeling a little more used to his skeletal face. “That okay with you? Or were you only asking to be nice?”

At least Blue was starting to loosen up a bit, even going so far as to smile at Odin as he suggested that Earthland itself was an enemy of the Lich, something that probably had a fair amount of evidence in favour of the theory. And, even better, he said he wasn’t going to be trying to kill Odin. He was a werewolf (interesting information and that kinda explained a lot) and had chosen not to kill so as not to negatively impact the reputation that his furry kind already had. As a Lich, the race that was effectively the epitome of death and evil after demons, Odin didn’t really understand it. He did things he wanted to, and if there were any good Liches still around then they would have to deal with it. At this point Odin basically was his race’s reputation. Then again, he had spoke to Jin recently in helping Hildegard, and he had suggested that perhaps not all Liches were evil. That had been weird giving the brutal murder Odin had caused that day.

With their focus now entirely on the dinosaurs and the poachers, Blue came up with a plan where he would cause a diversion, allowing Odin to sneak up to and release the dinosaurs. It sounded fine. It would work, however he had to admit it was a little dull. “Bit of both I guess. I didn’t really care about your plan but we can go with it if you’d like. I was going to just walk up to them and probably kill them.” Look at Odin, being truthful to new people. This was growth.

The truth hurt but in this case it just made Raymus incredibly peeved. It was just like with Eve. They were more than happy to just kill the problem and forgo the consequences. No wonder his bounty was so damn high. “Let’s you and me get one thing straight.” He turned to look the Lich dead in his eye sockets, his own crimson eyes flaring with an aggravated rage as he clenched his fists to keep him from raising his voice. “While we’re on a mission you aren’t allowed to kill. Anyone or anything. I couldn’t care less what you do on your own time but right now you're on Hildegards and if you kill in her name you are going to cause issues and not just for her. And I can guarantee you, if that should happen you’ll have more than just me as an enemy.” His voice was cold, ruthless as if he was exhausted from having to express this thought.

“But since you have no objections…” He got up and all at once his body began to morph. As his body began to become taller and muscle began to shift, he couldn’t help but see the irony in all this. His transformation, through his own mana made him grow more muscle, more skin more flesh and bone while his little friend beside him decided on the opposite, to let all of that fall off his skin for some extra power. Raymus didn’t share this thought, but the look of pity seemed to cross his wolven face before he shot off around some trees. The motion alone made the poachers curious and once Raymus began to howl all 5 of them left their post to see what sort of animal was causing such a fuss. Leaving their base totally open for Odin to seize.

It seemed like Odin had struck a nerve with Blue, who stopped to have a word with the Lich before enacting his plan. He was clearly very angry at something Odin had said, so much so as to take the time to explain the situation as he saw it. He forbade the Lich from killing anyone while on a mission for Hildegard, as doing so would hurt her reputation even more and potentially gain Odin some new enemies that even he wasn’t prepared for, specifically the entire country of Bosco. While he did think it would be funny for a second country to be hunting him and wanting to destroy him, it was true that he did not wish such a fate on Hildegard. He truly wanted her to become queen, and maybe Blue had a point not to make it more difficult than it likely already would be. He raised in hands as a show of peace, “Sure, okay. I promise I won’t kill anyone that doesn’t try to kill me first. And even then I’ll maybe knock them out instead. How does that sound?”

With that out of the way it was time to enact the plan, and Blue would initiate it with a showcase of his werewolf abilities, changing his form almost like how Odin once did as a vessel for Lucifer, except this was much more primal. The Lich would move towards the opposite side as Blue, who darted around to one side, getting the attention of the poachers and allowing Odin to approach the caged dinosaurs with a great deal of ease. The fact that they were herbivores was helpful in the sense that they wouldn’t try to pick the bones from the Lich, as he unlocked the first cage. The noise of the unlocking, coupled with the dinosaurs effective announcement of freedom, caught the attention of the previously distracted guards. Maybe killing would be needed after all, but Odin wanted to see what Blue would do first.

The werewolf nodded, surprised at how quickly the Lich came around to his threat. Was he really that intimidating? Or did the Lich truly care about Hildegard and her success? The former didn’t seem too likely, given the sheer amount of stronger Mages in Fiore and the possible pleas they gave to the Lich to stop his wicked ways. So definitely the latter. “Thank you.” He said finally before darting off, setting his plan in motion.

Thankfully to start everything was smooth sailing. After transforming and running off through the thicket of trees and shrubs the Poacher’s attention was already secured and his howl capitalized on their curiosity as each one left their post. While they were on their way down, Odin decided subtlety wasn’t the aim of the game here and went and opened the cages as loudly as he possibly could just to make trouble! Or so the werewolf thought. Accident or not the men didn’t even reach Raymus before the turned tail and ran back to check on their captures. “Ahhh no wait!” Raymus called out to the poachers all of whom actually did stop moving and turned around to look at the werewolf. Not quite expecting them to actually do what he said, Raymus was taken totally off guard as all 5 of the men pulled out their guns, mana gathering in each. The Lich would see a large colour explosion followed by the sound of another howl, this time it was no imitation. “HELP!” He roared not long after, his plea ecoching off the waterfalls close by.

The attacks had floored Raymus, sending him back into a few trees beforehand giving him quite the few bruises as well as a burning feeling seeping into his flesh. To think some basic humans managed to hurt him this badly. Not one of them even looked unique, each wearing some camouflage gear, all holding the same type of musket gun. “Only chance you’re getting to piss off.” The werewolf snarled through gritted teeth as he tried to pull himself up before being bonked on the snout by the back end of one of the Poacher’s guns, it now bleeding profusely. “I mean it, you’re all going to die.” All the poachers could do was laugh at this. Not only at the terrible threat from the wounded animal but also because of the stark change of his voice now that his nose was broken. The other 4 men crowded around the werewolf, discussing what to do with him, leaving themselves completely open for attacks from the skeleman surely coming to his friend's aid! “Yeah no I’m dead…”

In theory, the plan was great. They were going to get in and out smoothly without any actual need for killing or doing anything loud. Odin had genuinely believed in Blue's ideas, it was just such a shame that they had fucked up so spectacularly. Part of it, Odin had to admit, was entirely his fault. Actually, the first reason that it failed was entirely due to Odin's fumbling with the lock. He hadn't expected the lock to be as sophisticated as it had been and, without actually having the key designed for the lock, he had resorted to just pulling on the thick bamboo bars, breaking them with ease, despite how loud it was. He only had to break them enough for the dinosaurs to understand how easy it would be to destroy them themselves. And honestly, witnessing their power first-hand was truly something to see.

It would be the scream of HELP, coupled with the fact that Odin hadn't actually seen any of the poachers arrive to protect their prey, that snapped the Lich out of his slight trance. The scream for aid had obviously come from one voice: Blue, and that meant it was up to Odin to actually help him out.

He would approach much quieter than his previous motions, seeing the five poachers surrounding the werewolf who, as it appeared, hadn't even been able to take out one of them. Maybe he just needed a little help? After all, they were all in perfect position for Odin to take them out silently and quickly, with extreme efficiency.

So, naturally, that wasn't what he would do.

"When you said you'd distract them, I figured you'd maybe be able to take out one of them", Odin spoke with a casual, conversational tone despite the situation. All the men turned to look at him, giving Blue a moment to escape, as he continued, "Do you have any idea how difficult it's going to be not to kill these guys?" The first of their bullets collided with the shield Odin had unstrapped from his back and now held, instantly becoming dust as the magic was absorbed. Bullets couldn't really do much to him, maybe they'd try physical attacks instead?

"JUST HIT THEM ON THE HEAD OR SOMETHING!" Raymus yelled as the Lich decided to throw his element of surprise out the window and apply the element of Superior than thou Smug Bastard. He came out of the clearing as though he was on a leisurly walk, speaking to the group like friends who had went ahead of him but who he had now caught up with.

His disappointment made Raymus sick to his stomach, feeling the shame of being put into such a position by these lowly poachers worse than the wounds that were slowly but surely and most definitely painfully seeping into his skin. "I didn't expect them all to actually fucking turn and fire on me when I called out! These guys are idiots and if could use your brain and just incapacitate them it'd be fine! Do you even have a brain in there or did it disintegrate along with your flesh?" The squabbling seemed out of place given the situation and the poachers agreed. One even fired a blast of magic into the air, the sound reverberating around the little clearing. He Glared at them both before aiming his gun at the Lich.

"Now, listen here, I don't know who you two beasts think you are but we didn't do shit to you, so you best leave us alone or we'll mount you on the wall" He said pointing to the Lich "And turn you into a bloody rug." He said pointing at the Werewolf. "We're the ones letting you live here so go get your friend and piss off, we have some cargo that needs delivering." The poacher then lowered his gun for a second until he saw some of that very same cargo run up to Odin and begin to nudge his leg. "Never mind. BOYS!" All at once the other men pulled their guns out, all firing at once. 5 distinct beams of magic came from each musket all aiming for the Lich. The blasts were fast and probably not easily dodged however they seemed to miss one crucial detail. Each bullet aside from one was meant to be used on organic material. One was meant to burn the skin, the other a muscle relaxant, another a hallucination and lastly an anticoagulant. The only one that would do anything was the knock-back bullet. The rest all needed to interact with a living thing's bloodstream to have any proper effect, something a Lich would not have. As for Raymus, well he was bleeding and feeling quite some pain. He made an attempt to get up but who knows what the Lich could have done by the time he did reach his feet?

Honestly, the only reason Odin allowed the poacher to finish his entire sentence without ripping his head off was purely because he was laughing too hard at Blue. The poor werewolf was clearly trying to make this a serious situation and was hoping for Odin to do the same, but that just made him want to do it less. If he still had tear ducts the Lich would've been crying from laughter, and it sounded as maniacal as he himself looked, like a crazed man who had left alone for too many years and had finally snapped. It was the only reason he allowed the insults to slide.

After everything had transpired between the poacher's threats and Blue's insults, Odin instantly became distracted once more, as he was joined by a friend. A young, potentially a baby, dinosaur approached him and began nuzzling into his leg, a sight that even the avatar of darkness thought was adorable. he would bend down to meet the cute dinosaur, not even aware that a magical beam designed to knock him back went sailing over his head.

"Well aren't you just adorable. I think I'm going to call you Blue, because you are the cutest baby I've ever seen."

Four more magical attacks hit Odin in that moment but, strangely enough, they didn't actually do anything to him. He looked over at the men, as puzzled an expression on his face as he was actually capable of, "Was that supposed to do anything?"

Sighing, he stood up and began walking over to the poachers, his shield raised in case they tried to fire any more magical attacks his way. Once he reached the first of them, he would simply deliver a quick punch to the man's gut, accidentally punching through the man as his fist came out the other side. He looked quickly at Blue -the werewolf not the dinosaur.

"Okay that one was not my fault, I didn't expect it to be that easy."

Raymus was not sure which was worse. the fact that Odin had punched a clean whole through a man or that he had called the baby Dinosaur "Blue" as a clear jibe toward the werewolf. It was probably the latter since apparently the whole killing a man was an accident but even still the two seemed to weigh about the same on Raymus' mind. The most annoying thing about the whole thing was Raymus was in no fit state to give lip. He couldn't berate Odin on killing someone, on calling the very green looking dino Blue or that the whole mission kind of went into the shitter. "Just bonk there heads together man..." He sighed slumping back down into the base of the tree.

As for the poachers, well seeing their bullets did no damage already messed up their morale. Seeing their pseudo leader get skewered by a single punch did not help. Hell one of them even got sick on the Lich's shoes. Another faintedd, splitting his head against a well placed rock and the final one defecated himself which the werewolf could smell from where he was sitting. Regardless though the two had won this skirmish, even if Raymus was down for the count. In fact not long after the last guy filled his trousers Raymus passed out, leaving the rest to Odin. These guys would probably be the only poachers around and some prying would spill the beans on any plans for the area.

exit

Odin was used to many different reactions to his strength. The most common ones were fainting or screaming, especially after a brutal death like the one he had just brought upon the lead poacher. Then again, he had technically died extremely quickly, likely not even feeling anything. It was the remaining poachers who had to learn to deal with the consequences. In fairness to them, it wasn't like they had very long that would have to learn. The man who fainted was often a favourite of the Lich's. People thinking they might be saved by the simple fact that they would faint and Odin would leave them alone, only to fall and hit their skulls on a rock or a tree, dying instantly. There was something incredibly funny about it.

What Odin didn't appreciate, however, was someone throwing up on his shoes. They almost got some vomit on Blue -the dinosaur, not the now unconscious werewolf- which was even worse. Looking down at his shoes, Odin took a moment to breathe before talking to Blue -again, the dinosaur. He asked him to go home to his mum, as the next part wouldn't be suitable for a baby.

What happened next was unspeakable, and it was probably for the best that Blue -the werewolf this time- was asleep for it all. He would never have recovered from the trauma. After disposing of the poachers, Odin would carry the werewolf away with him, even being so kind as to take him to a medical tent.

-Exit-