"Crap."
Sasha felt the immediate change in the atmosphere. The air always grew heavier when they were around like the planet itself was trying to reject their presence. If only it could.
"Mr. Erin."
"Yeah, I feel it too." He pulled out his wand. "I guess it was too much to hope the world would stay vacant."
They both looked on as the purple gate appeared, falling snow sizzling on contact. Though Iris had been planet-side, it was just their luck the White Legion decided now of all times to show up. Maybe they stumbled their way to Frostum, too. Why and when the legionnaires attacked was a question even Mr. Erin couldn't answer. Some claimed they were attracted to people, but there wasn't a soul in Frostum for miles.
When the portal reached its full size, a cavalcade of creatures spilled out, their frames covered in whisps of white that resembled fur, some frothing at the mouth while others lacked mouths entirely.
"Can you fight in that?" Mr. Erin asked.
Sasha engaged her field, her coat growing lighter.
"I can now."
"Try not to overuse, okay. Make every shot count."
"Got it."
She leapt to the sky, the frozen air blowing against her gravity shell as she soared. The legionnaires crawled below, hooked claws and pointed heads rising when they noticed the grad dropping down on them. She twirled GT at the ready, descending straight into the fold as a jet of water sliced a monster in two.
Despite her field, fighting in the cold was no less cumbersome. When she jumped she had all the agility of a chubby duckling, every strike hindered by layers of fuzz preventing full extension. More than once she had to block an otherwise dodge-able attack because she couldn't move fast enough. So annoying. It was only thanks to her skill she managed to keep fighting. Given what little power she had, Sasha emphasized each strike with a gravity transfer. One legionnaire came barreling towards her and she dove to the side, smacking it in the head. It flew to the ground, her field running through to crush its skull like a pancake. Another came clawing too fast to dodge, but she could block, deflecting the attack back with enough gravity to knock the appendages into the legionnaire's face.
It was her second strongest asset. Something she'd learned to incorporate more in her fighting style, though in small bursts so she wouldn't end up staff-less. As long as she made contact, she could pour a bit of her field into someone. Make them heavier or lighter depending on her needs. It tended to take more power for larger bodies, but weapons and limbs were pretty easy to manipulate.
But her enthusiasm would falter when she saw a second portal appearing overhead. Especially as she could feel more signals coming off it.
"Cripes."
Sasha zipped backward, a giant foot crashing through the opening. Slender arms pulled it forward, a thick mass of white scales coming out of the portal.
Where there should have been a head, there was only a sharp needle, the arms dangling at its side as snow sizzled off the scales of its massive torso. Sasha furrowed at the creature. They weren't at a Stem Portal, but the thing was big enough to be guarding one. Perfect. Just what I need today. She fell back, landing squarely next to Mr. Erin, who had several legionnaires getting crushed under gravity.
"Uh, Mr. Erin," she said. "We got a big one."
"Yes, I can see, Sasha." He pointed his wand. "Need me to take care of it?"
"No. I- uh. I got it. Just be ready in case I'm wrong."
"I have somewhat faith in you, Ms. Panther."
She rolled her eyes. "Alright. We can do this, GT."
She flung skyward, the creature's arms springing down to burrow through the snow as its head lowered.
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The giant feet dragged it backward, head pointing in the soaring Sasha's direction. What's it- Holy cripes! She yanked herself sideways, needle head shooting through the spot she'd been. No. It was the entire body. The giant flung itself head first right at her, slender arms anchoring it to the ground. They yanked back in place, giant flying backward and sliding through snow. It was already starting to reposition for a second attack. Sasha took a breath for strength.
Alright. If that's how you wanna play it.
She yanked herself upward, letting the giant pass below while she focused on gaining some altitude. She didn't need to go too high. When she looked down, she could see the monster preparing to jab. She lowered GT.
Here goes nothing.
She piled on the weight.
Her body sunk like a rock, natural gravity pulling her gradually back to Frostum while she made sure to keep herself angled using her own field. The needle giant came flying at her, but she didn't zip away. Not this time. She swung her staff around, spinning like a top as the distance between them grew shorter and shorter. The needle came ripping through her coat, tearing at the base, but she kept flying, angling herself right past the giant. And falling straight over its back.
Now!
She plunged down, gravity magnified a hundred-fold in the blink of an eye. She fell straight onto the giant's back, the scales denting as the monster dropped with her, both getting dragged through falling snow and cold air straight down to the legionnaires below.
The ground crunched under them, the snow filling with white mist as they flung powder in all directions, crashing through the snow and into the hidden dirt below. But Sasha didn't stop there. She piled on the gravity, growing heavier and heavier as she stood on her enemy. Its frame finally caved in completely, the needle giant replaced with a cloud of white mist below her feet. Only then did she let up, floating down to the crater she'd created.
"Ugh."
She staggered, plunging GT into the ground to steady herself. Sudden weight changes always left her delirious.
"Cripes. GT. Status report?"
"Reserves holding steady at 4%, Ms. Sasha," it chimed.
"Oh. Perfect."
Her field dropped, Sasha's vision swimming for a moment before returning to normal.
With the death of the giant, the second portal was quick to disappear, the first vanishing not long after as she could hear the stragglers getting killed by Mr. Erin. Still, she watched the skies for a third to show up, just in case. When none did, she let out a small sigh, finally climbing out of the hole she'd made.
“Well done, Ms. Panther,” Mr. Erin said. He was waiting at the top, extending a hand out. “It seems you're really starting to come into your own.”
Sasha turned a tad brighter, unable to hide her smile. “Well, I did have a pretty good teacher.”
He smiled back.
Between him and Mr. Xan, she'd never felt more like a real force of nature. While the latter liked to laze around, he'd still taught her how to shoot and a little bit about ship travel. And Mr. Erin taught her everything she knew about gravity fighting, among other things. Without the two of them, she'd still be a bumbling idiot stumbling her way through the cosmos. She might have even died several times over.
Mr. Erin checked his commpad.
“We should get back to hunting," he said. "We'll close the Stem and Root after we've found Lady Risa. Sound fair?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Right. Lead the way."
He nodded. "Looks like we’re almost there. It's just up that ridge, I think.”
"Okay. But did it just get colder all of a sudden?"
It took her a few minutes to remember the rips in her coat.
***
The trek through snow was slightly less bearable. It took a bit to get used to her new outfit, but any complaints she had vanished when they reached the top of the ridge. Sasha instantly ran forward, dropping next to a section of black rock. Iris's signals were all over the spot.
No way.
She touched it, visions appearing directly next to her.
She saw Risa, sitting in the snow and staring up at the sky. And then there was Iris next to her. She was there! Moving about and scribbling down notes of some sort. It was impossible to know what as the visions never recreated removed items. Only people. Still, knowing the wolf, she doubted she would have understood them anyway. Iris's mind was like a maze. She always loved that about her. As her friend faded, she only felt more eager to find where she was headed.
“We're on the right track,” Sasha said. “Sulky was here, alright. I guess her and Risa knew each other.”
“Anything you saw that would point us in her direction? Or tell us why she came all the way out here?”
Sasha shook her head. She retraced Iris’s movements as she had seen them.
“I saw her write something here, go stand here, wander over here, and-”
She felt something squish under her boot.
Sasha looked to the ground, her face contorting as she saw a spread of tarnished white under her foot. The panther's heart rate skyrocketed.
She'd just stepped on a partially frozen skeleton.