And Now for Something Completely Different

[Jirai]

Really, the whole thing hadn't taken much effort to plan. The hardest part had been determining which road was the correct one, something she accomplished through observation and (this was the annoying part), actually talking to a few people. Once the correct road had been found, selecting the ambush spot had been simple. There was a fine hill, from which the approaches were quite visible. A few modifications to a snowbank allowed for the girl herself to remain unseen while watching the road. She was well supplied with ammunition, comfortably ensconced in her snowbank, heedless of the cold. After that, all she had to do was wait, and Niall could be very patient when she was hunting.

[Caile]

It wasn't that he had forgotten mentioning the idea to the young girl, but he certainly hadn't expected her to ambush him on his way into town. His visits were so unpredictable that he didn't even consider that she'd wait for him and so it was that he road down the road on his black stallion, fedora perched just so on his head to shade his face from the glinting sun off the snow. He was dressed for the long ride with heavy leather trousers and sturdy boots, his duster opened at the waist to allow it to spread easily for riding. As usual the man was dressed head to toe in black except for the occasional glimpse of his white linen shirt beneath the heavy coat. His raven hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, again as usual, and he seemed perfectly oblivious to his surroundings. The only real difference between his appearence on his horse and that of his appearence in the tavern was the long two handed sword strapped to the side of his saddle and the longbow strapped across the back with a quiver of arrows, the first weapons he was seen to posess.

He was the perfect victim.

[Jirai]

If one had expected the ambush, well, it wouldn't have been a good ambush, would it? Niall knew all about ambushes, and that in combination with her inherently competitive streak left her well prepared for this situation. She'd waited and waited, but despite that once her target drew into range she was quick to make her move. The fact that the man was carrying weapons she hadn't yet seen did not make her hesitate at all.

The missiles shot out smoothly, with a force and speed that one might not expect from such a skinny, lanky teenaged girl. And she had no mercy, did this girl. The missile were aimed straight for his face, a few perhaps. for his hands (and, one might note, she used no magic in this). She aimed to take him off that horse, and quickly!

[Caile]

Jason was an accomplished rider and even when surprised by multiple missiles pelting him in rapid succession. He was shocked certainly though recovered his presence of mind enough to hunch himself over the saddle to avoid any more hits to his face until he was able to slide himself down from the horse, using it as a shield as he quickly began to arm himself. He'd all but forgotten he'd suggested to the girl that they should partake in a snowball fight and it had taken him a few moments to realize that she had taken him up on that offer.

He laughed and the sound of that laughter echoed through the air, occasionally muffled by a sleeve when he raised an arm to block his face from further hits. The poor stallion was less than pleased with being used as a shield in such a way and, eventually tiring of being pelted with snow, trotted a few feet away leaving Jason out in the open. Defenseless, he had at least managed to build up a minor arsenal of his own and began a return volley, quickly packing more snowballs once his prepared pile had been depleted.

[Jirai]

Niall had the advantage in ammunition, having had some time to do nothing but produce copious numbers of snowballs. The girl has an intense concentration, a look Jason had doubtless seen when he had taken her to ride the horse. Intensely competitive by nature, this event was not likely to produce a smile or laughter from Niall, if that was what Jason was looking for. That lack made it difficult to determine her enjoyment in any particular activity - Elliot or Kyra might have picked up on an almost predatory pleasure though, had either been there. It was there as she pelted the man with snowballs and remained as he recovered himself and began returning fire. A well aimed one left her spitting out snow and after that the girl wriggled back and over to a better fortified position behind a snowbank. It would give Jason a few free moments to take advantage of but she'd another stash of snowballs waiting.

[Caile]

Laughter would come with time, he wasn't all that concerned with having the first couple of tries succeed after all, besides one had to be taught how to laugh. Right now all he wants is for her to have fun, even if she doesn't recognize it as such quite yet. Jason had made the assumption that if she was choosing to do it, and continuing after the first few moments that it was something she was enjoying, or she would have just stopped. He covered his face with an arm until she gave him those few free moments and then he gathered a few snowballs and ran directly towards her fortified position, throwing his ammo when her head popped above to take a bead on him. He was planning on diving over the wall to where she sat ensconced, yelling an incoherant battle cry as he did so.

[Jirai]

Niall knew how to laugh - thanks to the poison. She knew how to laugh, but she wouldn't. Oh no. Laughter was for humans, not for Niall. Her people had their own ways of showing amusement, most of which were lost on those here. She was starting to wonder, though, how did one -win- a snowball fight? Clearly the intent was not for someone to die, so how was victory declared? These were the thoughts she was thinking, blinking snow out of her eyes, as Jason dived over the wall onto her position. This was not something she was expecting and instinct took over, the scarred teenager's magical defenses reacting with vicious shock to any contact, the girl herself breaking into an abrupt roll that was rather hampered by the snow.

[Caile]

He hadn't, thankfully, actually connected with her but rather dived into a roll of his own, coming up with handfuls of snow which he tosses towards her, not even bothering to make them into snowballs this time. He is laughing at this point, scooping snow towards her now that he was behind her defenses. Victory in a snowball fight was clear, whoever gave up first lost. Usually it was the person that was being pelted with so much snow that they could no longer manage to build their own. Given the girls competitveness Jason had already assumed it would be him, despite what current conditions might indicate.

[Jirai]

It took the girl but a moment to recover from her surprise - and "recover," here, means to get herself back under control so as not to actually hurt or kill anyone. No magic. Not for this. When she recovered, though, it was with a vengeance, snowballs flying at an astonishing rate from her tattooed hands at the laughing man. The horse, that she had understood, somewhat. Maybe even appreciated. This? She was only continuing because Niall was incapable of quitting anything!