ORIGIN - [[ CONTEST : MM ]] wanna kill a snowman?

"Fang said they were right around--" Nemesis started to explain as they neared their destination, the chilly, slope-y tunnel between Pisces and Orion.

The snowmen were even worse than Fang had described them. Nemesis found her glad for the first time that Mags was blind-- they were just horrible! Her beautiful, elegant companion looked more like an elephant than a dog, and if it wasn't for the careful attention to the ears the rhino wouldn't have recognized it as Magdalena at all. She snorted, and although she was still carrying Mags on her back, she seemed swept up in the moment as she lowered her horn and scuffed at the ground.

"Hold on to your hat, princess," the rhino warned as she charged the first snowman, the one that looked like someone had taken her friend's nose and stretched it silly. Her feet began to smolder with fire, although not as strongly as she would have liked, as she rushed towards the snowman and demolished it with ease-- snow was hardly a challenge for the massive rhino, hitting it like a train, a blizzard exploding in her wake.

Magdalena had been clinging to the rhino's back and listening attentively as she talked, explaining that Diamondfang had said they'd be around here. She could feel the change in the air around them, how it got colder and started to bite at her skin. The little dog probably wouldn't fare well in the cold for very long, but she pushed that aside for now. She was excited to get to play with the snowmen with Nemesis; this was going to be fun! Her ears twitched, and her head tilted as the rhino's voice suddenly cut off. Magdalena shifted, stretching her head down the side of Nemesis' neck. "What is it?" She whispered curiously, staring blindly ahead.

Suddenly the rhino dropped her head, and Magdalena pulled back again. She pressed her fragile little form into the rhino's back, clinging on for dear life as she suddenly ran forward. Eyes widened, and for a fleeting second she feared her heart was going to jump right out of her chest - until Nemesis suddenly burst through the snowman, causing it to explode into a cloud of snowflakes and chunks of white. Magdalena yipped, but only out of surprise. Once they slowed down again, she caught her breath and blinked a few times, then clung even tighter to Nemesis. "Again, again!" She giggled, wagging her tail furiously behind her. That was so much fun!

Was there ever a sweeter sound? Nemesis blinked, her large body shivering slightly in the cold, stunned by the gentle tinkle of laughter gracing her large, cylindrical ears. Magdalena had such a beautiful laugh, and Nemesis was sure that if she could twist her head around and see the frail form on her back, she would see the most wonderful smile to go along with that giggle.

Her tail swished as she thought about it, almost in a daydream, but then abruptly she remembered their mission. A cool breeze flicked down the tunnel and she snorted, lowering her head once more.

"You got it!" She replied with a rumbling chuckle, scuffing the ground with a flat foot. It took just a moment for her to line up the perfect charge, and then she was off, running, racing through the twisting mountainous tunnel, tearing down as many snowman as she could in one giant charge. She barreled through a bucktooth Fang, another Magdalena, and then came bearing down on her own, huge caricature. She was glad that her companion was blind and would only "see" this as a fun day out in the snow. She didn't deserve to see all the ugly snow sculptures anyway.

Taking a page out of the princess's book, she let out burst of laughter as she tried to wreck her big fat snow-rhino. Warmth spread out from her breath, not hot enough to be flames, but enough to weaken the giant balls of snow as she crashed into them.

With a wide grin, the dog clung tighter to her friend, pressing her body close against the rhino's tough grey hide. Her tail wagged furiously behind her, excited to be blasting through the snow with her friend. She normally wouldn't be able to do this - Magdalena probably wouldn't have even considered playing in the snow without Nemesis around. It was far too dangerous for the blind dog. She could slip on the ice or trip and break a bone or something, or probably get lost, or even get frostbite on her paws if she wasn't careful. There were too many hazards for her to be here alone, but with Nemesis they could have fun. She didn't have to worry about anything!

Nemesis exploded forward in another charge, soaring through a collection of snowmen. She couldn't see the hideous caricatures of herself and her friends, only feel the puffs of cold snow against her face, icy flakes scattered in the air all around them. She enjoyed the rush, the feeling of the fleeting cold hitting her face and then dissipating back into the brisk air, once more warmed by Nemesis' persistent heat. They were coming up on another large snowman when Nemesis suddenly burst into laughter, and Magdalena could feel the heated air intermingling with the chill of the cold tunnel, reveling in the strange new sensation as she listened to Nemesis laugh. Had she ever heard the rhino laugh before? She couldn't really remember, and Magdalena was keen on clinging to memories revolving around any of her remaining senses. Still, it was a nice sound and Magdalena laughed along with her, blending her own chime-like intones with the raucous laughter of the rhino.

After they'd stormed on through a good chunk of the snowmen, Magdalena patted the rhino's back with her paws. "I want to play with one," She said, poking the rhino with her nose. And by play with, Magdalena obviously meant destroy, since that's what they had come here to do. She waited, hoping that Nemesis would let her down and bring her to a snowman that she could dismantle herself.

Nemesis grinned, tail wagging, and bowed gracefully to the earth, allowing the pup to slip right off if she wanted. The snow was cold on her knees, her body quite damp from all the melted frost, but she felt none of it. Here with Magdalena, her whole body felt warmed to the bone. "Alright, there's the one of Fang just ahead of you, I'll get these other ones, okay?!" She offered eagerly, getting back up once Mag had gotten off.

With a stomp of her foot, she was off again, rushing to smash more snow-merry-men. No matter where she looked, there always seemed to be more and more, so...

So they would get to play more and more!

She crashed through snow-merry-men and snow-merry-men, her body carrying her through ice and snow. With a huff and roar, she whirled around to see how Magdalena was doing. "I got like five of them that time!"

Magdalena slid off the rhino's back, landing in the snow with a slight stumble. However, she quickly leaned her weight against Nemesis to stabilize herself. As soon as she hit the ground she was met with the icy chill of the snow, a sensation that climbed her limbs and stung her paw pads. It was an incredibly powerful feeling, and her legs quaked for a moment. She shifted her weight between her paws, practically dancing on the snow. "Oh, how cold!" The girl shivered and sniffed. Nemesis' natural heat offered her a degree of comfort, so within a few minutes she found herself accustomed to the cold. The dog wagged her tail as she listened, pointing her muzzle to the direct front of herself. She did step forward a few paces until her nose touched the crisp snow of the snowman, making sure it was there. Then, she backpedaled, preparing her onslaught.

In a manner similar to her rhino friend, Magdalena scuffed her paw against the ground. She could feel it when Nemesis lowered her head, and she did too, dropping her front half. Her head swung and she snorted, attempting to look intimidating - it hardly worked, but you couldn't blame the girl for trying. Then she launched forward, bouncing a few paces over the ground and launching at the snowman. "Die snow-Fang, die!" Came her battle cry.

It was a little more compact than she expected, so when she collided with the snowman, she was met with surprising resistence. Her tiny body crashed into the snowman and instead of exploding it into a cloud of snowflakes like Nemesis, she ended up in a tangle of her own legs and paws, fumbling over the snowman now broken down into larger chunks all tumbling to the ground. Magdalena squeaked as her legs flailed and she tried to catch herself, only to slip on the ice and slide into another snowman. She had taken that one out too, finally coming to a halt as she lay in a mess among a pile of snow. Regardless of how catastrophic the assault had been, Magdalena straightened and shook the snow off her head as she sat up, giggling. "Did I get the right one?" She asked, probing for Nemesis' voice.

Nemesis turned round and saw Magdalena as a mess of paws splayed along chunks of snow and ice, sitting up to peer around blindly towards her. She smiled broadly at the pretty, snowflecked face of the lanky, awkward dog. It was then that the rhino noticed that, while they had decimated the snowmen in this area, a few more spread off towards the exit of the tunnel... Towards Orion, towards where she assumed the Bonebound lived. With a snort, she shook her head and focused back on the princess.

"Sure did! You got 'em good, Mag," the rhino exclaimed, giving another hearty laugh from deep in her belly. She tromped back over to Magdalena, ears flicking. "It sure is cold though. There's a few more leading out of this icy tunnel... It's like they keep popping up everywhere. Think you can sense any weird stuff going on? With magic or something. All I got is fire stuff."

As if to prove this, she tapped into her magic and bowed her head as she approached. A warm orange light lit up her face from the gemstone along her brow, casting the cold tunnel in a gentle heat as she held her breath full of hot air and pressed her nose gently to Magdalena. As the heat settled to a reasonable temperature, she finally exhaled, sending the warmth through the pretty, snowcrusted fur of her favorite gembound.

Magdalena shook her head as she popped out of the snow, dispelling chunks of thick white from her fur. Her jaws cracked open and tongue lolled out in a happy pant, and the girl struggled to free herself from the pile, stretching her legs and pulling herself out. She shook each part of her as it came free, first her neck and shoulders, then her rump, and finally her tail wagged furiously as she clambered to her paws and stood staring blindly at a nearby wall. As soon as she heard Nemesis' voice, she turned to face the rhino, tuning in to the familiar intone. Lips sealed in a smile, proud of herself. She had played with the snowman and managed to take it out! Idly she wondered how many more there would be before Nemesis spoke again.

She could feel the ground shaking with each heavy step the rhino took towards her. She explained her difficulty with detection, wondering out loud where the snowmen were coming from. Magdalena raised and cocked her head. "I can try," She answered with a nod. Magdalena didn't know how effective it would be, but something had to be making these snowmen - and if it was nearby, she might be able to find it. While Magdalena concentrated, she felt the rhino come near, and felt the heat coming off of her in waves. A gentle warmth that chased the biting cold chilling her skin. Magdalena smiled, appreciative of the warmth. She shifted closer and closed her eyes, pointing her nose out.

Focus. She could feel it, the pull of cultures; first her own churning and swelling, then Nemesis', quietly lingering nearby. But she probed past them, searching for what she did not know. For the unfamiliar. She surveyed for a pull she had never felt before, and through the tranquil reverberation of what lived in them and grew on the walls, she felt it. It was small, but alive. It was powerful. Magdalena swayed her head and slowly rose to her paws, following the pull. It was stronger than she'd ever felt and it was incredibly concentrated - it's energy nearly overwhelmed her. The dog walked, an awkward grace carrying her over the ice in her focus. "This way." She murmured without turning back to Nemesis. She kept going, past whatever snowmen remained, towards Orion. Beyond, more snowmen were crafted of the snow, reaching out even into the starry room.

(Exit mag? They go to another room maybe?)

"Alright! Lead on!" Nemesis cheered, flailing her horn up and down and stomping a bit for effect. She grinned wildly, tromping after her blind friend-- keeping a look out for any danger... Or any more snowmen. As they went, she shoved them over and wrecked them: nothing was safe from the massive rhino. Besides, Magdalena wasn't all that fast, it was easy for her to keep up.

Together, they would certainly make Fang proud. Nemesis couldn't help but wonder just what she was up to-- if she was having any luck, herself. Perhaps they would destroy the source of these snowmen after all. She knew Maggie could find whatever, or rather, whoever it was. Probably one of those Boneheads, like Fang had said. Nemesis would bet her foot that they were covered in all sorts of gross whatever-it-was that the Princess could sense.

nemesis exit! ;;