As soon as she appeared in the doorway, she could feel the wariness of those on the opposing side.
"That's Master Noble! I didn't know she was here today!"
Behind the snow wall on the other side of the street, around a dozen teens and a few more children and adults were gathered in an earnest assault on her family's snow fort.
Now they paused, unsure if they should continue.
'I can't let this end with all of the neighbors fearing .' Noble knew that the neighborhood respected her highly, and she didn't want to ruin that goodwill.
She waved and smiled.
"Nice day for a snowball fight!"
The Saint gently offered them so calm, which was accepted in varying degrees.
"Why are there so many people on the other side?"
Noble recognized so of the emotional signatures as those who lived across the street, but the bulk of the combatants were not from their street at all. All but one of them was mundane.
"I told you they called in reinforcents! Their whole family is over there." Blaze ducked behind the wall as a ball ca sailing overhead.
"This is basically a clan war!" Brock packed snow tightly together and launched it like he had seen grenades thrown in ancient films.
"Don't call it that!" Fort and Noble's voices overlapped with similar warnings.
"It's just a friendly ga," the mother smiled down at her children. "And now that I think about it, I'm not sure I should get involved even with these odds. It isn't fair."
Turning to shut the door behind her, Noble felt an object traveling toward her at great speed.
'Oh?'
Child of Promise leisurely turned around and caught the snowball in her hand, crushing it back to flakes.
A child from across the street peeked their head above the rampart and pointed to the boy beside her. "He did it, Master Noble!"
A small smile ford on the woman's face as she eyed the young man.
"Bold."
The teen was the lone Awakened among the group. Noble knew him. He had been her student both at the Drear and Awakened Academies.
Balefire was smart and eager to learn. While she hadn't been with him in his last monts of the trial, she had checked on his status more than once.
This was the first ti she had seen him since the solstice, and from the look on his face, he had co through with flying colors.
He seed happy to be back among his family, which did Noble's heart good.
So why had he thrown a ball at her while her back was turned?!
In response to her unasked question, Balefire shrugged.
"What is it you told us, Professor? We should expect the unexpected!"
He tossed another ball in her direction. This one froze in front of her face and disintegrated.
"This is unexpected indeed. Are you saying that you want to join?" Noble was surprised to see the rest of the group on the other side peek their heads above the opposing walls with wide grins.
They all nodded. Even the usually stoic husband from across the street had a handful of snow and a hint of mischief in his eyes.
It seed that the sunshine had brought with it a bit of whimsy to the snowy town, and everyone wanted part of the fun.
'I had no idea our neighbor was so competitive.'
Noble was competitive, too. That was the problem.
The lady crossed her arms. "Who am I to turn down a challenge? But to even the playing field a bit, I'll only throw them with my hands."
The floating woman could rain down an entire avalanche of snowballs. She had felled a large portion of a forest not so very long ago with only axes and her Aspect. Despite the pain of scooping the snow from the ground, Noble was determined not to use her powers.
She would have to limit her strength, too. Otherwise, she might punch a hole not only through the opponent's battlent, but potentially through the wall of their house as well.
'That would be bad.'
Like Rain, Noble preferred construction over demolition. However, rebuilding her neighbor's living room was not sothing that she wanted to try.
'I'll be careful.'
"Alright, I'm in." Noble nodded.
"One minute to start." Behind Balefire, a mory ford and began blaring a song.
"The final countdown!"
Noble didn't need to hear any more of the lyrics. She dove beside her family and floated above the snow.
"Why did you tell them you wouldn't use your aspect? We could have obliterated them!" Brock punched at the air against invisible foes.
Noble raised one eyebrow. "Where would be the fun in that?"
"Mom's right. This is our mont. We won't rely on her skill to carry us," Rain nodded firmly.
'That's my girl.' Noble smiled.
"Thirty seconds!" Balefire called from across the street.
Fort clapped his gloves together. "What are you waiting for, troops? Make that ammunition!"
The group was galvanized into action. Noble dug her hands into the snow and packed it tightly together in her palms. It stung to retrieve it, but the icy feel numbed the pain more quickly than Noble expected.
"Or I have beco more used to the pain..."
The Saint hadn't spent much ti building up so immunity to her flaw since transcending, and now she found that she didn't really need to. Her capacity for pain was much higher, so the repeated brushes with what the Saint considered to be ground were unpleasant but manageable.
That didn't an they were fun, but Noble was enjoying herself too much to give the pain any power.
'It will all heal soon enough.'
As soon as the song ended, the skirmish began. Noble's family piled, packed, and threw the orbs of snow like their lives depended on it. The other side gave it their all as well.
For her part, Noble held back. She lobbed the balls, taking out only those who were brash enough to stay above the wall for too long. The only one who got even a fraction of the taste of her strength was Balefire. He wanted sothing unexpected? He would get it!
The young man took the attacks in good spirits, almost managing to hit his forr teacher twice in return for her volleys.
In the end, Fort hit the other patriarch square in the face, accidentally shoving so of the snow up the other man's nose. He conceded on behalf of his side, and victory was claid.
"Well done, troops!" Fort pulled his family into a hug.
"Well done, Dad! You might have broken that guy's nose!" Brock was suitably impressed.
"I hope not." The ambassador rubbed the back of his neck. "But just in case, I'd better recomnd a good doctor and offer to pay for it."
As Fort bridged the gap, the three rosy-faced kids looked at their mother.
"So that was you holding back?" Blaze asked, genuinely curious.
"What would it have looked like if you went full out?" Brock echoed his brother's curiosity.
Rather than answer, Noble let her eyes swirl. The entire sheet of snow on their ho's roof lifted into the air. Then it parted into flakes and floated down gently like a snow globe.
"That, only in ball form," Noble winked.
The sun shone through the flakes, creating crystal rainbows throughout the air.
"Oh, Mom, it's beautiful!" Rain marveled.
Noble's children held out their hands, catching the snow as it fell. Watching them reminded her of when they were little and the world seed less like it was falling apart.
Monts like this, Noble treasured. Her family was together, happy, and ho.
'You're beautiful.' Noble thought, looking at her children. She was truly blessed.
As the last flake fell, Noble couldn't help but feel that sothing precious had just ended.
She was right.
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