Outside, the snow was drifting quietly, no more howling or raging ice from before. Its pace was quiet now, like gentle angels drifting in the air until they finally rest upon the ground. They fell outside the large hospital room window, softly decorating the scene with the cold mist still pressed up against the door, the white slow framing it like a picture on the wall. Outside, the sky was steamy white, the town blanketed with cold white snow, decorating the houses from far away with a white, frosting like cover.
Inside, Derek sighed. His eyes were narrowed, his back against the bedpost, his arms crossed and one leg over the other flat on the bed. His head lay against the wall a few inches above the metal bedpost, his mind paying no attention to the dwelling snow outside. His tanned chest shirtless and covered with bandages and back with quick-healing ointment, he sat in the silent room, thinking about his new life. The slight buzzing of ceiling lights took over his hearing.
Being a Minor now will take lots of responsibility along with that power, he thought, raising one arm to his head's height, looking at his hand while imagining it doing all sorts of things. His fingers were curled up, no energy inside them.
Suddenly, disturbing his thoughts, there was a dead and heavy knock on the door. Derek looked past his hand, crossing both his arms against his chest again, and lifted his stare as he saw a nurse come in quickly and closing the door behind her. Derek gave her a stare as if asking her, "what?" with slanted dark eyebrows. He sat there, arms crossed, just looking at her.
Out of nervousness from the look he was giving her, she cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she pleaded in her quick voice.
"What?" he asked her for real this time, looking tough with his athletic built body and fearless look in his eyes. He watched the panic grow in the nurse's brown eyes, somewhat wondering what was she worried so much about.
"The doctor told me to come here, and stay in this room for the time being until further notice," she told him, turning back to the room's door and locking it tightly, peering out the glass window pane to see if anyone was outside.
"Why?" Derek asked her, unmoving from his relaxed position on the bed. "It's not like I can walk away anyway," taking his dark glance away from her, becoming uninterested in staring at one thing too long.
"That's what the doctor said," she repeated, not answering the question. Derek sighed and peered outside from his position on the bed as he heard the nurse pace to the room's closet and started sorting things out. The snow silently zigzagged outside from the thin hospital window, every little speck of white hiding their own little secret, keeping it until they fell down and joined the others. What's the secret you so desperately try to hide? He wondered, continuing to look out the window the best he could, wondering just what was going on with the nurse and the hospital. But all he could do was sit there, helpless to walk and unable to find out.
PoVS
Shunokara reflected another hit from Glory with his bony forearm shield, the "thorns" still growing by the second, the reflected attack making a clash noise of metal against the pale bones while sparks flew from screeching. The doctor reflected another strike as it came towards him from the right with his arm, making more noise and sparks.
The limited space of the hallway was suffocating as Glory came right at Shunokara and flew his dagger to his direction, aiming for where the doctor's head was. It missed Shunokara, though, as the intellectual doctor ducked out of the way, the attack only cutting the ends of his all ready short ponytail.
The doctor countered as he saw a chance and jammed his elbow right into Glory's ribs, sharpening his elbow under his skin, making the hurt extra painful. Glory cried out in agony and coughed out a splotch of blood on the squeaky floor tiles. Standing right in front of the experienced doctor, he smeared a streak of blood from his lips with his mummy like sleeve, giving the same cold stare the doctor did right back at him.
While Glory took only a few seconds to let the pain die out in his ribs, Shunokara hits Glory across the face with the thorn-boned arm, the impact on Glory's jaw so hard that it made him spit liquid saliva into the air, and collapse to the right as the liquid landed onto the white tiles as a pool right next to the smeared splotch of blood on the floor.
Glory tried stumbling back on his feet, his body thrusting back and forth, his hair following the same motion. He attempted to strike the doctor again but fails with the thorny arm shield in the way, making more bright sparks due to friction.
The doctor countered his attack with a punch from the thorny arm, knocking Glory back all the way to the other end of the hallway, which was also a dead end. His collision against the plaster-paved wall crashed with a horrid rumble, dust spilling out from the large hole and big chunks of the wall laying on the floor in front of the scene. Glory stumbled onto his feet again, moving chunks of plaster out of his way so he could get up.
The doctor, back at the beginning of the hallway still had his arm in position of his punch, the thorns eventually stopping to grow, and falling back limply to the doctor's side. "Give up yet?" the doctor asked, the sound of bones cracking as the pale thorns sunk slowly back into his body, echoing off the walls
"Not yet," came his reply. Glory stood on his feet, holding his right arm dagger down. Soon, it began to glow with an ominous purple light, the bright energy glowing off the walls. Glory took a step forward, disappearing as if into thin air, then reappeared right in front of Shunokara, thrusting the glowing dagger forward.
Again the doctor ducked, this time his gray-white ponytail safe, and continued to dodge the dangerous dagger with jumps from the left to the right and the right to the left. Despite Glory's unpredictable attack speed, Shunokara made him miss every single one of his attacks.
Glory made a final strike as Shunokara faded from his sight with unpredicted speed. Glory followed and did the same, disappearing like the dust. So fast that you couldn't see a thing, they came at each other from opposite sides, striking each other in the air with a dagger of purple energy and a long, thin, thorn like bone protruding from the palms of your hand, the two forces meeting in the middle of the hallway. The clash of the two attacks together provided momentarily flashes that could've given you a seizure.
The attacks just kept coming at each other from different ends, until finally Shunokara reappeared, then disappeared, going up the stairs that were unveiled behind the broken wall. Glory followed. Going from the first floor to the second, climbing the gray and cement stairs with amazing speed, Shunokara had a brilliant plan that hopefully would work.
PoVS
Rick had offered to take on the guy who called himself Minoshi, despite the lack of Minor power in him. Dylan, Marissa, and Jeremy ran off with the girl named Kontora on their trail, separating themselves into two groups. If you could call Rick a group.
Rick was totally surrounded by thick smoke, the ashy cloud not even letting in the least bit of snow in. The black fog circled him, clouding his handsome golden yellow eyes. He looked around in perception, watching for Minoshi. That guy was dangerous.
Minoshi suddenly jumped out from the thick cloud of ash and smoke he created, attempting to scissor cut Rick's neck with his short metal twin blades, clawing smoke trying to reach out to him as he jumped out.
Minoshi missed his attack, Rick bending backward, and trying to counter kick him. His upward kick was blocked, and Minoshi took Rick by his leg and swung him through the cloudy smoke and out to the cold snow outside. Specks of white frost ate at his face, slowly weaving a blanket around him.
As he tried to get back up on his feet, the black clouds shifted and moved, acting like it had a mind of its own, all of it going behind Minoshi, revealing his place in the situation, looking as mean as ever with that cigarette limp in between his ironically white teeth, his natural white hair spread out to the sides.
"What's the matter? Can't get back up?" he provoked in a "I'm better than you" manner. Rick scoffed as he stood on his feet, tall and proud again.
The clouds of smoke and ash swept back into the two short metal blades Minoshi held, as if the swords were vacuuming it all up like a cyclone. Soon, the clouds were gone and all that was left was Minoshi's cold stare and scary appearance.
Minoshi, big and tall for only nineteen years old, was a tough looking guy with a biker jacket and only a tank top underwear underneath, showing that he didn't care to wear much, as if he was too tough to do that. His jeans were long, black, and faded, a chain shaped like a semicircle revealed from under his leather biker jacket. His shoulders broad and chest proud, the cigarette in his mouth letting out a stream of cigarette smoke into the air, he seemed like a twenty-six year old adult.
He looked at Rick with his lazy stare, swinging his two metal blades that were so thin, they looked like plastic in the air, waving them frantically as more clouds of suffocating ash and dust spread out from them, enveloping his identity.
Why does he keep using that ash to hide himself? Rick asked himself as he got into position. Those lessons of the Tai arts really went to waste, didn't they? Rick held up his fist and held it tightly, noticing his arm was bleeding. "What?" he asked in surprise, his eyes widening and pupil shrinking in half. I don't remember getting hit or cut on my arm, he thought.
"What's wrong? Are you stalling like some little kid?" Minoshi's voice mocked through the cloud of smoke.
"You're the one hiding behind the dust like a little kid," Rick told him, taking his mind off the bloody arm, staring hard into the smoke.
"You don't get it do you?" Minoshi said, coming out from the smoke, the cigarette held in his mouth almost dead, a hint of red bright light at the other end of it where the smoke was coming from. "My sword dust is more than just a defense to cloud your sight," he told me, the cigarette in his mouth moving up and down as he spoke his words, continuing to pollute the air with the tobacco smoke.
"What do you mean?" Rick asked, confused. Rick shifted his feet in the snow as he sensed Minoshi was about to do something. Then, he noticed something. Both his arms were bloody. Actually, his chest and neck and his right cheek was beginning to spill blood too. Just what was going on here?
"You'll find out soon enough," Minoshi said, sending an evil smile in Rick's direction, the cloud of smoke growing behind him large enough to suffocate ten people. The drifting snowfall was so cold and calm, for some reason, Rick wished for the pouring hail again.
The cloud of smoke began to circle Minoshi; hiding his presence again as the cloud blanket began to drift in Rick's direction. Great. What the hell am I going to do now? Rick thought helplessly, unable to think of anything.
PoVS
The snow flew wildly at Eric; whacking him like the ground itself was throwing snowballs at him. Each and every attempt made impact against his chest, the snow flying from every direction thought possible. Eric was the stranger in the way. Walter and him had introduced themselves before the battle had started.
"Had enough?" Walter asked him, smirking and ready to hit him with more snow. This guy doesn't look as tough as he was back there, Walter thought. He had even gotten his hood down and seen his face. Eric wore a red bandanna, and had spikes of brown hair revealed underneath the edges of it, his eyes were kind of oval, his pupils and stare mean and protective. His body type just as tall and strong as Minoshi's he looked like he could really break a cement floor into bits and pieces with one punch. His face was long, and he was trying to dodge each and every snow wave I sent at him, sort of resisting to fight back.
He didn't reply. He just asked, "So you can control the snow?" He stared at Walter coldly, like he had done him wrong.
"The snow isn't what I control. I do something so much better than that. And you'll find out soon enough," Walter said proudly, gathering more snow from the ground and into the air to a concentrated area, creating a large wave of it ready to be flung.
Eric shifted his feet, as if getting ready.
Walter sent the wave of crashing snow wildly into Eric, sure that he wouldn't survive the attack. The snow clawed and ate at him, burying him under the cold white blanket. That was way too easy, Walter thought. He can't be dead yet.
And Walter was right. Soon after his burying, there was a huge and sudden explosion. It came from where he was under the thick snow, blowing chunks of snow everywhere and sending large puffy flames into the air, the huge puffs of the explosion beaming bright red and painting its color onto the snow and on my face. The result wind of the explosion was so high, I almost got knocked back, my clothes fluttering wildly as I squinted to protect my eyes but still trying to be able to see something in the explosion.
I felt hot air wash against my face as streaks of fire circled the large explosion diameter, the raging flames not reaching my direction. The actual flames went up in the sky so high, it looked like it made the sky stop shedding snowflakes to the ground.
Slowly the flames cooled down, revealing a huge hole in the ground without snow, hot steam rising from the hole's edges, creating a cloud of white blanketed around Eric, who didn't seem to be harmed at all. Beneath the steamy shield, Walter saw Eric give me the coldest stare he's ever seen. The hole released hot water vapor into the air, melting the currently falling snow even before it reached the ground.
"How about that?" he asked, cracking his knuckles loudly, his expression unchanging from unenthusiastic.
Walter scoffed. He didn't reply and thought he might show Eric a little something. Walter peered up to see more and more water vapor spill into the sky above, out of reach like a flying eagle. Slowly, he began molding the water vapor, condensing it in the sky and churning it, making a twisting spiral of water.
The rushing of water was heard as the spiral crashed down onto Eric, surrounding him in nothing but liquid. The middle part of the water began to rise, still twisting, creating a water cyclone, a whirlpool that Eric found himself trapped in.
The tornado like water spun wildly, reaching out to the sky, its transparency blurring. In a bubbling voice, I heard Eric take in a deep breath, and when he exhaled, it was another string of fire. He sent the hissing flames up to the cyclone's inside tip, the two canceling each other out in a wild pattern, releasing even more water vapor in the air, which was unable for me to condense; it was too far out of reach.
The spinning of the waters and churning of the rushing was so intense it even began to take in the air around it, spinning it like a wheel as well, my hair and clothes shifting to the left due to the tornado's clockwise rotation.
Eric continued to breathe out the streaks of weak fire, his cheeks still full of air to exhale, he and Walter both knowing that it wouldn't work at this rate. So Eric decided to let it all out, breathing like a huge flamethrower like a gasp. The roaring flames screamed and hissed as it traversed to the top of the cyclone, puffs of flames popping in the air like a crazy beast like popcorn did when it was in a microwave. The shrieking fires' bright light blurred through the cyclone, but still managed to spill once again on the blue-white snow and my face and eyes, glittering my stare.
Walter pressurized the water, making a better defense, but it was too hard. Slowly, from the top, the water began to dissolve and evaporate, becoming weaker by the second. The flames soon stopped coming from Eric's breath, and the twisting water began to sink down in the air, with no more energy to churn, no more wind to turn, and no more water to burn. The liquid died out, still trying to twist as hard as it could, but in the end, it just became a pool of water on the floor, allowing more snow to fall. The bright redness of the screeching heat dissolved, returning the original colors back to everything like a finally caught robber.
"So it's the water you control," he finally realized, still standing in his place in the huge hole he had created with the earlier explosion. His clothes were sopping wet, the colors' tones all darkened and heavy.
"Yeah, you got it," Walter told him, both Eric and Walter giving each other mean glares.
PoVS
"I still think it's disgusting how you just took out all of her available energy like that," Marissa told me as we ran through the drifting snowy weather, leaving our footprints behind to help Rick out in case he needed it.
"Listen, you're going to have to deal with lots more stuff than my Ingrain skill from now on, okay?" Dylan told her, running frantically through the snow, breathing hard and letting out a stream of breath swim in the air, his speed even faster than usual thanks to the energy absorbed from that Kontora girl, making hard for Marissa and Jeremy to catch up.
"Guys we have trouble," Jeremy said, not giving Marissa a chance to reply to what Dylan told her. His notice was sudden. Dylan wondered what it could be.
"What kind of trouble?" Marissa asked almost immediately, running side by side with Dylan, who also was listening hard to what Jeremy had to say. They ran against the cold air, running as fast as they could.
"Look," Jeremy replied, stopping in his tracks on the snow, holding up his golden locket that showed the twelve piece pie chart, his expression dim and saddened. He held it as steady as he could, trying not to go into a state of hysterical panic.
"What?" Dylan said, stopping a few feet away from Jeremy, also stopping in his tracks in the cold, white blanket of snow. No one had to answer the question for him. Right after Dylan and Marissa had turned to look at the locket, they all ready knew they were in even more trouble and panic. Depicted on the pie chart, were two different pieces from Rick's and Marissa's Minor piece, glowing brightly and blinking intensely, one shining red and one shining blue.
"We… have to get out of here fast," Dylan said, stating the obvious as they began running with even more speed than before to Rick, kicking the snow with every footstep in every direction thought possible.
PoVS
Yes, almost finished, the cloaked man thought in the darkness of the privacy in his room. He sat silently in the small area that was totally covered with bacterial sewer water. He sat in the waters, his waist down dipping into the cold liquid. Calming Process eighty-seven percent complete, he thought as he felt his body return to a normal state, the energy of the new skill he had gained growing weak and stopping to resist the process.
Once I'm done, I'll go after Walter. He'll be my first taste of Half-Spirit, the white hooded man said, cackling evilly in his mind, and half his mind drifting away in meditation. The dim waters he was in gave no room for sight, but he didn't need it. He would find away out of there. And he couldn't wait.