Hi there! Just here to show you a new story that just popped into my head for T.O.M.E.: Terrain of Magical Expertise!
Before you read, I'd love for you to understand that in this story, I'm trying to practice writing with an annoying little habit I have- that problem is that I put in too much dialogue and not enough descriptive language to add up.
Besides, all of us T.O.M.E. fans know that we don't have nearly enough fics on here to suffice!
So I might as well knock out two birds with one stone!
***(Third T.O.M.E. fic ever here, by the way. Whoop whoop!)***
Hope you enjoy!
Feathery snow spiraled down from every corner of the sky. Though the clouds were dully dun, much life was about on the bustling streets below. Warm lights glowed from most windows of tightly-packed buildings and all surrounding streetlights in the area. Even though it was only around five 'o clock, the sun was starting to set, and soon after it did, all that would remain behind the clouds above would be a sky as black as the slick ice lining the walkways.
People in thick, bright jackets shuffled to and fro along any passageway that they could manage. Few would stumble and grab at something to break their fall due to their lack of caution. Others would chatter enthusiastically, cheeks red and merry. Some children would hurriedly stomp into some watery slush before hurrying along after their parents. The endless resonating sound of voices echoed off of one another. If one were to step into that commotion, their ears would be ringing in no time at all.
Though amongst all of the noisy jabbering, one stood alone, calmly taking her time within the swarm of the rushing figures. Unlike them, she appeared to have plenty of time on her hands- some even to burn. Leisurely strolling her way around, occasionally weaving around those in her path. Strands of her long, brown hair seemed to be somewhat frozen at the ends, but otherwise healthy. Only a couple of her locks were visible since the rest were tucked under a burning red knit hat. Her jacket was a slick black like the ice she walked upon, and her boots almost always gripped at the ice successfully. The mucky flattened flurries crunched under her feet.
Passing by some of the final shops on the street that ended in the general area of her relative's, she decided to look into the shop windows. Salt was sprinkled around the outside, so less of the brutally icy pavement that surrounded most of the area. Her boots crunched over the salted walkway as she approached a display for a hobby shop. When peering inside, she saw a tall mannequin equipped with some seemingly practical snowgear. A lot of it looked like just novelty appearance accessories, but what was helpful was accented and presented itself to be helpful for anyone in the area at the moment. Of course, she wasn't always around especially cold winter seasons, so she wasn't accustomed to everything just yet. Heck, everything she gave a mere glimpse at seemed of use to her.
I've got about another week here, so should I go for it? she asked herself. She took a closer look at the showcased clothing and snowshoes, sharp eyes flickering up and down a few times before shaking her head, Well, this sure would've been useful about three weeks ago when that huge snowstorm hit, but the weather seems to be calmer now... If I were to buy this, my cousins would probably say "You really are new to this whole 'snow' thing, aren't you, Stephanie?"
Wishing to evade further teasing from her two relatives, she decisively pivoted on the dark cement and walked away, declining the showy layout's offer, and promptly elbowed her way back into the astonishingly large horde of shoppers. After regaining a place in line, she slowed her pace to a casual walk like before.
However, for one reason or another, the crowd began to slow. Some sort of traffic seemed to be up ahead. She let out a sigh that sent a puff of steam floating upward. Whatever the holdup was, she hoped that it'd soon end.
And end soon it would.
A shout of annoyance sounded from the head of the traffic and the girl saw a couple of people leap backward, out of the path of a young man making a mad dash upstream of their path. The uproar of the bystanders grew louder and louder still as the rouge youth continued his charge.
What's the rush?
Blinking, she took a second look at the flood of people. Stephanie's eyes widened, startled, when she saw the blue-coated runner coming her way with no sign of stopping. He was approaching fast, hurtling down the street with some sort of urgency.
"Watch it!" growled a stout woman in exasperation, who was only standing a small distance 30 feet away. Stumbling too much to pay attention, he didn't apologize. He seemed to be advancing at a much faster speed than both she and himself originally anticipated.
At 20 feet, he came into clearer in her sight, squeezing his red-haired head through a group of four in a less than graceful way. He flailed his arms that had three grocery bags hanging on each before regaining as much of his balance he could. Still leaning dangerously forward, he desperately tried to regain his footing.
10 feet, he gave a violent lunge forward, making his grocery bags rustle noisily. He inhaled sharply in shock and gave a wild glance at Stephanie before giving a (much) delayed warning.
"Look out!"
Attempting to dodge the flailing arms of the falling person, she took a number of quick steps back. It was to no avail, however, and with him Stephanie, too, was sent tumbling down to the ground from their collision. She let out a gasp of shock and the sound of shattered glass echoed all throughout the small clearing in between the countless thundering of footsteps. The youth, who looked about Stephanie's age, gave a grunt of pain and pulled himself to a sitting position as soon as he seemingly could. Cradling his left hand, he shakily got to his feet, only lifting up half of the bags he had dropped from the crash. They all looked misshapen and lumpy after having so much weight crashing onto them, but hopefully he'd be able to salvage the items of importance. She, too lifted herself to a sitting position, and began to try to catch her breath that she had lost upon impact.
"I'm so sorry!" the stranger cried immediately, offering his hand to Stephanie, cheeks red from both the cold and embarrassment. She looked up at him for a second before clasping his hand with her own and was pulled to her feet. Hurriedly finding a good was to stand on the traction-lacking ground, she brushed some wet slush off of her not-so-waterproof pants the best she could.
"I-it's fine," she scrambled, still flustered from the fall, "Really."
"Are you sure?" he asked, "That was a pretty hard fall..." The bumbling and mumbling crowd soon parted and walked around the two, as if some force parted the waves of the sea. It allowed them a small clearing, but if the discord of it all were to increase as the hours passed, their space would soon be gone.
"No, I'm good, just banged up my wrists a little." she reassured, rubbing one of her hands for slight emphasis, "How about you?"
"I think I'm okay, too," he replied. However, he seemed to be either wrong about his own welfare, or straight-up lying. She could clearly see some red droplets dripping freely from his hand that he'd stashed behind his back.
"Your hand," she said pointedly, looking up at him, "What's wrong with your hand?"
Swinging his hand in front of his face for closer inspection, both he and Stephanie saw a thumb-sized of jagged glass stabbed into the palm of his hand, creating a small reservoir of blood to pool around the base of it. The young man's blue eyes widened slightly, showing that he was a bit surprised, but not really. He lowered it back to his side before answering.
"It was my own fault," he answered, shrugging his shoulders.
"It still looks like it hurts." she commented, taking a closer look at it.
"Yeah, well..." he shrugged his shoulders and gingerly tapped at the shard with his good hand's index finger. He gave a wince and jerked his arm away from his other hand instinctively. Since, unluckily enough, he seemed to have hurt his dominate hand, he undexterously grabbed a bag from the ground and slung it onto his shoulder. The thin skin of the plastic bags seemed as fragile as butterfly wings, and any other sudden movements would probably result them splitting open. He seemed to have taken notice of it, too.
"I-if you wouldn't mind," he started shyly, shaking his arm a bit more to nudge the bag to a better spot on his shoulder, "Could you give me a hand here?"
"Sure!" she answered, carefully bending over as to not slip on the sidewalk again. Daintily gripping at the handles of the two white sacks with gloved hands, she hoisted them up and handed him the bags.
"So, why aren't you driving these back to wherever you're going?" she asked casually.
"My mom's car stopped working, so here I am," he answered, heaving the groceries onto his shoulder like the previous one.
"Seems to be happening a lot around here, lately," she commented. The car back at her relatives' place quit working, too.
"The cold, am I right?" he chuckled weakly. Stephanie politely grinned and nodded. Though, taking a second look at the stranger's hand, her demeanor changed and she became more serious.
"Are you sure that you don't want to get that glass out of your hand?" she questioned bluntly, crossing her fingers that he wouldn't find out that she was disturbed by her concern over it. She leaned over again to clutch at another elastic bag.
"I'm sure," he answered, "Besides, I can get it out when I'm at home."
"If you say so..." she murmured, handing him another bag. Silently, she continued to pick her was through the remaining bags. One, of which, was leaking a pale yellow-green liquid that smelled strongly of vinegar. It appeared to be pickle juice.
"Hey, what was the hurry, anyway?" she inquired, rising an eyebrow questioningly.
"Oh, uh, it was nothing, really," he replied, rubbing the back of his red-haired head with his good hand.
"It didn't look like nothing," she huffed in annoyance. Had he really no reason for barging into her?
"Okay, not nothing per say," he scrambled, "It's just that, some friends of mine and I are going to do this 'Guys' Night' thing later, and I don't want to be late for it."
"You must be running late, seeing how fast you were running on this ice." she commented, stringing yet another bag onto his arm once he outstretched it again.
"Yeah... Sorry about that."
A moment of uncomfortable silence filled the air. Only the rumble and roar of those rushing past them could be heard now. Stephanie cleared her throat.
"So, uh, what should I do with this last one?" she inquired, pointing a red-gloved finger at the soaking wet bag with several holes in it. Truly the ugly duckling of the grocery bags, but it wasn't like any of them were a sight in the first place.
"I'll just toss it when I find a garbage can," he replied, absentmindedly reaching down to grab the leaking bag with his bad hand. When the plastic loops of the handles gripped onto the protruding glass in his hand, he hissed in pain and pulled it back hurriedly. More red beads began to stream more prominently from the cut.
"Are you alright?" Stephanie asked hurriedly. The he nodded rapidly, flailing his stinging hand wildly. His eyes were squinted shut, and the shopping bags he adorned were going in every possible direction.
"It doesn't look like it..." she replied to his silent answer. For a second, she reached for the last bag on the pavement, and then stopped, and looked back up at the stranger. She couldn't put her finger on why, exactly, but she felt a deep need to help him. The look of pain lighting on his face seemed familiar... too familiar for somebody she'd never met. It was almost like he was someone she knew from another life...
On impulse, she approached the young man and grabbed onto his right wrist. His blue eyes made intense contact with her's, but only for a moment, before she yanked the jagged piece from his hand. The skin made a (nearly inaudible) tearing noise as the toothed glass left the body. The familiar stranger's cry was louder than the rest, but lowered into nothing once the deed was done. The stream on his hand had become a river, and half of the clear shard from the shattered jar was tinted red.
She promptly discarded it onto the ground where feet would soon trample it as soon as they'd leave.
"Th-thanks," said the stranger, regaining his composure, pressing a hand over his wound.
"It was no problem, really." she told him, waving a hand casually. Handing the dripping garbage to its owner, Stephanie stood there for a moment in her own silence. Once the bag was handed off, the youth returned her quizzical stare.
He opened his mouth, but then closed it.
"Y-you should be going," she told him, "You don't want to hold up those friends of yours..."
"Oh, yeah, right..." he mumbled, breaking his own train of thought. Shaking his head, he began to shove some of his groceries back onto his shoulders. Stephanie began to turn back towards the ocean of the crowd, readying herself to fight her way back in.
"Wait!" She turned around, looking back at the familiar-stranger.
"Again, thank you," he said quietly, almost being drowned out by the swarming crowd of colorful-coated people, "You were a lot of help."
"Don't worry about it," she reassured him with a smile.
The two looked at each other one last time with mirrored expressions. Both people, of which, seeming to experience some form of deja vu. Neither had an explanation within those few seconds, so the young man gave a final grin and made his way back into the storm of people. However, before disappearing entirely, he gave her a wave of good bye with his cut hand.
Stephanie gave him the same wave back.
Yeah, yeah, I know that this was a bit cliche, but SOMEONE had to do it!
Oh, and I hope that my 500 word introduction wasn't as painful as I thought it was. It took a little while to get to the "real" story, I acknowledge that, but I'm also trying to practice my setup skills and pacing while simultaneously explaining that Flamegirl doesn't live in the area.
(Also, if it turns out that Alpha lives in a not-so-cold place and that's been made obvious within the canon at the time you're reading this, look at the date that I wrote this! Not even Episode 9 was out yet, so give me a break!)
Review if you want to! I'd really appreciate it!