Setting: Midnight, a clearing in the forest:
An old man wearing a garment of furs steps from between the trees into the clearing. His cold blue eyes are barely visible between his full grey beard and his fur cap.
He glances around and then sits himself down on a nearby rock. He rests the gnarly branch he uses for a walking stick on his lap. Ten minutes have passed when a light rain begins to fall. A creaking sound from the undergrowth and another person steps from among the trees. It's a woman and very obviously so. She's wearing nothing but a loincloth and plaited in her long red hair are yellow flowers.
The old man looks up and acknowledges the woman with a grumpy nod. 'So ye've finally come, eh?'
'You knew I would come, old man. I always do.' the woman replies in a melodical voice.
Using his stick to support himself the old man rises from the rock. 'I knew...Yeah, I knew you would come...Sometimes I have even looked forward to it. I'm getting on in days and as I grow older I sometimes think that I deserve some rest for a change.' the old man says in a sombre tone.
The woman looks at the old man with a pityful look in her
emerald green eyes. 'Do I gather you want me to end your life in peace?' she asks softly. A small bluetit lands on the woman's shoulder and starts nibbling at one of the flowers in her hair.
'In peace?' the man says with a hint of surprise in his voice. 'Nah...I've been fighting all my life, lady. I'm not gonna stop now. I've prepared for this moment, I have. The old man may yet surprise you.' he grumbles, gripping his stick just a little harder.
'But I can make your death completely
painless if you want...' the woman says in a sad tone.
'Painless? To hell with painless, woman! Pain is for the weak! Now do we duel or are you gonna keep cuddling that pathetic excuse for a
bird?'
The woman looks at the old man for some time, a sorrowful look in her eyes. 'If that is how you really want it then I guess I have no choice...'
'You're damn right you don't have a choice. We battle missy!' He raises himself and strikes the earth with his gnarled walking stick. With a sound of thousand glaciers grinding their way through age-old stone the cold begins radiating from him. Everything it touches is covered in frost and icicles. The wind is suddenly a gale bringing sharp drifts of snow and hail.
The woman gives an unheard cry of surprise as she slips on the icy ground, the by now roaring blizzard ripping into her and her surroundings. The small birdy in her hands is almost instantly frozen and a
cruel hailstone then shatters it's head. The look of surprise and pain on her face makes place for one of utter horror.
'You total fucking utter bastard!' she yells above the storm. She raises a hand and is now in a zone of complete calm (insert visual special effect here) in the middle of the storm. All around her the ice starts to melt. The calm zone around her starts to expand and at her feet some crucuses (croci?) emerge from the ground. The croci are quickly overwhelmed by the brambles that start popping up from everywhere now.
The old man sees that the battle is lost and turns around trying to flee back to the woods. He has not even set five paces when he is overtaken by the ever expanding circle of calm. Brambles grapple at his frail thin legs and he stumbles to the ground. Coughing and wheezing from the effort, the old man is quickly covered in brambles who rip him apart.
Happy end Epilogue:
The forest is once again teeming with life, rekindled from three months of deep slumber. The woman picks up the bluetit's body, kisses it, and it changes into an egg which she carefully places in a nest in the tree.
Happy
spring 2001, Everything2!