River

**River** is the 6th chapter of **Yūsuke Shirato'**s Ice Trail, a spin-off of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail. It was released December 17, 2014.

Gray and Gildarts arrive in the town of Mone and decide to rest before tackling their next quest, subduing Unicol, a monster which resides in the river on which the town lies. After a nap in a hotel, Gray wanders around town and runs into a slave-girl named Mary, whom he strikes up a conversation with as they head towards her owner's shop. As Gray learns her situation, Gildarts suddenly breaks through the shop with a girl over his shoulder, who is revealed to be Mary's elder sister. He picks up the two kids and they make a run towards the docks as Amelie explains that the four are going to escape from the town and Lord Cappuccino. Once there, they board a ship to cross the river, but are attacked by Unicol when halfway across.

## Summary

Gray and Gildarts reach the town of Mone, which lies upon a river that divides the East and the West. They soon find themselves a room in a hotel and Gildarts leaves to go about his own business in the bustling town, leaving Gray alone in their room. As Gray looks onto the street from a window, he marvels at the number of people walking past below, although it is not much in reality but rather his unfamiliarity with large cities. The boy reminds himself of the reason for their stop, a quest to take down the aquatic monster Unicol which is supposed to prowl the waters of the river, making passage across the water body almost impossible. Wrapped up in his own thoughts, he soon drifts off to sleep.

Waking up a while later, Gray too wanders around the town, searching for Gildarts as he feels hungry but has no money to buy food. He suddenly hears somebody shouting and looks into an alleyway to see a waiter harshly scolding a young girl for performing her job too slowly. The girl meekly obeys and begins her task, all the while chanting something under her breath, when she is surprised by Gray, who offers to help her.

The two children carry casks of empty bottles to the bar, with Gray carrying all but one. Once they finish their task, the girl thanks Gray and introduces herself as Mary. Gray, in turn, introduces himself and asks her what she was mumbling earlier. She replies that it is a charm meant to bring good luck, proceeding to say that it brought Gray to help her. Embarrassed, the boy hurriedly asks her her reason for working in place not meant for kids and is told that Lord Cappuccino bought her elder sister and her, so they live there. She brushes aside Gray's concern by saying that she would be fine as long as her sister was with her.

Suddenly, the waiter who had scolded Mary eariler comes flying through one of the shop windows and falls to the ground unconscious. The kids peek inside to see Gildarts holding a girl tightly. He exclaims that he is taking her with him and makes a run for the docks, snatching up Gray and Mary upon learning that Mary is the younger sister of the girl on his shoulder. Not too happy with one of his women being stolen, Cappuccino calls Milk Boy and the two set off in pursuit with the former riding the latter.

Gildarts explains that he had gone to talk about the job with the Lord and had met Mary's elder sister, Amelie, there. She had explained her situation to him and requested him to take her younger sister across the river to a town in the north where some of their relatives lived, but he had decided to escape with both of them. Gray concurs, while Amelie comforts her frightened younger sister. Upon realizing that the landlord astride Milk Boy is catching up to them, Gray easily stops them by using his Magic to make them crash into a block of ice, a feat which astounds Mary.

At the harbour, the group boards a ship to cross the river. Once aboard, Amelie tells Gildarts that she never planned to leave Mone as their relatives do not have enough space to accomodate her. But Gildarts reminds her that she is the only one that Mary can talk to about her new experiences henceforth and manages to convince her to remain with her sibling, who is enjoying the wind blowing across her face with Gray.

Suddenly, the ship is spiked by a huge horn from underwater, lifting the vessel high into the air. As the deckhands scream in terror, Gildarts grumbles that nobody told him that Unicol would be so big while Gray awaits the monster's arrival with great anticipation.
Template:-

## Characters in Order of Appearance

1. Gray Fullbuster
2. Gildarts Clive
3. Cappuccino's Bar Waiter
4. Mary
5. Amelie
6. Cappuccino
7. Milk Boy
8. Unicol

## Magic, Spells and Abilities used

### Magic used

* Molding Magic
	+ Ice-Make

### Abilities used

* Hand-to-hand Combat
* Super Hi-Hi