Biting Chill ( 18 ) : The cold is strangely harsh, and even the still wind is vicious enough to sting. But the cold isn't the worst part of tonight--it's what comes with it. Out of a swirl of blowing snow, a massive, wispy wolf takes shape, enormous and snarling, with fur spiked like jagged icicles. Its eyes glow with a cold, wild intelligence, and before you can even react, it lunges as though you’ve trespassed deep into its territory. Every strike it makes feels like the bite of winter itself. Wherever its claws slash, wherever its jaws snap, frost cakes over. Even if you're lucky enough not to take massive damage, the cold seeps bone deep. When you manage to land a hit, the creature bleeds a strange, clear blood--icy water that freezes instantly into slush on the ground. The more damage it takes, the more its form flickers, shredded like wind-torn snow. The wolf fights with the relentless instinct of a dire beast, but it is not invulnerable. It will never run. It will fight until its body is broken and flickering, then--finally--a sudden gust will rip through the air and carry its dissolving body away. Howls echo on the wind. The rest of its pack probably isn't too far behind.
Note: This strange wolf is not a youma but can be used as a battle requirement for a character. It can only be used as a battle if there are two powered characters involved; you cannot write a solo and count this as a battle, and your character must be powered to meet battle requirements. You can use the prompt for as many characters as you like and it will count as a battle requirement, however if you repeat the prompt with the same character, only the first time will be usable as a battle.
This would not be the first, nor the last, time that Xibalba really wondered about the magic that dictated what people wore when they powered up. He imagined that Mercury and Polaris knights would be comfortable enough in this cold. Maybe the Jupiter lads as well? And then there were the Mars knights, like himself, who were clad only in Roman-esque linens. Stuck freezing our wee arses off is what we’re doing, he thought. He knew he shouldn’t be too annoyed. After all, once summer hit, he’d be happy and those fur clad knights would be dying of heatstroke. It was the circle of life and all that bullshit. A gust of icy wind derailed his train of thought and he shivered. What a miserable night to be out and about. And when he considered that he could have chosen to stay warm in bed, curled around his wife, he had to wonder about his own sanity.
Though… he could feel a powerful Order aura fairly close by. Perhaps he could spare a few moments to share news before hightailing it home. Hurrying towards the Powered Unknown, he shivered again as the wind practically howled around him.
Honkzilla
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2025 10:51 pm
The chill of the evening wind felt intense against Sailor Tempesti’s skin, even through the magical protection offered by her fuku. A soft saffron yellow scarf materialized in her hands, one of the perks of keeping her belongings in whatever dimension held her subspace, she supposed. Warmth and comfort enveloped her, the placebo effect maybe, but comforting nonetheless. Maybe she’d even run into more of those rabbits, they were probably the best things she’d found during holidays in Destiny City, certainly better than her less than pleasant galline companion(s?) during the summer.
The approach of another Order energy signature caught the young senshi’s attention and she began scanning the area for the newcomer before catching sight of a red and gold clad knight who seemed to be wearing far less than she was. Maybe he’d need the scarf more than she did under the circumstances. Offering a friendly wave, she hoped to get his attention despite the weather.
Brightening as he caught sight of the senshi, Xibalba waved back. Took a step towards her and froze as she snow and ice whipped up and swirled in the space between them. And from that mini vortex, a massive wolf materialized, teeth bared in a snarl as it turned its head to stare them each down.
Wolves didn't just appear unless there was magic involved. Unless they were youma. But this didn't feel like youma.
Instinctively, he summoned his weapon and considered. Internalized chivalry demanded that he distract the wolf from the senshi, give her a chance to escape. Problem was, the wolf was just slightly closer to her. And the beast seemed to come tot he same conclusion as it snarled and lunged for her. And all he could think to do was try to grab it by the tail and pull.
"Run, girl," he shouted. "Get out of here!"
Honkzilla
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2025 11:12 pm
“Absolutely not!” The knight’s absurd suggestion caught her entirely off guard. Leaving someone to fight a wolf monster alone? Even if it didn’t go against the core of who she was, it would just be…wrong! Plus the icy wounds that came with their bites and he had a lot more exposed skin than she did. Not that it stopped the thing from giving her a chomp over her fuku.
“Harrowing Storm!” She shouted through the painful cold creeping up her hip. The fact that it could cause trouble even through the fabric was aggravating. Discomfort or not she was still going to fight this thing.
Super Sailor Scout Attack: Harrowing Storm
Range -- A circle, 15 feet in diameter and centered on Sailor Tempesti
Duration -- 35 seconds
Uses Per Battle -- 3
Sailor Tempesti raises her arms, bringing forth a group of ethereal harpies. Their wingbeats whip up a powerful, swirling wind crackling with electricity before dispersing it around her, creating a small electrical storm that reduces visibility drastically and stuns enemies within the area of effect.
Senshi, Xibalba thought with mild disgust. They never know when to high tail it away from danger. Chariklo exhibited the same traits and it was just as infuriating. Still, the ginger probably felt the same way about him judging by her refusal. Well, he’d tried.
He tightened his grip on the icy fur and dug his heels into the snow, pulling on the wolf’s tail as hard as he possibly could. He’d failed to keep the senshi from harm and he wasn’t about to let the wolf bite at her again. But better if she didn’t also use her magic while he was in the way. He could feel the electricity in the air and he didn’t like it. Too similar to the lightning produced by the Hallow. Though as it washed over the wolf and himself, he was relieved to note that the only one it seemed to affect was the wolf. With a roar, he pulled, managing to yank the wolf back and sling it to the ground, neatly putting himself between the girl and the beast.
Backing up slightly and readying his sling, the knight watched as the wolf stirred and began snapping and snarling. Channelling his magic, he spun his sling and launched tiny fireballs at the big brute. Only to watch them bounce off harmlessly.
Well, s**t.
“Beastie isn’ Chaos,” he declared, doing his best to control his accent. He needed the senshi to be able to understand him, after all. He risked a backwards glance at her, arching an eyebrow. “Any thoughts on th’ matter?”
Any further conversation attempts were halted by loud, angry snarls and Xibalba found himself suddenly bowled over with sharp teeth lodged in his arm as the wolf attacked. Painful cold accompanied the bite and the knight found himself reacting instinctively. And probably quite foolishly (from the senshi’s perspective).
While his arm was caught in those jaws, he snarled back and began punching the wolf in the face with all his strength. Repeatedly.
Honkzilla
Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2025 7:39 pm
Managing to subdue the slight swell of irritation at the knight’s attitude, an attitude that she quite frankly didn’t understand, Tempesti couldn’t deny her relief at having the hungry canine removed. A grimace crossed her face at the realization that the fire her new acquaintance flung seemed to have little effect against their opponent. You’d think that something so cold would have at least some kind of adverse reaction to flame
“I’ve met…things like this around the holidays a few times. Not wolves, but other weird monsters that don’t feel at all like Chaos. I think it’s just something about the city.”
Her mind wandered briefly back toward the angry fowl that had menaced her throughout the summer. None of them had quite managed to bite her, though not for lack of trying. The sight of the creature latched on to the knight’s arm easily cut off any further thought on the matter and with a split second of thought, she launched herself toward its back. Attempting to gain a grip on the beast, she tried to drive her knee into its spine. With luck, that would startle it enough to get it to let go. With a bit more, it would do some damage. She didn’t particularly want to hurt it, but they couldn’t exactly leave it to roam around and possibly eat a civilian.
”Those ********’ chickens,” Xibalba heard himself spit out. Of course these wolves would be the holiday equivalent of those goddamned chickens. God, he hated those things. To give his feelings a vent, he pounded the wolf in the nose a few more times, gratified to feel something in the creature’s snout crack. His thoughts were run off the rails by the senshi’s sudden leap onto the wolf’s back. He found himself dropped and watched with disgust as ice grew out from the bite punctures. As he sat there, watching as the wolf tried to dislodge its unwelcome passenger, he caught his breath and noticed that the wolf’s maw was dripping with clear, water-like fluid. He could only say it was like water in looks. It certainly didn’t move like water might. Too thick. He could see it beading along the icy fur where he’d been punching.
Suddenly breaking into a grin, the Mars knight surged to his feet and took advantage of the distraction provided by the senshi. The wolf kept trying to rear up to toss her and while its teeth were snapping elsewhere, that meant he could attack from another angle. They could actually damage these things!
“Keep the icy b*****d focused on ye, lass,” he said, voice urgent. The searing, stabbing cold that radiated from his bite wounds hurt like fury. He had to move while he could. And that meant waiting for the wolf’s head to tilt up and punching out for the throat. As hard as he possibly could. He would have preferred to tackle the beast and topple it, but he didn’t want to risk the senshi being crushed under the bloody thing. But throat punches… Oh, those were fine. It would buy them time to gather themselves and figure out a coordinated plan of attack. “Give it a good punchin’, girl! See if between th’ two of us, we can’t knock out every tooth in its thick skull, aye?”
Honkzilla
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2026 10:53 pm
So the Mars knight was in the unenviable position of having encountered her frequent summer companion(s?). Well, a shared acquaintance could be a conversation starter once they’d driven off this angry visitor at least.
Tempesti gripped the beast tighter as it tried to shake her. If she could continue to divert its attention, he could continue his onslaught with less resistance from his opponent.
The senshi grimaced at the brutal crack that accompanied one of the knight’s blows. Necessary as it was to dispatch the thing as quickly as possible and remove it from the path of any civilians who might pass by, she couldn’t help but feel quite a bit of pity for the strange not quite animal. Doing her best to maintain her position, Tempesti drew back her arm and swung her fist as hard as she could at the back of its head. Physical combat was far from her specialty, but she hoped that the enhanced strength that came when she powered up would be enough to take her that extra mile.
”Try aimin’ f’r th’ eyes,” Xibalba suggested as he delivered a haymaker to the wolf’s chin and felt something snap. “Back o’th’ skull is naught but thick bone.” Frankly, he admired the girl for trying to land a blow or two of her own. But the back of the skull? That sort of thing only worked if you had a cudgel and the help of physics. But the eyes from her angle? Now that could do some beautiful damage.
Pulling his attention firmly back to the wolf, he thought that the damn thing seemed slightly dazed from the onslaught. And it’s jaw was definitely injured… He could see thick, drooling ‘blood’ pooling on the ground and matting the icy fur. It was enough that he felt a sting of pity before reminding himself firmly that this wasn’t an actual real wolf. It was embodied magic. He didn’t have to feel guilty for beating the piss out of magic. Right?
Right.
Honkzilla
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2026 5:56 pm
The effects of their efforts were more than a little bit upsetting for Tempesti and she wished desperately that the wolf would disappear and return to wherever it was these things went between holidays. Helping to beat something bloody (or whatever that liquid was) was a new experience, and not one she would care to repeat once this was over.
She felt her face flush with a bit of embarrassment at the knight’s observation, knowing that she was entirely unable to conceal her shortcomings in melee combat. And her lack of knowledge when it came to the skeletons of wolves, apparently. Maybe it would have been effective against a human.
Ugh. This was going to be disgusting. And horrible. And cruel.
But if it was the only way to keep this thing from hurting a civilian, she could push aside her own distress for now and attend to it later. With a deep breath and a soft groan, she aimed to hook her fingers into the creature’s eye sockets.
Seeing the flicker of expressions ripple over the senshi's face paired with how she was hooking her hands, Xibalba hurried to exclaim, "Nay, lass! Jes' punch the brute in th' eye! Less messy. Ah'm fairly sure I broke somethin' in the snout. If ye can punch an' break orbital bone, Ah can promise the wee beastie can go down clean. Er... relativ'ly."
For all that he was sworn to Mars and enjoyed a good fight, he didn't enjoy brutality. And seeing the senshi's dismay had hurt for a moment. He didn't want anyone to think he was a sadistic brute. He didn't like admitting that they were going to have to kill the wolf, either. But it was fact and he wouldn't shy away from it.
Honkzilla
Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2026 8:02 pm
OK, that was less terrible, less gross. That’s good, right? Tempesti still wasn’t happy to hurt this thing, but at least this was a less horrifying approach. Shifting her position, she swung her fist as hard as she could at the wolf’s eye, hoping to connect as solidly as she could and bring this fight one step closer to its end.
She was more than prepared for this thing to go away, though. Even if it somehow rebuilt itself like the youma did, for a while at least it wouldn’t be a threat to anyone who happened to pass by.
"Atta girl," Xibalba crooned encouragingly. "Jes' like that." It was strange to be fighting a monstrous wolf while speaking gently, but if that was what was needed, so be it. And he could tell from where he stood and by the wolf's reaction that the senshi's punch had been a damned good'un. And, as chivalry demanded that he protect the lady, he took a moment to weight his options and sighed. To do what he wanted, he was going to have to get alarmingly close to those jaws.
So be it.
"Get ready t'jump down on m'word, lass," he said, carefully moving closer to the now disoriented beast. "Ah'm goin' t'need ye to trust that Ah know what Ah'm doin', ye ken?"
He would have to move fast, decisively. Watching the wolf closely, he saw it was still dazed and in no little pain. It would have to be... "Now, lass! Jump awa'!"
Lunging forward, he wrapped one arm around the wolf's muzzle to keep it from biting and balled up his free hand in a fist that he swung up, crashing into the place where snout and eye met. Where there would be broken, floating bone to drive up into the brain. It was necessarily brutal, but it would also be clean and quick, which was what he had promised. The wolf struggled for a moment before stiffening in shock and then relaxing. He kept his grip on those jaws, but moved with the wolf, gently lowering the monstrous, shaggy head to the ground.
Honkzilla
Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2026 11:39 am
Alright. Alright.
Much as Tempesti hated it, doing damage to this thing was the best outcome for this scenario, so the knight's encouragement came as a bittersweet reward for her efforts.
(Reminder: alternatives include at least one person getting mauled and/or eaten)
She might have found the stranger's initial instruction to not get involved frustrating, but he seemed more than capable when it came to physical offense. He definitely seemed like he had a better idea of where to hit something where it hurt than she did.
Launching herself from the wolf's back, the senshi landed unceremoniously in the snow as the knight finished it off. She bit back the wave of guilt that hit her, it was done and the monster couldn't harm anyone else.
"Glad we were able to take care of this before it found a civilian."
Still kneeling beside the wolf, Xiblaba reached into the thick, shaggy fur to feel for a pulse. He wasn’t sure why, but that was what he was going to do. There was nothing to be detected and he sighed. This was one beast he would have been content to leave be, had it not chosen violence. But now, as adrenaline began to wear off, he was aware of just how cold his bitten forearm was and how much it really <********> hurt. Moving the injured arm close to his chest, the knight began swearing softly as he pushed himself to his feet. Turning to look at the senshi, he was relieved to see that she’d suffered no grievous injuries.
A tiny smile flickered on his face and his voice was frankly admiring as he said, “Ye throw one helluva haymaker, lass. Remind me t’stay on your good side, aye?”
He wanted to say more, felt like he needed to alleviate the guilt that he could see hints of. But before he could think of suitable words, the sound of howling wolves was carried in on the wind. “******** me,” he muttered incredulously as he listened, “Is there a pack o’these bastards?” If there was a pack, it sounded like it was heading their way and frankly, he didn’t have it in him to try and fight even more of the brutes. Besides, what could two very tired humans do against a group of huge ice wolves? Besides get eaten?
“Ah’ve not got it in me t’fight a whole pack, lass,” he murmured. “Ah think this must be where we say goodbye and hope t’meet another day, aye?” His uninjured arm reached out to give her shoulder an encouraging, if heavy, pat before he moved to get away from the now fading wolf. “You’re a brave fighter and Ah hope t’someday fight at your side again.” Then, wincing in pain as a stab of cold shot through his arm, Xibalba offered a final smile and hurried off. He needed to tend to his wounds and that would be better done away from polite company.
