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 Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 5:46 pm
Quote: 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.
And it had caught up with him.
Twelve hour paramedic shifts were no joke, and he'd known he wasn't at his best, walking home from the firehouse to his apartment. But he hadn't expected to be so out of it that he missed a monster forming out of the cold.
The giant wolf-beast had appeared in a burst of particularly frigid wind, and honestly, Ziuhoi was glad that it had appeared in front of him, so he had a moment, after his tired mind registered that what he was seeing was probably real, to get a head start on running.
At least the adrenaline had kicked in and he was moving fast, so he could dodge into an alleyway and hope the thing passed him by.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 9:36 pm
Dunnottar had thought tonight would be rather boring—at least, for the magical side of the city. The regular side of the city had seen some action in the night, but none of it was anything he could've interfered in. Unless magic was involved, he didn't get in the middle of anything that the civilians were already handling. Thus, when he first saw the civilian dodging his way into the alleyway that Dunnottar had chosen to occupy for a quick break, his first instinct was to leap away. But the bitter chill blew down the alleyway right after the civilian did, and he knew he needed to protect this man. "Behind me!" he shouted, stepping forward and raising his cane high. The wolf poked its head into the alley and snarled viciously. Dunnottar waited. It charged. He slammed his cane into the ground, forcefully channeling his magic, and the unicorns sprang from the concrete, bursting forth and directing themselves to the ice wolf. Their horns sliced at its legs and underbelly.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 9:49 pm
There was magic happening in front of him.
Ziuhoi did not consider himself particularly credulous, or given to flights of fancy, or otherwise the type of person that believed in magic, but there was no other explanation for what he was seeing with his eyes. He moved behind the man in the strange outfit, who seemed much more prepared to take on a monstrous wolf than he was, and pressed himself against the wall of the alley so he was out of the way, because that seemed the wisest option given what was happening.
His heart raced. If he wasn't seeing unicorns race towards the great creature with his own eyes, he didn't think he would have believed it; and yet that was undoubtedly what was happening in front of him, unless he decided that he was going insane. (Which seemed unlikely. He wasn't even working overtime, and he wasn't that sleep deprived, and this seemed an unlikely onset for some sort of psychotic or hallucinatory disorder. So, real, happening.)
The unicorns were clearly tearing at something sensitive and bare, and Ziuhoi winced, looking away as the monster started to bleed strange, clear, icewater blood. Sure, it wanted to eat him, but that didn't mean he loved seeing it get ripped apart.
He decided instead to focus on his savior--tall, handsome, with vibrant green hair, and dressed in all pastels, holding a cane that looked more "candy" except for its size.
"What is that thing?" He asked, heart racing. "Or...was?" It seemed to be coming apart, which was sort of a relief.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 9:59 pm
Dunnottar held up a hand, acknowledging the civilian clearly had questions, but he wanted to wait and ensure the wolf was entirely dissipated before distracted himself. After another few seconds of quiet, the wolf no longer had any shape within the ice, and the wind scattered the remains. He lifted his cane, and the unicorns vanished in a puff of sparkly glitter that had him internally sighing, but whatever. That was fine. He was going to just have to get over his aversion to the girlish magic he'd been assigned. At least it didn't stick around like real glitter. "Some kind of magical beast. Did it get you?" he asked as he turned around to look at the man he'd saved. He was grateful he'd spoken before he'd fully turned around, because after getting a good look at the man in front of him, his tongue decided to take a vacation and he had no idea why.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 10:06 pm
If any girlishness of the magic had any particular effect on Ziuhoi, he didn't show it. He just stared, more than a little awed, and reduced to rare silence. Usually, he had something to say to everything, but suddenly discovering that magic was real was....a lot.
So he could only shake his head for a moment, especially because the universe had decided to deliver the revelation that magic was real to him in the form of a man that was, frankly, ridiculously handsome.
"No," he said, finally, after a moment to readjust, "no, I'm fine, it didn't get me. What the hell."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 10:55 pm
Well, not understanding what had happened was... somewhat encouraging. Dunnottar would prefer not to save a civilian who was secretly Negaverse or something, and the confusion seemed to ring true. "It is good you're not hurt." He couldn't help a small chuckle. "So, it seems safe to assume you've never quite run into anything so overtly magical. Maybe only small things that can be written off, like flowers pushing up too early for spring, or the bunnies that seem quite happy to cozy up to humans during the winter, that sort of thing." He tilted his head. "Unfortunately, the world's a little more magical than that. Which includes giant ice wolves who are not happy."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 11:04 pm
"Ah. Alright. I see." Ziuhoi felt more than a little bit dazed by the series of revelations being dropped on him. Or maybe it was the person doing the dropping--truly, either could have been a component.
"I...have run into some things, yeah," though they were usually grimmer than little bunny rabbits. A question itched o his tongue, but dropping "is there magic that can kill a person with no trace?" on someone on very first meeting seemed a bit of a lunatic thing to do.
"Is it gone, then? At least for now? Or should I be expecting an ambush in the next block or two, before I get home?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 6:24 pm
"It usually stays gone for a little while. You should be able to get home safe," Dunnottar asserted, then paused and hummed in consideration. "But if you'd prefer, I could escort you part of the way home. I recognize that would be placing an enormous amount of trust in a stranger, however." Whatever the man's decision was, Dunnottar would honor it.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 6:30 pm
Ziuhoi considered his options. On the one hand, showing a strange man where his apartment was. Theoretically dangerous, but in some ways not too much worse than a Grindr hookup. On the other, the possibility of a giant ******** monster returning out of nowhere to attack him again. Way, way worse.
"If you've got time," he said, "my building's not far. I'd appreciate the escort."
Honestly, he felt safer than he maybe should, around a total stranger. But this man had just saved his life, so that felt like the way more important thing. And if he was secretly a serial killer or something, Ziuhoi would just have to deal with that.
He had a good feeling, though. And he didn't have those often.
"Thanks, by the way. For saving me."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 6:33 pm
Dunnottar smiled. "It was no trouble," he assured the man before him. Wondering just why his insides felt so... warm and squirmy. Was he, perhaps, getting sick?
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