Wait... Why is there snow here?

The blonde haired youth was starting to get use to the cold weather that surrounded the castle ruins he was currently calling home within the Silent Glaciers. There was an issue though, winter was quickly approaching, his summons and his other guardians didn't know how he would handle it. They knew he could take a lot due to spending time here and even having to live without much protection from the elements due to where he was raised, still it was winter and would easily go into the severe minuses and they didn't want to put him at risk. They decided that perhaps it was now time for their young summoner to take a well deserved vaccation to somewhere warmer, there was of course Joya, Midi and perhaps even Bellum that might have served as a good holiday resort but there of course would be snow and they wanted him to be somewhere warm this season. It was then they decided that the warm weather of Desierto was just what the doctor ordered. When they had suggested it to the youth he was against it, he had no idea why he should go to that place of all places. He had said he could return to Tolgalen or another place but was flatly denied it making him annoyed. He could understand that they wanted to keep him safe from Cirven, Demi and their allies but he couldn't keep hiding it would improve nothing and keep him a prisoner for the rest of his live, he was done with it. He had been kept a prisoner for as long as he remember and finally wanted a chance to stretch his wings but it was clear they weren't giving him a say in this and finally the teen gave in though he was sure that he'd have less of a chance running into them on Tolgalen given the security messures. Then again he was reminded that they had ways around them which put him a little ond edge, regardless his christmas destination had been chosen for him.

He knew for such a travel he would need to fly because there was no way he was going to risk taking a ship in winter, especially where he was currently. That was just suicidle but then he worried about calling Bennu in such harsh weather, he knew Bennu's flames were so hot that it turned the ground into some sort of obsidian or glass if it was sand but still he would rather be safer than sorry. He had heard the screech of the young pheonix summon in the back of his mind and knew fine well that Bennu wanted to be the one who took him to the desert and that was one companion he'd rather not be on the bad side of given he could eat him in a single bite. It almost happened when he hatched and that was frightening to Ruvel to say the least, his bond to the giant fire bird was more than what it seemed on the surface even to the other summons that he had in his service. Ruvel himself was sickly and weak even though he put on a strong front as a leader and person to those he came across, for the most part it worked. People would have guessed his health status or that he was cracking under pressures he wasn't ready for. When Bennu hatched he was also sickly and weak, many of his beautiful golden crimson feathers were black and dull, for the life of him Ruvel even now didn't know what had caused it but his mother had plucked him up on a journey to a job to take him to her nest to give him to her sick chick as his first meal. He had enough power to have put them down even then but that wouldn't have solved anything, he did know a little ignian so managed to explain that he could help the sick chick to the mother.

He remembered how Bennu's mother had been cautious but eventually allowed him to inspect the newly hatched Bennu. One by one he started taking the bad feathers out, by the end of it Bennu had been plucked so much he could have passed as a giant christmas turkey ready for cooking. With each corrupted feather removed Bennu however seemed to become more and more lively, then and there he made a contract with Bennu with his mothers blessing. Part of the contract was that he looked for a permanant solution to the issue but continued to tend to Bennu's poisoned feathers as they appeared which he had been doing. He had even been adopted into Bennu's family and got preened when he visited, he tried to fuss at first but decided it would be better to just allow mother to do as she wished as it kept her and the others happy. It was nice to feel part of a family like that, where there was no expectations other than to act like a child, problem was... he had no idea how to act in such a way. It had been stolen from him and even when he managed to get away from that life, he had to work to support himself, when found by Dahau he ran away but swore he could feel his pets just at the edge of his sight. Then he met Cirven, the man who would adopt him as a little brother, he wasn't given the time to be a teenager as he was being groomed to take over the company, the running of Tolgalen and guild that was the dirty little secret of the company. Even now he wondered if Cirven knew something was coming and so that's why he was taught the way he was, well it wasn't like he could ask given that his adoptive elder brother wante him to switch sides he thought but then with how his eye sight was removed from him he was pretty sure death was the primary target.

Moving towards the courtyard he started to have a thought, perhaps others would like to have a little break in the dunes of Desierto "Shindara, could you get a message to Leona and Samira and see if they would like to meet for a holiday retreat in Desierto? If they agree give them the co-ordinates of whereever I'm being taken to." he sent to the elder of the two void princes knowing that it would be done quickly via summon, companion or a letter just appearing in front of them. With that done he moved into the courtyard and shuddered feeling the bite of the cold on his skin, he knew if he still had his sight he would be able to see his hot breath in the cold air but alas for now he couldn't. Raising his head he tried to fake a smile but couldn't "I ssannnnhan thi nnh tshh gairrtiin flinness shaf rredirrtsh" he finally said, shortly afterwards there was a screech followed by a sonicboom signalling Bennu's presence in the area before landing a little in front of ruvel melting the snow and causing steam to start rising. Ruvel on the other hand had been sent flying into a wall, where it did hurt he just got up and walked towards the unhappy chirping pheonix "I know it was just an accident Bennu." he said moving to try and stroke his beak but being beaten to the show of affection as Bennu started to preen Ruvel's hair "My hair is fine" he said in protest but got clicking in return, he sighed and just stood there allowing Bennu do as he wished before he was picked up and put onto his back without any warning.

He covered his ears as a screech soon followed as well as a sonicboom as he took off towards their destination. Soon it came to his attention he had no idea who was going to be with him within desert, he was always escorted with people as much as he wanted to do things on his own he knew that right now he just couldn't "Bennu, do you know who my escort is?" he asked moving closer to the his summons head and listened to what he was said only to groan "Why her? I don't want to deal with Ordhabbi." he complained laying down looking to the sky listening to the clicking "I know that Desierto is her home, she's a Djinn after all." he said just wanting to return back and ride out the winter in the frozen wastelands of the Silent Glaciers, he had noticed something about the area around the castle. It was a strange feeling, it felt hostile and where not directly aimed at him there was definatly hostility in and around the castle and as it got closer to the peak of winter that hostility seemed to grow with each passing day. He could only guess that was another reason they wanted him away from the castle, they were afraid that he would be attacked by whatever manevolent presence was there.

He must have dozed off because before long he was being woken by a screech and a sonicboom just as Bennu was decending into the area. He blinked under his silk bandage as something didn't feel right "Are you sure we're in a desert Bennu?" he said confused as to why something felt off, a child tried to hit him with a snowball but was met with the small ball evaporating before it even got close. He heard the unhappy clicking as if he was being told off "Yes, you're in a desert and no we have no idea why we have snow. Some stupid festival is here and it's causing all sort of issues, we aren't equipped to deal with snow!" he heard a familiar voice call out, after a short moment Bennu plucked him up and plopped him onto the ground "They weren't kidding... you are blind" the golden haired woman surrounded in royal purple silks as if she was getting ready to dance for someone said waving her hand in front of his face, her wrist being caught by him "I'm blind but I can still smell your perfume and feel air on my skin, please stop doing that Ordhabbi." he said in a frustrated tone releasing her wrist "Spoil sport." she grumbled in reply "There have been some monsters around here, the kids are enjoying the festivities but the adults are worried about the threats but like I said they aren't equipped to deal with this." she said sighing wanting the idiot mages just to leave already, but knew they'd be here for a while.

Ruvel had waited a bit in the area where he said he would meet his friends, contently stroking Bennu's nose, he had no idea the area the summons had decided to pick for his winter vacation was actually the village that Leona was born and raised in. "We should get going." Ordhabbi said her tone showing she wasn't overly happy she was playing babysitter to her former summoner, Ruvel put her grumpiness down to the fact her home was covered in snow. He couldn't exactly blame her she was a fire Djinn after all so snow just wasn't something she wanted to deal with if she could help it. It was one of the plus sides of living in the silent glaciers if you asked him, she made him feel terrible when he needed to summon her as he would have to do some serious harm to himself or hit an ally. He only ever hit an ally once and felt like a terrible horrible person but he couldn't afford to take anymore damage himself at that point. It was something the djinn never let him forget so as hard as it was to say goodbye to many of his summons she was one he was happy enough to say good riddance to as she made his life that much worse so she could entertain herself. It wasn't always bad though, he had to admit that to himself. When he was in a bad way she had taken care of him until he could get the energy together to call someone who could help him better in the situation he was in. She always said she might be a bitch who wanted to see him hurt but she never wanted him dead, he had to guess that was her way of showing she cared about him in her own unique way.

"Come on. Lets go, it's to cold here." the red haired woman once again protested, she wanted to be inside the warmth of the tents and out of what she precieved as cold. Ruvel thought she was playing on the whole snow thing given she was standing right next to Bennu who had already melted the ice around him and made a small area of glass he was currently sat on comfortably. "Even I know it isn't cold in this area given Bennu is here and gives off enough heat that a volcano would be jealous." he said back to her showing he wasn't buying her complaint making the red head huff and cross her arms like a teenaged brat. "I am waiting for my friends, so as my guide and guardian so are you." he said to her, instantly reminding her of her current responcibilities to him given she agreed to do this when she was less than politely told by others she was going to be doing this. Ruvel didn't know the ins and outs and something told him that he really didn't want to. "Fine, we'll wait a little longer." she grumbled as she lent against Bennu who was happily chirping and trying to eat snow before it evaporated into nothing. It was then his stupidly sensitive hearing thanks to not only losing his sight but being a slayer also picked up children talking about Leona returning and tilted his head "She's returning?" he seemed to ask almost as if puzzled making Ordhabbi groan "Yes, she's returning. This is her home villiage, for someone so smart you are seriously dumb some times you know that." she said belittling him making his body language tense. Her words and how Ruvel reacted to them of course didn't go over well with Bennu who picked her up by her hair and threw her a few meters south east of where they were currently located.

When she landed she ended up rolling down a snow dune and getting covered on snow, when she came back she seen the over sized bird nuzzling into Ruvel before screeching at her in annoyance "Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she said bringing her hands up as if surrendering to him, this was because she knew that throw was just a warning shot, next time she wouldn't be so lucky and she knew it so would have to watch how she interacted with Ruvel for the time being. She really didn't want to risk upsetting something that could set even her on fire. Ruvel then heard something unusual followed by children screaming, the crunching of the snow showed they were running from their current location back into the safety of the village "Great, now what?" she said dusting the last of the snow off herself only to see what could be described as a giant mutated snowman built of snow and ice coming towards them at a semi quick pace. "We have company. It's slightly smaller than Bennu, has ice teeth and claws, if that's not bad enough it has sharp ice on it's knees and has spines like a hedgehog so I'm trying to figure out what this monstrosity is meant to be." she said seemingly deep in thought about the abomnibal snowman that was heading right for them "Oh is that all?" Ruvel said rolling his eyes under his bandaged eyes. "Bennu, could you please get it away from here." he instructed the overgrown pheonix who clicked and chirped happily as he stood up and moved towards it curiously thinking he could finally get some snow. At first the walking snow pile didn't notice the fire bird, that was until it started to melt, it stopped in its tracks for a long moment as if trying to figure out what was happening, soon after he caught his first glimpse of Bennu heading towards him at a quick pace cooing in excitement. The snow brute's eyes went wide as it fully understood now what was happening and started to run away from the ever encroaching bird, a path of dry sand being left in the wake of Bennu running around trying to get what he considered his treat.

Ordhabbi burst into a fit of laughter seeing this, watching as the snowman was slowly melting each and every time Bennu got to close, to her it was like watching a slapstick chase scene on a lacrima "Ar.. aren't you going to... to s.. stop him?" she asked barely able to breath due to what she was watching "No, he's happy so why should I?" Ruvel asked in return to her question she couldn't answer by this point she had almost keeled over in laughter. Ruvel was unsure if anyone else was seeing the chase scene that was playing out between Bennu and the overgrown snowman, it didn't matter however before to long the snow brute had melted but Bennu still managed to get a bite of his arm before he did and came back satisfied before sitting back on his glass area. "Enjoy yourself Bennu?" he asked stroking his beak only to get a reply of happy clicking as his answer, before long the snow had covered the path Bennu had made and cautious children were back out playing with supervision of guards this time to make sure they were safe.

Ruvel turned his head towards the giant pheonix just as he settled down where he had been sitting previously, part of the snow brute still in his mouth almost like an ice lolly. "Bennu?" he said with a confused tone, he had no idea what the hell had just happened and it showed on his face, he was met with a happy chirp. "Did you have fun?" he asked stroking the giant fire birds beak, blinking under his blindfold as he felt something cold on his hand "Put that down Bennu" he demanded of his young summon, for the first time since their contract was made he clicked unhappily "Bennu I'm not joking put that thing down! You don't know where its been or what diseases it has." Ruvel pointed to the ground tapping his foot showing he wasn't happy about this "Like he could get sick by anything, his flames could incinerate pretty much anything." Ordhabbi scoffed making Ruvel sigh in frustration "You aren't helping any Ordhabbi." Ruvel said in responce, he couldn't argue with that fact given just how much heat Bennu gave off but still he wasn't going to risk it "Bennu, you put it down now or I will send you home to mother and will pay a visit to tell her what you are doing." he sounded somewhat upset, the next thing he heard was a thud with a slight squeltch sound "Eww, nasty" Ordhabbi protested moving away from it. "That thing needs to be burned or buried for everyone's sake." the djinn said Ruvel quirked an eyebrown "Then go ahead and do it Ordhabbi." Ruvel said she opened her mouth to say something but recieved a wack from Bennu's wing leaving her dumbfounded for a moment before she looked to him "Burn it then you overgrown turkey." she huffed, at that moment Bennu screeched picking her up from her top by his beak and threw her a few meters away before burning up the snow brute's arm.

Ruvel sighed who had guessed what was going on between Bennu and Ordhabbi "The fire is overly passionate and aggressive as always I see." he rubbed his temples, this wasn't anything new between two "Will you two please behave yourselves, we are guests here... well I'm at least a guest here." he corrected himself realizing that they called this country home even if it wasn't their home realms. Well at least in Ordhabbi's case this wasn't her home realm, she didn't let it be known where she originally came from and Ruvel had the common sense not to push the matter. "Was that needed Bennu?" he asked the pheonix stroking his beak listening to his clicking "Yes, I know but you are better than her so don't do it again." he told him tapping his beak as if scolding him making Bennu click again, the raging Ordhabbi quickly moving back to the pair "I'm going to pluck him" she said angrily flaming fire balls in her hand "Enough of that Ordhabbi. You know you'll have to go through me to get to those I have a contract with. You after all were once in such a contract and gained the same protections." his tone was cold for a brief moment making the woman stop "Do you want to try me Ordhabbi? I am stronger than I once was as are those I still have contracts with." he said making her shake her head knowing better than to go against him given that she knew exactly what was laying dormant within him and how where Ruvel didn't want to cause harm the arch demon inside him held no such qualms of slitting a person's throat if the situation called for it. "Fine!" she huffed crossing her arms looking to the side she was clearly annoyed but Ruvel didn't care he wasn't being walked over by her again.

Ordhabbi pointed as she noticed Leona inside the small village "Hay, your friend is here... well I think it's your friend." she said completely forgetting that Ruvel couldn't see where she was pointing "Ordhabbi, I can't see who you're pointing at if your pointing, I'm blind remember." he said pointing to the fabric around his eyes "Oh, right." she said scratching her cheek "She's a woman with shoulder length blonde hair, blue top and white top with a pink neck tie bow thing, white skirt, black tights or stockings, white boots, gloves" she tried to describe Leona as quick as she could but left out some details "Sounds like Leona." he said Ordhabbi turned him to be facing her "Can wave now." she said Ruvel who lifter his arm and waved "Leona, hi!" he called out to the other in the hopes to get her attention not realising that he had already be spotted "Bennu, stay here a moment and don't touch that thing." he instructed the fire bird before heading towards his fellow wizard saint with the help of his former djinn summon leading him but stopped as Bennu started to fuss causing Ruvel to turn towards him "Bennu what's wrong?" he asked listening to the screeching and clicking as he quickly told him what was going "Leona, seems Samira has found us and has brought a very aggressive and uninvited guest with her." he informed his fellow blonde as he ran back the way he came, he hated sand when he could see but hated it even more now because he couldn't see how it was shifting and so fell to his knees a few times "I need to get use to this..." he said to himself more than the others "Ordhabbi, tell me when they are within three hundred meters please." he instructed the dancer who nodded watching and waiting "Now." she let the blonde haired male know who instantly swipped his hand in front of him a white and pink seal circle appearing three hundred meters on the ground around him, all sorts of gently glowing petals from all around the world started to blow up around him. These petals made his and his allies spells able to go farther and faster but as this was happening the petals started to cut into the yeti that was chasing Samira, due to them cutting into non vital areas the yeti wasn't going to be killed by the attack, it merely wounded it making it slower than what it had been due to injury. This he hoped would help his fellow summoner but just in case he lifted his hand to the sky and flatened it his palm face up as he did a storm grey seal appeared above them in the sky the weather starting to change as the wind sped up making what could only be described as a blizzard

"Bennu, Ordhabbi make sure the villiage isn't affected by this attack" he instructed them before Bennu walked into the village and sat down right in the middle of it, he knew the warmth of his feathers would protect from the rain and snow. Ordhabbi moved on top of him and controlled bennu's heat so no one was injured and that buildings weren't damaged. "If nothing else you've given them somewhere to collect the rain water after all this is done." the fire djinn said to the fire bird who chirped and flapped happily that he could help the village. Soon it started to rain heavily, thunder and lightning crackling across the skies "Don't worry, you're all perfectly safe." Ordhabbi said to the villiagers, she on the other hand had no idea if she was spouting a lie or not but she didn't care either way. Lightning quickly shot down and almost caught one of Samira's summons on the first strike, the second strike it caught the yeti who though was injured was still running faster than a donkey chasing a carrot on a stick. As the lightning caught the yeti it seemed to stop in its tracks paralysed from the lightning strike "You know you've likely just pissed that thing off." Ordhabbi called over to Ruvel "Yes, I'm aware." he called back "You know it will likely be aiming for you when it can move again." she called back again "Again, I am aware.. however.. I believe that Samira is between me and it and she is no push over, also Leona is here and if the three of us can't take down a overgrown furball that took the wrong left then we really should give up our titles and retire as mages." he called back, to him it really was as simple as that. What Ruvel forgot was the fact that water conducts electricity and while the yeti was doused in water from the storm he himself had created, still being attacked by the petals from one of his other spells he had also been struck by lightening several times making the poor beast slump while being stood up almost as if on strings 'Oykai, is it?' he asked the summon that dealt with death 'It is, yes. Now remember to say happy anniverasry to Samira it was one year to the day that we met her. You should take it's horn or something because there is a market for it I think.' he reminded his summoner before going quiet, the lightening and petals instantly coming to an end as their was no longer a threat.