Snowy Showdown (16) : There’s something magical about fresh fallen snow–completely undisturbed and untouched by the rest of the world. It should be relaxing and peaceful–a sign that no one has been around and you’re perfectly safe. Except, the best predators lie in wait, completely invisible to their prey. What do you do when a patch of snow starts clumping together and taking shape right before your eyes? When it all comes together, it looks like a person, only there are no features, just a snowy white form. Maybe there wouldn’t have been an issue if you hadn’t seen it, but it’s too late. In frantic, panicked movements, it lunges at you with icy fists. It feels like being pelted with snowballs, but each hit lowers your core body temperature–rapidly. The creature is highly susceptible to heat and will melt if exposed to it; if you hit it, snow splatters everywhere. It may attempt to reform, but eventually it loses strength. You might not want to stick around to see if it just needs a little more time. If the creature manages to knock you unconscious, you may wake up covered in snow and with a bad cold. You may be more aware of strange, snowy figures that seem to be standing around in odd places; who knows where these things are hiding?
The little run down park was silent, not a single snowdrift disturbed, no footprints anywhere, and the snow muffled nearly any sound. It would have looked magical to the firestorm senshi, if it didn't make her feel so uneasy. Rarely did anything good come of such a serene and quiet scene.
Ako knew that odd things tended to happen in this city, especially if Halloween was any indication. She couldn't figure out why, if perhaps it was some sort of cosmic, ancient site, or if it was the sheer number of powered beings residing within it. Or perhaps it was just happenstance and there was no real reason after all. Either way, she knew better than to let her guard down when all seemed to be peaceful.
She sighed softly and rubbed her arms, her breath coming out in a visible puff in the cold air. Hopefully if anything did show up to give her trouble, it wouldn't be too difficult to deal with.
Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2024 7:18 pm
It was the sort of night that, if you asked Kaga, was both frustrating and sort of overrated. Cold, snowy, and so on--certainly some people found these sorts of things magic, but she was not among them. She much preferred being warm, and even her magical heat resistance didn't alter that the snow was falling on her and it was wet and cold.
Honestly, considering the situation, she probably ought to have headed back to her apartment, settled in with something warm, and put on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries to see what ridiculous cozy crime shenanigans were occurring.
Alas, she had not done that. Alas, she was instead trudging through the snow, hoping to perhaps find someone to drain in order to continue proving her general devotion to the Negaverse. Perhaps that was over the top. Perhaps it was silly.
But as she came through a line of trees and spotted the first other person she'd seen all evening, her general grumpiness at the situation dissipated.
The sound of her name being called suddenly made the senshi jump and turn quickly, caramel eyes scanning her surroundings to see who had spoken. She perked up significantly, however, when she saw a familiar figure coming towards her.
"Kaga!" Her face instantly lit up with a bright smile as she made her way over to the taller woman. "What a nice surprise, seeing you out here!" Her nose and cheeks were red from the cold, but suddenly it didn't seem to bother her anymore. She found that the smile simply wouldn't leave her face as she closed the distance between them, coming to stand in front of her.
Ako seemed healthier, having finally started taking care of herself again after settling in at her new home. The dark circles under her eyes had all but cleared up, only a faint hint of a shadow beneath them now, and her skin looked far less pale. It was amazing what forgetting an entire lifetime could do for ones mental health, as it turned out.
"What brings you out this way?" She let her guard down as she spoke. Something she thought she had known better than to do by now, especially when everything seemed so calm. So when the snow started shifting nearby, Ako completely missed it, far too focused on the woman in front of her.
Noir Songbird
Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2024 11:01 pm
Ah. It really did seem as if Ako was flourishing in her new environment. A flower finally allowed to properly bloom, grown all the lovelier for it. Just the sight of her broadened Kaga's smile.
"I could say the same of you," Kaga said, brightly. "It always improves my evenings to have you in them." As silly and cliche as that sounded, it was true. It always felt like a little lucky blessing to run into the pretty, fiery Senshi.
"I was looking for people to drain," she admitted, "but I've had no luck. I was ready to give the evening up as a lost cause and prepare to set out earlier tomorrow--but, well, I see a reason to stay out a little longer." Even if just to chat with Ako for a little while. Perhaps not too long, or at least not too long out here, it was terribly cold.
It was the sound that attracted her attention--crunching, sifting snow that drew her eyes to the thing starting to form itself out of the ground.
Well. Didn't this feel familiar.
"Ako," she warned, "look out." Her sword was out of its sheath in a flash, pointed at the creature.
At least she had the ideal partner for fighting living snow.
Ako's cheeks turned a darker shade of pink at the compliment. She was a sucker for cliche and cheesy things like that, after all. Hearing she was a reason to stay made her heart do stupid little things in her chest and she smiled warmly. "You'd think for the senshi of firestorms I'd be a little more resilient when it comes to the snow, huh?" She laughed softly and rubbed her arms a bit, moving just a little closer.
As Kaga's attention shifted, Ako moved to follow her line of sight. Her first reaction was to scowl at the creature for interrupting what was a delightful moment. Her second, however, was to laugh. "Huh. I feel like we've done this before." She grinned up at Kaga, eyes sparkling with laughter. At least this would be easier than the damned gargoyle from last time.
"Pyrocumulus!" At the calling of her attack, a cloud formed above the creature's head as a line of fire surrounded their feet, the fire feeding into the cloud to rain down hot ash on the snowman. She knew that the flames wouldn't hurt a person much, but she hoped it would at least be useful against a damn snowman. Otherwise she was about to look incredibly ridiculous in front of the really cute woman beside her.
Noir Songbird
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2025 8:51 pm
A wry smile crossed Akaganeite's lips. Yes, perhaps--but it wasn't as if it worked that way, always. And cold was cold.
Butt here was a somewhat more pressing matter before them, and Kaga couldn't help the soft, amused noise she made at Ako's observation.
"This does seem to keep happening to us," she agreed. "This, though....should be far easier to handle."
And it seemed her guess held true--the fire raining down on the creature made it make a strange, creaking noise as it began to melt. Honestly, she felt a little superfluous--Ako's magic was clearly more than enough to handle this particular threat.
It didn't take long for the snow creature to melt away, and honestly, all Kaga could do was laugh.
"We keep meeting in the most terrible ways, Ako. I'd rather meet you somewhere nicer, for once." The sentiment was perhaps broad, but it was sincere. "Is there any chance I could take you out for coffee? Rather than hoping we run into each other when the next strange seasonal monster shows up?"
The tension eased from the Senshi's shoulders as the creature melted away and she sighed in relief. At Kaga's question, however, the redness of her cheeks had absolutely nothing to do with the cold. She turned to look at her, eyes wide in surprise and an almost giddy smile plastered on her face as she nodded.
"I would.... I would really like that." She felt like she was vibrating with excitement almost and she hoped she didn't seem too eager. "I would like that a lot, actually."
