awashlogs | Event Fourteen.

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Event Fourteen.

Roses bloom and cease to be,
But we shall the Christ-child see.

t's very, very cold. It's cold enough that you'll see your breath fog in the air before you, that goosebumps appear on your arms and legs and a chill goes up your spine. You're inside, in a huge palace with sweeping arches and rooms, but it's no real shelter from the cold -- it's just as cold inside as out.

There's a throne room, a kitchen, various rooms and even a dungeon to be explored -- and outside, a frigid, frozen garden, a lake that's naturally frozen over, and miles, and miles of snow as far as the eye can see.

But be careful while you explore. The snowflake soldiers are naturally dangerous, but even more dangerous than that...there's that creeping sensation of numbness going up your arm, a pang through your chest, and the slow, slow freezing from the inside out.

Try not to leave any of your friends behind, okay? Even if they might look a bit too uncannily like some of the statues hanging around for decoration when they're frozen over.

Welcome to Awash's fourteenth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to make your own logs for this event, but please keep in mind the lack of laptop function during this event when it comes to forum posts!

If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!

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[Really, Minato's not sure what to do. Lupin's so listless right now, so tired... he ends up just huddling next to him on the ground, frowning a little as he wraps his arms around his knees. He was getting used to Lupin always popping up to check in on a daily basis--

The fact that Minato had to be the one to go find him today just adds to his concern. Eventually, though... he just unwraps his own scarf to wrap it around Lupin's neck instead, and reaches for his makeshift whetstone with numb fingers, to begin sharpening his knife for him.

He can at least handle that much, with the amount of weapon maintenance he's used to.]

H-hey....

[It's become far too alarming and far too common to see people listlessly curled up in random areas of the castle, frigid and frozen...

But it never gets any easier.

Minato comes closer with a frown, reaching out with numb fingers--and stopping himself when he remembers how she reacted before.]

L-Lux-san... [his teeth are chattering, but he's doing his best.]

Are y-you okay...? [Obviously, she is Not.]

[ Even with Artemis equipped, Maya is very well aware that it's absolutely cold. And that none of them, barring people who somehow could shrug off the cold like it was nothing, ought to be stripping out of the layers keeping them warm enough and alive and not frostbitten or with hypothermia.

And as soon as this total stranger starts going for his trousers, he'll find a hand clamped around his wrist. ]

Whoa! Hey! Calm down and let go. Of. Your. Pants.

[ ... Leave it to Lupin to immediately spring into action when it comes to being stuck inside an ice palace. Maya can't even be surprised.

She can, however, be curious, and will be ambling his way to peer over his shoulder while he's investigating the throne. ]

Secret passage? Hollow leg?

[ Maya's an early riser, so thankfully, she'd already been awake far too early to not have swaddled herself in warm things. A couple of jackets and a blanket-- and the blanket will be sacrificed the instant she catches sight of Cairngorm, eyes narrowing in concern as she tosses the blanket over their shoulders. And... head.

Oops. ]

I didn't think you could even get cold!

[ But then another part of his hair breaks off and-- oh no, oh no, this isn't working at all even as she places it back atop his head. ...Except that can't be right, Wuxian's hair isn't a fohawk, it's long and tied back! What is she to do now....?

There is a moment where Pyra's fingers indeed to brush against his neck, leaving a wet trail of melted ice beneath them. Immediately she recoils, snapping her hand back as if she herself were burned, and her eyes widen further. This--.... this isn't working. What she's doing here. How she's helping him. If she stays here longer, she might not just make a mess of his hair, but actually hurt him. ]

[ The tie holding his trousers up is eluding his grasp somehow, no matter how many times he reaches for it. So when his hand is grabbed, it takes a long time before he notices and he just keeps trying.

Finally, finally he realizes someone is there. ]

Oh. Hi. Hahahaha.

[ Something is funny. Who the hell knows what it is? ]

[ She withdraws from him, sitting back on her heels as she looks over his frozen state, his blank expression, the way in which he seemed to have simply sat down and given up. It's so unlike him, to not see that goofy smile of his upon his face, to not hear him say something both sweet and ridiculous at the same time. Those traits remind her of someone she'd known, someone she had admired, but that person had actually known of the danger of her power. That person had sealed her because of it.... and he was exactly right to do so. Because just look at what she's doing now, trying to help someone but only hurting them in the end. ]

Wuxian.... [ She shuts her eyes tightly, unable to hold back the tremble in her voice. Her vision begins to blur as she feels her eyes misting over. Is she... crying? She wants to reach out to him, she wants to comfort him, but she stops herself knowing that it might only injure him more. ] Wuxian, I'm.... so sorry. I cannot help you.

I-- [ There's a crack in her voice, and when she closes her eyes she doesn't see him there, but others she has lost instead. Others who had perished because of her. They had smiles like him, too. They had the potential to grow, to become great, and now they're gone. ] I'm sorry.

[ She's only known him briefly, but it is precisely because of that she feels this grief so keenly. She had seen the cleverness in his eyes, the cunning and playfulness, the hopeless romantic, the foolishness, the courage... so to see them instead stare back at her blankly, devoid of all the joy and life they had once carried is tragic. She had told him she had wanted to learn and know more about him, but now that promise is null.

Now her tears fall, and one strikes upon his thigh. ]

[ Kisa's keeping a firm grip on the hem of Minato's coat, most of her face burrowed so deeply into the scarf that nothing is visible a few inches past her eyes. But when Minato stops, and she peeks out past him to see Sinistra...

She lets go and slides forward, hurriedly reaching out for Sinistra. What-- he's not dead, right?? ]

[ There are a lot of things wrong, starting with the ice castle and the angry knights and ending with the fact that Kisa can't seem to find Sierra, no matter where she goes. With everyone else she's seen, it doesn't seem likely that Sierra wouldn't be here somewhere, and at times, she thinks she can see a glimpse of silvery hair fluttering just around the corner, but it's always gone by the time she scrambles to follow.

So here she is now, yet again... trying to find her housemate. ]

[ Kisa hesitates, if only a little, but then frowns and steps closer. Because he can tell her not to come closer, but there's blood and she's worried.

All Might, what the heck. ]

[ It had been a strange experience as to what it is like to be cold. For before coming here, she had never once felt it. And the only way she can describe it is how strange it is to her, how every sense doesn't seem as aware of the world around her as it should be. It had only aided in a feeling of being further removed from the world around her...

Akira...

She recognizes him. She knows him. And there is a strange, twisting sensation still deep within her when she sees him as if she knows she must feel more as she watches him approach with that expression upon her face, but doesn't. She wants to say something, but she can't-- although even then, what would she say to him? ]

[ Then she feels it-- those tears form his cheeks beginning to stain her shoulder from where they fall. Compared to that frigid, numbing, coldness she feels, it's like a sudden wash of warmth over her, radiating from where they had struck her to spread all over her body. The frost ffrom her skin and armor doesn't just melt, it simply lifts off of her as if the snow has decided to work against gravity, gently floating upwards, and from there each crystal of ice slowly turns into fine wisps of white before fading entirely.

In the brief time she had been frozen, she had almost wondered if it would be better for her to stay this way. It would be like a seal upon herself-- which is how she is supposed to currently be. Hidden from the world, entombed, not to be awakened. That is what he had done with her with her agreement after the War... and it's been years since then.

She isn't supposed to be awake, but now that Akira has once more broken something that should have kept her frozen... she finds that being here, being with others, interacting with them, seeing both of laughter and their tears-- it is something that she's sorely missed. That realization alone could bring her to tears, because how selfish can she be to want something like that, when she ought to be kept away?

Yet, he's successfully melted her frozen state... ]

[ ...And she's positively glowing because of it.

Her warmth has returned, as has her light, and for a moment she simply lets herself indulge in the genuine sympathy her friend is lending to her. For a moment there's no guilt attached to it, no intrustive thought about how he shouldn't feel bad for her--.... and it's... nice, nicer than she's ever experienced because for once she simply lets herself be comforted. And it's soft as well. Soft like the dawn peaking over a foggy field, awakening the first flowers of the day. ]

Akira... [ She whispers gently to him, because that's all she can do in this moment. Who knew that feeling nothing could be so tiring?

One of her hands lifts up behind him, going to his back to pat him there, to let him know that she is still here. ] Thank you.

[ Her smile, distant but numb, is all she can afford the other captive. ] I think that... wouldn't be so bad of an idea, actually.

[ What kind of attack name is that--

It's an amazing display of strength, what this stranger has done, and all with a single kick. Pyra would have said something about how impressive it is, but... for some reason she doesn't feel like doing so. ] I'm fine.

[ A pause. She should say something else here, but what? How strange, to not have anything else to speak about... ] Thank you.

[ As another piece of him breaks off, he wonders idly if he's going to melt completely. He contemplates life as a puddle. There were times in his life when he would have gladly disintegrated into a puddle of water. His death was a relief in the end, his final absolution. He'd been able to rest in peace, deservedly deceased, resistant to all efforts to raise him. This new life, thrust unwillingly upon him, is a mistake. If he melts, it's only just. He has no complaints.

Presently, he becomes aware that Pyra is crying. In the past, he never could stand to see a maiden weep. But this time, it doesn't bother him. He only thinks it funny: last time, his death was celebrated by all. Not one person wept for him, of that he is certain. But now, in this place, a girl who has met him only one time before is pouring out her heart for him. How odd. And yet he doesn't care about that, or her, or himself at all— ]

[ Drip. Another hair icicle drops water on the floor, just as her tears hit his thigh. Drip, drip. Spreading out from that place on his leg, it feels like fire spreading through him. Suddenly that fire reaches his heart and he gasps. The spreading coldness that had overwhelmed and nearly destroyed him is gone. He takes a shuddering breath and— ]

[ —notices the maiden weeping before him, and his numb heart hurts, all pins and needles. He can't bear it, so he throws his arms around her. She's so warm. ]

Don't cry. Don't be silly. Don't weep or I'll tease you. I'll tickle you 'till you can't stand it!

... I probably should have expected someone to get sick while we were stuck here.

[ WHY IS HE LAUGHING. ]

But please put your shirt back on.

[ The moment she feels his arms around her, she nearly jumps where she sits. ] Wh--

[ He's close enough that for a moment panic courses through her because what if she melts him completely-- but no, that doesn't make sense, because he's no longer frozen. In fact, he's moving, he's speaking, and he's joking around, of course he's joking around even after just coming back-- ] Wuxian--

[ ....She's still crying, and he'll feel it in her shoulders as he embraces her. She's not going to question how he became unfrozen, at least not yet. How strange it is, to feel these tears still wet upon her cheeks, yet feel relieved all at once.

And then she, too, will throw her arms around him. Watch yourself, she's kind of heavy. ] You're--.... alive!

Sick? I'm not sick!

[ He says that too loudly. Don't ask him why, but it's VERY IMPORTANT that she know that. ]

It's so....so hot. I'm going swimming, you can't stop me!

Oof!

[ The force of her hug throws him back against the ice wall. ]

Me? Of course I'm alive. I was just resting.

[ He keeps hugging her, patting her back even though he said he was going to tickle her. Every shudder of her shoulders goes through his heart like a knife. After so long feeling nothing, the sudden rush of emotion is unspeakably painful. Thus he can only babble: ]

If you cry over every napping person you find, you'll make yourself upset!

[Akira's eyes widen when he can both see and feel the ice simply disappear, not melting, but more like a spell being lifted. It's almost like something from a story, and he can only stare, up at the fading ice and then Pyra herself, warm and radiant like her curse had never been there at all.

Then she's speaking, and he feels the hand at his back. He can only blink back his tears, like he can't believe what he's seeing.]

But how...?

[He's not sure how or why, when he'd only hugged her, but there's visible relief mixed with the surprise in his expression. She's really safe again, and that's what matters.]

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Event Fourteen.

iii.

o3.

6 looked lonely

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i'm so sorry

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(;﹏;) also 1/3

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o lord

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