Intermission
World of Remnant:
Nicholas Schnee and the Frostfiend
(The screen is pitch black at first before a woman's voice is heard.)
Alright, Winter. Settle down, settle down. Why you insist on requesting such a strange story when there are so many better stories to tell, I never know. But, it is your birthday, and I did promise… Swear you won't get scared?
Very well. This is the story of your grandfather Nicholas, and his encounter in the village of Kalt.
(A map of Remnant is shown before the screen zeroes in on Solitas and a mark is made on a village close to the Kingdom of Mantle before it became Atlas.)
It began with Nicholas' first expeditions to the far north years ago. His team of miners and trekkers had stopped at a fishing village called Kalt.
(Nicholas Schnee, wearing dark armor and a red scarf is shown leading a group of workers through the snowy terrain of Solitas. A sudden wind caused the group to stop and cover their faces as snow fell upon them.)
At that particular day, a strange windstorm had kicked up without warning and they were trapped inside. The wind felt different as well; no matter how thick his clothing was, he felt the cold on his skin if he stepped outside a building.
(Nicholas Schnee is shown staggering through the winds of snow and ice, covering his face as he looked for a way out.)
(And then came a strange and haunting noise.)
The sounds were strange as well, like a shrill screech of metal scraping against metal, mixed with the wailing of babies. Halfway through the night, the power went out in Kalt, and they had to rely on candles so as not to waste the Dust used to fuel their mining equipment and vehicles.
(Nicholas and his group were now in a village, watching as all the lights mysteriously went out. He walked up to the nearest local and his body language told the audience he was asking the local a question.)
The locals then told him that this type of storm meant only one thing: that the Frostfiend was on the prowl.
(The screen turned black before a pair of red slit eyes glared at the screen with a fiery orange glowing mouth slowly opening)
A Frostfiend was a mountain Grimm like nothing else in Atlas. It was said to seek particularly young children when it hunts. The windstorm that came with it was used to mask its footsteps as it jumps from roof to roof.
(This new Grimm is shown in its full appearance as it jumped from roofs of the surrounding houses, sporting a muscular body with long curved horns sprouting from its head. Spikes sprouted from its shoulder arms, sharp clawed hands, hooves for feet and a lion like tail coming from its back.)
Metal weapons were no match for its touch, as it is so cold that all steel shatters. Nicholas asked them how long this creature has been plaguing them, and the only answer he received was, 'always'. One of his miners dismissed this story as superstition, for as far as Atlas' records of Grimm had shown at that time, nothing like the Frostfiend ever appeared in Solitas. Later, the same miner left the house they were staying at went out into the storm to fetch rations from their vehicles.
(One of the miners with Nicholas walked away from the group and marched out of the village back into the snowy weather.)
He never came back.
(Nicholas was then shown sitting on a bed next to a window, looking out into the blizzard like weather.)
After a sleepless night, Nicholas and the rest of his men left the house in search of one of the miners. They found nothing except a trail of what looked like giant hoof prints leading to the mountains.
(Nicholas and his group emerged in the morning, walking out of the village and coming upon some tracks. Nicholas knelt down and examined the tracks. He and his fellow miners followed the track to a dark looking cave.)
But, these looked as if they were made my something that walked on two legs, not four. As they followed the trail, they found only the miner's jacket, torn to shreds, at the base of a cave.
(The group stopped in front of a torn jacket.)
Filled with anger for his fallen comrade, Nicholas drew his sword and went in alone, while his team readied their guns and waited.
(Nicholas drew his sword, lighting it on fire while his miners quickly ran from the cave. He walked into the cave and a second later there was a loud roar.)
Then, he came back out, riding on the Frostfiend's back. The beast, twice as tall as a man, with horns like a ram and legs like a goat, was writhing around in pain; Nicholas Schnee's blade had Fire Dust infused in it, and that was the first time the Grimm had ever been scarred.
(The Frostfiend came out of the cave with Nicholas on its back, plunging his sword into the monster's back.)
The two fought fiercely on the mountainside. Nicholas' team could do nothing, because their bullets of lead shattered upon touching the Frostfiend's skin. Only Dust could harm it, Nicholas realized, and the Frostfiend realized it too, for it retreated.
(Nicholas jumped off the monster and raised his sword. The Frostfiend and Nicholas began fighting as the miners came back with guns, surrounding the pair and shooting the Frostfiend but their bullets had no effect.)
Nicholas hunted it down into the mountains while the rest of the expedition returned to the village to treat their wounds.
(The minors retreated back to the village while Nicholas continued fighting the Frostfriend.)
For twelve days and twelve nights, flames were seen in the mountain, and roars of anguish and pain. Nicholas, with his full knowledge and training as a Huntsman, met the Frostfiend and fought it tooth and nail. He cut off its horn, and it broke one of his ribs. Meanwhile, in Kalt, Nicholas' team hatched a plan to defend the village.
(Roars were heard from mountain, followed by the sounds of swords clashing and booming explosions.)
On the twelfth night, something happened.
(Nicholas was shown to be heavily wounded while fighting the Frostfriend as it raised its claws to finish him off.)
SLASH!
(Only for a blue outline to cut its arm off and land in front of Nicholas.)
A woman wearing blue and silver armor came to Nicholas while he was wounded and exhausted from twelve days and nights of fighting this beast.
(The Frostfiend howled in pain and that summoned more Grimm, surrounding Nicholas and the woman.)
Working together, the woman and Nicholas fought their way through hordes of Grimm as the Frostfiend tried to retreat. Only it was not enough for the pair made their way through the horde and chased it.
(The woman and Nicholas chased the Frostfiend all over the mountain. It roared and summoned more Grimm to attack the pair.)
Despite its efforts, the Frostfiend could not shake the pair chasing it. All Grimm fell to the pair and they eventually chased the Frostfiend back into the village where it limped, and clawed at the snow, and wailed in pain.
(The Frostfiend collapsed into the snow outside of the village of Kalt where the miners and the villagers rushed out with ropes, nets and spears.)
The trekkers and miners caught its hoofed legs up in the villagers' fishing nets and tied it up tight as a hog.
(The villagers and miners managed to tie the Frostfiend down as Nicholas and the blue woman limped into the village)
Then, the villagers speared its arms and legs together with wooden spears. Finally, Nicholas Schnee, with his mighty sword raised high above his head, slashed that Grimm's skull clean off.
(As the villagers speared the Frostfiend's limbs, Nicholas approached the monster and raised his fiery sword. The Frostfiend looked up at him and let out one final roar of defiance…)
SLASH!
(And Nicholas brought his sword, beheading the beast that had terrorized Solitas.)
From then on, your grandfather was more than a man to the villagers of Kalt. He was a legend, the intrepid Huntsman who stopped the reign of terror of a Grimm where no others could.
But that was not all he had gained that day.
(Nicholas was then surrounded by grateful villagers, all of them cheering and praising him. He walked past them over to the blue woman who then collapsed. Nicholas managed to catch her and lifted her up in his arms.)
Nicholas wished to thank the mysterious warrior who came to his aide but the woman had been wounded and appeared exhausted, as if she had been fighting even longer he had been. Just as he moved to thank her she collapsed into his arms. Not wishing her to die after having fought so bravely, Nicholas brought her to his home where she could rest and recover.
(The woman was shown resting on a bed as Nicholas knelt down in front of her.)
Little did they both know was that in that brief moment of kindness, where Nicholas sought to repay a debt, things would change forever.
(The pair vanished as snow resembling the Schnee emblem began to fall and the dark cave the Frostfiend was shown again with people working inside it, carrying out Dust crystals.)
That Grimm's cave later turned out to hold a rich vein of Dust, and so their expedition was a grand success. And so began the Schnee Dust Company's fame and prosperity…
And so much more.
(Nicholas and the woman were shown together, with a smaller white colored outline resembling a little girl standing between them as it continued to snow.)
Did you like that story, Winter?
(The screen once again went black)
…Oh, dear, she's already asleep. Oh, look at that adorable smile on your face. You're going to grow up strong just like your grandparents, I can tell.
The story of 'Nicholas Schnee and the Frostfiend' was originally by Lightning-in-my-Hand who has given me permission to use this story and any others that interest me and what better way to celebrate Christmas in this story than starring St. Nicholas Schnee himself. Hope you all enjoy and Merry Christmas.
