Hello! I hope everyone is having a good break from school, finals, and relaxing for the holidays. Welcome to the first chapter of Winter's Ballad: Growth & Love. I hope everyone here likes it. I haven't had a lot of time to write since school and finals only ended recently, so please be gentle with any criticism if this comes out a little weird. XD
Comments are appreciated and tell me how I'm doing. It always helps the writing process to see criticism and positive feedback on what the plot is, how the characters are, or simply how the chapter is flowing. However please don't flame or bad mouth the fic just because you don't like it.
I do not own Young Justice or any of the DC Comics characters written within this chapter or story. I also do not own the lyrics or nameless RWBY song being used within the chapter. That right goes to Casey and Jeff Williams.
-Freya Mansion, Star City
December 24th, 2009-
It was an early morning. 8:00 to be exact. It was Christmas Eve and despite the early morning sun just peaking into the sky to greet the morning, many adults, friends, siblings, and children were ecstatic for the nights festivities, merriment, and exchanges of goodwill. It was a time to be thankful, a time to be together with family, and a time for the love people have for one another to only grow stronger through the bonds of this wondrous day.
However for others, this day was not any of those things.
"Again! Do not hesitate to try and strike me, for your opponent will not be so inclined to do so in the heat of battle." The voice of the instructor proclaimed, raising their practice saber towards their younger opponent from across the stage.
Taking deep breathes to try and regain the energy she was losing from the lesson, the young girl clad in all her fencing equipment save her helmet, tried to even out her breathing before raising her own saber in its proper position.
For a young girl named Samantha Freya, this day was like most days to her.
"Arrah!" Swiftly moving her body with poise and grace, the teen sped towards her instructor and swung her weapon towards him, hoping to land at least one strike. She had to. She needed to. It was an important day after all.
*Clang*
It was a time to be prepared.
*Clang*
It was a time to be poised.
*Clang*
It was a time to be sophisticated.
*Clang*
It was-
"You're distracted!" Her instructor called out, snapping the girl out of her thoughts.
Unfortunately too late to retaliate with a counterstrike, the teen could only watch as her instructor swiftly countered her swing, their swords striking and leaving the girl open for an attack. Just as soon as she realized this, the young girl was struck by the foot of her instructor at the center of her chest, kicking the breathe out of her lungs and causing her to crash onto the padded floor below her, dropping her sword in the process.
It was a time to prove herself to him.
Groaning and rubbing her head, the girl tiredly opened her eyes to look at the rubber ground below her. Moving her gaze slowly upwards Samantha felt her lips turn downwards into a frown when she saw the figure sitting in the chair in front of her.
Dressed in the finest ballroom dress suit, a dark blue tie of the softest silk, and leather dress shoes that shined from the sunlight pouring from outside sat an older gentlemen not a day over forty five. His light caucasian skin barley showing signs of wrinkling, black hair combed back in a stunning style, and sitting in a authoritative posture, the man was the picture perfect idea of an elegant socialite.
But it was the unimpressed gaze of dark brown irises that filled her vision.
"Father I'm-" Samantha tried to hurriedly apologize, but was unable to finish her sentence when her father raised his hand to stop her from speaking. Knowing the signal all too well, Samantha quieted her voice and closed her mouth to let her father speak.
"I've seen enough." Samantha's father answered. Getting up from his seat, he shooed off whatever dust he thought was on the sleeve of his suit, the older man looked back at his daughter and the ground and shook his head. "Stand."
Hearing the command and realizing she was still laying on the floor, Samantha quickly got up from the floor and dusted herself and tried to adjust her messy brown hair, moving strands behind her ears to clear her face and looked up towards her father.
Looking to his daughter, the elder Freya stared down his child before speaking. "You missed three chances to strike your opponent and you let them take the advantage of battle from you. Do you understand?"
"Yes father." Samantha replied back, standing straight and keeping her head held high in an attempt to look and feel more elegant than she really did.
"Can you tell me why you let your opponent beat you?" He asked, his voice laced with annoyance at having to say it out loud.
Feeling herself grow a little smaller at his voice, Samantha quietly answered. "I. . .My mind was somewhere else."
Watching off to the side, Samantha's fencing instructor held their hand upward in an attempt to join in the conversation. "Nikolai, I can understand your concern for the mistake she made, but Miss Samantha has improved vastly since the last time you watched her. And surely you can understand that on this day of all days she would be dis-"
"Don't make excuses for her Reginald. It can only lead to her thinking it's okay to make them." Nikolai replied, cutting off the instructor and giving him a hard glare to remove him from the conversation.
Seeing the look the master was giving him, Reginald bowed in apology. "Of course. Excuse my interruption. Sir."
Turning back to look at his daughter once more, Nikolai sighed and stood up from his seat. Dusting off whatever specks of dust he thought he cold see on his well made suit and readjusting his silk tie, Nikolai continued. "I expected more from this performance Samantha. You had asked me constantly for the past three weeks to come and watch your fencing practice, promising your skills were on par with my own. However all I saw was a disregard for the most basic of rules. Focus."
Unable to stop the frown on her face from appearing, Samantha looked downwards to try and hide it from her father. If he saw it, she was sure she'd only be lectured more. "Y-Yes father. I apologize. I'll try harder next time you come to watch."
"Don't say you'll try. Trying is for people who do not have the conviction, confidence or skill to accomplish what they want. You will do better." Nikolai spoke, looking back to his daughter. Noticing how she was looking down at the ground, he suppressed a groan. "And look straight at the person you are speaking to. Remember your etiquette lessons."
Taking a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, Samantha looked back up and kept her hard gaze on her father. "I...I will do better next time father. I promise you'll find no mistakes the next time you watch my practice."
Listening to his daughter's words, Nikolai gave a nod of approval and began heading out of the room. "See that you do. Now I want you to hurry and finish any other lessons on your schedule. You know that tonight is an important night for the family and we must look our best for our guests."
Turning to watch him head out, Samantha nodded and gave the best smile she could. "Of course. I've already planned out my schedule and my clothes are ready for tonight. Just...don't forget I have to leave later during the party. For my job."
His hand on the doorknob and ready to open the door, Nikolai turned his head to look at his daughter, a confused look on his face. "Your job?"
Frowning at his answer, Samantha shook her head and gave an incredulous look to her father. "My job. Remember? You said that if I finished my lessons and did well at the party tonight I could leave early to go. You...promised."
Hearing his daughter's words, Nikolai went through his mind to recover whatever memory his daughter was talking about. Eyes squinting at the effort to remember, a look of realization set on his face before nodding. "Ah yes. I did say that didn't I? Well like we agreed upon back then, you may only go once you've finished your lessons and your performance at the party tonight is successful. I expect the best out of my own daughter's singing talents."
"I will. I'll see you later tonight father." Samantha replied, giving a proper bow as her father left the room.
The heated conversation over and silence beginning to fill the room, Reginald felt as if the room's temperature had dropped to a freezing point. Resisting the cold chill running down his spine from the conversation he had witnessed, the man decided it best to leave the young woman to her thoughts. Putting a hand on her shoulder as a sign of comfort, Reginald smiled. "I think you did wonderfully Miss Samantha, no matter what your father says. Please don't take his words so close to heart. I'll be sure to bring you your favorite hot chocolate later before the party to make you feel better."
Not giving a response of her own Samantha simply smiled and watched her teacher and butler leave the room. Alone and left to her own thoughts of the events prior, the young teen clenched her fists tightly as emotions that she'd been hiding began to spill over like a waterfall. With teeth clenched and letting the bottled emotions she had pour out, hot tears began to roll down the brunette's as she cried in silence, the evidence of her sadness falling to the ground and splashing on a thin layer of ice that was beginning to form beneath the teenager's feet.
Not noticing the changes going on within the room during her moment, icicles began to form on the windowsill behind her and frost began to cover the floor beneath her.
And she failed.
'It's almost time.' Samantha thought as she paced around her room. Decorated in shades of light blue, white, and gray was her room. A soft bed sitting against the wall nearby, lush gray carpet beneath her feet, a mahogany dresser and matching desk with mirror at the back of her room, and lastly a beautiful ebony black grand piano sitting in the last edge of empty space in the room.
However all of the majestic beauty and loveliness of the items in her room could do nothing to quell the worry deep within the teen's mind.
It was about 5:00 and soon enough more guests would arrive and the biggest Christmas party of Star City wold begin. She had to be ready. Her father was already angry at her from the morning practice, so she had to do the best performance she'd ever done in her life if she was going to convince him to let her leave early.
"I just have to do my best. No, I have to be better than my best. I need to be perfect." Samantha told herself, stopping her movement to shake her head and turn to look back at the mirror stationed on her desk.
Her attire was perfect. Or at least she liked to think so. The gala was to be a grand one so she had opted to to wear something she would be comfortable in, yet also accentuate her looks in a way that her father would be appreciative of. She had to look the best after all.
Dressed in a beautiful ball gown that covered up to her chest, the dress itself grasped the curves of her body nicely to show off her form, the upper portion being a dark grey before changing into a sea of light blue, snow white, and glitter sparkling the bottom half of the dress like snowflakes. The side of the dress was cut in a neat slit that went up to her part of her upper thigh, but was covered by a curtain of soft lace beneath the top layer of the dress that looked familiar to snow. Though they were a bother, Samantha wore matching grey stiletto heeled shoes to help pull the party dress attire together and finished it by wearing long grey opera dress gloves and simple yet elegant diamond snowflake necklace.
'It looks great on me. I look fantastic. So...why don't I feel the way I look?' Samantha wondered, her reflection mirroring the frown that was appearing on her face.
"I can't keep frowning like this. She'd be mad at me if I was frowning on Christmas Eve of all days. I'm sure she would." Samantha told herself, chuckling at the thoughts in her mind and continuing to do the finishing touches of her outfit.
Soon enough the routine continued. Taking her long brunette hair and tying it up as neatly as she could, Samantha placed her hair in a high yet elegant ponytail, allowing any leftover short strands to neatly frame her heart shaped face. Continuing the process of preparing herself she began to apply the various portions of make up she'd need. Concealer to help bring out her light skin, eye liner to show off her dark brown eyes, mascara to give her eyelashes a little pop, and a nude shade of lipstick to give herself an innocent yet sexy look.
Looking at herself in the mirror, the teen gave a nod of approval before grabbing a beautiful sapphire hair clip from the desk draw. Made similar to the intricate designs of a snowflake and dotted with tiny sapphire gems at the tips, it had been a gift from her father when she was just a kid one Christmas Eve long ago. It was the one thing from her father that she was extremely grateful for and treasured.
'I wish we could go back to that time.' Samantha thought, absentmindedly rubbing the clip in her hand with gentle care as her mind wandered to years past. Sighing and pushing those thoughts somewhere else, the brunette took the clip and fastened it securely at the tie of her hair, giving herself a cute and regal look.
Feeling like her outfit was finally down Samantha turned to look at herself in the mirror once more.
Sophisticated, beautiful, poised, and alluring. All of those words described exactly how she looked at the moment. She was absolutely stunning.
"Now all I have to do is be confident." Samantha said to herself. Giving a nervous look in the mirror she gave a semi-confident smile and a thumbs up. "Yeah. I can do this."
And sure enough she did. The party had already been in full swing by the time she had entered into the fray. Various guests of wealthy backgrounds and friends of her father's business and work had all gathered to enjoy the snowy night and festive air. And when it came time for her to sing, she did just that and more.
Piano notes filled the room in a soft melody as the younger Freya controlled her voice to sing the highest notes she could during her opera performance. All eyes were on her as she sang from her soul, from the youngest of guests, to the oldest of business associates. It was if they were in the presence of an angel this Christmas Eve night.
"What a beautiful voice she has."
"Indeed. She's a prodigy."
"I believe her singing has been classified as a soprano correct?"
"You'd expect nothing less from the daughter of Dr. Freya and the late singer Aiko Sumeragi. She must have gotten her voice from her mother."
"A shame she passed before she could see her daughter now."
'Ignore the comments. They mean nothing right now. All that matters in this moment is you and your voice!' Samantha thought to herself, letting her voice flow out into the room as she matched her own voice's range with the piano notes. Hearing the song nearing its end, Samantha's mind flashed back to the lyrics she had written for the song and continued.
"I'm not your pet, not another thing you own.
I was not born guilty of your crimes.
Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore,
I won't be possessed,
Burdened by your royal test,
I will not surrender, this life is mine!"
Letting her voice slowly die out as the pianist nearby her on the stage played the last keys of the song, Samantha placed her right hand over her heart and raised the hem of her dress with her left and gave a polite and courteous curtsy to the crowd. The room was filled with applause of adoring fans and party guests soon after.
"Thank you. Please enjoy the rest of the evening." Samantha spoke out to the guests with a smile before heading down off the stage. "Now I just need to avoid all these boring people and find something fun to do for the next half hour." Samantha said to herself, playing with one of her gloves and trying to readjust it. "Yeah. Like there'd be anything fun for me here."
"Nice singing kid." A male voice called out from next to her.
Hearing the voice and stopping in her tracks to turn to the commentator, Samantha couldn't help but smile at the familiar face. He was the only person at the party she was happy to see or talk to. "Oliver. You made it."
Walking over to the happy teen, the blonde gentlemen known as Oliver Queen was elegantly dressed in a black suit and matching green tie. While it wasn't anything as fancy and sophisticated as many of the other guests or her father's attire, Samantha knew it fit him well enough and wouldn't hurt the "high society culture" of this party. Not if she had anything to say about it.
"Your pipes are something else, let me tell you. Never get tired of watching you kid." Oliver spoke with a smirk and thumbs up.
Happy at the honest comment, Samantha covered her mouth to suppress the giggle that was threatening to show. "Thanks. I really do like to sing, though I wish it wasn't for all of my father's work associates or people just trying to be his friend." The brunette replied, shaking her head and letting her gaze wander to the people around the two.
Seeing her eyes moving around, Oliver chuckled. "If you're looking for her, she's not here. Trust me."
"Really? But I gave her an invitation. I thought she'd be happy to come to all of...this." Samantha said, giving a confused look to the older man.
"Sorry kid. I know you wanted to her to come, and trust me I tried. But all of this just isn't her thing. Too fancy and uptight for a classy lady like her." Oliver said, moving his hand to grab an horderve and chucked it into his mouth. "Me on the other hand? Well, free food and chance to watch some rich people get frazzled is always a good time. Not to mention that you know who wanted me to be here for support for you of course."
Raising an eyebrow at the comment, Samantha placed a hand on her hip and turned her chin upwards in a mocking way. "Support? Hah. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."
Smiling, Oliver walked over and rustled with her hair in a playful gesture. "Aww. They're so cute when they think they're adults. You sound just like Roy."
"Hey! Stop it! It took forever to fix my hair like this." Samantha protested with a laugh, trying to smack his Oliver's hand away from her head.
"Ahem. Would you mind putting on a little more composure Samantha? People are staring."
Stiffening at the voice of her father, Samantha froze in place and noticed the form of her father who was standing just a few inches away from her and Oliver. Getting out of the hold Oliver had her in, Samantha coughed in her hand as if to try and pretend the previous event hadn't happened and combed her fingertips through her hair to try and fix its shape back to normal. "S-Sorry. I was with a friend."
"Nikolai! It's been ages buddy! How've you been? I hear your genetics research is becoming a big hit in the science community." Oliver said, walking over to the older man and shaking his hand in a friendly shake.
Shifting his gaze from his daughter to the younger man, Nikolai smiled and returned the hand shake before answering. "Oliver. Good to see you old friend. Why yes, my work has been getting much attention as of late. It seems everyone nowadays wants to know the secret to unlocking their potential. My research is still working into it, but with the success we've had in trial phases and from...my own daughter's history, my lab is confident that we'll find even more evidence and have success in bettering mankind with my genetics research."
"That's the confidence I like to hear. Why don't we talk more over drinks? You can tell me in detail about all the stuff you've been up to while I've been gone." Oliver suggested in a playful manner as he lead the older man to the food table and wrapped a arm around his shoulder in a jovial fashion. Slowly walking away from the small form of Samantha, Oliver turned his head ever so slightly and gave a wink of understanding to the girl before moving his attention back to her father and their conversation.
Her face relaxing at the sight of the understanding gesture, Samantha nodded and gave a silent thanks to her friend before quietly moving towards the exit of the party and closed the door behind her.
She had to get ready and make one last stop before she got to work.
-Star City Cemetery, Star City
December 24th, 2009 8:35 P.M.-
"Hi mom. How's it been...here?" Samantha quietly asked from her spot, her eyes staring down at the carved stone memorial. In a new change of clothes and wearing a pure white cloak, the young Freya kept her head covered by her hood. A quirk she had grown into through her time visiting during her job, it helped to make the young girl feel safe and secure without people having to point out who she was. She liked her secrecy and her privacy whenever she could. And this was about one of the few times she could have it.
The cemetery had been empty for quite some time. While snow littered the grounds and made the area like almost mystical in a dark winter wonderland sort of way, Samantha knew underneath it was just dried leaves, dirt, and vines from overgrown plants and trees that lived within the cemetery.
"I know. I haven't visited as much as I should. But you know dad. At least better than I do. When he has his focus on something he...forgets everything else." Samantha said sadly, a frown gracing her face as she pulled her hood downwards more in an attempt to cover her face further.
"He...forgot again. My birthday. But I guess I can understand." Samantha said, her voice cracking as she tried to perk herself up. "I mean...you should have seen the look on his face when he would talk about the Christmas party. He seemed really into it than most years since you've...been away. I think it's because his research is going so well. I try to ask, but he doesn't really explain it to me. He says it's too complicated for me. He'd rather I practice my arts."
Scratching her cheek and letting the silence around her hang in the air for just a few more moments, Samantha spoke. "I...miss you. I mean, I try to miss you as much as I can. I never knew you. You died when I was born and stuff, but dad told me a lot about you. How famous of a singer you were. Just like me. Or maybe I'm just like you." Rubbing her neck nervously, Samantha continued.
"I...don't really know what to say now. I mean, I've said a lot of things the past couple of years I've come here, but I don't know if its what I really want to say. You're a great listener and I know I can always speak freely with you here. I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not." Samantha said hesitantly, unsure of where to move the conversation to.
"I...I'm worried. About dad. I don't know what he was like when you were here, but he's so strict and worried about appearances now. I can never talk to him like a normal teenager. It always feels like I'm on pins and needles whenever he shows up or we talk. I haven't seen a real sincere smile out of him since I was little. Or gotten one of those nice bear hugs he used to give me either. He just does his genetics work and nothing else. He bosses me around and stuff and keeps telling me to do my lessons too, but even then he doesn't seem like he has any emotions besides hate, and anger, and sadness whenever he looks at me or I don't do what he says. I try to listen to him and do everything he asks of me, but it feels like too much. I can't handle the expectations he's giving me."
Feeling like her emotions were pouring out with each word she spoke, Samantha stopped speaking and took a shaky breath, wondering if she should continue. However feeling like she had to voice it out loud, for someone, for anyone to hear, well she needed to. "Does...does dad hate-"
*honk honk*
Stopping mid sentence and turning her head around to find the source of the sound, Samantha smiled when she saw a the figure of a woman sitting on what appeared to be a motorcycle. Quietly awaiting their arrival, the figure was clad in skin tight light blue cotton pants, white ugg boots, matching latex gloves with fur trimming, and lastly a light blue overcoat. Seeing the young girl had noticed them, the figure gave a friendly wave to signal their arrival.
Waving back, the cloaked teen looked back to the grave and gave a small, yet sad smile. "Looks like I'll have to cut this short. My friend's waiting. Don't worry, it's just Sigrid. You remember her right? She's training me to be a super hero and learn to help me control my powers. It's not easy with them being so different, but she's really easy to talk. She has ice powers just like me and she's become sort of like a mother to me. N-Not that she's a better mom than you!"
Laughing nervously at her slip up, Samantha looked back to the entrance where her mentor awaited her and turned back to smile to her mother's resting place. "I'm going to go out there and do my best mom. Merry Christmas." Samantha said, turning around and running off before stopping and running back to her mother's stone and gave a thumbs up. "You're totally number one mom. Okay bye!"
Running down the long icy pathway, Samantha slowly breathed in the ice cold night air and focused on her powers. Feeling the cold energy of her ice work its magic, Samantha jumped into the air before landing on the street below and let her ice powers cover the ground in a thick layer of ice, allowing her to swiftly skate down the large hill and towards the entrance.
Slowing her decent and speeding out through the entrance gates, Samantha skated over to her mentor's motorcycle and skidded to a halt. Placing her left hand on her hip and raising her right hand in the air in an exaggerated pose, Samantha gave a joking smile to her mentor. "How was that entrance? I'd give it twenty out of ten if I do say so myself."
Laughing and indulging in the teens' antics, the taller young woman clapped her hands as a sign of approval and removed her helmet. The face of a beautiful older woman stared back at the young teen, though she looked as if she had been frozen to the core. With the curves any woman could be jealous of, long flowing pure white hair that gave a wild and untamed look to the woman, and blue eyes as bright as the morning sky, all seemed mysterious and beautiful, however it was the ice cold blue skin that covered her body that was the most noticeable trait.
Strong, confident, enigmatic, and beautiful. That was everything the young teen could describe about her mentor, or at leas the most she could think of. She had met her mentor long ago when her powers had first started to go out of control. If Ice Maiden hadn't been there at the time, Samantha was sure she wouldn't have been able to control her powers long enough to stop herself rom creating a blizzard at the ripe old age of twelve.
She was everything that Samantha wanted to be in both a super hero and a woman when she grew up. Ice Maiden was a kind yet strong woman who had defied the destiny that was thrusted on her by her own family and took the results of that fate to make something amazing out of herself. A hero. From her kind nature, to her near flawless control of her powers and confidence, the young protege wanted to be just like her.
"That nice. Though I give it nine of ten." Ice Maiden chuckled, her Norwegian accent still running through her English as she took out a helmet for her protege to wear.
Dropping her arms down at the answer, the teen huffed and walked over to the back and hopped on. "And what pray tell is your reasoning behind such a low score?"
Smiling, Ice Maiden made a twirl of her finger, motioning to the pose Samantha had done moments ago. "The pose. A little childish. And that confidence you got. Admirable, but will get tiny snowflake in trouble." The older woman said, moving her finger to lightly poke the nose of her protege for added effect.
Giving a shocked looked, Samantha shook her head and stuck out her tongue. "Childish? I say it was a masterful end to my landing. It gave it energy." The teen pointed out, grabbing her helmet and removing her hood before placing it on her head securely. "And confidence is just the starting point to becoming a great hero, or so a friend once told me."
Shaking her head, Ice Maiden turned to her controls and revved the engine of her motorcycle once more to warm it up. "Hey now. No frowning on birthday or eve of Christ. Now let's go find some naughty people in town and stop from ruining the holiday."
A bit nervous about the drive, the smaller teen gripped onto her mentor's waist tighter. She'd never seen her mentor riding a motorcycle before since she met her. Was this a gift from Black Canary? Had she made sure her mentor passed with flying colors before giving her what the smaller teen considered a death trap?!
"You...know how to drive this thing right?" Samantha hesitantly asked, a bit unsure if asking the question was even a polite thing to do.
Giving no verbal answer but a hearty laugh, Ice Maiden revved the engine once more and turning the wheel to head towards the city before speeding off, the squeak of surprise coming from the tinier hero drowned out at the sound of the engine.
Surely there was someone out there causing a scene and ruining someone's night.
"Hahahahahaha! Let's see if this doesn't make your Christmas more merry!" The cackling voice of Icicle Jr. exclaimed, his icy hands shooting out a stream of ice towards scared citizens who were trying to get away from the crazed villainous teen.
Getting closer and closer to the chaos going on in the city, Samantha pulled on her mentor's jacket, signaling her to slow down and stop.
Feeling the tug, Ice Maiden slowed down her motorcycle, careful not to let it slip on the icy ground beneath and placed her foot on the ground and turned back to look at her protege. "What'd you have us stop for?"
Looking to her mentor, Samantha turned her helmeted gaze to the screams and fog of ice Icicle Jr. seemed to be creating from a few blocks away. "It's too dangerous to go right at him like this. If we do he'll either mess with the traction of the bike and the ground with his ice or he'll slam a wall in front of us to crash in. I'm gonna head off from here and meet you there. I'll distract him until you get there."
Getting off the bike and removing her helmet, the teen handed her helmet to her mentor and placed her hood back on her head. "You think that'll work on him?"
Taking the helmet from her protege and looking at it for a few moments, Ice Maiden moved the plastic protecter shield from her helmet and turned to look at her protege eye to eye. "Why don't you handle this yourself?"
Shocked and not expecting the question, Samantha gave her mentor a worried look. "B-By myself? I'm not sure. You think it's better if we do that?"
Laughing, Sigrid shook her head. "Think of this as both birthday present and test. You're much more skilled and powerful than first time we met, and there's no doubt you won't be great hero on your own. But that means you need chance to fight and stop the bad guys on your own to get experience and not have your hand held. This is your chance. If you want it."
'If I want it?' Samantha thought, her mind reeling at the question. She was surprised really, by the question. How long had it been since she'd been given an actual chance to choose something of her own free will? Not since she was asked to be a sidekick, as much as she could recall.
The sound of a crashing cars snapped the girl out of her thoughts, her gaze swiftly looking to the scene beyond a few buildings. "Stupid boy. Using ice in such unsightly manner." Turning her head to the noises herself, Ice Maiden moved readjusted her helmet and revved her engine, ready to drive off. "We'll have to speed this up. How about this? I'll head out and get civilians out of way. You use normal signal if you need help?"
Clenching her first and letting confidence pour into her system light energy within her like caffeine, Samantha looked to her mentor and gave a confident smirk. "Don't wait up. I've got this in Santa's bag."
"Hah! That confidence I like to hear from protege! We'll get birthday cake to celebrate after this is done. Good luck!" Pressing on the gas and preparing for her take off, Ice Maiden's tire gave a loud screech before she sped off, disappearing into the dark streets beyond.
Leaving the hooded teen to her own decisions, Samantha took a deep breath before steeling herself and taking off into a run to the streets ahead. Letting her power burn within her and focusing it in the palm of her right hand, she swung her hand in front of her and let her ice fly outwards from it, coating the streets further to give it a thick layer of frozen water. Using her already quick speed to help her process, Samantha jumped upwards before landing strategically on the icy road and began to swiftly skate towards the crime scene Icicle Jr. was creating beyond her reach.
Skating off past the next street and creating more ice to skate and turn her body, Samantha jumped into the air and landed onto the next street to skate on, and glared at the target just a few feet ahead of her. "Hey! Icicle loser!"
Hearing the insult off in the distance, Icicle Jr. stopped what he was doing, in this case grabbing dollar bills he had gotten from an ATM he had destroyed, and turned back to see who it was that was ruining his fun. "Oh, it's you again! Don't got and ruin my holiday fun!" Giving a sadistic grin and running off from the ATM, the ice villain began to shot rays of ice towards the hooded girl, moving his body to try and get her at every angle.
Seeing the rays of ice flinging towards her, Samantha moved her body as fast as she could to dodge the rays, nearly falling at her current speed to try and move around them. Thankfully able to dodge them, the teen decided it best to get serious and use her speciality.
"It's more like your ruining every else's! Including mine!" Feeling her ice power take hold within her hands once more, the ice within her hand began to form into thin yet strong icicle needles. Skating as fast as she could in the small amount of space she had, the hooded teen began to throw the needles with the best accuracy she could, hoping to distract her enemy as she got closer.
Flinging his hand back and forth to swat away at the needles being thrown towards him, Icicle Jr. kept his eyes closed and groaned in annoyance at the weak attacks being flung at his face. "Is that all you got?! Little needles of ice just to annoy me? Just proves who's the better ice user in this city!" However when he finally opened his to retaliate against his enemy, the sixteen year old was once again blinded by the hooded cloak of his enemy. "Wagh! Get this stupid thing off of me!"
"You aren't the smartest are you?" The voice of his female opponent said from behind him, though Icicle Jr. couldn't see her. Trying to turn around and swing his arms in some form of attack, Icicle Jr. could only yell as he was kicked in the chest by his opponent and knocked back a few feet into the snow.
Growling and getting up from the ground, the teen boy used his ice claws to slice through the cloak and looked towards his opponent, no longer hidden beneath the cloth she wore before. "You think you're so much better than me just because you're the pretty ice lady's sidekick. Well you're not! You may have got the best of me that time, but I'm not letting some girly princess kid take me down on the biggest day of my element!"
"I don't think that at all." Samantha simply replied from her place feet away from the raging ice user. Letting the icy wind from the winter eve's weather engulf her body and allow herself to relax and focus her mind, the teen move her gaze upward in a confidant stare at her opponent, arms crossed and her body language showing that of conviction and strength.
Moonlight covered by the clouds above this dark and starry night, it finally began to shine through and peak out from the fog, lighting the the battlefield that was messy with snow, icicles, frost, and broken Christmas lights. Along with the battlefield though, the young protege of Black Canary's form could finally be seen within the light of the moon.
Dressed in attire that could be considered both elegant yet also out of place in a fight such as this, the outfit consisted of a elegant yet neatly sewn white thigh length dress, ruffled with lace frills underneath the combat skirt. While her shoulders were bare with the dress alone, she kept them covered by a similarly colored bolero jacket, with the insides being various colors such as red, blue, and white. Intricate designs of snow and snowflakes lined the edges of the dress and a white ribbon tied around her waist accentuated the outfit. As for her legs they were covered by pure white tights that covered all of her legs, while her feet were covered by matching light blue knee high length wedge boots.
Her outfits changed, her appearance that once resembled the daughter of the Freya socialite was now gone. Her brunette hair now gone, the moonlight revealed the same girl, but with her hair tied n a side ponytail and shining as white as the freshly fallen snow around her. Along with her eyes losing their original brown color, now revealed glaring light icy blue eyes that could only match those of a winter's moon.
With her hood gone and now purely in the heat...or rather cold of battle, now stood the battle ready protege of the powerful Ice Maiden. More confident, prepared, and unrestricted from the obligations of her family name was a young girl ready to prove herself and fight for justice. To use her powers for good. To be who she wanted to be.
"The only thing I'm thinking of right now is how to take you down as fast, safely, and easily as I can. And I may have just figured it out while you were talking." The teen hero spoke with a confident smirk before moving her hand forward and blasting a ray of ice towards Icicle Jr. "Let's see who's ice is stronger!"
Moving his arms to cover his face from the attack, Icicle Jr. gritted his teeth as the ray of ice being shot at him began to grow and cover his arms in a block of ice. Knowing he wasn't going to take this laying down, the villain called upon strength deep within him and broke his arms free from their icy shackles before blasting his own ray of ice as a counter. "Sure! Bring it on!"
The two ice powered teens going at one another, the rays of ice began to go back and forth at one another, one side never overpowering one more. As more time passed it was apparent that their little match was coming out to be a stalemate. Knowing it couldn't keep going on forever, Samantha forced to move her left arm as best she could while keeping up the stalemate and focused ice within the other hand. Using it to combine with her first ray, Samantha called upon more energy inside her before focusing on it to create a large shield made of ice. Placing it in front of the brute force of Icicle Jr.'s attacks, Samantha silently sunk beneath the shield and focused her powers into her second ability, allowing her to slowly disappear into thin air.
Not noticing any of this and believing he was having the upper hand, Icicle Jr. couldn't help but laugh at the victory he was sure to have in hand. "Look who's the better ice user now pretty princess?! Looks like your teach is gonna have to thaw you out this Christmas!"
"Think again." The voce of his enemy called out.
Anger growing at the retort, Icicle Jr. stopped his ice attack and allowed the fog of the newly produced ice to fade away. Waiting to see what had become of the hero, the teen was only shocked when he saw that the "figure" he had been freezing was what appeared to be some sort of shield made of ice. "What?! But how?! You should be frozen!"
"Not quite." The whisper of his opponent replied, Icicle Jr. quickly turning his head around to see where she was.
'Where is she?! I can't see her!' Icicle Jr. thought, his mind racing as he looked back and forth to try and find out where the shorter white haired girl had run off to.
"Your mind's somewhere else!" The white haired hero exclaimed from behind, her body materializing out of a whirlwind of snowflakes and a cold wind. Ready to end this fight once and for all, the teen focused her ice again and flicked her right wrist outward. A icy blue glow materializing from her powers, the glow finally subsided as it took form and appeared in Samantha's hands as a small battle hammer. Smirking at the weapon now in hand, she took the weapon in hand pulled it back in position before swinging it towards Icicle Jr. as hard as she could.
Unable to stop the attack from coming him at such a close distance, Icicle Jr. felt the ice hammer connect with his face like a solid rock wall and felt his body fling off towards a shop behind him. Crashing into the glass of the window and skidding to the ground in a halt, the boy groaned softly, as if to try to get up again before feeling the rest of his energy leave his body and passed out.
Huffing in and out and feeling the sweat of her work run down her brow, the icy eyed teen walked over to the shop that was now the defeat zone of his enemy and stuck her tongue out at the unconscious boy.
"Oh and by the way I am offended by the pretty princess comment. This strong and confident queen of ice is named Winter and it looks like I'm the best ice user in the city. So don't you forget it ice bucket." Huffing and letting the ice hammer she created crumble into shards of ice, Winter turned around and headed out of the shop and towards some open space. She would need to contact Ice Maiden and tell her the mission was accomplished.
'And that means birthday cake all for me.' Winter thought, feeling a giddy smile appear on her face as she clasped her hands together in anticipation.
For all that had happened this night, her Christmas Eve/Birthday wasn't turning out all that bad. She got to wear a dress she at least liked to the party, she got to sing a song she wrote, she was able to see her mother, and got to kick butt while with Ice Maiden all on her birthday.
It was a good day...night.
Well I hope this turned out well. I'm not feeling as if the battle turned out really well like I had wanted. I suppose not writing battle scenes for long enough makes it tough to try and type them out again without it sounding rough. I may research more or watch some shows to try and get a better understanding of how to describe battles.
The chapter overall was going to be both an introduction the the character, her life, her powers, and the announcement that the Justice League was looking into maybe allowing the sidekicks in as full time members, but unfortunately I couldn't get that far. It was to much to write for an intro. I'll probably just move the next chapter to Independence Day to get things moving.
So here she is. Samantha Freya. Daughter of a famous geneticist and deceased singer, protege of Ice Maiden/Sigrid Nansen for three years now, and holder of ice super powers with the title Winter. Her abilities, while focused by using the power to create ice, are special as she uses and focuses it enough to create weapons out of ice, such as swords, shields, and even a hammer like from this chapter. It allows her to train in a various amount of battle styles and also utilize her power in a more unique way. I just hope I'm able to better explain it as new chapter's arise.
*This chapter has been edited since first written. Since I found it better to use an ice hero rather than Black Canary, Sam's mentor is now the hero, Ice Maiden. While she doesn't have many appearances outside of comics and doesn't even show up in the YJ series, I'm going to use her and sort of make something up for her. I'll try not to mess up her character as best as I can, but please be kind.
I've loosely based her appearance around Weiss Schnee, a character I really enjoy from RWBY. While her hero appearance is based around the character, her personality, background, and powers are something I came up with on my own. Though I did my best to try and describe her outfit and appearance in a way that didn't blatantly copy RWBY's work.
Or at least I hope I did. XD
And I get it, it is a strange combination of hero/sidekick I know, but I couldn't find any ice heroes in DC. Most just seem to be bad guys for some reason. I guess because ice is always seen as a cold and evil power that shrouds people's hearts, but perhaps Winter can break that stereotype. Though this is going to be a SuperboyxOC story, so maybe the whole ice stereotype may get brought up by somebody, whether it be for serious reasons or as a joke. I'll figure it out later.
Once again comments are appreciated, both criticism about the writing and overall thoughts about the chapter. More feedback helps the writing process, so please comment if you can. Have a nice holiday.