[MillietheWarrior]

Most people her age were that way, especially the college students, so she wasn't concerned. The midterm wasn't too daunting. It was just a research paper or something along those lines. She hadn't even bothered to read the instructions yet, but she knew she'd have to start working on it soon. The dark haired girl followed her classmates out the door, holding her books close to her chest as she started the walk back to her car.

[MillietheWarrior]

Her college campus was pretty "green-y" (A word she'd invented upon first setting foot at the University), so there was plenty of trees and flowers in bloom all around her. As she passed a particular tree, one she spent a lot of time napping and doing homework under, she noted that it too was in bloom. Little white flowers lined it's branches, their sweet scent filling the air. She took a deep breath, a smile lighting up her face as she stared at it. But even as she gazed at the tree, something strange began to happen; she could swear the flowers were...burning.

[MillietheWarrior]

The little petals seemed to catch on fire, curling up into black husks that dropped dead to the ground as the tree itself shriveled up and turned grey. Roxy stopped walking, ignoring the few students who shot her annoyed looks as they had to dodge around her. She started towards the tree, one hand outstretched, but just as she reached it, the vision faded, and the tree seemed perfectly normal. "Weird," Roxy mumbled, pulling her hand back, just shy of touching the bark. "What was...that?" She looked the tree up and down, before shrugging; maybe her weird sleeping schedule was starting to catch up to her. She should probably stop staying up so late.

[MillietheWarrior]

Shaking her head, she turned to go, but paused as she saw a man standing just off in the distance. He was watching her with a grim expression, and was, weirdly, wearing a giant brown trench coat and a scarf. She couldn't quite make out his eyes, as they were hidden behind goggles, but the fact that he was wearing what was tantamount to snow gear in the middle of spring was weird enough to send her in the opposite direction. "Yeah, I'm over today," she muttered, walking briskly to her car. "I need a nap."

[MillietheWarrior]

It had been a few days since she'd seen that weird tree vision and the creepy guy on campus. She'd mostly put the incident out of her mind, although it kept randomly niggling at the back of her thoughts as she tried to work on her midterm. She'd finally stopped putting it off and had sat down to write it, but after only a few paragraphs, she was completely stuck. She had no idea what else to write about, and her writer's block was sending her into fits. Leaning back in her chair, Roxy balanced a pencil on her upper lip, idly wondering what it was like to have a mustache, when she heard a knock on her door.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Wha-?"

She didn't normally have visitors, especially not at this time of the day. It was nearly eight, and already dark outside, but it was possible that one of her few friends had come over for some free food or something. Curious, Roxy left her computer and trotted over to the door, pulling it open to reveal a man in a trench coat. It was the same man she'd seen before, at the university campus.



The two stared at one another for a moment, before Roxy promptly screamed and tried to slam the door in his face. The man frantically waved his arms, before slamming one of his booted feet between the frame and the door.

[MillietheWarrior]

"No, no! Wait! OW! Wait! I come in peace!" The man frantically tried to reassure between getting his foot crushed and Roxy's wild, random yelling as she tried to shove his foot out. "Just let me in, will ya? You're attracting attention!"

He finally succeeded in wrenching the door open, and stumbled through it, falling onto his hands and knees. Before Roxy could react, he kicked it shut, and looked up at her with pleading eyes hidden behind goggles. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude!"

[MillietheWarrior]

"What do you mean you 'didn't mean to intrude'?" Roxy screeched, leaping over her couch and wielding a large textbook as a weapon. "Get out of my house, you freak! I'll call the cops! Get out!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" the man cried, waving his hands frantically, and Roxy noted, oddly enough, that they were covered in thick winter mittens. "I just need to talk to you! Please! Just let me say what I have to say, and-and then you can hit me or whatever. But just let me talk!"

[MillietheWarrior]

Roxy gazed at the man suspiciously, but held the textbook up in a threatening manner. "Fine. Spill. Why are you in my house? And what do you want?!"

The man sat up, clearing his throat, and folded his legs beneath him crisply. "Ahem. Yes, well. Let me introduce myself. I'm Nicolai, and I've been watching you for a long time-"

"Get out."

[MillietheWarrior]

"No, no, wait! That's not what I meant. I mean...Look, just let me say everything I have to say, and then you can kick me out." He waited until Roxy gave a halting nod, before clearing his throat again. "Okay, so...I've been keeping an eye on you, and...I know this is going to sound insane, but I'm not from this world."

"Get out."

[MillietheWarrior]

"NO! Listen. I'm not from this world, and I need your help. The world I'm from is in grave danger, and I was sent here to find The Chosen One. I know that sounds super cliché, but I don't make the rules, and I don't come up with these names, okay? It took me a long time to find you, but you're it. You're the one we need to help us save our world."

Roxy looked skeptical, and for very good reason. "Okay, so you're a weird stalker who wears crazy clothes. And you expect me to believe you aren't from this world? Do you think I'm stupid?"

[MillietheWarrior]

Nicolai smiled, and she could just see the flash of white teeth and pale skin from behind his scarf. "Eh, well, no. That's the thing. I didn't expect you to believe me right off the bat. It's why I brought proof." He reached down and dug into his pocket, and Roxy raised the book higher.

"H-hey! What are you doing? That better not be something weird!"

"Relax," Nicolai grumbled. "It's not weird. It's in here somewhere...I just...Oh! Here it is!"

[MillietheWarrior]

He pulled out a small blue and white crystal that shimmered strangely in his hand, and Roxy had just enough time to catch his faint, impish grin before he said "Watch!" and tossed the crystal into the air.
As it flew up, it exploded in a brilliant white light, sending tiny little white crystals scattering around the room. In the next instant, there was a cold wind blowing through the apartment, and Roxy shivered and dropped her book, clutching her arms as snow began to fall from the roof.

"What...what is this?" she whispered, her face awash with shock and awe as she gazed up at the ceiling. She lifted a hand, letting the snow gather in her palm.

[MillietheWarrior]

"This," Nicolai informed, and there was the sound of rustling cloth that made Roxy look over at him sharply. "Is part of my home. And why I need your help."

Roxy's mouth fell open as she watched him stand, shedding his overcoat, scarf, goggles and mittens. His skin was pale, and the ends of his arms were blue. The tips of his ears were pointed up at a sharp angle, and his hair seemed to stand up, defying gravity and appearing vaguely reminiscent of ice.        

As he grinned, she caught sight of sharp canines peeking out from beneath his lips, and his eyes were a brilliant, ice-white, glimmering with glee. "Do you believe me now?"

Roxy promptly fainted into a pile of snow.