Winter Solstice! (E/Izou)

Stepping into Hosenka for the first time with high expectations for its flashy and over the top image, Izou was quite glad that he wasn’t disappointed in the least by what he saw. Luxurious and resplendent decorations had been set up all over town to welcome the Winter Solstice, despite the light snow and chilly wind. And in the middle of the town, a festival of immense scale had been organized, pulling the majority of the crowd in Hosenka Town towards it. While tourists poured into Hosenka on a daily basis, the town had outdid itself with the festival.

Everywhere Izou looked he could see nothing but people enjoying themselves with the myriad stalls, providing food and entertainment. With a lit cigarette in his mouth and his hands in the pockets of his red and white windbreaker, the knight-errant walked casually through the crowd, ever so often poking his head into the crowd whenever there was something interesting happening. The year end was normally more of a slow period for the guild, and with nothing to do, he had chosen to come visit Hosenka to get to know Fiore better.

After all, before leaving Eiko, he had been holed up there for his entire life, fully concentrating on perfecting his combat skills. Now that he had already left Eiko, despite still carrying the same goals, it would be a waste if he did not widen his horizons.

Every step of his kicked up snow, but his khaki pants and black combat boots protected his legs, keeping them warm as he skillfully maneuvered his way around. As he walked, he caught the aroma of hot chocolate, discerning the direction the scent was coming from and turning his head in the same direction. He was more of a tea person, liking the calming attributes that sharpened his focus, but he would be kidding himself if he told himself that he wouldn’t want a mug of hot chocolate on this cold day.

“One salted caramel hot chocolate please,” the knight-errant called out the instant he stood at the front of the stall, withdrawing his left hand from his coat pocket and jamming it in the back pocket of his pants as he fished around for spare change to pay for his order. When all was said and done, Izou stepped away from the cashier with his cup of hot chocolate, only to see a vaguely familiar face. He had seen the youth in their guild headquarters a few times. With his right hand holding his cigarette and his left hand holding the cup of hot chocolate to his lips for a savory sip, Izou walked over to the youth and spoke up nonchalantly.

“You are from DI as well, right? I’m Izou, I just joined recently as well,” the knight-errant greeted. “Can’t make up your mind on what to get? The peanut butter one looks good.”

[483 / 1500]

Izou merely flashed a nonchalant smile when his guild mate returned with the very favor he had suggested on a whim. But what puzzled him was despite the warrior-like aura that he was sensing from him, his every action gushed innocence. A light frown appeared for a short second when the thought flashed through his mind but Izou had no intention of overthinking it. The knight-errant was just about to reply to Nico’s offer, and he would have taken the guy up on his offer since he had nothing planned, but the situation begged for a very different answer.

Before he could even speak up, multiple shrieks and screams from all over the crowd. Crashes could be heard at the other end of the crowd. People began to run towards their direction, pushing their way to move forward, while Izou tried his best to brave through the flow. A loud roar provided the answer, accompanied by a few stalls suddenly heaved into the air and threatened to crash into the fleeing crowd.

With the swiftest of responses, the knight-errant instantly leapt into the air, his brilliant red armor instantly Requipped as he ascended into the air. His red spear, reminiscent of flames, was tightly gripped in his right hand, holding it down the middle of the spear shaft.

“Dragon Tooth! Falling Flower Palm!” Izou called out in the spur of the moment, expertly thrusting his spear forward into one of the falling stalls and pushed it away from the crowd while a burst of magical energy was emitted from his left palm, blasted in the opposite direction of his spear strike, likewise sending the other stall tumbling through the air out of the crowd’s way. Landing on top of a table after his display of skill, Izou turned to look at the perpetrator.

Beings made entirely out of ice, their physique sharp and lithe, were running around attacking whoever was closest to them with blasts of frost as well as wielding icicles as spears. Izou laughed helplessly as he couldn’t help seeing the similarities between the ice elementals’ fighting style and his own moves.

“Nico! Time to clean up the mess!” Izou shouted over to his guild mate as he fixed his gaze on another creature leading the way. Constantly growling and bellowing, the creature looked like the abominable snowman gone wrong with plenty of sharp icicles poking out of his limbs and back as it thrashed its way through the stalls, tables and chairs.

Letting out a misty breath, Izou widened his stance on the table and swung his spear diagonally in front of him, flames gathering from the base of the spear at the start of the swing. A shrill cry was released at the end of the swing, when a large bird entirely composed of flames flew towards the Snow Brute. The orange flames of the Firebird spell collided explosively with the Snow Brute’s large body. Izou wasn’t arrogant enough to think that a simple spell could take down the Snow Brute instantly, but at least, instead of letting it run amok, he had its attention now.

[520 words]
[Izou's WC: 1003 / 1500]