#canahar

Cana raced through the streets of Oak Town, swearing under her breath as the man she was pursuing ducked into an alleyway.  She slowed slightly, her momentum making such a sharp turn difficult.  Tripping over a garbage can, her curses increased in volume and color as she stumbled down the street.

Of all days, she internally grouched.  Of all days, this thief waited until she was minding the magic shop to try to rob it!  This was supposed to be an easy gig, while the owner was out of town. There had been absolutely no way Cana could mess it up.

Until this asshat showed up, that is.

Now he was going to feel the full brunt of her ire.

Emerging out the other side of the alley, Cana found herself no longer in the city’s residential district, but on the outskirts of its commercial center.  She scanned the crowds of people, trying to spot his lanky frame hurrying through.  Just as she was about to give up and head back to the shop in defeat, she spotted him once more, ducking into a bar.

With a grin, she forged her way through the crowd.

He wouldn’t get away from her!

“Cheers!” Doranbolt cried, clinking his beer glass against his friend’s.  “Congratulations on your promotion, Lahar.”

The man of the hour laughed lightly, an awkward smile on his face.  “I told you that there was no real need to celebrate.”

Doranbolt let out a frustrated groan.  “Why are you such a stick in the mud?  Come on, relax a little!  I had to practically drag you out by your hair for this pathetic excuse of a celebration.”  That being said, Doranbolt had to acknowledge that Lahar cleaned up pretty nicely, and he did appear to be giving it his best effort.  His hair was even down for a change, which was the first time Doranbolt had ever seen it so.  The man was almost pretty like that.  Not that Doranbolt would ever tell him that.  Well… at least, not until he’d had a few more drinks in his system.

Lahar brushed off his friend’s assertions and rolled his eyes.  “You know I don’t care for large parties, so this suits me quite well.”

“I knooow,” Doranbolt mock-wailed. “Just you and me isn’t a real celebration, my friend.  Someday, I will teach you to loosen up a little.  Nope,” he cut off Lahar before the man could protest, “the higher you rise in rank, and the more you’re going to have to rub elbows with people.  I know you’ll hate it, but you’re going to have to learn to live with it if you want to reach the top.”

“Careful,” Lahar told him, “some people might not respond well if your plans for me got back to them.”

Before Doranbolt could respond, the door to the bar slammed open, a barely-decent woman with dark brown hair striding in and peering around in the dim light.  The sight of her striped bikini top stirred several of the patrons to issue wolf-whistles in her direction.  Summarily ignoring them, she stalked around the outskirts of the dining area.

“Well that’s… mildly suspicious,” Doranbolt muttered.  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I see a Fairy Tail emblem.”  It was stamped just above her left hip.

Lahar, already on the alert thanks the woman’s abrupt entrance, peered keenly at her.  “She must be on a job,” he mused aloud.

“Oh, no no no,” Doranbolt said, moving to block Lahar’s gaze of the Fairy Tail mage.  “I can see the wheels turning in your head.  We are off duty today, remember?”

“If she causes trouble, it’ll be our problem,” Lahar cautioned him, craning his neck to see past his friend.

“Dammit!” a voice hissed behind Lahar, startling the off-duty Rune Knight.  “How did she find me so quickly?!”

Lahar turned around just in time to see a man clad in dark clothing scuttling away from the bar as fast as he could.  Unfortunately, in his haste to escape, he knocked over a barstool, drawing the attention of the Fairy Tail mage.

“Found you!” she shouted. With a smooth motion of her hand, she drew out what appeared to be playing cards.  “Stop right there, or I’ll have to do this the hard way!”

“Screw you!” the thief shouted, holding onto what appeared to be a magical staff.  “You can’t catch me so long as I have this!”

“Everyone take cover!” Lahar shouted, recognizing that a magical duel was about to occur right inside the crowded bar.  “Doranbolt, get people out of here, quickly!”

His friend vanished, and Lahar began to write protective and restrictive runes as fast as he was able to. He had barely finished a single string though, before the first spell flew.

“Summon Lightning!” the Fairy Tail mage shouted, and an arc of white-hot light seared though the dim bar and across Lahar’s retinas.

The spell then ricocheted off her opponent’s staff, hitting the reserve of liquor behind the bar.

It was over in an instant, the explosion once the lightning hit the liquor enough to both mask the thief’s escape and knock Cana to the ground.  She groaned as she stood up, her head ringing from the blast and fire erupting all around her.  That had been a stupid call on her part, she realized.  Damn, she hoped that everyone had cleared out of the bar in time.  Cana didn’t see anyone else still within the building, so she assumed that they had.

Well, there went her pay for the next few months.

She stumbled towards the door, coughing from the smoke.

Much to her shock, cuffs were slapped on her wrist the second she escaped the bar. “What the hell?” she protested, looking up at the owners of the metal bracelets.

The man that stared back at her was shockingly pretty, with long beautiful locks of hair (if a bit disheveled by the explosion), clad in a dark turtleneck.  His amethyst eyes burned with fury beneath what remained of his glasses. “Doranbolt,” he instructed to another man next to him, “make sure that everyone gets the medical attention they need. I see a number of burns that need treating.”

“You got it,” his companion stated.

Unheedful of the blood running down his temple, the man began to calmly recite Cana’s rights.

“You are hereby arrested for destruction of property and endangering the lives of citizens,” he intoned, cold fury emanating from him in waves.  “I will now take you in for processing at the Rune Knight station.”

“Oh, come on!” Cana protested. “It was one little explosion!  I don’t see anyone hurt that badly!”

The man grit his teeth and continued, “You have no place saying that, when if not for your reckless actions this never would have occurred!”

“Forgive me for trying to do my damn job,” she snarled.  “That man was a thief, you realize that, right?  I was trying to keep the peace!”

Despite her struggles against the man’s grip and her continued protests, Cana found herself marched down the street to the nearby Rune Knight station.

When they entered the station, the attendant at the front desk scrambled to his feet, sweat beading on his face as he gave a hasty salute.  “Captain Lahar, sir!” he greeted with a squeak in his voice.  “We weren’t expecting you on your day off, sir!” Then he saw the blood and his eyes turned into plates.  “Sir! You’re bleeding!”

“It’s already stopped,” the man calmly informed his apparent subordinate, before passing off Cana to another officer.  “I’ve arrested her for endangering the public with magic.  Can you deal with her intake papers while I clean up?”

“I told you, it was the thief that did it!” Cana protested indignantly.  “It was an accident!”

He ignored her, walking away from the situation.