[SE] Children roam the streets

Ravenna

magic hidden in the void and —

A season had passed since the upending of her world, and Ravenna's adjustment to her new home was a see-saw ladder affair of good and not so good impressions.

She didn't like the cold. Her initial trust in Noah was steadily growing into fierce admiration and familial love. Being squashed into his cozy little family as an outsider was horribly awkward, and she chafed against the very strict rules they kept - strict in comparison to the barefoot urchin life she was used to, at least. Everything was dangerous, even getting dressed in the morning was surrounded by ritual, and there were days when the girl felt like she was the one being buried, not her mother; locked up and drowned under layers upon layers of wool and leather and furs until her vision reduced to a circle of whatever was right in front of her.

Told to take her boundless energy outside this morning, bundled up like a ball against the constant freezing temperature, Ravenna Hale had climbed from a snow drift to the wood shed and up onto the roof of a house and sat with her feet dangling over the edge, watching people go by on the icy road beneath. Sniffling against the drip in her nose, blinking owlishly when the chill caused her eyeballs to ache, she busied herself with shaping an armory's worth of snowballs. Lined up around her like a buttress and ready to be hurled, she patted a last projectile into shape with gloved little hands, and tried to decide who to target first. It was hard to decide; everyone looked the same from up here, so it was a toss up between getting some fun and getting in trouble.

In the end, she let chaos decide for her. Lobbing two snowballs high into the overcast sky, she followed their descent with a thrill of anticipation. Eagerly accepting of whatever the reaction would be if they landed on someone.

Let the game begin.

— truths waiting to be spoken

No, I cannot resist

Marcus, too, had been given a similar charge. Margot had been cast out before any of the rest of them, and she willingly found her way to the academy to practice her magic. Marcus was less inclined to do that today, as his magic only practiced after someone got hurt, and he wasn’t in the mood to watch and sparring.

So he wandered, slowly, through the streets and took his time to look at everything and anything he wanted.

”Ouch! Hey!” Marcus yelped, brushing crystallized snow off auburn curls. ”Who did that?!” He called out, ice-blue eyes lifting from the ground and searching all around. The streets were nearly empty around him, and he couldn’t see any evidence of any assailants. His face contorted to an unfamiliar, grumpy pout and he snorted his frustration into the chilly air.

Every time your gravity has a hold on me

Ravenna

magic hidden in the void and —

Score! The snowballs not only landed on someone her size, but on a very acceptable target indeed. Pressing her gloves over the mouth to stifle a giggle when her foster brother whipped around without a clue, it was the funniest thing she had seen in a long time.

Carefully selecting another snowballs, Ravenna aimed with wicked intent this time, and when she threw the projectile it was straight at the boy's back. So silly of him to just stand around there! It was like he asked to become the target for her mischief.

— truths waiting to be spoken

No, I cannot resist

Marcus was no stranger to snowball fights, even in his young age. There were many children in Snowcloak and even he and his twin had spent time together pelting each other with the frozen element that kissed each inch of Halo. But being struck unaware, that was something new to the demgod's son.

The second snowball slammed against Marcus' back with a wicked thud, and the dry snow-bullet stuck to the parka covering him. "HEeey!" He called out, tawny eyebrows drawn together as he turned around in another circle, looking around for his assailant. He spun around again before it dawned on him to look up. His eyes shot for the rooftops, narrowing in on his snow-enemy. The sunlight above the homes blocked his vision from being perfect, but he could see a shadowed figure. Sucking in a breath, he scooped up a handful of snow, half-packed it, and sent it haphazardly towards the shadow.

Every time your gravity has a hold on me

Ravenna

magic hidden in the void and —

Venna tried to duck beneath the snowball that came lobbing towards her, but it was awkward when she sat so precariously on the edge. Her little bob only meant that it hit her on the shoulder instead of in the stomach, and a squeal of displeasure cut through the clear air as icy shrapnel found its way inside her collar.

Her response was swift and brutal. All it took was a shove against the buttress of snowballs, and suddenly a veritable avalanche of them came tumbling down towards the boy below. The little girl whooped in feral excitement, and leaned dangerously out over the edge in her eagerness to see how many would land on Marcus.

— truths waiting to be spoken

No, I cannot resist

The squeals and giggles and all the noises that the shadow made brought familiarity and confidence to the hunters’ son—that was Ravenna on the rooftops, he was sure of it. He scooped another handful of snow and packed it just as the squealing girl sent the snowballs s he had already crafted, plus a cascade of loose snow, tumbling down on him.

They hit him in full force and forced a grunted oof from his mouth. He dropped his own snowball in favor of running out of the waterfall of her ammo. ”Get down here!” He yelled, though there was a playfulness to his command. ”So I can kick your butt evenly!”

Every time your gravity has a hold on me