Ice.
Snow.
Slush. Yeah, definitely the third. Cold, which I dont mind; I am the blasted toa of ice after all. But the wet? Thats another story entirely. I hate being wet. Ironically, it was the very element she embodied. I certainly didn't hate her. Her element. Very unlike what she was; sweet, stubborn, emotional, strong, kind...

I'm rambling aren't I? Can't be helped I guess. Having an introspective, emotional breakdown does tend to make one ramble a bit. With some effort, I roll onto to my back. The wet on my face is only the moisture from that blasted slush. Surely its not tears. Surely. Im the toa of ice. Ice does not melt; its stays hard, frozen. It certainly would be easier to ponder if all these memories would stop playing merry go round in my mind. A cacophony of pictures, sounds smells, voices... That blasted , annoying sobbing doesn't help either...Crap...thats me. I know its from some sort of pain in or on me, though I can't decide if it's the physical from my wounds, or the emotional scars... I need to sort these fragmented memories together. At least so I figure out a way to make them shut up, at least...

Yellow eyes. More like golden, but for the sake of avoiding sounding like a lovestruck fool, we'll just say yellow.

For now... Voices...She was deeply involved in a discussion with my fiery brother, Tahu. He's a whole other story altogether. I can't even remember what they were fighting about. He usually had the upperhand, easily blowing her off. It worked like a charm at setting her off. And so how it was with this particular occasion, her ranting and him with a cocky, smug grin on his face. He wasnt a bad guy, even though you couldn't tell from my spats with him. He meant well, but sometimes s... well alot of the time, he came across as butt.

I could see my other brothers having there own unique reactions to this spat. Onua pondering quietly off to the side, Pohatu trying to intervene in his own friendly albeit (sorry brother, useless)approach, and Lewa, doing what he does best. Absolutly nothing helpful. Doing some handstand, as if each person was on a performance stage, with Gali and Tahu doing a comedy routine, and that green haired idiot vying for attention with his acrobatics. But, can't say I was much help in this spat either; quietly, coldly glaring off to the side, as if it did not affect me at all, when in fact on the inside, the whole uncomfortablness of the situation had me inwardly blubberibg like a fish, and setting every instinct in me to send me running for my icy hills. I don't handle theses social interactions very well~sigh~.

My daydreaming was interrupted by said green haired idiot turning his attention to me. Great. He got bored from the comedy routine...guess I'm next on the list of people he feels the need to annoy. "Hey, icebrother! Watcha ice-glarin at people for? Jealous cause Gali ain't given you attention instead?",he said with a mischievous glintvin his eye.

The area grew quiet extraordinarily fast. Gali just looked at him mortified. Lewa, now realizing what he just said, looked like he was unable to decide whether to laugh at the situation, like a child realizing their bravery in kicking the rock through the window, or to be a shameful mess. I could feel my face heating up, whether from anger or something else I couldn't tell. Why would I be embarrassed? It was just a simple question. Was I jealous? No... certainly not...certainly. Didn't help what the look on Gali's face was doing to me. Why is she red? Agh, my head hurts...

She decided to go a different route in answering. "Lewa, you promised you wouldn't use tree speak anymore. You know it drives Kopaka up a wall, after...that incident..." She said, attempting to sound calm. Darn it, why did she have to bring that up. Some in the group shot me looks of sympathy. Tahu made a noise sounding somewhat like a low growl, telling both of them to drop it. Great. Pity from that fiery idiot. I coolly replied," That incidsnt is in the past. Nothing can change it now. I'm fine.". Liar, my brain retorted, you're not fine and you know it. Any social ability I had dropped out from under me. Thinking departure was the best option, I quietly turned and headed back to my koro. I could hear Gali still attemting at keeping it together as she reprimanded Lewa. Crap, I could hear her start calling me to come back. I kept apoligizing to her...to all of them , in my head. Pretending I couldn't hear, I kept walking. Idiot, my mind kept scolding me...

I was brought back to the present reality upon hearing a loud crunch in the slush off to my right. Turning, I saw my mount collapsing in the snow. Its wounds... from them... those blasted creatures of the dark, were too much for the poor beast to handle. I push myself to my hands and knees, careful of my own wounds, I make my way across to the suffering animal. She whimpers softly in recognition as I slowly approch. She and I both know what has to be done. She looks up at me pleadingly, begging me to stop her pain. I stroke her scaled neck, trying to convey that've understood. I reluctantly unsheathed my sword. I look down at her one last time. She's closed her eyes now, waiting for relief to come. "Goodbye, Mira."...And...its over...

I slump againsg the rock next to her body.

Why am I always left alone? There was a time I craved the isolation, now...it scares me. I close my eyes, knowing the cold can do no harm to me. Sleep, which I thought would be impossible, it comes eventually, sweeping back into a world of dreams and memories. Back to times far simpler. It was my only consolation, being able to see them again, even if only in memories.

As I drifted off, the blizzard grew heavier around me...A whiteout...