The Untold Story of Texas and Lappland (Arknights)

Battle the Frost

The entire ground seemed to be shaking, the air so cold it almost felt tangible. Lappland felt the rubber of her boots scuffing against the slippery surface, black ice trying to pull her down to the ground. Little shards grew around her feet as if attempting to swallow her whole. The others were in a similar predicament, lifting their feet up in vain to avoid icy capture. They were running over to join their allies even with the danger clearly present. But their situation was nowhere near as bad as the other Rhodes Island members.

Amiya and Doctor stood side by side, flanked by other members she hardly recognized. As a unified force they stared down a women who was seemingly the source of the murderous frost. She was a bunny, visible shards of infection on her skin. Masked men and women flanked her on either side. Their weapons were poised for attack. Signs of battle already littered the ground in defeated corpses and blaster burns scorching the victimized surface.

Doctor Y/N turned first, as though they sensed movement from behind even amidst the tension so thick a sword would have trouble cleanly cutting through it. "You guys! You're here!" She presumed Y/N was relieved, but it was hard to tell with the hood covering their expression and muffling the tone of their words.

Amiya turned too, albeit briefly. Hope shined in blue orbs as dark magic (A/N: I know Arknights call it arts but if they're casters then calling it magic also makes sense lol) sparked at her fingertips like a warning sign. "Good. They can help."

There was definitely relief in her words, no doubt about it. She wondered if Amiya had been worried about them showing up at all. There were some dark circle under her eyes. A faint crust of ice was at each of her fingertips. The blue rings she always wore were glittering the reflection of it the same as it did the dark red light she kept summoning. A weird diamond like pattern was appearing behind Amiya. A ghost of a shape, warning of the power the leader of Rhodes Island possessed.

"Ahh. So I see you've called in reinforcements," The white bunny spoke up.

"FrostNova, what should we do?" One of the enemies asked their leader.

The powerful ice arts user seemed unfazed by PL's intrusion. "We'll do as we've always done. Win and keep going."

"You sound awfully confident," Doctor said.

"Oh, that's because I am." FrostNova murmured. There was a smirk on her lips. Lappland knew she'd made the same face herself in the past, cocky she would come out of a fight with a win. It was rather obnoxious to look at when on the receiving end.

Texas got to Amiya and Doctor first, skidding to a graceful stop. Her bronze swords were already out, poised for the upcoming battle. She regarded the other operators with a reassuring smile, especially the woman who looked a bit worse for wear. Her red garments were dusted with the same black frost littering the ground, her lips tinted blue as she battled with vicious frostbite.

"FrostLeaf! Is she . . ." Texas seemed to be holding her tongue, avoiding the question she desperately needed an answer too.

"Texas now isn't the time—" Sora tried to remind, only to fail with Exusiai clapping a hand on the bunny idol's shoulder.

"Let her be. She needs this so give support."

With that said Exusiai motioned for them all to take the front line. No official battle had started yet —Doctor would have to give the command to initiate it— but it was clearly going to happen soon. Dark clouds swamped the sky blotting out what would have likely been a lovely sunset. Lappland let the cold seep into her skin, grounding her in this dull scenery. Silver was a pretty color but gray was not so much. Not this kind of gray, a void of emotionless dimension where life seemed to up and die like a burned out car engine.