Snow Day [Fritz/Open]

[Nicolette Van-Houseton]

    It was snowing heavily outside and the ground was covered. There had to be at least a foot and a half of it. That meant no school today, as the amount of snow, and the sheet of ice on the ground, were preventing people from leaving their driveways. This was the perfect opportunity to go exploring, even if the cold sucked. The window was frosted over, which made it harder to see, but she could make out a few people. Mostly younger children, running and playing in the snow, throwing poorly made snowballs, making snow angels, or just rolling around in the bright snow. It was slightly entertaining to watch, but quickly got boring.

    Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, she turned away from the window and walked over to the closet. As quickly as possible, she slipped on some leggings, jeans, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, and a pullover. Having all of these layers on would be a bit restriction, but it would keep her warm. She slipped on some socks and grabbed a snowsuit from the hall closet before putting on her snow boots and grabbing her adventure pack.

“Oops, almost forgot something. Can’t go out without a coat. That’d be bad.”

    She laughed at herself and shook her head. Slipping off the top part of the snow suit, she threw on a sweatshirt, fixed the snowsuit and put on a heavy coat. Her absolute hatred of cold weather caused her to go a bit overboard when she was dressing for the snow, but at least she would always stay warm. She slipped her adventure pack on and ran out the door, leaning her head back in the doorway and shouting out to anyone listening about where she was going before shutting the door. She pulled a stocking cap down over her head and slid her gloves on. Finally content, she set off down the sidewalk, passing several younger children who waved and chucked their crudely made snowballs in her direction. Most of them missed, though one came dangerously close to hitting her in the face.

    Nicolette ignored them, instead pulling out her phone and slipping in her earbuds under her hat. For some reason, music always made the trip faster. She didn’t know why, but it always did. Turning on her music, she set it to shuffle and smiled as a Twenty-One Pilots song began play. It was one of her favorite bands and she listened to them frequently. She walked along humming along to each song that played and almost didn’t notice when she made it to the large field outside of town. She smiled and crouched down in the snow, sticking her hands in, she grabbed an armful and threw it in the air. It all came down on her head and she giggled before running across the field and taking cover at the edge of the forest. The towering trees provided cover with their interconnected branches forming a canopy of leaves high above her.

    Her emerald eyes shimmered with excitement as she scanned the area. So far the area seemed clear of Darkness, but one could never be too sure. She set her adventure pack down and rummaged through, pulling out the small-ish dagger she had started carrying on her. After the incident at the Christmas party she thought it better to have protection. Strapping the knife to her belt, she picked up the backpack and headed deeper into the Forest in search of something particularly thrilling. She could faintly hear her footsteps crunching in the now and turned her music up louder. The cold wind whipped her face and she wrapped her scarf tighter around her chin. Doing her best to keep warm.

    As Nicolette ventured deeper into the Forest she became more alert. Aware that Darkness liked this particular part of the dark woods to hide. She slipped a hand out of her pocket and wrapped it around the hilt of her dagger, prepared to protect herself if needed. She peered around, suspicious of every small movement she saw. What she didn’t know was that what she really needed to be doing, was listening. The blow came from behind, hitting her square in the head. She fell forward into the snow, crying out and trying to catch herself with her hands. She scrambled away on her hand and knees, attempting to get away so she could get her bearings.

    When she turned around, the brute that had snuck up behind her was already preparing another assault and she threw herself to the side as it charged. It rand right into the tree that had been behind here, becoming a bit dazed before shaking it off and swinging down at her. Nicolette cried out once more and dodged the attack. Standing quickly, she whipped out her dagger and held it shakily before her. She still wasn’t very good with it, but it was all she had to defend herself. It lunged for her once more and she panicked, closing her eyes and dropping the dagger to shield herself. She waited for the pain that would come with being tackled, shaking and crying. When it didn’t come, she opened one eye, then the other, just in time to see the brute tip back as if to fall and then explode into dust.

    Her knife had been lodged in its forehead and she was amazed at how she had done it. She took a deep, shuddering breath and wiped the tears from her eyes before they froze to her face. My telekinesis must have been activated by my fear. How else would the knife have gotten there. I just can’t believe I did that. She laughed quietly, a sort of forced laughter. If she didn’t laugh she would start crying again and she didn’t want that to happen. If she was going to be training to be a Chaser, she’d have to learn to suck it up. She dropped to her knees and leaned back against a tree. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she put her head in her hands and laughed her false laugh. She felt sick, but she just sat there, snow falling around her.

(So, I had absolutely nothing else to do tonight. I may have put a bit too much work into this. Heh heh oops. Also, if you would like to join this thread, please wait for Fritz to reply first. Thank you very much!)

[Fritz Jacobs]

Snow fell in the masses around Argi when Fritz entered the snowy domain. Jacket about his shoulders along with a scarf wrapped around the lower regions of his face. With gloved hands, Fritz closed his house door behind him before setting out. The cancellation of school was obvious, and was further proven by the amount of children about. Snow crunched beneath Fritz's feet with each step. Laughter erupted from Fritz's right as he heard playing children, causing him to spare a sideways glance. In his peripherals, Fritz could see the playing children and how they glanced over him with awe in their eyes. Fritz could only guess that to them, he appeared as a knight from a fairytale, or at least the closest thing. Scabbard at his left side, containing a broadsword he named Oblivion. Red designs covered the dark wooden hilt, making an appeal for the sword. From what Fritz could tell, they were staring with wondrous content in their eyes.

However, Fritz ignored them, the last thing he desired were to make any sorts of friends. Whilst the children stared, the immortal simply continued walking. Walking was on the agenda today solely because Fritz took a liking to cold weather. The stinging and biting of wind or storming snow never bothered him, it just made him smile. With long strides, Fritz found himself at the edge of Argi, an invisible threshold that most citizens didn't dare cross. Hesitance entered Fritz step once he realized his current location, which shortly slowed his pace to a stop. A short moment of debate entered Fritz's mind, for beyond this invisible threshold was a dangerous path littered with darkness. Fritz did a quick scan of the area, his eyes checking for darkness who may have decided to stir some trouble, but there was nothing. For a moment, Fritz debated turning back, but yet he drew forward, his pace returning to the same speed he'd before.

Snow battered away at Fritz as he continued his trek, heading towards the forest around Argi. A dangerous idea, but he continued, a certain caution to his steps and body movements. His hands had long retreated from his jacket pockets in order for an emergency fight. Trees soon began to grow thick, making a shield against the onslaught of harsh wind. Scans became more consistent, his hearing doing its' best to listen to footsteps through the whistling wind. That was when a barely audible cry reached his ears, causing Fritz's gaze to shift to his right. Noises of combat just managed to reach him, causing his right hand to launch across and grab Oblivion's wooden handle. With a tight grip upon his weapon, Fritz moved towards the sounds with a caution, his pace speeding up to a hasty walk. Fritz was heroic, but there was no need to get blindsided by an unseen enemy. There was an eerie darkness that came over the forest, the kind that Oscuro's dark creatures took a liking to.

Sounds of combat began to increase as Fritz ventured closer, but once he found the battlegrounds, the battle had long be won. Fritz carefully entered the small forest clearing, finding the remains of darkness as well as a girl. This short haired girl sat, knees to her chest all while she laughed. Slight concern drew upon Fritz's face, the aftermath of this battle seemed different from what he knew. Quietly, Oblivion was returned to its' scabbard as Fritz approached the young laughing girl."Hey... Are you alright?" Fritz asked, trying his best to ignore the fake laughter. A concern expression was still written upon his face as he stood, snow and wind battering him while he waited for a response.

[Nicolette Van-Houseton]

    The laughter began to subside a bit and she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wipe away the tears gathering there. She wanted to be a Chaser so bad, but she had just fought an easy Brute and was already on the verge of crying. How was she ever going to do this. She felt like she was being kind of a failure. As the wind blew violently through the trees, she balled her hands into fists against her eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly a voice spoke next to her and she flinched, looking up quickly and reaching for her knife, but relaxed a bit when she got a closer look at the person next to her. He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties with bright green eyes and light blue, kinda grey hair. This seemed an odd place to meet someone, but here he was, another human being, standing before her with a look of concern on his face. Then she remembered that he’d asked her something and she started.

    “No, I mean yes, or well maybe. I guess.”

    She rubbed her eyes furiously, wiping away the remaining tears and stood up, slipping the dagger back into its sheath. Composing herself, she stood and shook the snow from her hair. There was a moment of silence and neither person moved for a split second, until Nicolette put a smile on her face and decided to introduce herself.

    “Sorry you had to see me like that, I was just a little overwhelmed at the moment. I’m perfectly fine, not even a scratch on me. See?”

She held out her arms, as if to show that she was indeed okay and to tell him not to worry about her. The woods were silent as the two exchanged words and it seemed like they wouldn’t have to deal with any Darkness quite yet. Though Nicolette was sure that the creatures in the surrounding area had definitely heard her cries and would soon be on their way. Hopefully it would take them quite a while to get to them, as she wanted to get acquainted with this strange boy. He was most likely an older Chaser and she did her best to look brave.

    “If you don’t mind my asking sir, but what exactly are you doing out here? I know that I’m being a hypocrite, but it’s dangerous. Are you on some kind of mission or something?”

    The older boy seemed quite calm despite his concern for her and she felt that was a bit odd. This part of the Forest was dangerous and had she fully realized the territory she had been entering, she would’ve turned and fled for the safer parts of the wood. Though she didn’t actually know what he was capable of, so maybe he was fully able to defend himself out here. She wished she had better control of her power. If she did, she wouldn’t have to worry about situations like these, where her power would come in handy.

[Fritz Jacobs]

Laughter was no medicine, or at least that was from Fritz's point of view. When his immortality was discovered, laughter had served no use to tame his new distant attitude. Snow fell, partially clouding Fritz's vision as he watched the young girl. Whilst the wind blew hard, biting at the immortal's face and making hearing a tad bit more difficult. Stings of cold slammed into Fritz's face, but he almost seemed immune to the sting force that was winter. Shortly after the girl's gaze had drifted towards his face did his green eyes trail down to find the knife. Remnants of tears were just visible around the girl's eyes, suggesting that possible injury or sadness had occurred. She answered, and Fritz simply nodded in acknowledgement. He simply watched as she whipped away any remnants of tears that remained before rising to her feet and sheathing the dagger.

In a change of events, the girl's face changed from troublesome to happiness. Along with this sudden change came an apology for the behavior. Fritz shook his head. "From what I heard and saw, you were in a bit of a struggle here." Fritz said, taking a quick pause to glance at the blackish dust that covered the ground. "What attacked you, anyways?" Fritz asked curiously. From what Fritz could tell, more darkness would be on the way eventually, leaving the immortal to do his best to remain attentive to his surroundings. A quick scan of the surrounding trees told Fritz that no creature had yet to arrive on scene, giving him some time to speak with the young girl. When Fritz's eyes returned to the youth's face, his look changed to surprise as he saw the look of bravery. He had no clue this young girl had plans to join the ranks of a Chaser, but Fritz had to admit, he liked seeing such bravery.

Next the girl asked him a question, a fair one all things considering. For the second time, Fritz shook his head. "Nope. I'm capable to fight, but I currently have a mentor, meaning missions on my own are forbidden," Fritz explained. "As for why I am here, I was on a walk and decided to just leave the city. Not much more to say about that." Fritz answered, giving a more thorough answer as to his presence in the forest. With that said, Fritz decided it was best to find out the young girl's name. "Well, I'm Fritz, and what's your name?" The immortal asked, trying to get some information on the girl who was in the forest.

[Nicolette Van-Houseton]

    The older boy shook his head and spoke. Making the observation that she had been in a fight and inquiring what her attacker had been. She scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly.

    “It was a Brute, attacked me from behind, caught me off guard. Luckily I was able to beat him though, my power’s still a little unstable.”

    His eyes swept over the trees, it seemed he was looking for any further threats. When he shook his head again, Nicky raised an eyebrow questioningly, but he explained that he still had a mentor and wasn’t allowed to go on missions on his own. Nodding in understanding, she pulled her scarf up a bit in an attempt to warm her face. He seemed like a quiet and thoughtful person, so when he explained that he was on a walk, she understood. The Forest was a great place to go for a peaceful stroll. It was quiet and great for thinking.

    “Oh, my name’s Nicolette, but you can call me Nicky, if you want. It’s nice to meet you Fritz, though these aren’t the best circumstances.”

    Nicky held out her hand, uncertain of whether or not shaking hands would be good at a time like this. She was worried more Darkness would come, but with a Chaser here, she felt somewhat safer. The clearing was beautiful, crisp white snow blanketing the ground, the leaves, everything. If only she hadn’t tainted it with the dust of an evil creature. There seemed to be no end to them, lurking just beyond the light, always ready to attack anyone or anything that crossed it’s path. She pushed the thoughts out of her head, focusing on the boy in front of her. Fritz sounded like a nice name, quite interesting, but still cool sounding.

(I’m sorry this is late, and I’m sorry if it sucks. I am having some really bad writer’s block, but I finally finished my reply!)

[Fritz Jacobs]

Being tough was something chasers learned through constant combat with their fears. Currently, the situation suggested early practice of facing the brutal and dangerous creatures of shadows. Fritz found it awfully unique that a person of such youth was already practicing the trait of bravery was a bit strange, even for the immortal who had a thirteen-year-old mentor. "Unstable? Well if it saved you that's a good thing," Fritz responded. Although the word unstable seemed like a concerning idea, Fritz wasn't too bothered as long as it didn't effect him. Fritz did another scan of the treeline, making sure no darkness had ventured out. There was a nod of understanding when Fritz explained how he wasn't a mentor. Taking another look at the snow covered clearing, Fritz couldn't see much of the white powder due to the dark ash that stained it.

Upon hearing the girl's name, Fritz nodded in acknowledgement before turning his gaze back to find an outstretched hand. With that, Fritz shook Nicolette's hand, making the exchange more formal. "A pleasure to meet you as well," Fritz said, although it was a little late. During the exchange, Fritz allowed his senses to reach out for safety purposes. "Perhaps we should head back to Argi. If there was a brute out here, who knows what else could be." Fritz suggested, his eyes drifting across the treeline for the third time. Although Fritz had spent the time walking out here, he was starting to understand why they should turn back to the city.

[ My post may not be that great either. Heh. ]