A Brazen Challenge

It was windy and just as cold as it had been promised as Flare trekked along the mountainous path along one of the rivers of Origin. The one that went through the heartland beneath the Tempus region and was said to feed the many colors of Caloris Fais. Whether or not that was true, she didn't care to find out. What brought her up here to this godforsaken corner of the world was nothing more than impulse, which she, as were most like herself, were weak to.

This impulse was something of the usual kind. The need to prove herself powerful, enough so to triumph over Fire's weaknesses in the cold against Water and Ice. And she would, too! Just wait until she returned home, her opponent to be either at her side or her head in her hand, beaten or dead. A spark of flame lit up along her wrists, traveling up towards her elbows, waving wildly in the wind, attempting to catch her hair and clothes both. She was hardly in danger of her own fire, and her clothes were those made by her own people, so they were not in danger, either.

She used the flames to warm herself, to brace against the chill of the mountain air. Fire-proof clothes generally were not weather proofed, and she wore a top without sleeves, and pants that ended in the middle of her shins, and nothing more than sandals on her feet. She narrowed her dark red eyes, crossing her arms to keep herself even warmer, until she could not feel the winter-like winds.

As she continued, the mouth of the river soon came into sight, after having widened and widened. She crawled her way from the path she used to make it here down to the shore of the great lake that stretched on before her, looking around as though for a bitter, most hated enemy. That was what she was here, in essence, for. To do the classic battle, to become one of the few flames in history to trump the water.

She slowly prowled along the shore, her eyes picking at everything around, even the webs of cracks made in the mud that had frozen along the outside of the giant lake. Four rivers fed into it from one direction, which would be considered north by those that used the system of the mortals of another world. Eight rivers ran from the lake, heading south, webbing out as they ran through the lands.

Eventually, she simply got sick of walking, whipping around and throwing a fist into the air. The flames shot high from her hand, and despite the winds, managed to lick almost four stories into the sky. "I know that there is someone here! I know that there is someone here that can fight me! One of water, one of ice, or both, I don't care! I know someone can hear me! Come out and take my challenge!" She shouted out into the cold air, holding her stoked flame in the air for half a minute longer before letting her fist drop back to her side, and the fire quell down just a bit.

She seemed paranoid, looking around almost frantically beneath the bangs of snow white hair. It was only like that when she was not fighting, or angry. The tips of the hair were red, with light flames sparking here and there from them. Harmless. She bit at her lip, growling quietly. All she could do for now was wait and hope that the information she had received from the natives would not be wrong. If it was.... She'd beat out another location from them.

Gentle, cool water embraced her from all sides, leeching dreadful heat out of her form. She sucked in a soft breath of pure, distilled water, and let it fill her lungs. It was the first breath she had taken in a long time. She soon let it out, though. Not a single bubble escaped her. It had been a long time since actual air had been in her lungs. They were quite capable of running off of the oxygen contained within water. The hydrogen... She did not know what happened to the hydrogen, but she assumed something happened with it. She was no nuclear scientist. She felt something approaching, which was why she had taken her breath.

As the sense of heat--not the actual presence, just the sense--came closer, her eyes eventually opened. The dim light shining through the water blinded her momentarily, and she had to clench them shut again immediately. Her figure remained curled up into a ball, unwilling to release her hold from herself But she had already been woken up, so there was no point in trying to go back to sleep now. She was not angry. She could not feel anger. It was an emotion that was beyond her capabilities. Soon enough she lowered her head, resting her chin upon her shins, and staring down at the ocean floor.

Life was beautiful under here, and she could stare at it forever, or at least while she was awake, but there were other things to focus her attention. She did not want to leave the confines of her lake. They were too comfortable, too embracing. The last of the ice-shield that had been settled around her for who knew how long, finished melting away. There was nothing stopping it now. She saw the jet of flame shooting into the air, and vaguely heard someone challenging her of all things. She quietly sighed for a few seconds, and slowly stretched her legs out, much to their agonized delight.

She stretched her muscles for a few minutes, trying to work the cramps out of them from sitting in the same position for so long. Once she could stand upright, her spine popped a few times. She let out a small little moan of distress. She felt like an old woman... Her snowy hair did not help dispel that image. Soon enough she began to float towards the surface, and right before she exited it, she expunged all the water from her lungs. She rose above the surface then, the water seeming to slake off of her figure so that not a drop fell from her.

She looked around for only a moment before she let her eyes fall upon the creature responsible for her awakening. She released a slow sigh, staring towards her for a moment, before slowly walking along the water towards the shore. She stood on the threshold of the lake, her icy wings twitching back and forth with slow, rhythmic strokes. "I am here." Was all she said.

One could not imagine the sudden fierce joy and hatred both that the girl felt as soon as her opponent came to view, appearing right out of the water, no less. She didn't know much about these water elementals, but this seemed both typical and surprising to her. Still, her head leaned forward a bit, the flames along her arms stoking a bit again, and a wide smile spreading over her face.

"Good that you are, for many's sake!" She claimed after a moment. She was egotistical, too, just like many of her kind, and was sure that she wouldn't have any troubles whatsoever in challenging the natives around here to fight, even to the death. She gave a light stomp, one that heated the frozen mud beneath her so quickly that the ice broke right off into steam, and the mud, without a chance to give way under her, soon baked.

"I've wanted to challenge you for a long time now! To make you give up, or to kill you!" She huffed, grinning as the water elemental made her way over the water towards her. Just a little closer and she'd be in range. Wait, she would accept the challenge, right? The thought made her falter. What if she didn't? ... Well then. She'd force her to fight for her life!

The thought of that was all it took, it seemed, for her hair to give off a stronger wave of flame, to darken into the orange-red that swirled into those fires. She was getting too jumpy. Too excited! She wanted to begin already! A few more steps... Already, the heat around Flare was rolling steam off the top of the water, which bubbled along the shore near her, almost to the point of boiling. Dangerous water..

She shot a flare out after the water elemental walked a few more steps, this flare slamming into the water behind her, clouding up the spot with a heavy fog. "Come on! Accept my challenge!" She barked, neverminding the things she was doing around herself. Maybe she did not even realize it, being ignorant and inexperienced as she most certainly was.

The small woman stared towards the other quietly, violently spouting off her flame as well as her words. Her arms came up and crossed beneath her flat chest, paying no attention to the attacks that were not even aimed at her. Her head tipped down and a small sigh fluttered past her lips. "To kill me? Is that what you came here for?" Her eyes glanced back at the lake behind her, her lips twisting into a small frown. Her presence was what made this lake so pristine, so beautiful. So rich with life. She could not tolerate her death simply because of the fact that to die would mean the lake would go into a state of decline.

Her eyes slowly wandered back around towards Flare then, and she gave a small sigh. "I would ask that you please not harm the creatures that live in my lake. I realize that a girl like yourself might have difficulty expressing self control, but I implore you to try." Her head tilted down after a moment. "If it will get you to leave me alone faster, then I will accept your challenge." Her wings fluttered a few more times, and shards of the shattered ice began to twitch unnoticed, but did not move from the surface of the lake. She was ready to use them, but did not yet.

She slowly stepped off of the lake, and slowly sighed as she watched the fire-girl. Their types were always so dangerous. She did not want one around her precious lake. She would destroy everything, left unchecked. She had to send her on her way as quickly as possible. Now those shards began to lift up, held frozen at their temperatures by the power of her will as they began to shoot towards the firey woman like bullets. Her power was strong, surrounded by so much water, so only the hottest flame would be able to melt those frozen shards. More likely than not the girl was going to have to physically dodge them, if she could.

The surface of the lake began cracking, and more of those ice shards began lifting up, tall and small, before shooting towards their singular point of impact; Flare. With each passing second another section of ice broke away and lift up, sharpened points aimed towards the flame-girl and shooting towards her. She obviously was not interested in having an epic fight, merely wanting to end this as soon as she could so that she could return to her slumber.

Flare gave a dark glare after a moment, watching the woman who simply paid no attention to the threatening moves. She sneered after a moment, her head tilting to the side. "Either to make you give up and acknowledge me as stronger, or simply kill you! Try and stay on my good side, and I might let you live." She was full of herself, and she didn't have a clue. No, she thought it was the water elemental instead that was full of herself.

She gave a growl as the woman went on, asking her this and blah, blah, blah, blah. Wait, what was that? A girl like her having difficulty expressing self control!? Oh, she was going to cook her for that! She was going to boil this entire lake! She blinked once or twice after a moment, her lips curling into a grin. So her challenge was accepted..! She flared up, the circle of heat widening around her, the flames shooting out from her arms more like tails in the wind than actual flames.

When the woman stepped off of the lake, she felt a hint of darkness reach her grin. The woman put herself within her range! She was going to absolutely crush her! Surprisingly enough, she actually didn't attack as soon as possible, though she did start a delayed dart towards her right when the bullets of ice shot towards her. The flames from her arms engulfed the path before her with such intense heat that most of the bullets did actually melt or were deflected of from her path.

"Don't underestimate me!" She snarled at one point before movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. She jumped back as more ice shot towards her, swinging her flames around to encourage the dangerous little spears away from her, moving further and further from the edge of the lake in her moves to escape the shooting ice. Occasionally, steam lifted up in her flames, causing a weak spot here and there, which she quickly covered up with a swirl of her hands.

She stared on impassively as the woman steamed her ice. More of it broke up from the lake and shot itself towards her, with only short seconds in between each new wave of ice. She walked closer as ice shot from all around her form towards Flare without cessation. Her eyes never wavered from the girl, and as she closed in step after step, until she could have physically thrown a rock far enough to hit her. Her eyes didn't waver from her, but her hands shifted, aiming for the girl, just slightly raised upwards.

The steam that the girl's fire had melted now solidified back into ice, straight from the gas form, and began shooting at the elemental towards her back. She assumed that the flaming girl would not even notice, what with all of the ice assaulting her from the front. Nevertheless, she did not stop her assault, stepping closer and closer as ice barraged down from all sides, trying to slip past her defenses, somewhere, anywhere. Even should she have managed to make a strike, she still would not have stopped until she was certain the girl was done for.

In reality... She didn't care if she managed to hit her with even one of those spikes. She continued to throw the whole surface of the lake at her, bit by bit, but she did not despair that it seemed most of them were being cut down, and most of the rest avoided. Perhaps she hoped the girl would give up in the face of overwhelming odds? After all, the girl was never going to get a strike in on the offensive if Glaze herself never let up on her massive offensive barrage. And she still had over half of the lake's surface to break up and shoot at the girl.

And she continued to break it up, and sling it at her, though she was about ready to stop with that. "Your last chance to surrender will approach soon... I suggest you take it now, because you will get no chance afterward." She warned her quietly, as if she were actually concerned for the flame-girl's well being. She might have been, very vaguely, but her emotion was still all very cold.

She glared onwards at the oncoming shards of ice as they shot towards her, sweeping her arms to throw her fire out into them and weaken them enough for her to continue darting backwards from it. She gave momentary glances towards the woman who controlled this damned stuff, noting distance all the time, sometimes looking like she was about to launch one of those fists towards her to send a wave of fire in her direction. She never could, with the constant stream of oncoming ice.

The woman was right to think that Flare would not notice as spears of ice solidified over her, and she never noticed until the first one grazed her back. She grimaced a moment or two, letting the pain fade away on its own. A glance back up over her shoulder was all it took for the rest of her hair to ignite, whipping in a powerful blaze that cloaked over her back, destroying any more of the ice that got near it. She was not about to get done in by a cheap trick!

Each punch she through at the barrage of ice heading towards her front must have been growing more desperate or more spirited, because when her hair ignited, her flames picked up and became more effective in warding off the attacks, so much so that she began to make up her ground, slowly moving forward. She would not be killed by something like ice! She glared darkly at the woman as she pressed forward. Just a little closer, maybe...

She felt a snarl rip of from her when the woman warned her that she should surrender soon. Like hell! She was not going to surrender! She was going to win! She was going to make herself win! She lunged several steps towards her, launching a punch of fire in her direction which whipped out dangerously, only just coming short of actually harming the woman herself before she was drawn back into defense.

She let out a small sigh as the woman denied her offer of surrender. She stared on silently, throwing more and more ice at the girl. The area was growing rather foggy, as steam filled the air around them. She did not stop cracking open the surface of the lake, however. She pulled up more and more, with what seemed to be an endless amount. Of course, she had to run out sooner or later. Even the flame-girl would have had to have seen that. It likely would even have made her more confident that her ammunition was running out. But there was a reason she only was using the ice, and not bothering to take any water out of the lake, to freeze.

When the girl tried to launch a punch at her, only to fail when she had to go back to the defensive, she murmured out softly; "It is unfortunate, that you feel you have to continue fighting on in this more than pointless struggle. Some magical flame is going to lose it's spirit because you were too prideful to give up a battle you never had a chance at winning to begin with." Her head tipped down, and she lowered her hands from their offensive pose. Her head tilted down and her eyes shut as she stretched out with her perceptions, clinging to all of that steam as it spread out across the area.

The girl was close now, and so she stretched out a hand, not caring of the heat she would be subjecting herself to, and closed her hand over Flare's. That, of course, made it impossible to burn in that area, and so immediately she began forcing that steam down around the two of them. Her own body was not touched by the ice, though she imagined that Flare's would take a while anyways, though the portion her hand was already gripping became slated with a thin sheet of ice, that grew thicker by the second. It began spreading out from that point, reaching up Flare's arm.

Glaze seemed impervious to the ice, but Flare certainly was not. It slowly, yet swiftly enough, began to creep up along the arm, forcing the flames away as they could not burn where there was no room to burn with. Of course, the girl could attack the ice with flames from the outside, but she would find this ice even more resilient than the ice she had been attacking with earlier--that ice had been meant to melt, so that she could do this. This ice... only got colder and colder.

As Flare continued to near the woman she had challenged, she felt her rage growing. She felt like she was being toyed with, not taken seriously. The woman's words only proved that to her! She was just so sure she was going to beat Flare, wasn't she!? She was not going to give up just because the woman had advantages and cool words! She felt her rage bubble up in her chest almost painfully. She was most certainly going to roast this woman for that strike to her pride! Her flames flared around her, growing brighter, livelier, and one of her hands pulled back.

She was caught of guard when she felt something come in contact with the still outstretched hand, her brows furrowing furiously as something clotted out the air needed for her to spawn fire before her palms. That woman was holding her hand.. The realization darkened the color of the flames for a moment, and she did not even notice steam came down around them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Are you stupid, grabbing something in a fire!?" Almost as though she were worried for the woman's sake. She corrected herself soon after, righting from her shock when she glanced down at her arm and hand. Ice! Ice crawling up her arm! That was her ice devil's trick! She tried to yank back, and brought her other hand around to hold her flame to the ice in attempt to melt it. It wasn't all that long before the ice that was creeping its way up her arm started to burn, much like her first encounter with fire before she found her abilities to endure it. But this was a different burn, and what was worse, it was killing off the spawned fires along her arm.

She stared silently at Flare, as she seemed to realize what was going on. She sighed softly, her breath misting in the air. She said quietly; "You should have given up when you had the chance." The steam began to press down faster, chilling the air around them rapidly. Soon water began accumulating like sweat on both of their forms, dripping down as the gaseous water floated about. It was like it was becoming dew. More and more, Flare would find it harder to summon her flames, as her entire area became saturated with near-water.

The ice itself continued to climb up Flare's arm, growing colder with each passing second despite the efforts that were probably meant to undermine it. She slowly lowered her head, after a moment, the only show of emotion she had displayed. Even then her face remained relatively blank. It was as if she could not bear to watch the woman as she brought about what would likely be her doom. The ice soon was at her shoulder, and began creeping up and downwards, though it put more effort into going down than up. It reached for her breasts, trying to encase them front and back.

"Maybe one day the ice will melt." She almost sounded hopeful, but just barely so. "And maybe you'll be able to escape. However, the chances are high that you will die encased within this ice. I want you to spend your time inside of this shell thinking about yourself. Thinking about how good of a person you could have been, had you not been so intent on proving yourself." Her ice continued to climb down, and was already reaching for the girl's other arm, climbing down it while it seeped down towards her navel. "I want you to reflect on yourself, with the hopes that if you are lucky enough to emerge, you will be a better person. The next time I see you, if I ever do, I will not hesitate to kill you, as I do now."

She gave a grunt in response to the woman's words, again attempting to jerk back and flare up, to destroy the ice that was crawling up her arm. She was finding herself in a bad situation, one that made her think bad things. The more water that accumulated on her, the harder it was to use her fire, the harder it was to fight the cold as it closed in around her. "Get it off!" She snarled, forcing her flames to flicker on, to continue to try and melt away the ice as it coated over her and keep the water away from her body.

Despite herself, she was beginning to tremble, trying to flex the muscles of her body and keep herself warm. The colder the ice encasing her arm got, the more desperate the flames she used. She gave a whining growl at the stuff as it crawled along her shoulder and moved across, trying to shift as it worked it's way downwards from the shoulder to her chest. She had to break it, had to get this nasty stuff off of her, that burned like cold fire to her. "Da.... Dammit! Stop!" She no longer cared to fight as long as she got the ice off.

Her head lifted as the woman began to speak, almost sneering for a moment before simply falling... sort of silent, with a chattering jaw and a constant growl in her throat in some attempt to keep herself warm. Chances were high that she'd die..? Something about that made her flames flicker, almost going out for a moment. She couldn't think of death! Death meant the end of her fire! "How... Good of a person... I could have been? How could I be good? How could I be better? I am strong and I live to burn brightly! Powerfully! I can't die! I can't!" She protested, shaking her head. She began reaching out for her with her other arm, against the building ice that was forming and reaching for her arm, moving down along her body. "Make it stop!" She spoke almost breathlessly in the constriction of the ice.

She ignored her for a few moments, staring upon the ground as the ice crept across her form, encasing more and more of it. As it crept along, the speed of the icy encasement increased, as the air around them grew chill, damp. She slowly let her eyes flutter shut as the girl began to desperately protest her death, seeming almost to beg her, if not doing so in truth. She still held onto that ice-encased hand, staring down at it as if by looking at it she could ignore the rest.

She quietly looked up at her finally, and arched both of her eyebrows to her hairline. She looked like she had just lost a large chunk of whatever respect she might have held for the elemental. She slowly shook her head back and forth, disgusted, and said; "You came here more than ready to kill me, and now that I have it within my power to do the same to you, you cower. Perhaps you deserve your fate, after all." She said, just as the ice crept across her hips, enclosing her bottom, her thighs, and slowly creeping down towards the calves. The ice also crept down towards her still unfrozen elbow, coming ever closer to freezing her completely.

"You must have felt like you were going to pick on a weakling, or an even bigger coward than yourself, to come after me." She slowly sighed, no longer afraid to look the elemental directly in the eye as she slowly sealed her fate. "Is this what all of the fire spirits are like, these days? All-talk, cowardice, and bullies? Perhaps it's time for another ice age..." She said, tsking her tongue just slightly. She of course, meant, a purge of the fire spirits.

She continued with a flickering flame and flexing attempts at loosing and melting the ice until her flames, even at the tips of her again snow white hair, were only flickering and barely holding on in the damp, chilled air. She looked up at the woman quietly for a moment, continuing that growl with the purpose of keeping herself warm, wanting to tremble in the icy encasement. For a moment, her brows furrowed as though looking for some understanding of her words before muttering, "Isn't it natural to be scared of death? I'm young, I have an unfulfilled life to lose, and I'm scared of dying.. I was confident that I was at least strong enough to be an even match.." She actually began to sound much more even as her flames went out, more and more calm, though her jaw chattered. She shifted as the ice crept downwards, whining as it closed down over her her hips and thighs and continued to work downward.

She bit at her lip quietly, quickly drawing blood as the woman spoke on, her brow furrowing down into a hateful glare, her remaining hand clenching into a tight fist, and one could even imagine that the frozen hand tightened just slightly. "Don't dare make a judgment on my people because of me!" She gave a low snarl. "So I was wrong in coming here, wrong in thinking my fire was strong enough, wrong in being overly-confident! But don't dare think everyone who wields fire is like that! Who else but someone faulty or insufficient needs to prove themselves!?" She barked, despite that it was more than an insult to herself. For several moments, the flames that remained on the uncovered part of her arm brightened and gained heat, working as powerfully as it could to work away the water and the ice forming on her arm.

She stared at the girl quietly, her head dipping down in a small nod. "At least you earned some real backbone before you died." She said, slowly turning her eyes off to gaze at something else, rather distantly again. She waited as the ice enclosed over the lengths of her calves, creeping down over her ankles towards the tips of her toes. She slowly let her eyelids drift about half-way shut. "It always feels wrong to kill a child." She slowly let her lips part to sigh after a moment. "You should realize, though, by now at least, that your flame isn't going to melt my ice. Casting it there is a completely futile gesture. I am concentrating to my full potential to keep it frozen. The best you can do is slow it down, even at the height of your power."

She slowly tipped her head to stare at her again, and continued; "I have the advantage in having my ice already on you, where... You don't share that advantage." She slowly shook her head this way and that, presenting the side of her face for the girl as she looked across her shoulder, staring off distantly again. She stared rather casually, as if she were not freezing a girl to death within her grip. Her flames were indeed slowing the ice down, melting them slightly for just instants at a time. They still managed to creep on, if at a slower pace. The area she burned over had a glistening wet slickness to it, like frost after it had been licked.

"You should simply accept your death, and die with dignity, rather than flailing about like some helpless child. Though, I suppose that is not the way with it with flame elementals, is it? Honor by fighting to the last breath. I suppose it has it's own glory, but it will not help you."

She pursed her lips tightly after a moment, her head shifted to dip down a bit after her rage died down. She closed her eyes after a moment of watching the ice as it crawled down, burning her skin with it's chill when it got below the end of her pants, which really were little help, if any, against the cold of the ice. She opened her eyes again after a moment, her eyes lifting up towards the woman for a long moment. "I.. I d-don't really feel like dying.." She stuttered a bit for a moment, biting at her lip quietly. "And my flame... My fire... Is strong.. Strong enough... To maybe save me."

She huffed quietly when the woman spoke of her advantage over her, her fingers flexing in the warmth of the remaining fire on her arm. She looked down quietly at the woman's hand that grasped her own, straining for a moment, as though she were trying to fight the ice that encased that hand. She looked up towards her again, biting at her lip before muttering, "You've given me my advantage... Forgive me.."

The hand that remained in the glow of the flames clenched tightly, the nails of her fingers digging into the flesh of her palms. The veins along her wrist, along the back of her hand, the muscles all tensed visibly. The flames around her hand corresponded, burning brighter, heat radiating powerfully. She only allowed a few seconds between her words, 'forgive me', and her attack, concentrating to force the flames forward, creating a flame thrower without a punch.

The flames licked out as they lashed into the small woman's face, strong enough to char her skin and blister much of it even if she managed to form some barrier of sorts between them, or dodged off backwards. It was most certainly not meant to be a killing strike, however, for after a second or two of flaming forward into the woman's face, it relieved back to simply surrounding Flare's hand, again licking at the ice that had encased her other hand.

Her eyes held a strange dullness, almost a look of worry during the short burst of flame. She was forcing her eyes to stay open, to watch the woman for any sign of weakness in her concentration so she might be able to strain against the ice and break it off, to strengthen her flames and warm her chilling body, though she did not actually think on it, rather naturally hoping for it.

She screamed in pain as the flames struck her face, throwing her backwards of her own accord just as much as the fire's. Having released the hand, she twist around, her wings jerking her into the air and diving her towards the lake. She plunged within the icy water and shot straight for the bottom, just to put the flame out, to get the heat off of her. It hurt so much! She could feel the melted skin on her face, blackened and charred from that short, intense burst. Her eye felt as if it had ruptured as well. Her hair was probably gone in some parts, as well, but that would grow back.

She dove all the way down to the coldest, deepest part of the water, sitting down within the middle of the icy lake and remaining there, clutching her legs to her chest, and shuddering quietly. Her figure rocked just a little, like the way her mother used to do to her whenever she had been scared in her childhood. Her lungs gasped soft, fretful breaths, and her still good eye stared out along the lake intently, fearfully. Not of death, no the cold embrace of death had never scared her. She had the permanent mark of fire on her face, and she was afraid of looking to the surface of her own water in fear of seeing what she looked like, now.

Flare, of course, stood there and stared with a blank look and hollowed eyes as the woman jerked back and shrieked in the pain of the flames before diving into the depths of the lake. Not like she had much choice in what she could do at the moment. The fire hovering about her hand flickered, losing strength before regaining it, again at work at melting away the ice that covered her. She had to get it off of herself, and soon. Her body knew that, at least, but the chill that had taken her emotions was not from the ice.

She struggled, shaking in the encasement of ice, until light cracking began in the clear solid. It sounded to be a miracle. What was more of a miracle was that the ice coating her other hand was melting, but she was not bothering to look. She could feel it. That was enough. She stared out over the lake, instead, feeling guilty and pained, despite that she had narrowly, for the moment, escaped death.

Bit by bit, her flame grew stronger, until both hands were free and able to cast the fire. And because of this, though it felt like forever, she was soon able to melt more and more of the encasement off of her body, freeing herself. The warmth that came with her own heat hurt, like resting sore muscles while sunburned, to a much, much higher degree. The blood pulsing beneath her skin felt uncomfortable, because her skin felt burned in its own way by the ice, and she was paled by it.

When she was finally free, for the most part, of the ice encasement, she glanced back towards the path she used to come to this place before turning her eyes back to the waters of the lake, and stumbled forward before falling onto her knees at the edge of the water. It would take a while to walk correctly again, she bet. Her toes felt strangled and her body tight and numb, with that relieved burn pulsing through.

She stared quietly into the water, seeking, searching with worried eyes before murmuring quietly, "I'm sorry.. That was low of me... but I wanted desperately to live.." She hoped the message would carry to the woman's ears, as it had before. She drew her arms up around herself in a tight hug, making her torso a torch, for the most part. She spoke again with a forced, even voice, "I want to fix what I've done... Please.. Come with me.. We can find a healer... If you don't, I'll find one and bring them back here.. Even if you do kill me next time you see me.." And her voice fell away, leaving silence and the crackles of her flames, hissing as they burned more of the chill away from her. It was more than enough to make her weary.

She wept beneath the waves. She was no water elemental, and her tears had no healing effect. She was ice, which was in every right as much a destructive force as fire. Ice worked in different ways than fire, but a single ice wave could destroy more than what any single fire could spread to. Ice killed entire villages, froze entire miles worth of farm, destroyed weaker trees, and swept away grass. And unlike fire, ice was also a natural process of nature that happened with no intervention. Fire might happen by lightning, or by rocks striking against one another, but ice came as ice pleased.

It also went as it pleased, but it wasn't helping Glaze. Even down in the depths of the ocean, with her icy tears dripping down her cheek, frozen even as they seemed to flow like water, she felt the burn. It was like a permanent impression, and the chill of the water only seemed to aggravate it further. The sound of her weeping could not carry up to the surface, but the entire lake seemed to permeate with her sadness. There were living creatures beneath the waves, but none of them disturbed the surface, which lay as still as stone. No ripples flowed through it, no fish jumped or swam within visible sight. Even the nature around her seemed to cry for her. They knew their fate if she died, after all. If she died, they all died. The trees, the plants, the animals. They were all tied to her. So long as she lived, only she needed to consume in order to sustain them all.

And now she was injured, and that injury reflected in the sudden sickliness of the trees, the leaves browning in some areas and spotting in others. Grass withered in small patches. She was corrupted, and now so was her domain. And there was nothing she could do about it. Her impression if not her words, resonated, creating ripples through the ice, if not the water; Leave me in peace. You have made your point. You have defeated me. You have no reason to be here. You have corrupted my body and my spirit; what more do you want? If you want anything more from me you will have to come down here, for I will not surface again.

It had a sense of finality about it. She obviously wasn't stating that it would be a while, but rather that it would never come to pass again. She was scarred, in both a literal and figurative sense. She couldn't convey her emotions, because ice held no emotion. It was cold, and so was her tone, despite the fact that she wept for her loss. She clutched her arms against her legs tightly and held them up against her chest, shuddering and shivering weakly. She wouldn't fight anymore. If the fire elemental was that desperate to kill her then she could come down here and do it. She wanted to be left alone. That was all she had wanted before, but in her arrogance she had thought she could dispell such an annoyance with little trouble.

She cradled herself at the side of the lake, staring out over the surface with worry, her flames continuing to stoke higher to fix the damage the ice had done to her body. They were a dark red, reflecting the low mood of her heart, but they were still effective. What remained of the ice encasement had by now melted away, sizzled away from her. It was only when her body began to feel more as it should that her flames weakened, almost going out completely, with only light fringes around her wrists, as was natural for her.

Her heart fell lower the longer she stared out over the lake, biting at her bottom lip as she watched the still surface, looking much the child the ice elemental had called her. But she knew one thing for sure. She was not the victim, and could not treat herself as though she had been. She was not blind, and she could see the changes that had already begun to occur since the woman had retreated into the cold lake. The browning of the grass, the leaves in the trees... She was beginning to realize, more and more as the moments passed, the effects of her actions.

She felt herself cringe with the words of the Ice elemental, biting down into her lip as she stared down at the rippling surface of the lake. She did consider leaving again, but after a glance around, she decided that it was simply not right. Not right for her to have come here, to this woman's home, demanding to challenge her. Not right to have used such a low blow to survive and 'win' the fight. Not right to leave things as they were. She dropped her head down, and murmured softly, "Then I will come for you.."

She did have fears that she'd be swimming to her death if she went down to the woman, but she shook them off without a word. She didn't deserve to be fearful of such. She let the cuffs of flame flicker out as she pressed herself to her feet, standing there for many long moments, focusing within herself to spark that internal flame that she had never been able to grasp. With or without it, she would go into the water anyway.

She could not reach it, but still, the focus helped her to find sureness in herself, and with that, she stepped forward into the water, and then again, until she was wading in it, until it was up to her chest, pressing coldly against her. She took a heavy breath, and let herself drop beneath the water with a clumsy dive, and despite the chill, her eyes remained bright and open, staring through the water for any sign of the woman in blue.

She did not dare stray from the surface, and frequently came up for air, continuing to move with a powerful, though clumsy stroke. She was fire, not meant to swim, after all. She dropped her head beneath the surface again to squint through the water, seeking out Glaze's form beneath. Her work, she felt, was incredibly slow, and the water was so, so cold, tensing her just-thawed muscles, but she never looked towards the shore, even when her stroke seemed to become more desperate.

Finally, when her eyes found a shape beneath the water that she felt sure to be the woman, she took a heavy breath and dived beneath the water. Her swimming was slow, too, but still, she forced her way downward towards the curled woman. Closer, and closer, until she could just about reach out and grasp at the woman. Closer. She managed to get her hands on her, and pulled the curled shape of the woman closer, as though to hug her in the attempt to comfort her. She gave a glance upwards to the surface through squinted eyes, but she did not make any motion towards it yet, dropping her eyes back down to the woman she held onto. She did not know what she could possibly do to help her, or to comfort her, and simply held onto her, as though she were worried that the woman would pull away.

Glaze felt she would never truly be free of the mark that had been laid upon her flesh, for it was a mark on her spirit as well. She would always feel that burn, that bane of everything she was. Sensitive enough already to temperatures above zero degrees Celsius, fire was beyond physical damage. And that fire directed at her made normal fire seem tame. She wept and gave thanksgiving to whatever deity had decided to spare her. She knew, of course, when the fire elemental dove in to her water. It was her water after all, and she knew all that happened within it.

She did not react. She didn't know what the girl could possibly do. She would likely freeze to death whether or not she got what she wanted for. She did not hamper or help her with her task, merely sitting there with her legs clutched to her chest. When the girl came forward, almost hugging her, she was unsure of what to do, or how to act. She stared at the beast who had done damage to herself and all around her because of pettiness. Stared with her one eye, of course. She gave soft, quiet little sobs while everything else remained still.

The girl's hands were quite warmer than what she was used to, but the cold seemed to be leeching it out of her. She let her forehead drop, resting it against the other's shoulder without any seeming care as to the state of the forehead, which was in excruciating pain. Her soft, tinking little sobs had no trouble resonating through the water, and her body seemed nearly weightless beneath the waves. She was exempt from the laws of water, and she floated there, knees pulled against chest, and providing the only barrier between the two.