Zeph Malston: The Aether Mage

Rin was watching Zeph and his friends throw snowballs at each other. The snow was comfy, and she wiggled further into the little ice cave Ethris and her dug. She wanted to join her master in his game, but he told her to play Ethris away from them before the game started. He didn't want anyone to accidentally run over the two familiars with a hover-board. It also wouldn't be fair to the other players if Ivy and Zeph used the familiars to their advantage because the familiars would have to use magic to play.

Right now, Rin was tunneling through the snowbank in pursuit of her shiny buddy. Instead of playing tag in the air, as usual, they decided to enjoy the snow and hunt each other amidst the fluffy cold white powder. She had never seen so much snow in one place before, and it was really pretty. Usually, the people she knew created ice. It was silly because the snow was much softer and prettier in her opinion. Her ear twitched at the sound of something popping out of the snow and the soft crunch as it fell back down a little further away.

The squishy ball of light was trying to be clever by jumping out of the tunnels and collapsing them to make dead ends. Well, two can play at that game. Rin jumped up and plowed through the frosty ceiling and looked around the surrounding area. Ethris covered his tracks well, and she couldn't see any obvious holes he jumped out of or into. There was only a couple of dugout caves.

In a moment of brilliance, in Rin's opinion, the cat decided to send a blast of wind to blow the snow out of the way and see if she could uncover her friend. Ten seconds and a snow flurry later, Rin spotted the little guy nearby. He was in pouncing range, so that's what she did. With a quick wiggle and a hop, Rin leaped at the little light ball.

Ethris was prepared. The wind magic wasn't subtle, so he was ready to bounce out of there as soon as he saw a shadow. He narrowly dodged Rin and bounced a few feet away. They made an unspoken agreement not to fly, and he was regretting that decision now. Rin pounced again, and he rolled out of the way and out of sight while Rin's head got stuck in the snow. Cute little growling noises were heard from where he was a second ago.

Rin ducked low and crawled into some loose snow to hide from Ethris. Pouncing didn't work, so maybe a sneak attack would be more effective. She focused her hearing to pinpoint where her prey was. It was tough because of all the noise the kids nearby were making. That helped Ethris out. He slowly scooted around and circled back behind Rin. While she was concentrating, the light spirit popped out of the snow underneath her, causing the surprised cat to jump several feet in the air while screaming.

When Rin landed, she could hear giggling noise coming from the giddy orb. Now it was on! She used wind magic to increase her speed and slam right into Ethris, clutching him with her paws as the two rolled around on the floor.

________________

Lili was the second person that got knocked down. With Zeph out of the game, she became the primary target. She was watching the game continue while sitting in the snow next to the young lord when she heard a screech. Turning around to find out what happened, Lili saw Rin land on the ground and rush Ethris. The two familiars started wrestling on the ground. It was adorable and Zeph started recording it. He had that goofy smile on his face that he got whenever he was distracted by cuteness.

"Man they are into it." He said absently.

"Yeah, they don't even notice us," Lili said. Realization struck. "They don't even notice us," she whispered to herself. "Zeph, be quiet. This is my chance." Lili ducked low and started sneaking towards the two familiars.

"Lili are you sure-"

"Shhhh!" the girl looked back at him and put her finger in front of her mouth in a shushing gesture.

The sounds of their friends whooping and hollering along with the noises Rin and Ethris made while fighting, covered Lili's approach. The snow princess closed in on her target, assured of her inevitable victory. She could practically feel the fluffiness. Rin didn't notice a thing, because she was too busy rolling around and having fun with her little buddy.

'Now!' Lili thought as she jumped towards the kitten while it's back was facing her. Snow scattered in the air as she landed and she grabbed onto her target. She got her! Lili hopped back up while hugging her prize and wiped the snow off her face.

~Squee~ Ethris was sitting in her arms with a satisfied look on his face.

"Oh, come on!" Lili shouted to no one in particular and started stomping back towards Zeph. She used Ethris as a hug pillow to get over her disappointment. "At least you'll let me hold you."

~Ngwee~

Zeph watched Lili have a one-sided conversation with the light spirit as she complained about Rin. He checked his pendant to make sure he recorded everything and then mailed it to all his friends.

_______

In a nearby tree, Rin was in Semara's l.a.p purring. "You're never going to let her catch you are you?" the wolf-girl asked.

"Nya!"