All That Glitters is Snow

Noctis cursed himself aloud as he climbed the slippery mountain path that leads to God knows where. Noct was lost, he knew he was lost, but being stubborn, he refused to stop and ask for directions at that small hut he passed several miles ago, but with the snow falling, there was no way he was gonna be able to retrace his steps now, and so he begrudgingly pressed onward.  A half-hour later, Noctis let out a guttural yell punching the first thing near him, the very much immovable stone face of the mountain. This was followed by shouting and cursing, which echoed off the mountain pass walls and the valley below.

Noctis sighed angrily as he was lost, cold, and now his left hand throbbed painfully due to his less than brilliant decision to punch something made of granite. "You're a damned fool for coming out here.... alone." he said aloud to himself as he continued his climb " Matter of fact, I am so damn dumb that I am likely going to freeze to death on this godforsaken mountain," he said aloud like he was having a conversation with someone, but there was nothing but the wind and the valley floor below around to hear him. After another half hour of climbing up the slippery slope, the snowstorm finally let up, and the mountain pass opened up into a plateau.

Noctis beamed slightly that the snow had finally decided to let up, but more so the fact he was no longer climbing up an inclined plane. 'Now, if I could just find some way to warm up and relax for a little bit, I would be in great shape.' he thought to himself as he rubbed his hands together in a weak attempt to warm the frigid appendages enough so that he could flex them without it feeling as though daggers were stabbing his joints. It was at that moment Noctis noticed steam like haze rising up a few hundred feet away. The haze was rather thick and obscured vision quite well from such a distance. He smirked to himself, thinking, 'No way my prayers were answered that fast, there has to be a trade-off somewhere.' he thought as he slowly walked toward the almost mirage-like haze his feet dragging through the snow, barely making a sound. As he got closer, he thought he could see a figure in the haze already in the hot spring, and he was about to say something when he took a step and heard a twig snap under his foot the sound like a gunshot echoing off the mountain peak for all to hear.

[Noctis Word count:442]

When one person has a hell of a time visiting a subzero land of ice and snow another has it much easier. Samira didn't go out of her way to visit Snowfall Island just because or be very unprepared for the journey. That would have been suicidal and a strange train of logic to ride on. No. She had some free time to herself to get away from jobs, missions, and whatever else was typically brought to her attention that required her skill set or magical capabilities. That day, she had chosen to visit a place she had not yet been to before. A snowy island that had once been a resort location but had it's environment drastically altered by the magic of an unnamed ice mage that desired it to be cold. It was a legend, of course. There had been nothing to prove that, that is what transpired so long ago. It was still interesting though, and so her curiosity brought her there. Maybe she could find traces of truth to that legend. Traces of the powerful magic that had been used to completely change a small piece of the world. That was an exciting thought.

The cold climate didn't bother Samira that much, or at all really. She got by with lightweight insulated layers and a parka. In truth, she probably could have worn her normal everyday outfit and gotten by just as she would in the warmer climate of Fiore. The passive protection of her fire spirits gave her warmth, which was why she needed very few layers to begin with. If she had wanted to, she could have called on more power than that to make even the parka redundant. However, it was not necessary. She preferred only using what was required, and she was in no dire need of such heat.

Her journey through the mountains had taken her to a hot spring. A curious finding considering the legend of the island. How had a hot spring managed to survive the icy blast of magic that powerful mage had used? Was it even a natural one? One that was the result of subterranean volcanic activity no one knew existed? Or had some other traveling mage come through at some point and made it? Maybe even that great ice wizard of the past desired one even. Curious. Such a minor thing had such mystery.

The Wizard Saint had no interest in going in at first. She wasn't cold, and she wasn't there for a relaxing soak. Yet, she did find herself getting inside the hot water. The nudging of her summoning spirits was the cause of that. There was no harm in taking the time to enjoy a few minutes there. There were natural benefits, and they too themselves wanted to soak themselves in the warmth. So, she listened to them and humored them with their idea. Although, she ignored the one that insisted she jump in there completely nude. Samira was not that sort of person, and they were reminded of that. Instead she had in mind to wear what any sane person would wear, in her opinion at least. The parka was set aside with the other supplies she had been carrying, and the clothes she wore began to disperse into swirling particles, the black woolen outfit being replaced by a swimsuit that appeared little by little as the former vanished the same way. Gratitude would be given to the spirit that had made the swimwear so quickly and replaced the outfits.

Some minutes had passed, quietly and with no interruptions. The only sound that had been in that entire area was the voice of Samira, who was talking to the voices in her head. The voices of her spirits, of course, and not some dose of insanity. Not that many could tell the difference if they were unaware of those seemingly invisible individuals. She was unaware of someone approaching. It hadn't even occurred to her that it was even possible for someone else to be there at that same time. She was in the middle of nowhere! Then, there was the sound of something snapping. A random twig perhaps. One that had probably fallen from the very few trees or shrubs that had managed to evolve to survive the harsh temperatures of the island.

Samira immediately stopped her talking and cast her gaze around, standing up fully while attempting to make anything past the haze. The thought of using magic to see more crossed her mind, but she thought it was unnecessary. Her nerves calmed. It was probably a wild animal passing by. It was the more logical and realistic assumption. She relaxed more and lowered herself back into the water. Lower and lower until she was completely submerged. For a good while she remained there, completely unaware that the wild animal was more than she originally guessed it to be.

(Word Count: 819)

Noctis, lost in his own thoughts, had completely missed the faint talking ahead of him. His blood had run cold the moment he stepped on a twig... on a snow-covered mountain.. with no trees... The realization dawned on him that maybe whoever was up ahead had placed the twig there as a sort of warning bell. 'Just your luck, Noct you try and go off and find yourself and end up in the middle of the snow... on a mountain in the middle of who knows where with some potential threat.' He thought to himself as he stood there frozen. Still just barely able to make out the shape in the mist like haze.

Noctis had never been one for subtlety, but perhaps now was a good time for it as he had no idea whom he was potentially dealing with and did not want to end up in some shallow snow grave on the top of a lonely mountain. He realized he could do a few things in his current situation, turn into a cat, which would leave him virtually defenseless but unassuming, or he could attempt to sneak up on whom or whatever decided to take a bath on the top of a mountain. That was another question that plagued him 'Who in the hell is crazy enough to take a dip on the top of a mountain in the middle of a snowstorm in these temps?' he gripped his head, pulling at his hair in frustration. So many questions he wanted to be answered, but he couldn't afford to waste time thinking about frivolous things.

Now at six foot six inches Noctis was not small, tiny or easily concealed so why he got it in his mind that he could sneak his huge self up on someone was beyond any comprehension. Perhaps the cold had addled his cognitive abilities only the heavens knew but that's the path Noctis went with. It would have been a funny sight to anyone watching as he slowly crawled through the fresh powder trying not to crunch in the snow as much as possible. There was definitely minor crunching as he crawled close. The snow was also chilling him to the bone as his clothes slowly became saturated with water and sweat.

Crawling was a slow and arduous task and he had been moving so slowly that he began to shiver from the cold 'Brilliant thinking there, slick.' He thought to himself as he continued his slow forward progress. 'Let's just lay down in the snow and crawl over five hundred feet.' He thought as he chided himself mentally. He was exhausted, hungry, and cold, but most of all, who wanted to know who was mad enough to be up on this mountain with him were they lost too, or perhaps they just enjoyed a dip in the middle of a snowstorm. Noctis went to place his hand in the middle of his muse filled crawling to keep himself occupied when there was another loud and sharp resounding crack ' YOU HAVE GOT TO BE RESHING KIDDING ME.' He said as he screamed internally. Noctis sprung quickly to his feet, sprinting the last ten yards. Though as he ran through the haze into the warmth, it never occurred to him that the rocks surrounding the hot spring might be slick. So with the grace of an elephant on rollerskates, Noctis burst into view only to slip and fall face-first into the spring.  Everything from that point forward happened in slow motion, and the last thing Noctis saw was a gorgeous woman in a bikini, and then everything went black.

[Post Word Count: 607]
[Noctis Word Count: 1,049]

Well, as any other normal human, Samira did still need to breathe. The woman resurfaced from the waters that she had submerged herself in. Nothing was out of the ordinary during her time under the water it seemed. Everything was the same. A wild animal it must have been then. She was content with that seemingly accurate assumption. If it had been a person then surely they would have come along by now. Instead there was just her, and she was glad for it.

Some more time had passed with her being in relaxed peace. All good things had to come to an end though. In more ways than one. Her original thought was that it was just time to get out of the springs and move on. After all, it wasn't healthy to stay in one for too long, no matter how relaxing it was or how nice it felt. Any longer and it was possible that she would fall asleep in those waters. Plus, she needed to get a move on with her explorations. Nothing would get done if she dawdled for too long. However, her peace would be brought to a halt by something else instead.

A quite noticeable loud cracking sound shot through the veil of silence. Close too. Closer than the random twig snapping sound from earlier. Her attention immediately focused on the direction it came from. What she could see through the haze of the springs was something running towards her. Humanoid shaped rather than animal. Samira got tense and prepared for... well why would anyone want to attack her way out there anyway? Her mind knew it was silly to think she was in any kind of danger from some random person. Not even a bandit or thief would try to ambush people on some frozen mountain top barely anyone traveled through. Still, her nerves and body told her she needed to react.

A small barrier formed around her body, covering her as if it were a sparkly bubble. Although it would soon prove to be an unneeded form of defense. A figure burst right on through the mist and instantly slipped and fell right into the water. The celestial bubble popped, as if indicating her own mind had been popped and blown after witnessing what had just transpired. If that was a crazy bandit that took his business all the way out there he sure was a clumsy one. Samira blinked those emerald eyes of hers and stared at the ripples that had formed in place of where the person had fallen. She stood there, waiting for him to resurface and find out if he was someone to be concerned about or not. Blink blink. She waited some more. Blink blink blink. He... wasn't coming back up, was he? Well that was a problem unless he knew how to breathe underwater. She couldn't very well take the risk of leaving him down there to try out the underwater breathing theory, however.

"He Bo, if you could help with this I would be grateful." To others, she would seem to be speaking to no one. In actuality, she was talking to one of the many spirits that had connected with her mind long ago. They were already aware of everything, having listened and seen it all for themselves. He Bo had already begun to act on his summoner's thoughts before she had finished giving the request audibly. The spring waters swirled and began to light up with celestial energy from the spirit's presence. He was composed of a magic water that could move as its own entity even if he blended well with the warm waters of the spring. Finding the unconscious person was easy. Getting him out of the water was even easier. The spirit enveloped the stranger in the sparkly waters and then shot him out and towards the surface edge like a cannon. Samira could only sigh as the man shot through the water and landed roughly. Perhaps she should have advised a more gentle approach. Well, that was something to deal with later. For now, she needed to make clear as to his status.

Samira removed herself from the pool and walked over towards where the unconscious man lay, carefully of course. She didn't need to repeat his phenomenal slip and trip mistake. Being out of the water was colder to be sure, but also negligible. Its heat spread even outside of it, keeping the area warm enough still. As she approached, she could easily tell he wasn't human. He had the features of what she would expect someone from Joya to have; cat-like. Already the woman already cringed inwardly at the fact he shared Joyan traits. They had a habit of being far too friendly and far too flirtatious for her liking. She did pause her approach because of that, but she continued it after a quick thought and realization. There was an all too familiar mark that she could see. One that was only slightly visible under the tail end of the now completely drenched white shirt the man wore. It was the mark of Sabertooth, a guild she was a member of as well. It was of no surprise that she didn't recognize him. Keeping up with new members was a near impossibility when she was constantly absent from the guild itself. It was amazing enough that she knew the names of the few she did. Now there was even more of a reason to make sure he would live to see another day, or at the very least the next five minutes.

Once close, she sat down beside him and checked him over with a glance. There were no injuries besides the one on his head. Good. Nothing too serious. That could easily be healed. So she attempted it. It was a simple spell really. Her hand began to glow with a pale blue energy and she would place her hand on the injury to heal it. As for him maybe probably possibly drowning just a bit... he seemed to be breathing so maybe he was fine in that regard? She didn't really know, nor did she have any intentions on giving basic CPR herself. Assuming she knew how to correctly do that to begin with.

(Word Count: 1051
Samira Total: 1870)

Noctis had hit his head on a rock underwater during his slip and fall, which consequently knocked him unconscious; while unconscious, Noctis was starting to experience the same nightmare he experienced every time he closed his eyes. The same scene played out before him every time like it was on replay without a way to pause or stop it. Noctis woke from his unconscious state with a scream, which was then followed by extreme confusion.

Noctis shot up from where he had been lying and looked around only to spot the gorgeous lady in a bikini just sitting there like a guardian angel of sorts. He recoiled back several steps, still looking about in confusion. 'Calm down, Noct or you're going to appear like a mental patient off his meds.' he thought to himself, trying to calm his breathing and slow his pulse. "w-who are you? And did you do... anything... weird to me while I was unconscious?" he asked as he patted himself down, checking for any missing limbs or body parts. It was at that point he realized his guild tattoo was visible.  Nocts eyes narrowed slightly, and he became very suspicious as an ethereal sword appeared in his hand, and he took a defensive posture.

His mind raced at a mile a minute, going over all the possibilities of why a gorgeous woman was out here in the middle of nowhere and in a bikini no less. So many questions were had and very few answers he had for them; it was infuriating. Noctis was fairly certain this woman was likely crazy beyond comprehension to be out here in that, in this weather was something only a crazy person would even think about doing. That is if crazy people actually thought about anything. Noctis thought about making a run for it, but he was still soaked and wouldn't make it a mile with the temperature dropping and his clothes soaked.

"So... What are we going to do about this?" he asked curiously as he stared her down over the edge of his blade; the tip was clearly pointed at her defensively. Noctis was fairly certain that whoever this person was, they were likely capable of dropping him like a sack of potatoes in a single hit and before he even knew what happened. Still, he couldn't leave as he could already feel the cold tendrils of the air outside, reaching for him.

[Post Word Count : 405]
[Noctis Word count : 1,454]

The injury had healed completely as the spell took full effect. It hadn't taken long. Seconds perhaps if she had been counting. The energy faded and she retracted her hand back to her side. Now all that was left to do was wait and see if he woke up. It wouldn't be very kind of her to ditch him in that state and be easy prey for whatever creatures might be lurking around. The warmth of the springs was a likely attraction for any sort of creature. There was a curious thought though as she glanced at him again. Those feline ears stood out. Unfortunately he lacked the supremely fluffy tails that Aiyana had, and admittedly Samira was reminded that she wanted to see how soft those were back then. Even though the kitsune had given her permission to do so, Samira had declined back then. It seemed inappropriate. Presently, the urge to see how soft the ears were and compare them to Bastet's or even Anhur's was there. It would have to be resisted, however. If she considered it inappropriate with Aiyana, who had given permission, then it was even more inappropriate to sate her curiosity then with the feline-like individual unconscious and unaware. So disappointing.

Samira had just got done sighing from her inner conflict when the unconscious man suddenly sat up, quite awake and quite alive. That was great! He was breathing after all! Yes, her heart might have nearly popped out of her chest from the loud unexpected scream and his sudden movement, but he was alive. Her mini heart attack would pass once her body got over that surprise. The Joyan man was obviously confused and seemed to have a rough time calming himself down. That was understandable. He had nearly drowned after hitting his head. Yet, the words that came out of his mouth caused the summoner to arch a questioning brow. Not so much that he didn't know of her. That was a refreshing circumstance that didn't happen all too often those days. The last time had been when she met Zachary. Samira was grateful for the rare encounters where people didn't know her. She didn't have to live up to certain expectations nor did she have to see people acting weirdly around her because of her titles and supposed power. It was the second question of his that she found bizarre. The man had even gone so far as to pat himself down. Was he checking to see if she stole anything from his pockets, or was he looking for wounds where she might have stolen some of his organs? Her mouth opened, clearly wanting to say something, but she closed it when his eyes narrowed and his posture changed. An ethereal sword appeared in his grasp, to which he wasted no time in pointing it at her defensively. Well that got awkward very quickly.

Silence was the only reply she could give him while she stared at him. Truthfully she didn't know what to make of the situation. It was awkward, strange, and yet somehow positively hilarious. Her mind was full of laughter, not from her, but the echoes of her spirits that were witnessing the events occur in their own little corner of her mindspace. More than that though it was very new. That was the first time anyone had ever accused her of doing anything "weird" while they were unconscious. Simply unbelievable.

In time, he seemed to get his thoughts in order enough to ask yet another question. "What are we going to do about this?" A very interesting question if not a bit redundant. Samira didn't think there was a need to do anything about anything. "Do about what?" Samira asked sincerely as she continued sitting there, unmoving despite the other having a sword drawn. She wasn't concerned about that. He Bo still lurked in the hot spring waters, and she was perfectly capable of defending herself just as she was if he turned to the offensive. Not that she wanted it to resort to that, but he seemed to be slightly unstable thus far with his mannerisms and far fetched assumptions.

It occurred to her that maybe that kind of answer would not be one a skittish man would enjoy. She laughed lightly, covering her mouth as she did so in a bad attempt of hiding it. It was rude, but it was just such a new and humorous experience that it couldn't be helped. "I am sorry. I will rephrase. There is nothing to be done because there is no issue here other than the one you are attempting to create. You fell into the springs and hit your head." Samira raised a hand and motioned over towards the springs, where the water was now sparkling with He Bo's presence mixed in it. "Instead of letting you drown I had one of my spirits extract you, and I healed your head injury. If you consider that to be 'weird' then you are free to jump back in and complete the drowning process after I have left these springs if you so desire it. I recommend that you do not attempt it, however. I would not enjoy the thought of a fellow Sabertooth mage practicing such absurd activities." If the Joyan took the time to notice, he would see the mark of the guild in a dark green coloring upon her shoulder. It did have a certain blend with her hair, but the design was still visible through the gaps in the soaked strands.

"Now is it possible for me to stand without you becoming more alarmed than you already are? I assure you that I have no interest in doing anything more than retrieving my things over there." She pointed over towards where her parka was set, a bit away from the springs by a rock. Her supplies were also over there on top of the coat. That consisted of her knapsack filled with a journal, a book, her iLac, a pen... not much in the survival supply category. There was also a keyring by the knapsack and upon it were a great many keys of differing designs, including a Zodiac Key. Hardly an offensive toolkit if he assumed she was reaching for any normal weapons over there.

(Word Count: 1052
Samira Count: 2922)

Noctis was slightly stunned when he watched a smile creep its way across the woman's face before it turned into a laugh. Did she think he was funny or something? Was he funny looking? He then realized she was not laughing at him, but she was laughing at how he was acting.  Still confused, Noctis stares at her with his mouth agape.  The woman finally stops laughing long enough to explain that she had her summon thingy save him from drowning and that he came running in, slipped, and fell into the Hot spring. "Well.... this is Awkward"  Noctis said aloud, the sword still pointed in the woman's direction though the tip had dipped slightly.

To add to the confusion, the woman dropped yet another bombshell on him, stating that she was a fellow guild member. "Wait!" Noctis said, holding up a hand. "If you're with the guild, why have I never met you before ?" he asked curiously. Noctis decided that keeping the sword summoned was unneeded, so he waved his hand, and the sword vanished back into thin air.  Noctis took several steps forward after this and realizes he had been staring at her; he blushed, turning around rubbing the back of his head.  The woman then asked if she could go to her things, which she pointed out was over by a near by rock. Noctis nodded without turning around. "Um, sure... While you're at it, could you ... uh get dressed." Noctis asked, slightly embarrassed that he had been staring at her.

Noctis was a ball of emotions and confusion; his heart raced... He clearly found the women attractive, which only prompted more questions. When was the last time he had been attracted to a woman? Was he over the whole incident from five years ago?  Noctis screamed internally ' Why is it every time I think I have it figured out life throws me through another loop?' he mumbled as he gripped his head, pulling on his hair.  It took a few minutes, but Noctis finally got a handle on his emotions and realized he didn't know the woman's name. "By the way... What's your name?" Noctis asked over his shoulder, still not facing the woman and hoping she had finally put some clothes on.

Speaking of clothes, his clothes were still soaked, and considering he didn't plan on staying indefinitely on top of the mountain, they needed to dry out. So Noctis stripped down to his boxers and placed his sopping wet clothes across the dry heated stones allowing them to dry out while waiting to continue his conversation with the woman who claimed to be a guildmate. Granted, she was gorgeous and easy on the eyes, but he knew nothing about her, and as the saying went, feast with your mouth, not your eyes.

[Post Word Count: 471]
[Noctis Word Count: 1,925]

Her words seemed to get through well enough. The sword had been lowered and then had even vanished after he pondered more and his nerves became more relaxed. Not before asking a valid question, however. A redundant question considering she could make the same inquiry about him, but it was still valid in its own way. "That would depend on how long you have been in the guild. Many of the older members would know of me even if they have never met me, so I can only assume that you are newer than most. Unfortunately, I do not keep up with the names and faces of the newer members that join. I am, for the most part, absent from the guild hall and The Ace of Spades. It comes as no surprise that I have not met you either due to this simple fact."

Samira was unaware of the light blushing on his face before he had turned around for some reason. It had happened too quickly for her to take notice of it. Her focus had not only been on trying to calm the situation before he attempted to do anything he would come to regret, but to also get her things and leave the springs. The current encounter was a sure sign that her stay had reached its limit and perhaps it was now his turn to be there in solitude. Thankfully he had enough sense to allow her to get her things. It would turn an already awkward scenario worse if he had said no. Although, it became more awkward regardless in a different way. "Get... dressed?" Samira blinked. Was he blind or imagining things? She could have sworn she was wearing a completely suitable winter... Her eyes went downward to see the swim suit. The realization also made her aware of the spring mist touching her skin, a sensation that had been negligible while making sure the fellow Saberooth mage was still on the side of the living.

Oh, dear. The distractions had made her forget entirely what she was still wearing. Changing clothes once she realized that she was no longer alone should have been the priority. Not healing a head injury and then talking! Samira cleared her throat before replying. "Y-yes, of course." It was a blessing that he had turned around and therefore could not see how her own face had reddened deeply. Wearing a swimsuit in public wasn't really a new thing, but even then she generally wore a cover over it so it was a lot less... revealing. If not for the fact he was turned away from her she likely would have sprinted away towards the nearest boulder to hide behind. That was not to say she took her time though. The summoner stood up and moved away in quick short steps. Her supplies were squished together and grabbed in one bundle that she held tightly to her chest, and then she immediately went behind the large rock nearby to become unseen completely from that angle. Of course, that was unnecessary. The black woolen outfit that covered her main body, arms, and legs fully before was back on in an instant as one of her spirits magically switched the swimsuit out as it had done several moments prior. The rest of those few minutes was spent getting over her embarrassment and getting that heavy parka back on as well as her set of keys. The knapsack she kept in the grip of her hand for now.

Oh, he had managed to ask her for a name? That surely beats having a sword pointed at her as a first impression. Better late than never as they say. "You may call me Samira," she answered, still behind the rock and purposely neglecting the last name in case it gave him the final clue on who she really was. Being an unknown once again was amusing and took her back to her newbie mage days.

The parka was zipped up and she flipped the hood to cover her head. "What is-" A question had formed in her head. A basic one to counter his. What was his name? It was an innocent question. That question that was so important vanished as soon as she stepped out from behind the rock and saw what was there. Or rather, the lack of what should have been there. He had requested she cover herself up but while she had busied herself doing so he had decided to strip down to his boxers! That was... what?! So indecent! She didn't know what to make of that hypocrisy or line of thinking. Was there a rule she missed that one of them needed to lack clothes? That in order for him to be a good rule following upstanding citizen he needed to remove his to keep all that was balanced in the world intact?! Nonsense! "Where are your clothes?!" Well, the clothes were right there. On those stones. In plain sight. She didn't see them. They weren't where they were supposed to be. Her widened eyes quickly reflected the panic and shock of the whole thing.

On instinct she went to solve the problem in the only way she could think of at that moment. The abilities of a different spirit, Kukulkan, were called on as Samira took the winged serpent's power as her own temporarily. A strong blast of wind was created and swished through the area in a direction that would blow the Joyan man right into the waters of the hot spring if it worked as intended. At least there he'd be covered up by the water for the most part.

(Word Count: 947
Samira Total: 3869)

Noct had heard someone shuffling about behind a rock and assumed the lady was just getting dressed. However, she had answered a few of the many questions swirling around in his rather confused brain. Noctis did not know simply because she was never anywhere near the guildhall. Her name was also Samira. Noctis had chocked all his lack of knowledge of her as she must not be anyone strong or important. Now that Noctis thought about it, he had never met a famous mage before. He sat there in silence, pondering about what it would be like to meet a famous mage. He wondered what kinda people the Saints of Fiore were like. He wondered a great many things more often than he should.

Noctis hoped his clothes were almost dry; while it was warm right here by the water, he really did not relish the idea of spending all night up here on the mountain. He would much prefer to spend it in a nice warm hotel, with a nice full belly while enjoying a glass or two of scotch fireside. He sighed at the thought of a glass of scotch. It seemed that was all he lived for nowadays scotch and trying to find a way to clear his name with his father. Noctis spent most of his time putting on heirs. He was more often than not sad or depressed he had not known happiness or true rest in quite a long time as sleep brought no true rest, only despair and sorrow.  Noctis looked up, noticing the clouds had cleared, revealing a starlit sky. The view was breathtaking and awe, inspiring he had never seen so many stars in the sky before. He was lost in the sight of the night sky above him; he barely even heard the snow crunching behind him.

Noct so lost in the moment, spun about slightly startled only to be surprised in a different manner. Samira stood before him and stammered in what appeared to Noct as shear confusion and embarrassment before she finally spit out whatever she was struggling to say. "Where are your clothes?!" Noct pointed to the rock and thought it was obvious what he was doing. "Well, there over ther--." Noct was caught off guard by the spell that hit him full force in the chest, sending him flying over what would have been the edge of the cliff. Noct was horrified and confused at the same time as gravity started to take over, and he started to fall. Taking a few precious seconds to calm himself, he managed to blink back to the edge of the cliff and solid ground. It was at that moment that Noct realized this woman was probably most definitely psychotic. So doing what any sane person would do, he took off sprinting down the mountain the way he came in a panicked sprint.

" YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME !!!!" he yelled as he sprinted hurriedly away from the psychotic women who just tried to kill him. He had not done anything wrong besides attempt to dry his wet clothes, and now he was running nearly naked down a mountain with temperatures below freezing. Noctis figured if he died, it would be from freezing to death than going splat at the bottom of some unnamed chasm in the middle of nowhere.

[Post Word Count]
[Noctis Word Count,489]

There was only silence at first as Samira watched the Joyan man take off in a sprint the way he had come. That was an unexpected result. How awkward. She felt a bit foolish, but not because she had hit him at all with a spell that had a harmless purpose. More so it was the fact she had... missed?

'You know, if you were going to use my power to knock him off a cliff you could have just summoned me so I could eat him. There's less evidence that way.'

"I had not intended to push him over the springs and over the cliff..." Samira replied to the spirit that made the telepathic comment. She twirled the strands of her hair around her fingers and pushed a bit behind her ear. What a bizarre turn of events.

'Your power is stronger than it was before. That means ours is as well. If you use it, you will have to apply more control to it than before. I recommend not even sneezing in populated areas while attempting that kind of magic.'

"Noted, I suppose. At the very least he was able to save himself easily enough," Samira replied, her tone having returned to its normally calm demeanor. The sudden movement the Joyan man had done had not gone unnoticed. It had happened in an instant, naturally, but Samira was no stranger to that sort of magic. "I never did get his name. A bit disappointing, but we can be on our way now. If he is truly a part of the guild then there is a slim chance we will meet him again to fill in that blank."

'Did you miss the part where he took off running and screaming? He probably thinks he just had an encounter with death itself. Erm, uh, no offense to my oh so amazing spirits of death around here.... Anyway! The point is I sure wouldn't want to be around for that reunion. Might not be pretty.'

'So are we just going to ignore the fact that guy is running around a frozen mountain in nothing but his underwear?' There was silence in Samira's mind as the spirits and even her own mind allowed that bit of information to sink in. Sure enough, as the woman cast her gaze on those stones the clothes were still lying there. He... was probably not coming back for them. 'Not that I really care. He can freeze his ass off like a kitten shaped popsicle if he's that much of an idiot. You might want to cover your ass though. I'll just sit here quietly and consider how quickly we got the answer to the ultimate question of boxers or briefs without even asking. My life is now complete.'

'I still say I should eat him.'

Samira sighed. "No eating guild members. Or anyone actually. That is rude behavior." The knapsack in her hand was moved around so she could get her arms through its straps and put in place at her back and over her shoulders. "We will have to deliver his clothes. If he refuses to put them on after I have given them back that is his choice." She just wouldn't stick around if he refused, which admittedly she probably couldn't stick around even if she wanted to. Her intent would be to get him to a local village so he wouldn't die in the frozen depths of the mountain, but he would likely prefer if she was far, far, far away from him by that point. Samira gently took hold of the clothes and held them. With her luck she was almost afraid they would catch on fire with her touch, but they remained intact and were now even dry. "I should also apologize now that I think about it." Not that he would have a reason to believe her after that accident.

Now how was she going to catch up? She wasn't going to run on her own two legs. It was too dangerous for that. "Janus, can you open a portal near to where he is?"

'Oh, I am getting too old for all of this excitement, but yes, I can.'

"Do it then, if you do not mind too much. He Bo, you are also dismissed if you'd like to return." The water spirit said nothing audibly, but the waters of the spring rose up and took the form of a giant man. He shook his head and then his form broke apart into water that splashed down into the rest of the pool. He wanted to remain where he was. As for Janus, he did as his summoner requested. A portal appeared, small at first and then quickly became large enough for her to step though. The woman did so, just as she had done a million times before. Although, that time was slightly different. Never had she needed his power to simply deliver clothes to a sprinting madman bent on killing himself in below freezing temperatures.

As Noctis continued his running he might take notice of a blue and white portal appearing directly in front of him. Actually, it was very hard to not notice it. There was even the sound of humming magical energy as it appeared, and only a second later did the very woman he was trying to get away from step from the portal. "You forgot your clothes," she said, smiling innocently while holding them up. Honestly though it wouldn't surprise her if took notice of her before he bolted in the other direction or did something worse without even listening to her. She couldn't very well blame him. Mostly.

(Word Count: 947
Samira Total: 4816)

Noct's breaths came in sharp, ragged wheezes as he sprinted away from the hot spring. Normally Noctis could run for miles and not even be winded, but two near-death experiences and the fact that frigid air feels like daggers stabbing you when you run was not a good combination. Noctis pushed on even though he was exhausted, freezing, and in tremendous pain; as the farther he could get away from the Psychotic one he hoped had stayed up on the mountain, he would be better off.

As Noctis ran, he was having quite a few internal struggles ' Seriously, we gotta stop being attracted to a crazy woman.' he thought, lightly rubbing the three scars on his right pectoral. Thus far in his life, every woman besides Analiese had been crazy to some degree, and he was starting to think he was doomed to be alone his entire life because all he seemed to attract or be attracted to were the crazy ones. Granted, this Samira was gorgeous; he was not sure that being randomly blasted off cliffs was a good trade-off.

Noctis had been running for a good bit when he heard a hum of what sounded like magic and then a blinding blue and white light. 'Oh no!' he thought as he heard a familiar voice say, "You forgot your clothes," That was all nocts heard before he slammed into her as he was unable to stop his forward momentum easily or quickly on such a downward plane.  Noctis remember being airborne and hitting the ground hard and then blackness.

This was the second time in under thirty minutes that Noctis had been knocked unconscious. He awoke with a groan to feel pressure and weight on his chest; he groggily opened his eyes to see Samira laying horizontally across his chest. Still disoriented, Freezing, and in more pain, Noctis wheezed out, " You know, you sure have a funny way of showing you're interested in someone." he said. "Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure you steal the cake on the most enthusiastic flirting attempt," he said, laughing as he reached over and lightly poked her nose. Noctis was too weak and exhausted to do much of else at this point, and he could feel the blackness pulling at the back of his mind urging him to close his eyes and sleep. Noctis did just that and away the blackness to him for a third time today.

[Post Word Count: 408]
[Noctis Word Count: 2,897]
[Total Word Count: 7,717]

Maybe Janus should have suspected the most likely thing to occur by placing the portal directly in front of the Joyan's path. Perhaps Samira should have realized instantly what would transpire and took the few seconds she had to move out of the way instead of trying to attempt some form of making amends. The world didn't care enough about maybes or possibilities. It only cared about what would for sure happen if people made even the smallest error. There was no mercy to be given at that moment. No second chance to realize the incoming happening before it became another slot in the summoner's timeline.

Samira acted the part of a pinball in a bowling alley. The oddball of a man crashed right into her and sent them both tumbling down in the snow. Even for her that hurt and was quite the unpleasant experience. Perhaps some of her defenses were in need of improvement to ensure objects, and apparently people, bounced off instead of taking her down with them. At the end of it all, the woman had landed horizontally on the still unnamed stranger. She was momentarily dazed, and the voices in her head echoed, mixing into just noise that only served to take it longer for her head to regain mental stability after that crash. "Quiet... down," she muttered, wincing as she put a hand to her own head. Although whether the headache came from them or the crash itself was still up for debate. Probably a combination. The rest of her was fine in comparison.

The voice of the crazy and seemingly suicidal man reached her ears. The comment didn't make any sense to her until she looked over and realized that he was way too close for comfort. Her ears burned and that metaphorical fire that felt real spread to the rest of her body as her pale skin reddened in even further humiliation and embarrassment. Her emerald eyes glared defiantly. How dare he make a comment like that! It wasn't true at all! She wasn't one of those types of women that chased men down with flirtatious and naughty intentions. "That is not-!" He then poked her nose, which only served to be of a further annoyance. How did someone go from being completely skittish, to trusting, to running away as if his life depended on it, to being daring and calm enough to say those things and have the audacity to POKE HER NOSE?! The man was confusing and unpredictable.

Samira jumped up, now it had been her turn to quickly get on her feet to put the distance between herself and some crazy person that surely had some agenda. He hadn't moved though to do the same. Once again her eyes told her he was unconscious... and still in nothing but boxers. She averted her eyes, not wanting to look at the nearly naked man. It was inappropriate. "Well... we are probably well past square one and into the negative range." Things were indeed worse than square one where he had first gone unconscious. At least then they had the hot springs for warmth. Her fire spirits had to once again funnel a bit of their energy into her to keep her comfortable and warm in the freezing temperatures.

Looking around, she spotted the man's clothes. During the crash she had dropped them and into the air they had gone to fall onto random spots on the ground. Once more she collected them and then casually tossed them so they landed on top of him. While they weren't exactly ON him they still covered him up enough so she could feel comfortable looking at him again. "We need to get him out of here quickly. I do not know if he can tolerate the cold for too long even with his Joyan traits." He had already been in the snow like that for possibly too long. Generally his kind were part of the warmer jungle climates of Joya, but he seemed to be of a different sort with his coloring. It was similar to that of feline animals that made their habitats in much colder climates. Still, there had to be limits, and she had no idea what his were.

And so while the man was unconscious Team Samira went to work on getting the fellow Sabertooth Mage out of the cold and somewhere else that was more safe and warm. It didn't take too long. Everything always went faster when Janus was available and thus his portals allowed for quicker transport. Her fire spirits also warmed him up before they left, bestowing a bit of their energy upon him to fight off the cold, despite them not really wanting to for such a weirdo that was probably going to cause nothing but trouble further down the line. There was also the fact they kind of sort of tied him up and wrapped him up into a blanket roll as if he were a burrito ingredient. He was unconscious, and they all agreed that they couldn't very well risk him running for the hills again the moment he woke up. A larger spirit carried the large roll since Samira would obviously have more than a difficult time doing so. They all then disappeared as Janus ported them all to a small village at the base of the mountain.

When the Joyan woke he'd find himself not tied up or stuffed inside a tight roll of blankets. Instead he'd find himself in the room of an inn and lying on a bed. All in all he had only been passed out for half an hour and so hadn't even been in that room long at all. The woman that got him into all of that mess though was nowhere to be seen. There was, however, a small black cat sitting in the chair across from the bed. The green eyes blinked slowly and the long black tail swished gently in the air. It was clear that even if magical energy radiated from her that she was not interested in being an enemy. The cat was much too calm and content. "Oh, good. You're awake. That didn't take as long as I thought."

(Word Count: 1040
Samira Total: 5856)

Never in his life had Noctis ever been so helpless so many times in such a short period of time. In the last hour, he had slipped and fell into the water and hit his head, been blown off a cliff, and ran for his life. Today had not been a good day, to say the least. The only highpoint of it is that he had met a gorgeous girl who claimed to be in sabertooth downside because she had blown him off a cliff. Noct groaned in his semi-conscious state, and something spoke. " Oh, good. You're awake. That didn't take as long as I thought." Noct reached for the noise source and groggily grabbed the kitty and began to snuggle with it, mumbling something about giving him five more minutes. That was until that furry warm object bit him, not hard enough to severely harm him but enough to snap him out of it.

Noct shot up in bed, yelling, "OWW that hurt you little furball." he said as his eyes focused on the mysterious talking feline. Noct was confused; last he remembered was he was out on a mountain in the snow running from a psycho lady. So how did he end up in a bed, with a talking cat? The questions just refused to stop coming today, it seemed. Noctis hissed at the small black cat, his own ears going back slightly in irritation. He did manage to see out the window that he was still in the snowy place just in a village somewhere within that area. 'So this has got to be hell.' he thought as he looked about. Wondering what happened to the psycho lady as he was not here and she was nowhere to be seen.

Noct looked about the room for his things, finding them draped over a chair. He rummaged through his pants, finding the flask; he cheered slightly as he needed a drink. As he pressed his flask to his lips, he caught a familiar scent... matter of fact, it was the same scent the crazy lady had. Noct swallowed the small drink of alcohol he took. "Well, that answers a few questions," he said to himself, taking another sip from his flask slowly trying to figure out a way to get out of here before the lady, no Samira came back to cause him more mental and physical harm.

[Post Word Count: 400]
[Noctis Word Count: 3,297]
[Total Word Count: 9,157]

The green eyes on the cat went wide. It had all happened so fast. She had seen the hands coming for her, but she hadn't reacted fast enough to evade them. Not again! The cat mewed unhappily once she was grabbed and pulled in for snuggles. The green eyes turned into slits and her tail was now swishing erratically. Just because she was in a cat form did not mean that she was a typical household cat! "So you aren't awake..." That was pretty clear based on the request for five more minutes and the fact that he was still snoozing. Nope. She wasn't patient enough to wait too long for him to get up. Next time her brother was going to act the part of guard kitty. The black cat began to flail humorously with no success at freeing herself. "Let me go!" The snuggle felt as if it had tightened and she could finally take no more. She bit him, not too harshly or hard enough to draw blood. Just enough to provide a sharp stinging sensation to bring him back to the waking world.

The man shot up. Displeased, naturally, but the cat did not care. She had seen her chance for escape and so she did, jumping from the bed, back onto the chair she had been lying on, and then onto a desk. "Hmph, rude. I am not a furball." The thus far unnamed cat stated as she turned around to face the man and took a seat on the desk. She had heard the hissing and fought all urges to hiss back or do worse. In her mind, his kind should show the proper respect for her and so far he was severely lacking in that department. She watched as the Joyan man went over to his things and took out a flask from the pockets of his pants. The cat raised her head, her eyes showing that glint of curiosity her kind could not truly hide when they became interested. The scent of alcohol reached her nose. It was a smell she found to be unpleasant. Then again, inns typically reeked of it regardless. She scrunched up her nose and let her curiosity die. During that time, she was also communicating with the rest of the spirit collection as well as Samira. Yes, the cat was one of the spirits, having been left to guard the man until he woke up.

"Well you look fine to me," the cat commented, ignoring his mutterings about a few questions having been answered at first. "Insane in mind but physically fine." She was keeping no secret that she thought he was a mad lunatic for being up there on the mountain with little to no gear or supplies. That in addition to everything else that happened she had to believe that he was some sort of lunatic that enjoyed risking his life in very odd ways. "Now open the door, if you don't mind. My summoner is on her way to see for herself that you are not dead or clinically insane." The cat jumped from the desk and moved her small feet over towards the door. She looked up at the doorknob that she was much too short to reach while in that form and mewed impatiently. "You might also consider putting on those pants as well."

Sure enough though, the summoner the cat was speaking of was Samira. She had just got done leaving her parka and the rest of her things in her own room, which was down another hallway around the corner. If he planned to escape, it would be ill advised to take that route.

(Word Count: 614
Samira Total: 6470)

Noctis was slightly annoyed that the three-pound fur ball had the nerve to order him around. Like seriously, he wanted to shove it in a pillowcase and use the small thing as a punching bag, that was until the small creature said he had better put some pants on because Samira was on her way to his room. Noctis paled visibly at this; the last time he had been semi-naked, she had reacted violently, blowing him off a cliff which would have been his doom had he not been able to blink. Noctis put his pants on hurriedly, and then it hit him... Had the black furball commanded him to open the door for it? Noctis attempted to pick up the furball by the scruff of the neck. " Now listen here, I'm not your slave... Open the door yourself." Noctis said with a smile, "Oh wait, you don't have hands." He said, laughing as he sat back on the bed and stared out the window.

The snow had begun to fall again. It was such a pretty and fascinating sight to Noctis yet strangely calming at the same time. It was a rarity for him to be calm these days, with the stress of trying to find a way to prove to his father he was innocent weighing down on him in an oppressive manner. Noct had come to this place to perhaps find himself; he wasn't entirely sure anymore maybe he had come here to find a peaceful place to die just fall asleep and never wake up again, and why not his life was ruined five years ago the only thing driving him forward and keeping him on his path was justice for Analiese. Still, the trail had been cold for years now with no apparent clues as to who was responsible for the horrendous events that occurred. Noctis sighed heavily, taking another sip from his flask, the scotch warming his body, his vision swaying ever so slight likely due to the lack of food. It was sad what he had become, having to hide his real appearance for fear of people talking. Noctis laughed to himself, still very much lost in thought.

Noctis realized he had been doing this more and more recently, getting depressed and drinking his problems away. He knew he needed to find something more to live for, but what was there? He mused quietly. He had not found a woman he could safely bring home as anyone he would meet had to be of certain standards and capable and ok with being a Duchess eventually. Another issue to add to the already overflowing list of issues he currently had to deal with was at some point. Noct absently twirled strands of his long ashen hair as he stared out the window, lost in his own private musings about life and various other things. He was woken from his daydream by a knock at the door, sighing; he said, "It's open, and I'm dressed." he said as he turned his gaze back out the window.

[Post Word Count: 512]
[Noct Word Count: 3,809]
[Total Word Count: 10,283]

(Posts above this one complete the 10,000 group wc for A rank Freeform
Samira Total: 6470
Noctis Total: 3810
Complete Total: 10,280
280 words left for Noctis for next job)

The cat meowed in agitation when she was picked up by the scruff. He had even gone that far! What an obnoxious dolt he was turning out to be! Her eyes turned to slits once more as she stared at him. "Insane, disrespectful, and hard of hearing. What a deadly combination." The Joyan was an embarrassment to his race. Did he not know who she was?! Well... actually no he probably didn't. Probably didn't know that she even existed beyond that form if his words about her lacking hands was anything to go by. She had hands in her true form, but why use them? She was perfectly comfortable in her less than lethal typical cat form. Although now she had wished she bothered to be in her real form so that she could remove those disrespectful eyes of his, and maybe even that tongue. It was uncalled for her in her opinion. She did say  "if you don't mind" with her demand to open the door. That was as polite as she could get with a buffoon that had provided so much entertainment earlier.

The moment she was dropped the cat rushed away into a corner to prevent being picked up like that again. Although, it seemed as if the Joyan had lost interest in her. He had decided to go back to drinking from the flask and become lost in an obvious trance of thought. She didn't bother him. Honestly she didn't care to communicate with him more than she already had. So disrespectful. So rude. So suicidal crazy if his power levels were anything to go by and not masked over like some mages were capable of doing. She was much more powerful than him in comparison! Granted, she might have forgotten that her disguised typical cat form had less power coming from it. Perhaps she even had a few foolish qualities herself.

When the knock came the cat seemingly leapt for joy. No longer would she be stuck in that horrible room! As soon as the door opened to reveal Samira on the other side, the cat zoomed out, forcing the woman to have to step out of the way to let the feline exit. "You should have left him to freeze outside! His manners are worse than the wildest stray!" She shouted as she quickened the pace of her little paws to make her escape down the hallway that much faster.

Samira watched her go, her eyes unblinking. That was curious. Normally the cat wouldn't have said such things. What had happened there in such a short amount of time? She could inquire about it later, she supposed. For now she went back to focusing on the door and opened it further so she could get a better view of the room. As she had been told by the cat through the mental link, the Joyan was indeed awake, and alive. He was also apparently well enough to annoy her spirit in such a way as well. That was satisfactory. "I would say we could talk and start over, but that can wait until later. The innkeepers have gone out of their way to provide a meal for you. Already paid for, of course. I recommend that you eat it before it gets cold." She had gone back to being neutral in tone and expressionless everywhere else. True she did still feel bad about what happened, but at the end of the day he was fine. There weren't going to be tears shed for forgiveness over it, or cheerful over enthusiastic emotions about him being well. He was unknown to her and thus wasn't going to get much more than he got. Well, aside from an apology, which he would get later. Nourishment was more important. Something a lot more beneficial for the body than whatever was in that flask he held. "Just make your way to the dining area whenever you are ready. The inn is smaller than the Red Dragon Inn back at the Ace of Spades so it should not be too difficult for you to find." Her hand left the knob of the door as she stepped away, conveniently leaving the door open. Not because she was so rude that she forgot to close it, but because if he wanted it closed he would need to leave the bed to close it himself. If he was out of bed then he might as well go the rest of the way and get food.

Samira had not made it far when she heard the laughter and rapid footsteps of children going down the halls. They came into view, fully dressed in costumes and holding buckets that were ready for even more treats to be thrown inside. Right. It was that time of year. She had noticed some decorations being placed in the main lobby of the inn as well as other areas but hadn't thought too much of it until that moment. Even in such an out of the way place they celebrated the trick or treating festivities. It was cute. Until they noticed a lone adult in the hallway, and clearly by child logic all adults carried candy in their magical pockets.

The three children rushed up and held up their buckets of what was already partially filled with their equivalent of priceless gold towards her. With their wide happy eyes and cheerfully excited grins it was almost heartbreaking to listen to them as they expectantly requested to be given candy with the common phrase that would be repeated a thousand times over until the day was over. Why was it so heart wrenching? Because Samira could only give them handfuls of disappointment. She had no candy to offer. That... wasn't exactly a good thing. The children became relentless about it. They had dressed up so nicely, after all! They wanted their sugary rewards! It was the law! Or something!

A thought crossed the summoner's mind. She might not have had a stash of sweets hidden away in her pockets, but one of her spirits did. It would cost her some nagging and scolding from him once he found out, but she could take that over a few demanding children that would likely follow her until she obeyed the "law" and gave them their tasty treats. Samira accessed the celestial vault of her spirits by opening a small portal. Seeing such a simple display of magic caused the kids to stare in awe and their small bodies began to jump around in place as excitement coursed through them further. Yes! They were getting their sweets! As Samira reached into the celestial portal, each child ended up having their bucket filled further with small bags of candies and cookies that were pulled out from the other realm. Already she was dreading the reaction of the owner of those sweets once he found out his stash had been depleted. At the very least the children lost interest in her and moved on to the next poor unfortunate soul in their path.

(Word Count: 1178
Samira Total: 1178)

The little black furball was apparently not pleased with  Noctis as it shouted insulting things about him at Samira."You should have left him to freeze outside! His manners are worse than the wildest stray!" Noct's left eyebrow twitched at the sound of this enough so that he turned his head and growled back, "Can it, you flea-ridden rug!" Noctis was visibly annoyed with the cat; the little talking fleabag had the nerve to call him such inane things; the small creature had no idea anything Noct had been through or his life experiences. On top of that, the small thing had asked him to open the door for it after biting him. The whole solemn mood had been ruined by a five-pound cat. Noctis hear the small thing making off hurriedly away from his room as Samira opened the door and spoke.

"I would say we could talk and start over, but that can wait until later. The innkeepers have gone out of their way to provide a meal for you. Already paid for, of course. I recommend that you eat it before it gets cold." "Just make your way to the dining area whenever you are ready. The inn is smaller than the Red Dragon Inn back at the Ace of Spades, so it should not be too difficult for you to find."

She finished her speech and left before Noctis could get a word in edgewise. Noct bit his tongue in annoyance. He had so many things he wanted to say... so many things he wanted to ask, and she just gave him the cold shoulder and walked off like that. "Fine." Noct muttered softly under his breath as he headed out the door, closing it behind him. The woman confused him to no end. She was passive and cold at times, and then somewhat caring and warm occasionally. All this he had experienced in the what, two or three hours on the mountain. She had not even apologized for nearly killing him, which she would have succeeded at had he not been able to teleport. Noct slowly made his way down the hall and then finally down the stairs of the small inn; lost in thought the entire way, he paid very little attention to anything else going on around him. He was becoming increasingly numb to the world, mainly due to literally every corner having someone trying to kill, swindle, or frame him.  At only twenty-five, he had seen and been through quite a lot more so than most people ever see or deal with in their entire lives.

Noctis quietly took a seat that the inn staff indicated was his as his now lukewarm food was there waiting on him.  Noctis slowly began to eat, not minding the food's temperature as it all tasted the same to him. Same as anything he ate always did, empty and hollow with no depth of flavor as he had not really been able to taste his food for five years now. He ate quietly, his eyes perpetually staring off into the distance, seeming not to focus on anything in particular. The only thing that even had an ounce of flavor to him was the alcohol he had seemingly become reliant on as the years passed. They say alcohol numbs and dulls the senses, but it does not stop the nightmares, but getting drunk to the point of passing out isn't exactly sleeping; neither is it a peaceful rest, but at least the nightmares are absent in the semi blissful pukey state.

Noctis finished his meal thanked the inn staff, the platitudes were mostly false, and he even put on a fake smile while saying how good the food was. He had become so good at acting and putting on a facade that most people barely noticed he was not serious or genuine. The entire thing was exhausting, but Noctis was in a perpetual state of exhaustion. Noctis headed back up the stairs to his almost missing a few and falling back down them a few times, but thankfully he managed to keep his balance and climb the stairs. He made his way back down the hallway that leads to his room, still fairly lost in thought. It took him several minutes to make it down the hallway at the slow pace he kept, but he finally arrived back at the room he believed to be his. He sincerely hoped the irritating furball had not snuck its way back into his room. He had enough irritants to deal with; he did not need some five-pound black talking furball to chide and tell him what a fuck up he was. He needed no reminding as his father had made that clear after events of that fateful night for weeks and months to follow; he even refused to recognize him as his son. Noctis opened the door and left it cracked and sat back on his bed, considering he figured Samira would be back to possibly.. no hopefully talk at some point because he had a great many things he wished to say and ask the gorgeous yet strange women.

Noctis began to stare back out the window. It was as cold and dark as he usually felt. The sun had apparently set at some point while he was downstairs eating. He was unsure how long he had even been down there. Had it been minutes or hours, everything seemed to run together after the strange day he had. First, he had been a fool to go out into the wilderness like that without proper clothing, but he was fairly certain he was trying to commit suicide and had already come to terms with that. Then another question presented itself if had been so willing and ready to die, why did he blink back on to the cliff. Why hadn't he just closed his eyes and fell at that point? He wouldn't have been seeking death; it would have thrust upon him. There was a light knock at the partially open door that snapped Noctis once again out of his musings. "It's open." he said, looking towards the door expectantly.

[Post Word Count: 1,028]
[Noctis Word Count4,837]
[Total Word Count: 12,489]

After the encounter with the costumed children Samira went in a different direction than the one that led to the dining area of the inn. She didn't wait up for the Joyan or decide to check on him further. He would be left to do as he wished, whatever that would be. Truly she expected him to leave as soon as he could without interacting with her so she didn't see the point in thinking further on it. Instead, she went outside to get some air through the back of the building. There, she stood on the patio that faced the snow covered lands that led towards the mountain. It was quiet, and the cold crisp air was refreshing.

Samira walked further along the stone patio. Her steps pierced through the silence as her boots collided against the surface. The sounds of only one set of footsteps. Yet, there was that strange feeling that she was being followed. She took one more step before coming to a stop, and then she turned around, expecting to only have imagined it. To her mild surprise there was a black cat sitting there. One that she did not recognize as her own. There was also something off about the feline. Its stare was abnormal. Uncomfortable even. Although, the woman was not at all sure why it was so unsettling.

Deciding to just let the cat be and move on, Samira turned back around and started to walk away. The cat followed. At that point Samira had, had enough of cats for one day. It couldn't go ignored though. It had to be someone's pet surely. It couldn't have been a wild one. She would just go over and pick up the cat and see if anyone inside the inn knew who it belonged to. Or at the very least get the small creature out of the below freezing cold. Unfortunately, when she began to approach the black cat it immediately turned away from her and ran off, disappearing around the corner. When Samira went after it, the cat was nowhere to be seen. An odd circumstance since there was nothing but white snow all around. Either the solid black cat had managed to change the color of its fur, or there was something else amiss.

The thoughts of the strange black cat were put aside. There was nothing more she could do about it. Samira remained where she was for a bit, thinking about the next set of details on her agenda. The day's progress was lost now with the consistent delays. After a while, Samira's own spirit cat materialized beside her. "The living insult to all feline kind has returned to his room, if you wanted to know. Surprisingly but also unfortunate. I hoped we were done with that disrespectful halfwit."

"The rug comment still upsets you?" Samira inquired apathetically as she continued to stare out into the snow fields. Bastet had made it abundantly clear earlier that she was upset. The short amount of time that had passed by since did nothing to calm her irritation. The Wizard Saint herself wasn't particularly bothered by it.

The cat's ears twitched angrily. "I am the spirit avatar of Bastet! I am not a rug, and I do not have fleas! How ridiculous to even use that as an insult! What kind of mind has such disrespect?!"

"A kind that is normally quite common. It is probably best if you let it go. The insult was trivial."

The cat was still unhappy, but she didn't say anything more about that topic and moved on. Her narrowed eyes widened a bit as she looked out into the fields. The sky on the horizon was darkening. "It is getting late. At this rate we will have to remain here until morning. Very unfortunate. I already had a bunch of children run after me while I was keeping an eye on that despicable creature. They thought I was part of their holiday festivities!"

Samira chuckled at that. She didn't doubt that happening at all, and it was amusing to picture. Standing there for the rest of the day discussing the holiday wasn't something she could do unfortunately. The positive increase to her mood was short lived. She now had to go into another awkward situation. As much as she would have preferred to avoid it entirely, she very well couldn't. She did still need to give some kind of apology. It was only polite to do so, after all.

Without her spirit tagging along behind her, Samira made her way back to the hallway that led to the Joyan's room. She knocked, as was the typical customary expectation. The voice on the other side let her know that it was open. There was a smart ass comment in her mind from a spirit that it was obviously not open physically. Another said that the lazy fool should open the door instead of making her do it. Another wanted to burst through the door and throw a ball of yarn at him to see if he'd play with it. The voices were loud. She had to take a moment to forcefully ignore and silence them so she could get her own thoughts through. With a small sigh, she opened the door all the way and stood there, her hand still on the knob of the door. "Huh, so you did remain here, after all. I had expected you to leave while I was gone." Even though Bastet had already told her that much, Samira still had to see it for herself.

(Word Count: 933
Samira Total: 2111)

Noctis looked to Samira as she opened the door and stepped inside, stating, "Huh, so you did remain here, after all. I had expected you to leave while I was gone." Noctis being in somewhat of a smartass mood, responded with, "Kinda how I figured you had already left." He said, pausing for effect " Yet here we both are defying each other's expectations." he said dryly. "So, what brings you back to my humble abode?" he asked curiously as he sarcastically motioned to the room.

Noctis was not entirely sure if it was him or the alcohol talking. Likely both, so he just went with the flow of things. Noctis turned his body to fully face her and motioned for her to take a seat in the nearby desk chair. He was unsure if she would take it, but he was fairly certain that at least offering her a seat was better than letting her stand the entire time as they had much to discuss. "So, let's get the hard stuff out of the way, shall we." he said sarcastically. "My name is Noctis X'ail, A rank mage of Sabertooth." He said pointedly. Noctis curiously looked her over now that he had a better view of her that was not obscured by snow or darkness.

The silence hung in the air before he spoke again, " So, let us begin with wooshing someone off a cliff, ya?" he paused momentarily " Why did you do it? I was not doing anything that could be deemed a threat; I was merely drying my clothes; I had even turned around so you could dress in private." He said in a rather annoyed manner. He visibly winced at the thought of what would have happened had he just closed his eyes and fell. Would he finally had been free of it all, free of the pain, the nightmares, and most of all, the guilt. If he had only done more that fateful night, had he done anything more, he might have been able to live with the outcome regardless of what it was, but currently, his only will to live was vengeance. Noctis looked into her eyes before asking the next question, "So why was a gorgeous woman such as yourself up on top of a mountain in a snowstorm?" He asked, genuinely curious he knew why he was and knew that she would inevitably ask him why he was also out in that.
Noctis realized that would likely be a rather uncomfortable conversation for the both of them, and it usually was for whomever he explained his problems to as they were not exactly the common everyday problems your average person dealt with.

Noctis sighed softly, breaking eye contact to glance briefly out at the now torch lit town, the snow still falling slowly, creating soft pillowy white mounds on the ground. He stared blankly out the window for a few seconds before his attention returned to Samira as he awaited a response and the inevitable questions that likely followed.

[Post Word Count: 509]
Noctis Word Count : 1,817]
[Total Word Count: 3,928]

The sarcasm hadn't gone unnoticed, but she didn't see the point in commenting about it. It didn't bother her in the slightest. Instead, she just went ahead and answered the question seriously rather than answer in the same smart ass manner he had given her. "There is little point in leaving at this time. I will have to wait until morning when there is more light and the temperatures are more agreeable than they are at night." Yes, there was a difference between below freezing during the day and superly below freezing at night. Her spirits could work their same magic as they had been all day to keep her warm, but it would take more effort and that didn't solve the issue with the light. That would take even more unnecessary magic energy. She was in no rush to bother. Being patient and just waiting until the next day was the most logical choice. Now what had his excuse been for remaining there? As for answering why she had made the stop to his room, Samira didn't exactly get that far when there was yet another interruption in the hallway.

A man that was dressed in a sloppily put together vampire costume stumbled across the hallway, giggling and making a bunch of noise that Samira turned her attention away from the doorway to stare at the man. At that same moment, the man also noticed her. He giggled some more with higher enthusiasm and rushed right on over towards her, waving his hands while shouting a greeting. With the way he moved Samira could tell he had one drink too many at the Inn's bar before she could even confirm that with her sense of smell. The excessive amount of alcohol filled the entire hallway with its scent. Once he was right there standing in front of her, the man spoke in such a nearly incoherent way that Samira had to use brain power to try and translate it as, "Hi there! I got some jokes for you! Want to hear them?"

The "vampire" gave no time for her to decline. He giggled some more and went straight to asking funny joke lines that would have been barely passable as entertainment for children. Once again, she had to take a moment for her brain to translate his slurred speech, although she wasn't quite sure why she bothered. Maybe to avoid being rude and dismissive. "What do you get when you cross a vampire and a snowman?" He gave Samira a few seconds to reply, his eyes wide and glimmering with excitement. He couldn't wait to give the answer! "I do not know." That was it! The reply he was waiting for! "Frostbite!" He shouted with a fit of over enthusiastic laughter following it.

"Round two. What kind of music do mummies like listening to on Halloween?" The same reply came from Samira, although her interest was starting to decrease quite rapidly. "Wrap music!" The "vampire" laughed so hard Samira couldn't be sure if he was taking the time to breathe. She didn't feel the same amount of humor after hearing the answer. "One more, one more!" He said after regaining what little composure he was capable of and raising his index finger vertically to symbolize the number. "Why did the ghost go into the bar? For the Boos!" The drunken man laughed so hard that he was leaning forward and had even slapped his knee. Truly it must have taken him a very long time to come up with that one.

Samira's eyes dulled as she was sure she died a little on the inside. Even the spirits connected with her found the jokes less than humorous. Some even expressed their desire to torture the man just as they had tortured their ears and intelligence with those very bad jokes. "Excuse me. I have to go," Samira told him with a forced smile before entering the Joyan's room and closing the door behind her. Good grief. No where was safe at that inn.

From there, Samira took the liberty of leaning against the wall by the door rather than take the offered seat. Standing was comfortable, and she didn't intend on staying too long in there anyway to see the point of the chair. She listened as he introduced himself, though a thin brow arched when he stated his rank. That bit of information she found to be a bit irrelevant. After all, she didn't go through the trouble of stating her own back at the springs, and he had never asked. It wasn't important.

"That was not intentional." Samira replied, matter-of-factly. "You were meant to just be dropped into the springs. That was all. Other factors caused you to overshoot the intended destination. I apologize for that. That is the second reason I came by this room again." The first having been to find out his name. "Not to say that there is any excuse for what happened, but perhaps next time you should warn someone when you are about to remove your clothing. Not everyone desires to be surprised in such a way." It was somewhat humorous how he had no foresight that something like that would not transpire. Granted, the shooting off the cliff was probably unpredictable, but the displeasure and surprised reactions would have been common and expected. As for guilt of her own regarding what might have happened if he had not saved himself, there was none. He didn't go splat at the bottom of the mountain and there was a high probability that she would have been able to call on a spirit to save him in time regardless. There was no reason for her to worry about something that did not happen.

His last question caused her to stare back with a slow blink. The gorgeous description was odd. Would it have been more believable if there was an ugly woman on top of a mountain? She wasn't entirely sure if he was being genuine by making an innocent statement, or if it was some weird line she would rather avoid hearing. Samira decided to just play it off as the former and ignore the word altogether. "The snowstorm had very little effect on me. My magic protects me from the temperature, and the storm was not at a worrying strength when I was first there. The area with the hot springs was protected from the storm as well. As for why I was exploring the mountain in the first place, I wanted to see if there was any evidence to the tale that surrounds this island, or if it is just a work of fiction." And that was that. There was nothing mysterious or interesting for her reason for being there. She just happened to be bored that day and had the free time to spend on her own interests.

Before she had answered the question, she did notice that he seemed to be slightly distracted and stared at the window. She didn't give it too much thought though. He was probably just uncomfortable being there. "And you, A rank mage of Sabertooth? What brought you all the way out here? You were hardly dressed or equipped for that snowstorm or even the mountain itself. I suspect that you have requip magic after you materialized that sword so suddenly earlier so one could say that you have your stash of winter wear and armor somewhere that can be called on magically. You did not though. So I am left with just one guess, and I must say that I find it to be a strange location for a simple midday stroll."

(Word Count: 1280
Samira Total: 3391)

Noctis nodded slightly at Samira's explanation about not leaving. It made sense now that he actually thought about it not to travel at night in a winter environment due to temperature and possibly getting lost in the tundra. Granted, he used to have a great deal more common sense, but that was back when he was actually getting sleep and not waking up screaming because he had relived the moment again.

Noctis watched in amusement as some random person he could not see outside his room heckled Samira. His smirk widened into a slight smile as she told the man she had to go. He had clearly been getting on her nerves though nothing in her posture or body language betrayed that. She finally answered his question about throwing him off a cliff. Apparently, she had not intended for him to go flying off the cliff, but circumstances beyond her control caused the mishap. She further explained to him that disrobing and not telling her what he was doing was partly his fault, but she apologized. She had chided him more about the incident by saying had she been aware of his intentions, it all could have been avoided. Noctis sighed slightly before speaking, " I will admit that was not the smartest thing I have ever done, and I'm sorry I alarmed you." He said warmly. There was no sense in being rude or sarcastic since she had apologized even if half of it had been on him.

She answered his second question explaining that the cold did not bother her; neither did the snowstorm because of her magic. Apparently, she could use her magic to regulate her body temperature, which he had to say was a rather useful ability. Though she had completely glossed over the fact, he had called her gorgeous. He had not meant it sarcastically or rudely; he was stating a fact. She was visually appealing and pleasing to look at. Samira stated the reason for being up there was to explore a local legend about the island. He had not heard anything about it, but that was rarely something he indulged in.

It was at this point that she turned the question on him. Why had he been up there? She stated she found it unlikely that he was simply out for a mid-day stroll. Did he tell her the truth? Should he lie? His face paled visibly upon hear the words spoken, and she seemed to patronize him about his rank. Noctis was not sure what he should or shouldn't tell her. Should he tell her everything starting from that fateful day five years ago, or should he simply state his intentions for being in the mountains so woefully underdressed and prepared. He sat quietly for a moment as he locked eyes with her before he took a deep breath and began to speak. " I... I was up there to test myself and maybe hoping the elements would do me in and finally deliver me peace." He said flatly while not breaking eye contact. "I have not been at peace for quite some time, but that is another tale, and I'm sure you don't care to hear about that." He said as he unconsciously played with the beads in his hair.

[Post Word Count: 549]
[Noctis Word Count: 2,366]
[Total Word Count: 5,757]

The sarcasm had been toned down quite a bit after she had given an apology. Noctis had even acknowledged her logic in what had transpired and apologized for his half of the misunderstanding. It was a small thing that she had not expected, but Samira was grateful for it. For both him accepting her apology and his own ability to understand as well. A small but relieved smile appeared on Samira's face for a short moment as she nodded, acknowledging his apology for alarming her and allowing that topic to pass on by. It appeared both of them were capable of acting like rational adults and could get over the events of earlier that day.

When it came time for her to ask a question, one that was fairly simple in her mind, the Joyan seemed bothered by it. He had already been pale enough as it was, but when she spoke the question she came to realize there was another range of skin color that was paler than pale. Or maybe it was just the light. The length of time they remained in silence was evidence of the former, however. He was reluctant to answer it for some reason. Had her mild tease been too much? If he was out for a random stroll she wouldn't judge. It was odd, but then so were many other things in the world.

When he did finally speak, he had spoken seriously. There was no sarcasm or some strange humor going on. He hadn't even taken the effort to break eye contact. Whatever the story was behind it all, it was a significant piece of history for the man. She can't say that she approved of his wish that the elements would do him in, however. Yet, it wasn't exactly her place to intervene in that or attempt to change his mind from future attempts at such... tests.

Keeping those thoughts to herself, she moved on to a different answer. Her shoulders gently shrugged, giving away the indifference she had if he told her the tale or not. "There are many tales I have been told whether I cared to listen to them or not. I am not going to dismiss it if you feel the need to tell it. Although, telling a complete stranger something that bothers your peace to such a degree makes me believe that you are much more open than I had originally thought you to be." He certainly didn't appear to be an open individual that would go around telling his problems to the world. Her original take of him was that he was the sort that preferred distance and to be left alone. Interesting how so quickly that opinion was already changing. "If you do not wish to tell it then you can tell me something else. More about yourself in general perhaps. As we are in the same guild it might be beneficial to know one another to a degree higher than just our names." She had given him an out of that topic that was probably very sensitive. All he had to do was take it. Samira had no desire to press him on the issue that bothered him so.

(Word Count: 536
Samira Total: 3927)

Edit 2-7-2021 to exit dead thread

It was only a few short moments after she had spoken that background music began to force its way into the conversation. Nothing too loud or obnoxious, but still existed and unexpected. The culprit was that of her iLac device that had been stuffed inside one of her pockets. Usually the device was kept in her bags or in her celestial vault, but she had started to keep it on her person in those recent days. Moreso to keep Serqet away from it than the intention of making actual use of it.

With a curious look in her eyes Samira reached for the iLac and slid it from her pocket to read the notification that was on the fancy screen. Ah, as always. Something had come up unexpectantly. She was needed elsewhere, and as soon as possible. Samira didn't take issue with it. Her free day had come to its end for the most part, even if it didn't go exactly the way she had originally planned. It was still productive in its own way, though. There would be no regrets.

"Well, it appears the free time to remain here has expired," she stated as she put the iLac away once more. "I trust that you will be fine from this point on. Just please do avoid repeating your adventure up the mountain without the proper preparations. Sabertooth does not need its members turning into snow cones for the local wildlife to enjoy."

With that said, Samira allowed the god avatar of portals to work his magic. A blue light appeared, forming a circle of magic particles that radiated its energy throughout the room. The summoner was absorbed into the circle and then it too vanished. She was no longer anywhere in that room, in that inn, or that snow covered mountain. Perhaps another day in the future the two of them would run into each other again.

Edit Word Count: 319
Full Post Word Count: 855
Samira Total: 4246
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