grappleking: (032)
𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙𝕦𝕤 𝕧𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕥 ([personal profile] grappleking) wrote in [community profile] songerein2022-01-10 11:55 am

closed 👊 a frozen heart worth mining

Who: Balthus von Albrecht & Hilda Valentine Goneril
Which: Log, Closed
Where: Ye olde Ice Palace.
What: Winter nymph adventure! Maybe some confused feelings, if we're lucky.
Warnings: None so far, will update as needed.

Well... whaddya think? This place doesn't look so bad.

['This' is the frozen palace that has appeared beyond the outskirts of town in recent weeks, still a good distance down the path— but near enough that even from where they stand, Balthus can see that it's well-guarded. These nymphs may not look like much, but he knows better than to let that lead him to underestimate them. If they're able to change the weather on this scale, they've got to be a hell of a lot more than meets the eye.

Brute strength ain't gonna do it.

He lifts his gloved hands to blow on them and try to trap heat between them before rubbing them together, the coat and hat he'd managed to find for himself only able to do so much to ward off the biting cold, and he grins as he looks to his partner.]


I'm thinking we're gonna need to depend on your powers of persuasion, Hilda.

[She's good at talking people into doing things they don't want to. It's basically her livelihood, right?]
indolentaxe: (034)

[personal profile] indolentaxe 2022-01-10 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hilda's not handling the cold nearly as well as Balthus, shivering beneath her coat and scarf. Goneril Territory is on the warmer side of temperate, nestled in the south-eastern part of the Alliance, so she has no experience with this kind of deep freeze. She's not from Faerghus, for the goddess's sake!

(And good thing, too, because this sucks. How do people live like this?)]


Yeah, leave it to me. I have quite a few things I'd like to tell these uppity nymphs once I have the chance.

[First and foremost: how dare you.]

I just hope we don't freeze to death before we get there. I didn't think it'd be that much colder once we left town, but clearly I was wrong.
indolentaxe: (043)

[personal profile] indolentaxe 2022-01-15 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Are you sure? If we have to fight them off, we don't want your hands freezing off first.

[That would suck for a multitude of reasons, not least of which being that he won't be able to defend her! And also having to deal with all of the complications of severe frostbite. That's probably pretty gross.]

Let's just get this over with as quickly as possible so we can go back somewhere with a nice fire and warm drinks.

[And with that, they trudge onward. The snow gets worse as the approach, and Hilda especially struggles to traverse it as the snow pack is deeper and deeper. She's way too short for this.]
indolentaxe: (009)

[personal profile] indolentaxe 2022-01-21 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, food too.

[A pastry sounds wonderful right about now, she has to admit. Something fresh out of the oven with a warm and gooey filling.

Hilda is about two seconds from shouting after Balthus when he realizes that she's no longer keeping pace, buried almost up to her waist in the snow. With a huff, she stops in her tracks and waits for him to circle back and help her.]


I think I'm going to need a carry.

[Frustrated, she shoves a bit of snow away from her as if it would make any difference. It does not.]

How do people from Faerghus deal with this kind of weather every year? It's awful.
indolentaxe: (030)

[personal profile] indolentaxe 2022-01-28 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe that's why they're all kind of touched in the head.

[She loves her Blue Lion classmates, but none of them seem to be okay. Even the ones who are relatively normal take things way, way too seriously to be healthy.]

Let's do piggyback. That way you can have your hands free if we need you to.

[She's strong enough to hang on if he needs to punch a fairy or something!]
indolentaxe: (046)

[personal profile] indolentaxe 2022-02-05 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hilda is all for Operation Get the Blue Lions to Lighten Up. They'll have to plan for it, especially if one of them ends up here in Songerein.

But that's an issue for future them. Presently, the issue of her getting buried in the snow is easily solved as she hops onto his back and holds onto him. As he hoists her up, she realizes that this has the added benefit of her getting to leech his body heat as the continue into the frigid realm of these nymphs. It's always nice when things work out like this.]


You're the best, Baltie. This is much better than trying to walk through snow that's almost as tall as I am.

[Which is only slightly an exaggeration. It was getting pretty deep for her.]
indolentaxe: (002)

[personal profile] indolentaxe 2022-02-10 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, believe me, I have no intentions of falling off of you.

[That would mean landing in the snow, which would be the worst. It's wet and cold!]

Lead the way, my noble steed! We have winter nymphs to negotiate with.

[...what's a little casual dehumanization between friends, amirite?]
indolentaxe: (034)

[personal profile] indolentaxe 2022-02-16 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
I wasn't going to, but now I'm kind of tempted.

[Give her a few, she'll surely come up with some kind of stupid horse name to give him. Equine King of Grappling, perhaps?]

I'll be your eyes in the sky, though. As much as I can with all the snow blowing around, at--

[She isn't able to finish her sentence before an icy arrow flies past her head. It would seem they've finally been spotted by the nymphs.]

Hey, watch where you're shooting!!
indolentaxe: (004)

[personal profile] indolentaxe 2022-02-21 07:23 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, we brought snacks!

[The nymphs--or, at least the few that are now visible in the trees around them--seem to pause in response to this new information. They murmur among themselves for a bit, and Hilda relaxes. Surely, they're debating accepting the offer. Food is always a welcomed gift, right? They may just be able to get the conversation started and succeed in this plan of theirs after all.

After several moments one of them screeches, "NO SNACKS!" as a volley of dozens of tiny arrows of ice descend upon the pair at once.

So much for diplomacy. :( ]