phantasmalrift | The Great Snow Fight of 2019

Who: Everyone
What: People pack snow into little balls and throw them at each other
When: January 30st and probably on and off for a couple of days after
Where: The grounds outside Keystone
Warnings: The weather outside is frightful

There's...not always a lot to do around Keystone Station. Sure there's books and video games and movies but for someone like Lin, who gets antsy when she's cooped up inside for too long, that only holds her attention for so long.

And then it started snowing.

There's only one thing to do about that.

-1-

It was quiet out. Maybe...TOO quiet.

All of the sudden, snowballs started flying out of the gloom, often from strange directions (like directly overhead.). It was followed by the sound of Lin's laughter. Someone's trying to start some shit.

Sure, she COULD have just invited everyone outside and told them, but this seemed more fun.

-2-

After a while, word got around and more people started getting into the spirit of it. Now it's not hunt and ambush so much as just a ton of people in a big confusing melee. Forts have been built. Tenuous alliances have been made. Factions are betraying each other at the drop of a hat, and everything is chaos.

Truly, war is hell.

-3-

This is the prompt for people who have had enough snow fighting for now and are huddled together in the kitchen, where a big ol' pot full of spiced cider is gently simmering on the stovetop making the room nice and warm and also making it smell amazing.

[OOC: Prompt 1 is obviously more focused on Lin specifically, but feel free to use the other 2 for general mingling!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They what do you call what you've been doing all day?

[He knew better than to throw while Izunia was standing there. It would miss and that would be a pointless waste of snow.

But maybe he could pretend? He took a step and whipped his arm back like he was about to throw....

...and his boots hit another patch of hard crust and instead he ended up sitting rather hard on his ass.]

Fuck...

Dodging, obviously.

[Whoops, down he goes! At least Izunia has enough sense of fairness to not take aim while Jake is on his butt. This is for fun, after all.]

Though you seem to be having some trouble staying on your feet.

Yeah...these boots were made for grass, not snow.

[He lifted his foot up a little, showing off the slick leather underside. It was obviously handmade...and obviously very worn out.

Dropping his foot back down, he rolled to get to his feet...and while he did it, he sent his snowball whizzing neatly at the older man's face with an easy flick of his wrist.]

Hmm. Well, I'm sure I likely have -

[POW.

Give him a second to sputter snow and shake it out of his bangs.]

... Oh, but you are a tricky one.

[He laughed, barely on his feet again before he was darting behind the closest patch of cover he could find. It was instinctive, movement without thought and trusting that he'd find something on the other end of his motion. He did, he almost always did, and this time was no different.

He was small enough to hide in places grown adults couldn't, after all.

And while he wedged himself somewhere impossible, he was packing another snowball.]

[And a good thing he has that little spot, too, because a snowball impacts just over his shoulder as he dives for cover - not as close a call as Jake's own opening shot, but enough to make it clear that Izunia himself is far from lacking in aiming skills.

Just, usually he's not trying to throw and blink away cold water at the same time.]

[The snow burst into powder over his shoulder and his grin turned sharp. He hadn't been able to really focus on his weapon since he'd gotten here, the strange location and people combined with the lack of his friends. His father. It all demanded a toll, and while he carried that toll silently, he still carried it.

Here, however? Now? Now, he felt that familiar surge of right in his body.

He popped up from his hiding place, a snowball in each hand. The first he threw hard and fast....but the second, he waited until his opponent was dodging the first before he threw.]

[A cunning strategy, and it's clear that Izunia is not expecting the second - though this time it largely grazes his shoulder, most of the snow bouncing off in a spray, it decidedly does still hit.

Jake isn't the only one steadily taking this more seriously. There's the faintest flick of magic as Izunia changes the weapon he has set to hand - unlike Regis, he can't conjure shields of pure magic, so keeping the oversized literal one in the 'forefront' of his Armiger is his best defense. As such, Jake will see the faint outline of the shield flicker and then immediately vanish at his shoulder.

He doesn't conjure it yet, though, instead opting for another warp, with a snowball that he throws and catches at the other end in an attempt to get a better angle before immediately flinging it at Jake's head.]

[Except that Jake wasn't there anymore.

The ball of snow passed close enough to make his hair move in the sunlight, but the skin it was attached to remained un-accosted. There was another peal of laughter, and then Jake was darting to a new piece of cover, snatching up a handful of snow as he went and twisting mid-stride to whip it back towards his foe.]

[He's ready for you this time, Jake. WHOP, and the snowball breaks over the Shield (which while not quite as tall as Izunia, is definitely larger than Jake), which is promptly dismissed back into blue sparkles. After all, it may be a good defensive barrier, but it is in the way of sighting the boy again.]

[Ah ha! He hadn't imagined that bit of blue that had sparked to life. Izunia had a shield of some kind, and while there was a part of Jake that wanted to call him out on it, most of him was just relishing the opportunity to have to out think the older man to get him nice and slushy.

The hole he'd found was tiny and tight, no room for anyone bigger than Jake to squeeze in. Unfortunately, that meant it was also so well protected from the drafts that he had nothing for ammo.

He cursed, took the moment to center himself, and then pushed off in a full sprint, completely ignoring the way his boots were slipping and sliding under him. He was steady enough to scoop up a handful of snow as he ran and that was the only important thing.]

[Lucky for Jake that the Shield does block Izunia's vision for a critical moment - there's a snowball's impact where he was a moment ago, but it's too slow to keep up. And once the shield is dismissed, there seems to be a moment of opening -

gettim, kid.]

[Gettim, indeed.

He didn't even look more then a brief glance over his shoulder before he twisted and let that snowball fly. It was aimed for Izunia's jaw....just low enough that if it hit, it would drip under his scarf and the cold would linger.

The running throw left him open, no matter how hard he scrambled to correct his balance and fit himself into another knook of safety.]

The Great Snow Fight of 2019

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