A snowball of a Chance [PP-F4]

[Mari 1]

"She's been sighted by town again!" Came the voice of a stalwart blonde swordsman. "Last time she managed to slip away but this time." He held up a teleportation crystal in his hand, showing it to his friend. An indescribable boring man, average in every sense of the word. "This time we are gonna corner her and take her to jail."

Avery, the average man nodded in agreement. "True true. Did you hear? She's been seen with a child. Who knows what she is planning. We have Lark tailing her now…" With a flick of his wrist he opened up his messenger window. 

"She's alone, and tired. Lark confirmed she hadn't slept the last few days. Her weapon is by her side, unequipped. Thisll be our best chance to grab her. Before she holes herself away in her house."

Landon, the blonde grinned as he pocketed the crystal. "She won't attack us, word is she's afraid to. It's about time we bring her to justice. We can save that poor boy too."

Meanwhile

Said Pker was resting on a fallen log, legs folded to the side. Her weapon, a long polearm with dark colouring and wisps of shadows dancing around its pointed tip sat beside her. It sat half covered in Fresh fallen snow. Mari kept it to her side and away from her because she knew it looked  less…. dangerous. And with her so close to Snowfrost wasn't that for the best? Mari knew she was the subject of ire. And that peace wouldn't come easy to her, not without a long fall off the edge of Aincrad. Though lately...even that didn't seem as appealing anymore.

Mari had in her hands a loaf of bread that was bordering stale. Dry. Mari wished for a fresh loaf, hot from the oven - she wished she had sweet, thick butter to drizzle into the crevices of the fluffy dough. Instead. She had this. Mari long ago lost contact with the broker who would ferry her food from the town.

"Maybe I should get Freyd to do it…' Mari mumbled to herself as she tore off another chunk of bread and threw it into her mouth. A sigh followed. No. He seemed busy with other things, and she still wasn't sure where she stood with him. Raidou? No… who else?

Who else?

[Vayl 0]

"Hey, you with the shield. Mind helping us?"

Landon placed a firm grip on his shoulder. "Names Landon, my friend here is Avery. You look like you got a sturdy grip. Mind helping us with a Pker problem? We trying to save this little boy."

Vayl had busied himself upon arrival on Floor Four helping Team Kappa in the local weekly snowman-building competition.  He had no idea what a PKer was, and assumed that Landon’s request was just another form of sports team rivalry among players who lived in the area.  Having just finished placing a little girl on top of their snowman’s unusually broad shoulders, to her giggling delight, he was surprised by the sudden request.

“Yeah, sure.  Just gimme a minute.  Gotta make sure we give Zappa over there a run for their money.”  He walked over and hefted a large barrel full of snowballs with a single arm.  He’d made them for the kids, and placed them gingerly behind their little improvised barricade.  “Give’em hell, kids!”  

Dusting the snow from his gauntlets, Vayl wandered to join the trio who’d beckoned him.  His white armor made him look like one of the local frost guards, save for his rosy cheeks and the cheerful orange and yellow tuque given to him by one of the kids as thanks for his assistance.  

“Too bad this game doesn’t have a snow-ball making profession.  I’d be a pro already!” 

Lark and Avery just gave each other knowing grins, certain that Landon would have this guy acting as a human shield within minutes.  Sure enough, they had hardly cleared Snowfrost’s outer gates, and there he was standing in as their sacrificial vanguard. It wasn’t uncommon, people tended to think he was tough in this game just because of his size.  Never having had much time for gaming, much of the game’s mechanics still eluded him.  He’s only chosen the warhammer he wielded because it seemed potentially useful as a tool.  He still couldn’t get the armor to fit quite right, having accidentally triggered its ‘manual donning’ mode.  Half the straps were still undone and his chest plate wasn’t sitting quite

“So, what’s the deal with this kid we’re trying to save?”

[Mari 1]

“Dunno much about him. All I know is that Killers been sighted around a kid and that don’t sit right with me.” Landon muttered.

“Didn’t she….” Avery cleared his throat and made a motion with his hands, though it looked nigh impossible to interpret. ‘You know…”

“Yeh, her kin.” Added Lark solemnly.

Too absorbed by the fluffy pom-pom flopping around from his new headwear, Vayl paid them little attention.  It had been too long since he’d had a decent snowball fight, and lifted his spirit to have set those kids up for the most epic, powdery showdown in Snowfrost had ever seen, at least since last week.

The group of four had begun down the path from Snowfrost, and open fields turned into spotted trees as they neared the forest. Thin trunks of birch lined the path. They began to separate into a clearing, where Mari sat.

Mari glanced up from her bread at the four men - cleared her throat, then shifted away a few feet from her weapon - further down the fallen log she had sat on then went back to eating. If she paid the group no mind, maybe they’d pass her - this was a thoroughfare after all. They could be heading to a dungeon - or a quest. It was none of her business. 

“...what do you want?” Came Mari’s question as Landon and Avery stepped up to her - blocking her face from the light, they had signalled for Lark and Vayl to shift behind her. Mari glanced at the other two in the group. Then sighed heavily as she placed the roll carefully down beside her. Why today of all days? 

“Look, before ya’ll...try anything I don’t want anyone level three or below hittin’ me.” Mari pointed to her armour - if one could call it that, it was nothing more than a thin leather harness that wrapped around her chest. Its cracks glowed - but beyond that nothing insidious. “This has flame aura - and anyone too low levelled would…’ Mari didn’t want to continue the sentence. But after her discussion with Raidou she knew she had to take that back. That small arrogant spark. 

His hands tucked firmly into a pair of fur-lined pockets, with an oblivious smile pasted to his chiseled chin, Vayl had his eyes on the landscape rather than the unpleasant exchange.  That is, until the woman the others were harassing made her threat.  It caught his attention, causing his brow to rise in surprise as he turned and actually took a proper look at her.  She was short, but so was just about everyone.  That was nothing new.  It was a bold boast from someone who looked like hell, but there were plenty of things that could do that.  Her crystal-thingy also looked different.  He dismissed it, thinking that it was some sort of level indicator or something.  Vayl’s cares were focused on people, not rules and mechanics. 

“Wow… so that must make you hot stuff,”  he offered, grinning, and clearly not having fully grasped the nature of the exchange or the situation.  Mari didn’t look impressed.

“You’ll flat up die. That’s your only warning, if you are that low levelled and are stupid enough to attack.That death is on your hands. Not mine.” 

“Ay, no problem there. We’re all in the 30’s-40’s.” said Landon, confident. He had failed to ask Vayl what his level was. “We aren’t looking for a fight, we’re looking to take you in.”

It was enough for the penny to drop and Vayl to realize that his gear was seriously underwhelming compared to the quality of… well, everyone else’s.  

“You know I’m due to fight on the frontlines in a few days. If you really want to take me to prison, why not wait till another floor is open first. Then do whatever it is you want.” That’s right, be flippant. Nonchalant. Eventually, they’ll get bored.

“Sorry. Can’t do that. Where’s the kid? Tell us then come quietly there’s a cell in the prison with your name on it.”

“K-Kid?” Mari asked, genuinely shocked. What on earth...where they talking about Chaser? He was an adult. Or were...oh. They were talking about Aiko. He had an orange marker too. Right? Were these people after him? Mari lowered her voice. “Sorry bubs, but i ain’t tellin’ you shit.”

@Vayl

Edited March 20, 2021 by Mari

[Vayl 0]

It had taken too long, but awareness had finally dawned that he was in the middle of a potentially lethal situation.  

“Wait a sec.  What’s going on here?”

“Hold your ground,” Landon ordered harshly, as if someone had put him in charge.  His own spear suddenly in hand.

“No way, Leftenant Barky-face.  I didn’t sign on for your crusade.  Start spewing before some or all of us are turning each other into paste for no apparent reason.”

“Are you stupid or something?’  Lark hissed the question at him, pointing at the orange icon hovering accusingly over Mari’s head.

“Yeah?  What?  She’s got matching accessories?  What’s the big deal?  Have you seen the number of people around here running around with bunny ears and water balloons strapped to their chests?  ‘Aviary’ here’s even got feathers, for crying out loud.  Can’t fault people for their looks.”  

Avery fumed.

“It’s not an accessory, dumbass, it means she’s killed other players.”  Landon’s fingers were working hard to massage the stress from his right temple.  “That what I meant when I said she was a player killer.”  He raised the tip of his spear to touch it just below Mari’s chin.  “Now, arms behind you, and no sudden moves.”

“How will this make you… us... any better?”  Vayl countered, the gruff words echoing from his chest deeply enough to give Lark pause, despite the level difference between them.  He looked askance at the woman sitting on the log, wondering what to make of her, wary of their accusation about her.  “Something here doesn’t feel right.”
 

[Mari 1]

Mari  wasn’t afraid of death. She wasn’t afraid of these men, who were more busy fighting amongst each other than themselves. She shrugged and compiled, moving her arms behind her back. “You can imprison me, torture me, kill me. I don’t care.” Her voice was cold. It was a little relieving to be. Mari wasn’t placating these guys. She wasn’t trying to be nice. She wasn’t forcing a facade. “But I refuse to let hunters hurt the kid.”

She was angry. At what she could only assume were PKer hunters - who were not only after her, but someone in her care. With a quick motion Lark was behind her, wrapping ropes around her wrists to stop her from trying to equip any other items or access her menu. So this was it huh? Fine. Let them try.

“Hurt?  We’re here to save him.” Came Avery’s reply. “You’re - You’re planning to do-”

“Do what?” Mari asked, tilting her head toward Avery and Vayl, regarding them both. “Go on.” Mari forced herself to grin. “Please, tell me what I plan to do. Tell me what's going through my head.”
 

Her eyes shifted to the man with a dark brown mop of hair on his head - he didn’t seem as clued in as the others. “You know…” the bile and venom left her voice. “They’re right. I have...taken lives but-” She turned back to Landon - who still had his weapon hovering dangerously close to her throat.

“You’re all wrong about the kid. I’m lookin’ after him. Nothing more, nothing less. I-”

“Can it!” Came Landons voice, booming over hers. “You’ve killed! Taken families from their homes. Yet you think you can sit there and act better than us because levels dictate you can fight on the frontlines? Do you really think you deserve freedom?”

Mari shook her head. “Honestly...I don’t.”

@Vayl

Edited March 20, 2021 by Mari

[Vayl 0]

None of this was adding up.  A ‘PKer’ - what a weird frikkin name - who looked after kids?  And the hoity-toity brigade that were trying to lock her up for it?  

“What the hell?  I just came up here for…”  Vayl’s lips pursed like he’d just swallowed a tweety-bird, a twinkle suddenly flashing in his eyes.  

Mari was too busy getting worked up to pay attention to the most clueless of their number.  Landon had the head veins going full-throb.  Avery kept combing his hair back.  Had the bird thing really gotten to him that much?!  Lark kept trying his own gloves up in his knot.  It was all about to explode when a big-ass snowball suddenly crashed into Landon’s face.  The veins actually stopped throbbing for a second, like they were trying to figure out what had just happened.  Avery got hit next, the force behind it knocking him clear off his feet, and Lark turned just in time to have his tabard yanked over his face and his pants dropped down to his ankles.

Vayl just beamed, bouncing another snowball up and down in his hands and flashing Mari a pair of high eyebrows full of confidence for having turned the entire scene upside down in an instant.

“Listen, cupcake,” he said to Landon, talking to the man the same way he had to dozens of street thugs that used to harass his siblings, in the back alleys of York.  “The nice lady’s just trying to catch a little rest and do some public service by keeping the ice of the path with those fancy straps of hers.  It doesn’t sound to me like she’s causing anybody any grief.  In fact, quite the opposite.”  He spun Lark around for good measure, who corkscrewed into a patch of deeper powder up to his elbows, letting out a chilling gasp as his tenders met sub-zero.

“So, you gonna be Zappa, and get your asses kicked by team Tangerine here, or are you gonna go back to huddling by the fire, considering yourselves lucky not to be a bunch of broken snowflakes strewn across the glade?  Hmm?”

‘What the fuck am I doing?!’  Vayl wondered, not really knowing where he was going with any of this.  He was just hoping to keep everyone from killing each other.
 

[Mari 1]

“What the fuck are you doing?” Mari said as she stood. Hands still tied behind her back. It made no sense. Wasn’t he with them? Weren’t they working together. If Mari was able to, she’d have face palmed. And again, the comment on her harness. She didn’t know what to make of this. His comrades lay groaning in the snow - struggling to upright themselves. 

“Are you fuckin stupid?”

Vayl just shrugged and launched the snowball in his hands.  It sailed right by Landon’s head, leaving a trail of white, glittery sparkles in the air as it passed.  The would-be boss grinned.  It melted an instant later.

*THUMP*

*SHHHHHH*

*WHUMP*

It wasn’t the man, but the tree behind and above him that was the target.  The ball hit with enough force to rattle every branch all the way to the top, thirty feet above them.  And every drop of ice and snow that previously clung to it came crashing down on Landon’s head.

Mari groaned. This wasn’t helping the situation. Why was he doing this? Why was he helping her and acting so cavalier? Did he really not understand the situation? “No one was going to-” Mari started then sighed as she watched the snowball sail over her head and hit the tree branch, burying Landon. She wasn’t sure who was worse, the aggressive men or the clueless one.

“STOP!” She shouted, her voice reverberating, echoes bouncing off the thin birch trees around them. “YOU!” She pointed her head in the direction of Avery. “Grow a fuckin’ backbone instead of standing on the sidelines.” She swivelled her head to Lark - unable to point. “And YOU! Learn to tie knots quicker dumbass. I could have easily picked up my spear and ran it through you. If you’re going to capture someone do it quickly.” 

Mari couldn’t exactly talk to Landon, he was covered in snow. So instead she turned her ire and frustration to Vayl. “And you- Who the fuck takes this shit lightly? I’m a murderer. And you’re out here throwing fuckin’ snowballs like it’s all a merry laugh!”

She was done holding things back. Placating stupid people. IF they hated her, so be it. If they feared her, that was fine. “Ughhh… if I were anyone else you’d all be dumb and dead. Don’t you care about your lives?” 

This whole situation seemed comical, stupid even. And Mari wasn’t sure how she was supposed to react. The clueless idiot grinned and lifted up his hand, as though were were gonna throw another snowball.  “THat’s ENOUGH!” Mari said as she stepped forward, head lowered - ready to headbutt him.

WHAM

@Vayl

Edited March 20, 2021 by Mari

[Vayl 0]

She was about eight inches too short to pull off that move, though the effort was absolutely spectacular.  Mari bounced off him like she’d just rammed her face into a lorry and somehow expected it to budge.  Vayls eyes welled over with laughter as he clamped his right hand over his mount to keep the laughter from getting him killed, giving himself a snow job in the process.

All around, everyone was groaning, and the idiot at the centre of it all was trying to wipe a mess of his own making off his face.

“Hey, murder-lady, did you know that your face matches your hair when you get real mad?”  Her face went brighter at that comment. He practically fell over backwards, tripping over his own feet and flopping to the ground with a big puffy cloud poofing up all around him.  “I’m level 1, baby!”  He said, stabbing a finger proudly into the air, like he’d somehow just won a championship game against Liverpool all by himself.  “If I’m gonna die surrounded by a crowd of angsty-preteens in fancy cosplay gear that is just a LITTLE TOO REAL, I’m doing it with a smile on my face.  Just. Like. This!”

Here lay Aincrad’s biggest moron, making angels in the snow with a stupidest looking grin on his face, probably about to die, and he looked positively pleased as punch.