The war savaged dangerously to an obviously high extreme. Children cried. People screamed. Snow fell. Winds promising a blizzard howled. Bright crimson splattered all over the glittering, crystal ice.

Mandarin should be happy. The long four years of this horrific war was finally coming to an end, and although it was more or less of a tie between the Hyperforce and Skeleton King, it seemed that the winning team leaned slightly more to the hands of the horrendous, newly awakened lord. He attempted a smile, but for some reason his lips cracked into a somewhat miserable frown. He leaned against a decaying tree and continued to watch the unnerving killing scenes replay before him over and over again. The cold wind caused his fur to tingle and shiver.

"It's not exactly how you planned it, is it, Mandarin?"

Mandarin scowled, mentally making fun of himself for being so lonely so as to want to be near the Prisoner's Cell. He gazed over his shoulder, staring back at the deep azure eyes blinking through the icy faded glass. Mandarin smirked ruthlessly. The thought of having the valuable second-in-command behind bars suddenly made him feel a bit better.

"Of course it is," Mandarin scoffed, tightening the gray, bloody tattered scarf around his neck.

"We both know you don't really feel that way."
"Bah, why would you care?" Mandarin spat ruefully at the ground, disgusted upon accidentally tasting the foul faint taste of his own metallic blood. "We're going to win, anyway."

"Well, we were once dear friends..." Antauri slowly neared the glass. "...Remember?"

"That was a lifetime ago, Antauri."

The two awaited in silence for a while, both freezing and wincing at the sudden piercing, painful scream that showed signs of yet another innocent life taken away. Mandarin squeezed the end of his scarf when the scream continued to jerk and echo like a phantom in the dark- playfully forcing him to hear it over and over again in his mind.

"Mandarin..." Antauri said softly. "The team and I wondered for some time... why did you abandon us?"

Mandarin sighed, casting a small warm cloud out of his mouth. "I wanted to win."

Antauri twitched, startled at such a reply. "Win? Win what, exactly?"

The cold air current cause the orange simian's fur to bristle once more. "The fear. I wanted- needed to win... against my fear."

"Fear?"

"The dark."

Antauri stared at him, his eyes friendly and trusting despite what the once-leader had put him through. "You were afraid of the dark?"

Mandarin didn't respond, and this reaction caused Antauri to restate his question, "You're still afraid of the dark, aren't you?"

Mandarin remained quiet. Having been with him for such a long time, Antauri knew better than to expect an answer from him.

"Antauri," Mandarin turned to continue watching the war. "Why did you get captured so easily?"

Antauri smiled sadly. "Well, my... my circuits are going down from the result of the weather and time. I will probably reach a blackout sooner or later. Ot... Someone can fix it. There's no need to worry-"

"I wasn't worrying," The orange monkey intruded, his whole body still and tight. "I was just curious."

Antauri paused, and, after a while, smiled. "Well... thank you, then, for being curious about me."

Mandarin sneered, regretting answering him at all. "Stop talking, Antauri. You're starting to irritate me."

The silver psychic sighed, almost harmoniously, and sneezed slightly. "It's alright. I'll be hibernating soon, anyway..."

Mandarin turned around to look at him, slightly staggered by this unusual statement.

Antauri's eyes were closed; his forehead gently leaned against the glass. His ocular orbs started to dull out, and his entire body went loose... the warm smile on the psychic's face remained.

The orange simian stared at Antauri's lifeless body. One thing about this disturbed him, yet at the same time opened his mind to wonder as he stood in the chilling blizzard. He lifted his head to the cloudy, foggy sky, and felt the stinging, burning ice drop delicately on his face.

How, in his last few minutes of consciousness...

...Did Antauri manage to make Mandarin, for once without being ruthless, or cruel...

...Smile?

~I saw everyone doing this, so I decided to go with the flow. Of course, didn't do this to copy everyone, I just thought it would be a great opportunity to excersize my knowledge using different genres.~

This story I found in my folders unfinished, and decided to finish it, even though it's not all that good...

Enjoy.
GENRE: Friendship