Capture the Illegal Mage! ...or at least try to...

[Sakura Ai]

Sakura gazed up at the bounty board at her guild, looking for anyone that might have been a low enough level for her to turn in. Her eyes landed on the picture of a man with white hair and hazel eyes, wearing a suspicious hoddie with the hood over his head. Subconsciously, Sakura gazed down at the name and other information located on the sheets. It clearly read THOMAS FARRELL in big, bold letters. The bounty was only 5,000 jewels, so he seemed like an easy catch. The sheet also read LOW LEVEL, presented in the same fashion as his name. A flicker of recognition went though Sakura, but she wiped it away as just an old name. After all, she didn't know this man. She ripped the poster down and rolled it up. She walked out of the fairy tail building, out of the city and to the forest beyond.

The road she was greeted with was not as grand as the ones in Magnolia Town, unpaved and covered with pebbles and dirt. There was a fork in the road, one swerving left and the other right. Sakura didn't know where they lead, but she had no intention of following either of them. She walked to the split the road, past the dirt and into the forest. There, she hid in the bushes and waited for the man to walk by. After all, the bounty sheet had said that he was to be scheduled to walk past here today.

"Animal Soul: Partial Transformation Cat!" Sakura said quietly, briefly surrounded by a bright white glow. When it disappeared, Sakura was left wearing a brown bikini, cat paws, and a tail. The cat ears, of course, she already had. She popped them up for the time being, completing her cat look. After all, you can't dress up like a cat and not have ears!

[Merc]

Riley was getting more than a little nervous as they made their way through a forest, which was apparently relatively close to Magnolia town. The territory being unfamiliar was part of what made her uneasy - alone, in the forest, without the use of her magic. As weak as it was, it was more or less her only defense. She exhaled quietly, raggedly, her green eyes dancing, observing the trees, the bushes, the falling leaves -before anxiously turning her gaze to Thomas.

The main reason for her unease was the fact that they were nearing Fairy Tail, which was the guild that Thomas planned to turn her into. The guild will someone was likely already waiting to retrieve her and bring her back to the assassin's guild that she had fled. She was certain that harsh punishments lay before her, but as always, she could say nothing of it. Even if she did, would it change anything? Most likely not.

A hand rose to her neck, a habit she had picked up since the suppressor had been latched around her neck. She tugged at it, picking and hooking a finger under it, as though to try to loosen it. Wearing it was something similar to being trapped in her own body. It left a feeling of helplessness that she was, sadly, becoming accustomed to.

"I... Don't suppose you'd take this off for me anytime soon?" She wondered aloud, looking more than a little flighty as she glanced to Thomas once more. She cleared her throat and slowed her pace a little, uncertain.

[Thomas]

Thomas had been walking through Southern Fiore with Riley, nearing the Fairy Tail guild where he was supposed to take her to complete the mission. After their detour, Thomas had gotten them back on the right track, or so he thought from what he divined from the stars. Following the main road seemed to be the best course of action. He hadn't any need to fear being seen with her. After all, he guessed it would be just a short distance from there to Magnolia and anyone who was following them would be behind them, not in front of them.

How wrong he was.

Unknown to himself, he had reached the fork in the road where a certain take over mage was hiding. They had stopped briefly to examine the sign that was standing in front of a bush, surrounded by trees. "I... Don't suppose you'd take this off for me anytime soon?" The now familiar voice asked. Thomas looked over to Riley who was fingering the collar on her neck. The suppressor. It ensured her magic would be repressed for the extent of their journey. He didn't need for her to think about escaping and perhaps lose her to another set of bounty hunters who were looking for her. After all, if they were looking for her, Thomas himself would be a pretty catch.

"You shouldn't worry about it. We're almost to Magnolia." He spoke, nodding over to the sign leading them down the left road. "Besides, we haven't run into much danger since the Akane Resort." Thomas pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest. Besides, it wasn't like she was completely defenseless. Not only was she a trained assassin, but Thomas was also there to protect her. Not that he was going to mention this. It was just something she should know by now. "So, are you alright to continue on, or would you like a rest first?" Thomas asked, gauging her condition.

[/blockquote]

[Sakura Ai]

Sakura stopped all movement as she heard the approaching footsteps of Riley and Thomas. She looked up at them, the grass she was hiding in acting like a tinted window; she could see them, but they could see her. Slowly, as to not make any noise, she unrolled her sheet of paper and compared the picture there to the man walking towards them. Yep, definitely him...[/i] Sakura thought, looking back and forth between the man and the paper, just to be sure. But who was this female he was walking with? She had never seen this girl before, but she seemed to be annoyed by a collar on her neck. From what it seemed, Thomas had collared her himself. But why in the world had he put that thing around her neck? Perhaps he wanted to keep the female as a pet...

Realizing she was thinking too much, Sakura bunched her legs underneath her and waited until the pair were directly in front of her. Then, building up power in her hind legs, she leaped off the ground and tackled Thomas, completely ignoring the female mage. She landed on top of him, holding a sharp paw to his throat, her tail twitching excitedly behind her. "Ah hah! Now I have you! ~Nya!" was all she said, looking down at Thomas. Unfortunately, now that she 'had' him, she had no idea what to do with him. After all, if she got off of him then he could easily run away without the element of surprise on Sakura's side. Oh, and there was also the problem of the female mage. Would she try to protect her captor?

Oh, I know! I can knock him out and then drag him back to Magnolia! she stared at the man, still holding her paw to his throat. After a short silence of thinking, she was still unsure what to do. That's pitiful... I don't even know how to knock him out.[/i] She slowly got off of him, crouching on the ground. "Now, walk slowly to Magnolia like a good boy or else I'm going to have to injure you. Got it!? ~Nya!" she speaking in a commanding voice, hoping he would accept her bluff. Of course, she could injure him with her claws, but they weren't sharp enough to actually kill him. Sighing to herself, she hoped he would listen.

[Merc]

Almost being at Magnolia is what's worrying me, though... Riley mentally sighed, finding the fact that they hadn't run into much trouble lately to be irrelevant. She rubbed awkwardly at her neck as she thought. It wasn't the bounty hunters she feared, but whom she thought would be waiting for her in Magnolia.

"Mm, I didn't think that would work," she murmured, taking noticed of the sign as he asked her the question, she paused for a moment to consider it, her heart beating a little heavy and head feeling somewhat light as the realization of how close they were set in. "... Let's... Just continue... I'd rather get there and get everything over with..." She answered, closing her eyes for a moment, she heard a rustling nearby and her green eyes popped open in time to see Thomas being tackled to the ground by some sort of... Cat girl?

She blinked, slowly, stupidly, at the fact that Thomas had so easily been knocked down - feeling a little stupid herself for having been tackled to the ground by a man that had been taken down so easily by a little girl with cat parts. The girl seemed to have taken Thomas hostage, as she has gotten off of him and told him to start walking towards Magnolia.

"Am I... Missing something?" She wondered aloud. Riley could not help but feel a little forgotten as the girl seemed to be fixated on Thomas for some reason or another. Should she use this chance to escape?

She might have considered that, but ultimately decided that she would feel bad for leaving him (and that she would be screwed without him as she was still wearing the collar). "Um... We were heading for Magnolia anyways, so... There's really no need to hurt anyone.." But it's hard to imagine such a cute kid hurting anyone, anyways...

[Thomas]

Thomas, who had been just about to continue walking, more or less found himself laying on his back with a... girl on top of him? Well, that was odd. Not only did this person have cat ears and what seemed to be a tail swishing around behind her, but she was wearing a bikini. Great. Just great. He'd officially gone crazy. "Ah hah! Now I have you!" a voice spoke. The girl's voice spoke. Alright, now he was hearing delusions speak. This was obviously not good. "~Nya!" With that, Thomas blinked at how utterly strange the entire scene was. Thomas didn't speak, his hazel eyes simply looking up unflinchingly at the girl above him, his face serious as though this were an every day thing for him. After a moment of silence she got off of him and he raised on eyebrow, leaning up on his elbows as she crouched on the ground. "Now, walk slowly to Magnolia like a good boy or else I'm going to have to injure you. Got it!? ~Nya!" For someone who was trying to be intimidating, she was doing a terrible job at it.

"Um... We were heading for Magnolia anyways, so... There's really no need to hurt anyone.." Riley's voice pipped up as Thomas stood, a hand flitting over his sweatshirt as he brushed off the dirt from himself.

"It's true." He said, tilting his head to the side as he looked at the girl crouching on the ground in her bikini, contemplating her for a moment before his eyes came to rest on the Fairy Tail marking up high on her arm, revealed for all to see. It had been obvious she was a mage, but it had been less so where she had been from. Thomas frowned as he realized in a moment what was going on. Fairy Tail had sent her here to capture him? That was news to Thomas. Had he been found out already by the guild as an Illegal Mage? He had done several missions and had though to make sure he hadn't used any magic for anyone to see. However, he remembered recently in Akana. Had someone seen that..?

"You know," Thomas spoke, his eyes narrowing skeptically at Sakura. "Getting off me probably wasn't a good idea if you were trying to capture me."

[/b] He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side. "Not to mention, why are you dressed in a bikini? I know it's warm, but don't you think you should be a little more clothed?" Thomas thought this to be sensible. She was conspicuous with a capital 'C'. He was surprised he hadn't noticed her before she'd pounced on him.[/blockquote][/size]

[Sakura Ai]

Sakura put one paw to her forehead, thinking about what they both said. The female mage seemed to be trustworthy, but Thomas, on the other hand, was the person she was trying to capture. Already going to Magnolia...? What kind of trick was this? If they headed into Magnolia, they would both surely get captured! Perhaps it was their goal to get caught? What kind of criminal would want to do that? Sakura pulled out the piece of paper that had the bounty for Thomas, unrolling it and showing it to him. "But... but... how are you going to go to Magnolia when you have a bounty? That's the home of Fairy Tail and they would be happy to capture you! Then where am I going to get my money?! ><" Clearly, Sakura had not thought that statement through. Actually, despite thinking her actions through before, she still had acted quite stupidly.

She listened to Thomas as he mentioned that she should have probably stayed on top of him. Tears came to her eyes, as she wasn't one much for criticism. Even if it was only a little. "I'm sorry Mr. Farrell. ~nya" she sniffed a little, her kitty ears drooping. "Would you like me to get back on top of you?" she didn't seem to be kidding, and stopped talking as he continued on, wiping her tears from her eyes before they could spill. "But... this is what happens when I transform! I can't help it! ~nya" she held up one of her paws to him, showing off her sharp claws with a soft, pink pad. It was more like a cat glove than an actual paw, but it was still attached to her arm. "Plus as a cat I don't have any thumbs. I can't dress myself like a human does! So I guess that is why my spell changes my clothes like this. ~nya" she stared at Thomas with wide eyes as more tears came to them. "Don't criticize me like that! You're so mean! ~nya! ~nya!"

However, criticism wasn't what Sakura had to worry about at the moment. This was an "evil criminal" she was talking to! He could easily knock her out or even kill her. But who would want to hurt a little kitten~? She turned her attention to the girl Thomas was with, sniffing at her. "Who are you? ~nya" she asked, getting off the ground and standing up. Despite that she had risen to full height, she was still nowhere near the tallness of Thomas nor Riley. "Is that man being mean to you?" she pouted, not bothering to wait for her response to that. "Mr. Farrell you should be ashamed of yourself! Apologize immediately! ~nya" she mimicked the voice of her teachers when they were scolding a student- or course, minus the annoying cat noise she put at the end of every sentence. Sakura wasn't quite sure why she did that, but it was more impulse than anything else. Hopefully, Thomas wouldn't be too annoyed with her and try to beat her up.

[Merc]

As the young mage (at least, she assumed she was a mage, she hadn't ever seen a cat-person before) announced that Thomas had a bounty on his head, Riley blinked a little in surprise, slowly turning her gaze towards him, as she wondered if this could possibly be the truth. It dawned on her then that she hadn't seen a guild logo anywhere on his body while they had been at the beach, but it was hard to imagine that an illegal mage thought it was wise to try to turn in another illegal mage.

Her eyes flickered between the two and she immediately noticed that the young girl was tearing up a little, which made her feel a little bad for the girl, even though she was trying to capture her captor. The girl soon confirmed that she was a user of some sort of transformation magic, and Riley nodded her head a little - at least that much made sense to her.

"Ah, my name is Riley Aquila," she announced, bringing her right hand to rest over her heart and giving a bit of a bow - an old habit that she hadn't really broken out of. As she up righted once more, she looked towards Thomas, whom the girl was already scolding, soon shaking her head softly, "no, he's been quite nice to me, all things considered..." She assured, but a hand soon rose to the collar that was wrapped around her neck, "but I do wish he would take this off... I have a bad feeling..." Her voice was a mere mumble as she finished what she was saying and peered around them a bit.

All things considered, the girl didn't seem to be much of a threat, not did she really seem to want to cause anyone harm. Perhaps she was being a bit too naive, but Riley found herself removing her jacket and attempting to place it around the girl's shoulders, "if you put your arms out, I can help you put it on, it will be a little warm but you shouldn't walk around like that for too long, there are a lot of bad people in Fiore," she pointed out.