A/N I apologise for the lack of content I have been kept busy in life and have little time to make these stories. I was only able to write this one, as it was a short simple story that I had in a dream and was able to pass it off as a one-shot. This took about 2-3 months to write

I will try and get round to the other stories, but I lack ideas and forget what happens in the anime of Familiar of Zero and in Solatorobo see I will need to get through them again. When I get the time which is hard to come by for me now.

I have read over it a few times and corrected what I could find. The person I originally intended to proof read it has been too busy to look over it. So I have posted it as it is. It may be a bit different as well as I have written this to try and improve my writing skills as well, so if there is anything wrong with it, don't be shy to criticise it. Just not too extreme with it

I Hope you will enjoy this story.

Characters and other copyrighted material belong to respectful owners.

Blizzard

"Whoooosh!" Howled the wind. As an endless torrent of snow fell from the dull, grey clouds, blanketing the forest landscape bleach white. Breaking the monotones, white forest was a lone figure, struggling to trek through the deep snow.

The figure was a human around 6ft in height, they wore a light coat with a hood that was up, to try and offer some protection against the wind. They wore dark coloured trousers (pants if you're American), thin lightly coloured socks in white trainers that are very ill-suited for the current situation. They have blonde hair (Seen from the strands of hair that appeared from the coat hood, they had hazel eyes, as they struggled to stay open in the cold gale. Their white teeth chattering together violently in a desperate attempt to generate heat.

After a few more sluggish steps in the snow, he put his hand on a nearby tree, and started to breathe heavily, while his other hand was raised to shield his face from the bitter wind. He was not wearing gloves and as a result most of his hands were as blue as blueberries, and from that his hands were as at risk of frostbite. "Wh… Wh… Where d... d… did this blizzard come from? This w… w… was never for…cast…ed." The person manages to stutter out, His deep voice helping to identify him as a Male Human.

Earlier in the day it had been a clear and sunny morning that would also be cold and so he prepared to be out for a short walk in the forest on a cold winter morning, which is why their clothing is not as heavy. Then seemly out of nowhere the wind suddenly picked up and the cloud released its snowy content. As a result of that seemly sudden shift in the weather the man was seriously unprepared for the predicament that he was now in. After a few more minutes of getting his breath back, he set off slowly into the winter and foreboding land.

It was a few more minutes into his snail-paced trek before he realised that he was genuinely lost. He thought that he knew where he was going as he had explored the forest many times before, though that's when the forest had colour and was full of life, not when it was a monotonous white and unforgiving with everything looking the same and obscuring familiar markers. Soon he had lost his bearings and was unsure if he was actually leaving the forest or just going deeper into it. When the realisation kicked in, his already sluggish steps turned into more of a hopeless drag, as if he was dragging a weight that was chained to his legs.

The feeling? Despair, depression, hopelessness (or whatever deprecating word you wanted). His knees shook and buckled, as his legs collapsed into the snow, arms falling by his side. His face started to turn white as the snow started to get a solid landing and freeze on it. His lips quivered and his eyes threatened to water and the tears that came out started to freeze against his face.

"Ab…Sol" A voice sounded over the winds, it was faint, but the person was able to hear it over the wind. They looked around urgently trying to find the source of the noise, but couldn't find the source in the white environment and looked down again in despair. "Ab…sol." The voice sounded again, much louder, than the previous time. Once again he raised his head up and began to search frantically for the voice. Since he heard it more clearly and louder than the last time, he knew that he was not hallucinating from his near-death experience. He quickly looked around, desperately trying to find the source of the voice, and once again couldn't find what was making the noise in the white landscape and in the poor visibility from the heavy snow coming down.

Just as he was about to stop looking again a black silhouette started to stand out from the white landscape. While he could make out a shape he couldn't tell anything about it due to the heavy snow affecting his visibility, but with the voice he heard over the wind he had an idea on what made the sound.

As the creature got closer he started to identify some of the features (Well the parts of the creature that wasn't covered in white fur.) It had a dark-blue face and this colour applied to the claws it had at the end of its four legs, the colour also applied to the curved horn that stuck out from its forehead that looked like a mini-scythe. It wasn't the scythe like appendage that caught his attention the most, it was the piercing red eyes the creature had. Combined with the dark-blue skin and whiteness in their eyes, it made their soul-staring red irises appeared to be glowing. Despite the menacing, soul-starting eyes the creature showed no hostile intent, they're actually very rare to see this close-up.

"A... A… An Absol?!" He stuttered out in a mix of being near frozen-solid and surprise. Absols are very rarely seen up close as they normally avoid contact with people. "Wh… Wh… What's an absol doing here. This is because (if you've played the pokemon games you'll know, but for those who don't) Absols are usually seen just before a disaster occurs and because of this, they have wrongly been accused of being the cause of the disaster. As a result, this has caused them to be negatively labelled like this. Normally they would quickly leave when seen by a human as they were usually chased off, so he was confused and surprised when one came up to him, seemly unafraid itself.

Before he could remain stunned for long the Absol began to tug on his coat with its teeth. "H… H... Hey stop it!" He cried out in surprise as he started to tug back, but not too much, as he wanted to keep his coat in one piece. He also did not want to hit the Absol, especially with it having a scythe-like horn, sharp claws and pointy teeth. After it pulled a few more times on his coat it stopped pulling it, and took a few steps back. It then turned itself around so that it was now looking in the opposite direction (The direction it came from) and it looked back and forth between him and the white icy abyss, while using one of its claws on its right paw to point at itself. The man began to realise what the Absol was trying to say… (Well show him anyway). "Y- Y- You want me to follow you?" He asked slowly as he felt the cold continue to gnaw at him. The Absol nodded its head in response, blinking as it did so, and started to walk off. "Hey! At least give me time to get up! I'm half-buried in snow here!" He half-yelled out at the Absol, as he shook off the snow that had accumulated on him for the past 5 minutes, and then, he got up as quick as he could (Which wasn't quick in his near-frozen state), and began to follow the Absol through the blizzard.

He had no idea why he decided to follow the Absol, maybe the bitter cold had started to affect his head (If it hadn't already done so before now). For all he knows it could be genuinely helping him, or it was leading him to his death? It was one of the two, but by this stage and with how long he had been out in the cold? He didn't care… As long as he finally got away from this remorseless cold.

Just as he was about to submit to the chilly, relentless, unforgiving cold, he began to see a faint orangey-yellowy glow piercing through the white, lifeless mist. Suddenly almost as if by divine intervention he felt his strength suddenly return to him that somehow enabled him to stagger a lot more quickly towards it, (let's be honest, how would you run in deep snow?). As he got closer, he could make out the outline of a wooden lodge in the snow, it was also in his joyous state that he didn't notice that the Absol that was with him had mysteriously disappeared.

He nearly tripped up the step that was just before the door and knocked the door as fast as his stiff, freezing cold limbs would allow him, desperate for the heat like a moth to a light. Shortly after the door opened for him, the fatigue and stress of the whole entire dilemma began to catch up to him and as the door was partly open he blacked out and collapsed…

It wasn't until a few hours later did he stir from his blissful slumber. As he began to wake up he noticed two things, one was the eternal, welcoming warmth of the heat of the lodge and that he was wrapped up in a lot of blankets, (Not like that was a bad thing), A hot fire burned away, occasionally crackling as it burned through its wooden fuel supply. As he started to get more aware of his surroundings he took note of the wooden walls and carpet floor, it was a very cosy room. But he primarily wondered about, who had saved him? He got his answer when a very young and quite energetic girl came into the room.

"Hiya Mister! Are you feeling better!?" The girl said very quickly, so quickly in fact that in his dozy state, it barely registered to him. She had brown hair tied into two pony tails, had a plain pink t-shirt on, dark trousers and grey socks.

"I… Eh… What?" He stuttered out in confusion not expecting that soon after waking up.

"Be easy with him Zara!" Said a stern and gruff voice. "He has only just woken up and may not be aware of where he is." A middle aged man said as he came into the room. They were dressed in a plain T-shirt, a black woolly jumper, thin trousers, hair greying as a result of his age and red socks that were tucked into slippers. The girl put a pout on her face.

"I know Papa." She said looking away from him with a bit of annoyance in her voice, then it became happy again. "I was only asking if they were feeling better!" Almost as if she had a mood swing her annoyed look changed to one of joyous wonder (eyes closed and smiling wide).
"Uh… Yes?... Much better…" He replied back to the girl's question as coherently as he could.

"That's good!" She replied with as much enthusiasm when she was asking if he was okay. The older main in the room chuckled at the young girl's antics.

"As you can see my daughter is quite the energetic individual." He said as he came up behind Zara and put his hand on her shoulder. "But I do have to agree with her. It's great that you are feeling much better." He said with a smile. "I will be honest with you, when you first stumbled in, I was worried you might've not made it." He said with a slight depressive tone, which then changed into a more positive one. "Zara here jumped out of her skin when you fell down into the hall." He laughed out. The person they rescued felt his cheeks start to warm up in embarrassment in falling unconscious in someone's home. While the young girl had a pout on her face and went red as well, but she didn't say anything. She wanted to argue back but knew it was true. "But seriously, we feared the worse when you were unconscious, you were really cold, and thought that you wouldn't be able to recover." He said with concern in his voice. But before he could say anything else Zara quickly said.

"But now we don't have to worry anymore as you're all better." As she proceeded to hug the man they saved. With how long he had gone red in the face for he would be able to compete with a rose in redness. The older man then asked him a question.

"What's your name young man?" The older man said, so that he could address the man they rescued respectfully now by his name.

"My name is John, thank you for asking." He replied back, he looks back up at his rescuer. "What is yours?"

The older man responded in kind "My name is Christopher or Chris for short." Before he could ask John another question Zara interrupted.

"And you already know my name, but I'll say it again. My name is Zara" She said as she chimed her name in too. Chris shook his head at her antics

"How were you able to last as long as you did in that blizzard?" Asked Chris. He was very curious on how he survived, as in that storm one can very easily lose their bearings.

"Well, for most of the time I was just aimlessly wondering about… But just before I came here an absol came to my rescue and guided me here!" He near shouted that last part out when he realised about his saviour, and start looking for it, wondering if it was nearby in the wooden lodge somewhere. Both Zara and Chris shared a glance with each other and Zara began to look noticeably sadder.

"That would Laura." Said Zara her energetic self-deflating a bit. "She used to live here."
"Did she run away?" He hesitantly asked, not wanting to push his luck any further, as it was clear he may have brought up some bad memories.

"Something like that…" It was clear that she didn't want to talk about it. He turned to Chris

"It's nice to see that she is helping people" He said trying to make the atmosphere more cheerful. This seem to lighten up the girl's mood.

"Yeah it's much better than what Absols do get wrongly accused about, especially judgemental people." She said happiness returning to her voice. John nodded back aware of what Absols are wrongly accused of. "Thanks to her though, you were rescued too!" Zara responded gleefully. It was so gleeful in fact, it's as if her earlier sunken state didn't exist. But there was one word that stuck out to him, 'too' this means that this had happen before and other people had been rescued before him. Chris seem to realise what he was thinking about.

"Yes, you're not the first case we've had. It has happen before, and as a result we're kind of stocked up with extra supplies." He admitted. "It was the reason we were able to treat you quickly and with us not worrying as much, though you still gave of a scare with the condition you stumbled yourself in with." The man they rescued just nodded in response. "It will be a while before this blizzard clears, they're not the quickest to clear in this region due to a number of weather and geological factors. So you may be stuck here for a couple of days." John was going to say something about not burdening them, but Chris raised his hand almost as if he knew this question was coming. "It's no problem at all, you're not burdening us in anyway. We have the supplies to help you and there's enough for everyone." He responded "Plus it would be sheer lunacy to go out in that" He pointed to a window which the snow had settled one quarter of the way up it. "Which makes me wonder why you were you were out there in the first place?" The man in question turned a shade of pink in embarrassment again.

"Well at first I didn't plan too. Then it said on the T.V. that it was supposed to be a lovely day, so I went for a walk instead. But you can see how that turned out." He said shyly. Chris shook his head.

"You can't trust the weather forecast. They'll tell you one thing, one minute and then something else entirely different the next." He responded back. "Anyway, I hope you're good at board games because, in situations like this where you are stuck here for a couple of days. Zara loves to play board games with people and she will probably be coming back soon with some." He told him. John just noticed that she didn't seem to be in the room anymore, he was wondering why it had gotten quiet. Shortly after Chris had finished speaking it was not long before Zara came into the room with a stack of different board games, and was struggling to carry them in.

"I hope you like playing board games mister!" She said as she put them down in the middle of the room. "As I'm afraid that's all we have." She gave a sheepish smile. "Internet is the greatest out here."

"Well… Might as well do something." He said as he got up from the sofa and took the blankets off him. He then sat down on the middle of the floor, as Zara began setting up their first game of the day (If it was still day as the blizzard made it difficult to tell, with the low light.)

"I'll go and make some tea." Stated Chris as he left the room to do just that.

"So what the first game of the day?" John asked Zara.

"We're playing a favourite of mine, Monopoly." She said as the board game was laid out before them, and she started dealing out the money that was part of the game. He decided that she would probably be inexperienced in this sort of thing, and that would be a mean thing to do! So he decided that he would go easy for her.

.

.

… Maybe going easy on her wasn't the best plan… Not long after the game had started, she soon got the advantage over him, and him? Tragedy after Tragedy, he landed on the tax title and the places where there was property that were owned by her and so as a result of that she was able to make back what she spent on property through him paying the rent. Needless to say, it was a very quick game of Monopoly.

His confidence was not helped when they were playing another board game and shorty after they had finished their tea did Chris say. "She has not lost a game yet. She has beaten me, and all the other people we have rescued… Well those who wanted to play with her anyway. John now wondered how long his dignity would survive this torture…

This would feel like the longest days of his life.

Days went by with the blizzard showing no signs of lightening up. In this time the man they rescued was playing more board games with Zara, (as detrimental as it was to his ability in playing said board games) it did help to pass the time a lot quicker. That said he did not play board games the whole time during the blizzard not even Zara could play them for that long! Despite her win streak over him. On some days he spent his time relaxing either by sleeping or not doing anything. There was a piano too in the wooden lodge which he played occasionally and he sometimes got an audience too, whenever he played. It wasn't until a few days later (or a week or two it's hard to keep track of time where it's almost a near constant state of darkness) did the blizzard finally clear. Though while it had stopped snowing there was still a thick blanket of snow that lay covering the landscape which made it perilous to walk through. The two men decided to shovel the snow, well originally it was only going to be Chris, but John insisted that he help him. Chris was going to say that, that it was okay, but the one who they rescued wasn't taking no for an answer, they insisted that he repay them for letting him stay, for a few days.

He helped him clean the area that was just around the lodge, this area was inside that of a small white fence (Which he hadn't noticed at first) as the snow camouflage it, in a cold, icy, blanket. After that they then moved onto the roof, which had accumulated its own warm, insulated layer of snow. So they got on top of the roof with the help of a snow-drift up the side of the wooden lodge and shovelled it off (well… touch it a couple of times) and it slid off the roof and onto the area they just cleaned. As a result, they had to clean the area around the lodge again, but they were able to clear it more quickly as they knew the general area of the land that was in the white fence. When they were done they were treated to a nice cup of hot chocolate courtesy of Zara for the hard work that they did.

While the blizzard had subsided enough, so that it was now safe enough to travel through. The snow was still however relatively deep and could be concealing a number of hazards. One of these hazards could be snow covering thin ice over a lake, where the warming temperatures could be weakening the ice underneath the snow. The thin ice could break whenever pressure was put onto it, this could just simply be someone walking over the ice, (rare as this may be it's still entirely possible). So while the snow thawed, John stayed for a few more days. The people in the wooden lodge did not mind him staying longer, he viewed it as a bit of misfortune that the snow didn't melt quicker. Why? (You might ask) he was not being ungrateful in anyway; it was because he would end up playing more board games with Zara which did not help his confidence in the genre at all.

Finally, though, after a few more days the white snow, which had blanketed the landscape with an unforgiving cold, gave way to lush greenery and vibrant life that seem to have been cloaked by the snow. With John, he was getting prepared to return home, before someone reported him to the police that he was missing. He was currently being shown a map of the part of the forest he was in, as he was unsure of what area he was currently in. "You just head north from the lodge and you should come across a path. Take this path to the east and you should be out of the forest in no time." Chris said as he pointed to a map on the oak table in the dining room, to John.

"Oh I didn't know; I was that close to the path." He gave a laugh and nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Then again it is a bit hard to tell where you are, when everything looks the same and you can't see very far. Thank you very much for allowing me to stay here!" He said as he gave a slight bow. Chris just waved him off.

"Think nothing of it lad. As I have said it before we have the supplies to manage. It has become like a second role for us to do." He replied with a smile on his face. John smiled back.

"Will you come back and visit us at some point?" Zara asked looking up at him with her eyes full of hope and with a slight tinge of sadness in her voice, in case he didn't. John ruffled her hair with his hand, to which Zara groaned a bit at, as her nice and combed hair that she spent a while doing this morning to get perfect, was ruined.

"I will come back and visit, possibly bring back a gift too as a thank you" He replied happily. Chris laughed as he said, he didn't need to, but Zara was very happy at the possibility of seeing him again and very happy about the possible gift! It was hard to tell on what she was most excited about. John was provided with some more appropriate clothing for the current weather (The snow may have thawed, but it was still cold) He was given a better coat, gloves and a woolly hat. He started to move towards the door, with Chris and Zara following close behind. He opened the door and as almost if the door was an airlock, he felt a rush of cool refreshing air brush over him, a satisfying change from the air of the lodge that he came to normalise.

He took in the refreshing smell of the outside air which he had not smelt in a couple of days, it was almost hypnotic, such as the scent of flowers being blown by the wind. It was, to see now, a dynamic landscape rather than that of the repetitive wooden walls of the lodge. He then took his few steps outside; it was a bit strange to him. This is because when he first got to the area around the lodge it was covered in snow, which sunk and crunched under his foot and when he was in the lodge his feet were treated to a flat surface. Now instead of that flat surface, his feet, through his shoes were now met with unusual bumps and dips in the stone path. He took a look around the area and took in how different and lively it looked with no snow cloaking the life in it. He then proceeded to walk down the garden path to where there was a gap in the fence, he then turned around and looked again at the lodge.

Both the Chris and Zara were waving at him. "Goodbye! Hope you visit again soon! Zara yelled out to him. "Take care now! Don't get lost on the way out!" Chris called out to him. John laughed in response "Don't worry! I won't get lost, and don't worry Zara! I will come back!... And hopefully be better at board games." He whispered the last part. He then proceeded to walk north of the lodge, as he remembered the directions that he was given by Chris in the lodge.

He would soon find his way back home and be reunited with his friends and family.

The End

Bonus - Coda

During the night, a figure in winter clothing left the lodge quietly and made their way into the forest behind. They jumped over a fallen tree, navigated through thick undergrowth in the forest until they came across a clearing in the trees.

The figure slowly walked towards the centre of the clearing in which there was a large stone sticking out of the ground. The figure stopped just in front of the stone, and then went and sat down on the grass. "How have you been… Laura?" The figure said in a feminine tone to the stone marker in front of her. "It's been lovely back at the lodge. Sure it's been boring, but recently a lovely man was brought to the lodge." She smiles at the happy memories she has of it. "It was thanks to you, that he was able to make it to the lodge." She happily said. She started to shift through her cloak and takes out a few flowers. "I brought some of your favourite flowers with me today, daffodils! The only problem with these flowers is trying to get them in the first place! Since you can only find them once a year, and the snow didn't help either." She mumbled the last part there. She then takes a moment to compose herself and to pace herself. "But, that is why you liked them… The fact that you could only see them once a year and not all year round like other flowers, and also what they symbolise. They are the heralds of a wonderful new season, one that welcomes new life into the world and warmer temperatures. Gone is the season that brings bone-chilling temperatures and unrelenting cold that seeks more to end life, than give." She pauses and then thinks to herself 'It's funny that those two seasons are right next to each other, instead of being two…' She shrugs. 'But nature has its way of sorting things out.'

After having her philosophical thought, she got ready to leave the clearing, but then the wind started to pick up. The figure gripped her cloak tightly, so that it didn't come off in the strong gust of wind and so it could protect her from the cold that the wind brought with it. The wind caused the cloak's hood to fall down and revealed the figure's identity as Zara, as a result of losing her facial protection she put her arm over her face to shield it from the wind.
When the wind died down a white-furred creature stood over the stone marker, Zara took in the sight of the creature and shook her head from side to side. "You know; you don't have to make an entrance like that every time you appear Laura. It's kind of lost its meaning." Said Zara to the spectral form of Laura.

In response Laura just let out a small huff almost as if: 'what other way do you want me to arrive in? At least let me have some fun,'

"I don't mean it in a bad way." Zara quickly said after Laura's huff "It did scare me the first time." Laura lowered her head a bit in response. "But now it is very reassuring. As it lets me know that you are coming and that I have nothing to worry about." Zara happily said smiling, Laura smiled to and raised her head when she hears Zara's words. "I was about to say that, why the man we rescued didn't hear your wind? But then I realised he probably wouldn't have heard it, as in a blizzard there are already howling winds already." She laughed sheepishly to herself. Laura let out a laugh of her own and then went towards Zara and began brushing herself against Zara. Zara bean to stroke her fur. "I miss doing this." She said quietly and sunk her face into Laura's fur. "I missed this." Zara said again solemnly as she rubbed her hands over Laura's head. "Well yes, I am able to still do this. I miss being able to stroke your fur frequently." She thought for a bit "But that's what makes it so good to do this. "The fact that this doesn't happen much is what makes it more enjoyable to do, when I can do it." She said happily as she planted her face once again into Laura's fur. In response Laura let out a purr (or whatever noise an absol makes other than its name). They stayed like this for a few minutes longer, before Zara stood up. "I'm going to have to get back to the lodge, before papas starts wondering where I have gone." She says as she starts to walk back towards the tree-line. Laura looking sad understood that she needed to go. "Don't be sad Laura." The Absol in question perked up at that. "I can come back soon if you want me too." She offers a smile to Laura. Laura offered up her own smile and couldn't help, but run up to Zara and jumping on her and licking her face. "*Giggles* I love you too Laura." Zara said rubbing the top of Laura's head while being bombarded with licks all the while. She then set down the eager absol. "This is goodbye Laura, at least for a while." She quickly added on to avoid confusing Laura.

Laura nodded in response and the wind around the clearing began to pick up again. It soon turned from a gentle wind to a strong breeze and Zara's cloak's hood went over her eyes. When she reached up and pull the cloak back down from over her head, when she did the wind had settled down and Laura had disappeared. Zara shook her head, "Always the one to make a dramatic entrance, while being mysterious in how you, come and go." Zara smiles and let out a laugh.

As she turned and walked away into the tree-line, she thought to herself. 'Hopefully with the good work that she is doing, more people will be able to see absol's differently and be able to get rid of the disaster causing stigma that has haunted them for centuries.'

END