Open A Snowy Interruption

[Levi Remilian]

46th of Winter 14th Bell Winter should be a wonderful time of the year in Lhavit. The very image of the picturesque peaks and its majestic skyglass architecture blanketed in delicate snow is a picture that any prospective artist would find great appeal in painting into a masterpiece. For the young man trudging through the heavily snow covered street of the Zintia peak, this could be anything but picturesque. White breath drifted out in puffs from a scarf wrapped and hooded visage. Levi was weary from the tedium of struggling through the thick layer of snow crunching under his boots. Next to him floated without any trouble the almost always present translucent shape of a young girl, barely seen amidst the white snow. "Snow... Morwen blesses us so bountifully..." Levi muttered wryly to himself while Naya gleefully laughed, gliding through the white covered street. With the heavy snow that had come the previous day there were far fewer people outside than what Levi typically saw. With good reason. It would be far better to stay nice and warm inside and not have to struggle through the thick snow. For the umpteenth time the spiritist wondered whether he should have just stayed in the apartment that day. He shook his head; there was nothing to do in that room and he had already spent the previous two days snowed in. Not to mention that the newly instated winter rationing made eating a challenge in itself. He had to do something, and what better to do on a snowy day than to read at the library? The matter of the ghost haunting the Bharani had been resolved and it sounded as though people were slowly drifting back. The pressing matter for Levi was getting to said library through this Hai-forsaken snow! "Come on it's not so bad is it?" The ghost called back to her brother, hovering on top of a snow drift as tall as her materialized self. Levi looked up at her and sighed, trying to hold back the brunt of his grumpy annoyance. He replied "You don't have to worry about having to walk through it. Very big difference." The ghost appeared to shrug, hard to see on the backdrop of snow, and continued making her way through without a care, "Come on, hurry up!" Levi smiled humourlessly at the spirit and laboriously followed after her; she really was trying to push his patience today. A dislike of this snowfall and cold, one that would have never existed in the mild climate of Black Rock, and a little teasing would equal annoyed Levi. The mischievous spirit knew her brother well after all. Still valiantly making his way, Levi knew that the bridge to the Tenten peak was only chimes away and there would be a little rest from this accursed snow. Naya was nowhere to be seen though he could still detect her in the area. The sound of people came to his ears, coming from a little ways ahead behind a turn off of the street towards the right. Normally he may have been curious and checked it out, but today the spiritist wished for no interruptions toward his goal. He continued on past the source of the sound, not even bothering to look at it. It sounded like there were children... and an adult or two? The familiar sounds of fun in the snow, but why was there the sound of things impacting- Something crashed into the right side of his head, making Levi stumble to the side. He inhaled sharply and rubbed his hood with his hand, brushing away... snow. "Ah..." He muttered softly in realization, staring at the remnants of a snowball in his palm. Slowly he turned his head to look at the offending snowball combatants ten or so metres away from the spiritist, icy blue eyes under his white hood glowering for a moment before it swiftly change to a restrained attempt of tranquility. A wry smile graced Levi's lips as he spoke sternly, "That was uncalled for... I was simply going to the Bharani, but the situation has changed. Now I am very tempted to take... retaliatory action." He bended a knee and a hand reached for the ground, loosely gathering a handful of snow in preparation while still looking at the enemy group with an intense stare. Why was he even doing this? He could just keep walking. So why was he bothering to take up arms? The reason was a random and whimsical one, strange for the normally serious minded spiritist: he was bored. OOCI left the description of the group of snowball fighters vague on purpose. The next post can take as many liberties as they want with them. Enjoy, and let the war begin!

[Izuyanai]

The Kelvic had been trudging her way through the snow to the library. The entire city was covered in a layer of pure white, while the air was fresh and clear despite its frostiness. She hadn't had the chance to see a lot of snow because of her age and it still intrigued her. Snowfall was an amusing enough occurrence for her to put up with a little stumbling in the uneven substance. As she marched along, elated shrieks and breathless laughter could be heard around the corner. Immediately becoming interested, Izuyanai slowed her progress and glanced around to the side street. What she saw tugged the corner of her mouth into a smile. Several people, mostly young children, were engaged in a snowball fight. Multiple bodies ducked, dashed about and pelted white missiles at each other. Slipping around the outskirts of the battle, she found herself a nice seat by one of the buildings and perched herself comfortably in order to spectate. Pulling out her journal to keep herself more occupied, the Kelvic occasionally called out advice and cheered on the fighters. She'd been watching for a short while when her eye caught the figure of a man who was fighting his way laboriously through the snowy street. It was his sullen expression that bothered Izuyanai. He didn't seem to even take note of his cheery surroundings. Perhaps it was the rations. Multiple customers at the bar could be overheard complaining about the shortage of food. It hadn't affected her as much, she was more accustomed to making do. However, her brother had always told her that people with empty stomachs could become dangerous as the hollowness ate into their emotions. Hunger made people selfish and quick to anger. That wouldn't do. Izuyanai quickly reached down into the soft snow and molded herself a snow ball. Carefully taking aim, she threw it at the man and watched as it clipped the side of his hood, crumbling into smaller pieces. Quickly looking back at her lap and her journal, Izuyanai watched out of the corner of her eye as the man cast a stern gaze at the small group. Good, he didn't seem to notice that it had been her. She was off to the side and made inconspicuous in contrast to the more rowdy group. Now it was just a matter of how seriously he took it. The man reached down into the snow in preparation for a proper revenge. Perfect. Just as she had hoped. A good distraction from the harshness of winter was what everyone needed. With that, Izuyanai leaned back to watch the renewed drama.

[Amelia]

Snow, Amelia was starting to learn, was the ultimate winter accessory. She wore a fine dusting of it on her shoulders, and larger flakes fell delicately onto her golden hair like a sparkling hairpin. The young woman had even selected an outfit to compliment the icy conditions; a pale blue dress with white fur collar. Her hair hung loose down her back, uncharacteristically lacking in style or complex plait.

In truth, she had nowhere to go. But Amelia liked the cold weather, and enjoyed pacing through the city and leaving footsteps in the otherwise pristine snow. Everyone seemed to be in a merry mood, smiling and laughing as their noses turned pink in the cold. Thankfully, she had come armed with parchment and charcoal, so after a brief stroll Amelia took a seat and tried to capture the winter scene before her.

Her fingers were numb, and Amelia breathed on them warmly to return some sensation to their tips. Even then, her sketch was unimpressive. As a seamstress, she was far more familiar with sketching clothes, and perhaps the rough outline of a person wearing said garment. But as soon as she touched her charcoal piece to the parchment, Amelia realised just how difficult to was to capture a landscape scene. Her recreation of the path she stood on was wonky, and the faint outline of the building seemed equally crooked. Huffing with frustration, she turned the page over and started again.

This time Amelia focused on drawing what she knew she could: a winter outfit. It started simple enough: an oval head, a pair of square-isa shoulders, a narrow waist and long legs. With her mannequin faintly drawn, Amelia began to add the outline of her dress. The skirt was full-length, reaching the imaginary floor that her model stood on. She initially added a sweet-heart strapless neckline, but after a tick of consideration, Amelia added a pair of full-length sleeves as well. The words silk? chiffon? lace? were added either side of the sleeves, with an arrow pointing to both. Finally, the word taffeta was written beside the body of the dress.

Very few of Amelia’s sketches came to fruition, and indeed most were discarded for one reason for another. But she enjoyed spending time thinking of new designs for various garments, the materials she would use and how she would create them. Some would accuse Amelia of spending precious time in an imaginary world, where the entire population of Lhavit wore her designs — but what else is a girl to do with herself on a cold, winter day?

The answer came to Amelia in the form a cold, wet object that collided with her face, removing a perfect circle of make up from her cheek and making her skin flush red with the impact. She screeched breathlessly, a hand shooting up to her face, as if to check for damage. Of course there was none, but instead a patch of cold water. Had she been attacked?!

It took Amelia far too long to realise what had actually happened. Only when she noticed the snow slowly melting on her sketch did she figure it out. A snowball! Her gaze shot up to the street in front of her, her eyes narrow and suspicious. Yes, there was a group of people playing in the snow, lunging horrid little ice balls at each other and guffawing when their target was hit. But who had hit Amelia? She scanned their laughing briskly, but nobody seemed to be paying her attention now.

So, like any well to do young woman, Amelia returned the attack with one of her own. She scooped up two snow balls, one in each hand, and lobbed them away from her. Her throws were not particularly well timed or strong, but that hardly seemed to matter. No sooner had she launched her first offence was Amelia recollecting more weapons, scraping at the pavement below to collect two more wet balls of snow.

[Levi Remilian]

This may be a simple and childish battle of the snowy variety, but Levi's eyes glanced about with a calculating gaze at the group of snow-fighters, noticing there was a spectator off to the side near a building but gave little thought to them. Strangely enough it seemed only a few of children had noticed him; he decided that these must be the culprits, completely missing the one who actually threw the ball.. He scooped up the snow with both hands and after a moment to carefully aim, the projectiles went flying into the fray. He dashed through the snow as fast as he could manage and made his way around the combatants in a curved path to the right of them in an attempt to circle them. Several of the children noticed the newcomer and with glee replied in kind; the snowballs came hurtling at Levi who promptly bent his knees and ducked, though one ball still managed to clip him on the shoulder. Turning to face them and smiling slightly, the spiritist scraped up and threw the wintery missiles again and again, some hitting while others completely missed their marks and flew over their target. For a tick he worried that it may hit another bystander like himself, but the worry was soon swallowed up in the moment's childish excitement. Staying in one spot was not a good idea, as much as Levi was scoring a few hits, he himself was being pelted at relentlessly. Tactically he was at a disadvantage for it was just him against the numerous opponents he had found in this group. He began to move again, circling around the group until he was in the middle of the street they were on. Stopping he prepared another snowball and was about to aim when white hurtled into his world, hitting him squarely in the face. He stumbled back, his ball dropping from his hands, and wiped the snow out of his face. He could hear elated laughter and giggling; at least they were having a good time. The hood was pulled back and Levi shook his head, spitting out a chunk of slushy snow. He reached down for his dropped snowball when the clump of snow began floating upwards toward his hand. His eyes widened for a but a moment. Levi chuckled and grinned at the unseen presence by his side. "About time." A faint giggling echoed and the snowball fell into Levi's hand. Soon enough it another handful of snow began floating and clumping together, ready for Levi to use. The children who were engaging Levi briefly stopped and stared at the strange sight, snowballs seeming to magically float and form to its master's whim. Of course it was not magic; Naya was merely using her soulmist to roughly manipulate the ammunition for this battle one at a time but for Levi it was help that he appreciated. He was outnumbered and Naya brought a little balance to this snowball fight. A second snowball floated into his left hand, and the fight continued. A young boy with a toque comically too large for him. Targeted and thrown at. Boy with brown hair and particularly noisy. Targeted and down. A young woman in a fur collared blue dress. No exceptions in this battle! Targeted and thrown at. Levi analytically observed and threw his snowballs at his opponents and started moving again, no long needing to scoop up snow as the formed snowballs were placed in his hand by the ghost when he needed them. He continued his circling path until he was by the building the specatating young woman was under. The thought that his trick with Naya may rouse suspicion flickered into his mind and for a moment he paused, frowning slightly. In a tick though he shrugged to himself, another projectile ready for use in his hand thanks to the little ghost. He smiled at the spot where he could sense Naya's presence and strode forward, swerving away from enemy projectiles and throwing his own.

[Izuyanai]

Izuyanai wore a satisfied look as she watched the newcomer join in enthusiastically. More and more children were taking notice of this new target and were banding together against him. Childish laughter and various yelps of surprise continued to ring in the street as there was an increase in airborne snowballs. The stranger wasn't so bad. At least he seemed to know when to duck and when to throw. Still, the younger humans were far more numerous and hard to pin as they scampered around with endless energy. Even so, he looked much happier being pelted by snow than he was a few moments ago. The Kelvic rubbed her hands together and put them up to the tips of her ears in order to get rid of the chill that had started to bite into them. The human form was woefully unprotected against the weather. Izuyanai sometimes wondered why they would do such a thing as pass up warm fur, or even better, beautiful feathers. At least clothes were a moderately good substitute. Tugging her cloak around her more securely, she swept the street with her eyes once more. It was a different kind of screech that drew the raven's attention this time. Definitely not a child's voice, but a woman's. Izuyanai grinned as her eyes found a familiar figure standing frozen in shock. It seemed as though Amelia had caught a snowball directly to the face. The sloshy remains of the projectile were crumbling away down her cheeks and dripping onto the piece of parchment in her hands. Izuyanai had just been about to call out to her in greeting and consolation when the other woman launched into her own attack. Caught off guard but amused, the Kelvic let out an audible chuckle. However, as she narrowed her eyes in merriment, an even stranger sight jumped into her vision. In the chaos, she had missed the fact that the stranger from before now had a snowball floating beside him. In fact, he never needed to wait as more and more were molded for him and placed in his hands. It had been hard to tell with all the flying snow, but there was no mistaking the fact as the strange spectacle edged closer and closer to where she was sitting. Was this a type of magic? Curious as to the nature of this trick, Izuyanai snapped her journal shut and focused on concentrating in the fray. Reaching inward and confirming the djed in her body, Izuyanai focused on the mysterious stranger's aura. The previous shouts of glee were drowned out and blocked from her ears as her attention was turned away. Slowly, the aura became clearer to her and began revealing flashes of motion and sound. Sorting past these and attempting to find the trace of magic, Izuyanai continued her investigation. A sense akin to the fluttering of bird's wings caught her interest. Was that an emotion? It was still difficult to tell. The impression it gave her was that of excitement or amusement. That would certainly fit the situation he was in. Izuyanai could distinctly feel the unpleasant simmer of her djed reserves running low. She had been sure that she would be able to at least find some usage of magic. Disappointed, she relinquished focus on the stranger's aura and drew back. As she did so, however, her Auristics caught another presence beside him. The only thing she managed to pick up was cold. A different kind of cold from the snow outside. Izuyanai let her magic fade and gazed curiously at the apparently empty space where she had picked up the aura.

[Amelia]

Amelia had never truly appreciated just how quick children were until she came to try and hit one with a snowball. They darted left and right, diving into the snow drifts to shield themselves form her poorly aimed throws.

Still, she found herself laughing like she had not done for quite some time. Amongst the snow and the grins, Amelia felt something lighten up inside her that had been dulled and broken since the dissolution of her parents’ marriage. She felt blessedly happy, and for the briefest of chimes her worries and upset was forgotten.

Another snowball cuffed her cheek, knocking the warm air out of her lungs but the relief and happiness remained thankfully inside. Amelia gasped, ducked and threw herself into a particularly deep pile of snow. She had had no concern for the wellbeing of her clothes: this in its entirety was so utterly unAmelia-like that afterwards, when she recounted the tale to her emotionally bruised mother, she found herself laughing again, this time at herself.

Picking herself up, Amelia brushed the worse of the snow off her face and armed herself with yet more snowballs. She began to walk towards the main body of the snow fight, keeping herself stooped over like some stalking cat. Eventually she broke into a jog, her steps increasing until she found herself right in the throng of snowballs. Now she was being hit from all angles and only managed to successfully hit one or two children as they dashed closer to her.

Amelia retreated, holding her arms above her head yet still grinning. Just as yet another snow ball thumped her back, she fell away from the main conflict zone to step beside a familiar face.

“Izuyanai!” She cried, her voice breaking with breathless excitement and glee. “Fancy seeing you here. Fancy teaming up together? I don’t fancy my chances out there alone.” Eventually, midway through her tactical suggestion, Amelia noticed how the other woman’s attention seemed to be taken by another warrior in the snowy battle. She glanced to the man, quickly assessed his appearance and enquired, “do you know him?” And then, more playfully and making an assumption over Izuyanai’s distraction with the young man, “or would you like to?”

[Brandon Blackwing]

OOCHope you don't mind me joining in on the fun

Somehow, watching the empty streets of the Azure was even more tedious than when they were crowded. At least then he could watch people as the passed by while he kept an eye on the patrols of the Shinya guards. Bah, it was like a whole day of rest periods, where just about no single soul left their own residence. The only exception being, of course, that this was now caused by snow, and not the actual rest bells. And that snow also covered the rooftops of most of the buildings, so the surveillance Brandon had decided to do was even more uncomfortable and trying than ever before.

Luckily, some roofs had skyglass plating, which made things better; no snow, and it was rather warm. The downside was that due to the snow melting when it came into contact with the crystals, the whole roof was wet. Still, it was better than lying in the snow, besides, he'd been able to dry off most of the glass he was lying on. A couple Shinya passed by below, voices chatting about things that didn't concern the bat in the slightest, the weather not being something new anymore. Hm, just about the same time as always... the bat thought, glancing at Syna's position, And they're taking the same route as usual. Good to know.

Of course, this wasn't the first couple of guards he'd seen passing by today, not even close. Brandon had been lying in wait, observing, for a couple bells now -from before the last rest period actually- in hopes to update the information he had on the patrols of the Shinya in this part of town. Apparently, that had been a waste of time. He'd also decided to try and find out more about the security of the Starry Chalice, which lied -not coincidentally- right in front of the Kelvic. Ways of entrance he had analyzed, thinking of what kind of extra protective measures the proprietors could have taken since his last visit... from the looks of it, the latter was quite the disappointment in the way nothing appeared to have changed even a little. Well, he had been away for quite a while, and Lhavit wasn't a city where crime was a regular thing. Quite the contrary in fact.

The bat sighed then, deciding he'd been lying about for long enough, he slowly crawled backwards, to the small ally he'd used to get up there unseen. One leg was asleep though, interfering quite a bit, yet it arouse from the numbness soon enough, enabling the bat to clamber down into the streets and start to head home quickly.

It was during his stroll home that the now familiar sensation of an undead presence presented itself, resulting in a deep sigh from the thief. Last time he checked Lhavit hadn't been infested by ghosts, but strangely enough he'd found more than just a couple since he'd returned from Wind Reach. Either something was not right, or he'd just been more ignorant than he'd imagined. It mattered not, at least tracking down spirits was more entertaining than staring at a shop for bells. Though by no means was he going to try and deal with the apparition right away; he could just spy on it to get an idea where it was residing, and go send it to Dira on another day.

The farther he walked, and the closer he got to the ghost though, the more cheering he heard. It sounded like children playing, which was not so strange, and with this snow they were probably having a blast. However, it weren't all children partaking in the fun, oh no, even from a distance Brandon spotted a young woman running about scooping up snow, along with a white-cloaked male. Well, so I've tracked down Levi's sister again... I should have realized this sooner. It was rather strange though, to see the spiritist, who'd seemed so... stiff, partake in a snowball fight with a group of kids. In fact, it was strange and amusing enough to lure the bat closer, hiding in a shadow so he could watch the event from up close, though still evading detection. Well, until his mark worked its magic on Levi's ghostly sister, that is.

“That's pretty unfair, Levi, having your projectiles be prepared for you instead of doing it yourself,” the Kelvic jested as he approached all the way to the spiritist's side, dodging and swatting away the increasingly larger amounts of snowballs headed his way as he did so. “Apologies, I haven't figured out how to suppress the effect I have on your sister yet.” Judging from last time, she'd probably be out for the count within a couple chimes, if she wasn't already trying to hide somewhere. A snowball passed his defenses right then, scattering into dust when hitting his shoulder. “So I suppose you'll have to do with me instead,” he grinned mischievously, quickly bursting into action, scooping up some snow, compressing it for a moment and then throwing it towards the person who'd hit him. Usually, his aim was rather good, but snowballs had a different density and trajectory than daggers, so he missed by more than he'd liked. “Tsk.”

Bah, after a dozen throws or so he probably have adapted a bit, no worries. If those children could achieve modest accuracy within a couple bells -since it rarely snowed in the crystal city- then Brandon could reach the same level in a couple chimes. “Seems like those two ladies are teaming up,” he remarked, nodding in the direction of the girl he'd seen frolicking about when he'd been watching from the shadows, “and the kids are focusing less on besting each other too... as things stand, you're at a huge disadvantage... want to enlist my help?”

credit goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Levi Remilian]

The advantage that Naya gave to Levi in this battle was of considerable value to the man in his beleaguered position, but even then it was hardly enough to allow him to stand his own. Even without the need to manually make his own ammunition, the man was still being pelted at all angles by his opponents. Unfortunately for him the tide of the battle was turning; the children were slowly abandoning the conflict between themselves and have banded against the singular threat against them: Levi. Still managing a few hits but with snow hitting him more and more, the once confident charge forward turned into slow but certain retreating steps backwards. Levi still kept valiantly throwing his snowballs, but with the small hail of snowy projectiles coming at him, even swerving about wildly was of little help to dodge the wet clumps. Things only went worse when he found himself without a ball in hand and his continuous supply of ammunition ceased. He looked at where the unseen Naya was and ducked beneath the onslaught of snowballs, kneeling next to her. "Naya? Is something wrong?" Levi asked in concern and frowned, "Are you alright?" "Brother... I can feel him nearby... Djas..." The spirit weakly whispered to Levi. With perfect timing Levi heard Djas's familiar voice and turned to look at the Dira-marked approach through the barrage of snowy missiles. A shiver went down his back; it was the same aura of mystery he felt when he first met Djas which Levi had quickly attributed to the man's mark. Levi smiled slightly at the other man's jest, "I am outnumbered, I need to use every advantage I have." With the other man's arrival though, Levi knew that he was going to be losing the one advantage he had with Naya. He nodded to Djas' apologies though he sighed, "I see, apology accepted. Though it is more to Naya you should apologize than I." He looked at where the invisible spirit was and whispered to her, "Stay nearby, but far enough that you don't feel unwell." "Okay..." A whisper echoed, but it was strangely loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. Levi could sense Naya blink away until he could detect her presence still somewhere on the street but further down. A snowball crashed into the side of his hood and broke into a puff of snow. Brushing the remnants away he grabbed a clump of snow and stood up, pressed the snow up and threw it. He no longer had Naya to help, his firing rate will be going down significantly now. Even with Brandon taking some of the children's attention now, Levi was still getting hit a fair amount for all his attempts to duck and dodge. Despite that he smiled to himself as he renewed the assault. At how it stood though, he was still being driven back. It was still two against many, still outnumbered. They needed more allies, but where? His gaze wandered to the two women near the building. Maybe it was time for the adults to unite. It appeared Djas had the same thought as Levi and the spiritist nodded to him. "You're right, we are at great disadvantage. I'll gladly accept your help, and we should team up with the others near the building. The adults need to unite." Saying this Levi let slip a humoured smirk; adults teaming up against a bunch of children, it was a comical image. Even so it was their only option now. Levi motioned for Djas to follow and ran over to the two girls near the building. He bowed quickly and spoke to both of them with as much politeness possible in the middle of battle, "My apologies, but may we request teaming up with you for this fight. It seems the children are uniting their focus upon us and so it is wise we take similar action."

[Izuyanai]

"Izuyanai!" An excited cry jolted the Kelvic out of her reverie. "Huh? Oh, Amelia. I see you made it across the battlefield." The seamstress in front of the raven was covered in a thorough powdering of snow. Her cheeks were bright from the cold and exercise while her eyes sparkled with excitement. It was unexpected for Amelia to be so disheveled but her obvious happiness was contagious. Still, Izuyanai's eyes flicked to the side to where the previous stranger was joined by another man. They seemed to know each other and exchanged greetings while the first knelt down to speak concernedly to a third individual. So there was indeed a being there. An invisible one. If she assumed correctly, probably a ghost. They didn't seem all that rare in Lhavit these days. "Do you know him?", came Amelia's question. Izuyanai turned her attention back to the other woman as she playfully added, "Or would you like to?" Izuyanai let out a short laugh of appreciation and smirked. "No, I don't know him. And I was interested, but probably not in the way you imagine." The Kelvic stood from her perch and stretched toward the sky. She was a little worn from magic use, but it wasn't worth turning down an invitation. She should still be able to move fast enough to avoid the projectiles. "As for if I fancy teaming up with you, I'd be glad to. Though, it looks as though we may have more allies." Izuyanai pointed past Amelia's shoulder to where the strangers seemed to have retreated from the onslaught and were making their way toward them. It appeared as though the white-cloaked stranger had somehow lost his snowball creating assistant and therefore the charge into battle had gone unsuccessfully. When the man arrived at the small zone of respite, he bowed and extended a very polite invitation. The raven laughed at idea of an adult alliance against the scampering children and put on a mock face of horror. "Children? Victorious against us adults? This must not come to pass! I graciously accept an alliance if Lady Amelia has no objections." Switching to a less theatrical tone, Izuyanai continued. "Has anyone thought of tactics? Decoys? Formations?"

[Amelia]

For the first time since that first snowball whacked her on the cheek, Amelia felt her enthusiasm and smile begin to drop. Only a few days ago Izuyanai had been her customer, and now here she was trying to come up with a way to conquer a bunch of little kids in a snowball fight! It was hardly professional, and for a tick Amelia considered that it would be more pertinent to discuss something more mature with the other woman. The weather, or fine wines, perhaps?

But no. As quick as her paranoia had settled on her mind, it left and Amelia was ready yet again to go to war. “Good. Though I’m not exactly a seasoned fighter, and I have no clue how to beat these little… shykes.” The curse word left her mouth breathlessly, like a child who has just sworn in front of her parents for the first time and was awaiting the repercussions.

But of course, there was none.

There was, however, two strangers approaching the women. After checking their hands for snowballs - one could never be to careful in the world of warfare - Amelia nodded and smiled towards them. One of the males, she noticed, had already taken part in the battle. She gave him a sage look, in the way that she imagined all war veterans do to one another. His companion, however, earned a completely different reaction from the seamstress. She chuckled to herself, recalling how, earlier that season, she had sketched this male in a variety of ball gowns whilst she had watched him perform in the streets. As she recalled, his flips had been rather impressive and her designs rather fabulous.

“I have no objections.” She said with a shrug and smirk, her blue gaze darting from companion to companion as if searching for their own ideas. “There’s many more of them than us, so we should stick together.” Whether or not this was logical, Amelia had no clue, but it made sense to her. “Other than that, I have no clue how to win this war.” Her tone lowered, becoming intensely serious as she concluded with, “but defeat is not an option.”

Perhaps I was Myrian in a former life She found herself wondering.