Cabin Fever (Open to one)

For Tarine there was the hope that he'd have been able to sleep through the night undisturbed. Unfortunately for him that dream was disturbed when he was suddenly startled awake by a rush of cold air signalling the arrival of an aspiring conqueror and his minions.

The "human" who also happened to have been inhabiting this space, having been suddenly woken from a nap was regarding the intimidating figure in the doorway with a drowsy mix of confusion and alarm while still seated in a rather scuffed and lumpy looking armchair.

Honestly he wasn't entirely unconvinced the sight standing before him wasn't a result of a bizarre dream or hypothermia-related delusion. So when initially presented with a strange armour-clad figure asking for shelter from the still ongoing snowstorm for him and his robotic entourage all he could say was:

"Umm... sure?"

He couldn't have exactly refused, this place didn't belong to him either.

Presumably the group would then begin to make their way in, and realising the large amount of people/machines outside Tarine was finally prompted to shake off some of his sleep-induced stupor. He'd pulled himself out of the chair and began worriedly glancing between the drones and the rest of the room. "Wait, hold on- how many of you're out there?" He put up his hand as to signal them to stop. "Just... let me get out a light, I need to check something."

With that he drew the outstretched hand back, appeared to examine it for a moment, then when a small orb of light was formed, flicked it up towards the ceiling where it began to float in place, illuminating the room with a pale glow. Not quite as effective as a lightbulb but it displayed the rest of the cabin well enough.

It appeared it was slightly bigger than Tarine had assumed, as the room everyone was currently in was a combination of living room and a small kitchen area, however aside from it's recent visitors, the place clearly hadn't been lived in for quite some time, most surfaces were covered in dust or cobwebs and appliances rusted. There were a few other places to sit in a similar condition to Tarine's chosen armchair. And finally, a door that likely led into a bedroom.

A knock at the door startled Tarine awake, for a moment he could've sworn he'd been talking to someone- these odd mechanical figures, but like a dream the memories quickly faded and he was again alone in the dusty and dark interior of the cabin. Whatever their fate happened to be was unknown to him and quickly pushed aside as he was brought back into what he assumed was reality.

He pried himself from the old chair, stretching in an attempt to work off the aches that had developed from his poor choice of a resting place before remembering the noise that originally woke him from his slumber. He looked towards the indistinct shape of the door in the dark and called out unsurely.

"Hello?"

Regardless of the answer he reached out with his senses to detect there was indeed a living signature outside, and summoned a weak mote of light at the end of his finger to serve as a torch before he slowly crept towards the entrance. Reaching the door he hesitated, mentally preparing himself to fight the onslaught of snow and cold air that would inevitably come rushing in, before prying it open a crack to allow him to peer outside. 

On the outside of the cabin there would have been a long period where just shuffling was heard before the door opened to allow a sliver of the dark space inside to be visible, an eye would appear in the crack, blinking back the cold winds before looking down at the girl and going wide. 
"What's a kid doing out here?" The man the voice belonged to sounded shocked and immediately the door swung open to reveal the rest of a slightly dishevelled and tired looking red-haired figure who'd attempt to wrap an arm around Reigun to push the rest of her inside before shutting the door again. "Get inside, it's freezing!"

If successful, the door closing would plunge the room into darkness again besides for a small bead of light hanging to the hand he wouldn't have used to pull her in, as dim as it was it would illuminate a few feet of space forward, exposing the rotting planks of wood that made up the floor, with shapes in the background hinting at the existence of furniture in various stages of disrepair. Tarine would then let go of the girl, seemingly relieved to have brought her to safety as opposed to letting her brave the elements outside, he'd then attempt to bring up the ki-empowered light in his hand to serve as a weak flashlight to better view the cabin's interior before addressing her again. 

"I know this place isn't great but as shelter it works, it should be enough to wait out the blizzard at least. But there's no lights I think so you'll have to get creative or feel your way around."

While Tarine wandered into the wilderness of his own volition and at this point was coming to terms with the fact it was entirely his fault for getting into this mess, seeing what appeared to be a child or teenager stuck in the same conditions did tug at his heartstrings in a way they hadn't been in quite a while. Despite some dark and dilapidated cabin not being the most pleasant place to take shelter, there was a sense of relief in knowing he'd managed to get her inside as opposed to being stuck out there for god only knows how long. 

Shivering slightly from the rush of cold air that had entered the room he'd acknowledge what she said with a nod.

"Reigun? Right, you can call me Mel then." He then rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly averting his eyes. "Uh... don't worry about it. If you can't tell by how this place is falling apart, I don't actually live here. I don't think anyone has for years." To prove his point he swept the hand holding the weakish spark of light over the room, dimly illuminating some of the old furniture and trash that littered the floor.

To his surprise the girl proceeded to form a bright spear of light in her hands, causing him to instinctively squint his eyes and bring up a hand so shield them from the sudden increase in brightness. 

When his eyes adjusted, he stared in open-mouthed amazement at the weapon, had she made it out of ki? He hadn't even known that was possible! He could swear the thing was sparking with electricity the way it was making his hair stand on end. He watched Reigun as she placed the spear in the corner, effectively turning it into a novelty lamp. Still surprised by the sight he blinked and quietly muttered to himself. 

“Oh sh- yeah that works too.”

Seeing the space was now adequately lit from the spear-like object, making his attempt obsolete, Tarine shook his hand a couple of times and the spark he was holding sputtered out. But since the lighting issue was now solved, he'd now walk into the middle of the room less hesitantly, stepping over a few bits of litter and a stray wire before turning back to glance at the girl.

"I guess we'll be stuck here for a while, you can take a chair if you want... I was trying to sleep out the snowstorm but they aren't too comfy... and I think a spring's broken in that one." He pointed at one of the two ratty looking armchairs. Then he looked further into the room, surprised to have just noticed a short hallway with a couple of doors that had been lit up by the spear. "Or it looks like there's some more rooms back there, I didn't check but one might be a bedroom. Looking at the stuff in here it can't be in great condition but has to be warmer at least."

Finally he'd walk back over to an armchair and place his hand on it. "Your choice, I'll just take a chair again, not great but it worked out for me before." He shrugged, if there was a bed he wasn't about to fight a kid over it, even if he would she could have kicked his ass with the power he was reading from her. He'd just deal with the back pain when he woke up.

If Reigun did choose to walk past the kitchen and try either of the two hallway doors, the one on the right would refuse to budge unless considerable force was used, however the left would swing open, revealing a small unlit bedroom, holding a nightstand and a single bed with frayed sheets in a similar poor condition to the rest of the furniture.

Despite the surprise of seeing a kid conjure a literal spear, Tarine would actually be very interested in the possibilities it presented. His lights weren't anywhere this level of skill but if he kept at it would he be able to create something like that too?

Thoughts for another time perhaps, one where he hadn't just woken up a few minutes ago.

For now he accepted the explanation with a semi-shocked nod and moved on with his previous explanation of the room's condition and the possibility of needing to wait out the blizzard.

Now over at a chair again it seemed a whole lot more comforting... like he could clamber on in, close his eyes and... He felt dizzy. Probably wasn't anything to worry about, he was just tired. He shook his head, trying to ignore the sensation and watched the girl walk past towards the other rooms this shack apparently had. From his angle he thought he saw something in the first room she opened... or he didn't? He was trying to ignore it but there was a bit of a fog coming over his thoughts because of how tired he was- he shook himself again, it wouldn't hurt to wait a little bit longer.

Then she turned around and shot a hole in the other door? At first he was taken aback, which was probably evident in the tone of his voice and the look he gave her as he took a step away... then the energy seemed to leave him half way through and it turned into a fairly meek question.

"Woah, woah! What... did you really need to do that?"

Even his response to her next statement was notably lacking the energy he'd had moments before when he'd first demanded she step out of the cold, he might have even looked visibly more exhausted?

"Oh, okay... go do that then."

There was no telling if Reigun was feeling something similar, maybe Tarine was just more susceptible, or it was because he'd been here much longer than her, but to him there was a desire growing stronger by the second that demanded he sit down and rest. So he would, he'd turn away, finally able to sit down and his eyes felt so heavy...

If Reigun was still watching, it might have seemed odd how quickly he collapsed back into the chair and passed out though maybe he needed it if he was that eager to sleep.

Sometime later Tarine woke up. His brain told him he was still in the cabin he'd crashed at the night before. The blizzard outside had died down, leaving the weather outside calm, the sun shining over a world blanketed in snow. Notably unlike the night before the cabin seemed far cleaner, almost brand new even, previously dusty windows illuminating the room with natural light. Weirdly none of this was clocking as strange to him, for a second it crossed his mind that something was off, but then it occurred to him that someone must of cleaned up while he was sleeping, no mysteries there. 

Oh right, he was supposed to be leaving. Without a second thought he already himself up from the chair and began walking towards the door in a semi-dazed state. Only to be halted when he was half-way out the door and was moments from plunging his foot into the snow because... it wasn't snow. Snow didn't buzz, it was shifting almost like static and it was so bright it was starting to make his head hurt... Maybe he didn't want to go out there. He backed away from the door, whatever that was kinda freaked him out.