Arc 1 – Some Spirits Walk, Others Fly
Episode 2

X786
Winter

Spirit Walker

Riley was having an awfully good dream about the largest breakfast he'd ever seen. Warm, gooey maple syrup dripping off the edge of a stack of pancakes twice his height. The steam and sweet, sweet scent of the Master's hot cocoa…

He sighed happily, and as he was deciding whether to tackle the mile long bacon or the planet-sized apple first, a shiver went up his spine. He thought nothing of it, as the warmth of a hot sugary drink would be sure to chase away any of the winter's chills.

But his peace was further shaken as the steam from the mug was chased away by a sharp breeze, cold fingers travelling up his spine as a voice whispered, breathing into his ear…

Riley would later deny the shriek as he jumped, skull cracking roughly against the roof. Groaning, he rolled over as he reached for the budding bruise, he went over too far, and in his panic brought the pillow down with him as he hit the floor. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly act as a cushion, and he lay there for several minutes, blue eyes screwed shut, remembering how to breathe.

After the pain subsided, he realized that it was freezing. And, unfortunately, he knew exactly why.

He was only wearing a white shirt and black sweats, having been sleeping a moment ago—he was going to get the jerk back for that—and only bothered to throw on his white jacket with a cozy black fur lining, stuffing his feet into a pair of black boots before opening the door to his room.

A blast of cold wind greeted him, and he pulled the jacket tighter around himself. Snow was already starting to find its home on the once-warm floors, more flying down through the hall, getting caught in his lilac-colored hair until he shook them out.

Riley shuffled slowly against the wind, turned the corner at the end, and—as he'd guessed it—found Spirit sitting by the doorway, wrapped up in his cloak, his beaten up old staff laid neat across his shoulders. He'd be lying if he said the youngest Hugues didn't freak him out sometimes, but when he used his magic for petty things like this, Riley found it hard to be intimidated. Scraped lightly into the wood was some curly line trapped in a perfect circle.

Riley's brow twitched. After four years, he'd learned some of the runes Soul Speak magic used, even if he couldn't learn the magic himself. Particularly the ones Spirit used to annoy the rest of them. He used his boot to scuff the lines, and abruptly the wind buffeting him dropped to a light breeze, which he fully cut off by shutting the doors. Spirit scowled up at him. Riley returned the favor.

"You know I hate it when you do that."

"And you know I hate it when your 'friends' creep into my dreams." They kept up that staring contest only a few moments longer before the resident S-Class mage sighed, dropping the irritated façade. "Well, I'm up now, so I might as well get some food." He yawned.

"You should change first." Riley smiled despite himself at the advice. "I made pancakes."

X786
Winter(?)

Cosmos City

Cosmos City was a warm, sunny, beachside resort filled with rich merchants, rich residents, and filthy rich tourists. The entirety of the place was enough to give her a headache.

Despite the wintry season, the locals were running around in shorts and swimsuits, and—having already gotten used to the snow and the brisk wind of the mountains—Sophie found herself sweating.

Beside her, a three-tailed kitsune shook out her white fur, blue eyes turning up to Sophie. "It's a little too hot for winter, isn't it Miwa?"

The kitsune—Miwa—shook her head. "Try having a winter coat."

Sophie led the way into town, eyes squinting against the abnormally large sun. There definitely was something not quite right about the place.

She didn't have to go far before an older man dressed in the heaviest winter cloak she had seen came waddling towards her. His mustache quivered atop a moth-eaten scarf when he spoke.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness! You must be the mage I requested, yes? My name is Albertus Rynold Quiterknacker, but you may just call me Mayor Q."

Sophie decided not to comment on his choice of dress. "Sophie Nightgrass."

Quiterknacker grabbed her hand, shaking it with sweaty, yet clammy hands. He hesitated, dropping her hand quickly as his face went a little slack with some realization. "And uh… You are from Spirit Walker, yes? If you wouldn't mind, could I just see your guild mark?" He smiled, probably trying to look pleasant, but it just caused his mustache to lift even higher on his face.

She rolled up the sleeve on her right arm, showing him the light blue footprints and trying to ignore the way his eyes kept flicking to her eyepatch. He nodded, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, and began ushering her away from the city center and the bustling crowds.

"I've got a problem, as I'm sure you've already heard, you see," his hands waved in the air as he spoke, not even bothering to watch where he was walking. (Not that there seemed to be a need; everyone parted around him.) "The entire town, see, is hot. Now, it's not unusual for us to have warm weather, as we are a seaside town, and it's what our tourists come for, of course, but this is abnormally warm, even for us."

For some reason, Mayor Quiterknacker's voice was really grating on her nerves.

"Have you thought of global warming?" Really, if she came all the way out here for this…

The Mayor pulled on his fingers; it appeared to be a nervous habit. "That's what I thought, at first, but… Well… You had better take a look for yourself."

Sophie wished she'd let someone else take the job.

X786
Winter

Spirit Walker

When Riley finally entered the main room, dressed properly in that sleeveless blue V-Neck of his and black pants and boots—with the added addition of his white jacket against the cold air—Shekinah clapped her hands delightedly.

Compared to the annoyance of being woken up (rather rudely) before, he seemed back to his usual self, smiling and waving casually to the other Guild members in the room with a bandaged left arm; a silver skull ring glinted in the warm light. A few waved back, while some—like Lola—ostensibly ignored him.

Seated at the bar and waving back, on the other hand, was another in a white jacket, baggy black pants and boots. Unlike Riley, however, the shackles and bracelets jangled on his wrist as it moved, the notable lack of a shirt visible from underneath the unzipped jacket. Next to him sat Spirit, drawing and erasing symbols on the ground with his staff absentmindedly.

Riley headed their direction, though his eyes were already straying towards the kitchen. Despite not even glancing at him, Spirit seemed to know what he was looking for.

"I set the extra pancakes in the fridge. The bacon was gone by the time I got back though."

Riley shrugged. "Thanks for trying though. But how about you, Grim? How was that job?"

Magnus Grimoire shrugged, his long, spiky white hair shifting along his back and shoulders to accommodate. The small scar on his lip warped as the right corner curled into a wry half-smile. "You know, the usual. I faked a ghost chase through their backyard."

A raised brow. "You didn't take July with you this time?"

Magnus' half-smile turned into a full one, looking almost more amused than usual. "Who needs July when you've got copy magic?"

Spirit frowned from where he sat. "Doing things like that are why you get spirits hanging off your shoulders."

Riley grimaced at the thought, though Magnus seemed unbothered. He used to think things like that were just jokes or pranks, until he caught the Guild Master talking to one. Which would've been fine, but apparently spirits were disgusting.

The bark of a fox joined in on the conversation, and a small ball of pale blue fluff made a nest of Magnus' hair. Brown eyes and large ears perked up as a hand reached up and scratched its small body. A small horn of ruby shook with the movement. "Hey, Carbuncle. How was breakfast?" The fennec fox yipped in reply, and both Magnus and Spirit chuckled. Riley looked between the two of them, completely lost.

"Don't bother," a girl's voice huffed from nearby. Lola Vermillion pushed a strand of her long curly hair behind her ear, this one snowy white. Neon green mixed with the white as her hair cascaded over a white hooded parka—her winter coat, with neon green fur keeping her warm inside—black fleece leggings tucked into white mid-calf snow boots crossed at the knee. The neon green fur at the top of the boot tickled at the fleece. Her woolen gloves and neon green earmuffs were set neatly atop her white scarf, its metallic thread shining in the bright light. It was too warm in the building for even the coat, for most members, but the moment one stepped outside, it was welcome.

She adjusted the white beanie atop her head, neon green ski-goggles set atop it, just shy of squishing the hat's neon puff ball. A snowy eye with a grey pupil looked at them sharply for a moment before turning back to the dish of shakshuka. She likely made it.

Lola may have been hot, (though, let's be honest, most of the guild members were) but her personality left something to be desired most of the time.

"This Guild is a meeting place for a bunch of freaks." Riley sighed. They'd all been waiting for that one.

"Doesn't that make you one of us freaks?" Lola turned around fully, her heterochromatic eyes—her right was a neon green color and, like her left, the pupil was simply a darker shade—sharp and moody as they bore holes into Magnus' skull.

Magnus smiled a little wider, but didn't defend himself as a magic circle appeared briefly before Lola's outstretched hand. "Electromagnetic Grip."

Riley cringed as his friend flew into a table. Spirit just sighed. The Neon Terror threw someone into a wall or a table at least once a day. (Mr. Wolfrider even sent in money once a month to help cover the costs of all the replacements.)

"Don't you know how to respect your elders?" Almond color eyes glowered at the other woman in the room, and Lola glared back.

Spirit shifted from the bar stool he sat at. "Erie, can you not start a fight, please? I think yesterday was enough."

Neither listened to him, and Riley chuckled, taking Magnus' seat at the bar. "Just give it up, Spirit. They hate each other too much to stop fighting. Even if they did, they like fighting too much to stop hating each other."

"Well, I find it endearing! They are full of energy, are they not?" The two turned to Shekinah, who had been content to remain quiet until then. "But I'm going to need a few of you to run on down to town for supplies, so they're going to have to stop."

Magnus, rubbing a nasty bump on the back of his head but otherwise unharmed, smiled at her. "What do you need?"

"Reliable as always, Magnus." She handed him a small piece of paper. He skimmed over it, nodding to himself, pausing only once.

"Quartz?" Both he and Spirit turned to Shekinah with raised brows. She warded off their questions with a smile.

"From the mountain. You can get it later in the day, when the sun's high." Magnus shrugged to himself, though Spirit continued to stare at her with a perturbed expression.

"Right, then… Erie, can you come with me? And can you go and grab Jack? If he's not doing anything he can come help as well."

"Sure, Grim-boss!" She sent Lola one last glare before heading back to the dorms. If they couldn't find him during the day, it was where he usually was.

Magnus rolled his eyes at the nickname, but he still sported a wry smile. The others usually didn't question him when he started making requests or commands; it was one of the perks of being a senior member—both in age and years of membership.

He turned and nodded to Shekinah. "We'll be back, Master. Let's go, Carbuncle." The fennec fox, which had leapt out of Lola's temper the moment Magnus opened his mouth, made himself comfortable on his partner's shoulder.

"Get me another bracelet?" Spirit grinned, and the shirtless mage ruffled the dark hair roughly enough to nearly knock Spirit off the stool. The shackles and bracelets on Magnus' wrist jingled.

"Very funny kid."

"We're only a year apart, old man."

Magnus made a face.

Shaksuka is a Middle Eastern dish that's essentially eggs poached in tomato sauce with some heat thrown in. If you like spicy stuff, you should check it out. ^^

This would've been out yesterday, but I had to go cry over Spider-Man: Homecoming. I was out of the country, so I only just got to see it. *^* And then I just watched Dunkirk. My soul can't handle this…

Anyways, S-class submissions for Spirit Walker are closed. I'll still accept one or two for other Guilds, particularly during the GMG arc. There is still 1 open spot for anyone who wants to submit a slayer, and I still need one celestial wizard.
(Not needed, but I would love one character who's genderfluid or nonbinary or something other than male/female as well as a black character.)
I won't be taking anymore Soul Eater submissions for the moment. If you said you would send one in before the posting of this chapter, I'll still be taking them, but no new ones are needed at the moment. (If you want to submit a villain who's an independent mage or the like, please PM me about it first.)

Characters We Met:

Riley Drake – The Iron Skin Mage, a nineteen-year-old S-Class that's been at the Guild four years. By Rayzer
Miwa – A three-tailed kitsune and Sophie's first friend and familiar. She acts as a messenger and sometimes a support in combat. By warcraft505
Magnus Grimoire – Often simply known as Grimoire, he's twenty and has been at the Guild for over nine years, the longest of all the members. By PainX65
Lola Vermillion – Known as the Neon Terror, an eighteen-year-old whose membership is going on two years. By MusixDrag