Leyalin-Winters Twilight (Me and POH)

[Kite Austin]

Rush sat back on the tree, smoking from his pipe in order to pass the time. Yet for his casual appearance, his eyes where trained on the young woman who was sitting cross-legged with her head bowed in concentration and her arms crossed.

Even though snow surrounded him, he felt quite comfortable in his padded leather pants and white T-shirt. His quiver and sword were strung over his shoulder and his Crystal bow was within an arms reach of him.

He puffed on his pipe again as Kiri stood up.

Kiri stood up, a little annoyed with herself. Everytime she tried, her concentration never seemed to be at the right balance. Too much, too little...her hands clenched in frustration, creating little ice crystals that fell to the grass.

"Rush...I can't do it! I don't know why...it's just that this spell never seems to work with me..."

She trailed off, pacing in a small circle, feeling Rush's gaze trained on her back. She closed her eyes. Concentrate Kiri...

Rush felt the back of his neck prickle as the magics around him began to shift. Even though he wasn't a mage, he still could detect trace amounts of Arcane energy due to being around other mages like Kiri and Dean for years.

"Its the hardest Ice type spell...converting your body into a flurry of snow and weilding the power of winter itself...I don;t understand it...but i know you can do it..." He trailed off as he sawsnow begining to swhirl around her.

Feel the cold...
Kiri heard Rush's voice trail off as her eyes closed once more. This time, she focused solely on the cool breeze that was passing through the clearing.
Seperate the cold from everything else...
The chill started in her fingertips, then her toes. It crept up her arms, her legs, until she felt as light as the air. Like a snowflake.
That's it...just a little more...
At that point, the wind suddenly stopped.
No!
Losing her grip on the ice, her body started warming up again, turning her back to normal.
"Ugh...and I almost had it that time!" she said frustratedly to herself. Brushing off the thin coat of ice now clinging to her dress, she sat down dejectdly on the ground. "Rush, I don't know how I can do this..."

 

[Kite Austin]

Rush pulled himself up and walked towards her. The closer he got towards her, the colder it seemed to get.

Ignoring his discomfort, he reached down and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey now...don't be like that"

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

Kiri’s heart fluttered, though she wasn’t exactly sure why. Rush’s presence was soothing, his voice gentle, as it always was when he was encouraging her.

Like when he taught me how to use a sword…

A small smile graced her lips. Giving Rush a silent thank you glance, she stood up again, this time bringing her arms toward the sky, palms pointed upward.

I can do this…

She took a deep breath, and her eyes suddenly began to glow.

Rely on your memory, not what is really here…

She focused on one memory of cold, of ice. The winter where the world had seemed to be covered with a clean, smooth blanket of snow.

Confidence…

Once again, she felt cold seeping into her fingers, her feet, her body. It surrounded her in its familiar embrace, the ice kissing her face and immersing her entire being.

Just a bit more!

And then suddenly, she could see everything. She didn’t even remember opening her eyes; one minute, there was only darkness, and the next, she felt like she was watching the world through eternal eyes.

Her body was nonexistent; she felt like a feather. Even lighter – like a snowflake.

But the feeling only lasted a few seconds. A few seconds of crisp, lucid frost. Then, it all disappeared, and Kiri felt herself falling back to the ground.

“Oof!” She hit the hard earth, her mind spinning, as if she had just been brought back from some great height. And in some ways, that was true.

She turned to Rush, her eyes bright.

“I…I think I did it! What did it look like Rush?”

 

[Kite Austin]

Rush looked at his arms and shook it around, causing shards of ice to fall off. He had never felt such an amount of cold in his life. It felt as if the chill had not only settled on his body, but in his very soul itself. Yet even through the biting pain of the temperature, he had sensed a warmness in the the chill that was Kiri's heart.

"It was almost like you were....shimmering..." he managed to let out between shivers. He couldn't ignore the cold feeling anymore.

"I saw snowflakes shwirling around you too.."

He started to shiver harder.

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

Kiri could see that Rush was shivering; his lips were turning slightly blue and she could feel the slightest cold emanating from him. The cold never bothered her, seeing that she was around it all the time - but for other people, it was a different story.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Rush!" She quickly went up to him and felt one of his arms. Frozen. Worried, she chafted her hand on his skin, trying to create warmth from the friction.

Now I wish I had the power of warmth...

Seeing that her attempts to warm him had virtually no desirable effect, she wrapped her arms around his torso. Surprisingly, her own body was warm - she could feel Rush shivering under her hold.

"Better?" she asked after a few seconds. His frozen state wasn't bothering her. But she was worried about Rush's body temperature.

 

[Kite Austin]

Rush immediately felt his face heat up.

He mentally kicked himself.

"Yeah...i knew you where close.." He said, looking away to hide the blush.

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

His voice wavered, and Kiri looked up, confused. Rush was looking past her, his eyes purposely averted away from her face. She suddenly felt his body warm up uncharacteristically fast.

It was like an electric shock had passed through her body, not uncomfortable but not pleasant either.

What…?

She realized her arms were still wrapped around his body. She snatched them away a second later, giving a nervous, high-pitched laugh.

“Yeah…I did almost have it. But...perhaps we should stop for today. I think that’s enough cold to endure in one sitting.” She turned to give him a sheepish, yet grateful smile.

Thank you…

 

[Kite Austin]

Rush brushed off a few more strands of frost and blushed again.

"Yeah it sounds like a good idea..."

As he said that, he looked towards the north-west, where thunderclouds were approaching. Night was also slowly turning its gaze towards them.

Many things go bump in the night in these parts..

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

Worriedly, Kiri cast a glance toward the dark clouds. They were closing in fast, swathing the sky in its murky shadow. She could already feel the cool wind, bringing in a thunderstorm.

“Ok…let’s get going…”

She moved to walk toward the forest that had sheltered their training. But, suddenly, as she did, there was an abnormally loud crack that sounded like a branch hitting the ground. The sound however was too loud to be just that. Someone, or something, was hiding in the trees.

Perhaps it was the impending thunderstorm, but Kiri suddenly felt paranoid. Her hands glowed, creating a large shard of ice that she quickly grasped in her palm.

“Rush? Did…did you hear that?”

 

[Kite Austin]

Rush already had an arrow in the ready position Kiri spoke. His trained eyes darted around the green Forrest, noting every small detail.

"I...." He began, But then suddenly a bird flew out of the trees, nearly startling him. He lowered his bow.

"guess it's nothing..." He began to put his arrow away before he noticed a shadow dart between two trees.

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

Kiri squeaked in surprise, nearly falling backward as the fast movement of the shadow created a loud, rustling noise. She gripped the ice shard tighter in her hand.

Come on Kiri, don't freak yourself out...

Still, she couldn't help but ease herself until she was standing next to Rush, side to side. His presence was slightly more comforting.

"Show yourself!" she shouted into the trees, trying to make her voice sound bold.

OOC: i'll let you decide what the shadow is kite-san ^^ it's your story after all ;]

 

[Kite Austin]

Rush snapped his fingers toward kiri to get her attention, seeing her head turn. Rush made several quick and complicated movements with his hands.

Humanoid, no arcane energy, possible human, is aware of our presence. Sneaking around.

Rush then seemed to "melt" into the shadows as he moved towards it. As he edged forward, he pulled out a small dagger and prepared to throw it. As soo as he was close enough to make out a person in leather armor, he threw the knife at its leg.

A very "human" grunt of pain came from the person.

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

Rush's gestures explained the stranger loud and clear.

Human but no arcane energy....

Nervertheless, she kept herself on guard, watching as Rush melted into the shadows and threw a knife at the shadow. The shadow fell forward, appearing into the light. Covered in a leather cloak, the intruder yelled out in pain as it clutched its bleeding leg.

"What the 'ell!" the figure cursed, still clutching his leg. Kiri could see his eyes were bright red.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded quickly, holding up her ice weapons. "Talk!"

 

[Kite Austin]

"Ey! Your the one to talk! This is RedDeath territory!" The man nervously eyed the ice shard.

"RedDeath? The necromancer cult?" Rush asked.

The man shot him a dirty look, but before he could open his mouth, he began convulsing rapidly. Rush sensed magic afoot. As he watched, the mans face contorted into a look of pain as he spasmed on the ground. Rush backed away, sensing what was happening and knowing that their could be a chance something bad could happen. But, after a few moments, the man stopped moving and fell silent.

"i bet someone didn't want him to talk..." he said while leaning down to check his pulse.

His fingers touched his neck.

"no pulse...he's dea-" The mans hand suddenly shot up and grabbed Rush's, startling him. He looked down and saw a ungodly green light emanating from his eyes.

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

“Rush!” Kiri screamed as the stranger suddenly jerked forward, grasping Rush’s throat with his hand. Though still collapsed on the ground, the man seemed to have an uncanny strength, obtained from a strange outside force. He was clawing himself into a standing position, choking Rush with his tight fist.

“Rush-!” Her cry broke as she narrowly avoided a sudden green burst of energy that came out of the stranger’s other hand. Rush was still struggling against the chokehold around his neck, turning pale.

“No!”

There was a shriek as a sudden icy wind blew in from behind her own body. Kiri could feel that her eyes were glowing a dangerous frosty blue.

“Let him go!” She raised her hands toward the sky, conjuring a short-lived snowstorm. The wind and ice tore at the stranger’s body, forcing him to lose his grip on Rush as he tumbled into a snow-covered heap on the ground.

 

[Kite Austin]

Rush fell onto his side and coughed up blood. But, ignoring his own discomfort, he rolled over ontop of the flailing mans body and quickly stabbed him with his daggar. As the knife penetrated his body, the green light from his eyes slowly faded. Panting, Rush stood up.

"Undead...We have a necromancer problem..." He said.

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

"Rush?! Are you ok?"

Kiri approached him quickly, their dead opponent holding no interest for her, and put a hand on his chest. He was still coughing, his breathing heavy. His throat bore the red marks of when the stranger had tried to strangle him.

"What did you say he was? A...neocromancer?" she asked faintly, unfamiliar with the term. A shiver ran through her body, and for the first time in a long while, the cold she felt was unwelcome. Rush's coughs echoed in her ears, painful to listen to.

 

[Kite Austin]

He wiped his mouth with his hand and leaned back against a tree. His lungs felt like they were on fire, but slowly they began to return to normal.

"Yeah Necromancers....not exactly demon cultists, but kind of a splinter cell." He coughed again before continuing.

"They deal with the living dead..." He let the sentance hang.

 

[Princess of Hoenn]

They deal with the living dead...

Kiri shivered again. She recongnized the ominous tone in Rush's voice: something was still wrong. They weren't safe yet.

The thunderclouds had fully rolled in now, and the air was slightly misted as the the rain waited to fall, hanging heavily in their clouds. Kiri wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if to keep her own body together.

"We're...still not out of danger are we?" she whispered.

 

[Kite Austin]

"He said this was their territory lass...i suspect we are being watched right now." Rush's eyes darted around, looking into each of the shadows...but there was so many of them...

"We should head back to the camp.."