[Ventures]untold[lie in the snow] ----for Salem---

[lathriel]

Christmas was nearing, and Hochi, not knowing much of the Christian holiday, shrugged off all the pending festivities (and that afternoon's classes) to run out into the tundra that had become Florence's grounds. The wonderful, white landscape surrounded the ever-enthusiastic, Japanese boy as he took-off towards the woods. The cold air filled his lungs with a slight burning sensation and causing them to exhale strands of smoke like breath as he ran.

"I'm glad it's snowing. It should cover my foot steps... give me more time to remain undiscovered."

The boy broke out into laughter as he burst through the dormant branches of the trees into the woods, only stopping once to untangle the grey striped scarf he adorned for warmth before reaching his destination... The Great Oak.

The massive tree, normally full and brimming with life, stood dormant as the rest of the woods. It's vast entangled branches spread out outwards like a plague encompassing the area's sky exposure for itself. Hochi stood in awe for a second at the great tree and its transformed appearance. Dreary and haunting, the tree loomed over the boy.

"Damn..." Hochi approached the tree's trunk and place his hands on it, soon gazing skywards. "...this would make an amazing painting. Too bad I didn't bring anything with me..."

The boy sighed... missing the opportunity of a still life was... depressing at best. He didn't let this get to him for long, however. In fact, Hochi took to climbing the tree, the ice and snow numbing his hands as he rose higher and higher into it's branches. Why should he let his outing be ruined for something so minute?

[Poe]

Screw the bloody afternoon classes, Salem Blane Thatchor had already left, just after lunch, to hide in the woods. For once, it was not to fight or mope or moan, it was to be herself and hide among the foliage in the trees. Well. The bare tree branches described it much better. Right now, rested in the high branches of the great oak, Salem was sleeping, her long brown hair pulled out of the normal braid, and rolling down her shoulders in soft curls, if her cheeks weren't numb, a stray lock of her brown hair would have tickled her cheek- pulling her into wakefulness. But she was completely numb. Even though her hands were cloaked in thick woolen gloves, even though she was wearing a big, warm coat, a hat, high boots... her skin was still raised in goosebumps as she slept- a dangerous thing to do so high in a tree when it was slick with snow.
She didn't care. Salem would much rather be in danger than be safe in the school- being smothered by books and tea and the long, flowing skirts of the girls dresses.
So she slept. Her hazel eyes closed to the blindingly white world set before her, so she could be lost of reality, of yet another Christmas holiday without her mother. Another holiday with Saddie-Satan. Sleep, these last few days, had been her retreat from reality. Soon, she'd have to go home to London, where Saddie was sure to have rented a winter home so Salem could attend all the balls- she could gag.
The wind whistled through the bare branches, pulling Salem into wakefulness. She blinked, her long hair whipping around her face, and she stared into the white world, away from the school.
Against the grey backdrop of sky and trees she could see the black smoke of gypsy fires- strange that they hadn't left this year. She could just make out the flickering colors of their caravans and tents, of the orange flames and their motley color of the crew. A slight smile pulled up on the corners of her lips, drawing their cold-made-pink lips into a beaming smile that no one saw very often.

"Damn."

Yeah.
Damn was right. Who in the bloody world was down there?! It was freezing. And shouldn't they all be in their classes? That carefree smile left, as she studied the male below her, staring up into the trees branches. Oh well. He hadn't seen her, maybe he would just go away. She didn't feel like being social today. And anyway, if someone were to catch them out here without a chaperon together... The thought almost thrilled her. All the trouble they'd be in...

Oh well, Salem was sure he'd turn around and go away anyway. What was so interesting about this tree when it was freezing. Right? He'd probably turn around and leave, just disappear, right? She crossed her fingers, hoping so. And then, she relaxed again, convinced that that is exactly what he'd do. Her eyes drooped closed, and she decided that maybe sleeping for another... oh... hour or so wouldn't be that bad of a thing. Then she could go inside, just in time to make it in for dinner, have a hot meal, and then go to sleep- pleading a cold and be excused from prayers in the chapel. It sounded like such a splendid thing. She was almost about to drift off and dream of that when the sudden crunch of ice and snow under foot filled her ears.

He wasn't leaving.

Salem gripped the branch below her with her hand, the gloving soaking up the ice and soaking and freezing her hand with the water. Still, she leaned over the side to look down the trunk of the tree, wondering if he was really climbing it like she thought he was.

E-gahds! he was.

It was so terrifying she wanted to cry.
The even scarier part was he was right beneath her, probably able to see her billowy school uniform skirt, and her face peering over the side of the branch, watching him with a critical expression.
Had she ever met him before? He didn't look like a fighter. More of a Nomad... Yes, that's the group she'd seen him in. The leader. Hochi. But she didn't know him that well, well enough that he would know who she was if she wanted to frighten him enough by calling him his first name.
Deciding not to wait for her fate to be played to her, she moved to crouch down on the tree branch, her hands still gripping the narrower part of the icy limb, and she swung down, clenching her teeth to keep a shriek from leaving her lips.
It wasn't like she liked jumping to what could be her death.

Oh.
No.

The tree branch below her was just a tad too far down for her short stature to reach. Her feet dangled just five or six inches from safety. As she hung there, her limbs started to ache.

"Well," she said, a bit loudly on accident. "Isn't this just perfect?"

[lathriel]

Hochi had found himself scaling the tree to nice height. Quite pleased with himself, he figured another few branches would do it... that is, until a voice cut through the cold air, hitting him a bit unexpectedly.

"Well... isn't this just perfect?"

I didn't see anyone out here... or for that matter up here... He paused in his climbing and glanced towards to the origin of voice only to see the dangling girl.

Shit...

Instead of wasting time on asking a question to which he already knew the anwser, the boy headed towards the raven-haired girl. She was only a few branches over, hopefully he'd get to her before the branch gave way... or her hands slipped. He took too pulling himself up on a branch and then standing it.

I'll get there quicker this way.

Hochi began guiding himself carefully, as not to fall, across the thicker branches over to the girl. He positioned himself so as he could reach through a set of branches, leaning against them, and grasp the girl by the waist and help her down the branch below her.

"Here," Hochi grabbed her firmly by the waist, "let go."

[Poe]

Her hazel eyes watched him as he scaled the tree. She felt a bit like a klutz. A bit... stupid, silly, idiotic as she hung here from the tree limb, her gloved fingers clenching on, scared that the frozen limb would break off and let her fall to her doom--- or that she'd let go... Which would be that much worse. Her breath was coming in and out of her nose smoothly, almost like she wasn't panicked at all, but her heart was beating away in her chest like crazy. Yes. She was terrified. Today wasn't really a great day to die. She didn't want to die. She did fear death. Just like she feared never seeing her mother again. Just like she feared the water, not only of the Thames, but of any lake or pond.
Her eyes squeezed tight, she could feel her fingers slipping.

And then.

His hands were around her waist, and he was telling her to let go.

If the circumstances were different, she would probably tell him how horrible he was and that he should unhand her that instant- forget about the fact that she was going to be falling any second. She'd tell him off, and then gouge his eyes out with a rock. But, because the circumstances were very different- and because she didn't mind the feel of his hands around her waist (but shhh, no one should know that at all), she said nothing, she spoke no ill word against him, and did actually listen to him.

After a moments hesitation, she released her hold on the branch. One arm at a time.

"I think you'll find I weigh more than you realize," she muttered, before she dropped her arms and fell onto the branch of the tree with an "oomph!"
Her arms reached out, one grabbing the hand on her waist, the other the trunk of the tree to steady herself. When she was sure that she wasn't going to fall and die, she moved to sit on the tree branch, her legs just to the right of him. Looking down at him, she brushed her hair to the side of her face, sighing, and then smiling. "Thank you. It was horribly... klutz-y of me to do something like that. But I suppose we all have our moments, hm?"

Biting her lip, Salem smiled again, looking down the tree in wonder, wondering how long it would take her to actually get down.

[lathriel]

The Japanese boy broke out into a broad smile and shook his head at her thank you.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, what was I suppose to do? Take a seat on one of the nearest branch and watch you fall to your death?"

Once he was sure she was steady on the branch he let his hands fall away, her hand brushing against his arm as he did. He folded his arms on the lowest branch he was leaning against and breaking out into a joyous laughter. This had turned out to be a much more adventurous outing than he had predicted.

His laughter ceasing, Hochi took this moment to study the girl. She was beautiful, he decided. Very fair of face, yet she held a firceness that he couldn't quite describe. Painting her would be an interesting venture if he ever asked the girl if he could.

"So what brings you out here..."

He paused... he didn't know her name... but in his observation he had remember seeing her with the misfits... Often hanging around Clyde, their leader. He searched his mind... it was something with an s wasn't it? Sarah? No, no... Selena? No, neither of those were right. He laughed again.

"Sorry, but your name escapes me. So, if may I ask, what is it?"

[Poe]

"Oh, many would like to watch me plunge to my death, I'm quite sure," she said lightly, still smiling, as she smoothed out the folds in the fabric of her dress. "I shall forever be in your debt," she said, with a sense of finality. The wind changed course abruptly, and her brown hair whipped around her face, as she looked off toward the gypsy caravans again, her eyes slightly faraway as the snow swirled around and her lips became cold and chapped from the cold.
Turning so her back was up against the trunk of the tree, she tilted her head to listen to him laugh, her lips breaking into a smile again. The sound of his laughter was so musical, it sounded right, even in this dead world of winter. It made all seem so much more... beautiful, not so crisp and hard and mean.

"Salem," she said quietly. "Salem Thatchor, of the Misfits, at your service," she said, a bit more loudly, her eyes turning away from the camp and at him, head tilted to the side, that smile (that really wasn't shown all that often) still very bright and light on her lips. "And... you are?" She asked, before going to answer his question.
"I'm out here, I suppose, to skip afternoon classes like any respectable girl of Florence would be doing," she said, laughing. It was not one of those I'm-a-lady-of-london-and-I-shall-not-be-heard-when-I-laugh- laughs. It was a full blown, I'm actually happy, laugh. An amused laugh that was true and actually meant something. "As respectable, of course, as a girl like me can be."

A born fighter, in both spirit and life, could not be respectable, could she? Not when her purpose, her goal, in life was to hurt those around her just to help the pain in herself, right?
The wind whipped her hair around again, before it subsided, and she shifted it to the side of her face.

"And what would such a fine young man be doing out here, hm? Skipping classes too? Or do you lucky men get to have class out here?"
She often envied the boys. They had so many more privileges than them, and they never seemed to be scared at all... Oh, what she wouldn't give to have the freedom from fear.
Slowly, Salem crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her upper arms in an attempt to keep warm.

[lathriel]

Hochi's gaze never left the girl, as it seemed it was all most impossible not to... What a radiant being she was; not at all like the majority of the women he had met at the school. Most of them were so up tight, so dainty and polite; not like this girl. "Wild and free" seemed to be printed all over her in bold, striking calligraphy; screaming for all the world to hear that she was who she was and nothing would change that. He liked her, her impression on him had definitely set that down in stone.

"Salem... Salem Thatchor..." Hochi murmured to himself, rolling the name on his tongue like a piece of candy, tasting it... I like it, he thought, A lovely name to match a lovely face.

"Pleasure to meet you Salem. I'm Shimazaki Hayate, my friends call me Hochi." The boy grinned as her laughter followed her quite humorous anwser to his question that had been asked before hand, chiming through the woods like the sound of church bells - full and jubilant.

"Being respectable isn't that important of a trait anyhow... Independence, individualism, intelligence, wit, and compassion - those are far more important than being respectable, and with them normally comes honor and respect that is well-earned, instead of just assumption that a person has such things automatically." Hochi paused before going on to reply to her own question on his being out here to brush his hair behind his ear, a feminine movement, but a necessary one if you had longer hair.

"But, oh no, Miss.Thatchor, you are not mistaken... I am indeed skipping my afternoon classes, much like you are. I don't believe there has been a single class held out her in my entire stay at Florence so far. If such a thing is to ever happen, I'll let you know."

He broke into laughter before continuing, "Besides, we haven't learned much of anything these pass days. Small insignificant facts being passed on so as the classes may close nicely before the holidays. So I see no reason why I shouldn't wander about and enjoy the change of seasons. After all, I've wandered off during much more important times than this."

[Poe]

"Ah, no, the pleasure is all mine, Mister Shimazaki Hayate. And, if I may be so bold, Hochi." She was still smiling slightly, her gaze turned back to him, as if she'd suddenly lost interest in the gypsies that she knew some of her friends from her floater days had visited. Ara and Cicily and the others girls of The Unloved that had drifted over there to do... what? To feel better about themselves with the men? Have their fortunes told? Or to just listen to the tales that the gypsies weaved out of the sky? She brushed the hair out of her eyes, shaking her head slightly at the thought. She guessed she'd never know, then...

"Oh, don't try and say that to the headmistress!" Salem said, laughing quietly. "Being respectable is the only trait that it seems we girls are allowed to have. You men, however." She rolled her eyes, still smiling. "You can be whatever you want and we still have to bow down and worship you like you were God Himself." She shook her head. "Sadly, individualism, independence... They aren't much of what we are to be when we are turned out of this school." She flattened the folds in her skirt, that the wind had picked up and feathered, again. "But, I suppose thus is my life," she said at last, shaking her head. "Nothing one can do about it so why be so upset?" But the fierceness in her eyes was back, like a candle had been lit behind her, blazing. "Unless of course you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty and fight."

Would he understand how much that phrase meant to her? Would he be able to figure out what it meant? That she did fight...? Used to, every night? But now that the headmistress had eyes everywhere she couldn't? It would be interesting to see how he took that thought that had leaped out of her mouth before she'd been able to stop it.
Very interesting indeed.

"Ah! A respectable man like yourself, Mr. Shimazaki Hayate skipping classes? Oh, the shame of it!" She shook her head. "I don't entirely blame you. I hate being cooped up, even when it is below freezing outside. Perhaps we'll have to sneak off to town together sometime and laze the day away, hm? Before I'm shipped off to be paraded around ball rooms like a show horse?"
Her eyes lit up when he said he'd inform her. "Oh, please do. I'll put on my slacks and come join you."
And what, pray tell, would he think of that?

"So what are you doing for this holiday season of trees and snow and tinsel?" She asked, an eyebrow lofted elegantly over her left eye. "Will you go see family? Or stay in this prison castle of a school?" She gestured toward where you could just see the turrets of Florence peeking through the dead branches of the proud forest.

[Lath too lazy to log in]

"Unless of course you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty and fight."

Hochi smirked. Beneath her skirts and under her skin she was an individual, and that individual... well, she was trapped by society. The boy shuddered. He could never be trapped... he would die. He needed that freedom... and it seemed to him the girl before him did too.

His dark eyes had gazed off as his mind chased the nightmare of being caged in his head, but had now become drawn back to Salem, drinking in her every movement... watching every piece of her true self unravel for his delightful viewing when she spoke with passion. He was enjoying listening to her speak, with the words drifting about his mind and slipping out again...

"Oh, please do. I'll put on my slacks and come join you."

That intrigued him... somehow seeing Salem in pants would be fitting to the bold personality she possessed. Hochi's mind wandered back to the ideal of panting her... his mind imagined her sprawled out on a throne in men's attire, complete with a sleek top hat and a cane. Those fierce eyes of hers glaring towards him as he worked and becoming a hypnotic lure for his painting when he would finish it... her eyes drowning the viewer with passion...

Yes... that sounded right. In fact, that sounded so good he might just to ask if she would model for him...

Hochi's mind had ran off again, barely realizing the task at hand...

"...family? Or stay in this prison...?"

He blinked and stare off to where her hand gestured off to.

"Prison," he murmured, pausing to collect his thoughts and store away the idea in his head. He continued on more solidly, "I cannot afford to go all the way back home, so it is here I must stay. I do suppose you're going home though?"

Hochi thought about an earlier comment she had made before his mind ran off, "Perhaps we'll have to sneak off to town together sometime and laze the day away, hm? Before I'm shipped off to be paraded around ball rooms like a show horse?"

She must not be pleased about going home, if that is what she meant. It sounds like going home makes her even more a salve to society. His mind paused in its thought process - an idea. Perhaps I should stay at the local inn with her? I have enough money to do that in the very least... It would get me out of the castle and her free of whatever unpleasant obligations she has...

The flaw in his thoughts though, however kind and innocent their intentions, was they did not sound so... and as such Hochi stumbled over the question in his mind while listening to Salem reply to his own.