[mylies43]

The first snow fall of the year was coming down over Vale along with the surrounding area, coating the forest in a cold blanket. Serin loved the cold and snow, which was lucki since Atlas was perpetually covered in a layer of it.The snow made him realize just how much he missed home. The stunning beauty of it not helping matters much,the silence that the snow brought as people and Grimm retreated back into their homes for warmth and comfort was another home-like thing.All the snow made Serin decided to go walk thourgh the forest in hopes of suduing his homesickness, and besides it was better hiding inside his room with his team mates. Dawning a black parka, and some leather hiking boots along with a hat he headed out in a random direction hoping got an interesting discovery or getting some good mental pictures.Wandering around Serin got lost in his own world, breaking out of it to occasionally examine something of interest. "But even if I do add a extra servo or two it still won't achieve the strength or function that I want..." Serin rambled to himself or the occasional animal.

"What if I replace... oh a deer trail I wonder where that leads." Serin said cutting himself off mid-sentence before following the tracks in the snow. After twenty minutes he noticed managed to catch up the deer.'That was lucky, didn't even have to follow it for that long.' Serin thought. He stared long and hard at the deer examing it. Its fur covered in a light dusting of snow making it appear to be coated in powdered sugar or cocaine. A fun idea popped into Serins head as he sunk his hands into the foot deep snow before lunging towards the deer, his black jacket making him appear to be a small Grimm. Serin charged the deer on to see how it reacts to Grimm, but as he got closer it didn't seem affected by him giving him what Serin swore was a cocky glance, almost as if it was saying "Fight me". Serin jumped up into the arm prepared to tackle the deer but before he got a chance to make a successful attack on it Serin was slammed away from the deer and into the snow rolling several times in the deep snow before stopping face up. A loud boom then assaulted his ears while Serin tried to figure out what was going on. His body hurt from slamming into the ground, all except his right arm which didn't feel anything. 'What the FUCK is happening' Was the thought that ran through Serin over and over, he tried to summon his puppets but found his aura was gone adding to the confusion about what took place. Groaning and attempting to get up Serin discovered something that would tell what just happened, his right arm wasn't working and a quick glance told him why, he had been shot. The bullet almost completely depleted his aura before continuing onto his arm and making a clean hole through the shoulder and the boom was from the bullet as well. "Fuck me."

[Devlin98]

The frozen air embraced Shade and nipped at her button nose underneath the hood of her cloak. She had left the warmth of Sage's cottage hours ago to search for any wildlife nearby. It was nearing the anniversary of Sage's departure so the warmth of the cottage began to turn into pain when the wind died down. The snow was falling softly around her, her footsteps in the snow sending muffled cracks through the woods. Her early childhood memories of trampling through the fresh snow-filtered into her thoughts.

'Momma look at me, I'm making snow angels'
'Shade! Dear, she's going to freeze.'
'She'll be fine, let her enjoy it.' the voices echoed in the far depths of her mind. Shade struck out her hands grasping the nearest tree from a misplaced step. Once stabilized, she wiped a single tear from her left cheek.

The crisp crack of snow made her body rigid and her eyes went straight to the deer off in the distance. Behind the trees, she could determine the pattern of the lone deer. It would make a perfect meal for the night. She reached for the rifle strapped around her shoulder. An inky figure darted near the deer. She blinked as the crosshair tracked the figure. 'Grimm' she thought. The colors were familiar. Pulling the rifle off of her shoulder she steadied it and started loading a round. A deep breath as she cocked the rifle. Lining up the shot she exhaled partially. Her finger caressed the trigger as the Grimm went to attack the deer. Just before the Grimm made contact she grabbed the trigger, the rifle recoiling as a round went downrange. She was able to watch the round impact the Grimm. A shimmer much like an Aura and a shower of sparks scattered off of the figure before it went tumbling in the snow. Shade relaxed and slowly moved toward her target. As she grew closer she could hear the groans of the figure. She quickly collapsed the rifle into its sword form prepared to defend herself if the figure moved. Stopping about 10 feet from him, she could finally see the man she had shot.

"Well that wasn't smart."

[mylies43]

All Serin could do it was stare at the girl as she walked up to him, "That wasn't smart."She said. Serin continued to stare at her making sure she wouldn't shoot him again since he had no idea if she would or why she did. Her tone did indicate that she didn't mean to shoot him. "Your're the one that shot me, I just wanted to walk around in the forest, unlike you, you....person hunter."Serin said trying his best to spit out his insult before trying to get up again. But without his right arm he just flopped about for a couple of moments before managing to push himself into a sitting position and from there jumping into a standing one. Inspecting himself he make sure she didn't shoot him anywhere else before doing a further inspection of his arm. The hole was pretty clean and it went all the way through,allowing him to see the internals of his arm and the forest behind him.

"Christ you did a number on it, its gonna take forever to fix this, plus a bunch of snow got in so who knows if it works. "He angrily told her, Serin's arm wasn't the only part that was wet, lying in the deep snow allowed the snow to get practically everywhere so everything from his socks to his head was soaked.Serin grabbed some wires inside and connected them in a effort to see if anything he couldn't see was broken, this resulted in his blades swinging open and ripping his jacket open. "Are you freakin kidding me! Honestly!? This was my favorite jacket! Damn it!" He stomped his foot into the snow to emphasize his frustration before turning back to the girl. "So why the hell did you shoot me!"

[Devlin98]

Shade watched the man slowly transition to standing in front of her. She observed his arm where the entry of her round was clearly visible. Finding metal and circuitry rather than flesh and blood she turned away toward where the deer had run off when the shot was fired. The man continued to check his arm out and ramble on about how messed up it was. Her attention was drawn back to him with the sound of metal against fabric with his jacket being shredded. She quickly returned focus on the path of the deer.

"So why the hell did you shoot me!?"he demanded an answer much like a child.
"You looked like a Grimm. Scared off my dinner as well." she calmly whispered back to him. She transitioned the weapon back into rifle form and slung it around her back. Noticing blood along the path, she turned back toward the man momentarily.
"At least I nicked him as well." she began walking, following the blood trail.

[mylies43]

"As least I nicked him as well."The girl said as she began walking away. 'What the hell she shot me and is walking away!? He thought seething all the while, it had been such a nice day as well. Glaring at her some more he tried to figure out what to do, his arm was hella busted and who knows how badly."I need a repair kit but where can I get one out here?"As he thought the girl walked farther away he turned around and was going to head back home when he noticed something, he didn't know which way was back home. "This day keeps getting better."He could follow his tracks home but at the current rate of snowfall his tracks would be filled way before he got back.

So Serin did the only logical thing and turned around to follow the person who shot him. Once he caught up with her he began talking,"So since you shot me I feel like you probably owe me one. Also why are you hunting deer for dinner? Grocery stores exist you know and they aren't exactly hard to get into. Im a little off topic bbbuutt anyways you shot me so you own me, I need help getting back to vale and fixing my arm, if you are going to as sullen as normal then at least help me get back to vale."

[Devlin98]

The muttering and footsteps behind her as she trudged alone told her he was following. Her attention remained forward watching the path up ahead.
"Im a little off topic bbbuutt anyways you shot me so you own me, I need help getting back to vale and fixing my arm, if you are going to as sullen as normal then at least help me get back to vale."
"You talk too much. It's for practice."she noticed up ahead a small clearing. Shade stopped in her tracks finding a small Ursa Grimm.
"Shit!"she muttered under her breath. Grabbing the rifle she took up aim at the Grimm watching its movements. Remembering the man following her she motioned for him to follow and moved to hide behind a fallen tree.

[mylies43]

Serin quickly ducked into the snow getting it all over the place again so that he doesn't blow their cover. "I could take it out if, you know, someone didn't damage my arm."He whispered over to the girl. He had sunk far enough into the snow to the point where he couldn't see out of it, so he decided to try to make his arm work. Looking at it it looks like he could jury rig something up if he had some wire or metal. the blade is out and probably isn't going back in or to crossbow mode, all he needs is some metal..."MY BOLTS." Serin shouted out, which he realized was a bad idea. Slightly peeking his head up above the snow he could see the Ursa staring down the girl.'It hasn't seen me yet, nice.'He ducked back into his hole and grabbed one of his bolts and used his blade to cut its into a roughly approbate size.

Serin could hear the Ursa begin to charge toward the girl while he started putting the cut off bolts into his arm and wrapped the wire around the ends of it, he repeated this three times before his arm jolted to life smacking himself. Serin jumped up and charged towards the Ursa his arm jittering and jolting as the wires made contact with each other sending the wrong single. He jumped up and stabbed down on top of the Ursa, he jumped off of the Ursa landing in the snow. Serin and the Ursa charged towards each other but at the last second Serin dropped down into the snow and stabbed upwards making the blade slid up through the Ursas head, killing it. He stood up and look at the girl. "See? When my arm works I'm not useless." He said before his arm spasmed again and smacked him in the face.

[Devlin98]

As soon as the man was down in the snow, Shade began lining up her sights and popping shots off at the Ursa. In her peripheral, the man was scrambling around with his arm. The Ursa was now charging at her. Her shots came quickly one after another. Fire, load, cock, fire. Her actions followed the words spoken by her mentor so long ago. The man suddenly jumped up and ran out at the Ursa. Shade seized firing, watching the man attack the Ursa. After the Ursa crumbled into the snow, the man stood proudly as it disintegrated.

"See? When my arm works I'm not useless."his arm smacking him in the face. Shade slung her rifle and turned to head home to the cottage.
"I've gotta pick some things up before I can head into Vale."the wind gusted her hood back revealing her gray hair fluttering in the icy wind. She struggled against the wind and put her hood back up trudging along in the snow.

[mylies43]

"I've gotta pick some things up before I can head into Vale."Serin mentally jumped for joy before the girls hood blew off and her hair flew out into the breeze. It was gray, like a old person. He stared at her hair wondering why it's gray as she tried her best to get it back on. Soon they were trudging along toward Vale. Serin was content to sit in silence for now....before he got bored of tinkering with his arm and turned his attention toward the girl. "So.....we're going to be stuck with each other for a bit, what's your name? I'm Serin.Also what's with the gray hair? I mean your not that old right? Not that there's anything wrong with being old or anything."Serin said as he tried to backtrack. He looked around the forest while waiting for the girl to respond and noticed a couple of things. The snow appeared to be picking up and so was the wind, he thought that the snow was dying down but it seemed that if anything it was picking up. 'Eh, Im probably just seeing things and it was probably fine.

[Devlin98]

"The name's Shade and I was born with it."she had to speak up to counter the wind. The cottage was just up ahead. The snow was heavy falling between the trees. Nearing the cottage the wind was tugging at her cloak.
"You stay outside."Shade disappeared inside the cottage. Shade was partially glad to return to the warmth of the lone cottage. Sage's belongings remained where they had been nearly a year ago. Shade's portion of the cottage the only section really appearing to be used. On the far wall a wood stove and kitchen. In the middle, a lone table with a single red rose proudly on display. After organizing her equipment for a trip to Vale, she finally opened the door to allow Serin into the cottage. After letting Serin in, she placed the rifle on her bed. She moved around the cottage tending to small house tasks.
"The snowstorm probably won't let up for awhile. We should hold in here until it's safe."

[mylies43]

Serin was following behind Shade when she closed the door in his face. He had to blink a couple times to make sure what he thought was happening was happening. "Seriously? You are going to keep me out here? IN THE FREEZING COLD." He yelled at the door before angrily backing away from it and looking ar5ound the house. Looked like a pretty standard cottage, quite peacefully looking from the outside. Very quiet too. Serin sighed as he stared at the cottage freezing to death. "This would be nice if I wasn't going to die" Suddenly the door opened and Serin booked it toward the open door diving inside for warmth.

"Thank you so much, I thought I was going to freeze to death outside." He looked around the house and noticed something very distinct. Only half the house appeared to used, interesting."So, uh, why is only half the house used? And why is there a single rose there?" He asked further scanning the area. His arm spasmed once more and hit his gut knocking the wind out of him. "I still need to fix my arm, or make a better solution then this. You got something I could use?" A box on the other side of the house caught his attention, it appeared to be a tool box. 'That should have the stuff I need.' He walked over to it and opened it up discovering a wealth of unused tools inside of it he could use to fix his arm."Nice! This should let me fix it pretty well.'

[Devlin98]

"Nice! This should let me fix it pretty well."Shade saw him opening the toolbox. Instantly she was behind Serin grabbing the toolbox and shoving his chest. She returned it to where it belonged. She grabbed Serin's collar and looked him straight in the eyes. Her bionic right eye blinked softly.
"I have half a mind to break every bone in your body."With him still in her grip she opened the door and tossed him out before slamming the door.

[mylies43]

For the second time today Serin was lying out in the snow after being attacked by the same person. The first time had been a shot in his arm, but this was new. He racked his brain trying to figure out what was up with being thrown out into the freezing cold. He touched some tools and next thing he knows he's attacked and outside. A loud sigh escaped his lips as he pushed himself back up. "I didn't even get warm yet....."  He said standing up. [color]cyan]"So I'm going to freeze in about 30 minutes? So I have that long to figure out how to get back and get there. Plus I need to fix my arm....MY LOCKER."[/color]He yelled, fumbling for his scroll. Once he got a hold on it he opened it up and summoned his locker. Within seconds he could hear a whizzing sound that got louder and louder until it slammed into the ground in front of Serin creating a massive cloud of snow with a resulting crater. He quickly opened the locker and grinned as the repair kit fell out of it.

Serin ripped the repair kit open and grabbed some wires and electrical tape. Using his electronic repair kit he wrapped the wires together and tape the connections closed on the remaining wire and managed to fix the blade switching. "Sweet, now that works, all I have to do it get warm." He attached his other blade and reloaded his bolts before looking towards the woods, then back at the cottage, then back to the woods before sighing and turning his attention towards Shades home. A lap around the cottage showed no obvious way in meaning that Serin had one option left, the front door. Grabbing one of his gravity dust cartridges he placed it in the slot in his arm and inspected it making sure its not going to fall apart. He knocked on the door. "This is the last time I'm gonna ask, let me in, its cold out here." Not getting a response he sighed and yelled "Im sorry about this but I am going to freeze to death out here."He punched the front door with the extra power of the gravity dust it buckled and sent splinters everywhere. Reeling up he punched again, this time it buckled more and the door appeared to loosen more, after the third punch the door ripped off the hinges and flew backward into the house smashing into the wall at the other side. Serin removed his dust vial while apologizing. "I am so sorry about the door, it shouldn't be too hard to fix thou."

[Devlin98]

After slamming the door, Shade had sat down at the table. She watched the light of the stove dance across the walls and the rose placed in the center of the table. She heard Serin outside but remained focused on the rose. 'I'll be back before you graduate from Signal, Shade.' He left the rose on the table. 'Okay, be safe Sage.' 'You too.'he said as leaving. The front door splintered. She looked up dazed for a moment.
"He didn't come back. Why didn't he come back?"she asked knowing no answer would be returned. Growls from far off in the woods reached the inside of the cottage. Shade suddenly sat up straight listening to the noises outside. Her eyes going straight to the rifle on her bed. She motioned for Serin to hand it to her.

[mylies43]

Serin grabbed the rifle and held onto it for a moment deciding whether to return the favor by tossing it to the Grimm or giving it to her, looking out the door made it easy. There were a ton of Grimm outside, Serin glanced at the rifle once more before tossing it over to Shade. "There's a lot of Grimm out there, I'm not convinced we can take them all...."Serin said as the first Grimm burst through the opening that once held the door. Serin tactfully side stepped it before plunging his right blade into its neck, then swinging its body around and releasing it allowing its body to fly into the herd of Grimm that were attempting to stream through the door. Serin took the last few precious seconds before the house was overrun with Grimm to figure out a strategy, 'Doors blocked and the windows are about to be destroyed so those are no gos. Shit. The ceiling probably isn't useful and there's no doors behind. This is really bad place to be right now, I need to break through the Grimm, no, we need to break through the Grimm.'Serin thought, he activated his semblance and made several puppets appear beside the door drawing the Grimm away from the door, at least until they'd realize they were fakes. None the less he used the distraction to run back out the door he spent so much time trying to get stabbing a Grimm on his way.

Once out the door he took a hard left remembering which way the chimney was, upon finding it he shimmied up it as fast as he could getting on the roof of the cottage.'This is much better, at least now I'm above them.' He thought as the Grimm climbed up to his level, for now he could take the few Grimm that went up to him but he couldn't keep it up for long. Assuming that Shade was behind him covering his back he yelled out his plan, "We can't take this many on at once! They're going to over run us before we can do anything, we need to run! I can provide a distraction against the Grimm so we can book it over to the trees there!"He pointed to his left before continuing."If we can make it away from these Grimm we can make a better plan and come back but for now thats the best I got. Ok? Go on 3!" He yelled out over the whipping wind and the sound of the seemingly endless Grimm.