Do you wanna build a snowman?

The sky was a light grey as far as the eyes could see, covered by a light layer of clouds that the sun tried to peak through, but only partially succeeded at best by lightening the grey of the clouds that were directly in front of it. The clouds themselves were a mix of the remnants of one storm that had covered the land the prior day, and the beginnings of a new storm that was going to threaten the lands in the days to come. For today though, the worst of the weather had either already passed or was yet to come and wouldn't do any worse than some brief light patches here and there.

The clouds however were only one remnant of the storms that had already passed, the other was the thick blanket of snow and ice that covered much of the village and the woods surrounding it. The glistening white frozen water was thick in it's drifts that flooded streets and roofs, grass and dirt, open fields and thicker forests. Numerous icicles of vastly varying sizes littered the edges of roofs and clung haphazardly to many tree branches. Some were even already knocked off, either to make sure they didn't fall and hurt someone, or by other kids who wanted the long frozen points. As for the snow itself, it was a veritable blanket of the thick powder, heavy and perfect for sticking together for making things. There were several areas around the town where the snow had already been shoveled away and to the side of streets so that the roads and paths that snaked through the town could be traversed with ease, however this meant there were areas where the snow was considerably deeper.

In one of the training fields that were scattered about the village, a kind of small young girl was just arriving to the open expanse of undisturbed snow. She wore a pair of black leather boots with white fox fur trim, abnormal for her but much more appropriate for the cold snowy weather. Her baggy black pants were there as usual however, with two of the usual ties that kept the usually loose material closer to her body. Her plain white shirt with it's black ties around the waist and sleeves however couldn't be seen under the thick, green coat she wore. The hood of her coat was up right now to offer just a bit of extra protection from the chilly air, luckily though there wasn't a wind to add to the chill. Seresana looked about the open field, surveying and taking into account the amount of snow about the open field. "I think this'll be enough," Seresana commented as she took a few steps out into the field and began to start gathering up some of the snow together into a larger pile.

Word Count: 475

Rosemarius stood at the gates of the shinobi school just out of the way of any traffic as she looked over the hushed streets covered in white that was Konoha after snow. It wasn't the most common of events, and almost never to quite this extent, and so she stood under the awning and looked out onto the streets as if she was trying to capture the moment and file it away somewhere to be revisited later. When I did my morning evolutions, I'd fully expected to be able to return to doing hard work and honing myself, she thought, her mouth tightening into its familiar expression of prim, almost sour, disapproval. But this snow eliminates most ordinary exercises. She sighs and looks down, checking that her fingerless gloves, books, coat, and other accouterments fit adequately to keep out the cold and almost as importantly, the chill wetness of snow getting into a gap and then melting from body heat.

Still... the resistance while running and moving, the natural struggles of the body against the cold, the snow and earth under it mixing to create slickness and challenge the sureness of my footing... it is as my scroll says: every little thing offers a opportunity for self-mastery and creating a habit of perfection in even the tiniest gesture or the smallest matter. Having satisfied herself as to the integrity of her clothing, Rosemarius takes a few steps out into the street, crunching down through the light crust of the powdery snow, before stopping and furrowing her brow. That is... uncomfortably noisy, isn't it? I have never previously considering this problem, that merely walking in snow would broadcast my presence and pace about as loudly as can be. I suppose it's the same as walking through the forest or gravel or any other, but there is also the issue of distinct footprints that make tracking ridiculously easy and behavior very readily read by someone of even similar intelligence to myself. But I cannot suddenly become lighter or make the snow refuse to shift under my...

Anyone watching her would see a tiny smile break through the frosty and disapproving expression. Chakra! The scrolls speak of shinobi who have such intricate control of their inner forces that they can stand on water as if it's solid, creating a paper-thin barrier under them of energy that prevents their sinking. I'm sure the proper way is described in scrolls but if I'm to be any kind of shinobi, being able to use my chakra in the ways I need without exhaustive research will be a skill I'll need. Besides all that, there's no harm in making the attempt... the worst that can happen is that I'll have to walk as normal. She takes a step back into one of the corners formed by the walls of the academy and the ones jutting out to hold the awning on the other side of the gate and bows her head a little. She brings her hands up, touching the ends of her fingers together and holding it as she builds the image in her head of the gyroscoping chakra, spinning around and into itself and then flowing out along the lines to her feet. Her mind's eye constructs the image of a barrier, a training mat made of sparkling energy, and her feet walking upon it. In this attitude of repose, she takes a single step forward--and sinks, but not nearly so much as before. She takes another step and the footprint is shallower still, and the next step is just barely a disturbance of the snow.

Rosemarius lets out a breath and opens her eyes, now interlacing her fingers and resting them against her belly as she takes another step forward, maintaining the flow, and then another. Now where to go... She considers the matter, sinking very slightly as she diverts her attention from remaining atop the snow, but her concentration still keeps her from sinking down nearly as much as she did while not thinking about it at all. Well, there's a very excellent training filed just outside of town, pleasantly open with few obstacles and even fewer opportunities to cause damage. That seems my best prospect. Having made her decision and mentally constructing an image of the village and her destination in her mind, she starts walking towards it, keeping her head tilted slightly down and her fingers interlaced and resting against her belly. Passers-by would notice the girl in the shinobi uniform strolling along and seemingly unable to notice their existence at all as she concentrates on walking atop the snow instead of through.

Word Count: 770

Yusuri had left not five minutes prior to Rosemarius figuring out how to walk on top of the snow. Her body covered from head to foot as always only she wore winter boots instead of her normal combat sandals. Her normal attire held her at a comfortable level of warmth or coolness all year around so she never seemed to be without the over sized trench coat and her ears were covered as always by her sound canceling earmuffs. However, unlike normal Yusuri had made one change to how she wore her clothing. She neck of her coat was shut covering her face up to her eyes from being seen. Upon her back were two shovels in which she had 'borrowed' from her landlord's shed. No one would be using these so they were to be used for more practice purposes until her training pata came in.
Beneath her boots the ground made an almost cringe worthy and disgusting crunch. The the sudden sinking shaking the bag of scrolls for various basic jutsu she had yet to learn. Jutsu she saw necessary. Necessary to her success as a ninja as something as natural as breathing is to survival. As she walked along she got sick of the constant sinking into the white substance beneath as her weight crushed the tiny, tiny white substance.Stopping still she closed her eyes to think. The chilled air about her nipping at what skin was exposed on her body while she feel into her bullet like train of thought. She was not thinking of perfection or erasing presence, but stopping this stupid idiotic sinking.
Our Sensei explained that chakra can be used, in a sense, as padding... I think one of my scrolls said something along those lines. Maybe... There it is. Yusuri pulled out her personal scroll of notes over the Dansa-Nin she aspired to be like. On it was a bit of information over how to actually control your dancing by controlling chakra focused especially on the legs. By concentrating your chakra and pushing it down you can create a padding to hold you above any surface as you use this skill combine it with the way that you dance and you can become not only a stronger, well balanced dancer, but a better ninja.
Humming her single tune as she worked. Falling into a almost meditative state before she outstretched her arms and began to spin in a small, continuous twirl. As she moved she felt her chakra slowly sink below and through her feet to pad the bottom of her boots. Hopping up and landing down she did her best not to sink as she sped up her rotations. She continued this twirl and hop movement until she could freely move in all directions without slowing down, reaching her left arm in Yusuri returned the scroll to the bag secured to her waist. Extending her arms again she began to dance as always. slowly charging forward in a spiral, every so often sliding several feet forward so she could actually make progress on her move. Taking a moment the idea of using the shovels now was a possible idea at this time. Taking hold of the chilled metal handles on the back she started spinning the outwards weight tugging her as she spun.
Getting used to being pulled she began to figure out how to turn left and right without a pivot. As she got used to the movement she headed for the woods, a training field she had found and used many time the last few months here in Konoha. Floating through the empty streets, Clypeus easily made it to the front gate, she stopped and braked at the gate, seeing no need in pointless exhaustion since the clearing was so close you could walk to the field in mere minutes.

Word Count: 650/650

It didn't take Seresana long to gather up a little snow into a pile, that she soon wrapped her arms around and squeezed. She wasn't really trying to hug the snow, but rather just compact it down a bit more. When she couldn't squeeze the mound any tighter, Seresana released her grip on it and backed up just a little to look at the hill like mound of snow she'd just made. Then both of Seresana's gloved hands came to rest against the compacted pile and she proceeded to push it. At first all her hands did was sink slightly into the snow given that now she was applying pressure over a smaller area that she had been when squeezing it with her body and arms, but that was only for a little bit. Then as she continued to push the mound began to tilt, but Seresana had misjudged the weight and as her little push proved to be not enough, the mound pushed right back until it was sitting flat again in it's original position. Her previously happy and carefree smile disappeared at that moment, being replaced by a more determined expression as she got ready to push the pile of snow again. "Hopefully, when you to a ball, you'll roll a bit easier," Seresana said aloud as she pushed it again and this time with a bit more effort.

The mound relented it's position under this extra power, tilting until it reached a point where more weight was now pulling it over onto it's side than what was still trying to cause it to fall back onto it's original base. Seresana however wasn't letting up that easily, and went ahead with another push, and to her glee, the mound of snow tilted forward just a bit easier. When she glanced at the side that had so recently served as the bottom of the mound, Seresana was even more pleased to see more snow having attached itself to the mound, making it just a bit more rounded. Then the last side of the originally roughly triangular mound was down towards the snow, and this is where Seresana stopped pushing. Her gloved hands left the snow mound's surface and she leaned back to look at the now roughly wheel shaped collection of snow. Seresana then moved to the left of the mount, to one of it's flatter sides and once more set her hands upon the collection of snow. With that being a new side and such, she found her hands sinking ever so slighting into the snow again, but chose to largely ignore it as she started to push. It didn't take too much effort to upset the mound of snow, but after it's formerly flat side came down into the fresh and undisturbed snow, Seresana was having a bit of trouble getting it to roll further. She crouched down, set her hands against it in a slightly different position that'd allow for more a more upward direction, and pushed with even more effort. Once again, she started at only getting the rapidly growing mound to tilt, but as her effort continued, the mound continued to slowly rise until finally it passed the point of now return, gravity and momentum taking it onto it's other flat side as well as showing off the surprising amount of snow that the previously flat side had accumulated.

This however also meant that the weight of the snow mound had jumped up as well, and that left Seresana really struggling to push the mound of snow that was already nearing as tall as she was, and likely outweighing her by a considerable amount. Determination however would prove to win out this time as once again, with a little bit of relocating her stance and re-positioning her hands, she was able to force the mound to roll forward. Now Seresana had a fairly spherical ball of snow, something that she could roll a lot easier through the drifts and make much taller, so long as she was careful to keep the direction changing so it maintained this spherical shape, and that is exactly what she started to do. Inch by inch, pounds by pounds, more snow was added to the ever growing sphere of snow until it blatantly got too heavy for her to continue to push, though that didn't mean she'd stop immediately. Despite the mound being too much for her, Seresana would continue to try and push the ball of snow, her boots sliding over the frozen ground that had been left exposed in the wake of the ball's travel, and her by comparison tiny hands continuing to sink ever so slightly into the surface as it's refusal to budge literally out weighed her determination to make it move. After a moment or two of this, Seresana would give up trying to move the large mound and take a step back to observe her work. "Well, I guess this is big enough, for the first one," Seresana said as she then turned to look at the abundance of still undisturbed snow in the training field. Her grin returned all the more as she thought about how many more snowmen she could make and with that happy thought in mind, she eagerly strode forward to begin collecting up the next collection of snow. This time however, she was starting with a smaller ball and rolling it around a bit more than her last one.

Word Count: 910
total: 1385

Rosemarius continues her careful trekking through the snow, concentrating on the constant flow of chakra to allow her to walk over the snow and keeping herself fully aware of the creeping sensation of slight numbness with the prickling of pins and needles, a warning of chakra fatigue she had quickly come to learn the value of being sensitive to, when something caught the corner of her eye. She'd been keeping track of plenty of movement around her so she could slip easily through the villagers without bumping into them and losing her concentration, but this movement immediately struck her as erratic and unusual. Quite despite herself, she relaxes her concentration just slightly so she can turn to look, whereupon she loses all the rest of her concentration and sinks entirely into the snow. What in the name of every hokage prior am I seeing? She asks herself as she watches a bouncing, twirling, effigy of shinobi uniform and humming girl quite literally skip across the surface of the snow like a flat pebble over a lake. That... She turns back to look behind her, letting a tiny trickle of chakra aid her eyes in focusing on the entrance to the academy and then releasing it as she realizes that the girl had come from there. She turns back to watch as Yusari skips out of sight, strongly reminding her of the behavior of a cord top when its string was pulled and it struck the ground, bouncing and dancing on it axis as it spun. I... I... was not aware that the academy accepted imbeciles... After a few moments, Rosie took in a breath and shook her head. I suppose it makes sense... idiot savants have been known to exist. I just never thought I'd see one in the flesh.

After a moment of contemplating this, Rosie shrugged her shoulders a little and started trekking forward again. I was satisfied with the previous approach to this matter, but I think it is a little too brute-force to be sustained for long, and certainly not as a set-aside during combat. It's always somewhat too specific to snow, which may portend limited application, which makes that branch of work a bit of a waste. So what would be a better approach? She deftly sidesteps a couple of small children and unconsciously ducks under a thrown snowball as she treks towards the training field destination. One way of doing it is certainly to press downwards against the underlying ground and then upwards against gravity, the point of intersection being the first layer of snow, but it requires large chakra outflow and heavy concentration to maintain, as proven by the occasion that I diverted my thinking towards that crazed person bouncing by me. I may well be overthinking this, because it occurs to me that I'm failing to take precedents into consideration. Perhaps instead of imitating a mat of chakra over which I walk, I could imitate the snowshoe as it distributes the weight over a large area to prevent the one walking from sinking in, advantaging them so much.

As she walks, she lets her eyes drift nearly shut, maintaining just enough vision so that she can see ahead of herself as she once again taps into the mental image she's developed of her chakra, as multiple layers of spinning energy crossing over itself and into itself in infinite combinations. She taps it, causing warm sensation to flow down her legs, through her feet, and then outwards into the world she hopes to affect. If anyone is watching, they'd notice that the girl's footprints are getting shallower again, but also seem to be getting larger. The footprints come to lack the pattern of her short boots and take on an almost woven texture, gaps appearing in the pattern and veins pressing deeper. After a few dozen steps, the visual of a young shinobi walking through the snow towards a training field in ordinary boots contrasts vividly with the tracks of someone wearing very large snowshoes, impossible snowshoes as the patterns overlap in a way that would mean that she was getting tangled in her own footwear--but for the fact that the constructs are a product of her mind and focus, and the lattices of energy pass through one another without even the lightest touch of resistance. The energy is, after all, perfectly identical since it originates from the girl using it and causes no interference when contacting itself.

A few more dozen steps and Rosemarius lets her eyes open and lets herself smile in a rather satisfied manner. This experiment seems to be successful. I feel... lighter on my feet and less restrained. It's draining--I can feel touches of fatigue from the previous attempt--but the bleed is not so much as before. It costs less, and requires less attendance, and I'm certain that there are other uses for this technique in time. It gives me a greater incentive to focus myself and train, so that the chakra flows more easily and with less strain, and this technique doesn't require quite so much of me. Budō, Budō in all things and endless work towards the perfection of the tinest so that perfection can be attained in the greatest. Speaking of such, I can hardly work on my jutsu if I spend chakra so lavishly on experimentation now. And just like that, her feet sink back into the snow and her footprints return to normal. Mmm... a jog, then, to enliven me and get me in the correct frame of mind for exertion when I get to the field. And then she begins to jog through the snow, her breathing surprisingly regular and even despite the much greater physical exertion of moving quickly through the powdery resistance.

{Word Count: 960 | 1730}

Sylvan looked around, the forest, what she thought was her forest. Currently, she was leaning against a proud boulder in the center of what she had decided was her grove. She caught between emotions, like somehow had attached chains to her mind and was pulling them each in a different direction. Winter always did this. So many small emotions. 'I'm crazy.' IIt was nice. The cold, anyways. She tended to be fairly warm-natured, so she rarely got to where comfortably fleece jackets such as this one. If she did it at any other time, she'd soon find herself sweating and running for the nearest river while casting the hateful thing into a tree. But here, with the snows, she could where what she liked. It was nice, chill. The snows themselves were gorgeous. A serene blanket of white, marred only by the flurries which they themselves carried a certain kind of chaotic beauty. She liked it. Her grove looked nice. The stream that marked half its border was frozen in places, but she had thawed a little of it. The effect was one she had decided she enjoyed, and would do it again next winter. She had cleaned off the snow covering the boulder in the center of the grove. It had looked nice, but the constant dribble of snow falling on her head had gotten irritating. With the leaves all gone though, she was feeling a bit melancholy. The place was really more of a copse of trees, but she liked to think of it as a grove. This time of year, when the snows fell, the forest was changed. Less places to hide, naked, bared. The leaves were gone, and everything was a pearly white with spots of darkened bark here and there.
Abruptly, she stands up. Even as introverted as she was, she was starting to get a little lonely. She needed some human contact after all. She began to walk out of her forest, alternating between melancholy trudging and joyous twirling. The forest during Winter did strange things to her emotions, after all. The aforementioned tugging was very much present, especially when Sena wasn't around. Speaking of which, where was Sena? "Oh, hush. I get that you like her, but you don't need to be attached to her constantly like a limpet. She has stuff to do, and so do you." "Yeah ... I guess you're right. Still, this would be great weather to take a walk in." "Take a walk with her tomorrow. Go meet other people today." "Alright, alright."
After that brief mental argument, Sylvan resumes her walk through the forest. She had heard that there was an ability with which you could walk up trees, and stand on the surface of water. She wasn't sure if it applied to snow, but it was certainly something she wished she knew how to do. For now though, she made do with light steps and trudging. Eventually, she came out to the same area as Yusuri. Spotting her favorite Roomie, she waves. "Yusuri!" Abruptly, she realied she was probably interrupting Yusuri's concentration. "Better to wait for her to get finished, and just watch for now."
{533 Words}

Seeing a movement in the side of her vision, Yusuri turned her head slowly. As she did her hands readily gripped the shovels as if they were completely viable weapons. Viable like those stupid practice pata that refused to come in when she ordered the damn things. It seemed that for months now she had been sitting around and doing most nothing because Yusuri couldn't actually do much of jack shit without the thing that made her dancing style complete. At least she was patient enough to wait, many could not wait months for a simple practice weapon without losing their patience. A spectacle for the young thirteen year old girl to marvel at in its own right, as she had no patience to lose. How did one lose this nonexistent force known as patience? Was someone supposed to do something that she couldn't figure out how to do? Am I one to make others lose their patience? I prefer to know if someone lost their marbles because of me... wait how do they lose marbles that they don't have? Yusuri thought as she focused back on what was at hand before her.
She had apparently found that place that Sylvan had kept talking about. Loosening her grip and putting the shovels back on the tied sash she had made for them she approached her moody roommate, the queen of being antisocial; Sylvan. At least I know where to find her when I can't find her at our place. Still she seemed very adamant about keeping this place to herself. Oh well, I won't ponder on her decisions, not my place to judge her. Stomping in the snow she noticed it was getting deeper and she quickly grumbled and fixed her problem. Spreading her chakra down through her legs and to the bottom of her boots. Jumping up she spun one more time while air borne and landed on the top of the snow, barely sinking in as she continued her approach. Reaching her housing mate, she gave a small bow of greeting as she did with most everyone. Straightening her back she stared blankly at Sylvan, blank like a fresh sheet of paper, blank like her mind most always. Yusuri was odd in that regard as she seemed to constantly think, however she was rather silent on the inside. Her interior almost identical to its outer counterpart.
"Hello Sylvan, what are you doing out here. Trying to think, or just enjoying the cold weather? Possibly some training? If you were mind if I join you?" Yusuri asked her voice quieter than its normal volume, but just as flat toned and straight forward, at least with Sylvan it was, as ever. Her eyes studying the outwards appearance of a girl she knew had sanity problems. IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE YUSURI! S- silence. SAVE THEM UNLIKE YOU SAVED US! YES! They don't need me to save them. Yusuri shook her head as the voices came back, a long bodily shudder as chills ran down her well-covered and insulated back. She really hated it when they were able to get to her, but it happened time to time. The voices made her queasy, but she was going to suddenly give in to the voices screams.

Word Count: 550/1200

"This was a much better idea," Seresana said aloud to herself as she pushed the much smaller ball of snow around. This starting orb had only been a little bigger than her cupped fist just starting off, though after even a single rotation, it was a bit bigger thanks to the abundance of snow on the ground. Seresana would however note that while it was picking up snow, it had started picking up a much smaller amount of snow. When she'd started with the much bigger and heavier snowball that was still sitting a short distance away, it'd nearly picked up all the snow it rolled over, almost leaving the ground to be exposed. Where as this much smaller snowball that didn't weigh nearly as much barely picked up the first couple inches of snow. That fact however was quickly changing as she continued to roll it about, purposely not in a straight line so as to keep the orb an actual orb and not a cylinder, but all around as it was rolled, more snow was constantly added to it which in turn increased the ball's weight meaning it sank into the ground more and picked up even more snow.

It was a little too late when Seresana had realized she'd made a terrible mistake with this snowball as it began to get to the proper size. In her desperation to get plenty of snow for it, Seresana had almost continuously rolled it away from the first sphere, and now that it was close to ready, she was some distance away from the first orb. With a sigh at having nothing else she could really do about it, Seresana simply began to roll the large and steadily growing larger snowball back to the first one and just bore the brunt of it's growing size. When Seresana finally managed to finish push the orb back, she was happy to see it wasn't quite as big as the first, but it was definitely bigger than she'd intended. Seresana went about looking over the slightly smaller orb and decided she'd need to shave off some of the snow before trying to add it to the top of the larger orb. Pressing her palm to it's surface, Seresana proceeded to apply a sudden burst of pressure in order to knock a bit more than a handful of the snow off the snowball, and then proceeded to do so again. Each time she did, a bit more snow was taken off, and the orb was just that little bit smaller for it, and it wasn't long before the orb was the proper size by her reasoning, now however came the really difficult part.

While the second snowball wasn't as big as the first, it was still close and that much compacted snow weighed quite a bit, too much for Seresana to lift straight up as was. A humerous effort was made however of her standing as close as she could to the orb before reaching down and wrapping her arms around it as much as she could. Then with a light grunt, Seresana tried to stand up and lift the orb with her, but the orb only rose a couple inches before it's weight brought it back down to the ground, drawing an 'oof' from Seresana from the hard impact it made with the ground. There was a brief moment then where Seresana stepped back to make sure the orb wasn't damaged from the hard landing, but the compacted snow had held strong and the orb was still intact. "Phew, I though I might have had to start this one over for a second there, hmm, now how to get it up there," Seresana trailed off as her gaze sifted to the top of the larger snowball, the smaller one's destination. And then it came to her, as Seresana rushed to the other side of the larger snowball, she gathered up some of the snow there and built it up against the larger snowball's side before rushing back over to the side with the smaller snowball. Then putting it between herself and the larger ball, Seresana lowered herself and put her hands as much below the orb as she could before lifting with her legs, back, and arms. The orb rose slowly, but steadily and in a rolling fashion up the side of the larger orb. Glad to find this working, Seresana's grin reappeared on her face as she continued to struggle to push the smaller but still fairly large snowball up the side of the bigger one. After a lot of grunts, a couple slips, and a few words muttered to herself, Seresana finally succeeded in getting the smaller snowball on top of the larger one and she then took a few steps back to admire her progress. The two snowballs when stacked up on top of each other like that nearly reached all the way to the six foot height, easily taller than little Seresana, but that was just what she was going for as she looked at the two orbs triumphantly. Seresana turned about then, her determined grin in spades as she strode out a short ways from the two stacked snowballs. She'd learned quickly that you start out away from the end so that you end up near it when you're finished by making that mistake with the prior snowball. Once she was a short distance away from the snowman, Seresana gathered up a little more snow like she'd done the last time and once it was in the rough shape of a ball, Seresana started rolling it along the ground to begin gathering up snow like she'd done before.

Word Count: 950
Total: 2335

Sylvan watches Yusuri glide over to her with admiration. She wasn't nearly as experienced in chakra molding as her roommate, a fact that was drilled into her every time she watched Yusuri practice. While watching her however, she could forget about it. It was as close to watching a play or recital as she'd ever get, after all, so she never raised a fuss. It was a bit annoying that Yusuri was practicing close enough to find her secret place. True, Sylvan had waved the girl over, but that was more to keep things on her terms, rather than Yusuri walking in on her. Besides, she had found this location, and if for some reason was trying to figure out where Sylvan had hidden, would include this in her list of places to search. She trusted Yusuri, anyways. The girl was perfectly crazy, just like Syl. There weren't that many crazy people in Konoha, and they had to stick together. "Awhile ago, you would've said 'normal' people. "I grew up." Aloud, Sylvan smiles at Yusuri, talking loudly and facing her roommate. "You looked very good! I was wondering what we were going to cook tonight, so I could go buy the ingredients before the shop closed." The two girls often cooked together, though since Yusuri didn't eat meat for some reason, It was really more like 'cooking-in-the-same-kitchen-without-getting-in-each-other's-way' then cooking together. Still, Sylvan enjoyed it. Despite her general moodiness and introverted nature, she was bizarrely cheerful when she cooked, humming and singing short songs she had made up on the spot. This could be highly disturbing if someone had previously never seen her sillier side.
"As for training, no, I was just enjoying the cold. I don't really know enough about chakra control yet to do more than trudge, so training is a little difficult in this weather. Lovely views though. Shame about most of the bugs dying s the icy hand of winter squeezes the life out of them, but that's nature!" Sylvan seemed cheerful until you actually listened to what she was saying. After that, she seemed crazy. But she helped clean the kitchen after cooking, and didn't leave messes for Yusuri to clean up by herself, so she wasn't really a bad roommate, once you got over the fear she would slit your throat in the night.
Sylvan wished Yusuri didn't use the flat tone of voice so much, but Yusuri was in her opinion, also a pretty good roommate, so she could be forgiven that little thing. "We should do something nice for her sometime. She's really nice to us." "I have some... promising ideas, but they're very longterm. I'll leave the short-term gifts to use." "Well ... Okay. Anything I can do to speed up your idea?" "Sure. Find her brother's grave without asking her about it."
The girl thinks this is a little weird, but as the dark thing was her motivation for everything she had done so far, she decided to trust it. Even if she thought it wasn't her, it was still in her body, and knew Yusuri about as well as she did. Though to be honest, she didn't know Yusuri's every quirk or anything that extensive. They'd only known each other for a year and a half, and since neither was very extroverted.... Yeah, they knew just enough about each other to know how to not piss the other off. 'Though technically, Sylvan thought 'I suppose that's all you really need.'
Speaking of such, another thought had occurred to her. "Yursuri. How are you able to mold your chakra so well? I still haven't figured out how to walk up trees, and on water and such."
{612 Words}

It takes relatively little time for Rosie to catch up with Yusari and she actually slows a moment to study the girl that seemed to have appeared out of thin air and was conversing with the strange girl who'd gone passed her seeming to be skipping across the top of the snow like a flat thrown stone. Severely disheveled, forest debris in her hair, eyes like unnaturally vibrant lilacs. Her hair is... green. Having caught enough of a glimpse of Slyvan to take in her appearance, Rosemarius returned to her preferred pace and resumes her stiff jog through the snow. I begin to think they're not mentally deficient or otherwise diseased. In fact, I'm certain that the both of them are students at the Academy and yet I... just can't seem to remember seeing them before. How very odd... children my own age who aren't such annoyances that I know of them despite my best efforts. I wouldn't have thought it possible but clearly, it is. Perhaps I ought to introduce myself to them, get some idea of who else is in the school other than myself and the class with Gin-sensei... At teh thought, she slows again, and then she stops altogether, tightly controlling her breathing as she turns partway around and looks in the general direction of Yusari and Sylvan. I can't imagine there being any harm in it. She takes a step in that direction before stopping again and looking in the general direction of her destination. And yet, I've started a satisfactory flow of training at this moment, and to stop and converse would break that flow. Training is most effective, or so it feels, when it's part of a flowing effort going from one point of action to the next as required. No, I'm sure I'll be able to meet them later and see what they're about. For now, I've a jog to complete and when at the field, work to do.

Rosie turns back in the direction she'd been traveling and starts jogging again at a change of pace, feeling fatigue settle into her muscles, and then feels it wash away as the runner's high blocks the signs of legs being worked harder than normal at a pace that would be near her peak on bare and dry ground, but are being forced to traverse snow. Weariness, the sign that the training is taking and that I'm pushing my limits. I know I've read the expression that pain is weakness leaving the body, and I always thought it was an amusing platitude meant to rally raw recruits to some effort or another but... it really is true, isn't it? The pain is fatigue, the strain of the muscles, irritation of the throat as the air is drawn and pushed back out again, and all of it is a sign that you're striking at your weakness and hardening it into strength. In time, not much time in fact, this level of effort will be entirely worthy of dismissal and i won't even notice that I'm working anymore. That weakness at that level of effort will be gone. She smiles at the thought. What a pleasant idea, being less and less weak as I work hard and with zeal. Still, there are limitations to what willpower can make my body do and I'm certainly going to reach them soon. So it seems best to test myself... but how? I'm already running through difficult snow that makes each step burdensome. The slickness under my feet expends the effort still... The train of thought derails. Of course! Slickness. Taking a shuddering breath, she checks that her path is clear, puts her head down, and starts running all out.

Ten steps.... twenty steps.... thirty... steps... she says in her head, gauging her movements carefully as she set it up. Forty steps... and... left forward, right joins, brace knees, synchronize arms and... forward! Having reached the speed she desires, Rosie comes forward on both feet, bends her knees, and swings her arms forward as she springs up, shoving against the ground with all of the might her tired legs could give her and going airborne in an admittedly clumsy long jump. OK, landing... um... landing... landing! She freezes in mid-flight for nearly a full second. Don't know how to do it properly... stupid, stupid Rosie! OK, classic universal landing, always works... As she near the ground, she spins her arms forward and leans into the landing, tilting slightly and then strikes the ground. The slickness of the snow, although not as bad as if it was a little warmer and slushy, just wasn't meant to offer traction to this kind of movement, and her feet fly out from under her body. Instead of planting her face, however, Rosie tucks her head and curls, turning the ungainly fall into a compact roll, killing the possibly harmful downward momentum by turning it into forward and just rolling it out until it's spent. For her efforts, she end up laying on her back in the snow, the cold starting to melt and make her clothing moist as she pants. That... was far, far too close. Stupid girl, deciding to test yourself without knowing all the steps!
"Any landing you're not harmed by."
There is that. She blinks a moment before closing her eyes, shutting out the feeling of wetness in her back. Good point. Nothing lost but dignity, and I've trekked back home after falling into a wet clay pit with important visitors in the house. Dignity is overrated.

With that oddly pleasant thought in her head and the phantom whisper of a pleasant chuckle murmuring into her mind's ear, Rosie rolls onto her hands and thrust down against the ground, the momentum enough to bring her to her knees and then entirely back to her feet. She stretches a little and looks in the direction she'd been moving, seeing that she was just at the edge of the field she'd intended to go to and hadn't even noticed in the moment of setting up for a long jump and compensating for her lack of training in how to land such a thing. "Ah," she says, speaking out loud for the first time that day. "A field blanketed in white and just begging for effort to be applied to it! Unspoiled it..." And then she sees it: two spheres of snow near one another, gatherings of the snow in the previously-unspoiled fields. She was momentarily at a loss for words, thrown off by the fact that she was clearly not the first person to the training field, almost unhead-of so far, and even more so that someone appeared to be...
"Oh, a snowman. What a delightful decoration! And look, there's the artist."
Rosie's eyes narrow as she spies Serasena hard at work despoiling the field for the benefit of a playful decoration and she clears her throat before walking over in the direction of the diminutive (relative to her) girl dressed warmly for the weather. "And just what in the name of all hokage past and yet to be is this?" she almost demands in a audibly sour tone of voice the moment she gets close enough to be heard.

{Word Count: 1200 | 2930}

If you watched the girl it was noticeable that she was breathing rather heavily, but she seemed almost unaware of this. To a point that it would have looked like she was ill and about to die in the snow, despite the contradictory nature of such a statement. Watching closely as she steadied her breathe, making sure to see every slight movement of tongue and lip, vowels, syllables, consonants, and as she finished watching her friend a humorous thought (by another's perspective); What will I do if they have a mask over there face? I can't see their lips under a mask, or just a bandage on their face... Well I understood Samhain, but I had to move my headphone off one ear and even then. The voice still found its way to get to me, and I  was focusing only on him and the rain... that failed miserably. I haven't seen him as of late actually, I hope he's okay.
Snapping back to reality she let out a sigh that sounded like a deep breath from the perspective of those watching the oddity. Looking up a single snowflake seemed to declare her nose its territory as it landed on her nose, melting quickly at the feel of a warm body. Shaking rapidly as she snowflake touched her nose and melted Yusuri leaned forward and was quick to rub her nose of the cold water. Blinking her misty grey oculars rapidly as if trying to cause a seizure by flicking the lights on and off. It was a flash of off and on, until she finally came to her senses and gave a bland laugh, a empty, hollow strange, and creepy laugh. Looking back at Sylvan she spoke up, "I suppose that is rather true, Sylvan. However, I think this counts as a good leg exercise, and if you want an arm workout I brought shovels to dig. As for the whether I think its nice without all the pesky bugs, bet the Aburame clan isn't happy this time of year though."
As she looked at Sylvan, her mind traveled to their odd meeting as they were both made to live together. It was unconventional at first due to a difference in self-nature, but they worked out some of the kinks. They were both still rather introverted and it was almost like an allergy to people, they hated being near them, and it made them both become almost painfully aware of how bad they were at conversation. Watching the girls lips move again, she took the shovels off of her back and gave a obviously plastic smile, like a china doll. Shoving the shovels into the snow for emphasis, she reached down and grabbed only one shovel full and quickly backed up, and throwing the snow at her roommate, "Neither do I, but if you can exert it, you can learn, just takes time you learn over the course of a month, or a year... maybe a decade. I've spent the last few months on just figuring out how to make it work. But I can only do it once, dance wise, exerting myself too much can end up getting me killed you know. Wouldn't really change much, but still." Yusuri said with a blunt tone as always, hopping away towards where Rose and Seresana were currently located. Her way of getting there slow since she was slightly warn out from the snow keeping her well within its grips. Using she shovel she inched forward by hurling snow backwards as she moved, assuring that if Sylvan followed it wouldn't be easy at all.

Word Count: 600/1800

Seresana had made a bit of progress on the third and final snowball before her interruption. She'd managed to start rolling the snowball back to the other two, it slowly but surly gaining girth from the easily compressed snow as it rolled over the blanket that laid on the ground. It was nearing a full foot in diameter when the sounds of throat clearing and some almost harshly spoken words were said all too close to her. The suddenness in the change of sounds was something of a surprise for her, going from nothing more than the occasional whisper of wind through the trees to suddenly having someone talking not only to you, but from practically right next to you would be enough to startle just about anyone who wouldn't be expecting such a thing, and with Seresana being distracted by inner thoughts and her work, she hadn't been paying enough attention to the approaching figure to have noticed it until the other ninja in training spoke.

"WAH!" Seresana cried out at first as she stood straight up and nearly kicked the snowball she'd been rolling while almost getting ready to throw a punch, but self control asserted itself well over her, a lessen well learned in the times she'd spent hunting with her father. When it was best to not act aggressively out of surprise, and so the strike never became anything more than a clenched fist halfway cocked back and even then it was a fleeting moment, and before many interpretations could be made, the limb was relaxed and hanging by her side as Seresana looked over her shoulder to see who it was that had spoke. Seresana's bright green eyes quickly focused on the much tall and much more serious looking, yet still familiar face of one of her classmates, and the common grin she could usually be seen with soon replaced her curious expression. "Oh, hi Rosemarius," Seresana started with a friendly wave as she turned the rest of the way around so that her form was fully facing Rosemarius. "I was playing in the snow a bit to get some training done," she then stated, finally answering Rose's question with a grin before continuing to speak to further explain. "See over there," she stated with a point to the two large snowballs that just barely managed to stand taller than Rose did. "I'm building a snowman to use as a practice target. I was wanting to build a few of them to get some more serious training going," she paused for a moment to look out into the field and the sky, taking note of how much snow she'd already had to use and how long it had taken to accumulate by herself. "But making them that big so they can take several hits is proving a bit more work and taking longer than I thought it would..." Seresana said as her voice drifted down only so slightly. "I might be able to get a second one finished, but that'll still leave me with only a little time to train against them," she added almost dejectedly before suddenly brightening up and looking back towards, and upwards, at Rosemarius's own eyes. "Oh! But you probably came here to train as well. I'm sorry I kind of already took up some of the field, but if you want, you can help me make some more snowmen and then we can practice on them together," Seresana suggested hopefully. "I bet with you helping we could make several more in no time, and then the training would be all the better, we could even show off some new techniques to each other," Seresana reasoned and explained to Rosemarius as she continued to look up at the taller girl's face with that hopeful expression so filled with energy and optimism. "Will you join me, please," she asked gently and smiling brightly at the very end while holding out her hand, fingers slightly apart, and palm turned slightly upwards to where it would catch a few of the errant snow flakes that still drifted down from the heavens if Rosemarius didn't take the offered limb soon.

Word Count: 695
Total: 3030

Despite the initial look of her, Yusuri would be alright. Sylvan knew this for a fact, at least in this isolated incident. ’We’re crazy.’ She had watched Yusuri practice her dances before, and had long ago gotten used to the visual signs of exertion she displayed afterwards. ’We’re crazy.’ She had made sure to move her scarf down from her mouth before Yusuri got close enough to read her lips. ’We’re crazy.’ Really, it sylvan wishes the girl would just get over the voices. Sure, they were a horribly reminder of tragedy, but there was a point at which one was simply being silly. ’We’re crazy.’ Sylvan had long ago made peace with her own voices, so why couldn’t Yusuri? Still, Sylvan had enough social awareness between herself to realize that trying to force the point would end with lots and lots of pain. ’We’re crazy.’ As such, she had decided to avoid breaching the topic, if only because she didn’t want to be bludgeoned to death in the night with a pan. Pans hurt, after all. Well, sylvan had never been hit with an actual pan, but she didn’t need to experience to guess it would cause intensive pain, and carry the risk of internal damage. ’We’re crazy.’ She really wasn’t willing to risk it. Sylvan wasn’t big on risks, of any kind. She would take them, but she was no thrill seeker, oh no. She lived by caution and logic, except in a few areas. Those few areas sometimes caused issues, but they were just as much a part of herself as her logic. Speaking of which, she could really do with a new map to look over. 'We're crazy.' She would ask Yusuri about acquiring a poster of some sort by the end of the day. ’We’re crazy.’ A map, perhaps of the world. Sylvan could sit on her back or in a chair near the wall and trace it, charting courses across the globe. Sylvan was only human after all, and she had her hobbies. ’We’re crazy.’ Yusuri didn’t always appreciate her love of haggling though. Sylvan was rather hurt by that fact.
Ah, now she was explaining how her skills worked, both its strengths and its weaknesses. Sylvan wasn’t really sure why people felt the need to explain how everything they were doing worked. ’We’re crazy.’ She know if she had learned some amazing new technique, she would give no hint of how it worked to anyone. Unless they had a map, and weren’t actively trying to kill her. She knew painfully well she was rather weak in that area. ’We’re crazy.’ Dragging herself out of the mire of rambling, she observed Yusuri turn away from her and begin moving off. She was shoveling snow in such a way as to make following her extremely difficult. ’We’re crazy.’ As such, Sylvan trudged through the snow alongside her, rather than walking behind her and in the path of the snow. “Yusuri? Can we by a giant map to hang on the wall? Er, please?” There. That was a decent enough opener. ’We’re crazy.’
{515 words}

"This appears to be the more adorable and sweet young thing in this entire academy. I'm very fond of the little hood with the white fur lining and those cute little mittens and her eyes look large and just so cute, and dear hokage look at those reflexes."
In the short moment between Serasena's sound of surprise and her balling her fist, Rosemarius has already planted the right foot and started to pivot out of the way she reads the possible attack as coming in.
Read the clench, follow the thought, see the next movement and where it will be. Prepare to cup the palm and let it be...
"Rose."
...pushed back even as the hand encloses it. Pivot the blow in the...
"Rosie."
...hand so as to catch the wrist and use it...
"Rosemarius."
...as a lever and an anchor to...
"ROSE!"
Through the entire sequence of thought, Serasena would see Rosie shifting her weight and bracing herself to receive a punch, use the punch as a lever, and return it at full power. The preparation lingered for a moment as Rosie's facial expression changed from focused attention to wariness, and then she was completely at rest again and looking down at Serasena with a light frown and a furrowed brow. "A hair-trigger reaction of violence would be... inadvisable in any situation where no apparent danger could be seen," she comments as her expression transitions to just being sour. The annoyed and somewhat sternly disapproving expression doesn't entirely hide the fact that the overly serious Rosemarius is trying not to smile at seeing Serasena's well-known grin, something almost smug while being rather sweet as well. "Hello Hatasuko Serasena. You appear to be quite... um... industriously engaged in play," her face tightens and she all but spits the word 'play' as she says it, "rather than any manner of training of which I am aware. You need not dress one up as another, for I am not your sensei and have no intent of bullying and chastising you for what you do with an opportunity for relaxation and fun."

"Hogwash."
In truth, Rosie was highly annoyed at Serasena and somehow, her calling the play 'training' just annoyed her more. She would very much like to give the small girl a tongue-lashing, but the likely results of this were clearly not worth the effort of doing it. It would cause either tears from Serasena, an understandable if childish reaction that Rosie simply did not want to bear witness to, or she would get an impromptu lesson in the capabilities of her fellow student. Serasena fighting her just because she'd been truthful seemed highly immature, but she'd learned never to rule anything out at the age bracket she'd found herself in. The options of castigation off the table, and given the likely reactions to such an initiative, there was no reason to venture it, she folded her arms and looked over the spoiled field with an expression between dismay and irritation.
"You appear to have spoiled the entire area," she noted, heaving a loud sigh. "I can't imagine why you did this Serasena. You're not a stupid girl, you ought to be aware that others might wish to practice in an unspoiled environ, and yet you went ahead with this despoiling of a common area anyway. I can't imagine your purpose in making..."
"Snowmen."
"...making..."
"Say it with me: snowmen."
"...mere spheres to practice your accuracy on," Rosie concluded. "A more durable medium would certainly prove better for your spoken purpose, and such a medium could be relatively simple to construct with appropriate application of effort. For example..."
"Help her with the snowmen."
"...example..." Rosie cleared her throat loudly to cover the complete derailment of the train of thought leading where she was planning to go. "Never mind that."
"Help her, Rose."
I occasionally find it difficult to believe that I am like you at all.
"You can't help it, you realize."
I cannot help it, I do indeed realize it. But I am displeased by this, all of this. The field is ruined and any prospect for serious training is completely null and void. It'd make more sense to find another location.
"And yet, you know where this will end. Part of the flowing perfection in you is to have it flow into every endeavor such that you are perfected in small thing as well as great. Being about your equals, creating warmth and friendship with those who might be your allies without even studying their utility, is a part of that perfection and one that you have failed to hone. It's a dulled weapon, and there is no place for a dulled weapon."
My point?
"You will never come across a better selection for this purpose. She has skill enough, and a personality that will forgive you. Help this child, this Serasena, build her snowman. Even help her build many of such things, and let this be a place where your perfection is extended."
I cannot imagine how I would be unaware of my own deep thoughts and insight.
"Minor damage due to the schizophrenia."
Yes I... suppose it is. It concerns me deeply.
"Of course it does, it concerns me deeply as well. But there is no help for it at this point, so you'd best get to the task set before you."
The conversation flew buy at the speed of thought, in units of time so small as to make a short conversation seem like a momentary pause, and Rosie took in a breath, letting it out again, and then she reached out to Serasena and took the proffered hand. "Yes, Serasena... I will help you to build a snowman for the purposes of training. Perhaps more than one, but we'll have to see."

{Word Count: 1010 | 3940}

Yusuri was indeed no big fan of haggling, but it made for a good way to get the food they necessitated. Despite the dislike of it, it was effective for buying groceries. That Yusuri was sure of, as sure as her knowledge that Sylvan was the queen bee of antisocial people with oddly great social skills in terms of negotiation. It was within graspable knowledge of the girl of five foot five, that Sylvan was far from a... sane individual. She had the musty smell of the forest, but she spent so much time in the woods Yusuri didn't doubt that it was a permanent smell upon Sylvan's body, and short green hair, but over all the way she acted was far off kilter from healthy. Completely cutting off contact with the village's people, other than when she and Yusuri went shopping for the essentials of food, amongst various good. At home they talked telepathically, which was normally when they cooked at home, but sitting down to talk was a rarity between the two, as Sylvan went on about maps, and Yusuri simply went on about the two training harder. however despite their oddities they managed to stay under one shared roof, the home normally under a spell of deathly quiet. You would believe it to be abandoned if not for the cleanliness, and mixing of areas of messes sprouting about the house. As Sylvan trudged through the snow beside her she looked up only slightly so she could red the other girls lips.
At the mention of a giant map, Yusuri audibly sighed and continued to shovel the snow. She really loves maps, I will give her that. Honestly though, we don't have the money for such wants, I guess I'll just tell her. That's the same as always though, she probably is expecting that, I'll hit her with a 'Maybe next time we're in town.' Hmmm... That will do for now I suppose. Yusuri turned to Sylvan and opened her mouth and spoke the answer she had come to mind, "No."
Damn it... Why does my body not listen? YOUR CAGE, LEAVE IT! Shut it, I don't want to hear your screaming in my head. Where I stay and what I do within me head is my business. YOU CAN'T EVEN SAY AN ANSWER WITH YOUR BODY, HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO ESCAPE US, THE HEADPHONES ONLY HELP WITH THE FIRE. Sadly.
From inside her cage Yusuri continued to talk with the voices of the deceased, her body running on autopilot. Shoveling snow at a rather good moving pace. Sliding the spade shovel into the snowy turf and gripping the pole of the digging tool with two hands tho quickly thrown it back, in a rhythmic style it would remind most of the bamboo garden watering device. As she continued to move she looked back to the forest girl, "Your obsession of maps, I don't quite get it" She said plainly as she was possibly capable of, which was to say, as plainly as water. It was the honest truth, she understood not of Sylvan's little love of maps, or why she wanted a big one at that. The home they shared was rather small, consisting of only the few rooms needed for the two. A common room and kitchen, along with two bedrooms and a shared bathroom for the two. All the while, Yusuri made her way forward, slowly, Sylvan and herself made it to the clearing Rosie and Seresana were currently... doing a still odd practice to her. Snowmen? If she remembered correctly. Stopping her shoveling she decided the put the wood and metal object back in the sash. Her breathing still somewhat heavy, but not as quite as bad as before.

Word Count: 626/2426

Seresana winced as her explanation came under scrutiny and her grin faltered just a bit under Rose's sour expression. Her gaze also went out to the rest of the field when Rose laid claim to her insensitivity and lack of fore-thought in ruining the practice field, though from what she could see, there was still a decent bit of the field that remained undisturbed. The snow was rather exceptionally thick and she hadn't had to roll her snowballs too awfully far to build them up as much as she did. Still, she did find that a decent chuck of the ground now had these grooves set in the snow almost to the ground, creating a very rough surface of highs and lows scattered throughout it varying from the eight inches of snow in undisturbed spots, to any lower amount until the ground could be seen where no snow remained. Her hand even started to fall back to her side as it seemed Rose had no intention of helping her, or even remotely approving of her actions.

But then Rose reached out for her hand and Seresana found herself looking back up with a bit of hopeful optimism as she clasped Rose's hand. Her smile returned in full when Rose agreed to help and she nodded before looking towards the snowball she'd nearly finished before Rose had shown up. Seresana let go of the taller girl's hand then to return to her work while also trying to continue her explanation some as well. "That's great Rose, but training can be fun too you know. And playing can also be a form of training," Seresana went on as she got back down and began to push the ever growing snowball towards the now nearby snowman until it was resting gently against it's side. "See, I've been doing a bit of strength training when getting these snowballs together and then stacked up, and having to do a bit of planning to make sure I had the snowball to the right size when I got back to the snowman," Seresana stated while beginning to pick up the weighty ball of snow that was easily bigger than her head, expressing a good bit of effort in the act until the snowball was above her head and her arms were fully extended. Even then though, the snowball wasn't exactly centered up on the top of the last snowball and she had to stand up on her tip toes just to get it closer. This resulted in the snowball actually managing to stay up on top of the snowman, but it was still a bit off center from the rest of them, a fact dully noted by Seresana as she stepped back to take in her work. "Still, I'm glad you decided to help. It's more fun when others are around to play and to train with instead of just doing it by one's self," Seresana added with a small smile up towards Rosemarius. It was a fleeting sweet moment though as she then looked towards the snow again and began to gather up the initial bit of snow needed for the next snowman, compacting the bit into a small ball as she'd done previously before setting it in the snow to be rolled into a bigger ball. For the moment at least, she still didn't notice Yusuri or Sylvan enter the training area and as such didn't actively acknowledge them at the moment.

Word Count: 577
Total: 3607

"Training is work," Rosemarius says as she follows Serasena. "The power and ability that you gain from that training is the part that is..." she hesitates and purses her lips as if the word tastes sour to her "...fun. I believe the common expression is that one ought not put the horse before the cart." She pauses to turn what she just said over in her mind. "The cart before the horse, rather. Yes, the cart can't come before the horse, and I've just come to a realization of how uncommonly silly that analogy sounds."
"Most commonplace analogies sound silly if you make the mistake of thinking about them."
There is never any case where thinking is a mistake.
"There most certainly is, and that is when you need to react..."
How is it possible that I'm being incorrigible to myself?
"I know no more than you do."
"At any rate, I imagine that hefting snow is a more... enjoyable way to heft the equivalent weight of water, not to mention much more convenient." Rosie watches Serasena lift the snowball and then get onto tiptoes to roll it up onto the top of the first one, letting it fall slightly off-center. "Here... if we're going to experiment with this training form, I insist on adhering to at least one bare minimum standard, and that is the standard of Büdo." She walks over and grasps the snowball, ignoring how the cold makes her fingers hurt and tingle at the same time, and she pushes it slowly in one direction to make it centered. She then sidesteps around the snowball, looks at it from a different angle, and makes another small adjustment. She does this multiple times, seeming to be completely unconscious of Serasena still there as she perfects the lay of one snowball upon the next. "I wish I had a good straight rod for this," she comments after a couple of minutes. "I've no set standard for perfect vertical alignment and it's hard to imagine."
"You could always ask."
That might cause her to be a little suspicious.
"What 's the purpose of a schizophrenic hallucination if she can't give you a productive hallucination?"
Logical. Well, if you would, I'd like that.
"I exist to better you, Rose."
As Serasena watches, Rosie stops walking around the snowman and steps back, holding her chin in one hand and studying something intently. It would seem like she's studying the snowman, but her eyes are looking slightly above it. "OK then, my guess was mostly right," she comments before moving in and making a few more minute adjustments, moving to another angle and making a few more before she nods and looks satisfied. "That'll do then."
"You're welcome."
And you're a welcome sight.
"You are far too kind, Rose. Now you're going to pay me back, though."
How?
"Finish this snowman with Serasena, gather those other two girls into the effort, and then have a snowball fight."
Other two...? Rosie abruptly turns around and looks to see Yusari and Sylvan along the edges of the training field, one of them just putting away a shovel. "...oh joy, more people." She sighs.
A snowball fight?
"I can't imagine more useful training than the significant eye-hand coordination training of deflecting large numbers of harmless missiles with wholly random flight patterns, weights, and compositions without being doused in the face with snow."
I hate myself sometimes.
"Mostly because yourself is right."
Yes. "I believe that your construct is ready to have a third snowball placed atop it," she says to Serasena. "Unless the appropriate method of construction for this particular homunculus requires only two."
"Homunculus. You actually called a snowman a homunculus."
The word is appropriate.
"Rose, sane people do not learn these words or know how to use them."
Schizophrenic?
"...my point stands. Stop it before you confuse the poor dear."

{Word Count: 690 | 4630}

Sylvan run-hops over to Rosie and Sena, waving. Somewhat surreal, at least maybe for Rosie, is that she is grinning. Not the faint, tired, 'I'm - insane - and - you - made - me - think - about - it - oh - beasts - why' smile, but an actual grin, one with no reserved feelings of foggy mazes of mania.
After much awkwardly wading and leaping across the snow, Sylvan arrives at the snowman. "Oh! Sena, that is a very nice homunculus! I would've assisted you, had I been around..." she trails off, circlign around it. "... But I'm here now." by the end of her circling, whether through accident or a cunning ploy, Sylvan is next to Rosie. She would turn, and awkwardly hold her arms out, hopefully indicating the offer of a hug.
Once the hug was either offered or rejected, she would walk around to hug Sena, having to bend down to hug her much shorter friend. "Is there anything I can do to help? What was being discussed?"
{173 Words}

"No, you're right, it's ready for the third one Rosie," Seresana replied as she checked over the ball she'd started rolling already and seeing that it was not too small compared to the other two. She started to begin lifting the snowball, but then she head a new voice around her and looks up with a steadily growing smile to Sylvan, though it became just a little strained when she too referred to her snowman as a humonculus. Am I the only one who calls these things just a snowman? Seresana wondered to herself for a moment as Sylvan addressed Rosie. When it came to her chance for a hug though, Seresana practically jumped into the embrace, squeezing the taller girl tightly.

"Well, you can still help Sylvan. I was going to build a few more of these and then possibly use them for some target practice. If you help, I bet we could get a good few of them made up before it gets too late," Seresana went on as she started to clump up some more snow for a second snowman. "There should still be plenty of snow as well," she added with a gesture towards the rest of the undisturbed snow laying upon the field.

Word Count: 209
Total: 3,816

Rosie would stand stiffly for a moment. "I'm being hugged."
"Yes, I noticed. It's the strangest thing, being hugged, because you're generally su pposed to hug someone back when they do. You don't seem to be doing that." Kitty walked behind Sylvan and peered curiously at her and then Rosie. "Perhaps you need reeducation?"
"And how do you plan to do that?"
Kitty grinned with all teeth. "Remember how I'm part of your mind?"
"I find it hard to forget."
"Good. Now what does this fact imply, class?"
Rosie mentally pauses, running through the possibilities before doing her best to restrain a deadpan expression. "...you're kidding."
"Sorry, Rose, it's for your own good." Whereupon, after only a moment of hesitation, Sylvan would be grasped rather firmly by the recalcitrant Rosie and given a warm hug and a very light pat on her head before she breaks away to hug Serasena.
"We were discussing the snowman and the various opportunities presented by the fall of snow in the village," Rosie tells her. "Such as snowball fights and making sculptures of said snow. It can also be used as a rough training aid, snow presenting resistance and increasing the exertion required for physical things."
"Speaking of making sculptures of physical things, maybe we should try a bust of me." Kitty suggested cheerfully. "Get it? Bust?"
"I'm not suggesting that we make sculptures of your breasts bursting out of your kimono, Kitty," Rosie responds dryly.
"You assume that the kimono was part of the plan."
"No, I merely hoped it was. As usual, the hope was a futile one." She smiled a little as she looked to Serasena agreeing with her that the snowman needed the third ball and assuring Sylvan that she can be useful. "You know what keeps me sane when you're acting like this Kitty?"
"What's that?"
"Knowing that as long as I'm celibate, you can only talk, never touch, never experience, never enjoy."
Kitty looks at her steadily. "That's pretty cold, Rose."
"I'm the cold logic side." Rosie upgrades the smile to a broad and happy thing unlike her normally shy and subtle smile. "I'd be happy to take that off your hands, Serasena," she tells her as she picks up the third snowball that Sera had dropped upon glomping Sylvan. "So how should I finish this snowman, after I have the head on? I must admit to having never tried this before."

{Word Count: 404 | 5034}

Rosie would feel a faint jolt as she hugs Sylvan, but is hugged back tightly before she has a chance to react. Clearly Sylvan was not expecting her to hug back, but is pleasantly surprised that she did. Once the hug was complete, she snow-hopped over to Sena to hug her too.

---

Sylvan nods, idly noting the smiles. This was... Fun. She wa snappy. It was quite interesting. It wasn't that Sylvna was normally sad, she was just neutral. Blank, as far as emotions were concerned. Her 'friends' (yes, that was the word for it, wasn't it?) were making her feel happy and ease. That nagging drive was still there, but it was far in the back of her mind.
Sylvna begins gathering snow together to make another snowman. It was surprisingly fun. She had never done this before, but it was certainly an activity she would have to indulge in when next the snows fell.
{154 Words}

Seresana nodded with a smile towards Sylvan as she began to gather snow for the second snowman, but then she looked back over towards Rosie. "All that's left to do now is give it some arms and a face," Seresana said while looking towards the trees nearby. While leaving Rosie to put the head snowball on top of the snowman, Seresana wandered over to said trees. She quickly jogged over to them and grabbed up a couple of the dead branches near their trunks before skipping back over to the snowman with her haul. Letting the small collection of sticks fall to the ground, Seresana picked up the two smallest ones and stuck them on opposite sides of the middle snowball. Then she grabbed up the shortest of the sticks and broken it into small pieces that were subsequently inserted into the top snowball. Two pieces were put near each other on the upper half for eyes, then a third slightly longer piece was placed between them and slightly lower for a nose. Then the rest of the stick was bent and pressed flatly into the snow to make a crude smile.

"There we go, a good old snowman just like that," Seresana said while admiring her work and then turning her attention towards Rosie to gauge her approval. While she was waiting for the approval, Seresana was also looking towards the rest of the snow as she looked for a good spot for the second snowman to be made.

Word Count: 251
Total: 4,067

Once again, Rosemarius appears to be carefully considering the snowman and measuring her placement of the third snowball against some kind of marking that only she seems able to see. In her mind's eye, Kitty stands beside the sculpture with a tall straight rod running straight through its center, unemcumbered by such little details as being obligated to be placed instead of simply appearing.
"Just a little bit to the right, Rose," she says. "The human form is symmetrical after all. As is mine, which you can tell because both breasts are equally firm and luscious."
"You're so lucky we're not alone," Rosie informs her dryly. "Or I'd be practicing my dry heaves right about now. What's with the sudden upsurge in discussion of your chest?"
"Because I'm so pretty," Kitty informs her cheerfully, "oh so pretty, so very pretty, and witty, and gay,"
"And abruptly, I wish I could slap your gay away." Rosie smiled very lightly at the silly answer as she places the third snowball and presses very lightly so it'll remain secure.
"I wonder... how would a catfight work out if the other girl is invisible and a figment of your imagination?"
"It would lead us straight to a sanitarium."
Kitty wrinkles her nose. "A sanitarium? Oh, boo! What's the fun in being sane?"
"I wouldn't have kitsunes flaunting themselves in front of my face."
"Well, since the only other kitsune that's even rumored to be around is a butt-ugly crazed fox spirit that wants to destroy everything, I'd think you'd appreciate something cheerful, playful, and sexy in your face."
"Butt-ugly crazed...?"
"Nine Tails?"
"Oh." Rosie compresses her lips slightly as Kitty brings up the mythical beast, her gesture unconsciously coinciding with Serasena finishing the snowman and looking to her for approval.
"Um, Rose?"
"Mmm?"
"Ex-nay on the frown-ay. Cute One just looked at you hoping for approval."
"Oh. Oh!" The tight-lipped and thoughtful expression immediately breaks into a smile directed at Serasena. "It's pretty good. Granted, it could probably stand taking several small sticks and breaking them into tiny pieces so we can create more intricate details of a smile..."
"Which is very much not the point of making a snowman..."
"...which isn't really the point, is it?" Rosie gave a tiny chuckle. "So, a second snowman? Do you want help rolling the bottom?"

{Word Count: 389 | 5423}

Sylvan quietly shuffles over to Rosey and Sena. Small snow clouds were kicked up, and her movement was quite loud. It was much different from the other seasons, where there was no snow. Normally she would seem to just apparate next to people, as if she'd been there all along (which was usually the case). With the snow, it was much easier to keep track of her.
Sylvan looks form Rosie to Sena, also curious where the next snowman would rise. She was deferring to Sena, who seemed to have the most (I.E. Any) experience in the art of snowman building. Rosie appeared to be having another internal argument. Sylvan wasn;t really sure how to help her in that department, despite her own vast experience with such issues, so she merely hugged the slightly shorter girl. It was the most she felt she could do without risking breaking Sena's concentration.
{150 Words}

Seresana just chuckled at Rosie's hesitant analysis of the snowman, and smiled warmly when Sylvan came over to hug Rosie. "Why don't we all three work on the second snowman, and if he's to be used for target practice, we should probably place him either near by this one or on the other side of where we plan to stand when practicing," Seresana elaborated "If we've got enough time, I think 3 snowmen would work, that way there'd be one for each of us. And if we're all going to practice together, we might as well put them next to each other," she then added with another point on their potential placement. "Still, we don't get any done if we just keep standing here," Seresana finished as she walked back over to the small mound of snow she'd started to gather up before finishing the first snowman. She compressed the snow into the little ball and then began to roll it, slowly making the orb bigger as it accumulated more frozen mass. "It really won't take long with both of them helping me like this!" Seresana thought cheerfully to herself as she continued rolling her snowball in the cold.

Word Count: 200
Total: 4,267