Shopping Time

A frown appeared on Cenek's face. Very quickly, he was starting to not care if these two were from the Academy or not. The older of the pair had quite the attitude, and it didn't mix well with Cenek's blood lust. "I'd watch your tone if I were you. You wouldn't want to get hurt. But you're making me want to hurt you." Cenek said as he reached iver his back and drew his Zweihänder with a long shnnng, pointing it in the students' direction.

A slight grin came to Anima's face at the insult, although it didn't last very long and soon a fearful expression had taken its place when the figure drew his "toothpick" and pointed it at them. He was quite the violent one, wasn't he? Anima moved to be slightly behind Preston, keeping her eyes on the tall figure.

Whoever this guy was, they hardly phased him in the slightest. Some basement dwelling guy who was in way over his head. What the hell did he expect to do with a weapon like that anyways? Preston instinctively made a move for his weapon as the stranger drew his blade, but paused a split-second after he moved. Shit, of course he'd left it in his dorm, but then he'd never anticipated needing it during a grocery run of all things.
At least all those training and tournaments might come in handy now for something, even if he happened to be a bit disadvantaged.

"Am I supposed to be scared right now?" He called back blandly. "Mind your own, asshole. We're catching a break from the snow." Something about this gold told him things wouldn't be that simple. He handed off his grocery bag to Anima, watching him closely.

"Yes actually, you should be. Because I am going to kill you both. But don't worry, I'm glad you aren't afraid. It's always more fun when they try and fight back because they don't know who they're dealing with." Suddenly, Cenek put his free hand on his sword as well, before suddenly rushing towards Preston with a crazed grin on his face. If he had his way, he'd kill them both and gut them. He'd leave quite the scene behind for anyone else who tried to take a break here.

Anima had taken the bag from Preston and stepped aside, the fear on her face becoming more prominent as Cenek spoke and then proceeded to rush at Preston with his sword in hand. Anima stood watching this unfold, paralyzed with fear for the time being. This man was going to kill them both.

And finally, Preston had found himself unnerved. This man had one of the creepiest grins that he'd ever seen and a sharp glare to his eyes that left with a shiver down his spine colder than the frosty air around them. Never mind the cheesy RPG cliches he'd been picturing not a few moments before, those thoughts had dropped dead into the ground in an instant, and the young man found himself instinctively putting his arm out in front of the girl beside him. His sea-green eyes narrowed in on Cenek as he put both hands to his blade and leapt forward.

The bastard moved so fast through the thick sheets of snow that the Autumn had no time to think, seeing only that death was coming to pierce him at any moment, he reacted on instinct. Pres dug his heels into the ground, ignoring the uncomfortable damp frost and mud that got under his clothes and into his shoes, and threw his hand out. Sparks danced at the tips of his fingers before lashing out towards the man in black, more particularly, at his precious toothpick.

In an instant, Preston had his magnetic grip on the polished steel and jerked his arm backwards. The zweihänder came shooting out towards them both, propelled forward like a sling-shot and sliding in-between his fingers. It's bite was deep and clean, and no sooner than did he hold it firmly in his grasp the blood started to spill, leaning out between the crevices of his fingers and spilling onto the white-covered earth.

Whatever hold this fucker still had on his sword, Pres was keen to make him lose, throwing his arm to the side and towards the wall, snakes of lightning traveling throughout the black blade. It may not have been enough to stop him, but it'd saved his heart from being speared. "Funny, real funny." Preston hissed through his teeth. He took a single, uneasy step backwards towards Anima. If she was smart, she'd run. Hell, if they were both smart, they would've both gotten the hell out of there already.

Cenek seemed relatively unfazed as his blade was pulled forward. He made sure to release the blade before it got send into the wall nearby, and in under a second Cenek's hands were covered with black fur and ended in cougar claws. "Nice try, kid. Too bad it wasn't enough. Not only was Cenek just as skilled without a weapon as he was with his Zweihänder, but he had claws at his disposal. He wasn't shy about using them, either. Keeping at his quick speed, Cenek kicked out one of Preston's legs out from under him, taking a deep slash at his chest while he fell forward.

Anima had backed up as she saw Cenek still coming, her fear being joined by panic when she witnessed him get a bad hit in on Preston. This was not going well. She tried to collect herself to some degree, though. Her gift would be able to stop him, right? Shakily, she very slowly started to extend her arm outward...

He hadn't even a moment to feel shocked or relieved or anything before the stranger had already recovered and had begun to strike back again. Preston gritted his teeth. What, what this asshole psychic on top of a maniac? There was no way he could've seen that coming, yet still he didn't stop. His hands had turned night black and furry, claws sliding out, gleaming in the late daylight; and they were coming straight towards him.

'A furry,' The thought rushed to his head as he moved. Lightning blazed in his palm and the sword blade crushed as easy as tin where he'd held onto it. 'I'm fighting a fucking furry.'

Preston felt his breath catch as the cat-like talons swiped forward. He could hardly see it then, the claws as they sliced through his clothes, tearing into his skin, but he couldn't feel the pain. He only felt his heart pounding in his chest, the blood roaring in his ears, and the force of the blade as he swung it back towards the son of a bitch as he came tumbling to the ground.

It jabbed into his arm, the one that reached out gut him, and Preston sent electricity surging through the sword. It might not have been enough to kill the bastard, but it'd be enough to keep him paralyzed for a time. The hilt of the blade landed squarely on the furry's head, funnily enough.

The Autumn wasted no time getting back onto his feet, ignoring the red stain gathering and growing across his ruined shirt. In one hand, he clenched the toothpick, with the other he grabbed Anima's hand. "Come on!" He shouted. There was no way they could stay there and began to run off into the snowstorm towards the direction of the school.

The shops of Rosebury were a blur, some windows dark and others frosted over, making it difficult to see was happening inside, and the wind was almost deafening now. "Shit," he spat under his breath, glancing around, waiting for that asshole to show up again.

Cenek fell to his knees for a moment, needing to use an arm to support himself and not fall to the ground. For several moments he stayed like this, doing his best to endure the electricity flowing through him.

Preston and Anima were alone in the snowstorm for a moment, the man not seeming to have followed them. This didn't last however. For just a second, black could be seen accopanying the white behind Preston before a cougar jumped out, landing just behind him as sharp teeth dug into his ankle, blood spurting out to redden the snow. It started to whip its head back and forth the best it could, trying to tear his ankle apart as much possible. Blood also feel from the cougar's front right leg, the fur around the wound matted by it.

Anima jumped slightly when she heard the impact of the cougar landing against the snow, spinning around just in time to see it bite into Preston's ankle. Again she stood paralyzed as she stared down the black animal.

They hadn't gotten near as enough time as he'd been hoping for.

Preston had gritted his teeth, trying to find someone, or something, anything; where they could run to, or hide in, or as for help. Anything at all would have been fucking fantastic in that moment, but instead all he had to work with was a storm, endless snow, and a fancy ass sword that was balancing seemingly precariously, stuck to the tips of his fingers like a magnet. He kept his hand grasped tightly around Anima's, tugging her along as they trudged their way through the snow.

One moment, there was nothing but pure white around them, and the next thing he knew a black shadow was quickly moving in just within his line of sight. Several sharp pains stabbed himself in the ankle and he'd felt himself being dragged and shaken around. It had taken less than a second for him to loose his footing on the slick snow, his hand loosing Anima's as he slipped and fell straight into the ground.

He'd started to shout to Anima for help, but she was frozen as everything else around them. He tried to dig his free hand into the snow for some leverage, but couldn't get a grip, and found himself uselessly trying to struggle away. In the face of danger, panic and fury raced through him at once. There was no way, no way in any hell on earth would he ever lose his life to some fucking, b-rated psychotic-ass furry!

Scourges of lightning erupted from him, running down every length of his body and lashing at anything within it's reach for a mere moment, before he focused it all on the son of a bitch chewing out his ankle. He sent every bit of energy into his leg, straight into the fucker's mouth. If he wanted to be a giant piece of barbecue, so be it.

Once he'd finally managed to get his ankle free from the furry's bite, he stabbed the sword into the snow, pulling himself up onto one foot and forcibly putting weight on the other, ignoring the burning pain that came along with the pressure. Preston unsheathed the toothpick again, swiping and jabbing at the stranger, his legs, his chest, and one wild swing at the eye. If this dick thought they were going to be easy prey, he had another thing coming.

Cenek released Preston's ankle and fell into the snow as electricity surged through him. As much as he'd been trained to endure pain... that fucking hurt. Bad. By the time he was able to get back to his feet, Preston was up as well and started to swing at him. Cenek managed to avoid it. Most of it. When he thought he was in the clear, Cenek's own Zweihander cut across his eye, and he reeled back in pain. But among pain, he also felt rage. That motherfucker not only took his sword, but was now using it against him. Cenek barred his teeth, getting ready to pounce again. However, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Anima. She hadn't fought back, had she? She's be an easier target. So he turned towards her.

Fuck. As much as she wanted to respond to Preston, she couldn't. What the hell was wrong with her? Anima watched as Pres got pulled down before he shocked the cougar and got back up, proceeding to then swing at him wildly. Although he got a hit off, it didn't seem to stop that cougar for long. Fuck. Was... was Preston going to lose this? He couldn't lose this, right? Right? But then again, even with the wild sword swinging, their attacker wasn't going down. Anima tensed as she saw the cougar turn on her. No, she wasn't gonna let this continue. She didn't have much choice. If she didn't do anything, she'd probably be dead on the ground in the next few seconds. So extended her arm outward, and a few moments later a green beam of energy exploded from it and blew up against the snow where the cougar was.

Luckily for him at least, Cenek was smart enough to know that if a gifted was aiming at him, or at least seemed to be, you get the fuck out of the way.

Preston winced, seething through his teeth with every step into the deepening snow, but he refused to let himself stop. Slash after slash, he swung the breaking blade at the cougar, electricity running along the length of his body and down to the tip of the zweihander; it's sharp bite longing to get through to the bastard's skin. His heart was racing, and fuck - he was starting to feel light-headed, but he couldn't stop now. It had taken a few moments, but he saw him turn his head towards Anima. 'Fuck, no!' He thought, bile rising to this throat.

Lightning shot out from the ends of the blade, aimed straight for the furry. For a moment, he saw the creature's eyes glow green. 'What other bullshit is up this guy's sleeve?' The Autumn was presently surprised. Out of the corner of his eye, the shy mute had stepped forward, beams appearing seemingly from the air around her, melting the snow and turning the ground into a molten red. "You can do that?" He asked, with wide eyes. "Since when could you do that?!"

Cenek was lucky in that in preemptively dodging the beam from Anima, he also evaded the first bolt of lightning that Preston sent his way. He was unlucky in that he didn't have a chance of dodging the second one. He barely stayed upright, but endured the shock well enough to jump out at Anima, intending to bring her to the ground. Sure, she was fighting back now, but now she was probably the bigger threat. Electricity, he could survive. Being fucking disintegrated? Nope.

Anima cast a smile towards Preston. So he liked that? Anima would've stayed caught up in that if she hadn't noticed the cougar preparing to come for her. Again she tried to use her gift to deal with him, but he had already jumped by the time the spot where he was had been hit. Fuck. That's not good at all. If he brought her down, she was probably screwed. She didn't even have her karambits on hand to defend herself at all. Fear froze Anima again as time seemed to slow down. He's going to kill me. I'm going to die!

Well, fuck, of course he did! Since when could she shoot motherfucking lazer beams out of nothing? Why the hell didn't she do that sooner. Preston gritted his teeth and pulled himself up, pain pounding in his ankle, but he did his beat to ignore it. The freezing snow did little to provide icy comfort to his wounds, nor did it slow his adrenaline any. His hands shook, gripping tightly on the toothpick.

Of course, the moment he felt hopeful, thinking that they could both scare this bastard off... The furry made a leap for it, straight for Anima. With wide eyes he sprang himself She wasn't doing anything. She was just standing there. Fucking -

Preston threw himself between them, awkwardly turn to the side and swinging the toothpick at the bastard. While Lightning continued to ripple across his skin, it would do little to stop the bastard, and he hadn't even had the time to brace for whatever would happen next. It would hurt like a bitch.

Okay, apparently he wasn't attacking the girl after all. The other student decided to get in the way. So instead Cenek tackled him to the ground, sinking his claws into his shoulders. Wait, if he hasn't disabled the girl who was shooting laser beams... Shit. Cenek got off Preston quickly, not wanting to risk the girl shooting him off. Fuck this, this wasn't so worth fighting anymore. Cenek had gotten his fill of violence and been wounded enough for a day. Not even bothering to go back for his Zweihänder given the state it was in and the fact it could be replaced, Cenek took off fleeing into the snow.

Anima managed to snap out of her fear induced paralysis again. Oh fuck. Fuck. Anima looked down at Preston. He'd saved her... But in the process he ended up being taken down. Fortunately their attacker not only got off of him, but fled altogether. So was it over? Not quite. Preston was still hurt. Quickly Anima went over, offering Preston her hand to help him up.