Hot-Blooded on a Cold Afternoon [closed]

Joseph opened his mouth to let the marijuana smoke drift steadily out as he paced along the gravel pathway. He held the blunt up and sighed. He'd spent time rolling the thing only to smoke it for no reason. He didn't even know what a buzz felt like - Never had, never would. He had his damn gift -- no, curse -- to thank for that. Smoking at least three cigarette packs and empting a few bottles of alcohol had become a daily ritual for the Winter entirely out of habit. It was a waste of Joseph's time and money, and he'd often considered giving these needless hobbies up, but he knew wouldn't. It wasn't like he wanted to die, but the poisonous substances he filled himself with were missing their edge without the ever-present tang of death. He just wanted a taste, and as it had turned out, he would never get it. There was no risk in anything for him.

Sighing at the thought of how deprecating his inner monologue would sound out loud, Joseph's pace slowed to an eventual stop. Before him now stood the forest. Buds were beginning to form on the branches of the trees, but it was still bare, and cold-looking. It wasn't very nice to look at, but hey, at least it wasn't summer yet, when everyone would be boiling in their own skins.

Joseph pulled another blunt out of his coat and lit it.

Fuck. How dare she! Trying to kill herself and thought she could leave Maria all alone? Maria wouldn't... no, couldn't let that happen. The sister's past had been quite rocky, but if Maria lost Freya, she'd have to deal with guilt and family shit. I'm never going back. Not even if it's for a her funeral. She's made up her mind when she left her parents. If you run, you have to keep going and ever turn back. She used to remind herself when contemplating the idea of leaving. In the end, she did leave and it was the best decision she'd ever made.

Walking through the forest, she needed a break from school life. The tall student hummed a tune as she walked along, heading nowhere in particular. Although she was never really one to enjoy weather, the silence was nice. Maria kept going, but stopped mid stride when she realized someone was in the forest. Standing in front of the girl there was a guy smoking what smelt like pot. Guess there's always a good time to cause some trouble. Maria stepped lightly towards the student, not making a sound. Honestly, she couldn't blame this guy for smoking on school grounds. Besides, she'd always loved the delightful smell and pleasing taste of marijuana. At this point, Maria a foot or so behind him, arms crossed.

" I am always around, but never seen. I am often avoided, but you can't out run me. I will come when your old and grey, or maybe even the very next day. I will come with cold embrace, and give you rest with a chilled kiss on your face. I come in may forms of emotional state, weather it's irony, love, laughter, or hate. I am everyone's finale fate. What am I?"

Joseph didn't turn around when a voice cut through the relative silence of the forest's edge. He listened silently as the stranger, a woman, recited a riddle to him. He took a long drag on his blunt and exhaled heftily, releasing a cloud of blended steam and smoke into the chilly air above him.

"Death," he murmured, watching the pale grey fumes dissipate slowly as they rose higher into the sky. He'd heard this one before on several occasions throughout his life, but never in such an out-of-the-blue instance. It was a little odd to introduce yourself to someone with a riddle, but he didn't question it. He'd always rather enjoyed riddles and poetry, anyhow. Joseph turned around slowly, dark gaze settling on the newcomer. A tall, slender girl with ruddy brown hair. He couldn't say he'd met her before, but he had seen her around the academy somewhere. She didn't look very happy. What did she want with him? "Can I help you?"

Telling a riddle was always a good way to get a guys attention. Tilting her head ever so slightly, Maria gave the 'innocent' girl impression, though her intentions were no where close to good. "I've been feeling a bit down lately and thought you might be the guy." She replied in a sweet tone. What could make a guy mad... oh yes, of course!

Without warning, Maria slapped the boy straight across the face.

It was a pretty ballsy move, not knowing who he was or what his gift was, but she was looking for some excitement, and her it was. "Sorry, but not sorry." Maria laughed, a step back just in case. "I'm looking for a little fun, thought I might find some sort of loser out here." She grinned.

At first, the young woman's tone seemed a little on the flirtatious side, and then in a mere instant, the scenario changed entirely. The girl's hand flew through the air and connected with Joseph's left cheek with a loud, sharp crack. The sound resonated across the nearby field. Joseph recoiled instantly, dropping his joint in the process in order to touch the stinging mark she'd left behind. The skin did, of course, heal over in an instant, and he dropped his hand.

"What the fuck was that for?" he hissed, narrowing his eyes. Joseph tried to use curse words as little as possible when in the presence of other people - especially people he wasn't acquainted with - but this was.. Something else. He'd never even spoken a single word to this girl before, and along she'd come and slapped him right in the face for no discernible reason. He'd had his fair share of bad first-impressions with people before, but he had never been hit before introducing himself. "What's your deal? I wasn't bothering you, I just came out here to have a smoke. I don't recall ever meeting you before, either, so if you have some bone to pick with me, I think you're mistaken." Joseph refrained from raising his voice, but it was layered with considerable hostility.

"My deal?" She started, flipping a strand of hair. "My deal is, this school is boring as fuck and I need some excitement. You just so happen to be my next victim." Maria replied as if slapping a random guy was normal. "Let's see what you got." With a flash of light, a staff type weapon appeared in here hand.

The Winter boy watched, unmoving, as Maria pulled a staff out of seemingly nowhere and promptly invited him to match her. He hadn't the slightest clue what her gift was, exactly, but whatever it was, it didn't look like she was showing it off for no reason. She wanted to do battle. Joseph couldn't think of a single good reason why she'd want to instigate a fight with him - a complete stranger - on such a quiet Saturday afternoon. Was this a norm here, or something, and he'd just never seen it happen before? There was a battle arena, after all, and weapons were allowed on campus.  

"Sometimes people do strange things when they're bored," he said, keeping his gaze trained on her staff. "but inciting violence in a school yard for no reason other than to cure that boredom is on a whole other level." Joseph settled a hand on the grip of one of his own weapons of choice - A long, slender battleaxe fashioned from steel, polished meticulously to a bright sheen. It still felt strange to be carrying such an extravagant item around freely, but students were encouraged to train themselves to use various types of weaponry for dangerous off-campus missions and self-defence. "I haven't had to use this yet, and I really don't want my first time using it to be against another student for something as pointless as entertaining her because she has nothing else to do." He locked eyes with Maria, but his shoulders remained completely lax, even in light of the violence that could very well break out in a moment's notice. "But if you really can't control yourself, I'm not afraid of whatever you've got to throw at me."

Now they were talking! He was beginning to sound like a person of authority and she just wanted to spar. It was a crazy notion, trying to start a fight with this guy but to with caution. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to kill him. And seeing that he already took out a weapon was proof that he was ready. "You're so kind." Swiftly, Maria darted forward, zigzagging so she wouldn't be an easy target. A slow man is a dead man. Nearing the student, the girl suddenly crouched down and smacked the back of his legs. "To slow!" Maria laughed, watching him fall the ground with a thump. When fighting, it was always good to be assertive and take the first shot. Or, at least that's what she'd been taught.

And within the blink of an eye, the girl darted around him and struck the back of his legs with her staff. He staggered forward, but managed not to falter all the way to the ground. From where he was, couching low over the gravel path, his fingers found their way back to the grooved handle of his axe. "Fine," Joseph murmured, still without any real aggression present in his voice. He slowly rose to his feet. This wasn't what the young man had been planning on spending his day doing, but it seemed that this girl wasn't going to give up without getting a physical response from him. "If this is what you're asking for, then so be it."

Joseph whirled around on his heels and unsheathed his weapon. In one fluid movement, he slammed the neck of his axe into Maria's calves.

Ha! She thought to herself happily, though her glory didn't last long. Soon, the cold, metal neck of an ax smacked into her calves, setting her off balance. Half falling to the ground, she punched the earth under her, standing back up shakily, she turned around to face the boy. "Ya know, I don't think I ever got your name." She grinned, swinging her staff like a baseball bat at his ribs.

Truthfully, Joseph didn't have a very fast reaction time, but for what he lacked in agility, he made up for in stamina. He hadn't been prepared for another attack just yet, so the staff crashed forcefully into his ribcage and he staggered backwards a little, clutching the spot that had been struck. He could feel a slight, stinging pain coming from somewhere beneath his skin. Hm. She could certainly hit hard. He'd give her that. Not hard enough, though.

The Winter coughed, and then straightened himself out. A thin trail of blood trickled down his chin. He wiped it away dismissively with the back of his hand. "If you're just going to jump around and poke me with a flimsy little stick, then it's a really big waste of my damn time." And before Maria could say another word, Joseph reeled his arm back and his battle-axe soared effortlessly through the air. Its edge bit deep into the softer metal of the girl's staff with a harsh clang. "You shouldn't have picked such a shitty weapon." The blade of his axe inched closer to her face as he pressed it down on her staff.

With a metal on metal sound, the boy's axe sliced into her staff. So close to death and all she could do was smile a crazed smile. Ha! Using all her strength, she pulled the staff away from the axe and swiftly jumped to the side before the axe sliced through her face. "Ya know, it's not good to assume things. Especially when you have no idea what your opponents power is." Maria could tell he was trying to act all cool, but unfortunately for him, that wouldn't work.

With a flash of light, the staff disappeared and floppy, chain like sword appeared in the girl's hand. (Like a mini Pacific Rim sword) Lifting it up and snapping it down towards the floor, the sword straightened out. "So next time, better keep your mouth shut." She half laughed. Like a chainsaw, it started buzzing. Now, it could slice through anything without any trouble.

Joseph settled his axe by his feet and watched motionlessly as the broken staff fizzled out of existence, and in place of it was now a very strange sword. It was barbed, like a saw, and though it had initially appeared to be a chain, Maria snapped it into a solid shape. Maria pointed the thing in his face. He didn't move. Indeed, it would be pretty painful if she landed a hit on him. It'd kill a normal person in a matter of seconds. Clearly she hadn't figured out what his ability was yet, though. Joseph wished he could just set his weapon aside and leave, but he knew that Maria wouldn't let him. He hated getting into fights, and it wasn't because they hurt, or because they were a waste of his time, but because they were a noisome reminder that he'd been effortlessly cheating his way through the physical punishments of life for eighteen years.

"That's true," Joseph agreed with the woman's first statement, placing both hands on the butt of the axe's handle. "Making assumptions rarely gets you anywhere in life. I've learned that already, though. I think it's you who needs to remember that." He swung the axe in an arc with one hand. He had no intention of winning, necessarily, but he certainly didn't feel like washing bloodied clothing in hydrogen peroxide tonight. "You don't know what my gift is, either. Keep your pride in check. That might be useful to keep in mind for the future."

He leapt forward and aimed to deliver a sideways strike.

Gripping the buzzing sword, she prepared herself for his attack. Moving to the side, she lifted the weapon, blocking the axe and her face. There was a horrible screeching sound of grinding metal. Pulling the sword away, half of the axe blade was shredded off, leaving hot shrapnel at their feet. "I've always hated guys who talk to much." Maria grinned. That's it, she was going for it. This guy seemed like he could handle himself, so screw the idea of not hurting him. Placing a foot behind her, Maria darted forward, slashing the sword at the boy's arm.

Joseph began to back away, but he had misjudged the distance of Maria's attack. The razor sword caught the flesh an inch behind Joseph's elbow, and like a knife going through butter, severed it easily from the rest of his arm and sent it reeling off to the side. He staggered backwards, away from his opponent, pain shooting up the remainder of his left arm. Blood poured out of the wound, staining Joseph's clothing and the grass below him with scarlet. He was lucky to have a high pain tolerance, but it still hurt. He couldn't imagine how much worse it would be for someone who didn't have regenerative healing.

Now that Joseph thought about it, there was no way that Maria knew what his ability was. He would recover from it soon, but as far as Maria knew, losing an arm could end up killing him purely out of blood loss. Evidently, she didn't care if she murdered one of her fellow students just because she felt like blowing off steam.

Lifting his damaged weapon once more, Joseph leapt to right and aimed to slam the flat surface of the axehead across Maria's face.