The wind lashed violently against the trees that surrounded the Black Bulls hideout.
Snow accompanied these winds, causing the temperature to drop to a frigid low.
Time passed, and the weather only became worse, as the winds picked up and the snowflakes turned into icicles.
Unaware of the tempest outside, the Captain of the black bulls slept soundly in his bed, his fluffy wool blanket wrapped tightly around him.
He snored away in bliss, a generous amount of drool pooling on his pillow.
"SMASH!"
A crippling sound abruptly shook him from his heavenly sleep.
He looked around dazedly, searching for the source of the sound, clutching his blanket closer to him as cold air blew violently into his room.
"What the fuck?" He whispered blankly staring at what remained of the window facing his bed.
Shards of glass were all over the floor, and a thick tree branch sat on top of them.
He sighed, and sloppily got up from his bed, dragging himself to his bathroom so he could get things to clean up the mess as the window healed itself up, once again blocking out the frigid air.
After cleaning the area, he decided he'd go check out what caused this disturbance.
It wouldn't be the first time he's fought an enemy with a predisposition for the wind or the cold.
Rows upon rows of ice and sludge greeted the burly man as he opened his door to investigate further.
They coated the walls , the doors , the ceiling and every crevice of the hallway leading up to his room.
Still dazed from his sleep, he scratched at his beard, confused.
"I kinda have to take a shit right now... I'll deal with whatever this is later."
He swiftly turns around and goes back into his room, teeth gritting in newfound purpose.
The door shuts with an audible click.
...
He comes back out a few minutes later with more layers on, not necessarily appreciating the sudden temperature drop in his hideout, but content now that the frost is not nipping at his skin as much as it did previously.
Now that the fog from his mind has dissipated, he takes notice of a creeping, pulsing energy coming from further down the hall.
"Ugh," he growls, annoyed.
"I was hoping nothing was wrong."
His annoyance fades rather quickly as he scratches his skin, inhaling softly, a familiar white cancer stick in between his lips.
He brings his left hand to his lips, taking out the cigarette from between them and exhaling, simultaneously summoning his sword, and swooshing it once lazily, clearing the hall of all the ice.
He carries the stick back to his lips, humming contentedly at the familiar taste and feeling it evoked.
He stands still, almost dozing at the soothing feeling that washes over him for a few seconds before he makes his move toward the energy he felt previously.
• »»——————————————————— ✼ ———————————————————-««
In the meantime, the members of the Black Bulls were enjoying themselves on the first floor's living room.
Having recently come out of their rooms because of the chill that penetrated their rooms, they decided to have some fun in the ice and snow that had accumulated on the first level of the black bulls hideout.
And before you think any less of them for disregarding the fact that it was snowing inside, know that their initial plan was to investigate the base for potential intruders.
..They simply became distracted along the way…
Gauche saw the snow and ice as an opportunity to make an ice sculpture of his sister.
Vanessa was in a hurry to shape the ice as a mini fridge for the newly bought alcohol that had been piling up on the counters of the kitchen.
Magna decided it'd make his flames stronger if he trained in a cold environment
Luck decided the slippery nature of the ice was perfect for pranking Magna and would be an added challenge to their fights
Gordon had already begun to make mini snowmen with the snow and naming them, his heart fluttering peacefully at their cuteness.
Grey cosplayed as Gordon, starting a hushed conversation with the original , and helping out with the mini snowmen.
See?
All good reasons to be distracte-"Am I missing something?…"
Finral stands in the doorway, a confused expression etched on his face.
"Huh?" Vanessa mutters.
She's done organizing her liquor collection and is now focusing on gorging down every bit of that chilly goodness.
The other members stop their ministration and look at Finral as if to ask him what it is that he missed.
Finral sighs, facepalming at his members' stupidity.
"How is no one questioning why it's snowing Inside?! You're all acting like its normal.."
"Ohhh.." Vanessa slurs , bumping into everything as she walks up to him, leaning on him for stability.
"I'm drunk."
That summarized her situation perfectly.
Finral turned to the other members as if to ask them what their reasoning was.
"I don't care about the snow, I only wanted to play with Magna. "
Luck bounced on his heels, eyes wandering all over the place, eager to continue his fight with with his fiery opponent.
He stops when he feels a familiar wave of energy flow over him.
"Where's Nale?" He asks, looking around for the latest recruit to their team.
"Probably sleeping." Gordon whispers
"Hm." Luck nods gently, and then goes on to say
"I meant to mention this since earlier.. doesn't this energy feel familiar to you all?"
"We normally wouldn't just be playing in the snow like this, without looking for what caused it in the first place, but we all came down here acting like this is perfectly normal.
Almost as if the snow and ice had some magical property that was keeping us distracted..."
"Gordon!" He turns abruptly to the gothic individual, eyes wide.
"What was it Nalé said she felt when she received her book?"
"Pinpricks...Chills" Gordon answers softly.
"It's Nale, her mana is finally here!" Luck exclaims .
"Oh wow!" Grey yells, having recently turned into Luck.
"Finral, take us there!" He exclaims, pointing at the Blonde haired mage across from him.
"I'm your senior you know, Am I everyone's broom now?"
Despite his protests, he opens his portal, and they all scamper into it.
• »»——————————————————— ✼ ———————————————————-««
Meanwhile, in the girls dormitory, the sounds of pots and pans are heard echoing out of a certain small cook's room.
She had not even been made aware of the cold spreading through the base as the warmth of the kitchen in her bedroom kept the cold at bay.
She cooked on, cackling madly as she developed new recipes that would surely fill those who tried them, with glee and joy.
• »»——————————————————— ✼ ———————————————————-««
Long before the Black Bulls had taken notice of Nale's absence, Yami had taken it upon himself to follow the mysterious trail of energy he had sensed from the hallway earlier.
His gait was imbued with purpose, and his face marked by a scowl, cigarettes between his lips.
He really did not want to be up right now.
The mysterious trail ended at her door.
He stared at it confused, mentally preparing himself for whatever lay beyond that barrier.
He sighed, and gruffly wondered what trouble she meddled herself into this time.
It's only been a few months since she's gotten her grimoire yet, despite her efforts she still does not feel any Mana residing in her, nor could she use it.
So, she turned to crafting and conducting experiments.
It all started when she came across a weapon manual in the library.
She had come up to him one day casually mentioning her interest in the art of weaponry, and he greatly encouraged her interest, secretly hoping that one day she'd get good enough at it that she could start making replacements for his weapons when they broke which was really frequently..
He was sick and tired of the debt that accumulated every time he had to buy a new sword.
After that day, he'd rarely come across her, but when he did, she'd be in her workshop, reading and creating gadgets.
From machetes to spears, and then eventually to more complicated weapons like guns, and grenades. She adorned her walls with all of her creations, so that they'd be readily available to her for her missions, and for bragging rights.
Seeing her exponential progress at building these weapons made him come by her workshop more often, dropping hints here and there about different types of sword designs he liked.
He would've been happy if that was the extent of her knowledge.
But, she decided she'd dabble in the mischievous arts.
After reaching a certain level of mastery in weapon creations, she must've decided she was bored because she began going off the rails with her experiments.
With the help of the other members she began to combine mana with her weapons.
The most willing participants were Magna...and Luck, of course.
Within a week of starting this she had decimated the surrounding boar population by 5%, which angered Charmy, who frequently went out to hunt in these areas.
So, to appease her, she began making kitchen utensils, as Charmy's broke often due to her extensive use of them.
She even added bonus items, and began making gardening tools for Charmy's garden.
This then lead her to creating her own garden , planting crops that held large amounts of mana, so she'd stop asking the members for theirs.
The real trouble though, began when she started making mana pills.
The members would come home exhausted , and she'd hop up to them excitedly, showing off her new creations.
They were made out of the plants she had started to cultivate.
Each pill had specific attributes. Whether it be the anti-sleeping pill; which replenished energy and mana , or the Inu pill which increased intuition and mana.
He was proud to have someone in his team who, not only increased their intellectual power with her individual findings alone, but she participated with the others, combining her strengths with theirs, making them even more of a family unit and a power group.
But her knowledge came out of price just like how her pills were not free.
She exchanged them for favors which eventually came at his detriment.
»»———————— ✼ ————————-««
"Charmy, Luck, your time has come."
Nale, Charmy and Luck were sitting across from each other in the dining hall, having their late night snacking session.
Charmy was in the middle of a feast as usual. Today, she had made mac and cheese and was currently working on finishing her leftovers.
Luck was doing the same, eating the meat which accompanied the mac and cheese with fervor, lightning crackling around him, occasionally stunning the other two.
"Oi, Oi! Luck! Stop that this instance, I'm trying to read here!"
Nale finally snapped, looking up at the blue eyed boy who sat across from her angrily.
"What're you gonna do about it? Fight me?" He mocked grinning maniacally at the brown eyed woman.
She sighed, calming down and resuming what she was trying to say earlier, not wanting a fight right now.
"Tonight, We're pranking Yami."
...
She smirked at their wide eyed expressions, and continued elaborating.
"I think he'd rock the white hair look, don't ya think?"
"I'd also like to steal all his socks."
What brought this on, La ?" asks Charmy , cheeks full and eyes questioning.
"I've been working nonstop lately, I just want to do something fun for once.
Also, he broke two of my mana containers yesterday! They were full and he just broke them! Just like that!
Do you know how precious mana is to someone who doesn't have any?!
I asked him to give me some of his as payback and he just laughed and walked away!"
She turns to Luck
"You up for this Luck?"
"Duh" Luck cooes, smiling , "Anything to get me a fight with Yami!"
"What about you charmy?" She asks the small woman.
"Mmm, sure!" She exclaims.
"Thank you!" Nale squeals , quickly revealing more about her suicidal plan.
»»———————— ✼ ————————-««
Yami heard the door creak and immediately went for his sword, but relaxed upon recognizing the familiar ki signatures of his .
*I thought I told those brats this room was off limits.*
*Hm, no matter, if they needed me they could've knocked. I'll just wait and see what they've got planned.*
The 3 musketeers peeked into the room, noting their captain's position and his "sleepy state" and decided the coast was clear.
They tiptoed, creeping silently past his bed, and opened his closet door, probing through its contents.
Yami furrowed his eyebrows whilst hearing the rustling sounds from his closet.
*These sons of bitches are going through my shit, I think it's time I give them a proper greeting.*
He goes to surprise them but loses the timing as he hears footsteps coming closer to him. Still wanting to maintain the element of surprise, he stills in an awkward position.
*Nale? What does she want?*
By the time she gets to where he's currently residing , the other two had already fled to safety.
It's silent for a while.
Both individuals not uttering a single world for several minutes, until Nalé decides to break the silence.
"Stealth really isn't your strong suit, is it now Captain?"
Yami does not answer, as he is "asleep. "
She sighs and sets down something heavy near his chair with an audible thump.
He feels her presence coming even closer, and a peach scented perfume wafts over in his general direction.
His nose twitches.
She laughs quietly, amusement adorning her voice as she says: "Wake up Captain, I made something for you."
That's all it took really.
His eyes opened and he turned to her, raising his eyebrows.
"What is it?" He gruffly muttered awkwardly adjusting himself in his chair to make up for the fact that he was embarrassed .
She took a step back and uttered a sigh of relief.
(Probably because her head was still attached to her shoulders.)
"Look for yourself."
She took up the heavy box which he could now see was really a chest adorned with beautiful golden details and handed it to him.
"Hmm. How much do you think this box would go for?" He asks as if he looks at the craftsmanship.
"A decent amount?"
She crosses her arms eyeing him dubiously.
*This bastard is planning to sell off the box for money isn't he?*
"The chest isn't what matters , what's inside is more important."
He makes quick work of the lock, opening the chest, pausing both in mild awe and confusion.
"Uh what's this?" He holds up the foreign item in his hand testing its weight, looking at it from different angles.
"It's a gun.
I'm not sure if they exist here.. it's like a cannon but smaller and more precise, potentially more deadly as the projectiles are more difficult to evade."
She lays out her hand.
"May I?"
He gives her the weapon, curious to hear more.
"This weapon absorbs your mana, storing it temporarily in order to transform it into bullets.
It has an automatic mode where it shoots as long as you feed it and keep this…"
she points to the handle
"pressed."
"The manual, along with the cleaning and repair kit are in the box, so look through it to learn more about the gun and see if you like it."
"Noted", he said softly, holding the gun delicately ,distracted by the details and newness of it all.
She smiles at his concentration.
*He seems pleased, good.*
"I haven't forgotten about your sword by the way. I'm not oblivious.
You've been dropping hints since forever.
So I'm learning , but surely I'll get there and give you a sword you can proudly carry."
"Thanks kid."
"Yami…I'm only a couple of years younger than you, you've gotta stop calling me that.."
"Sure.."
"Welp!" She stands abruptly and gets ready to leave.
"It was nice speaking with you, have a good ni-"
His hand clasps around her wrist stopping her in her tracks.
She gulps, trembling ever so slightly.
"Where do you think you're going?…
You must've thought this would be enough to distract me from how you even got here in the first place..
This is not something that will go unpunished.." he growls.
"Yami, that sentence would be so hot if you weren't so goddamn scary."
She regretted that as soon as it was out of her mouth.
"You really need to get laid, maybe you'll stop being so dirty all the time." He says, cigarette already in between his lips.
"Yea, that's probably it."
"What's my punishment sir?" She exclaims hopping joyously at him, batting her eyes up at the taller man.
"Training time" he responds, voice gruff unflinching at her attempt at getting out of this.
"Shiiit." She whispered , horror clouding her features.
They soon found themselves taking a walk near the forests surrounding the base, Nalé shaking in horrifying anticipation for what training awaited her.
They were later found returning to the base with Nale on Yami's back , bruises adorning her skin ( mostly self inflicted from bumping into so many trees.)
His socks stayed missing for that whole month.
»»———————— ✼ ————————-««
He shook his head softly, the cloudiness fading away from his vision and mind.
Did this mana have illusionary properties?
*I wasted too much time out here.*
He kicked her door open, a echoing crunch following the action.
He was immediately met by gusts of frigid air several degrees lower than what was in the hallway leading up to her room.
He coated his skin with mana, easily entering the icy room.
The possible culprit, responsible for all his pain that night lay on her bed, still sleeping, it seemed.
He advanced recklessly, thinking to shake her out of her slumber would be to end this icy hell creeping around in his base.
However, as if sensing his presence, the gusts of winds howled even more, pelting objects at the man.
Icicles as sharp as razors formed around her, acting as both shield and weapon, guarding her from the threat they had mistakenly detected.
He stood, and watched.
Uncommon for him really.
His cigarette smoke blew wildly, the scent mixing with the cold created a new sensation entirely as it hit his nostrils.
He took one last puff, stomping the light out from the cigarette, and eventually unsheathing his sword, ready to face his pupil if need be.
"This better be fun."