Blood of Ice

A bloodcurdling screech pierced his ears with the force of a thunderclap. The hairs of his neck and arms rose as a blistering chill ran through his veins, searing the flesh with its icy grasp. His knees buckled under the force of his weight, barely able to support his thin, medium-sized build. It was as if all strength had been completely sapped from them. He could feel his heartbeat lock up, abandoning the rest of his body even as he dropped to his knees and covered his ears, desperate to block out the wretched screech that still echoed throughout the moonlit field in which he now knelt. His winter-kissed, snowy white locks of hair barely managed to cover his emerald green eyes - something he was grateful for. He didn’t want to see what he knew in his heart was coming.

The grassy ocean beneath his feet began to whiten as a bitter frost began to sweep through the area, originating from where he stood. The frost began to harden as the cold grew deeper, yet it did nothing to the young man. There he remained, feeling frozen, but still untouched by the white blanket that covered the field. His black T-shirt and white khaki pants stood in stark contrast to the world around him as everything changed from a winter frost to a frozen wasteland. This was the part he hated the most. He knew what would come next.

Unable to stop himself from the involuntary actions, the young man clenched his hands tighter against his ears as the screech increased tenfold, shattering his ear drums completely to the point that he no longer heard anything, not even his own ragged breaths… but the screech remained. It echoed in the back of his mind, a standing reminder of what was to come. Two tears fell from the boy’s eyes only to clatter on the hardened earth, frozen before they ever reached their destination.

A sharp pain suddenly made the white-haired teen spasm forward. His teeth dug into his lips fiercely, impaling the soft flesh as easily as a hot knife slicing butter, but the young man would not scream. Not this time. His face twisted in a bitter-sweet agony as he continued to have the minor convulsions, his grip on his own body tightening as it continued to tense up. Things continued this way for another minute, though it felt like an eternity to the green-eyed man.

When it finally stopped and the pain subsided, the young man slowly began to stand up. His hands came down from his ears and his spasms came to a complete halt, though his right hand continued to tremble. Ragged breaths escaped his bloodied lips as his breathing steadied, though the biting cold refused to let up. If anything, it seemed to increase in its intensity. Relief settled on his features and a sigh escaped his mouth. It was over, or so he thought…

Shock replaced relief; his face twisted in a muzzle of fear and surprise as something behind him made its presence known. Two frozen sapphire clawed hands wrapped around his waist as whomever, or whatever it was pulled him into what he could only describe as a hug. A malicious giggle passed his ears as he noted that he could hear once more. It made him wish he couldn’t. Such an innocent sound coming off as… malicious… it chilled his body far worse than any screech could ever hope to achieve and sent shivers down his spine.

He wanted to run, but his body refused to move. Realization quickly donned upon him with the knowledge that the monstrous fear inside him was far too great for him to conquer with willpower alone. As if in answer to his unspoken thoughts, his body did move, but not in the way he desired. As if possessed by some unknown force, his body had betrayed him. Slowly, he began to turn within the blue embrace of whatever this was, it’s arms never moving.

As he came face to face with his ‘attacker’, the boy heard words spoken for the first time that night. It sounded almost… melodic, in some twisted way. A touch of gentleness encapsulated within their loving embrace as it perforated his ears and his mind wrapped around their meaning.

“Not yet.”

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The young teen launched from his bed and onto the floor, crumpling in a heap as he desperately tried to take in air at the maximum capacity. Heavily panting, the boy tried to pick himself up only to collapse repeatedly with every attempt. Finally surrendering to his body’s refusal, he settled for merely turning over on his back, his head dropping to the floor with a thud. A cold sweat covered his entire body, announcing its presence through his thoroughly drenched shirt.

“Happy birthday me,” he silently muttered to himself. He didn’t even need to know the date to know what day this was, as it happened every year. And every year on the same day, he would have the same nightmare. As a baby, it would often leave him in a crying fit for hours on end, but as he aged, he steadily got used to it. Nevertheless, that did little to change the disturbing feeling it left in the pit of his stomach. ‘At least I didn’t throw up this time,’ he thought dismally as he struggled to withhold the contents of his stomach.

Slowly, and with the pain fresh on his mind, he drug himself up forcefully, using the bed as a prop to pull himself up. He quickly made his way across the dark green carpeted floor of his small apartment to the bathroom, leaving a line of drenched clothes as he took the pieces off one by one, marking his path there. Once inside the white tiled room, he flipped the switch on the wall, bathing the room in a soft light.

Opening the door, he stepped into the glass shower stall and closed the door. He quickly turned the nozzles, basking in the freezing water as it slowly turned into a soft, lukewarm spray over his skin, delivering a pleasurable shock to his system. He always loved doing this. The sudden change in temperature was his way of jump-starting his body in the mornings.

As the water continued to pelt his body, he closed his eyes as his thoughts drifted back to the dream once more and the ‘thing’ that had held him. Much to his surprise, the dream had lasted longer than ever before. It seemed that with every new year more would happen each and every time. Last year, he had never turned around, let alone felt the touch of another. The words echoed in his mind over and over, repeating themselves endlessly. The feeling they gave him was so terrifying and yet, despite this, he couldn’t help but feel a strong familiarity with the voice they came from. It was as though the words came from himself, though the voice was most certainly not his own. The thought was disturbing to say the least.

His taut facial features grimaced slightly as he suddenly became aware of a sharp pain on his lips. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find a trickle of blood dripping from them, slowly washing away with the pouring water. His right hand came up to feel the wound only to retreat as he grimaced in pain. ‘Must have been biting them while having the dream,’ he thought somberly to himself. The young man hastily began to soap up his body, now in a rush to get out and doctor his incredibly sore lips. Rubbing his tongue over his lips told him that the wound was actually quite deep and it would need more than just letting it sit there unattended.

Finally finished, he stepped out of the stall and began to dry off with the towel resting on the rack beside it. Wrapping it tightly around his waist, the white-haired teen hurried into the bedroom to dig out a set of clothes. As the door opened outwards and he stepped through the portal, he was shocked by a sudden sharp banging sound as the door behind him slammed shut. Before he could even turn to find out the cause, a familiar feeling overcame him as two sapphire claws wrapped around him once more. Fear gripped his heart as his mind entered a frozen haze. Unable to think, his body collapsed, briskly slipping through the two arms that held him. Landing on his back in a disfigured pose with his legs beneath him, he drifted into blissful unconsciousness. The very last thing his mind registered before completely going under were two strikingly beautiful, starlit-blue eyes staring down at him through a haze of long, emerald green hair.

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“Oooohhhh Triiistaaaan. Wakey-wakey Tristan.” Tristan’s eyes began to slowly open as he groggily tried to sit up. However, despite his best commands, his body simply refused to budge. It felt as if his entire body was being held perfectly in place. As the foggy haze of his mind began to clear and his eyes began to register his surroundings, he quickly discovered why. He was standing straight up in the middle of the room, completely surrounded by a thick blanket of what he could only describe as ice. Surprisingly though, it didn’t feel nearly as cold as he would imagine. ‘It almost feels like a cool bath,’ he thought soothingly. Although he was unable to move and the particularly uncomfortable position his body happened to be in, he had to admit that it felt quite good. It reminded him of his showers, much to his surprise.

That thought died quickly though as his mind began to wrap itself around just why he had passed out in the first place. His heart began to race as he remembered the two arms that wrapped themselves around his waist. “Wh-what the Hell!” The young man shouted as panic began to work its way into his facial features. He attempted to twist his head around and see his surroundings, but the search was halted when he once again heard a voice.

“I hope you’ll forgive the restraints, but I’m afraid it can’t be helped.” The melodious voice speaking came from behind him. Tristan tried to turn his head to see his assailant but he couldn’t quite make out anything that was behind him with the ice holding him in place. ‘What the Hell is this stuff?! How am I covered in ice!? This is just a dream. I must still be having that nightmare!’

“No, I’m afraid it isn’t. It’s all very real.” As if to prove the point, one of the blue, claw-like hands reached out from behind him and firmly pinched his cheek. “See? If this were a dream, would you feel that pain?” The jailer’s voice, obviously very feminine and belonging to a woman, seemed to be barely restraining a slew of giggles.

‘Did she rea-'

“Read your thoughts?” A laugh finally did escape her lips as she teasingly finished his sentence for him. “You could say that it’s something like that but that isn’t important right now. We have much to discuss and this will be much faster if you’ll just cooperate and listen.”

“Cooperate? What kind of sick game is this? WHO ARE YOU!?” Tristan screamed, his voice echoing throughout the small bedroom, no doubt waking anyone else that may have been in the nearby rooms of the apartment building. His face was a mixture of fear, confusion, and now anger as well. “What’s going on?” he finally asked, his voice dying in his throat as he barely choked out the words, despair of the situation finally settling in.

“It’s…difficult to explain. I believe introductions come first,” she said, now moving into view. For the first time, Tristan now saw the face of his nightmare, and she was nothing short of beautiful.

Her skin was the color of snow, its purity marred only by two sapphire markings that began just under her eyes. The marks twisted their way down her face, making a trail past her neck, down through the green T-shirt she wore, and revealing themselves once more along her arms where they took on three diamond shapes that completely circled her wrists. Her hands seemed to be completely covered in the same color as the white of her skin faded in gradient the closer it came to her hands. The tips of the diamond-shaped ‘wristbands’ the markings formed touched the tip of the wrist perfectly, almost as if leaking the blue of it’s cover onto the hand itself.

From his position as a 'Human Popsicle', it almost looked as if she were covered in the same ice that covered him, though the blue had no depth to it and looked as though it were just a part of her skin. Her face was delicately framed by medium length light-green hair that silkily flowed down to just below her shoulders. Tristan was snapped out of his thoughts as she continued to speak. “I am Rikka.”

“Tristan,” he replied quietly, still a bit lost in his thoughts.

“Yes, I know. I know everything about you for that matter,” she responded heartily. “And I’m flattered at the thoughts running through your head right now, but if you don’t mind, please stop undressing me.”

“What? I wasn’t undre-“ he started to say only to be silenced once more as she interrupted him.

Rikka sighed as she gently rubbed her forehead before muttering something to herself as he spoke before cutting him off. “Look, I know what you think almost before you do, so let’s promise not to lie to each other. As I said, we have a lot to discuss and not long to do it.” With that said she moved to the bed in front of the still frozen Tristan and unceremoniously plopped down on it, collapsing backwards and stretching a bit on its comfortable covers.

“Right, honesty…Okay…Let’s start with this then. “How do you know what I’m thinking? What are you? What the Hell is this ice-looking stuff? Why am I having nightmares with you in them? And why in the world are you wearing my clothes?!” His voice gradually gained strength as he continued his parade of questions only to be stopped once more by the upheld hand of Rikka.

Exasperated already without even having begun yet, Rikka sighed again as she started speaking, her eyes blankly staring at the white ceiling of the apartment. “Very well, let’s start with the beginning. To understand what I am and how I am here, you must understand a few things about this world you live in. You know of the concept humans have of Heaven and Hell yes?” She paused to take a breath while waiting for a silent nod. Of course she could keep up with his thoughts, but that didn’t mean the information she would give would sink in without taking things slow and having a proper explanation, piece by piece.

Receiving a nod, she decided to continue, “What you have to understand though is that these concepts have been warped by human culture over the millennia of your existence. When most people hear the term Hell, they immediately think of evil demons and lakes of fire. It is believed to be a place where bad people go when they die. Similarly, Heaven is believed to be a place of ‘the goodly and innocent’ and people would go when they die. There are many other ideas about them as well in the many different human cultures but none really come close to the truth. That’s not to say that they don’t exist, but reality is far different from what you humans believe.”

“Humans? Then…you aren’t human?” the snowy haired teen asked curiously as he absorbed the information.

Sitting up to look at him, Rikka raised her eye curiously at him before replying. “No. No I’m not. But I’ll get to that in a little while. Aren’t you being a little too accepting of this?”

“I’m frozen in place by a mass of ice that doesn’t even feel like ice in the middle of my room while speaking to a woman who I’ve had a nightmare about every year on the exact same day for seventeen years of my life. What could be more shocking or unnerving than that?” He sighed when he finished, his face showing a heavy fog of weariness as the gravity of what was occurring sunk in.

“Aww, but I haven’t even gotten to the good parts yet.” A small smile appeared around the corners of her mouth at his response before continuing with the history lesson. “As I was saying though, these places are not quite as you believe. Good, evil, they exist in both of these realms just as much as they do here in this one. Demons, Angels, Humans, all three species hold the capacity for both good and evil. So get rid of that old ideology of yours now.” Rikka pushed herself off the bed as she let him digest her words. She began to pace a bit across the room as she considered how to phrase her next words.

Finally halting her pacing, she turned to Tristan once more and continued, “The worlds are supposed to be separate. Demons stay in Hell, angels in Heaven and humans on Earth…But not everyone was content with that. The desire to cross the realms was extremely high. For the longest time, this was thought to be impossible dream. That is until one demon discovered a way. There is one possible means of travel between realms…humans.”

Tristan looked at her as though she’d grown a second head…“What do you mean humans?” A worried look crossed her face when he saw just how grim her delicate face had become.

“Humans are the perfect conduit for both demons and angels to come to this realm. By finding and taking a host, a demon or angel can cross the rift between our respective realms and your own. It’s not as simple as it sounds though. In order to take a host, the host must be compatible with the possessor, an incredibly rare occurrence in itself. It’s within your blood. From the moment you are born, a powerful link is established when compatibility is possible. Do you understand what I am speaking of?”

Tristan frowned in thought as he considered the question. Recognition dawned on his features as he began to understand. “The dream...Is that the link?”

Rikka smiled brightly at his quick response. “Yes, though it wasn’t a dream. Think of it as a doorway, a gate between our realms. With each and every year, the gateway opens more, allowing the demon or angel to squeeze through bit by bit. For seventeen years I have been pushing myself through the gate, fighting to open the portal and allow my passage here.”

“Seventeen years?! How? Why would you waste so mu-“ he tried to say, only to have a sliver of ice stretch from his prison to cover his mouth, silencing him indefinitely and forcing him to breathe through his nostrils.

“Please allow me to finish. There is much that you do not understand yet. To answer your question though, seventeen years is nothing compared to the millennia that I have waited. We demons do not age as humans do. Within my realm I have lived for over three-thousand years. The last thousand of which I spent waiting for you Tristan. Compared to that, seventeen years of desolate silence is nothing.” As she finished, she turned back towards Tristan only to see a shocked look on his face. Apparently, her age had been a bit much for him to swallow. His face contorted to meet a spectrum of thoughts and emotions, half of which she couldn’t help but laugh at. It was a much needed tension breaker. But she decided to continue, realizing that time was growing short.

“What you must realize is that you cannot comprehend what it is like to live in these other realms. There is a reason that we demons and the angels are not content. In our worlds, war is never-ending. A constant struggle for power and dominion rages in both lands. The pure destruction and chaos goes far beyond anything humans have ever done. By comparison, your greatest wars would look like a school-yard brawl. That is why we seek to come here. For some it is to escape the wretched world we live in. For others, it is an attempt to carve out their own territory. Our powers can go beyond the boundaries of human imagination. And with these powers, some come here seeking to claim this world as their own. And this is why I must apologize to you for.”

‘Apologize? For what? I don’t understand.’ His thoughts were varied as he sought for a reason that she would have to apologize for aside from giving him such terrible nightmares over the course of his life. From all that he could tell, aside from turning his world upside down, she seemed to be one of those in the latter category, trying to escape the harsh world she lived in. Being an orphan, and not exactly having the greatest of lives, that was something he could understand and respect quite easily.

The green haired woman sighed once more before waving her hand at him. The ice covering his mouth receded, allowing him to speak once more. She did not give him the chance though, as she decided to explain her words.

“By my coming here, we have been bound together. You are my link to this world. If you die, the link is severed. Do you remember the other reason I gave for my kind coming here?”

“You mean those who come here to carve out their own territory?” Confusion marred his features once more as he struggled to make a connection between her words.

“Yes.” She replied solemnly. “They don’t abide competition. Competition, threatening or otherwise, is unacceptable. But there is an easier means to eliminate competition. Why fight someone with power when you can sever their link and be rid of them?”

Tristan’s face twisted to one of fear. ‘So that’s why.’

Rikka’s head snapped up surprising Tristan. With a quick jerk of her hands, the prison of ice holding him shattered, scattering the frozen crystals across the floor. A large chunk that remained behind him roughly shoved him forward to the floor as a massive hunk of steel tore through the outside wall of the apartment, impaling right where Tristan had previously stood. Plaster and metal fragments scattered across the room as a white haze of dust blanketed the area. Covering his head, the snowy haired teen hurriedly crawled beyond its reach before the hunk of metal roughly slammed down where he had laid.

To the young mans surprise, a massive pillar of ice began to coat the hunk of metal before the entire thing was viscously torn from the room, increasing the size of his newly created ‘window’ tenfold. “Get behind me, now!” came a commanding shout from his newfound partner. Not too eager to be impaled or squished by whatever was happening, he all too happily obeyed as he stood and quickly moved behind her,

A chilling laugh echoed from somewhere outside the hole, though neither of them could see a face to place it with. “Well I’ll be damned…Little Rikka, is that you in there?” The ragged, burly voice that spoke made it clear that it came from an older man. The laughter continued to echo throughout the room like some sort of phantom, bouncing off walls and sounding as though it was coming from anywhere and everywhere.

“I know that voice. Show yourself Raze, I know it’s you.” In response to her command, an elderly man who looked no older than forty-five materialized just outside the gaping hole in the wall. The old man had a grayish white beard across his chin with a full head of hair to match. His hair was short in length and overall, he looked quite well kept. What was most striking about his looks though were his eyes. Each orb was as black as the moonless night. A long scar crossed from his left eye down to his jaw. Over a white T-shirt he wore a black overcoat that seemed to be harnessed to the front of his lightweight black pants to hold it in place. Even more unusual than that was that the coat itself was lined with row upon row of pockets, but each and every one of them was upside down. As disturbing as that thought was, what was even more unusual than his sudden appearance was that he appeared to be hovering in mid air as though it were nothing. “So it’s true, you did cross over.”

The old man smiled mischievously in response. “Well, it’s not like it didn’t take some time but you would know all about that seeing as you’re here too. I’ve been free in this realm for more than two years now.”

If he hadn’t just tried to maim him, Tristan would have sworn that this was actually a kindly old man. His hearty laughter was almost infectious as he hovered there outside the window grinning ear to ear. “Rikka, what’s going on? Is this a friend of yours?”

“Not exactly.” She replied somberly, her hands still in a guarded position, showing that she was clearly on edge and ready to move if necessary. “Raze here is a fellow demon. In Hell, we were on opposite sides of one of the many wars down there. But twenty-one years ago, he disappeared. No one knew where he’d gone, though there were some rumors that he’d found someone compatible. Seeing as he’s here, I suppose it’s true.”

Still with his seemingly ever-present smile, Raze raised his arms defensively. “Aw, c’mon. You aren’t still sore about that are you? Rikka, you know how things are. When a blood user shows up, you don’t hesitate, you go for it.”

‘Blood user? What’s a blood user?’ In answer to his thought, his new found companion began to speak. “A blood user is a human who proves to be compatible. It is through their blood that the link between a demon or angel and human is forged. My power is linked to your blood, just as his is linked to his host’s blood. In this world, you could say that it is the source of our existence.” Deciding on a more graphical display, the room around them began to coat itself in a gentle frost. A handful of the shattered crystals on the floor began to rise up from the ground into what could only be described as a lance. Its tip was notched with a spiral groove that promised only the most exquisite of pain.

Raze burst into a fit of laughter at the sight of the weapon, a wicked glint in his eyes showing that he had no fear of the challenge. “You know Rikka, when I sensed another demon nearby; I had no idea that it would be you. I wonder if this is destiny.”

The green haired woman’s face contorted into one of anger. “I won’t let you force me back,” she screamed with conviction as the lance that now hovered above her hands began to spin like a drill. As if to throw it, she launched her hand forward and the lance obeyed, speeding with pinpoint accuracy to where Razes heart would be located.

As though it were no more than a minor nuisance, Raze waved his hand. Much to his surprise however, the lance barely moved whatsoever. Reacting as swiftly as he could in such close quarters, Raze dove to the side, falling slightly in mid roll before regaining his ground and hovering back into view of the room. A fresh streak of blood dripped through the new hole in his coat, pouring out of the torn flesh on the side of his left arm. His smile seemed to have all but disappeared, now replaced with a grimace and a touch of anger.

A newfound smile made its way to her face as she saw the blood on his arm. Grinning in satisfaction, she spoke, “Do you honestly think I’m stupid enough to attack you head on without preparing? I know all about your wind manipulation. With enough force and spin, you can’t just knock it away like it’s nothing you senile old fool.”

“You’ve grown stronger Rikka. You could never put that much force behind your moves before. Please, you must share this secret of yours! How did you do it?” The smile had returned to his face once more, taunting her as though he already knew the answer.

“Oh you know the old saying. Hell hath no fury-“ she began to say, only to have him finish.

“Like a woman scorned!” Raze burst into a fit of laughter at this, something that only increased her rage. “Well then, show me this fury. Allow me the pleasure of sending you back to Hell!” His laughter died with his shout as a burst of wind exploded outwards towards both Rikka and Tristan. Acting fast, the pale skinned woman managed to spread a thick layer of ice in front of Tristan to soften the blow but she herself was not so lucky. The burst slammed into her full force, hammering her into the wall behind her and promptly tearing through it.

Tristan immediately began shouting after her as he rushed through the newly created hole to check on her. Splinters of wood from the frame had managed to impale her right leg. It was nothing particularly serious, but enough to hinder her movement. ‘Rikka, what do I do?!’

Hearing his thought, Rikka quickly filled the hole in the wall with a thick blanket of ice, blocking off any actual view before turning to him and speaking in ragged breaths, “He’s after you. Remember what I said? It’s easier to kill the link than me.”

“So that’s why you protected me instead?” Though it made sense, the cruel logic of it hurt him a little. Even if he had no place in a battle of demons, he couldn’t help but feel weak and useless.

“Shi-“ she began as she latched onto his shirt and forcefully jerked him down to the floor, rolling on top of him in an attempt to shield him. The ice behind them shattered, nearly visible blades of air sweeping through the hole and once again hitting right where he had stood previously.

“RUN!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she rolled off of him, roughly shoving him towards the door of the new room they were in, one that was almost identical to his own though thankfully no one appeared to be home. Unwilling to go against her command in a situation he had no place being in, he did just as she said and bolted through the door. The moment he passed through it, ice began to freeze over the door, holding it in place.

Raze sighed as he entered the room with his hand on his forehead, a sign of his frustration. He stared at the glaring woman before him with weariness. “You always did like to be difficult.”

Now standing between the door and Raze, Rikka began to spin the fragments of ice from the broken hole that the older man was standing on top of. The jagged edges of the frozen shards began digging and biting into his skin as the maelstrom increased in intensity.

Putting down his mounting frustration Raze began to concentrate despite the mass of cuts he was receiving. Slowly pushing his hands together, the air between the two appendages began to tightly compress as he forced more and more into it while maintaining its insignificant golf-ball size. After having enough pressure, he slammed the miniature ball into the ground.

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As Tristan ran through the surprisingly empty, green carpeted hallway, his mind began to race. Coming to the stairs, he began his descent, leaping down the stairwell two to three steps at a time. It was only ten flights of stairs to get to the bottom as he was only on the fifth floor. The building itself was only six stories high. His movements were suddenly jerked forward as an explosion rocked the building, sending him tumbling forward down one flight of stairs.

As he shakily stood up, he began to ponder just what in the world had happened. It felt like the whole building would collapse at this rate. As though some divine being was playing a cruel trick on him, a support beam above his head began to break through. Wasting no time, Tristan bolted down the next flight of stairs as the one section was destroyed by the crashing girder.

“THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!” He screamed as he kept running loops around the stairwell. Finally, after reaching the bottom and taking a deep breath, he could see people rushing about in an attempt to get out of the building. As he looked around the room, he noticed a handful of people attempting to pry the elevator open. It would seem that it had broken during the explosion, trapping a handful of people inside. If this kept up, all these people would die. The young mans face now took on a grim visage, he began to feel guilty. All of this happened because of him. This guy wanted to kill him to get rid of Rikka. And because he ran, rather than just him dying, all of these people would suffer. People who had nothing to do with it whatsoever were going to lose their lives. An elderly couple over there, a young child across the way, men and women alike would all die if this kept up.

‘Rikka, if you can hear me…’

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Rikka’s face twisted in pain as the concussive blast slammed into her, driving her back into the wall but not hard enough to go through it this time. Mostly because this time, the blast was not aimed in her direction, but at the ground. With that attack, Raze had managed to cut a swath clean through four stories, almost putting him on the first floor. Limping over to the newly crafted hole in the floor, blood dripping from her mouth and the various scratches covering her body, she could see more than a few people from her position at the top of the hole. The large majority of them were either dead or seriously injured, though that wasn’t her concern at the moment.

As she made to jump down the hole, a particular thought reached her. She listened intently for a moment before grinning viscously. She hobbled over to the hole in the wall and crossed the threshold back into Tristan’s room. She hastily made her way to the window as she began to gather all the ice she could muster together.

Once the ice started to form, she began to twist it as she did before with the ice lance, this time the grooves being much larger to fit the massive hunk of ice. Putting the final touches over the tip, she lowered the hunk of ice, which now looked more like a colossal drill head for some construction vehicle, close to the window, poking her out just in time to see Tristan staring back at her. She watched as he crossed the busy highway street, the area scrambled in nothing short of complete chaos.

People darted back and forward as some cars swerved to a screeching halt. Others opted to keep on driving, attempting to not be delayed by the disturbances of the building. Some of them even began to crash into one another as pathways were quickly blocked off. As Tristan finally reached the other side of the chaotic street, a mental command reached her. She levitated the heavy drill head outside of the window and began to spin it in mid air. As the spinning picked up force, she heard the final command and simply dropped the spinning drill head, allowing gravity to do her work for her and add the necessary force.

Raze burst from the entryway of the building, the doors sent flying by the force of his exit. His eyes scanned the area before landing on a dark-faced Tristan. He put on his happy grin once more, believing the game of cat and mouse to be at an end. That was quickly remedied by the shouts of the people around him when desperate cries of “Move!” went out. Looking up, he saw the drill bearing down on him, far too fast for him to react and much too powerful to block or move. With a desperate attempt to dive out of the way, he screamed in pain as the drill still managed to catch his right leg, all but severing it.

The force of the impact sent him flying from the drill, which was now halfway embedded into the concrete. A scream of pain burst from his mouth as he held the bloody stump that was once his leg. He quickly tied it off as well as he could with a shredded piece of his overcoat. Using what strength he had left Raze lifted himself in the air once more, his pockets puffing out as they caught the powerful wind and granted him the gift of flight. Without another word, he took off down the street before fading away around the corner.

Tristan watched as he fled around the corner, relief filling his veins as he nearly collapsed to the concrete beneath his feet. He turned his head upwards as his eyes met with Rikka’s own starlit orbs. Both of them were breathing heavily, sucking in as much air as they possibly could. He wasn’t too surprised when he saw her collapse to the floor, her body hanging loosely on the edge of the gaping hole in his apartment room’s wall.

Tristan swiftly made his way back into the building and up the second stair case which was, thankfully, undamaged. Upon finally reaching his room, he made his way to the hole and the now unconscious Rikka. Pulling her away from the edge for safety, he bent over and roughly pulled her up, hefting her body up bridal style once he managed to get a decent so she wouldn’t just fall out of his arms in his weakened condition. Ironically enough, of all the destruction in the room, his bed had managed to escape the chaos unscathed. Making his way to it, the young man gingerly laid his charge on the bed before plopping down on the other side and inhaling as much air as he could.

Turning to the girl once more, he quietly noted something to himself. He would have to find out why in the world she was wearing his clothes. With that last thought in mind, he drifted into blissful unconsciousness, three final words escaping his lips before completely going under.

“Happy birthday me.”

^ oh god...... sooooo long!!!

i'm gonna have a hard time reading/editing this... T_T




EDIT:

From the first post...

i already changed the common errors. If you noticed them and didn't like how i changed them, speak out... ^^
here are... uhmm... well... the ones that i want to show... ^^

corrected:

5th pragraph

Ragged breathes escaped his bloodied lips as his breathing steadied...

breathe = verb

breath = noun

15th paragraph

His taught facial features...
- did you mean "taut"?


uncorrected:

4th paragraph

spasm = not a verb....

A sharp pain suddenly made the white-haired teen spasm forward.
= incorrect

suggestion:
A sharp pain suddenly made the white-hared teen jerk/jolt forward.


14th paragraph

As the water continued to pelt his body...
- i think pelt isn't the right word for this. pelt gives that feeling of bombarding something or beating against something and how could this be pleasurable? anyway, that's my opinion... ^^

5th paragraph from the last


The tips of the diamond-shaped ‘wristbands’ the markings formed touched the tip of the wrist perfectly, almost as if leaking the blue of it’s cover onto the hand itself.
- i'm getting confused...

The tips of the diamond-shaped ‘wristbands’ - the markings formed - touched the tip of the wrist perfectly, almost as if leaking the blue of it’s cover onto the hand itself.
or
The tips of the diamond-shapes ‘wristbands’ the markings formed touched the tip of the wrist perfectly, almost as if leaking the blue of it’s cover onto the hand itself.
- if "wristbands" is used as a verb...
or
The tips of the diamond-shaped ‘wristbands’ that formed markings touched the tip of the wrist perfectly, almost as if leaking the blue of it’s cover onto the hand itself.


uhmm, if neither is correct, could you please explain to me the thought?


-----

i'm gonna post the rest later... i still have to read rest... ^^

Yea, like I said once before this was a rough draft and it was written at 1 am in the morning and in a hurry at that.

Well, thank you for your critique though I'm afraid your efforts are in vain. Blood of Ice is officially canceled until further notice.

Unfortunately, I've
lost all desire and or inspiration to write this story, let alone write
period. For those who were eagerly awaiting for so long, I do
apologize. For those who are saying 'thank god I won't have to endure
another horrible chapter in this horrible story'...bite me >_<

And to those who don't care, sweet, I'll hang with you guys from here on ^_^


Anyways, until further notice, this is over and done with and I shall
be moving on. If anyone would like to know the story and it's plot or
outcome, feel free to msg me and I shall divulge such information. God
speed to everyone and good luck.

neh? what?!?! oh well......

i think that's goodbye for the continuation of the masterpiece... T_T





anyway, i'm not gonna post the rest of the corrections then... ^^
i don't have time to read the rest because of my midterm exams....

Dunno why but it seems my latest post was deleted or something. Along with other recent threads I've created for my various fics.

It was recently released that Blood of Ice will continue. I've even posted teaser information and more ^_^

You can find it at The story itself has been moved here though updates will still be announced here as well. Since the character limit doesn't allow for full chapter posts anyways, it seems like the best course of action.

MWA HA HA HA! /corny retarded laugh

I bring wonderful news! I now have my ending for Blood of Ice.

I know what you're thinking -

"Shade, what are you on? Who cares, just make with the goods and get back to writing!" *cracks whip*

HOWEVER! The reason I tell you this now is because it means I can now start production of said goods ^_^ Aside from the inner workings and playing connect ze dots, Blood of Ice has it's story and is now merely waiting to be written.

I pray I will do it justice.

Oh, and for the record...I'm evil...Have I ever told any of you that?

Oh, and before I go - to celebrate this moment -

Teaser #2

"Do you know why he's dead young one?"

"..."

"He was blind. Blinded with lust and the ravages of sin, he lost sight of the world. Blind to opportunity and more than anything, blind to you."

"..."

"What do you do with someone so useless and handicapped? It's quite simple really...You simply rip his heart from his chest."

"..."

"You will come to learn, young one, that in this world, such action is one of mercy. In one fell swoop, I have cured his blindness. I have shown him the arrogance, and ignorance of his life. And in that one simple motion, I have brought my healing touch to the world, cleansing it of such worthless filth."

"..."

"No, child, I am not so blind. With clarity, my eyes have divined the truth; the truth of his ignorance, and the truth of you. Tell me, would you like me to remove the chains that bind you?"

"..."

"When I look into your eyes, I see a myriad of marvelous wonders. You have an extraordinary gift. In turn, you yourself have become a gift to this world...a gift to me."

my posts were deleted too... T_T

anyway, i'm having a hard time editing long pieces these days.... finals are coming up....

lmao! your teasers are funny in a way shade... ^^

the deletion is a host issue....im seeing wats up....

okay... go ahead and investigate....

i posted here the rest of the editing but then its all gone.. just to let you know... ^^