And just when I thought I knew what being cold was (Intro Thread)

"Uuuuuuuugh! Seriously?! Of all the places to put a guild, why the hell do they all seem to be in crazy places like these?!" Erebus said out loud to no one. As far he new, he was a good few miles away from the nearest town or village. What made matters worse was that since he'd departed from Oak Town, he had to practically travel across Fiore from coast to coast. But in the end it would be worth it in order to gain membership into Silver Wolf like that old mage had told him to.

Just then, after checking the map he'd been given just in case, a much worse snowstorm began to whip up, making it nearly impossible to see past the white screen of snow. "Oh cool, it gets worse!"  he continued, complaining to himself while wondering how anyone could live here comfortably. He imagined Silver Wolf probably had some top notch firewood or oil or...something that made this icy hell worth staying in for any amount of time.

After trudging further through the snow and feeling like his nerve endings were pretty much rendered useless at this point, he'd managed to see what looked like faint magical torches of in the distance. Had he done it? Had he really found the guild's hall. He made his best attempt at a full on sprint, desperate to reach any kind of heat before the shape of what he thought were torches came into view. They were a pair of wolves. "I....WHAT?! Well gee it looks like I'm at the end of my life apparently. No questions answered, no friends made. NOPE! I'm just gonna be frozen magic dog food! Oh well...I guess it beats freezing to death...maybe."

Probably confused or dumbfounded, the pair of wolves didn't outright attack him. In fact once they'd gotten closer they began nudging him a bit to the left, urging him on. A bit hesitant at first, Erebus wasn't exactly going to complain about a pair of wolves that weren't trying to kill him. Especially magical ones that were somehow warmer to be around. Eventually, he started to feel his legs again once the actual hall came into view and the raging storm outside seemed to die down almost instantly.

Looking back, Erebus saw that the wolves had disappeared, seemingly leaving no trace as he approached the large doors. Wanting to be polite, Erebus gave a good few knocks on the door before entering Silver Wolf's halls and beginning his life as one of their own. Stepping inside, he removed the hood of his jacket and said "Uh...hi. I was hoping I could get a membership here. Maybe take a few jobs. I hope that there are some openings or something I could fill.".

Wearing her green-and-gold outfit with Adaptable Armor and Argent Gloves, Leona sat in the Guild Master's office reading a newspaper from Rose Garden that covered the job she and Sol took a few days ago. She was interested in learning whether any of the people they had defended the candy shipment against died from their spells. To her immense relief, none of the children or love haters died... the children had been released the same day they were admitted to the hospital with no injuries to speak of other than mild headaches that were easily treated with children's aspirin. The love haters were still in the hospital but were expected to make a full recovery.

Leona was glad to read that because she had been concerned about using poison and then Hurricane Punch on the hapless love hater who made the mistake of throwing one of his knives at her. She was concerned that she went overboard and accidentally used excessive force, but that turned out not to be the case. Now that she knew that no one had died as a result of the job, she set aside the newspaper and stood up when someone knocked at the door and opened it. A senior staff member had informed her that there was a guest in the guild hall's foyer. As the Guild Master, it was Leona's job to greet them and discover what business they had here.

Leona left her Nightshade Machete and Silver Longsword in her office to avoid intimidating the visitor by showing up armed for bear. Her magic signature might be intimidating enough, so there was no need to compound that by showing up with multiple weapons attached to her person. Still, she kept the knife in her boot in case she was dealing with a hostile entity. Leona descended the stairs and found a red-haired young man with green eyes and dressed in a hooded jacket and long pants.

"Hi there. I'm Leona Jarnefeldt, Guild Master of Silver Wolf." Leona greeted him with a raised hand. It had been quite awhile since she had greeted any visitors to the guild hall.

"What can I do for you?" She asked the youth.

Taking a good look around the place, one would think the guild hall was some kind of cozy and secluded inn. Everything from the noise of the cafeteria, the long hallways and even the roomy lobby with a warm glow. It all just seemed to make Erebus forget that he had to drag his numbed feet up a cold mountain to get here. Come to think of it, they felt just fine apart from a bit of pain.

He even kind of got excited at the thought of joining. Being able to walk down these spacious places, seeing others having a good time...maybe even running around and rolling on the floor. He almost felt like a kid again thanks to seeing it all. But business before pleasure, assuming they even had room for him. No...they had to have. This could be his best shot at getting the answers he was looking for.


just then he heard a pair of footsteps just off to his right. It was a women with a certain air of authority around her. Or maybe respect...both? He raised a hand when she did, almost like he was waving back her before saying "My name's Eros, but you can just call me Erebus if you want. I was looking to join the guild because someone said that you could help me with something.".

"OK, Eros. Eros it is." Leona said to the red-haired youth. She wondered what he needed Silver Wolf's help with. Did he have enemies that he needed protection from, a language that he needed to be deciphered, or a special artifact that needed to be found? Hopefully she would find out what she needed to know from Eros.

There was no point in beating around the bush. She did not want to waste his time with guessing games, so she would get straight to the point. She would ask him what it was that he needed from Silver Wolf... politely, of course. There was no need to alienate a potential new member by being gruff about asking the question.

"What do you need help with, Eros?" Leona asked the red-haired youth.

"Well...alright, but I need you to keep it under wraps as best as you can." Erebus said before taking another quick look around before holding out his right hand and covering it so that anyone wandering from the cafeteria couldn't see. He took a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down as best as he could. Then the look on his face became more focused as a small mass of dark energy seeped from his hand, radiating with a light purple hue. He took another breath as it started to shrink, becoming more contained and focused to the point where it was practically a few small wisps of smoke.

"It's this. It's a type of magic I've had for as long as I can remember. All I really know about it is that it's called Consumer Magic. I looked around for answers before, but I was told to come here. I don't care what I have to do to get in. This place could be my best shot at finding any real idea of what this stuff is. Just please keep it a secret if you can.".

Leona listened as Eros explained his plight, which had to do with his magic. According to him, it was called Consumer Magic. She had never heard of it before. She was curious as to what the word "Consumer" meant... could he summon things on demand or did his magic "consume" anything that he used it on? With enough time and patience on her part Eros would explain it to her.

Leona looked around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation, then turned back to Eros once she was satisfied that they were alone. Then she had a thought. Why not take this conversation to the Guild Master's office?

"I won't tell anyone about your magic. It'll remain strictly between us." Leona assured him. She then asked the question.

"Would you like to take this conversation to my office?" Leona asked Eros. He might appreciate the privacy, but the choice was up to him. If he wanted to stay here and discuss it, she would not stop him from doing so.

"Thanks, I think that'd be a good idea." Erebus said, feeling relieved at Leona's words. Taking her advice, he bean making his way upstairs, waiting for her to lead him to her office. Though before he would forget, he dissipated the magical energy as he saw that it started stretching towards the lacrima acting as lights.

As long as he was careful, he felt that he could keep things under wraps. At least until he figured out what his form of  magic could actually do or why it was considered dangerous by the few who knew about it.Figuring hat he might as well break up the silence getting to the office, Erebus spoke up again. "By the way, I never really got to say this yet, but this place is really nice. Especially compared to outside. You guys should be proud of it.".

"OK then. We'll go to my office." Leona said to the youth. She would do everything she could to help him fit into Silver Wolf, including keeping his secret until he felt confident enough to speak about it to other guild members. If he chose not to tell anyone, it was his choice. Leona had worked with Eero through his secret, so this situation was not new ground for her.

She listened to him praise the architecture of the guild hall. It was impressive architecture for a place in the middle of the mountains. Leila had done well in picking the aesthetic style for this building because it tended to inspire respect from those who walked its halls.

"Thanks, but Leila Vergious is the one you should be thanking. She founded Silver Wolf and set up the guild hall. She can be found in these halls from time to time. Look for a silver-haired mage who's got a really strong magical signature. If you spot someone like that, that's Leila." Leona replied to Eros. The praise did not really belong to Leona since she did not establish Silver Wolf... she was only a caretaker. The praise belonged to Leila, who had the foresight to establish the guild and recruit a lot of good mages into it, including Leona herself. Still, Leona appreciated the compliment that Eros was trying to offer to her and to the guild.

"I like the place myself. It's been my home for months and it's served me well." Leona said to him while the pair walked to the office.

"Leila huh?" from the way Leona described her, she sounded interesting. Not to mention the fact that he didn't expect an old Guild Master to be hanging around while another took over. He just figured it worked like some kind of monarchy in that they just stay in charge until they die. But still, she was apparently the one that started Silver Wolf in the first place. If that's the case, then the guild seems like it really came far in a short time since it's founder was still up and kicking.

As they stepped inside of the office, Erebus took a seat and tried to relax, thinking over the things the Guild Master said. One thing his mind lingered on a bit were the quality of it's members. Curious about them, he used his magic sense to gauge the general feel of how strong they were.

Yeah she was definitely right on that front. Even looking from the eyes of a beginner like himself, most if not all of the other guild members felt stronger than him in some way. Then again, it just meant that he had a long road ahead of him. Despite how worried he was about his magic, he still wanted to develop and master it. He wanted to control and overcome it's power. And, with any luck, this guild could give him the chance he needs.

"Yeah. Leila Vergious is a good person to know. She helped me get my start here and she might be able to help you too." Leona suggested to Eros. He seemed like a good guy who just needed a helping hand, especially with the way he described his magic. As long as he did not threaten the guild or its members, Leona would be glad to provide Eros with help and sanctuary. She was glad that a Dark guild did not get to him first because by the way he spoke of his magic it could be very dangerous in the wrong hands.

The blonde stopped outside a thick wooden single door that led to her office. She knew it was hers because of the small pinholes where notices to other guild members had been stuck into the door whenever she went on a job.

"And here we are. This is my office." Leona said to him. She opened the door to a sort-of organized space with a map on corkboard and somewhat organized books on a bookshelf behind her. All the sensitive material had been safely locked in her desk, so Eros was allowed to enter the room without worrying about him seeing something he should not.

"Yeah maybe, but we'll just have to wait and see." Erebus said as he kept checking the magical signatures. A good chunk of them he found in the mess hall just downstairs while some more appeared to be further underground. There was even one that seems a bit more out of the way from the others with an odd aura around it. It almost felt familiar to him yet not at the same time. It was definitely a strange sensation of deja vu.

Looking around a bit more, he finally found who Leila probably could be. Her signature was one of the largest of them with a powerful glow to it. And yet he felt a slight unease. As if his very body was telling him to be careful around it. Though despite this, he still felt he could act normally around others. It would just be a case of getting used to it.

But Erebus had had enough of, in simple terms, spying on his future comrades in arms, turning his attention back to Leona. "So how do I join anyway? Do I take an oath? Sign a contract?".

"You officially join Silver Wolf when you get your guild tattoo. There's no contract to sign, no oath to take. However, we have a couple of rules." Leona told Eros. While the guild was not big on ceremony, there were rules that needed to be followed so that a modicum of order was maintained. She was going to tell Eros about them now.

"First, try not to do anything that would turn Fiore or the rest of Earthland against us. Second, don't betray other members of Silver Wolf." Leona told him the only two hard and fast rules of the guild. They were the rules as set down by Leila Vergious and Poko Monstar. Leona was maintaining what had worked well so far.

"Are there any other questions you'd like to ask?" Leona asked the red-haired youth standing in front of her before they did anything else. She did not want to pressure him into joining if that was not what he wanted to do. She also did not want to keep him from asking questions before making an important decision like joining a guild.

So all there was to it were the rules and the tattoo huh? Erebus figured there'd be more to it than that, but he wasn't gonna complain that was for sure. Nice, short and to the point. And the rules were pretty much common sense too.

With a nod, he stood up and moved his sleeve, revealing his right forearm. "Nah no questions, really. Well apart from 'Will it hurt?' but I'm pretty sure I can handle it. Us mages have to be tough." he said, giving his forearm a few pats, showing that he was ready.

"It won't hurt. The guild tattoo won't take very long to give. It'll take approximately thirty seconds." Leona said to Eros while preparing the spell necessary to give him the guild tattoo. She saw him reveal his right forearm to her but was not quite sure if that were where the guild tattoo was supposed to go. Leona decided to ask so that the tattoo would be put in the right place the first time.

"Before I give you the guild tattoo, where would you like it to be put and what color would you like it to be?" Leona asked the red-haired youth. A dumb question was easier to recover from than a mishap like putting the guild tattoo in the wrong place and in the wrong color.

The excitement of the moment was kind of starting to get to Erebus. He kind felt tempted to do that miniature jog in place thing. But he figured it was better to control himself for now instead of acting like a kid right in front of the guild's master. Even though all of the anxiety and energy that meshed together in this last twenty minutes kind of got him worked up like a sugar rush.

Of course, this kind of made him a bit impatient. So he decided to go with the bare bones with his guild tattoo. "Just right on my forearm. A basic black'll do the trick for me.".

"Basic black on the forearm? OK. Let's make it happen." Leona said, removing her right Argent Glove and pointing her palm down at the forearm. She then used the spell to give Eros the Silver Wolf guild tattoo in black and on the forearm he had uncovered for her earlier. It had been so long since she had inducted a new member to Silver Wolf that she had almost forgotten how to induct people. Thankfully the procedure was simple and quick, so it was easy for her to remember. Thirty seconds later and the tattoo was in place.

"All right. Now that you have the tattoo, you should be ready to go." Leona informed Eros once the spell had done its work. He did not appear to have suffered any pain from the addition of the mark, but he could have been putting on a brave face for the Guild Master. She would find out how he felt soon enough.

As Leona stretched out her hand, Erebus could feel the magic weaving itself under his skin. It was far from painful as she told him. For him it was like someone was drawing it on with pen. Once the tattoo's design was finished, he could feel a gentle and brief flash of warmth from it. And before he knew it, his forearm was marked with Silver Wolf's insignia.

After looking at it for a few seconds, he covered his arm and sat up. "Well looks like that's that then. I'm kind of excited to see where this goes." he said with a slight smile, wondering what else could be in store for him. Apart from the answers he was after, who knew what other things he might pick up along the way or the things he'd end up doing. The possibilities were practically endless.

Before heading out of the office and asking for an empty room, he'd thank his new Guild Master for letting him in, giving a small bow of respect as he went.

"And I hope you find what you're looking for here, Eros." Leona said to the youth after the tattoo was given to him. She was glad that he had wanted to join the guild and she was glad that she could give him a place where he could learn about his magic in safety without fear of prejudice. Speaking of magic, she needed to find someone willing to trade up-to-date books on magic in exchange for work like the Order of Lightbringers did.

"If you need anything, be sure to stop by the Guild Master's office. If I'm not away on a job, there's a good chance that I'll be in here." Leona advised Eros. If Leona could not help, maybe one of the more senior guild members like Leila, Yuvon, or Eero could. She would do her best to be available for him because he was a novice mage and needed help to get to the next level. As the Guild Master, it was her responsibility to help him get to the next level.