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kafkasgods · 3 years

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snowed in event: faaya — outside b

faaya shah

before getting promoted to manager, faaya used to spend a lot of nights going for a run. the night held a sense of peace, one knew she was only able to experience because her ability to radiate fear usually kept unsolicited men at bay. lately though, she’d been unable to find the time for it. whether it was work, obligations to other people, or she was simply too tired to.

but tonight was a blue moon where she finally had the ability to go out for a run, and despite the snow, faaya pulled her hair into a ponytail, threw on a windbreaker, and headed out the door. right away the chill numbed her cheeks, but it was refreshing. it’d only been about twenty minutes of making good headway when the snow seemed to get harsher, the wind more sharp, and her phone to go off with a text. “great,” she muttered. there was someone nearby, though it was hard to make them out, but faaya called out to them. “hey! we have to get inside!”

Rune Clarke

in retrospect, rune really should have known better than to go on a late night walk alone. it was cold, far colder than he had expected, and he had originally had half a mind to turn around—but no. his own sheer stubbornness had egged him on, and before he could even anticipate it, the swirling snow rapidly began to thicken and turn the world around him more and more white. his phone buzzed in his pocket, and rune pulled it out, squinting at the screen through the flurry. well, fuck. that...was bad. that was really bad, actually.

shoving his phone back into his pocket, rune picked up the pace, heading back towards the direction of the vines. maybe he wouldn’t be able to get in, but it was better than being stuck out here on a trail with no one else around. a figure suddenly materialized in the near distance, and rune had never been more relieved in his life to see another person. “hey!” he called back, forcing himself to raise his voice as he stumbled forward until faaya shah came into sight. “do you know of anywhere close? and have you seen anyone else out here?” he asked briskly.

faaya shah

even if the figure closer now, faaya had to blink furiously to look at rune with all the snow flurrying around them. “i think i passed by someone a block back, but it’s hard to say. i could barely make you out. it’s rune, right?” faaya wrapped her arms around her. no longer moving, she could feel the cold sink in a little deeper. “the only place i know close by is the public restrooms, but that’s much further and they might be locked to keep people out since it’s late.” biting her lip, she swore picking the trail that followed along the bottom of the mountains. her ponytail whipped around wildly behind her, fanning itself along the strong wind. “did you want to turn back to look out for the person i might’ve seen or try to find a place to stay?" she hadn’t been caught in a snowstorm before, so for once, faaya didn’t have any certainty about what they should be doing.

lida ruan

lida regretted her little walk as soon as the cold wind started picking up, and she really started to hate herself when she got the alert on her phone about the snow storm. shelter in place? it was a little late for that now. being from california, she’d always liked the aesthetic of snow but hated actually being cold, and she was super cold now. she pulled her coat tighter around her -- not like it would do much, it was pretty thin already, definitely not made for the conditions she’s found herself in -- and tried to look around for… anything, really. she’d seen someone else run by her earlier, but they were nowhere to be seen now. she couldn’t think of anything else to do but to keep walking.

things were starting to feel real hopeless when she could finally make out something in the snow -- another figure, maybe two? it was hard to see, but the hope gave her enough of a push to walk over faster. “hello?” she calls out to the other figures, close enough now to see that there are in fact two other people. “hey! thank the gods, i thought i was alone. i wouldn’t -- i don’t know what to do.”

Rune Clarke

another figure suddenly materialized nearby and rune stiffened, unsure of who it could be—but the sight of another demigod put him at ease. more people outside wasn’t a good sign, certainly, but for once, rune would much rather have more allies to aid him than none at all. “...lida?” he recalled, then turned and glanced at his other companion. “and...faaya.” he nodded in a confirmation of faaya’s earlier query.

“yeah. i’m rune. we should find shelter. head back towards town, better chance of finding something in that direction.” he paused, suddenly seeming to take in lida’s thinner coat. well, that wouldn’t do. rune glanced down and quickly began to dig through his pocket before pulling something out and holding it out to her.

“pocket warmer,” he said. he turned to faaya and silently held one out to her too before turning back towards the path. “let’s go.” rune took the lead, carefully keeping an eye out for any other shapes in the snow around them. to his surprise, it wasn’t very long before yet another figure seemed to appear in the snow in front of them.

“...hadley.” if he was being perfectly honest, hadley intimidated the hell out of rune. he was always so...uptight. but maybe that was something the three of them needed, because rune doubted he was any more qualified to navigate the snowy landscape than faaya or lida.

faaya shah

faaya didn’t expect to see another person so soon, but now she couldn’t help but wonder how many fucking people we’re out this late. it wasn’t looking good. faaya pulled off her gloves, checking on the few people she cared about. once that was done, she could focus on the fact that lida, while friendly, spoke with a shake in her voice that was not only from the cold. faaya was very used to the tell-tale signs of fear and being scared and lida was exhibiting it. normally, faaya was unbothered, but lida’s fear was valid as they were all in a precarious situation.

sticking her hand out for lida to take, faaya left no room to argue it. “don’t get ahead too far, we can barely see in front of us.” she had a feeling he wasn’t going to want to hold her hand, but she still didn’t want to lose him. rune offered her the pocket it warmer and as much as she’d like to take it, she shook her head. “i have gloves. it’s fine. thanks. you keep it.” she trekked by him, trying to keep up as the wind howled and got harsher, giving strong resistance as they tried moving forward. her exposed neck and collarbone made her wish she had a scarf. the best she could do was take her hair down, hoping despite it whipping everywhere, that it would add some warmth.

again, they stopped. the appearance of hadley ruiz was both a relief and unwelcomed. faaya was glad to have found him, but hated that collins and the rest of the zeus siblings were probably going to be freaking out. it was okay. she would take care of it. and suddenly a thought came to mind regarding one issue that might be resolved. “lida, you’re an apollo kid, right? do you have biokinesis? maybe you can adapt your body to the cold.”

Rune Clarke

heeding faaya’s earlier words, rune did his best to stay in everyone else’s line of sight, shuffling closer to them like a stray penguin trying to huddle for warmth.

“we should keep moving,” he warned, fighting his urge to lower his voice. rune was a quiet person in general, but something about being out this late made him especially tense, like he inexplicably didn’t want to draw any extra attention to their little group. it was probably just because they were near the border though, he tried to reason in his head.

after all, it seemed that everyone who resided in town usually had at least some wariness of the border, regardless of whether or not the gods were angry with them—but he had never seen weather like this before, and he suspected that meant the border likely wasn’t as strong as it should be that night. monsters were the last thing they needed to deal with. (because unfortunately for him, stealing an artifact from a god still didn’t make one immune to them.) “come on,” he continued, subconsciously pulling his coat tighter to his body.

faaya shah

faaya tried to hide behind her hair as they walked, but her length and thickness of her hair really didn’t help with the fierce winds that had now moved to blowing them against the side. despite rune slowing down for them, faaya really had to work hard to keep him in view. frustrated with having to blink so much, she took a few longer strides and looped her arm with his. “it’s easier and better for us,” she explained, hoping he knew just as well that she wasn’t trying to encroach on his personal space. “lida,” faaya squeezed her hand. “do the same with hadley. it’ll be warmer and easier to walk against the wind.”

as she spoke, faaya could feel face numbing and her words being hesitated with a shortness of breath. she knew her head needed to stay warm, but right now her face was the more pressing concern, so she left go of lida’s hand briefly to pull down the cable-knit headband she’d been wearing to cover her nose and mouth. “do you see anything, rune?” faaya murmured through the fabric. he’d have a better view probably.

Rune Clarke

rune silently accepted faaya’s arm, pulling her closer to him as the group linked themselves together. he squinted, scanning the area around them best he could in the midst of the snow. it almost looked like there was something approaching in the distance, but he couldn’t quite make out the shadowy form. was it another person?

“i think—“ he started, keeping his eye on the thing. it was getting closer now, and bigger, and it was suddenly moving far faster than any human form would be able to. his eyes widened in alarm.

”MOVE,” he shouted, abruptly disconnecting his arm from faaya’s and diving out of the way. he hit the snow and rolled, elegantly landing up on one knee while he scrambled to yank off his glove and pull off his lion ring. because there, glowering at all of them through the snow, was a drakon. now often, drakons were huge, as big as buildings even—but this one, thankfully, was nowhere near the size of a building. it must have been younger, rune surmised, which was good for them: a less developed creature hopefully meant it would be less difficult to defeat.

he took in the beast as it huffed, curling its head back and forth in search of prey while its mottled green-grey scales glinted in the snow. its tail writhed eagerly as its sharp teeth snapped open and shut in anticipation. “shit,” rune muttered, trying to figure out where the others had gone. were they fighters? did they have weapons on them? and what did he even know about drakons? he desperately wracked his brain for information. oh. right. some could paralyze people with their eyes.

”AVOID MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH IT FOR TOO LONG!” he shouted, and the drakon immediately snapped its attention to him. a rare grin curled across rune’s face. “you want me?” he breathed. “then come and get me.” and with a flash of his sword—in true ares fashion—rune charged.

lida ruan

lida was fine staying quiet and following the others -- she truly had no clue what to do in snow this bad, the only thing she remembered was that it was best to keep moving, and they were already doing that in trying to find shelter. she took faaya’s and hadley’s hands in her own, holding onto them tightly. when faaya asked her about biokinesis, she nodded. “y-yeah, i have that.” part of her was relieved to be reminded about that power, but another part felt guilty about being the only one able to do it. she’d share the immunity if she could. nonetheless, she was the one who was the least dressed for the storm -- her coat was more for fashion than warmth, and even her boots were starting to let in the cold -- so she takes a moment to focus and activate her power, feeling relieved when her teeth are no longer chattering.

it’s just a few moments later when rune spots something approaching that makes him scramble away, and at first she’s confused until she sees it herself: a drakon. she backs away off of the trail and out of its path, her hand reaching up to grab and yank her necklace off. in seconds she’s holding her glaive, aiming it at the beast, but her eyes look around for faaya and hadley, trying to make sure they’ve gotten out of the way.

faaya shah

sight hadn’t been her strong suit for the entire duration of this blizzard. it was a combination of facts—the heavy flurry of the snow, her untamed hair being pulled where the wind went, the moisture of her eyelashes turning icy and making her lids heavier. everything went sudden all at once. rune had pushed back, lida was no longer holding her hand, and faaya couldn’t see in front of her face. they were saying something, but faaya couldn’t hear them over the sounds of the gale. “what?” she called out, loudly. a sort of metallic ringing was carried by the strong winds and faaya’s attention snapped towards where the echo originated from. but when she finally managed to make sight of something, it was the bright yellow eyes of a drakon. faaya’s breath caught and nothing in her could move away from it.

Rune Clarke

rune glanced back and gave hadley a brief nod of acknowledgement before turning back to the drakon. its attention suddenly snapped off him towards something else in the distance, and rune frowned, immediately trying to pinpoint lida and faaya’s location. lida was there, just off the edge of the trail, and faaya was—

shit. faaya was right in its path.

first option: try and get its attention back on him. he lashed out with his sword, hoping to find purchase somewhere in between its scales, but his sword harmlessly glanced off of them. note to self: aiming for the sides wouldn’t help.

on to the second option then: run.

looking back on it, rune honestly didn’t know why that was his next instinct. he could’ve done any number of other things from continuing to search for another weak spot to stepping back and asking hadley to try electrocuting the thing. but instead, rune took off in a dead sprint, barely managing to skid to a halt in front of faaya and putting himself directly in between her and the drakon. ”hey,” he said urgently, trying to make eye contact with her. “come on, snap out of it—“

the warm breath of the drakon suddenly hit the back of rune’s neck and he froze. gods. what a stupid way for him to get injured, exposing his back to a monster in an attempt to defend someone he didn’t even know in the middle of a blizzard, especially after all the work he had done to get this far. taking a shaky breath, rune waited for the pain to come—

but it never did. a faint red glow suddenly emanated from somewhere and rune looked around, confused, before he looked down at himself and realized the glow was coming from him. an aura of light like angry red flames flickered around his form, and he let out a slight laugh of disbelief before tightening his grip on his sword. ares’ blessing. maybe the gods were on his side after all.

lida ruan

lida’s relieved when her eyes finally find hadley and sees he’s also jumped out of the way and summoned a weapon. she continues to look for faaya, and when she sees her caught by the drakon’s gaze, lida’s stomach lurches. she’s prepared to jump in between the beast and faaya, but rune beats her to it, and there’s a brief moment where it feels like everything has stopped, because rune’s glowing. lida herself is entranced, until an idea enters her mind, and she has to act on it fast.

rune’s blessing inspires her to make herself glow, too, but brighter, to turn the drakon’s attention to her instead. there’s a balance she has to walk -- she needs to grab the monster’s attention while not completely blinding her teammates in the process. the drakon’s head starts to turn, and she knows it’s working, but she yells “over here, bitch!” for good measure. she takes her chance to stab her glaive into its eye before the head had fully turned, and she’s surprised her idea actually worked, though she doesn’t get the chance to celebrate before the drakon lets out a loud roar and rears its head up. the ground disappears from under lida as she’s lifted up, gripping onto the pole end of her glaive for dear life.

“shit, shit, shit,” she doesn’t know what to do here. should she let go? maybe the snow is thick enough to soften the fall -- the choice is made for her when the drakon rears its head again, loosening her grip, and she falls. she lands on her back and the wind is knocked out of her, so it takes her a moment to get her bearings. once she can breathe again, she sits up, ignoring her dizziness to try and look around for the others. “i’m okay!” she yells out, hoping they could hear her and that they’d focus on the drakon instead of her.

faaya shah

there were few occasions faaya felt like she were going to die. that was just something that had to be accepted as a demigod. but it had been years since she’d felt so helpless. it took another imposing step towards her, gazes locked, and faaya knew if she could move, her knees would buckle. then suddenly, a new pair of eyes were in front of her—brown, concerned, and full of urgency. “rune.” the name left her lips in a quiet breath, staring at him as he began radiating. the feeling in her body was returning, she knew it when she took a step back. then in the corner of her eye, another light made itself visible, a beacon in the darkness.

with utter fear for lida as the drakon removed its attention from her and rune to the other woman, faaya snapped into action. as she sprinted towards the drakon, her knit headband dropped to her neck and her lungs took in large amounts of stinging cold air. the ornate hair stick she kept on her person at all times was in her hand in a flash and no sooner than it reached her fingers, it had grown into a large scythe taller than she was. she trained for years with the scythe, but it’d never felt more like an extension of her arm than now. was it enyo?

as lida fell to the snow, the light coming off her illuminated a small fallen tree angled diagonally. still, it was big enough to serve a purpose. not slowing down in speed, faaya hopped onto it, running up the trunk. the glaive was stuck in its eye and it writhed back and forth. as it leaned forward, its head lowered by her. pulling back her scythe, faaya pushed herself forward off the tree and slashed downward. the blade lodged between its eyes and gravity helped her slice it down the face, breaking off once it’d reach the end of its nose. in a quick rush, she dropped ungracefully beside lida into the snow.

the drakon reeled back, roaring into the night, recoiling in pain.

#faaya shah #lida ruan #rune clarke

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