It truly was unnaturally cold. Since Zoicite had never been outside of Matori save for when his family visited Kahi for a couple of years when he was younger, the very concept of a winter with snow was just a fantasy for the teen raised by the warm ocean. So needless to say he was very much out of his element when he woke up shivering instead of sweating for once. He definitely did not regret having an extra blanket last night when his family noticed that last evening was colder than expected. Usually he kicked the blankets away from the bed in the morning, but today he wished he had actually grabbed a few more to curl up beneath. It wasn’t as if it never got cold at night here, but this was especially bad and the bitter cold bit into every part of his body. He most definitely was not a fan. Not even the caves where his Kahi grandparents lived had felt this cold! Zoicite shivered once more as he opted to tug a blanket with him as he walked across the room. His room was fairly large with enough space for his canopy bed, a desk, some display shelves for his own collection of various objects, book shelves, a dressing area with a wardrobe and a mirror. But the highlight of his room was a bay window overlooking the nearby ocean, their family home built into the cliffs giving them plenty of vision of the cove where they all lived, and normally he always kept it open to enjoy the ocean breeze. However, it was simply too cold and so Zoicite only hesitated for a moment before closing the sheer curtains across the glass panes. It didn’t do much to block out the cold especially since the curtains were light and nothing like the heavier drapes he had seen in other homes, but at least it served as some sort of buffer. He then proceeded to dig through his wardrobe to find any type of heavier clothing, the teen thankful that his grandparents traveled the world and sometimes brought back gifts just in case their grandchildren ever needed. It wasn’t a lot but there was at least one scarf from their time in Zena and a long sleeve sweater knitted from roati wool and dyed in various colors tucked away in the corner of the closet. “That’ll have to work.” Zoicite decided as he reached over and grabbed the attire so that he could shimmy into it after quickly washing his face and body with some fresh water and a bar of soap from the little washbasin he kept in the corner of his room. It was way too cold for anything like a bath today, not when the spring baths in the back of their home were already naturally cool. He couldn’t even imagine diving into that today! He would be an icicle for sure! The hybrid shook his head at the very thought as he picked at the sleeve of the sweater. It was really soft to the touch, but at the same time he wasn’t accustomed to wearing anything heavy on his arms. It was almost kind of itchy as well? Not that it irritated his skin, but more so that it was an adjustment to feel that static as the wool rubbed up and down his arms with his movements. It was so strange to think that others lived in these frozen countries and opted to wear such heavy clothing every day. Zoicite much preferred living here along the ocean where he could wear light clothing and just enjoy the breeze without feeling like his life was nearly over with each aching breath he took. Perhaps it was a bit dramatic, but that was how he felt as he sneaked downstairs and grabbed some fresh bread to try to warm his hands. He had the feeling that others would be playing outside in the light dusting of snow, but if anything he just wanted to find something to do that would warm him up that didn’t involve getting pelted by a snowball or the like. There wasn’t even enough snow for it, but he could already see that somehow his family members had managed to gather enough for a small fight in the main stretch of beach near their home. Normally Zoicite was all for fun and games, but he really didn’t want to deal with ice to the face today. Though his gaze did brighten as he thought about his recent gift from his mothers, the sword that was tucked away in the box upstairs. Maybe he could practice with it some more? He had taken up the blade in hopes of learning how to fight better and perhaps it was the ideal option for a way to burn some energy and heat himself back up while this weird cold lingered in the area. Zoicite nodded at the thought, his mind made up as he left the kitchen to gather his things before anyone else could find him.

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