Dusty Snowflakes [OPEN]

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She had never been to a place like this.  It was a very small location, which was not new, but it was right next to mountains and a snowy landscape.  The entire courtyard was frozen over and the locals were all skidding over it.  Vanille, never having seen ice before, or snow, let alone the sport of skating, stared in awe.  They were wearing boots with thin blades, some of them made of ice and it was quite honestly the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.  They moved their legs in a weird way, pushing along. 

Deciding she just had to have a go, Vanille went on the ice with her own clumpy shoes.  Some people were doing it and manging just fine.  However they knew what they were doing and had more experience than her three seconds!  Vanille promptly landed on her bottom, her feet sliding out from beneath her.  "Ooof!" Vanille complained.  It was very cold on her bottom her pelt flaring out behind her. Struggling to stand she found herself hoisted up by two males. They were older but had friendly smiles and kind eyes.

 "You cam get boots over there," they said and half dragged her to the stall with boots. 

"What size are you?"

Size?  Of her feet?  Vanille looked down unaware shoes could come in sizes.  These shoes had been made specifically for her feet and so they did not have a size in the conventional sense.  Pulse didn't do things like sizes to go on a rack in a shop.   Judging from these people's attire they didn't so much go on for sizes either.  "Small?" she asked hesitantly and was outfitted with crude but purposeful boots. 

Vanille fell over.

A lot.

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Albion Achelus

Age: 79

Male

IMAGE

(Sorry if I'm crashing! Vanille just seemed like a good person to thread with. I couldn't resist. She seems like the type who'd enjoy a dog. XD)

The humiliation was real this time. This world was one fitted for what Albion was, but perhaps not who he was. Snow and winter were some of Albion's least favorite things. Worst of all, he'd been suckered into leading some little girl around on ice!

Four pairs of red-furred paws squirmed and clawed at the so-called skating rink underpaw. This young girl had tied a leash around Albion's thick, furry neck and used him to pull her around. Though it was embarrassing, it's not like Albion had no choice in the matter. He easily could have just bitten or burned the leash off, but...

"Faster, doggy!"

Albion couldn't deny this girl the time of her life. Even though the leash tugged and pulled him with rather significant force, and even though it choked him from time to time, her laughter and her joy made him suffer through it. How...degrating. Though Albion wouldn't suffer it without complaint... As his claws dug and struggled around the ice, Albion spun, his tail whipping back and forth as he got the girl spinning in a circle by quickly turning himself. She laughed and laughed, and eventually she let go. All of a sudden, the force of the pulling had stopped, leading Albion to a quick panic. He struggled, scratching and planting himself on his belly to slow his spin.

He had intended to see if the girl was all right, and was relieved upon seeing her skating off to have fun with other children. His work done, Albion pushed himself up from the ice and began to try and walk his way off. The leash dragged on the ice as he struggled to cross it. The few people who heard his movements didn't seem overly concerned about him. Even though he was a wolf, they all clearly viewed him as just a dog... Albion eventually drew to the edge of the rink, shaking his black and red fur of the snow it had accumulated so far...when his eyes caught another girl enjoying herself. Though this one was...struggling. Falling over and over again.

Rather than sit by and watch her hurt herself, Albion took the hanging leash into his teeth and exhaled in a sigh directly on it. Thanks to his abilities, cinders were produced from his breath, and quietly burnt the leash off. He then struggled his way to the pink-haired girl, and just as she was about to fall on her rump for perhaps the umpteenth time, Albion placed his body under her, using the strength of his legs to support her weight and keep her from falling again. He braced her with his front shoulders, which bucked back under her. AWH, damn! Maybe I should've been bigger for this... He was just strong enough to hold her, though each of his legs trembled in doing so. He sighed again through his toothy snout before looking toward the girl. Though he was a wolf, his face carried a certain level of expressiveness. He gave her a concerned glance, as if worrying about her getting hurt on the ice.

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Arendelle was such a pretty place. Vanille was almost happy the universe seemed to be ending because she got to see somewhere lovely and interesting and reminding her just a little of home. It was rustic here. People worked together to survive and it wasn’t at all like the high technology of Cocoon. It seemed to her it was between Pulse and the cradle of Cocoon in terms of advancement.


Vanille never really struggled with technology. She had blended into the world of commerce and retail with ease. She found the concepts of shops absolutely fascinating. To have the clothes made already, in different sizes and fashions and colours and styles and to have them all laid out just waiting! Of course all of her own clothing was hand made from kills she had made - like her pelt from a bear like monster near Oerba.


Arendelle seemed like a safer place and in the throws of fun! This skating was difficult but she liked trying all the same. She was interrputed, however, by a large black dog with red eyes. Just as she was about to fall, yet again! the dog came and propped her up. Vanille stood and turned to look at him in surprise. ”Thank you,” she said. It seemed perfectly normal to her to be thanking the canine. He didnt’ seem to be an ordinary dog at all - not judging by the look in his eyes.

Gently she undid the leash on him. it looked uncomfortable and it shouldn’t be on something majestic like him.

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Albion Achelus

Age: 79

Male

IMAGE

The sound of this girl's cheery voice did much to ease Albion's mind, for some reason. It was harmonious and gentle, almost tickling his ears as she gave him thanks. Perhaps it was simply an odd tone for his canine ears to pick up... Albion gave a somber nod of his head in response to the thanks, as if telling her 'you're welcome.'

Just as his attention was pulled away by a woman's rather loud laughter, the girl before him leaned down and removed the makeshift collar that had been left on him. Albion quickly turned his head back around to face her, a soft surprise carried within his movement. After a second of considering, he decided to do something risky---"Thank you," Albion spoke softly, keeping his tone rather quiet, so as to avoid being heard by too many people. As his eyes quickly peered around their surroundings, he let out a relieved sigh. No one else seemed to hear him.

Albion decided to take a moment to study the girl's reaction. It wasn't often people met a talking dog, so it was important to be careful of who one spoke to. Her reaction would determine whether or not Albion would stay or go. Albion figured he would offer an incentive to try and earn trust with the girl. "Learning to do this can be difficult." Albion spoke as he waved his snout toward all of the people skating, "Use me as a brace and I'll help you learn." He offered a subtle, canine-esque smile. It wouldn't be too hard to spend some time acting happy, at the very least to repay this girl for taking off that uncomfortable thing... If Albion could earn himself a friend, all the better.

"Oh," Albion paused for a moment, "If you get hungry, my caretaker will feed you."

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Vanille had to admit her new friend had a formidable appearance. With a strong snout and sharp teeth he didn’t look like anyone you’d want to cross. He had strong legs leading to strong defined paws with even sharper claws. He had red horns, which she thought was unusual but oddly distinguished and a sleek black body. His tail was speared red giving him an air of sophisticated elegance. All in all he was an impressive visage to behold.


His eyes though, betrayed an intelligence many may be foolish enough to overlook. That young child could be forgiven for she was just an offspring and confined to a world with snow and indomitable mountains. Vanille, however, was an usual girl herself. On Cocoon she had been an abberation, the very definition of the enemy and even though they had set out to save the society which hunted them, they had ultimately had to choose to destroy it. The second time around Vanille faced the ice cold cyrstal statis gladly and did so with Fang at her side. She had learned something from those friends of hers, those accidental L’Cie (or maybe not so accidental if Bartandelus was to be believed), and that was ‘ no more running’. Running only hurt the people she cared about, or the ones she would come to care about.


To say she wasn’t surprised to be helped by a canine would be a lie. Vanille still viewed monsters as monsters even if she did look upon the C’eith with pity and sorrow. It was not their fault they had failed their Focus, nor their fault they were mindless killing machines. The hateful Fal’Cie had done that to them, and now they were doomed to spend eternity regretting that which they had failed to do.


Vanille’s eyes widened when Albion elected to speak, revealing himself not just to be intelligent but very special too. In another world perhaps he would have been in danger of experimentation, but here, with less advanced minds, such a discovery could lead to his very violent end.


Vanille took a couple of shocked steps back and landed firmly on her behind. ”Oowwww,” she complained. it was not the first time she had fallen down, nor would it be the last she suspected.


”Your welcome,” she said to the canine. ”I’m Vanille,” she said moments later assuming the dog had its own name. What sentient creature didn’t? After a moment’s thought, she wondered why she was surprised at all. She had spent most of her life subject to the whim of an organic machine created by...a God...B...B… Vanille scrunched up her nose as she tried to remember. There was more information there she was sure of it!

But her focus was interrupted by an offer of assistance. ”You know how to skate?” she asked and then giggled. The creature with four legs could skate better than she could and he had more limbs to worry about! ”But I can’t stay up long enough to move!” she declared challenging him to make it so.

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Albion Achelus

Age: 79

Male

IMAGE

Albion couldn't help but stifle a soft chuckle when Vanille's surprise caused her to fall back. After taking a moment to observe her, the black hound sauntered over beside her and took a seat a foot or so away. His long, rigid front legs remained perfectly straight and proper, and his back arched only the smallest angle. So regal was Albion that he seemed as royalty even in canine form.

Albion watched the other people skate around on the ice a distance in front of them, and he realized that they were all so caught up in their own fun that they'd probably never hear him unless he moved up to them and addressed them to their faces. In a way, he was relieved of that. His sharpened hearing caught the girl introduce herself as Vanille. "Almost like the cooking ingredient," Albion remarked with a quiet, amused exhale of air. "My name is..." Albion paused for a few moments. He had to admit, it was unusual for him to do so. He rarely ever introduced himself by name, not in all the years it had been since he left home... He really wasn't even sure what to call himself anymore. But... I'm not Alois. Not anymore. The wolf shook his head and chuckled at how strangely he himself was acting. So much thought being put into just a name. "My name is Albion. It's a pleasure to meet you, Vanille." Albion offered Vanille his paw in an introductory shake.

Once that had been set aside, Albion looked to the people, and then to Vanille, and so on and so forth a few times. Her question about whether he knew how to skate was an interesting one. Once again, he contemplated something. Telling her the truth about him would be much less dangerous than speaking, so that made it a much less painstaking decision. He knew how to skate for sure, it was something people did on his home world during the winter months much like any other. "I know how to skate because I used to be human." Albion spoke candidly.

Albion shifted himself back up onto all fours and braced his legs, offering Vanille a suitably sturdy stand in the form of his body to use for balance. "Once you've adjusted your balance on the ice, skating is as easy as just gently gliding your feet across the slick surface. It requires more finesse than sheer effort," Albion spoke with a soft chuckle, "It's more like swimming than running. It's all about the efficiency and smoothness of your movements. Once you're balanced, hang on to my fur and I'll steer you around a little."

To make it a bit more comfortable for Vanille, Albion exhaled heavily. In his breath, a few cinders were carried forth, as in a way, Albion turned on his internal heater. More or less being a hellhound at this point had some advantages. His fur warmed up nicely, and the soft nature of the fur itself would make it far more comfortable to touch. All in all, it'd make the experience much less irritating than if he had let her grasp at cold, wet fur.

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It was true, boys, girls, men and women were all skating happily amongst themselves not paying them the slightest. A little girl was whizzing about the frozen courtyard, her legs working hard and easily as she skated with skill. Vanille wondered how she did it as she could barely stand up without falling over. Ice skating was a foreign concept to the peach coloured haired girl. it wans’t to these people to whom it seemed to come so naturally.

Vanille didn’t know what cooking ingredient he was referring to. Luxury to her was having a lock on a door and a key to go with it. Luxury was having more than a couple of outfits to wear and not having to wash your one outfit before you can wear it again. Food was flavoured with salt and ginger and pepper and lime but not much else.

”What cooking ingredient?” she asked curiously. She was interested in knowing what the canine knew. How much did a dog know about the culinary life of a human, especially one who clearly had thoughts and opinions of his own? She didn’t know much about culinary things and she was a girl!

Vanille shook Albion’s hand with a wide smile. ”Pleasure to meet you!” she responded brightly. It was nice to meet new people. ”I’ve been meeting a lot of new people lately,” she told him. What she wanted was to run into old friends but until then, new friends and new faces were more than welcome.

”Oooh!” Vanille said. It wasn’t every day you met a canine who wasn’t always a canine but previously a two legged creature! ”I used to be human too,” she said. ”Though I supposed I still am...it’s complicated,” she said. Albion had taken a risk telling her he used to be human, so she did the same. ”At least, the others didn’t see me as human any more,”

Vanille stood warily on her feet after a struggle to get up during which her bum spent a lot of time high in the hair. ”Swimming...that’s the thing you do in the water to move through it right?” she asked. Needless to say Vanille couldn’t swim. Not much cause to on Pulse. Not a lot of open areas of water. No great expanses of water. Push gently?

Vanille moved gently, sliding her feet over the ice gently. ”Ooooo!” She cried. ”Must be nice not to get cold,” she commented as heat wafted about her calves. ”That is you, isn’t it?”

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(I'm not sure how many mistakes I might have made writing this. My brain was melted when I decided to post, sorry!)

Albion Achelus

Age: 79

Male

IMAGE

Vanille seemed like quite the odd duck indeed. Albion could tell at a glance that she didn't fit in here, not in this world. The question of what world she belonged to was an interesting one. None that Albion had been to in 50 years of traveling seemed to fit her description. Almost as if she belonged to more than one, or that she'd lived in different eras... Perhaps that was it, Albion nodded internally. His age was disguised quite well, even if he had taken human form. He looked no older than his early twenties, but bellied the age of a man on his death bed in truth.

As she questioned his comment about the cooking ingredient, Albion chuckled faintly. "Haha... Vanilla. It smells sweet, but it's actually quite bitter on its own. Mix it with a little sugar and it tastes very good though. It's used in many desserts, such as cakes." Albion retracted his paw after she had shaken it, quietly appreciating the fact that she didn't laugh as a sophisticated dog like him offered a shake like a common dog would. It was a nice change of pace.

The trust Vanille displayed in response to Albion's reveal of his former human stature was endearing. His eyes drifted to their corners as he watched her speak. You've been through a few hardships as well, it seems. That's a shame... Albion nodded as she finished speaking. "At least you still maintained your humanity. You still laugh and care, you still feel, even if the world proclaims you inhuman or a monster. You have that, at least; and no one can take that from you." Albion's eyes drew away from her again, thoughtfully poking about his surroundings. It was actually his caretaker who told him that same thing once before, but he had to admit it meant nothing to him.

What use does a beast have for feelings such as they? Of caring and love? None. Dogs are dogs, nothing more.

Albion's thoughts were interrupted when Vanille asked what swimming was. He had to admit it was shocking to hear someone ask such a thing. His home was almost entirely water---so it wasn't surprising for him to know how to swim. It was only natural on the Endless Sea that everyone knew how. His ears perked up, as if in an attempt to ensure he heard her correctly. The words reverberated in his mind for a few moments before he responded. "That's...correct. Mostly." Albion spoke somewhat quietly. The shock had floored him, that much was true. He cleared his throat with a soft cough. "If you don't know how to swim, I can teach you that as well. Another place, another time perhaps. Swimming was a big part of my job when I was human."

After Vanille stood and seemed to steady herself, Albion realized he had almost begun to melt the ice under his paws as Vanille oooh'd at his unusual talent. Before answering, he dialed the heat away from his paws, keeping the ice intact. "It comes in quite useful from time to time," Albion spoke with a dry wit, "My thick coat keeps me warm enough for cold areas. It helps more when in desert areas though. I don't feel the heat." Albion spoke in answer of her question. To advance her teaching a little bit, once Albion was she she was steady, he pulled himself forward ever so lightly.

He was very careful to remain steady and solid so Vanille could balance off of him and avoid falling. As he pulled her forward lightly, he sped up very little amounts at a time in order to acclimate her to the sensations of moving forward. "Are you doing okay?" Albion kept his movements straight, as he thought it might be a bit much to turn with her now. She might not be ready for that yet, given her lack of experience with skating. He was very careful about where he was heading as well, keeping toward the outer sections of the ice rink in order to avoid collisions as well as people hearing him. Both of those things were quite terrible outcomes...

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Vanille had never met anyone like Albion during her travels. Never had she encountered a sentient canine before, not that Vanille had encountered a wild variety of dogs. In fact the ones she had seen were on Cocoon and were very uniform. It was only due growing up on Pulse and having to recognise the similarity in predators which allowed her to determined that Albion was in fact a kind of hound. She didn’t wonder what kind, especially after discovering he had been human once.


”I’ve never had a cake before,” Vanille said swinging her arms. She had never had much cause to. She had seen cakes advertised in Cocoon - bright things which came in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some had pictures on them and others were very plain. Sugar, she gathered, was something which sweetened vanilla. ”I lived in a small village. Rather basic,” she said.


Vanille regarded Albion thoughtfully. ”Did you let them take that from you?” she asked. Yes, she could laugh and joke and dance and sing and cry and worry but maybe Albion couldn’t. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to feel anymore or maybe it was something to do with being a dog. Did dog feel like humans do? Probably not, Vanille guessed but Albion was no ordinary dog so she figured it was a little more complicated than normal. ”You don’t seem like you’ve lots your good parts,” she commented.


”Swimming can be part of a job?” she asked. ”What kind of job requires swimming?” she asked. Pulse was a very different kind of place to Cocoon, and to whatever world Albion came from. ”So you don’t come from here do you?” she noted. ”Some of the people here are looking at me funny,” she smiled. Vanille didn’t mind being different or people thinking she was crazy. Sometimes it was part of the job description!

Vanille thought she was doing OK and laughed. She was moving, Albion helping, and was sure she was getting the hang of it. What would happen when she got to the end of the ice though, she wasn’t sure. How did one turn? Vanille came to a stop suddenly thudding into the wall. ”Ooof!” she huffed.

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Albion Achelus

Age: 79

Male

IMAGE

After had stated, much to Albion's surprise, that she had never had a cake before, he chuckled softly. "It's definitely something to look out for, they're quite tasty." It was odd, finding a person who had so little understanding of such basic concepts as the ones so key to Albion's home world. Swimming was something every single person was expected to learn, given that the world consisted of so much water and so little land. On top of that, people had grown civil enough to sit and enjoy things like tea and cakes, as their dominance over nature allowed them such luxury. Even with the large scale invasions by pirates, thugs, and other forms of crime, the people held together well. Perhaps in part, thanks to the efforts of the Fafnir's war, so long ago, that evened out the population of monsters and men in the humans' favor. Even those who lived in small villages could generally afford to at eat a slice of cake every once in a while though, so perhaps this girl's world was worse off than the Endless Sea.

Though, with his earlier attempt to brighten the atmosphere of misfortune regarding one's past, Albion found Vanille to return it with an unintentional shin kick---Metaphorically, that is. "Did you let them take that from you?" The questioned seemed to echo again and again in the wolf's ears. There was both a truth and a falsehood in the answer to that. In the face of the adversity he underwent, this wolf did break, but not explicitly under the weight of judgement from his peers. He ripped himself down, judged himself so harshly that he grew to hate what he was born as. He realized that fact, somewhere in his heart and mind, but the rest of him refused to accept it. He needed to believe it was the world that had wronged him... Not that he had wronged the world. With a somber shift in mood, Albion decided to leave that question without an answer. But the girl managed to bring Albion back around again, with a rather interesting choice of words for someone as stubborn and self-loathing as Albion had become. "Thank you."

When asked about his career, Albion felt a bit of a tug at his heart. While he himself had brought it up in passing, it was difficult for him to get indepth regarding his former life. Even more difficult were the thoughts about all of the battles he had faced, and the sins he committed both on and off the high seas. Murderer, the word echoed in his mind. "I was in the navy," Albion began, somber in tone, "You sail on ships, delivering cargo for your leaders or patrolling and protecting your island from monsters; battling pirates who would sew death for their own profit and entertainment, as well as the more scary sea-dwellers who wish to drag the land into the depths." Albion's ears tickled with a familiar sound, far out of range of the ears of the humans surrounding him. For a moment, he appeared distracted, leading Vanille into a wall by mistake as she spoke, before thudding against the wall.

"My apologies," Albion spoke with a chuckle as he drew his attention back onto Vanille. "But no, I'm not from here." Her return observation made it even more solid for Albion to deduce that she wasn't native to this world. While he wondered how she traversed to and from worlds, with the sound he heard earlier, it was a question he'd have to ask another time. "They're just jealous," Albion joked when Vanille mentioned the funny looks.

Albion turned his face over the walls, buildings, and other surroundings, and focused his eyes squarely in the direction of a large mountain that loomed over the horizon, far in the distance. The sound he had heard came from there, he was sure. It meant that his person of interest had wandered quite far from the town. Probably distracted... Albion mused mentally. Without returning his fully attention to the girl, Albion began to walk off. "Forgive me, but it seems something quite urgent has come up. I have to go." Albion quickly darted off, offering Vanille only a glance backward as he did, each of his four paws bouncing off the ice, and then snow when he had made it off of that, each leg leading him onward in a powerful and graceful display.

Albion has left.

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