It was a cold winter day, even though the sun was bright and just starting to rise. The snow was falling slowly. It was always snowing for her. It followed her everywhere. The stream she was crossing froze underneath her feet as she walked over it, only to return to water once she had taken another step. When she reached the land on the other side, it was as if she had never even crossed it.
The ground crunched beneath her metal boots, freezing on contact with them even deeper than they had already been frozen. She had no real intent on going anywhere specific, or accomplishing anything right now. Winter was just walking, as she always had, through the tundras, looking for a purpose.
Her black armor clanked as she walked, the enchanted ice that froze it over cold to the touch, but she was used to it by now. As she passed different animals, they looked upon the metal skulls that were adorned on her armor, their glowing eyes of ice staring out at them, and ran away in fear. Her blade was in her hand, fashioned of the same metal and ice that her armor was. The flurry of snow and ice that stayed perfectly around the blade made the air even colder than it would have been.
She passed Hyoite a while back, but she had no idea how long it had actually been. She had no need to know about the time. She would wander forever, regardless. She needed neither food nor drink, rest nor sleep. Such were the benefits of being undead.
Soon, the sound of footsteps on the snow covered ground could be heard. As it got louder and louder, Winter tightened her grip on her blade, preparing for whatever may be coming her way.
Cryce's quest for vengeance takes him far and wide, but he made it a point to come back to his home every now and again to stay in touch with who he was. It had been ages since his family's death, and he wasn't even one step closer to finding those responsible. The crunch of snow beneath his feet was familiar, even welcoming. He wore no extra clothes over his usual attire for warmth for he did not get cold. Other footsteps could soon be heard in the snow, and Cryce immediately knew that he was not alone. Whoever the other person was, they had stopped. Cryce tightened his grip on his staff and continued forward. If they would not confront him, he would confront them.
As the stranger came into view, and began to come closer, he would notice that the snow seemed to get heavier and faster as he approached Winter. The man seemed to be headed directly for her, and so she remained where she was, waiting for him to make a move.
She was used to people seeing her now undead state and calling her a monster, trying to kill her again, and leave her dead for good. Some time ago, Winter would have welcomed that gift, but many tried, and none could succeed. She was truly stuck in a state of neither life or death forever.
As the man got closer and closer, Winter waited until he was withing a reasonable distance to call out to him, her cold, glowing blue eyes unwavering. "Have you come to try and kill me, too?"
Cryce stopped as the other individual, a woman by the sound of her voice, called out to him.
"If you give me a reason to," Cryce responded. "Is this how you greet everyone?"
"You would understand if you had been through what I have." Winter said as she loosened the grip on her blade and let it touch the ground. "Why do you approach me if you are not here to kill me, then?"
"You don't know what I've been through either," Cryce countered. "I'm simply passing through."
"Be on your way then." Winter said coldly. "Being around the living has never gone well for me."
"What's that supposed to mean," Cryce asked. "Aren't you alive?"
"It may appear that I am alive." Winter said. "But I assure you, I am not. I have been cursed with eternal undeath."
"Well I can't die until my work is done," Cryce told her. "I'm just here to get in touch with my roots."
Winter thought it a bit funny, honestly. A man who wished to not die until he accomplished his goals appeared out of no where, while she was standing there wishing for death to come take her eventually. After determining this man had truly no desire to have a conflict with her, she continued the conversation. "So you are from the tundra, then?"
"I am," he replied. "I was born raised here in Hyoite, but I don't find myself here very often."
Winter looked up at the sky, the snow still falling heavily around her. "Has it always been cold and lonely like this?"
Her voice conveyed the sadness that was also displayed on her face.
"It wasn't always," Cryce told her. "But it is now. For me anyway."
Winter reached out her hand and caught a snowflake in it. Due to the nature of her armor, it stayed perfectly frozen the way it had been. "The cold follows me everywhere. The loneliness has just become normal. I can't escape either, it would seem."
"The cold is the only company I have," Cryce told. "I feel rather at home in below freezing temperatures."
"I..." Winter started, before the sound of footsteps and armor started. It sounded like it was at least a small group of people, all with armor and weapons. Winter tensed her grip on her blade again, turning to see a group of five men running towards them.
"There she is!" One of the men yelled. "There's the monster!"
"Now's our chance to kill her!" Another yelled.
Winter turned back to the man who had approached her first. "They come like lambs to the slaughter. Time and time again, they try, and they always end up dead by my blade when they attack. I have never done anything to them, or their home, other than be the way I am now." She said, motioning the herself.
Cryce had witnessed his fair share of unjustified killing. His entire family had been murdered for absolutely no reason. These men were no better than the men who took everything from him, so they would share the same fate.
Cryce stepped past Winter and faced the men. The snow and wind picked up even further as Cryce gathered his power. Daggers formed of ice began materializing around Cryce before flying towards the men and blinding speed. Two men fell instantly, the other three wounded.
"Would you care to explain yourselves," Cryce asked them. "Or would you care to join your two companions."
"You defend her?" One of the wounded men spat at him. "She isn't human!"
Winter stepped forward and placed her blade on his chest, with just the very tip touching his armor. It began to freeze over, and within seconds it had become completely frozen. She pushed her blade forward slightly, and the armor shattered. "I keep trying to tell you all to leave me alone. I don't want this. So much death. So much... All so pointless..."
The two men who had fallen from Cryce's attacks began to rise, even though the life had been drained from their bodies, and turned their weapons to point at the other two men.
"I don't care," Cryce spat. "I will not allow pointless slaughter. It would be in your best interest to walk away while you still draw breath."
The man and his allies turned and ran. Now, the only matter was the two men who Winter had caused to rise. "What to do with you two..." Winter said.
Cryce examined the two men.
"What did you do to them," Cryce asked. "And why were they after you in the first place?"
"They're after me because they don't understand me, or my goals. People are afraid of what they can't understand." Winter said with a sigh. She motioned to the two men. "As for them... I can raise the dead."
"What are your goals," Gen asked waving a hand in front of one of the men's faces.
"At first, it was to die." Winter said with a sad smile. "But I soon learned that wasn't possible. Now, I've been gathering other undead beings who share my fate, and build a kingdom from the ground up."
"That's awfully ambitious," Cryce commented. "I don't imagine finding living dead things to be an easy task."
"They come to me. They answer my call." Winter said, holding out her blade. From the ground in front of them, a skeletal hand popped up, grabbing the ground to pull the rest of the body up. In a few minutes, a skeletal knight clad in full armor had pulled itself out of the ground and stood before them.
"I am only a cryomancer," Cryce said. "The snow and ice answer my call."
"In life, I used similar magic. I still do, really." Winter said. "The snow has become a part of me. It follows me everywhere."
"The cold and ice is all I have now," Cryce told her. "It's the one thing that wasn't taken from me."
"I've lost a lot as well." Winter said.
"I am on a search for those responsible," Cryce said. "I'm to find them. Then, I'm going to kill them all without mercy."
"Oh?" Winter said, curious now as to what happened to him. "What exactly happened to you?"
Cryce was silent for a moment as the memories came flooding back to him.
"They were killed," he said softly. "And I wasn't there to save them."
"Oh..."
Winter could tell it was a touchy subject, and wouldn't prompt him to explain more, but if he wanted to, she wouldn't stop him.
As he was assaulted by the memories of his murdered family, his fists began to clench and the wind and snow started become more and more fierce.
"They did nothing wrong," Cryce said his voice growing in volume. "They killed them for no reason. I will find them. I will find them and kill them all! They will pay for what they did! I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE!"
By this point they were both standing in the middle of a blizzard as Cryce's rage flared. Cryce spun around and faced Winter, his eyes filled with unbridled fury.
"My family was innocent," Cryce shouted. "Those bastards will pay! It won't be swift either! I will make them suffer just as I have! Only when they're begging and pleading for death will I finally end their pathetic existence!"
Winter stood there, a blank expression on her face. "It won't change anything. No matter what you do, you won't bring your family back. But if that's what you feel like you need to do to bring yourself peace, then so be it."
"I know it won't bring them back," Cryce replied. "But they demand vengeance. Justice must be done, and I'm the only one to carry it out."
"How long ago was it?" Winter asked. "You know, since they were killed."
"5 years," Cryce told her. "My father, mother, brother, sister, and my.... my fiancé were massacred for no reason. I came home from work one day to find their heads mounted on poles in the back yard with no explanation as to why. Nothing had even been stolen from the house."
"I was born in Connlaoth." Winter said, changing the topic to herself for a moment to show the man she understood what he went through. "As a mage, I practiced my powers in secret. One day, my brother and I came home to find a group of mages slaughtering the civilians. He told me to hide, so I ran and hid in an abandoned stables."
Winter paused for a moment before continuing. "Our parents were killed in front of my brother, who then killed all of the mages. He then vowed to kill every mage he came across. Then, one day, he came home early and saw me using my magic. He told me I needed to leave Connlaoth immediately, or he would be the one to kill me for being a mage."
Winter paused again, sighing at the memories. "I left and came to Hyoite, where I started to work. Until the day when... I became like this. My point is, I had lost everything except my brother. Then, he became so consumed with vengeance that I lost him too. Don't let yourself be lost because of what happened to you."
"I'm not lost," Cryce replied. "It's all I have. I lost everything. Consumed by vengeance I may be, but it's not like there's anyone that will lose me anyway. They're all dead."
"I see so much of my brother in you." Winter said with a smile. "Just, noble, kind... but too blinded by his past to be able to see the future."
"Don't pretend like you know me," Cryce said. "I know what I'm doing. Only by the death of those responsible will my family rest in peace."
Winter sighed. "It's always the same, but I can't stop you. If that's what you believe, then that's what you believe."
She looked up to the sky, watching the snow fall. "Maybe someday people will learn."
"Learn to what," Cryce asked angrily. "Let people get away with murder? Allow innocent people to be killed? The only thing people need to learn are the consequences of their actions."
"Ah, but when you kill them, now someone else will want to avenge them by killing you." Winter said. "All it will ever lead to is more death."
"That does not concern me," Cryce told her. "I highly doubt such monsters will be missed anyway."
Winter knelt down and rubbed her hand over the snow. "The world's such a cold, cruel place."
"You just have to be crueler and colder," Cryce told her.
"For some reason, even though the world rejects me, I refuse to reject the world." Winter said with a sad smile.
"Why," Cryce asked. "If you have all of this power, why raise an undead army and take your revenge?"
"That would only create more like me." Winter said, pushing her hair back behind her ear. "I thought about it, once, when I was first made to be this way. In fact, I did raise part of an army. However, now we just wish to create our kingdom, and live isolated from the world that rejects us."
"The world will just find you," Cryce told her. "Peace is a lie. There are only intermissions between violence. Your kingdom will be found and you will have no choice but to fight when it is."
Winter smiled. "And when that time comes, I will defend what I care about, rather than wipe out everything I don't."
"Then you will never know peace," Cryce said simply.
"Believe me, I have killed my fair share of people." Winter said. "It has done nothing for me, and now I only kill those who threaten me."
"I have also killed," Cryce replied. "And I will continue doing so until my family is avenged or I die trying."
Winter directed her attention back to the skeleton and the two men she had raised from the dead, and waved them away. They began walking off into the distance. "They'll find our home. It calls to the undead, and they answer."
"How are you not angry," Cryce asked. "How can you be so accepting of the fact that everyone is out to kill you?"
"No one can kill me. They try, they fail, and in the end..." Winter said, turning and pointing at the three undead beings who were now just barely visible. "They end up like me."
"That would be helpful," Cryce said thoughtfully. "If only I could find a way to not die until my family's killers were dead. If anything, I would then outlive them and know when they finally died."
"If you are to kill them, let me offer you this as advice." Winter said dryly. "Burn their bodies, so they may never rise again."
"I'm going to freeze them," Cryce said. "I will freeze them solid and then smash them to pieces, one limb at a time."
"I suppose that will work, as well." Winter said. She was still kneeling down and touching the snow. It calmed her.
She looked over at this man again."Tell me this. Do you have any idea who it was, or are you wandering, searching, with a hope that one day you'll find what you're looking for?"
"I've had many leads," he told her. "Some have brought me very close, but I have yet to find the culprits."
Vermithrax woke up in the tundra region, he slowly opened his golden eyes as he began to smell the air, nothing unusual. A cold day, small snow flakes falling from the sky, some of them melted before reaching any surface, the ground was covered by a thin white layer of snow, except the area beneath his dragon belly, where all the snow melted, he slowly got up and looked around but there was no one around.
"Maybe i should do that less often" He thought to himself, sleeping under the stars was a nice feeling, but spending so much time away from his treasure on the mountains bothered him, what if someone stole something from him? Well, in that case he would probably still catch the individual scent on his cave, and bringing death upon this person's life would become his personal mission.
Vermithrax looked around one more time and then he jumped, higher than you would expect from such a giant creature, he opened his bat-like wings midair and began to glide. He flapped his wings to gain some altitude, heading towards the mountains.
He kept flying for a while and then he felt something, he did not have the words to describe it but it was something like a chill, that was odd, cold did not bother him at all so what was that? He began to smell the air and look to the ground, that's when he spotted, two people, apparently human, he could not imagine any human causing that feeling on him so it was probably not them, but oh well, he could use a snack, perhaps he should pay them a little visit.
He partially folded his wings against his body as he dived towards those two, he would not simply kill them, he enjoyed having conversations with victims in potential. He shouted a thundering roar that echoed through the tundra as he kept getting closer and closer to the ground, he flapped his wings to decelerate and steady, masking a swift landing about 50 meters from them, a small distance considering the gigantic size of Vermithrax.
"Good morning, dont mind me, i was just passing by and could not help but wonder what could possibly bring such a lovely couple so far in the wild?" He said with a grim smile on his face, not that he was able to do that many expressions
ooc: Character sheet, in case you want to check ^^ http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=18119.0
Winter was about to ask Cryce another question, until she was interrupted by the sound of something massive approaching. Sure enough, something began to speak, and Winter turned her cold gaze upon the dragon. "A dragon? I must say I've only ever seen one dragon on this tundra, and he was more or less 'dead' when I found him."
Winter took a few steps towards the dragon before continuing the conversation. "I feel the need to point out that I have just met this man, and we are certainly not a couple. Moreover, it seems trivial that you would stop for such a purpose. What do you want with us, dragon?"
While Winter was being kind towards Cryce, this dragon had brought out the cold side of her personality, which was the normal side, honestly. She didn't know where this would lead, and she didn't really take a liking to anyone who wasn't undead. Cryce had been an exception, with him having a similar history to her, and her feeling at least some compassion towards him. However, now that Winter's personality changed back to normal, the snowfall began to turn into a blizzard, and the ground started to freeze over even more.
Cryce had no idea where a dragon had come from or why it was even there. What would a dragon be doing in Hyoite? A cold blooded reptile in freezing temperatures was just asking for death. Was this dragon different somehow? Winter was very straightforward with the beast, but since she couldn't die she didn't really have anything to fear. Cryce could die though, so he was ready to defend himself if need be.
The woman reaction was surprising indeed, she actually did not seem intimidated by him, actually she even dared approach him and talk back in a very rude way, he wasnt usually very patient towards rude people, but he was willing to let that pass.
"I am no ordinary dragon, you see, i am Vermithrax, and i've been arround this world for quite long you see, this tundra is a mere ice cube if compared to my greatness."
Then he began to walk arround the two of them, he liked to move in talks.
"And i feel you are being rather unkind to me, why cant a dragon stop and have a nice chat with some fine looking travelers, there is always much you can learn" He said in a completely polite and casual voice. He was lying of course, he would never stop simply to ask directions, but dragons were good with words and enjoyed playing mind games, he smelled the air again, the temperature was getting lower, it coincided with the woman change of mood, so she had some sort of ice based habilities? Certainly fits the place, she also had a different smell, she was no ordinary woman
"How about you then, would you be willing to tell me your name, if i asked for it?" He said now looking to the men, his eyes fixed on him, as he circled arround the two.
"What concern is my name to you," Cryce asked. "I've never heard of a dragon stopping for just a friendly chat. I know enough to know when I'm being toyed with."
He did not like being contested that way, but he did not feel like retaliating now.
"Arent you being kind of a hyocrit right now? you question my intentions because of my species, so you assume im here to cause you harm, but look at that woman." She looked at her for a second "She said you two just met, and even though she is nowhere near human, you two seemed to be having quite a nice chat, why is is different with me?" He asked still looking to the man, but focused on his sorroundings.
"She is human," Cryce replied. "Dead, but still human."
"If you were to die, you would still be a dragon, would you not?" Winter said. "It is no different with me."
"So thats all it takes for you, if its human its firend, if its not human, its enemy, its that how you think?" He said still looking straight to him
"Not in every case," Cryce replied. "It depends on the non-human. Dragons usually have a superiority complex and think that they are superior to everyone and everything else and thus bullies them around and kills them if they feel like."
"He has a point." Winter said coldly. "I have heard countless tales of dragons destroying towns, or slaughtering humans, but never once heard one of a dragon who just wanted to be someone's friend."
He was feeling annoyed by that conversation, he was not used to people talking back to him.
"You do know, that if i wanted you dead, you two would be nothing but a pile of ashes by now, doesnt you?" He said.
"Is that a threat, lizard?" Winter spat. "I don't like when people threaten me."
The intensity of the the blizzard increased once again.
His chest then began to visually glow in red from the fire being produced inside him his pupils dilated in anger and he shouted a massive roar at that woman, how dare she?
"Its simply a fact. You can also interpretate it as a warning, corpse." He said in a surprisingly calm yet threatening deep voice.
Winter just sighed. She couldn't die, not even by dragon fire. Actually, it would start to cool and freeze as soon as it hit her armor if he were to try.
She then turned to Cryce. "How would you like to proceed?"
"I have other things I could be doing," Cryce replied. "I don't have time to play dragon games. I have revenge to get."
A piercing cry echoed out through the sky across the tundra. As soon as the dragon started showing signs or irritation, Winter had called out in the back of her mind for the 'dead' dragon that she had mentioned at the start of the conversation. Of course, nothing that was 'dead' for her remained that way for long, at least not truly. Should things escalate, which they very well might, the undead dragon would be there in time to defend his self-proclaimed Queen.
"Very well." Winter said, and turning back to the dragon, she added, "You heard him. Neither of us are interested in your company."
He watched them discuss their next step with fury burning inside of him, literally, burning, you could heard a ferocious growl coming out of the dragons chest.
"Such a pity, well then, i think our lovely chat ends here."
Then without warning he spinned his body, making a tail slash as if it were a whip, meaning to hit them both.
Winter ducked down, just barely dodging the dragon's tail. Afterwards, she stood back up and pointed her blade at the dragon. She knew that regardless of her inability to die, it would be hard to fight the dragon with just the two of them, and things seemed to have just turned violent. "If you had truly only wanted to talk, then us dismissing you wouldn't have drawn out this reaction, dragon."
In the distance, the shrieks in the air were getting louder, and an undead dragon (http://cache.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/1212500-bigthumbnail.jpg) began to come into view. Winter didn't even have to look to tell what was happening. After all, she had been the one to summon him. "I mentioned I met a dead dragon once, yes?"
Cryce raised himself up on a pillar of ice to avoid being struck by the tail. The tail smashed the pillar beneath him and he simply landed in the snow without injury. It was then that Winter mentioned that she had an undead dragon on the way. That would certainly come I handy.
He gazed upon the dragon coming on the horizon and heard as she proudly announced her trump card, but he completely ignored it, he was no talking anymore, it was almost as if he were not a racional creature anymore, instead, he just advanced on the two of them, first trying to crush the man beneath his claws and going for a bite on the woman, a fast movemente that resembled a snake attack due to vermithrax long neck, he mean to swallow her whole with one single bite.
Winter moved out of the way with a single fluid movement, then brought her sword around to slice at the dragon. She figured it was likely he wouldn't attempt to dodge since it seemed like such a small attack, but if the blade made contact at all, he would start to freeze. Due to the nature of a dragon, however, it wouldn't effect him all that much.
Cryce dove out of the way of the incoming foot, but not before leaving a razor-sharp icicle for the dragon to step on instead. He wasn't sure if it would do much, but doing any sort of damage to a dragon was an impressive feet. Hopefully that undead dragon was worth all the hype that Winter was saying about it.
Vermithrax paw crushed the icicle spear, and he barely felt when the sword of the woman found its mark on his neck, but then something began to happen, he began to freeze from the point the sword hit him, which was something that he did not expect, so he roared again
"You fools, there is no ice that can whistand MY FIRE" and with that being said, his entire body bursted in flames that came under his scales and quickle engulfed his massive body,he could feel the ice on his neck melting, after being like this for a few seconds, the fire ceased.
'Then his chest began to glow red and a massive wave of flames came out from his mouth, he waved his head so the fire would spread tall and wide, covering their front vision, he then quickly flew over the flames and shoot another cone of fire, this time from above, trying to catch them off guard.
Winter didn't even attempt to dodge. The fire hit her armor, but her armor couldn't be melted or warped, and she was technically dead, so she felt no pain. Also, as it continued, her enchanted armor caused the fire to cool down.
The undead dragon landed at that point, letting out a massive roar.
Cryce didn't have any fancy armor, but he did have the crystal on the top of his staff. He lifted his staff towards the incoming inferno. Any fire that came close to the crystal fizzled out, leaving Cryce unharmed.
Vermithrax watched them harmlessly escape from his inferno tactic while flapping his wings, so apparently he couldn't simply just crazy shoot fire at them, that was ok, he had a few other perks. He looked around analyzing the situation, they were in 3 now, the man, the woman, and the undead dragon, the dragon was going to be a though challenge, dragons always were, the man just seemed to be a simple mortal man with some talent in magic, not a real threat, and the woman, although he did not really considered her a threat was the one in control of the dragon and he could feel the power emanating from her, so that was settled, he was the main target, when out of the way, taking the other one out would be easy.
He began to fly a circle, his golden eyes looking to the undead woman, he then leaned towards her and began to fly crazy fast in her direction, he leaned his back legs up and when close enough he tried to crush her with his claws.
Winter stood still, and the undead dragon moved in the way of the attack, taking the blow. It then turned it's head to try and snap at Vermithrax's neck.
Winter wasn't concerned with the dragon taking damage. She had given it the gift of undeath already, and it was hard to kill something that was already dead.
After the dragon took his blow, Vermithrax took advantage of his back legs making contact with his oponent and took an impulse on the undead dragons chest to leap backwards and avoid his attack, gaining some distance. He roared to him in challenge, he lowered his body in all four, a stance to protect his neck and observed for a second, you could almost see the aura of anger around vermithrax body, and you could certainly feel the heat of it. He carved his claws on the ground, his chest began to glow again and he shot a wave of fire, this time aiming for the undead dragon.
The undead dragon took a deep breath and shot a blast of ice back at the other dragon. Combined with Winter's enchanted ice that can freeze anything, it was able to stop Vermithrax's breath.
Winter looked on with her unblinking eyes. "Do you still insist on fighting, dragon?"