[scat]

'abs the size of DVD boxes'
i can't help but take one in my hand !

i'm waiting for the next part of the story.

[GTSKate]

😀 😀

I wouldn't have been able to resist saying that either…heh…clobberin' time  😀

Glad to see Vanessa's got a good grasp on heroic history!  Now, get that girl goin'!

-Kate

[David]

6 is a good number. ;D

[Number6]

I would have to agree!  ;D

[ze fly]

— To Be Concluded —

I can't wait to see the next part, but on the other hand, knowing it will be the last is saddening me a little… :-

[Fonk]

Last part. It makes me a bit sad to be saying that… 🙁

The Claws Of Winter – Part 6

Vanessa Keates was imminent. Her towering, bulbous legs covered the ground so quickly that the others had to run at top speed to keep up. Dominique couldn’t manage more than twenty seconds of pace at a time, so the giantess soon left them behind. "Good," she thought. "I won’t have to worry about them for a bit." She arrived at the disquieting chorus of monks and looked around for her enemies.

They quickly revealed themselves amid the sea of tonsured heads, still intoning their manic litany. "Look!" Serena cried, pointing as Fidelius brandished his staff. "The Incredible Hulk grew tits!" Vanessa put massive hands on powerful, flaring hips. "You stop this," she said. "There’s the easy way, or, to be frank, the way I’d prefer." They screeched with laughter. "You cannot harm us!" Serena gasped. "No man-made weapon, remember?"

Vanessa smiled so widely. "Oh yes, I remember," she said, honey smooth. "What about these?" A pair of snakes appeared in her enormous hands. "These," she said, looking from one wriggling snake to the other, "are inland taipans. They are the most poisonous snakes in the world." The Collarwearers exchanged looks of uncertainty. Vanessa was blocking their way forward, and there was no way to get through the monks. In that moment of indecision, the leviathan Ringbearer took a quaking step forward and wrapped the serpents around the pair.

She stood back, smiling. Both Serena and Fidelius grabbed frantically at the taipans, muscle and sinew working double time to remove them, but they were stuck fast to their bodies. The two serpents coiled tighter and started to hiss angrily. "It was a pleasure to have met you," Vanessa bowed, giant breasts jiggling as her abs rippled with use. She ripped Fidelius’s staff from his hands and snapped it over her blocky right thigh. "That is not the source," the Ring intoned, though something dark and wispy flew from the broken wood. The superwoman frowned.

The superwoman stepped past the Collarwearers, who were both writhing on the floor. The insane chant continued as she pushed her way through the crowd of holy men. Somehow, the words seemed less certain of themselves. Vanessa felt as though she was being guided through the mass of men by some unseen agent, but she soon knew her goal: the central pillar, on top of which Fidelius’s throne was still perched. Once there was enough clear space, she ran and jumped at the rocky column.

The rough stone bit into her fleshy breasts, but as she wrapped her legs around it, the rest of her body was impervious. The titaness inched up the pillar, brushing pebbles away from its surface, looking round as more of the monks came into view. Within moments she was at the top. She stood carefully on the ledge and picked up the throne Fidelius had been using. It looked old: ornately carved dark wood with some plush, blood red material set inside. Vanessa threw it to the column’s floor.

A bell jar fell out of the wreckage, the kind of which a chemistry teacher would use to do some minor experiment. It was sealed and resting neatly inside it there was a handful of snow. It seemed to be lit from within. "That is the source," the Ring stated. "Destroy it." Her eyes alight, Vanessa lifted the jar above her head before throwing it into the pile of wood and material at her feet.

The jar smashed, sending the snow into an unnatural flurry. It formed a small tornado and as Vanessa looked on, frowning, it began to intensify. More snowflakes came streaming into the blizzard, which was taking on the form of a man. The Ringbearer shielded her eyes with a thick forearm as the blizzard roared, drawing in snow through the cave. The searing cold brought her nipples to erection, thickening as well as lengthening, drawing several bumps to the surface of her dusky areolae.

The monks broke off their chant, not that you could tell over the deafening whirl of snow. The holy men ran as one for the entrance to the cavern, screaming, shoving and kicking as they did so. Vanessa had a sharp pang of fear for Jean-Jacques and Dominique, who were still making their way down the passage. "Ring?" she inquired. "There is nothing we can do for them," it replied, its physical form turning an enraged purple.

After a minute of the snowstorm a creature had formed inside it. A six foot man made entirely of ice, all sharp shiny edges and spikes. Its chunky arms ended in hands with five long fingers that tapered to knitting needle thinness, making Vanessa think of stalactites. The apparition leered widely, displaying teeth that glittered like diamonds. It was the eye of the snowstorm. "Who dares entrap the spirit of winter?" it demanded, voice as soft as the whispering of the wind but carrying the threat of avalanche.

Vanessa looked down to the chaos below, to where she’d left the Collarwearers writhing with the snakes, but she could not make them out. "It wasn’t me," she said, hoping her sultry voice would quell the spirit. "I just freed you," she added. A fierce grimace settled on the creature’s face as the storm grew stronger around him. "You lie!" it shouted, pushing his palms out toward the Ringbearer. The full force of the blizzard hit her prodigious chest, sending her toppling from the pillar.

The monks had scattered, so Vanessa landed hard on her mighty back. The apparition hovered down to join her on the cavern floor, grinning eerily. "You cannot beat me, mortal," it warned, whipping bitter stings of ice into Vanessa’s face as she stood. "I don’t want to beat you!" she cried, swatting at the balls of ice the creature was sending her way. "I set you free; I just want the world the way it should be!" she insisted, trying not to sound like she was begging.

The monster tilted its head, like a dog that has heard something strange. It closed its eyes – the eyelids were made of the whitest ice Vanessa had ever seen – and stood still for a moment in the midst of the snowstorm. The blonde giantess used the pause to hug warmth back into her body and prepare herself for a fight she could not win. The hollow was empty of the monks now and, as she looked around, Vanessa saw that Fidelius and Serena had gone too. There were no signs of the taipans either.

The wondrous woman was concentrating hard on the apparition, but it kept its eyes closed. Every so often she saw it wince or twitch. A crunch from the cavern’s entrance startled her; she looked round to see Jean-Jacques and Dominique running towards her. Both had regained their Ring-powered bodies but were still naked. They stared in awe at the iceman their gigantic friend was facing off against, and slowed to a halt some distance away.

"Jean-Jacques!" she hollered. He looked up to her, his bright eyes fully focussed. "When it comes out of the trance, convince it we are not the enemy!" The Frenchman nodded. They waited, all tense, for the snow spirit to reawaken. Vanessa stole quick glances at Dominique’s rose-petal pink nipples hardening in the cold atmosphere, and felt a discomfiting wave of arousal. She went back to staring at the apparition.

With a sound like snow falling from a roof, its eyes flicked open again. Vanessa brought her enormous body into a fighting stance, but the creature held up its hand. "I will not fight you," it announced. "You are correct. There is true goodness in your heart – in all your hearts," it continued, turning its head to smile beatifically at the others. "The magic used on our world was borne of a great evil, one which none present are capable of."

The snow spirit hovered up to the roof of the hollow. "I will use my powers to make the world as it should be," he proclaimed. The three Ringbearers craned their necks to watch him, and grinned mightily. Vanessa saw the creature raise its arms, as if in supplication to the heavens, and she knew that they had won. The Ringbearers’ record was intact, and the world was safe again. She walked over to where her colleagues were standing and smiled happily as they each hugged one of her rocky legs. She sniffed back a tear.

Outside things were returning to normal. The snow spirit started its task in those cities of the world which were asleep, making the huge drifts of ice and snow that covered the land vanish. The creature slowly turned on the spot as its focus changed: leaving the white blanket alone in places it should have been naturally, but removing it from anywhere else. The Taj Mahal was slowly revealed to the night sky as, elsewhere, patches of farmland and shanty town buildings reappeared. As morning came round, people danced openly in the streets, hugging strangers and celebrating with relatives.

Back in the cavern, the snow spirit addressed the happy three. "This will take some time," he admitted. "You should leave; I sense that you are in dire need of sustenance." They nodded. Vanessa, who had returned to her usual five foot six superbuilt form, spoke up. "I have a question," she said. The snow spirit smiled indulgently. "Then ask it, my child." She cleared her throat. "Is your name Jack Frost?" The creature laughed, a tinkling sound like hail hitting a car roof. "That is the name you have given me," it admitted. "It… suffices."

She nodded. "Thank you," she said, meaning it. "Thank you, Vanessa Keates," Jack replied. "Goodbye," the three Ringbearers said, waving. Jack waved back, and they turned to leave. Tears of joy ran down Vanessa’s and Dominique’s cheeks, whilst Jean-Jacques grinned like the cat that got the proverbial cream. As soon as they were out of Jack Frost’s earshot, the Frenchman spoke. "My plan worked, then."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"Wait, wait," Vanessa was waving both hands at Jean-Jacques. They were sitting around a table in the restaurant at the hotel, the one closest to the fire, all clad in warm, dark clothing and eating piping hot chicken soup. "Start again. You can’t possibly have planned that from the start. I mean, we lost our powers, for Pete’s sake!" "Keep your voice down!" he hissed, looking round nervously in case anyone had heard the blonde talk about powers. When he was sure it was safe to continue, he did so.

"The basic plan was for you," here he gestured towards Vanessa, "to get so angry that you grew stronger, kind of like the Incredible Hulk. It’s rare in Ringbearer lore, but there are tales of those who need strength receiving it in that way. There were two problems in the plan that I did not foresee." He picked up his wine glass and swirled the liquid around delicately. "The first was that history is written to glorify the winners. The strength, though it did eventually come to you," here Vanessa flexed her left bicep, stretching her thick woolly sweater to the limit, "was not given in the easy way the stories told."

"We’ll have to make sure we give an accurate account of our adventure," Dominique said, her cheeks and nose flush with alcohol, nodding to the others. Jean-Jacques smiled indulgently. "Yes, we shall," he said, and paused before continuing. "The second problem was that the Collarwearers have now perfected their protection magic and cannot be harmed by a man-made weapon." He sat back. "Here, I must admit, I was lost. I was so consumed by the fact that I would have to change the plan, one I had worked on carefully without your knowledge – knowledges – that I was unable to see a solution."

He raised his glass. "Here we must salute Vanessa, for her quick thinking in battle." Dominique lifted her glass, slopping a little of the wine over the side. Blushing, Vanessa raised hers. "To Vanessa Keates, the muscle and heart of our team," Jean-Jacques proclaimed, and held his glass over the middle of the table. The glasses clinked as they spoke as one. "Vanessa!" The blonde smiled happily.

EPILOGUE

The picture is grainy and flickers occasionally, but it's obviously a news report. A young, smart looking man with overly-styled hair is sitting behind a desk, reading something from an autocue and moving his head around to emphasise certain words. "Scientists have admitted that they are baffled by the sudden disappearance of the snow drifts that have plagued the world since December," he was saying. "Some are blaming global warming, and urging tighter restrictions on the production of greenhouse gases. Some are suspecting something far more sinister, as the snow appears to have simply vanished. Chris Felton has this report."

A disfigured hand pointed a remote at the screen with some difficulty, shutting off Chris Felton's report before it could begin. The hand cast the remote aside and watched it fall to the floor. "Curse those Ringbearers," a raw, scorched voice hissed. "We will have our revenge." The figure fingered its black, spiky collar delicately. "Once we are whole again," it said, looking from its armchair to a hopelessly curled and broken body on the floor, "we will have our revenge."

— THE END —

DVD Extras

So, on DVDs, they have all sorts of extra bits and pieces about how the thing was made, and stuff? I want to do that. Here's where the story came from:

I was walking home from work in January this year, maybe February. It was a few days after we'd had some snow. It had melted away from most places, but in one garden there was a patch of snow remaining, untouched, unmelted. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be fantastic if, by trapping a little bit of snow like that, you could keep the world covered in snow?" Once I'd had that idea, it was a matter of marrying it to a character.

Once I'd decided on Vanessa, my other ideas for expanding her universe started to fit in nicely. Even before I'd finished on her origin story I'd had the idea of making an enemy for her – collars seemed the way to go. I also wanted to introduce more Ringbearers – to maybe pick up later – to give the idea that there was a network of them around the world. That gives me more possibilities for future stories. At the same time, I decided mid-story to focus on what the Rings actually are and give tiny hints as to how they came about… but that's for a future story. Speaking of, as per all truly great DVDs…

COMING SOON

Miss Morris

Callie Morris has a terrifying condition – she is allergic to sleep. The next time she nods off, she could die. As doctors race to discover a cure, a team of scientists proposes a radical solution… with wonderful consequences for Callie. The young woman grows in strength and confidence… but how much is too much? Find out soon in Miss Morris.

Finally, thanks for reading this story. I hope you've enjoyed it. ;D

[ze fly]

— THE END —

Snif! Snif!  :'(

I hope you've enjoyed it. ;D

I sure did. Thank you.

[Cowprobe]

Great story Fonk!

I really liked the personified elemental force of Jack Frost also.

Quite unexpected at that and a well ventilated way to sum up the lot threads.

Are we to expect the post-credits Easter Egg of Dominique and Vanessa shopping for custom bras in Paris?  😉

Thanks for taking the time to put your ideas to paper and having the generosity to share them with us.

You keep writing and I'll keep reading.

[g-man]

Woah! I remember reading the first two or three chapters, but I had no idea you'd continued it until you posted the last chapter. Awesome! 🙂

I'm still not sure why exactly Vanessa got so angry (or upset at all, really) about them sleeping together, though…

[Samurai]

I think it's jealousy.

Great story! Can't wait until she appears in more!

[Author]

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