[At The Caves]
"Ha ha, the first kills mine!" Noire shouts as she slashes a hyena into pieces. "You may have gotten the first kill but you won't get the most!" Neptune yells out, stabbing one of the hyenas in its side, killing it. The attack caught the hyenas off guard as the rest of the pack ready themselves. Noire laughs as she slices another hyena in half. "It's on!" she says. She slashes at yet another hyena before kicking it into the ground. Neptune rushes head-on towards the pack, slashing and slicing at as many as she can reach. Three hyenas burst into data. She readies herself again, "that makes four!" she calls out.
The last three hyenas rush at Neptune as she braces herself. Suddenly Noire comes running up behind them and slashes at the two closes to her. The two hyenas burn in a fiery blaze before bursting into specs of data. She aims for the last one but Neptune quickly rushes forward, driving her sword through its entire body. There's a small pause as the lifeless creature stays skewed on her sword. She smirks, deviously before the hyena bursts into data, leaving a cleared area. Noire looks around, "Huh.. they're all gone, that was quick" she says. "I got five" Neptune says bringing Noires attention back to her. "I got five too.." She answers. "Huh, then I guess its a tie" Nep says giving her a smile. "I still beat you to get the first kill" Noire says looking over at the caves. Geez, she's so competitive. Neptune smiles as she watches Noire snoop around, probably looking for another monster to kill and break the tie.
Suddenly the area grows dark and cold. Looking up Neptune realises that the once blue sky is now covered in large, dark clouds. She shivers and looks over at Noire. "H-hey.. I think we should be heading back now.." she calls out. Noire turns to face Neptune. "What, why? Don't tell me its because you're hungry, Nep!" Noire states before continuing her snooping. Hunger was the last thing on her mind, although since Noire brought it up, a pudding would be lovely right about now. She shakes the thought away before walking over to Noire. "I'm not hungry. Just look at the-" shes cut off as a freezing wind almost sweeps her off her feet. "W-what the-" Noires voice is over-powered by the wind. They both hold a hand up to try see past the continual flow of snow being blown in their direction but neither of them have any luck. At this rate its hard for them to even see each other, despite being only a few steps away.
[Church]
"There's no way we're gonna make it to the group in time!" Blanc yells out. She stops running and looks in all directions. Rom and Ram stop in their tracks as they reach their big sister, "Why have we stopped?" Ram asks. "We need to find shelter." Blanc says still frantically looking around. There had to be shelter somewhere for them. But where? Vert finally catches up as she comes to a stop beside the twins. "Give me some warning next time before you go speeding off like that.." she says trying to catch her breath. "Are we too fast for you, Vert?" Rom asks curiously watching as the Leanbox CPU panted. She straightened up and glanced at the girls before giving a smirk, "Not at all. I just wasn't expecting Blanc to suddenly take off like that, demanding we follow." she says. "Over there!" Blanc says pointing to an old church. "Hm? What about it?" Vert asks before Blanc takes off running towards it. "Quickly! Follow me!" She calls out to the group. Rom and Ram take off after her as they leave Vert behind. "Again? What's gotten into her?.. could it be?" She asks herself looking up at the dark sky. Deciding there was something nasty about the clouds she ran after the group.
Blanc reaches the church first. She pushes the doors open and beckons for the girls to hurry inside, to which Rom and Ram do without questions. "Hurry up, Vert!" She calls out. Vert runs inside with the rest of them as Blanc closes the doors behind her, locking them. "Make sure that other door is locked!" She demands. Ram quickly scurries over and gives the door a pull. Locked. "All good, Sis!" She yells out.
Old wooden benches sit in rows with a gap in the middle, creating a walkway. At the front is a small stage with stand in the middle. Once colourful and decorative windows line up evenly around the room. The paint on the wall faded and ruined by years of neglect.
"Honestly, Blanc. What was that all about?" Vert asks, taking a seat on one of the benches. Blanc walks over to take a seat on the next bench over. Before she can answer a howling noise echoes outside. Rom and Ram run to the window only to find that there's nothing to see but white. "A snow storm?" Vert asks openly. Blanc nods. "This town formed over forty years ago. It was a small community. Only, it didn't last very long. It became abandoned because of all the dangerous snow storms that occur here. Because of the mountain to the side it meant snow storms would often form here quickly and unexpectedly. It also meant they were a lot stronger too." Blanc answers. Vert brings a finger to her chin, quiet obviously deep in thought. "Then, what about the others? We should go get them and bring them here." She suggests. Blanc shakes her head, "There's no way we would be able to go back out there. Even in HDD form we still wouldn't be able to fly or walk against those winds, let alone see anything." She says, bluntly. "Hmm. I suppose that's true.. Guess we'll have to just wait this storm out and hope the others are okay." Vert states.
"So we defiantly can't go find Nepgear and Uni..?" Rom asks, her eyes welling up.
"Rom! This is Nepgear and Uni we're talking about! They'll be fine. Noire and Nep will keep them safe, too!" Ram says as she embraces Rom in a hug.
"You're sure.?" Rom asks, glancing at everyone.
Vert smiles and nods as Blanc does the same. Ram hugs her sister tighter and they both smile up with hope.
[Barn]
"..Uni.!" Nepgear calls out. There came no reply. "Uni?" She calls out again, this time louder. Her body shakes from the cold as she treads through the growing snow. She walks in the direction Uni was last seen, desperately fighting against the wind. In the distance a voice can be heard, just barely. "Uni.. is that you?" Nepgear yells out. The sound of someones voice grew closer and closer, although she couldn't exactly hear what they were saying. Inching forward, the outline of someone struggling towards her became noticeable. "Uni!" She cries out, moving faster towards the girl. "Nepgear!" Uni replies, her voice low and shaky. Nepgear wraps her arms around Uni, pulling her close. "We have to get out of here.." Uni states before trailing off. The small girls body grows heavier against Nepgears as she shakes violently. Holding Uni close, Nepgear shuffles further, searching for any sign of shelter.
Looking around proved futile as the ever snow clashed against them from every direction, blinding them. Tears that managed to escape her eyes turn to ice, coating her cheeks in a painfully cold frost. Hope started leaving her almost as fast as her energy. The area growing darker as the world seemed to fade away.
Bang.
'Is that..'
Clash.
'..The barn.?'
Nepgear begins hurriedly moving towards the sound, carrying Uni along with her. Before long the barn becomes visible as she spots the doors wailing around in the wind, clashing against the wall as they open and close. Carefully, she brings Uni inside. Through the dark she finds a pile of wool and gently places Uni on top before closing and locking the barn doors. "..Nepgear, w-where are we..? Wait, what happened- How did you-?" Uni asks, looking confused. Nepgear rushes over and wraps a sheet of wool over her. "..It's okay. We're in the old barn..." she trails off as she places a hand against Uni's cheek, "..you're still really cold but you seem to be warming up relatively quick.." she finishes.
Nepgear begins wandering around the barn, leaving Uni still puzzled as to what happened. She sits huddled into the wool waiting for Nepgear to come back from snooping. After a few minutes the sound of things clattering catches Unis attention before a loud bang followed by a yelp and thud occur. "Ouch" Nepgear cries out. Uni quickly unwraps herself and runs over to find Nepgear on the floor, rubbing her head. "..what happened.?" Uni asks, kneeling down to rub her head better. "..ah.. I was looking through some old stuff when something landed on me.." Nepgear replied. Uni helps her up off the ground. "Thanks.." Nepgear says before looking around. She walks over to a black box with glass around it and picks it up.
"Whats that.?" Uni asks.
"It's a lantern.."
Nepgear picks up a small box of matches and carries the items over to the sheets of wool. "People used to use it for light but it should warm us a tiny bit as well." She answers.
"..You sure know a lot about old stuff, huh?"
"I think It's cool and interesting."
"Your alone on that one.."
"Hey!" Nepgear pouts.
Uni lets out a small chuckle. "Ha ha, I'm only kidding! I guess, It is pretty cool that you know this much. It's really helped us, huh?"
"Indeed."
Nepgear lights the lantern before placing it on the ground, far enough away from the wool so that it won't catch fire. "There. Now, let's get some sleep." Uni nods before the two girls climb into the stacks of wool, wrapping themselves in it. As Uni closes her eyes she feels to arms wrap around her as Nepgear pulls her close. "We'll be warmer like this." Nepgear states, snuggling close. "..Y-Y-yeah... Right..." Uni stutters. It doesn't take long for them to both fall asleep as they cuddle each other for warmth.