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 Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2025 9:23 pm
Biting Chill ( 18 ) : The cold is strangely harsh, and even the still wind is vicious enough to sting. But the cold isn't the worst part of tonight--it's what comes with it. Out of a swirl of blowing snow, a massive, wispy wolf takes shape, enormous and snarling, with fur spiked like jagged icicles. Its eyes glow with a cold, wild intelligence, and before you can even react, it lunges as though you’ve trespassed deep into its territory. Every strike it makes feels like the bite of winter itself. Wherever its claws slash, wherever its jaws snap, frost cakes over. Even if you're lucky enough not to take massive damage, the cold seeps bone deep. When you manage to land a hit, the creature bleeds a strange, clear blood--icy water that freezes instantly into slush on the ground. The more damage it takes, the more its form flickers, shredded like wind-torn snow. The wolf fights with the relentless instinct of a dire beast, but it is not invulnerable. It will never run. It will fight until its body is broken and flickering, then--finally--a sudden gust will rip through the air and carry its dissolving body away. Howls echo on the wind. The rest of its pack probably isn't too far behind.
Note: This strange wolf is not a youma but can be used as a battle requirement for a character. It can only be used as a battle if there are two powered characters involved; you cannot write a solo and count this as a battle, and your character must be powered to meet battle requirements. You can use the prompt for as many characters as you like and it will count as a battle requirement, however if you repeat the prompt with the same character, only the first time will be usable as a battle.
The cold here was nearly as unbearable as the cold back home, he thought bitterly. Some sense of responsibility kept him at this knight job, though, and he marveled at how he wasn't outright freezing his a** off considering his uniform very sorely—in his opnion—lacked an overcoat. It fascinated him to a degree, this whole thing about being a knight. Chillingham, his sister, was far ahead of him and perhaps it was his desire to catch up and be helpful to her, rather than a liability, that kept him committed to it.
Committed being a relative word in his context.
He tried, of course, but it hadn't exactly been easy. It wasn't like it came with instructions, so he didn't exactly know what he was even supposed to be doing. Fighting things like that crazy dead-chicken thing when he awakened? Or was he supposed to be networking? Gaining allies? Or maybe identifying enemies? Did they report to someone? Was there any kind of formal procedure they were meant to be following?
The teen groaned as he chucked the stone he'd been holding onto for the past fifteen minutes or so into the distance. "All these questions and no one to answer them," he muttered, watching for changes in the snow directly in front of him so he could go and pick the stone up. It'd been an interesting one, a dark, mottled gray that had been smoothed over by time and handling, maybe. Or water?
The sense of another Order signature appearing nearby pulled his attention away though, and he glanced in its direction briefly before starting to walk toward them. It was still so strange, sensing others nearby like that. It distracted him more than anything else because he was still getting used to it, but with time he was confident that he could get a handle on it.
All of it, hopefully.
Spotting the person to whom the signature likely belonged to, Bamburgh found himself a bit relieved to see that they were dressed in a similar style as he was—old England fashion in varying shades of purple. He walked closer, slowing just a bit and holding his hands up as if to show that he didn't mean any harm, in case she was on edge for whatever reason. On closer inspection, he saw the Saturn symbols and relaxed just a tiny bit more. He stopped within conversing distance and tried to smile.
It...probably wasn't all that pleasant, but he was trying.
"Good evening," he greeted politely, because he was more than capable of being polite when the time called for it. "Saturn, too?" The Page gestured at the symbols strewn across his outfit, in the very far reaches of his mind hoping that this might help to bridge the gap of being complete and total strangers. He wasn't usually good with meeting new people, though he wasn't completely incapable either.
Again, he was trying.
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Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2025 7:25 pm
Trier had felt the other aura and had been debating if she wanted to take the time to meet someone new or if she should just…not. Truthfully, most signs were pointing to not, but then the choice was taken away from her as a voice cut through the night. “Ah, yeah. Saturn too. Thanks for noticing. Your outfit is…nice too. Very…almost festive, dare I say. You look as though you’ve stepped out of a Dickens novel. I don’t hate it.”
That was friendly, right? Totally, perfectly friendly.
“I’m Trier. It’s nice to meet you. I…suppose that…it’s inevitable to meet more Knights but…to be honest, it’s something that’s rather slow going for me…I have a mentor, who is also a Saturn Knight…he’s a Squire and he’s…quite…chill about things…but. Yes. Hello.”
Was that friendly? She was trying. For once.
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Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2025 11:00 pm
He tried a smile and managed half of one. "Thanks?" he returned, sounding uncertain while glancing down at his uniform and wondering what about it made her think of a Dickens novel. The ram horns? The colors? The silhouette? The...hat?
Maybe that was it. Which worked for him—he liked his hat.
"Bamburgh," he introduced himself in turn, bowing his head slightly in an almost practiced gesture. "Likewise. And I know what you mean." The Page looked thoughtful as he went back to the previous year's Halloween and what he'd witnessed there. "Other than my sister and the knight who was there when we both awakened, I think I've only met one other knight before you." Joy left a very strong impression on him, actually, and had insisted that he find his own reasons for sticking to this.
He already had one, in his opinion, though she didn't seem convinced it was enough of "his own" as far as reasons went.
"Least you've got a mentor, though?" he offered, wondering if that might make her feel a little better.
A chill wind blew past and he moved to adjust his collar against it, quietly cursing in the back of his mind and reminding himself that he needed more layers.
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Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2025 4:35 pm
“There’s nothing wrong with Dickens. It’s almost festive, for this time of year. You can masquerade as a caroler. It’s nice to meet you, Bamburgh. Your sister is a Knight as well? That’s…how does that work? Do you worry about her all the time? If either of my siblings…”
Trier gave a small shudder at the thought. Alexi would be able to take care of themself good enough, she supposed, but they would take risks...and Cordell…Cordell had enough on his plate. He didn’t need magical s**t to deal with too.
“If either of them became involved in this…I’m not sure I’d be able to handle it. They’re both…I love them dearly. But. They’re just both…a lot. In their own ways.”
She shivered with the biting wind and felt rather jealous of the other page’s pants. What a dumb thing to be jealous of…but they offered more protection than her stockings, that was for sure. “Yeah…he’s pretty cool, my mentor but. I’m happy to meet new people…how long have you been at this?”
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 5:30 pm
"Oh, don't even get me started," he said, his accent a bit more pronounced amidst the exasperation in his voice. And from there it was almost like a floodgate had opened, and he briefly acknowledged that he should probably try and find someone to talk to about this or he'd wind up holding it all in and probably stressing himself into some sort of anxiety-induced episode or something.
"She got it first. The logical part of my brain knows she's old enough and able to care for herself, but the she's-my-sister part of my brain doesn't seem to give a flying ******** about the logical part of my brain, so I've been equal parts supporting her and worrying about her ever since." He sucked in a sharp breath before plowing right on. "I wasn't really sure how to feel when it was my turn. In the moment I couldn't believe it. I didn't even want it, but in the back of my mind I was also relieved because it meant I could actually be there? Do something to actually help her with," he gestured first himself, then at her, then vaguely at the air around them. "All of this."
He paused then, again shivering as a peculiar wind cut across them again. He followed the gust with his eyes even as he listened to her, and her question fell on deaf ears when he saw something start to form not too far from them. He barely made out the form of a wolf already lunging at him when he tried to jump back just barely too late. The pain from the bite was made worse by the feel of ice frosting over it.
"Run!" he said through a grimace yet still putting himself between Trier and the wolf. He wondered if it was even possible for them to get away from whatever this was, but there was a panic in his voice because there wasn't a whole his "weapon" could do against something this aggressive.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 7:50 pm
Trier absolutely understood, and it was good to come to an understanding. It made talking with a stranger all the easier. Both Saturn Pages, both with siblings they felt they had to protect. Perhaps they could even become friends with time…but.
The sudden biting chill and the appearance of…was that a wolf? This was the city…this. Had to be another one of those stupid magic things like her raincloud but. This one was dangerous.
The other Page shoved himself between her and the creature, and she suddenly held her small pin in her hand, twisting slightly so that the pointy end was held out. Maybe she could…get the wolf in the eye? It was a very small chance but…she had to do something.
“I hope you have something more than a pin…? Do you have any magic?”
He felt the same as she did, and that made it unlikely but…maybe. Stranger things had happened. Like this wolf. It was happening.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 7:54 pm
He shook his head. "I've got a rusty gardening tool," he said, scowling and wondering what it would take for him to finally get to the point of having magic. His arm was numb with cold as the wolf jumped at him again. It was all he could do to jump out of its way, narrowly avoiding another bite as he pulled out said gardening tool and swung as hard as he knew how.
The cold bit at his fingers this time, as his tool hit the thing square in the jaw. It yelped in pain, but didn't look that much worse for wear as it turned and snapped at them again.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 8:34 pm
Great. Cool. A rusty gardening tool and a flower pin against a wolf that…looked like he could eat the both of them easily. She shuddered and moved as quickly as she could, given the cold, trying to stab the creature with her pin. It was useless, she knew it was useless, but he was trying, so she had better do it too.
“Hey! You don’t want to be here wolf. Go away, we’re absolutely not tasty. I promise you that.” Trier made her voice as loud as she could, and hoped that maybe…she could scare the thing away…
Perhaps that was an even dumber idea than trying to stab it with a thin piece of metal less than an inch long.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 8:55 pm
If a wolf wasn't actually trying to kill them, he might have snorted at her efforts to dissuade it from trying to kill them. Considering their options, though, he couldn't fault her at all, and in fact tried to double down on doing physical damage—because no, he didn't have the fortitude to think of something serious to add to what she was saying—and flailed his trowel in hopes of smacking it once more across the face.
The biting cold that crept up his arm when he felt his trowel make a very solid hit was telling enough.
"Run!" he said at that point, because all they seemed to be doing was making it even more mad and determined to eat them, and made to grab for her hand so he could pull her away.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 9:00 pm
Run? He wanted her to run? If Trier wasn’t so damn unhappy with the situation she would have stabbed him with her pin for the suggestion but...it was the best thing to do, she knew that. They were no match for this beast, and if they ran…if they ran inside somewhere…well. It couldn’t follow.
…She hoped not anyway.
“Okay fine. We’ll run.” Trier huffed and broke into her fastest run, which wasn’t…impressive at all, but it was something. And hopefully it would be enough.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 9:22 pm
For a second he could swear she was about to refuse and stick around to get eaten, but thankfully she eventually huffed her agreement and he, like her, booked it as fast as he could. It felt like they ran forever but eventually, when he looked back, the wolf was gone.
"We're safe!" he panted, sounding almost as though he was on death's door. "We're safe! Stop! Stopstopstop..."
He faded out as he slowed to a stop, panting and wheezing and fighting to catch his breath.
"I can't– ohmygod– wait– to– bloody hell– be able to do– magic."
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 9:27 pm
Trier managed to slow without falling, but it was a close thing. She let out a cough and doubled over, hands on her knees as she tried to just focus on breathing. Cordell had always been the somewhat athletic one in the family, Alexi even more so, though they enjoyed using that for dancing and choreography but her?
No she was happy to simply be stationary.
“I…Agree with you…Maybe…we should practice again…later? See if we can’t…figure out our magic? Maybe we’re…doing something wrong?”
Necro hadn’t told her that she couldn't do magic now…he just hadn’t really explained how it worked and…maybe she could. She just had to…figure it out…or something. He had kind of said that, but she didn’t want to believe it.
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 9:29 pm
Bamburgh managed to bobble his head amidst all the panting, and moved from a bent over position to a slightly more straightened out position, with his hands on his hips. He looked every bit the way his grandfather did back in the day, after he'd gone a long hike and regretted exhausting himself too early in the day.
"Sure," he said, finally sounding at least a little bit normal now that he'd somewhat caught his breath. "Time and place? Or did you want to swap numbers?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 9:37 pm
“How about…three days from now…?” Trier looked around, not really wanting to swap information with a stranger…no matter the shared trauma. “We can just meet here if you want? It would be safe, I hope and we can figure out…something we can do.”
Her breath was finally coming back and she slowly moved into an upright position. “...I’m very glad we didn’t get eaten. That would have sucked.”
Living was…much better than being eaten. “...I think we both need the practice…if that was any indication.”
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Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2025 9:42 pm
He considered her for a moment, her hesitation at exchanging contact information piquing his curiosity however briefly before he accepted it and her counter-offer with a slow nod of his head. "Three days, then," he said, giving her a weak smile. "And that makes two of us for both: not getting eaten and needing practice." Come to think, he hadn't asked his sister too much about her magic at all. Maybe this would be a good chance to open up that conversation.
Bamburgh looked around for identifying markers of the location before giving another nod. "Alright, I'll see you in three days."
And with that, he turned to leave.
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