Winter Resort (Group 2)

"I'm quite fine with all of that!" Ciel moved his earmuffs up to where they were supposed to be, and double-checked that his coat and boots were in order. "It'll be nice to just relax a bit."

Ethril nodded and pulled out her extra cloak just in case Suzume and Oppy wanted to join them. At least Oppy would have something warm to wear if she wanted to outside later on. Once the cloak was handed over Ethril stood and left the room, heading for the entrance so she could go outside and stretch her very stuff wings. As she walked she pulled out her leg warmers, her cloak, and her tail warmer. She was already wearing her winter coat. It was easy enough to pull on the warmers and then to fling her cloak over her shoulders. The cloak settled between her wings leaving them free to move.

Ethril took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping out into the cold outside. She suppressed a shiver and looked around for a fairly empty spot. She suppressed another shiver as she stepped into the snow and began walking towards a secluded area near what looked like a fenced in frozen lake. Once she was sure she had enough room Ethril stretched out her wings to their full extent. She carefully stretched each joint out and then flapped her wings slowly. Even in the cold she sighed in contentment once she'd worked out all the stiffness.

Ciel waited for Ethril to finish her stretches. He didn't need to do any, so he just fixed his hair up so that it was out of the way of his earmuffs. When Ethril had finished, he walked over to her area in order to continue their trek. He was sure that Oppy and Suzume would follow them if they still wanted to go.

((take us somewhere Ethril XD I want to do this trip, and I think Jy is busy killing Thunder in the other group right now lol))

Ethril felt much better once her stretches were done. Flying would actually stretch out her wings completely, but it would be nearly impossible for her to get any sort of lift in this cold weather. She needed the hot air rising up from the ground to help keep her up. She folded her wings up against her back and carefully pulled her cloak over them. The last thing she needed was for the membrane to dry out because of the cold air. She'd need to oil her wings tonight.

Ethril turned and smiled up at Ciel as he walked over. "I guess it's not as cold as I first thought." Ethril said with a blush. With her warmers on she did feel better then she had earlier. The pads of her paws though were already numb and hard from the snow. "Want to play?" She grinned teasingly.

Ciel eyed her apprehensively. "Play what, exactly?" he asked turning his head a bit as he sized her up. She didn't appear to be up to anything, but that could just be part of her ploy. He'd been pulled into a lot of traps during his childhood. He was quick to learn how to spot them out and at least try to avoid them.

((short paragraphs XD might be from my lack of writing lol))

Ethril continued to smile innocently as her tail moved around against the ground, creating rivets in the snow. "Oh I don't know, what kind of games can you play in the snow?" She asked as her tail lifted behind her and under her cloak. Ethril put her hands behind her back as she shifted from foot to foot innocently. "I've never really played in snow before. The only other time that I was in any amount of snow was when I was snowed in. There was never enough in the desert for a big game."

Ethril fingered the cold snow ball in her hand behind her back, squeezing it to help the snow stay packed. "There was one game I do remember." Ethril's grin turned sly as she tossed the now finished snow ball at Ciel.

Ciel pulled his hands from his pockets as quickly as he could. How could he have forgotten that she had a prehensile tail? He wasn't worried too much about his bad memory as the snowball flying at his face though. He quickly brought one hand up as a basic defense he'd learned. It sent a slice through the air, but it only managed to cut the snowball in half.

He was hit twice.

Ethril snickered and then laughed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. She had not expected Ciel to cut the snowball in half like that! She laughed so hard that she grabbed her gut and hunched over. The only other time she'd ever hit someone like that had been when Pyronim hadn't been paying attention. She'd pushed snow off of a roof and straight onto him.

Ethril calmed down some and was already getting another snowball ready with her tail. "So how about it? First person to make the other give up wins?" She grinned teasingly and blatantly showed him as she lifted a snowball with her tail and placed it in one hand. She rolled the ball around in her hand to make sure the snow was packed firmly. "You may have won our last game, but I plan on winning this time."

"Pas! Guerre été déclarée!" (war has been declared lol) Gentleman or not, Ciel was still Fair. He did not intend on losing any game ever. He loosened up a bit before holding his hands about him. It looked like an odd posture, but it was clear what was to be done in seconds.

He made a quick shout, and it was only moments before he had a tiny flurry whipping about him. Air was his natural born element, but he did get fair control over water, and snow was just that. "Are you quite sure you want to do this, mon cher?" His impish smile had returned.

Ethril snickered and lowered her body so that she had one hand pressed against the ground lightly. She grinned playfully as she rocked back and forth slightly, preparing herself for a duck and roll maneuver. "I've been trained for combat araria, you won't beat me that easily!"

She grinned and snapped her wings out from under her cloak and flapped them forward quickly. The process shot her back as well as pushed any loose snow forward towards Ciel. She threw the snowball and cartwheeled in the air, landing on the tips of her toes. She tilted her head teasingly and grinned innocently at Ciel. "Any rules?"

Ciel waved his hands quickly about. It made something of a shield against the powdery substance headed his way. Most of it didn't even make it half way. He did manage to duck the snowball this time; he wouldn't cheat so bad as to just grab it with his own magic. That was entirely unfair. (such a bad play on words. Goodness..)

"Rules, dear? Well, it's clear you've got the upper-hand. So how about this?" He took a few seconds to get airborne. "If I can stay up here, you can do whatever you want. Wings and tail-- all inclusive. I won't marionette your own weapons either. Only mine. Good practice for both of us, I might add. You've just got to stay down there," he added, as he grabbed the ribbon that had fallen from his hair. It was quickly stashed away in his coat pocket.

Ethril laughed as her distraction failed to reach Ciel as well as her snowball. She stayed low to the ground as she paced in a slow circle around Ciel. "Alright. And I'll not even use magic! My combat training against your magic!" She wouldn't be able to fly anyway with the chill in the air. She could propel herself, but that would be about all.

"Let us play." Ethril grinned and flipped her hood up to hide her hair. With the white of her cloak she might have a slight camouflage against the snow. Ethril scooped up two hand fulls of snow and curved one wing in a way that would allow her to store them there. She quickly made two more snow balls as she watched for Ciel's first move. She'd stay low to the ground for quick movements until she found an opening.

Kitty was lost in a world of her own now. No one cared where she went or what she did. No one worried about her safety. No one managed her time. No one invited her to play with them, or play a game with them. No one talk to her. No one asked to talk to her. No one wanted to see her. No one watched over her. No one beckoned for her to enjoy a nice warm chocolate while observing the snow lightly fall. No one at all.
And she didn't mind.
Not one single bit.

((Hey now Kitty! We tried being nice! D: If she's getting depressed, get her hit with a snowball that misses or something XD ...and not freak out about it ._.))

Ciel could tell that Ethril was definitely up to something down on the ground. That was fine. He had eight fingers. He could use one hand to hold maybe four snowballs at once. It would be easier to gather them for him now that it was actively snowing. He swirled a few and kept them at bay with his left hand held out just next to him. He summoned up one more and kept it in the right.

When Ethril had finally stopped stalking him like a grounded vulture, he shot it out as quickly as he could. He wasn't worried about hurting her. It was just snow, and she was tough anyway.

Ethril chuckled under her breath as her prediction came true. His first move was to send snowballs directly at her. With a calculated side step and thrust of her free wing, Ethril slammed herself forward and spun around. She used her tail to smash the snowballs that were coming at her so that they became loose snow once more. With another spun she flung her wing out that was holding the snow balls and sent the two that had been stored there up up Ciel. She rolled forward and to the side sending the other two that were in her hands up at Ciel from a different angle.

At least she wouldn't get cold at this rate with how much she was moving. And these were all basic maneuvers taught to her when she was ten. The spinning technique gave her increased moving speeds as well as the potential thrust needed to send objects flying. Perfect for this little game.

Suddenly, a barrage of rather small snowballs flew at Ciel and Ethril at a rapid pace.

'I wish I could make bigger ones,' Oppy chimed, 'But I can't draw much in this cold weather!'

((Jesus woman, I swear XD If I'M getting hit, you've GOT to get hit at SOME point lol))

When the first few came his way, Ciel thrust himself backward. Another batch were already nearly at him, so he had to barrel roll to the side. One of those managed to get his shoulder. It spattered in his face, so his vision was blurred for a bit, he saw that she had moved.

Since he was somewhat incapacitated, Ciel did a few spins to gather some of the snow around him. When his supply was ample enough, he shot out a stream of powdery white directly at her. He drew up two more actual snowballs and chucked that at either side of her. He was hoping that they'd be faster and keep her from going anywhere.

He didn't wait to build up his next batch of four balls though. He kept them at the ready in his left hand.

He was quite surprised when a few smaller ones came his way. They seemed to be coming from Oppy's direction which confused him a bit. "Well how'd you do that, Oppy-dear?" He was still on the defensive knowing that Ethril probably wouldn't be side-tracked.

(oh no xD man nope Im planning ;D just you wait I just dont know when....)

(( Oh Ethril will get hit. ))

Ethril grinned as she saw that at least one of her snowballs had hit its mark. She'd have to think carefully about her next move, since it would be unwise to do the same thing twice. While Ciel was spinning to gather the snow, Ethril formulated a new plan. She tucked her wings in as tight as she could and wrapped her tail around her waist. She would use her surroundings to her advantage. She'd be a bit slower with the use of her wings, but she had a plan.

Ethril ducked down and went to roll to the side as he sent the stream of powder at her, she hadn't expected the snowballs to be thrown right after though and one hit her squarely on the back of her head. Ethril hissed softly but rolled until her cloak was covered in snow and darted behind a snowbank. She wasn't fast enough and she growled when she felt a series of smaller snowballs hit around her and against her back. She looked back over her shoulder and couldn't help the small chuckle when she saw Oppy.

Ethril found a hiding spot quickly and used her cloak to make herself look like just another pile of snow. With the air filled with flakes this ruse could last a few minute unless Ciel looked carefully. It was just enough time for her to make as many snowballs as she could.

The pencil moved across the paper on the book smoothly, another barrage of small snowballs forming and rising into the air. Oppy was concentrating hard, the book resting on Suzume's head like a hat. And the pencil was moving seemingly on its own.

'This is hard, but fun!' she chimed, sending the next barrage of snowballs, though they were smaller this time.

Ciel managed to dodge Oppy's snowballs, but the effort had cost him his sight of Ethril. He searched for her down below, but she was no where to be seen.

He scowled then, quite displeased with himself. In a fit, he flourished his free hand to tousle the snow around on the ground. It proved unsuccessful, so he shot one out in the figurative dark. He was hoping to maybe hit something.

Ethril continued to make the snow balls under her cloak. She was running out of snow and she needed to make a counter attack soon. She felt the snow around her get tossed around and a bunch of it landed squarely on her back. She then heard a snowball land just inches from her head. Ethril took a deep breath and carefully lifted her hood to look around.

She moved slowly so as not to attract attention. She waited until Ciel wasn't looking in her direction and then stood up to throw as many snowballs at him as she could. Ethril felt a few smaller ones hit her and she quickly made a dash for some more cover. While she ran she threw one snowball at Ciel and then her last one in a random direction to try and distract him from her true destination.

Kitty was feeling the chilled air glide across her face. She did a three-turn, then continued with backwards crossovers until she had made her own makeshift circle, and continued her crossovers. Her leg moved behind her other, then swooped out as she pulled in her arms and legs, constructing a perfect scratch spin. Her speed picked up as her leg twisted farther around. Her arms went above her head as she bent back when-

"Whoa, slicer!"

Her blade jerked back into the ice as she snapped her head around to see who had interrupted her solitude. Her ice cold glare rested upon a tall, lanky boy wearing hockey skates from the rental shop. Kitty's arms crossed as she analyzed him. A novice, obviously, and obnoxious at that. His dark hair framed his face, pressed down by a wool hat pulled over his ears. He had to be around 15 to 16 years old.

Ciel really wasn't ready when so many snowballs came at him at once from seemingly nowhere. He dodged a few and knocked out several others with the ones he had stored up. He was hit directly in the chest by two and had to take a second to get his breath back.

He saw one more coming, but there was an odd pressure in a different direction. It was weird that it would be so far away from him, and it bothered him. He was a bit too bothered, he realized, when the first one he'd noticed hit him right in on his face.

"Ma! You're too good at this, cheater!" He soured slightly and send a large gust of pure wind at the area from which the distracting snowball had been launched.

"Eeeh!" Ethril let out a startled squeak when the blast of wind caught her. Her wings were thrown open and her cloak became tangled up in them. Ethril was thrown backwards and into a lamp post. Training kept her from crying out again as she staggered to her feet. She chuckled a little and then dove into a pile of snow to hide for any more strong gusts of wind.

The cold from the snow numbed the pain in her back and Ethril carefully curled up in the snow to check on her wings. They were fine mostly, but she'd need to check on them later. Ethril burrowed through the pile of snow for as far as she could and then felt her fingers break through the snow. She peaked out slowly. She wasn't far from where she first dove into the snow, so she'd have to make another run for it.

Ethril looked around and spotted the frozen lake not too far away. Sliding on that would give her a speed advantage over Ciel. She'd make it to the other side and launch more snowballs at him. With that plan in mind she burst from the snow and made a mad dash for the ice. She jumped over the railing that surrounded the ice rink and crouched down as she skated across the frozen surface. She had to use her hands to keep her balance as she zipped past Kitty and the strange boy.