Zenoram and Zero
> On the Boat to and then
on Tenrou Island <
Phoenix Wing
Collaborated with @Zarkun and interacted with @Silver FoxZenoram had been a bit rattled and stuck having a conversation in his mind with Zero. After the knowledge they had gained from Jamie and the kiss on the cheek from Karn's roommate, he'd quickly been pulled down leaving their body to sink down to a sitting position on the floor.
"I don't know what their up to, but watch out Zenoram!" Zero said quickly.
"You worry too much Zero. If their anything like Karn than there was nothing wrong with that.""But they aren't! There were intentions behind those words and the kiss. I could feel it!" Zero snarled in rebuddle.
"Intentions? What kind of intentions?" Zenoram asked softly before chuckling.
"You sure you aren't just reading too much into it? You can get a little paranoid Zero." He couldn't help but laugh a little more at Zero's reaction. He was sure it was nothing.
"W-whatever. Just be careful!" "I'm always careful." Zenoram beamed.
"Only if always suddenly means never." Zero huffed.
By the time they'd finished, the announcement that boats would be taken the rest of the way. Not only that, but Karn had become a pegasus. Zero groaned, having assumed control.
"What... The... Fuck?" He huffed as he felt the full affects of the motion sickness.
"Wait... From a boat to other boats? What even was the point of this first boat?" He said before he manage a sniff at the air.
"Woah... Is that... Of course..." He paused every word or two. It was so hard to keep a steady flow of though. Was that Hunter? It made sense if they wanted dragon slayers.
"Karn... Don't forget anyone. Better to be tired and with friends, than stranded and alone on a boat in the sea." He added referring to what he thought might have been Mithera. He didn't say much more though since he'd not seen her. Besides, he had to go meet up with another dragon slayer. Especially since Amaya's scent was getting further away and he could only assume she'd gone off. Hopefully, she didn't get herself killed.
Zero forced himself to his feet. He had a mission in mind. Find that other bastard and try to devise a plan. He felt something bad and he knew that right now, it was better he be in control and fight through this seasickness. Even if he felt like death. Even if he felt like he'd fall flat on his face any second.
"I... Gotta... Find someone." He then added to Karn as he moved along.
Hunter groaned as he heard the anchor splash into the water outside his cave of crates in the cargo hold. He knew no one would think to look for him there, especially since he was a Dragon Slayer, which was why he was hidden. The motion sickness that most Slayers got when they boarded modern transportation was a prick to his pride and one he wished he knew how to make go away. Still, as he dragged himself to his feet and stumbled out of his hiding place, he could have been stuck with something worse.
"God, I swear I'm gonna find a non-boat related way off this island when we're done..." He stumbled out of the cargo hold and into the hall, heading for the stairs.
Zero stumbled across the deck with. The continued undulation of the ship was a real bitch. He growled as he continued forward until he reached the stairs. He leaned on the frame of the door and looked down. He wished he could say with certainty that he knew the scent he was following, but it was in and out.
"Hunter?" He questioned with a pain groan.
"You hiding bastard..." It was clear he had more he wanted to say and ask, but he was cut off by a quick retch. He wanted so bad to puke out his guts. It was like the longer he was in control, the worse he felt. This was why Zenoram handled trouble. Got he needed another way of getting around. Even so, though he wouldn't say it right off the bat, he was kind of excited to see an old friend, and maybe fight him again when all was said and done. They had fought and sparred and stuff during his time on jobs and while traveling. Zero lost more than he won, but that didn't stop him. If not for Hunter and Damian, he might not have gotten as strong as he had in this short time.
Hunter hadn't finished getting up the stairs yet when he heard a familiar voice call his name from the top of them.
"Hunter?" Any joy at Zero's voice was buried beneath a driving need to get off the boat and, with many grunts of effort, the Jade Dragon Slayer forced himself up the stairs to the deck. Sure enough, the Poison Dragon Slayer was right there, looking like a mirror image, in a very metaphorical sense, of the Jade Dragon Slayer. Grunting, Hunter jerked his head towards the side of the boat.
"First, off the boat. Then, he coughed a couple times and had to force the bile back down that tried to come up before continuing,
"talk." Grabbing his friends arm, he dragged him to the railing.
"Uh, before we jump, you can swim, right?"Zero groaned as the Jade Dragon Slayer spoke. He was right though. Getting off the boat had to be priority one. Still, he had to manage to muster the strength in himself to pull his arm away. "Who the... Hell..." He groaned and began to climb over the rail. "Fuck it..." He choked out.
I don't think this is such a good... Zenoram began to remark prompting a growl from Zero. "Just... Go..." He said before letting himself fall overboard in to a sort of lackluster dive into the water below.
"All I'm saying is..."
"No more boats!"
"Riiiiight..." Zenoram sighed in exasperation as his other half's desperate need to escape the very notion of moving to another boat. "I'll see you at the island!" Zero then yelled as he floated up above surface of the water and began swimming towards the island.
Hunter wasn't far behind the Poison Dragon Slayer, though his entrance to the water was somewhat showier as he recovered once he was off the boat. Still, as he surfaced and sighed in relief, Zero's declaration to meet on the shore was met by the sound of the Jade Dragon Slayer moving that way as well. Once more, he wondered why they hadn't just used a teleportation spell or lacrima to get to the island, but they were there now.
"And you're not getting me back on that boat for the return trip!" He didn't care if other guild members looked at him weird, the person he was talking to knew who they were.
Upon reaching the beach, Hunter started stretching as he approached Zero.
"So how'd your last job go?"Zero couldn't help but laugh Hunter's remark about the ship. When all was said and done, he agreed 100%. Still, now wasn't the time for talking or proclamations. Yet.
"You two are like two peas in a pod."
"You just don't get it. You don't feel it like we do."
"Just glad you're making friends."
"Let's not get carried away here."Without another word between the two, Zero reached the island with Hunter in tow.
"So how'd your last job go?" The Poison Dragon Slayer chuckled at the question from the Jade Dragon Slayer.
"Well, I finished it. Messed up a few things..." You destroyed the town inn during your fight... "But nobody got hurt." Zero shook off water from his hair as the rest seemed to roll off his jacket. It'd be dry within minutes.
"Love this thing. Only thing that could be better is a little fire to dry all of me off faster."Hunter chuckled as Zero said he messed up but no one got hurt. Sounded like a good day for a Dragon Slayer going solo on a job.
"Good to hear. You, uh, there for this briefing Master Jack said happened? All he did was call me and tell me to come along. Sounded important.""Briefing? Pfft... Sure I..." Zero began but Zenoram quickly chimed in.
"Wasn't. We weren't at the briefing." This was followed by a prompt scoff.
"Honestly, I just got back before they left. Heard a few Dragon Slayers were needed and decided to get myself on the trip. Word is we might come face to face with a dragon or two." Zero said as a confident toothy grin form on his lips. He cracked his knuckles.
"For as Long as I knew, there were only two dragons left. One of which was Hemlock. Since one just up and disappeared and Hemlock..." Zero trailed off and looked down. The grin was gone, replaced with a scowl.
"Point is, if there are more I wanna take a shot at 'em. And if they're dangerous, it'll be like handling a problem before it starts." He glanced at the forest of the island and than back at Hunter.
"Lookin at this place reminds me of that one sparring session we had." He chuckled.
"You remember, right? When I kicked your ass." This was not true. In fact, it'd been a good spar, but neither had actually had an overwhelming victory. If anything it could have been called a draw if either wanted to do that. Zero was too stubborn though.
Hunter raised an eyebrow at the other Dragon Slayer.
"Kicked my ass? I seem to recall it was your ass that got kicked, my friend." He took a moment to look around himself and sniff the air. While everything seemed to have recovered in the last one hundred years, something about the scent on the wind...it didn't smell right.
"You smell that?""Whatever you say," Zero chuckled before taking on a more serious demeanor. He had picked up the scent upon their arrival on the island. He might have gotten it sooner without the introduction of sea water to his mouth and nose while swimming from the boat.
"I got it." He responded to the question from Hunter.
"It's pretty damn familiar." He was getting a similar feeling to the one he'd gotten when Hemlock had taken him to meet Amaya's dragon parent. Still, this was different. A bit more ominous as it were. It might not have been a dragon, but something just as powerful as it were. Still, the thought of something just as powerful was nothing to scoff at.
"We're all gonna have to be careful."Hunter didn't reply right away, still sniffing the air. Now that the sea salt was begging to clear from his nose, things were becoming more distinct. The initial scent he'd picked up began to become separate scents with subtle but distinct differences from each other. All of them made him crinkle his nose.
"I can't place it, but that's...there's more than one scent. One of 'em's really spicy smelling. It's weird..." Then he realized he hadn't responded to Zero's comment from earlier.
"Yeah, caution's good and all, but we can't waste time either.""Who said anything about wasting time?" Zero scoffed and chuckled at Hunter's point. It was obvious, wasn't it?
"Not like either of us is scared. We're not here to take out time. It's just another job." He said calmly as he looked around once more, sniffing at the air.
"But we aren't stupid enough to get all showboaty and reckless either." He added simply.
"I guess the only question is what does our leader or whoever is in charge planning to do?"Hunter looked at the other dragon slayer, an eyebrow raised.
"We're dragon slayers mate, everything we do is showy whether we want it to be or not." He turned to look at where the rowboats were and grimaced.
"Fucking modern transportation. Why's it gotta be such a bitch to use?"Zero snickered at the notion of Dragon Slayers always being showy.
"Yeah, it's pretty fuckin cool isn't it." He said before looking back around.
"So, should we head off to explore? A team of two Dragon slayers is sure to find a lot more than just about anyone else." He asked calmly. It was a big island, but if this dragon thing was real, they'd be safer together than apart.
Hunter looked along the beach and back towards the others.
"Might not be a bad idea, but we should probably wait for the rest of them to catch up. Amaya came too right? Three slayers are better than two."Zero sniffed at the air again. Something was still bothering him about this place and the longer they were there the more apparent it became. It felt flooded with magical power.
We'll probably end up splitting into groups or something. But I think it'd be smart to stick together. Dragon slayers together would be more effective than apart. Any mages together at all would be more effective. Even a weakened dragon, assuming there are some here, are far more trouble to deal with than any S-class or higher." He said a bit more serious now that the time to begin had come. Zero was excited, but things felt weird. He wasn't sure how things would go, but he would listen as necessary, at least so long as it was within his interest.
"Even if we split, we should try and meet up again."Hunter nodded, still sniffing at the air. He couldn't place it, but there was a scent there, one that seemed horribly out of place amongst all the others. But after a moment, he let it go. Driving himself mad trying to place where it went wasn't going to do him any good.
"Agreed. Guess we just wait for the game plan then.""Gods I hope they come soon." Zenoram said taking back control for a moment. He glanced at Hunter.
"We've never really talked." Zero and Zenoram had disclosed their situation to Hunter in the past. It wasn't a big deal to them, never was. Even so, when the group met up it was for training, or work. Zero handled much of everything. But he had to conserve his strength and get his head straight after the boat ride.
"I've always wondered how our magics would pair." Zenoram commented, as they would be joined soon and any chance of casual conversation would be replaced with the more serious matter at hand. A possible impending battle.