07. Trifling Competition
- Location
- Earth
[] Accept
-[] Win
-[] Win
"Very well."
As it was him who suggested the resolution, not to mention their group being larger than Malenia's, she doubts there will be a fuss once she stands victorious.
Natsu grins in turn, sharp canines on prominent display. "Cool!" he cheers while pumping his now burning fist. "I'm all fired up! Let's go, Lucy!"
His companion utters a long-suffering sigh. She then regains her bearings and offers a friendly nod to Malenia, who returns it in the same manner. "Well, I guess we are competing now. But I do not think this is fair."
"Then you shall understand your folly in time."
Lucy brows tick up the slightest bit in response, but she takes the teasing remark as what it is. Malenia greatly appreciates having someone to talk to who is neither skittish nor rude.
They get walking at a brisk pace, joining up by an unspoken agreement; the bout will begin once they enter the woods.
After a minute however, Natsu turns back with a frown of his own. His nose twitches as he slows, closing in on Malenia. Their eyes meet, his gaze confused and hers cool. Then he covers his nose again.
"Damn, that smell's coming from you! Did you roll through carrion or something?"
"Natsu!"
Lucy's immediate rebuke yields no response. Natsu keeps staring at Malenia, who hesitates over how to respond; her condition was a secret to nobody in the Lands Between, but it is unknown here. On second thought however, she has no great reason to hide it.
"No," she finally says. "What you smell is my body rotting from the inside."
In truth, seeing this rude young man's jaw drop in utter stupefaction is well worth any possible complications. Natsu comes to a full stop now, staring her up and down intently. Lucy is much the same and even the cat seems befuddled.
"Whoa, really? Are you okay?"
"As well as I could ever be, if not better," Malenia responds without pause. It is not a lie, either; the incessant pain is no more than a low buzz ever since she arrived in Earthland, its absence felt more than its presence. "Though your concern is appreciated."
Lucy takes in her appearance again. Unlike Natsu, she clearly associates the many faded scars with what she just learned. The way her gaze lingers on Malenia's prosthetics is telling as well.
"How bad is it?" the blonde asks cautiously. "And, um, is it contagious?"
The second question is her main concern, Malenia can tell. Natsu leaps back several paces in response, only now realising that he may contract the disease. It would have been an important concern in the past, even. Now Malenia merely shakes her head.
"It is not contagious for as long as you stay well away from my blood. There is no cause nor need for pity, Lucy; as I said, I am fine."
She looks like she wants to argue the point, but drops the subject without another word. "Okay. So are you working to pay for a cure or something?"
"There is no cure."
Her reasons for working as a mercenary are trivial and not worth mentioning here. Lucy ducks her head almost dejectedly in response to Malenia's words, likely sympathetic. She can not blame the younger woman's kind heart, even if it annoys her a little.
Natsu seemed deep in thought while they talked, his grin slowly returning. He shows a thumbs up. "Whatever. If you're good, you're good. I'm still gonna whoop your ass!"
He completely ignores Lucy calling him to order again. Malenia arches her brow imperiously, a single twitch making her blade click into place. He may be rude, but his spirit for competition was admirable. Malenia appreciates that her condition will not garner unwanted restraint.
"We shall see. Lead on."
"Gotcha. Now we just gotta find those wolves first."
A task that is far easier done than said, thanks to the Dragonslayer's nose. They come by the pack of thirteen dire wolves within ten minutes, all foaming at the mouth.
Natsu matches their howls with a shout of his own and races off with a flaming fist. Halfway to the pack however, a crimson blur overtakes him. Malenia up and ignores the first wolf that he aims at, but four others are dead by the time he punched that one into the ground.
Lucy runs after them with a golden key in hand while Natsu leaps at the nearest hound. He can not use fire breath with a friendly right amidst the pack. Not that Malenia needs the help. Everything else is dead by the time his fist slams into the second wolf's head.
Lucy's whip winds around the beast's hindleg, pulling it back to knock the creature prone. From there Natsu can follow up easily and finishes his second enemy.
Looking around, the three Fairy Tail wizards find only beheaded corpses. Eleven canine heads were neatly sliced off their bodies, crimson arcs following wherever they rolled afterward. Malenia stands a few paces distant, wordlessly wiping the blood off her sword.
"Wow."
"Wow."
"Aye."
All three stare at Malenia as if they never saw her before. It does not mean that much when considering that they just met, but she is familiar with this sort of reaction. Instead of acknowledging their stares, she draws a knife and begins taking off the left ear from each head.
"I believe that makes it my victory with eleven to two kills. Thank you for the match."
The first beast Natsu downed is not dead yet, so she crushes its windpipe with her foot. Lucy flinches at the noise produced, but she does not say more than that. Rather, she looks at Malenia intently again.
"You did not use magic, did you?"
"Hardly."
Malenia's answer befuddles the girl all over again. Lucy looks to Natsu in search of wisdom, but he can only shrug. Neither of them has ever seen a human move at such speed without magic, yet their sense for Ethernano tells them clearly that she used none. Of course neither of them knows that the woman before them is not at all human.
So they simply watch Malenia work, uncertain what to make of her. Their gazes are noticed but ignored. Malenia knows the difference between a human and a demigod.
After taking thirteen ears as per the agreement, she carefully strings them up for safekeeping. The bodies themselves are dragged into a singular pile afterward. To their credit, Lucy and Natsu soon start helping with that; they need no prompting, even if they are reluctant. Lucy in particular seems queasy at touching the dead beasts.
Once they piled up the corpses, Malenia turns to Natsu. His fire-based powers are perfect for this.
"Whatever ailment afflicted theses beasts may spread from the bodies. May I ask you to incinerate them, so as to prevent its spread?"
He nods slowly, thinking it over. "Makes sense. I dunno much about that stuff, I don't really get sick. That sound right to you, Lucy?"
She sighs in turn, but nods also. "It does. Did nobody tell you not to eat anything from sick animals?"
"Uh, Igneel never did?"
Natsu's confused response only earns grumbling from Lucy. Malenia can glean something about unfairness in regard to dragons; it follows that this Dragonslayer magic has more perks than immediately apparent. Lucy herself just waves it all away.
"Either way, I imagine that Malenia knows more on the subject than both of us combined. So let's get to it."
"Sure thing! Breath of the fire dragon!"
A crimson spell circle appears behind Natsu. Malenia watches in interest while Lucy stills, then panics. The young man takes no notice, clutching both hands together and blowing through them; the spell takes hold, turning his breath into a gout of searing flame.
The fire's size and reach can not compare to the handful of fully grown dragons Malenia beheld herself. It would fit a juvenile if one assumes linear growth. Moreover, the heat of Natsu's flame is clearly notable even when not directly aimed at her. It sets nearby shrubbery alight from proximity alone, outright annihilating anything in its direct path.
Which is about the point Malenia understands why Lucy panics: the flame does indeed set the impromptu funeral pyre ablaze. But it also spreads far enough to catch the trees behind it, outside of the small grove Malenia made to prevent the flame from spreading.
"Natsu, why?!"
Lucy's teary shout receives no answer; the boy in question only rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, watching the brushfire he caused lick at various greenery.
This time it is Malenia who sighs. She darts around without another word, slicing through the burning parts with such speed that most small blazes are extinguished. Everything that keeps burning, she cuts off and throws or kicks toward the pile of dead wolves.
The wildfire is contained within a matter of minutes.
Malenia wipes some ash off of her raiments, well aware of the wizards staring at her again. She arches a brow at them by way of explanation.
Lucy sighs again and conks Natsu on the head with little force. "I wonder why I am even surprised," she mutters. "Thank you for the save, Malenia."
She inclines her head in turn, a wry smile playing around her lips. "Perhaps you should consider more carefully the places where a commission takes you," she advises the blonde. "Preferably before taking it."
"Nah," Happy pipes up with a cheer that does not fit the situation. He raises his paw high as if passing great wisdom. "Natsu always destroys stuff, so it doesn't matter where he goes."
"Hey, I resemble that!"
"Resent," Lucy corrects, one hand on her forehead. "Someone please kill me."
She does not get her wish, but the banter soon fades out. All four of them watch the pyre for a time, Malenia with special care; she made this call, so it is her responsibility to ensure the fire does not spread. It was part of the reason why she stopped it earlier, too. After winning the contest, the reward is hers to claim. She will not allow Fairy Tail's penchant for widespread destruction to taint her own reputation.
Once only ashes and fragments of bone remain, she turns to the two youths and their familiar: "It is time to leave. Come."
They follow without complaint. Either cowed by her prowess or simply pulled along in her wake, Malenia can not quite tell. The forest is quiet around them, bereft of critters that mean them harm; a common bear wanders by one time, but neither side pays the other any more mind than acknowledging their presence with a look.
No ten paces outside of the forest however, Natsu leaps forward and takes hold of Malenia's arm.
"Fight me!"
Looking back at him, the boy bears a big grin. "You're crazy strong! Fight me!" he repeats, as if that would be a convincing argument.
Malenia studies him, well aware how such a match would go. Natsu can hardly compare to Jiemma, who has decades of experience over him. Even if his magic is powerful, he would not get to cast any spells at the speed Malenia fights. He still needs to call spell names after all, a technique wizards deploy to aid with retention during practice; some spells are enhanced with such trigger words to time their casting more easily, too. In either case, the technique is easily countered by breaking the wizard's concentration with a knee to the gut.
"Even though you will be humiliated?" Malenia questions Natsu, whose grin does not sway in the slightest. Quite the opposite, he pumps his burning fist.
"Fighting strong people gets my blood boiling. I'll never get better if I only take safe fights."
She has to arch a brow in response. Even if he is young, his spirit is strong. Perhaps Malenia had the wrong idea about this one, too; she knows better than most that a warrior's heart is their most important part.
At the same time, she senses something odd. A third time now, not too far away. The sun has dipped low while the pyre burned.
Eyes narrowing, Malenia considers her options. Then, with a huff, she nods and pulls her arm from his hold.
"Very well, Natsu of Fairy Tail. I am Malenia, swordswoman and mercenary, and I accept your challenge. As the challenged party, I declare the rules to be thus: the bout comes to a close when either side surrenders, I draw blood, or you score a direct hit."
It is asymmetrical, but Malenia finds this prudent; declaring first blood for both sides would sound disingenuous on their end; Natsu has a shell of Ethernano to protect him from harm after all. She does not mind the handicap, either. He will not land a single blow.
Natsu himself nods eagerly. "Sure thing, let's go!"
He leaps at her in an instant.
"Fire Dragon's- urk!"
Only to get the aforementioned knee to the gut. Natsu wheezes, his flame fizzling out. It does not hurt him directly, but the force of impact still drives the air from his lungs. He recovers with a roll and ducks under the blade coming for his forehead. Malenia takes a step to dodge his lunge in turn, then faces him once more.
The pair circle each other for a moment, vaguely aware of Happy cheering for his friend. Lucy just watches them with a keen eye. The other watches as well, perhaps unaware that Malenia studies their presence nearby. She does not need her full attention to dodge a juvenile's haymakers, he still wastes too much motion.
After the third time Natsu fails to hit her, he leaps back with a growl. His head is as empty as Malenia's, the boy himself trained well enough not to need thinking. His body moves with precision, only lacking experience to keep up with her.
He leaps into the air. It would be a grave mistake ordinarily, but Malenia can not capitalise; she can see the wavering air around him. Heat grows ever more pronounced, a spell cast in the safety of his jump.
When he comes down, he punches the ground with a roar. Clumps of earth and shards of glass fly every which way. Malenia has to leap back a dozen paces, only to stand in front of a dust cloud. Her senses strain to the limit, a wave of heat rolling over her skin.
The soft crunch of a boot on stone alerts her to Natsu's presence. She dashes into the cloud, only for him to come flying out of it with a startled cry a moment later.
Natsu lands heavily on his back. Already halfway toward his feet, a thrown shard of glass from the cloud pricks his arm. The boy hesitates, then drops back down while staring in wonder at the minor wound. It will heal in hours, just deep enough to lose him the match.
Malenia marches from the settling dust next, completely unruffled. "A clever stratagem," she praises the dazed boy. "To make use of your superior senses in such a manner. I can tell you are well trained."
Lucy settles next to her companion, looking back and forth with a mixture of awe and shock. Natsu himself just stares up at Malenia, almost petulant.
"I didn't land a single hit," he complains.
Malenia can not help but smile in response. A small thing it is, almost fragile in its indulgence.
"Few do. You could be one of them if you continue to grow," she muses. Well aware of having both youths' full attention, Malenia decides to elaborate: "What you lack is experience to temper yourself. No matter how fine the material, a blade only forms from it after sufficient blows of the hammer. It is up to you whether you pursue such lofty heights, Natsu. A decade, perhaps two will pass before you reach your apex."
Personally, she doubts that he would defeat her even then. Malenia had centuries to hone herself after all. But he would at least be a challenger. He has that potential. And there is something more, a niggling feeling at the back of Malenia's mind about this boy.
Natsu himself listened raptly. Lucy has to explain some of the terms to him, but he gets the gist of it on his own. His grin reemerges and he leaps to his feet, one fist raised.
"Alright, I'll get loads stronger and then I'll beat you!"
"You need not be stronger," Malenia corrects him. "You need to be better. Just as strength can be cultivated, so can skill. Having one but not the other will only hamstring you."
Natsu frowns, but does not argue. Lucy seems to have soaked up the lesson as well, absently fingering something in her pouch.
And the hidden observer is still there. Be it that they want to be noticed or simply think themselves beyond detection. Malenia is just about certain about their identity by now. The main question is whether she should send the children away and risk them fleeing the scene again.
If it is who she believes, privacy would not be amiss. But what use is privacy if the other person vanishes before they can speak?
[] Send them ahead, then call out
[] Call out now
[] Ignore the watcher for now, keep interacting with Natsu and Lucy
