EVENT: Snowed In

[the_npcdo]

[Early Monday afternoon, the snow starts. At first, a charming novelty glimpsed through the classroom windows, but within minutes it becomes a veritable blizzard. Any classes being held outside are urged to bring themselves inside. Within half an hour, the power's cut out and the snow is piled high enough to make entry/exit from the buildings difficult. Within an hour, it's impossible. Snow is piled halfway up the first floor windows, and most of the doors have frozen shut. The second story windows seem to be working just fine, though, as are any rooftop access doors.]

[The blizzard finally calms down, but students and faculty are trapped inside--or outside, if they managed to be on the wrong side of the doors during the storm. The power's out and the cold is starting to seep in through the insulation. Worse, there seems to be some kind of unseen presence in the buildings, an eerie cackle echoing through the empty halls or an unsettling sense that you're not alone.]

[Someone's going to have to restart the generator before we end up with a school full of studentcicles. It wouldn't hurt to clear some pathways out of the buildings, either.]

Comments

[worldcup]

[ Ha, ha, ha... very funny. The fact that Illya was outside to walk between buildings during her lunch break which is why she's buried knee deep in snow. But she doesn't do anything about it because there are people who don't have powers around here and she doesn't want to get into trouble for using them.

So instead, she frowns, shaking her arms angrily before yelling: ]

Someone come help me!

[all_onis_are_true]

[Hiroshi is in his room, huddled under some blankets and reading more science books when he hears someone yelling outside his window. Seriously? He has a brief moment of cognitive dissonance between "They're probably somebody supernatural, can't they get out themselves" and "Wait, we're trying to pretend supernatural stuff doesn't exist" before finally sighing and going over to his window, opening it. Thank God it's not frozen shut.]

Who is out there?

[inchesofevil]

[Duncan is in the middle of his Special Health and Anatomy class, trying to teach some of the finer points of treating concussions, when the snow starts. He notices, but goes on undeterred, because his classroom is generally kept warm enough that the weather outside is a nonissue.]

[And then the lights flicker and die and the background hum of electricity in the modern world goes silent. That is when he freezes up and turns to stare out the window like the apocalypse has hit.]

...Shit.

[ofsevenseas]

[After making sure his students got out of his class and towards their dorm, he made the appropriate adjustments as not to freeze his ass off - those who can't see the supernatural won't notice a thing, those that can - it's unmissable - and started to roam the building to see if anyone was getting to the generator or any students lingering.

Oh right, Duncan hates the cold even more then he does. He better make sure he isn't frozen solid and ducks his head through the door]

Is everyone all right?

[tsunderbolting]

[ That sure was a thing that happened. And Mikoto swears that it was not her fault for the power outage. This time, at least. But before anybody can go blame her for that, she's just going to.

Attempt to sneak out of the classroom.

Very discreetly as she gets to the door before looking over her shoulder and saying in a sweet tone - somewhat sarcastic, somewhat worried, sounding a little guilty even though she didn't do it: ]

You know what? Since there's a blackout and all, I guess we can't— y'know. Have class. So I'm just going to just leave now if that's okay with you.

[ Or at least try..... ]

[hair_guitar]

[Well, this is a pretty awful situation already. Ellen had been between her room and one of her classes when the power cut out leaving her in the dark. Well, that's still okay... even if it's dark, she still knows her way easily enough and although her steps are a little more careful, she's not worried.

At least until the first peel of cackling laughter echoes down the hall, stopping her in her tracks and sending a shiver down her spine. She turns in place, looking out into the shadows, swallowing.]

... H... hello? Is somebody there?

[And... nothing. Nothing except the sounds of wind outside and her own breathing... except for the terrible sense of something else there with her. She gulps again and backs up a few steps.]

Th-that isn't funny! [More silence and then she starts moving again. It's just some student playing a joke or something. Somebody must think it's fun to try to scare people, that's all.

Still. Her steps are a little quicker and she keeps looking over her shoulder. She's not... entirely watching where she's going either.]

1/2

[duckduckdeux]

[ NO THIS IS CREEPY. Creepy and dark and Duck can't see where she's going AT ALL. Why did this happen?

She's walking slooowly, ever so slowly, trying to squiiiint enough to make out the shapes of the corridor in the shadows.

Wait. Is that a- ]

[duckduckdeux]

[ WHAM face-first into Ellen ]

[infinitejustice]

[Athrun, meanwhile, had come to a complete stop. He's still new here, and hasn't fully gotten used to the layout of the campus. He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and is in the process of turning it on when--]

What the--

[Something smacks right into his back. Instinctively, Athrun leaps forward and whirls around, arms raised in a combat pose.]

What was that? Who's there?!

[losingherhead]

[Celty isn't typically a nervous person. Except around humans. And authority. Okay, St. Augustus is a nervous place for her sometimes. But she's certainly not afraid of the dark. The darkness is comforting and she thrives in it.

But now there's spooky cackling laughter going on. And that's no fun at all. So she's done the sensible thing and has removed her helmet to examine the hallway carefully. Her smoke floats from her stump, helping her get a good sense for anything strange out and about. It also handily wraps her arms and legs a little. With all cold it is out, you need to stay warm.

Surely a headless student covered in smoke in the halls will attract no alarm, everything is fine.]

[worldcup]

[ Usually it's in bad taste to prank someone while there's something strange going on, but she can't help it. This is just too easy... ]

Boo.

[ofsevenseas]

[Cold. It's too damn cold! He instinctively wanted to adjust himself to a shape more appropriate for this weather but that was dicey even with the Glamor.

Sinbad immediately stopped in the middle of explaining what is genre fiction and lets out a low, aggravated sigh as he glances outside]

All right. I know you're not going to pay attention to a thing I say, and it's looking pretty bad. Class dismissed, and please head straight to your-

[The lights flicker]

...figures.

[Then the power cuts off, a second later a huge, rattling sneeze can be heard]

[diethedesu]

...I was listening.

[But that's not important right now.]

Everyone please stay calm. Power should be restored shortly.

[cant_breathe_no_heir]

[Snow... such an odd, alien thing. As a Troll, Equius had never experienced such a phenomenon. So, while the rest of his Track and Field class had moved back inside to avoid the storm, he had stayed outside to investigate it. He'd show those lowbloods how a highblood rolled.

And then he discovered that it was basically frozen water. So now was a good time to go inside... except he was now trapped in knee deep snow, which was still rising.]

....Fudgesicles.

[Quickly, he tried to clear a path to one of the school entrances, large clouds of snow sent into the air by Equius's strength.]

[diethedesu]

[Dlanor saw movement out through a window through the snow as she was running around attempting to help other students, and made her way to the door it appeared to be heading toward.]

[Time would tell whether it was actually a trapped student or some other weird thing, but she was prepared for either.]

Fire Alarm! Fire Alarm!

[thirdtenkaistar]

[Thomas was in his dorm writing a letter when suddenly-]

BRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-BAAAABREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! BZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ

Auuuugh!

[The young man leap up so quickly that he tripped over the legs of his chair as he bolted out of the room, yanking his coat - he thinks it was his coat at least, he was too busy panicking to check - and threw it on as he ran downstairs with other students. As he starts to head outside, he could feel it being rather cold]

oh... dear.

[losingherhead]

[Celty nearly forgot to put the helmet on her stump as she raced out into the hall. She doesn't remember why, but she feels an odd association of fire with angry mobs. Both sound painful and terrifying.

Distracted by her thoughts, she finds herself accidentally stumbling into Thomas. And then feels her helmet start to slip as she fumbles to keep a steady grip.]

[cant_breathe_no_heir]

[Okay, okay. Equius had just punched through quite a bit of snow. He was tired, and cold, and was this close to getting back inside the school, where he would obviously be safe from the snow storm he unfortunately found himself in.

And then he spotted the doors opening, and students poured out. They were coming in his direction.

Naturally, he had no idea what was going on.]

...What.

[partyhats]

[ Oh, a late snowstorm. Quaint. Or is this late here? Lissa doesn't know the climate.

Oh, it's snowing really hard.

...oh they're trapped. Lissa's in one of her awesome new magical classes but she's pretty sure she'll just hurt something if she tries to use fire magic on this snow, if she can even make it work, so she just ends up with her face on her desk, muttering things about how this just.

Is the worst. ]

...cold...

[starlightheart]

[All things considered, this really isn't the best time for gym classes, or combat practice. As such, Nanoha is tending towards helping with more practical classes.

It's not hard to notice the way this girl is taking the situation, either. She might be strict in some areas, but... she can't let something like this be unattended to, either.

As such, she'll eventually find Nanoha trying to drape a blanket over her shoulders from behind.]

Well, we can't let you just freeze then now, can we?

[clockworkheals]

[The moment that power flickers off, Tsukiko actually goes into action. The library may be large, but thankfully, it's not difficult for anyone to hear her voice in there.]

We seem to be having some trouble. While I can't force anyone to stay in here, I would prefer it if you do. I have some blankets stored away.

Anyone who wants to stay here can wait by my desk. I'll be back in a moment.

[After which she disappears into a back room, before dragging out a...fair number of blankets and pillows. As well as a bunsen burner, and a backpack full of supplies to make tea.]

[diethedesu]

[This was well outside the climate parameters in this part of the country. Combined with the classic signs of a haunting, can only indicate one thing:]

Somebody is meddling. We'll need to investigate.

[She says this to whoever happens to be around, honestly, although most likely to her fellow students, as Monday afternoon she'd still be in class. She doesn't really care who her audience is, since in her opinion it's a job for all the students.]

However, there are other things that need to be done first.

[Dlanor can be seen around the main buildings doing her usual super-responsible act, attempting to open doors for trapped students and trying to find someone who knows where the generator is - sadly, that information was not in the student handbook.]

[tsunderbolting]

Let's see, the generators should be somewhere around here...

[ There seems to be a young girl with a flashlight pressing her hand against the wall with a curious hum. She seems to be talking to herself more than anything, but at least she seems to be doing something useful?

Not that she's noticed Dlanor. ]

[soundslikehighmay]

"'It's not far' I said. 'I don't need my HEAVY jacket' I said. 'I should get used to the cold' I said."

Jaime tugged futilely on the door to the school as the snow came down in drifts around him. He was already shivering, and could feel his fingers going numb, which was probably a bad sign. Also concerning was the buzzing in his head. The scarab was getting better at using words, but it was still difficult to follow.

Immoderately inclement encompassment for homo sapiens. Exingency of dissolution!

"What does that even mean?"

Exingency of dissolution!

"Use less stupid words.

Death!

"I'm not gonna die!"

Enacting to maintain optimal viability of host status!

"Wai-"

Then there was a flurry of motion as Jaime was devoured by some manner of black and blue force. When it finished, a strange looking creature in his place. It looked down at its hands in alarm.

"NOW you decide to work. At least I'm not cold any more."

[worldcup]

"Oh!" There's a surprised look in her eyes as Illya decided to wander the halls. Now that she's in her winter coats, she isn't as freezing as she was before. But the temperature was steadily decreasing at a fast rate, which, for her, was bad.

Very bad.

Very very bad.

Not that she would show it on her face as she beamed at his transformation. "Looks like you finally got it to work, onii-chan."

[tsunderbolting]

[ Just great. First there was a power outage that wasn't her fault and now there's a snowstorm. Although class is dismissed for the rest of the day because of it, that does not mean that she is going to stand by idly while everyone else goes up in a panic. That isn't like her. Sure, she may only be in 9th grade, but that did not mean that she couldn't make herself useful.

Especially due to the fact that she's an electromaster.

This was just staining her poor name, and she was going to find out exactly who did it.

People who pass by might notice the young girl with a working flashlight wandering around the halls, looking left and right as if searching for something. Whether or not she's actually searching for something... well. You might just want to ask her directly. ]

[cant_breathe_no_heir]

...Excuse me.

[Seeing as how the power was out, Equius had moved to investigate the loss of power himself. If he could make robots, surely fixing a piece of earth technology would be grub's play, even if it was a bit demeaning.

His eyes tracked Misaka behind dark glasses as she passed. Frowning, he followed her a few steps.]

I am guessing that you are looking for the power controls as well?

[unidentifiedandfantastic]

[Ahh, such glorious chaos. The best thing about this, though? No class!

She's going to take this absolutely wonderful opportunity to go out into the snow with a backpack...and fill it with snowballs. What for, might you ask?

The answer becomes pretty simple. She's going to dart through the hallways, pelting unsuspecting people with them. With two arms and three helpful tentacles, she can make quite a lovely little hailstorm of them.

Of course, all anyone will be able to see is what looks like a shadowy orb floating through the hallways, spitting out wads of snow.]

[infinitejustice]

[Athrun is in the hall, walking between classes, when the power cuts and he tries (and fails) to open the door outside. After pushing into it several times, he backs off, sighs, and leans back against a wall.]

I know I said this morning that I didn't want to have class today, but this is not what I meant.

[cant_breathe_no_heir]

[Equius happens by Athrun, brushing some snow off his shoulders in an almost casual manner.]

I do not understand. Why are the lights off?