The Forest works with Fire

The Team Up
Eugene and his Exceed partner Moss were sitting in the guild hall feeling quite bored. Their teammates Wendy and Romeo were out so the two of them couldn't go on any jobs. "Hey Moss, want to just go on a job on our own?" Eugene asked his companion. "Sure" Moss replied as the two went to the job board and they saw a person they haven't seen before. "I haven't seen you around, what's your name?" Eugene asked attempting to be friendly. The person was leaning against a poll and he stands up properly and shows out his hand* "Name's Hoshikuzu,you can call me Hoshi for short if ya want to"

"Nice to meet you." Eugene replied. "The name's Eugene and the flying cat here is Moss. Do you see any good jobs on the board?" "Nah,not really, I haven't looked yet" Hoshikuzu said calmly. "Wanna go on a job together?" Eugene asked all of a sudden. "Wendy and Romeo aren't here so my team can't go on a job at the moment. And I think it'd be interesting if I teamed up with people other than my teammates or Natsu and the rest." "Eugene, stop being so random!" Moss exclaimed "Yeah,really isn't a lot to do" Hoshikuzu said. "Okay then, let's go on a job that requires a lot of fighting!" Eugene exclaimed getting excited. "I always want to see other's fighting abilities." "Heck to the yeah!" *Hoshikuzu fists pumps* "How about this one then?" Eugene said pulling a job off the board. "The client wants someone to defeat these magic using bandits that have been seen near Alargate." "Seems good,so why not" Hoshikuzu says. "Then let's going then!" Eugene exclaimed with excitement. The three of them then took the job, reported it to Mirajane and then left the guild hall. Things were going smoothly, until they reached the train station. "I forgot, the one thing I hate about going on jobs is having to ride this torture machine everytime." Eugene said looking a bit sick just looking at the train. "Why do you look so green?" Hoshikuzu asked curiously. "Isn't it obvious? He's a Dragon Slayer, they're not so good with transportation." Moss replied. Then, the three of them saw Erza coming their way. When she noticed Eugene's reluctance to get on the train as usual, she punched him and knocked him out cold causing everyone nearby to sweatdrop. "He should be easier to get on the train now."

"...Okay then. Let's Go" *Hoshikuzu puts Eugene on his shoulder and walks onto the train with him* An hour or two later, the three of them arrived at Alargate. Although Eugene had some trouble getting off the train and required the help of Moss. "Why did they invent those torture machines?" He said exasperately. "Anyway we got to go to our client. He's the headmaster of the academy of this town." "Ok,and they were invented to go a long distance faster" Hoshikuzu said. "That was a rhetorical question." Eugene replied as he got better. "Let's just get going."

Hoshi starts walking with Eugene and Moss towards the academy* When they got to the academy they saw a man beckoning them over. "You must be the mages that accepted the job." "Yes sir we are." Eugene replied. "What do you want us to do?" "So who're the bandits?" Hoshikuzu asks this curiously. "They've been attacking my students and I want them stopped. Rumor has it, they have a base in the nearby mountains. "That's gonna be tough on you Hoshi." Eugene said. "Didn't you mention you used fire magic on the way here?"  "Of the sorts" Hoshi replied.  "Well we'll deal with it somehow." Eugene said as they walked in the direction of the mountins. As they continued walking...  "Eugene, what are you doing here?" said a personapproaching them.  "Recon, what are you doing here?" Eugene asked the person who just happened to be one of their guildmates.  "I happen to live in this town." Recon replied

"You know this guy?" Hoshikuzu asked curiously.

"He's one of our guildmates." Eugene replied. "But it's understanable that you might not have met him. He's not in the guild hall too much."

"Eh makes sense. Wanna join us Recon?" Hoshikuzu asks.

"Yeah, you'll be a great addition to the group." Eugene added. "Especially with that Hecate of yours."

"Wait, isn't it illegal to fire one of those at anything besides tanks, helicopters or anything of the sort?" Moss asked and the whole group went silent.

"W-well, it's modified so technically it's not completely a Hecate. But it actually has more power than a normal one." Recon said with a nervous smile. "B-but I might as well go with you guys, I need some practice."

"Okie Dokie Loki!" Hoshikuzu says cheerfuly. Eugene and Moss just looked at him. "You're not worried one bit about the reason why its illegal?"

"E-nope"

"Let's just go." Eugene said. "Recon, make sure you don't disintigrate anyone's limbs this time, even if it's the bad guys."

"I don't wanna ask" Hoshi says cautionly.

"Just a word of warning, he may seem shy and weak now but you won't want to get on the wrong side of his Hecate gun." Eugene whispered to Hoshi. :"It's an anti matieiral weapon and it's original design was meant to destroy tanks and even buildings."

"I didn't notice the shy or weak part" hoshikuzu wispers.

"Probably because he's with guildmates." Eugene replied. "But he can be scary when he's mad."

"Ok then" Hoshikuzu says.

The group then leaves for the mountains ready to fight whatever enemy comes their way.

"Where'd you learn that tune?" Recon asked.
 * Hoshikuzu whistles this:Majora's Mask: Clock Town Day 2 - YouTube *

"I heard it from a green suited boy" Hoshi says

"This sounds way too familiar." Eugene said

"No copyright matierial allowed!" Moss joked.

"At least it's catchy" Hoshikuzu says

"What's copyright?" Eugene asked looking confused.

"Let's just stop talking about this and be on the lookout for enemies." Recon said with a sigh remembering Eugene's inability to understand society and how it works.

"Let's Go!" Hoshi says cheerfully

Up the mountain
The four of them continued to go up the mountain. As they continued up, it got colder and colder. "I wonder who else would be out here in this weather." Moss wondered from the inside of Eugene's coat. "There's someone." Recon said pointing further ahead.

The person sees the group. "Hey you." He says as he walked towards the group. "Who are you? Tell me your names."

"This guy seems really suspicious." Eugene commented. Recon nodded and aimed his Hecate at the stranger as Eugene draws his bokken. "How about you then? How do we know you're not the enemy?"

"I'm Jos, and who's the enemy?" He grabs his sword's hilt''. ''"I don't think i know you."

"So you're s swordsman hun?" Eugene asked. "Then how about a duel? That's how swordsmen should learn about each other. Sorry Hoshi, Recon, but I just can't help but get excited about this."

Jos draws out his sword. '"Fine, but can we use our magic?"

"If you want to." Eugene replied. "That'll make it all the more fun."

Jos spins his sword around. "So when do we start, and where do we start?"

"We might as well start here and now." Eugene replied getting more excited by the minute. "My style is Kofuna Shizen Ryu."

"Yeah sure." Jos stops spining his sword. "My style is, Tsukiakari Ryu."

After the two of them paid their respects they got into their respective fighitng stances. Eugene's facial expression then changed from one belonging to a carefree idiot to one belonging to a cold blooded killer.

"Man, I always get scared by this side of Eugene." Recon said in fear.

"Kofuna Shizen Ryu: Cyclone!" Eugene exclaimed as he swung his sword. Just from the swing, it generated a large amount of air pressure sent towards Jos's way.

"Ain't no fun" Jos takes out his second sword that is a katana "Two Blade Tsukiakari Ryu, Two Moons!" Jos splitted the air pressure in half and sent the double of amount of air pressure Eugene did "It seems you weren't expecting that!""

To Jos's surprise, Eugene wasn't where he last was. Then from above...

"Kofuna Shizen Ryu: Blizzard strike!" Eugene exclaimed using wind pressure to blast snow at Jos.

"Ya know what." Jos said as he was sheathing the regular sword "What's your name?" He dodged swiftly as he asked.

"I'm Eugene Woodland, adopted son of the Dragon Gardina!" Eugene replied as he attacked again. "How about you?"

"I'm Jos, i have no last name, oh and by the way, Tsukiakari Ryu, Moon Owl!" Jos clashes with Eugene and then "Wanna hear something, i guess not, but im going to say it. Sound Dragon's Roar!" He stars emitting ultrasonic waves from his whole body.

"Whoa!" Eugene exclaimed as he was knocked back. "Nice magic you've got there. So you're a Dragon Slayer too?"

"Sorry, i'm not Dragon Slayer, but yet, you're strong enough to overcome the major effects of the magic i used." Jos smiles. "But you're now at disadvantage." He points his katana at Eugene "Tsukiakari Ryu: 9 Moons of Heaven!" He starts rolling at him in a massively fast speed.

"My mistake." Eugene said in apology to the Dragon slayer bit. He then smiles as he sees Jos use the high speed technique. "Special Technique, Ghost Road!" To Jos's surprise, Eugene was able to avoid each of the attacks from Jos's technique.

Jos's eyes turns purple and he starts to weaken. "I don't like where this is going." Jos points the sword at Eugene "Triple combined technique of Tsukiakari Ryu, 9 Full Moon's Shadow" Jos starts slashing Eugene from every side, even from above and under. However, Eugene still dodged them all with ease.

"Looks like I should use Sound Dragon's Roar!" Eugene exclaimed blasting soundwaves at Jos all of them hitting their mark.

"I'm not giving up yet!" Jos said getting back up from the attack.

"Well then, Tsukiakari Ryu: 9 Moons of Heaven!" Eugene exclaimed using the same technique Jos used earlier to his surprise. ''How did he do that? ''Jos thought before getting hit by his own technique.

"Well,never saw this comming" Hoshikuzu says

"Yeah, Eugene has the ability to anylyze and if possible copy other people's techniques." Moss explained

"Wow" Hoshi says in awe

"Unlike Natsu who relies on pure strength, Eugene has been always on the other side of the spectrum and he uses his brain more." Moss continued.

"That's really cool" Hoshikuzu said.

"You okay there Jos?" Eugene said to the now unconcious swordsman.

"I'm perfectly fine, i never would have expected." Jos laughs "But it's not near over" He sits down "I'm going to sit here still and think of something, if thats ok with you, Eugene."

"Sure" Eugene replied. "What are you trying to think about?"

"I'm thinking about using it." Jos stands up. "But i don't think i wan't to use it."

"Is it one of those moves that's really dangerous?" Eugene asked

Jos takes out his swords. "Why else do you think i don't wan't to use it?"

"Bring it on then." Eugene said with a grin as he always loved a challenge. "Give me the best you've got!"

"You're either brave or stupid." He points his katana at Eugene "But i warn you this attack cannot be stopped, it's one of the strongest in my Tsukiakari Ryu technique's, you sure you wan't to be beaten that hard?"

"That just makes me more excited!" Eugene replied. "I always want to see people at their strongest!"

"This is why he's considered an idiot sometimes." Moss said. "He almost never backs down from a challenge. But at the same time I wonder if Jos will actually win. In terms of swordsmanship, he's kept up with Erza."

"Erza!?!" Hoshi exclaimed in surprise. "You mean the   Erza Scarlet!?!"

"Well, i am close to Titania's level." Jos gets a serious look on his face. "Well fine i will use it, but it might heavily injure you." Jos's eyes become purple, but he doesn't weaken. "And if you're wondering about my eyes, they give me a big boost." Jos gets surrounded by a big purple aura "Two Blade Ultimate Tsukiakari Ryu, Moon Galactic Shower" Jos's swords starts glowing in purple color and many clones of his appear that attack Eugene from every side and multiple meteors starts raining down on Eugene while Jos is attacking with speed of lightning.

After finshing his attack, Jos jumped back panting somewhat tired from using his ultimate move. He began to look through the smoke for his opponent hoping that he didn't injure him too much.

"Is that it?" A voice cried out from the smoke. The smoke cleared revealing Eugene with only a few scratches. "Although I must admit, that was an awesome technique."

"I guess" Jos faints.

"Well, now I have a new technique to copy!" Eugene said excitedly.

Jos stands up with a bit of consciousness and kicks Eugene. "I don't think you expected this." Jos sends knocks Eugene back "And since it was a Tsukiakari Ryu move, Roar!" Jos starts spreading ultrasonic waves from his body.

"What a pain You just don't give up do you?." Eugene said as he spun his bokken at a rapid speed. Snow began to blow around Jos. Then Eugene activated some magic. "Forest Dragon's Hammer Seed!" something started growing out of the ground underneath Jos and a seed the size of a football was shot into Jos's ***** with great force.

"Tch, you're annoying, i think of testing my newest technique." Jos said while in pain from the attack. Eugene just continued using the same move continuously hitting Jos in the same delicate spot.

"That must hurt." Recon commented

"Can i test it?" Jos asks Eugene "It will hurt."

"Maybe not as much pain as you're feeling." Eugene commented. "But sure, try it."

"Try to hit me" Jos smiles. "I'm sure you will be tricked, i mean, i will be hit."

"Looks like I'm gonna have to do that." Eugene said.

"Just do it." Jos grins.

"Already did it." Eugene said. "Look at your body." Looking down, To Jos's shock, there were tiny dots on his body as if his body was punctured by needles.

'Jos' fades away and grabs Eugene's head from behind. "Good Game." Jos drops Eugene to the ground while stabbing him.

"Not bad," Eugene said getting up with the blade still in his stomach. "But that's not enough to beat me." After concentratng while flexng his abdominal area, Eugene broke the blade and then healed himself up. "In your case however, your life is at risk. That last attack allowed me to place tiny seeds in your body. Using magic, I could make them grow and kill you."

"I don't really care." The blade fixed itself and apeared to be in Eugene's stomatch. "This blade, is katana made by Tsukiakari Ryu masters."

"Well, I might as well disarm you then." Eugene said as he activated his magic and blew up Jos's arms.

"Now how will i study?" Jos cries. "Give me my arms back!" Eugene just smiled.

"Just kidding." Eugene said. "What really happened was that I implanted something in your body that would cause extremely realistic halucinations. I'll dispell it now." After another wave of his hand, Jos's arms reappeared. "But know this, you're too weak. It has nothing to do with your strength for I admit that your swordsmanship is excellent. However, I can't see much resolve in your eyes."

Jos smiles. "What a cowardly move."

BLAM

"Do you think this is cowardly then?" Eugene said as he blew up his own arm. "Even though I can use my magic to grow it back, I feel the pain fully. You say it's a cowardly move, but you're just a coward calling it that. You're just making excuses for your loss. There are no such things as cheap moves in the real world, but I guess they don't teach you that in school do they?"

"I do think it's a cowardly move." Jos said as he walked at Eugene. "Well, if not that stupid illusion, i would be the winner."

"You have much arrogance." Eugene said. "Here, take this mirror and look at the back of your neck." Jos took the mirror and to his surprise, there was a big fat X there. "If I had time to mark your neck without you noticing, that means I could have had time to break your neck with this bokken. I was going easy on you. Don't you dare think that you can even be close to the level of people like Erza when you haven't even fought her before when she's trying her hardest."

"Too bad, i went easy on you too, these we're only starter moves i used, i even used the legendary newbie move on you, while using eye lens." Jos laugs. "I don't think that i mentioned it to you, there are not a sever or eight moves in Tsukiakari Ryu, there are hundreds."

"You're lying aren't you?" Eugene said. "I can tell that because you're breathing extremely hard while my breathing has been the same. If you're getting tired this fast, it's definite that you're a beginner. Also, your moves are sloppy."

"How about a big no about the moves, there are hundreds." Jos takes out eye lens. "About this i don't lie, even if i am cursed." Jos takes a deep breath. "And i am a begginer."

"What's a guy like you doing here then?" Hoshikuzu asked. "It's dangerous here."

"I'm just here to kill bandits, they threw too many toilet paper into my room." Jos replies while sheathing his swords. "I'm just angry about thinking of that."

"That's it? Toliet paper?" Moss said in disbelief

"What's toliet paper?" Eugene asked.

"It's, just too hard to explain." Jos bursts into a huge laugh. "Ask the cat there."

Moss whispered it into Eugene's ear and he looked surprised.

"Humans really use that to wipe their rear ends!?!" Eugene asked

"But it's serious, and by the way, what are you doing here?" Jos pats the cat's head.

"We were told that bandits reside here from the headmaster." Eugene replied

"Now, now, now what, we will team up to kill them all?" Jos asks Eugene.

"They are not here." Eugene said his eyes now turned green. "They must have changed location because they knew we were coming."

"Let's go back to town for the moment then." Hoshikuzu sugested. "We can perhaps learn more there."

"Hey i asked a question!" Jos said while groaning.

"You're coming too you know." Eugene said as they began to walk down the mountain.

"I don't think i would like it." He generates a wind cloud and sits on it while the cloud follows them.

Back to Alargate
The group had begun to walk into the town wondering what to do now. They had no clue as to where their target was.

"Wait, where'd Eugene go?" Recon exclaimed as the group discovered that Eugene had dissapeared.

"He's like a ninja." Moss commented.

In that moment, as young girl approched the group still thinking about the situation. She was lightly dressed and had a smile on her face. He approched the group closely lokking at them: " I guess you had also tried..." She said confortably. "I guess that I am not only one who failed, is that correct?" She looked disencouraged at them once more, waiting for an answer

"What's your name?" Eugene said all of a sudden being right next to the girl, surprising everyone.

When did he...?" Hoshizuku said in surprise. "He was gone a minute ago!"

"I...I am..." She got scared of a person standing next to him almost crying it out." My name is Luna, Luna Purplenote. But I guess you will probably know by brother more... "  Luna said in shy voice not looking at them covering with her dark blue short hair.

"Sure, i heard of him, inn is one of the kind" Jos looks at Hoshiziku. "Come on the cat said that Eugene is like a ninja." He pats the cat.

"Well then Luna, I'm Eugene Woodland, nice to meet you!" Eugene said excitedly "I am sorry....to interrupt"  She was quite nervious when speaking to them, still looking at the group moving her foot in once direction or another. "I know that task, I...have also took this task... but failed..." She dropped a tear  dissapointed " I promised that I would find the source of this trouble to protect Alargate, but only managed to defeat few opponnents, I'm too weak...." She put her hands on her face wiping the tears away. Then she looked at them sad.

After seeing the tears, Eugene decided to try and cheer her up. "You can't win them all you know." He said with a caring smile. "You just need to be able to not give up. This time, you won't be alone to do this. At the very least, I'll help you."

"If Eugene's going, I'm going!" Moss exclaimed. "I'm Moss by the way."

"I already decided to take this job so I'm in." Hoshizuku said. "I'm Hoshizuku" "I want to protect my hometown too!" Recon said. "The name's Jos."

Jos looked at Hoshizuku. "Strange name you got, Hoshizuku." "See? You're not alone in doing this." Eugene said

Luna smilled radiating positive and optimistic attidiude. " Thank You, Than... I cant believe" She got nervous and  cheered up. She glanced at the group once more and sat down with them "I hope, you dont mind... unless you have someone else..." Luna said.

"There's no way I can reject the way you feel about this town." Eugene said. "I feel the same way about the place I come from. That's probably why I can't help but want to help you out."

She said down slowly and started to explain quietly "You see, two years ago the Alargate was attacked by a dark guild, my brother Frank managed to defeat them after hours of struggle protecting the town, during this Moonlight Assault I evacuated all the citizens. He left a year later later leaving me and this town under my hands...this is why I feel sorry for" She smiled remembering him putting her hand next to her heart, she looked down and looked at the cat "For lunar Goddess what a cute cat! Never see one like that before!" She looked into Moss cheering her up instantly, shaking him hard.

"So you like animals?" Eugene asked as she hugged the Exceed. "This really reminds me of Meredy. She does this to him whenever she can."

"Her hugs are about as tight as her's too!" Moss said trying not to suffocate.