The snow crunched under Vindex's boots, a brittle sound swallowed by the whistling wind, Vindex trying to counter it with a whimsical hum of his own as he traversed this solitary mountain. Shards of frozen scrap metal jutting out like ground like razor teeth, and the not-so-large patches of grass not helping out normally, they would be soft, but during these winter times, they harden up into frozen grass like spikes, half buried beneathashes in the snow layers of snow like some sinister trap. You'd have to be one insane creature to live in a biome like this, but then again, most creatures should be hibernating during this season. If you need to be a crazy animal to live on this mountain, then you must be something like a tyrant to still be awake during this time, after all, there's not much food during this time. Somewhere deeper in the forest, a low growl vibrated through the white forest.
He rolled his shoulders, exhaling steam. "Welp, it's nice to see that at least one of you guys is still awake."
The growl became a roar, sharp, guttural, way closer than it was just a couple of seconds ago. A blur of white streaked through the snow, massive paws slamming down hard enough to shake frost from the trees. The albino mountain tiger dubbed the "white tyrant" by the locals. It was three meters tall when on all fours, lunged with jaws wide enough to snap a multiple man in two easily.
"Good, good." Vindex's smirk grew into a mocking smile. "Just the type of aether I was hoping to obtain. You know, I don't have much time here? We've known each other for a hot minute since I came here; you've been a menace. How about you give me a goodbye gift for old time's sake, maybe?"
The tyrant, with a swipe of its huge paw, would summon ice spikes that would shoot out of the ground, almost impaling Vindex if it wasn't for the fact that, at the last second, he would punch at one about to impale him, causing it to shatter, becoming blunt, giving him a platform to land on. He looked at the area. The tyrant's last attack filled the area with huge ice spikes, all around 5 meters tall
"Wow, I'm hurt, you know, I tell you I'm about to leave, and this is how you treat me. Fine, then be that way since you want to act like this, then I'll actually make good on my promise." he'd hold his hand out, a short sword appearing, he'd give it a couple of swings before twirling it and pointing it at the tyrant. "TODAY I WILL MAKE YOU COAT."
The tyrant, by then, would have already jumped onto one of the spikes standing atop it, yet not being hurt, it would glare at Vindex, its muscles coiled under that fur, ready to pounce. The second Vindex declaration of planning to turn it into a cloak would come out of his mouth; it would roar, causing the blizzard to intensify. Obviously, Vindex's plan of enraging the tyrant seems to have worked, maybe a little too well. That being said, the tiger's claws would freeze over, going from blue to a deep, dark blue. Seeing this Vindex, Vindex would point at it, "sick em." Vindex would say a huge black rivaling the size of Tyrant would come out from its shadow and would make an attempt to bite its neck. The Tyrant would quickly react, jumping off the spike, not before tapping the spike with its tail, causing more spikes to jud out and attack the wolf. The wolf would jump back over onto Vindex's side in order to dodge the spikes
Vindex would turn to look at the wolf. "You did well, Umbra. It's fast and agile, don't you think? I'll attack upfront if the opportunity shows itself, try to finish the fight if push comes to shove, I'll just make it run out of stamina." That being said, Vindex's short sword would glow for a second before transforming into a saber. Vindex would swing it in the direction of the tyrant wind slices heading towards the tyrant, pushing it back some, but it quickly catches on block it with its claws, but when it would do so, the sheer cold emanating off the claws would cause the pressurized air slice to solidify into crescent-shaped ice that it would throw back at Vindex.
"Ride kelpie," invoking this phrase, a large 4-meter-tall black horse with its mane dripping with water, somehow unfrozen from the freezing temperature, its abssal blue glowing eyes that look like they could and have stolen countless souls from just a glance would be summoned from Vindex's shadow. Vindex, now seated on its back, it would proceed to dodge to the left away from the crescent-shaped ice being thrown at them, each step of its hoof sounding like the gurgle of the damned, even leaving some blue after glows that seemed to look like a form of soul. Maybe it's the souls of the many victims who have drowned
Vindex would point his saber towards the tyrant, indicating for kelpie to charge with wasting a second it would charge towards the the tyrant but the tyrant would meet their charge with a charge of its own meeting them in the in middle of huge ice spike field them clashing icy claws meeting cold aether steel or whatever it is that vindexs morphing weapon seems to be made of. The clash was so intense that the shock wave would break the spikes, clearing the area up of any spikes. By them, kelpie's eyes would glow brighter for a second, it would spit out blue soul flames, causing the tyrant to jump back to avoid being hit with that unholy flame
"What's wrong? Don't tell me an ice user of your caliber scared of a little flame," the tyrant would spit out some ice shards, causing Vindex to have to parry them "i came here today hoping this fight would be easy, yet here we are-" The horse would dash towards the tyrant once more, Vindex aiming for an unexpected attack. The split seconds before his attack would land, the tyrant's feline instincts would warn it, causing it to put up its claws in defense a loud sound that sounds like metal hitting metal would sound in the area. Vindex, deciding not to back down would let go of his blade for a split second to reposition his grip between the tiger's claws. Using the blade like a hook, he'd jump off kelpie and pull on the blade bringing himself towards the tyrant fully letting go of the blade and flipping over its paws he'd make a shooting gester with his finger "bang" a huge fire ball would hit the back of the tyrant causing it to be thrown foreward unluckily for it kelpie was still there "trample" the kelpie would slam its hooves on the the tyrant leaving burn marks it also decaying the flesh of the tyrant a little. The tyrant would expand a lot of its aether trying to heal the burns, especially the decay those flames seem to have. It would be further enraged and would swipe at the horse's neck, which would land the swipe. This would also cause a razor-sharp ice crescent to occur, cleanly cutting off kelpie's head, but even though its head was no longer on, it still stood slowly sinking into the shadow of the tyrant. The tyrant failed to take one thing into consideration. Umbra, the wolf, like an unnoticeable shadow, has been patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity. Umbra would grab the extended front leg of the tyrant that was still extended from its last swiping motion, and with a loud crack, its front leg would be broken Umbra then throw it over to Vindex