Hello everyone! So, just for clarification, this is happening before Spyro's Adventure. At least for now, anyways :3

Oh, and I came up with Icicle (that is how the story will refer to her from here on out) before I even found out that Freeze Blade existed.

Thanks to you who reviewed!

I don't own Skylanders.

Enjoy!

UPDATE! I am on Deviantart. My username is pixeice. There, you can find pictures of Icicle as the story goes on.

Chapter 1

-Spyro-

I'd been to a lot of places in Skylands, it's part of the job after all, but there's always somewhere you haven't been. When Eon said that we were going to the Cloudbreak Islands, I didn't know what to expect. I had heard of the place from Whirlwind, but didn't think much of it, besides as another place to explore someday. Imagine my surprise when on our flight I discovered that not only were they the single largest collection of islands in Skylands, but they contained a good portion of its population as well. You learn something new every day.

Now, as a dragon, the number of times I had actually ridden on an airship numbered in the single digits, since I can fly to most places on my own power. However, when you're traveling with your Portal Master, airship it is. Why? Well, I can't carry Eon and apparently, when traveling through your own portals, about half of the time you end up either teleporting to a location you didn't intend to, in extreme pain, or experiencing a really bad case of flatulence for the next couple of hours. Of course, Eon was experienced enough to travel through portals without that happening, but why take chances?

"So, what exactly are we doing again?" I asked Eon. "Because the last time I checked, the Cloudbreak Islands don't need our help." The Portal Master smiled as we passed by several large islands.

"Do you remember when Whirlwind went to aid the frost elves of the Winter Keep?" he asked.

"Of course. They were cursed by...I think it was a Magic Spell Punk or something like that...and she made the Illuminator out of her own magic to give them back daylight," I replied. "That was, what, three years ago?"

"It was," he confirmed. "And every year since she has returned to the Winter Keep to visit the elves. Apparently, she's pretty popular there. This last time around, as she told me, she heard rumors of a young elf who had single handedly defeated an invading army of trolls. When she went searching for said elf, however, there seemed to be no trace of him or her, only that the elf in mention lived on the Ice Forest Island in the village of Crystal Port."

"I think I know where this is going. Another Skylander recruiting mission?"

"Exactly," he replied. "While there are many Skylanders now, thirty-two including yourself, we are nowhere near full strength. There are hardly enough of you to fill all the mission requests that pour in. Years ago, back when I was a young Portal Master, there were dozens of Skylanders. I even commanded the SWAP Force before they were banished. But there was little danger after their banishment, and as time passed, some of the Skylanders retired, some passed on, and some just up and left. Before I knew what had happened, there were none, and Skylands stood without a single Skylander for almost ten years while I searched for suitable candidates."

"And then you found me," I chimed in. Eon smiled.

"And then I found you," he agreed. "Four and half years ago, Skylands welcomed a new generation of Skylanders, with you, Gill Grunt, and Trigger Happy leading the way, along with Eruptor, Terrafin, Stealth Elf, Whirlwind, and Chop Chop, of course. And just in time, as well. Every day, Kaos and his armies grow stronger."

"Kaos," I spat. "We'll need all the help we can get to take him down." Kaos was the most vile, evil creature I had ever laid eyes on, an egotistical villain who only wanted to rule Skylands to satisfy his big head. As annoying as he was, he was quite brilliant when he wanted to be and he had massive armies under his control, even if we foiled his plans more often than not.

"Yes, and that is why I am going myself. From what I know of the frost elves, they do not relinquish their warriors easily. It will take a considerable amount of work to convince them."

"Then why am I here?" I irritably asked. "If you're going to be talking with who ever is in charge, then you shouldn't need me." As stated before, we needed all hands on deck when it came to suppressing evil throughout Skylands, and one fewer Skylander meant that everyone had to go into overtime.

"Isn't it proper for you, the leader of the Skylanders, to personally meet a new member? Frost elves are big on tradition and honor, you know." I huffed. Elven culture was not my forte. I should have asked Stealth Elf or Flameslinger for some tips before heading off, or at least ask one of them to come along. The last thing we needed was for me to say something insulting and lose the chance of getting a new Skylander.

"It looks like we're almost there," he remarked. I looked over the railing of the air ship. The Ice Forest Island was, in a word, huge. It was covered in snow as far as the eye could see. Snow Forest Island might have been a better name for the floating land mass. We docked without incident and started into the small village.

"I wonder what the new Skylander will be like," I commented as we walked through the market. The village was mostly made up of wood and stone buildings, although I noticed that all were enchanted with some kind of fire proofing spell. We got some interesting looks from the villagers, but that's to be expected. It's not every day that an elderly human and a purple dragon walk through the center of a majorly frost elf town.

"Well, hello there, travelers," a frost elf woman said to us as we walked into the central plaza. "What can I do fer ye?"

"Hello to you as well," Eon replied. "Could you help us find the mayor of this fine town?"

"Well, yer gonna have tae wait a bit. She's at the Winter Keep right now. Won't be back fer awhile," the woman replied.

"I see. Thank you anyways."

"No problem. Have a good day," the woman said before walking off. Eon stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"It seems that we will be here for awhile," he finally said. "Spyro, why don't you take a little break while we're here? Do some exploring if you want. I'll find you when it is time."

"You've got it, Eon," I said as I snapped my wings open. "I'll see ya later!" With that, I shot into the sky to the looks of shocked villagers, spinning as I flew over the forest. Even though that Whirlwind told me that the Ice Forest Island was the least populated of all the main islands, there were quite a few people to be found. Lots of frost elves could be seen working in the forests, cutting down trees, herding reindeer, and building catapults for snowballs. Children of all ages were sledding down the hills and skating on various ponds scattered throughout the woods. If it wasn't so cold, I wouldn't mind living here at all.

As I scanned the woods for something to do, I felt the presence of magic being cast with ernest, specifically of the water element. My attention turned to a pond surrounded by small hills in a much denser part of the forest. I flew closer. There, I spotted a someone fighting off an entire hoard of Chompie Frostflowers, the little pests surrounding the person on all sides. Time to put the break on hold and get some target practice in. Pulling my wings in, I dove down, readying a fireball.

"All fired up!" I shouted as I let it loose. The Chompies scattered as the fireball hit a good deal of them, lighting some of the unluckier ones on fire. Landing on the ice, I threw a couple more fireballs, blasting them into oblivion. It was surprisingly therapeutic.

"Oi!" a voice shouted with the thick accent of the frost elves. "Careful where ye throw those thins!" Turning my head, I spotted what was definitely the strangest elf girl I had ever seen. First off, she was tiny. She couldn't have been any taller than three feet and was as skinny as a twig. Along with her other physical features, like her light green skin, light turquoise hair, large ears, and pointed blue eyes, she looked nothing like a frost elf. Around the corners of her eyes were an elaborate set of tattoos, shaped like leaves and colored a dark green. She was wearing a white dress and armor made out of ice, with deadly looking blades along her arms.

"You looked like you needed help," I replied, ramming into a few Chompies with my horns. The girl responded by slashing into them with the blades on her arms. She then took a few steps and shot around the pond, revealing skates on the bottom of her boots. Her blades sliced through everything, leaving the pond clear of the plant spawned menaces in a matter of seconds. She came to rest in front of me, looking a little annoyed.

"I appreciate the effort, but I'm not in the mood for a roast. Name's Pixie. I mean, Icicle," she sputtered. "Ah, sorry. Still gettin used tae the name. Ye'd think after a year it'd sink in. I'm Icicle. Ice tae meet 'cha."

"Nice to meet you too," I replied. "I'm Spyro."

"Spyro!" she exclaimed, her face widening with shock. "The Skylander?!"

"The one and only," I laughed.

"Well, it's quite an honor to meet ye," she said, bowing her head a little. "Probably should have guessed from yer purple scales. I'd offer ye a hand shake, but I wouldn't know where tae grab, since ye seem tae be lackin hands."

"How about the horn?" I offered. Icicle regarded me curiously, then smiled and grabbed my right horn, giving it a firm shake. "Those are some impressive moves you got. Not too bad."

"Yer not too bad yerself, Spyro," she replied. "It feels strange talkin this much. I'm a bit shy, if ye know what I mean."

"Well, that's not what I've seen," I replied, looking over her again. Once again, I was struck by how different she looked. Not a bad different, but just different. I had never seen an elf quite like her before, and while I should have known better, my curiosity got the better of me.

"You don't look much like a frost elf," I commented. For a second, I thought I had brought up a touchy subject, as her face molded into a slight frown, but it was quickly replaced with a smile.

"Aye, ma maw's a wood elf an' ma da's a frost elf. Makes me stand out a wee bit," she answered. Ah, that would explain it. She was half-frost elf. "So, what brins the Skylanders out tae the Ice Forest Island? I don't think we've got any trouble besides a few Chompies."

"We're actually here on business," I responded. "We're looking for a new Skylander."

"Really now?" she asked. "Well, I better not trouble ye any longer. Yer probably pretty busy."

"Not really. Master Eon said to take five while we're waiting for your mayor to get back. Seems like your people don't let your warriors go easily."

"Aye, that's very true. The Cloudbreak Islands never say quiet fer long. Just last year, we were invaded by some trolls. That's how I earned these," she said, pointing to her tattoos. "Ma maw says that among her people, ye get these after yer first battle. Still don't know why she chose leaves fer me, though. Not many of those around here," she joked. I couldn't help but smile. I liked Icicle. She was a good warrior, had a nice sense of humor, and looked to be a person who would get along well with others. Eon said we were looking for a Skylander. He never said anything about getting just one.

"Icicle, would you consider joining us?" I asked.

"Joining ye," she gaped, looking a little flustered. "Me? A Skylander? I'm honored that ye think I could be one, Spyro, but I'm not really Skylander material."

"Are you kidding? You're a warrior and it's pretty obvious you know what you're doing. You've got the moves to prove it."

"Ah, stop. Yer making me blush," Icicle said, and she was correct. A slight red tint was forming around her cheeks. "I'm a warrior because I want tae protect ma home. I'm only a member of the village guard."

"Only a member of the village guard? And you can't be much older than, what, fifteen?" She nodded her head. "That pretty much covers the prerequisite for being a Skylander."

"I don't know...it seems a bit out of ma league..." Icicle said, putting one hand behind her head.

"Would you at least consider my offer?" She looked at me curiously, then sighed a little.

"Fine, but I make no promises," she finally replied.

"Awesome. Well, it's probably about time I got back. Hop on. I'll give you a ride into town," I said, turning my back to her. Icicle looked at me with an expression that reminded me of a serial killer with a toothache.

"Ye want me. Tae ride on yer back." she said in a flat tone.

"Sure. It'll be faster."

"I'm an elf."

"It'll be really quick. Promise."

"If yer lyin, I'll make sure ye'll regret it," she finally said. Somehow, I don't think she was joking.

Snapping her fingers, her arm guards and skates disappeared in a small puff of snowflakes. With a small yip, she swung a leg over my back, making sure to avoid my wings. Once she had settled in, I took off. As I had predicted, she hardly weighed a thing and I was able to maintain my usual pace. The winds were blowing to our favor and I barely had to flap my wings, gliding along the jet stream. It was good that I didn't have to worry about flying because Icicle had her arms tightly wrapped around my neck. There was little chance of her choking me, but it was fairly distracting.

"You doing alright?" I asked.

"Fine!" she squealed straight into my ear. "I'm just used tae havin ma feet on the ground!" I winced, trying to stem the ringing in my ear canal.

"What, never flown before?"

"Of course I have, ye dolt! I just hate flying!" she shouted back, wrapping her arms even tighter around my neck. Thankfully, the flight was short and the town was within sight before too long. With a quick turn, I swooped into the center of town. People cleared the area and I landed smoothly. Icicle couldn't scramble off my back fast enough.

"I am never doin that again," she declared. "Elves belong on the ground, not pretendin to be birds." From across the square, Eon walked over to us, looking quite pleased.

"Perfect timing, Spyro. I was just about to call you back. Who is your friend?" he asked.

"Eon, this is Icicle, a member of Crystal Port's guard. Icicle, this is Eon, the Portal Master of the Skylanders," I responded, nudging her with my horn. She seemed a tad uncomfortable, her muscles a little more tense than before. Nevertheless, she stepped forward, bowing her head as she had done with me.

"Pleased tae meet ye, sir," Icicle greeted. Master Eon smiled in return, regarding her with the same curiosity used when he was trying to commit someone to memory.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Icicle," he said with a similar head bow. "And please, no need for the sir."

"Eon, were you able to speak with the mayor?" I asked, although I suspected I already knew the answer.

"I did indeed, Spyro, and I was able to convince her to let us find our mystery warrior, along with clue about the elf's identity," he replied, his eyes focusing on Icicle. "The mayor said that I would know the elf on sight, for she would be the smallest elf I had ever seen, wearing armor fashioned of ice, and with leaf tattoos around her eyes." Icicle's face flashed with a mixture of shock and disbelief, her face slightly paling. She looked to me and to Master Eon in quick succession, before turning to me once again.

"Wait...ye've been lookin fer me?"

-Icicle-

And just when I thought my day couldn't get any weirder, every form of sane reason within my head spontaneously combusted.

Master Eon, the last of the good Portal Masters and one of the most powerful people in Skylands, protecter of the light and all things good, wanted me, a small, half-frost elf girl from the boonies of the Cloudbreak Islands, as a Skylander.

It was too much to process.

"I...I'm...very flattered...but..." I sputtered as my face no doubt turned bright red, "I-need-some-time-tae-think," I spewed to the ground before turning and fleeing. If I looked as pathetic and panicky as I felt, I didn't want to be anywhere near the Portal Master. My mind was too cloudy to even consider using magic, but even without my skates, I rapidly covered ground. By the time I stopped running, my panicked flight had carried me far from the village. I leaned my back on a large pine tree, attempting to catch my breath.

Well, I had just blown the greatest chance ever given to me. A chance to be an actual Skylander and I had turn and fled, in front of Master Eon of all people. Ever since the troll invasion last year, I had gotten better with social situations, in no small part from being in the village guard. I was still as shy as a sheep in a wolf pack, but I could generally hold my own with strangers. So why had I panicked when Master Eon asked me to join? Simple. Because I panicked. Thank you so much, fight or flight response.

The sound of flapping wings filled the air and Spyro dropped down. He probably followed my footprints through the forest. Or used some strange dragon magic. Or both. I didn't really care. I liked the purple dragon. He was a genuinely good guy, a natural born leader, and confident in his abilities. I could see why he respected by the Skylanders and everyone who met him. At this moment, however, I wasn't in a particularity good frame of mind and my current opinion of him was not that high.

"Ye knew," I stated in as neutral a tone as I could muster. Spyro shook his head.

"I didn't. I swear," he responded as our eyes met. Eyes can say a lot about a person; they are the window to the soul, after all. Elves know this very well. We rely a lot on a person's eyes to figure out their personality. You'd think it would be hard to read elven eyes, featureless or not, but they're really not. Without pupils or irises, they forge an unobscured path straight to the person's soul. Spyro's eyes were a lot like an elf's. They hid nothing, and even someone as blind as a Molekin could see the truth sparkling in his eyes.

"I believe ye," I finally said. Spyro relaxed a little, stepping closer to me.

"Did you really take on a whole army of trolls?" he asked.

"Aye, and I'm still not sure what I was thinkin," I muttered.

"That's incredible!" he exclaimed. "And all by yourself at that. You're totally worthy of being a Skylander."

"People say 'army,' but really, there were two platoons of trolls, barely even fifty in total. That's nothin compared tae what ye face every day," I countered. Now, I thought it would be nice to be a Skylander, I really did, but I had to be realistic. If I became a Skylander, I would have to fight off true armies of drow, cyclopses, trolls, greebles, and who knows what else. I was only fifteen years old and barely had a year of any real combat experience. I simply wasn't ready.

"Hop on," Spyro suddenly said, stretching his wings out. "I want to show you something."

"I said I'd never do that again," I reminded him. It's a well known fact that elves do not enjoy flying. I mean, it's kind of a necessity since all the islands of Skylands float in mid-air, but that doesn't mean that we have to enjoy it.

"Just trust me," he said. I weighed my options, which consisted of either willingly getting onto the back of the dragon for the second time in one day or most likely being picked up by the shoulders and forcibly flown into the air. Personally, I liked the second option. Hesitantly, I climbed onto Spyro's back, laying down on my stomach and wrapping my arms around his neck. Spyro flapped his wings once, twice, and then shot into the air. He flew above the tree tops and into the sky, soaring through the clouds. With each beat of his wings, we climbed higher and higher, until the Ice Forest Island was a very, very long ways down.

"Just what do ye think yer doin!" I shouted, shutting my eyes tightly together as the wind whipped past my face. I had never been up this high before, and certainly not on such an unsteady form of transportation. No offense to Spyro of course, I trusted that he wouldn't drop me, but at that moment, I really wanted to be on something with a railing or door.

"Look around," he calmly said. Cautiously, I opened my eyes and raised my head up. My mouth dropped to my chest and I gasped. We were hovering directly over Mount Cloudbreak. I could see for miles in every direction, spying my own Winter Isles to the north, The Fantasm Forest to the east, The Desert Archipelago to the south, and the Jungle Islets to the west. A small collection of islands, the Vine Wood, was home to Woodburrow, the general hub that people would go to when we needed the help of the Skylanders.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Spyro commented. I nodded my head, slowly orienting myself until I was sitting up, my legs dangling from his shoulders. "Ever been outside the Cloudbreak Islands before?"

"A few times," I breathed. "Tae visit family in the Elven Woods."

"Then you're gonna love this," he replied as he oriented his head to the sky. "Eon, one portal please!" Within seconds, a swirling vortex appeared next to us, flashing in all the colors of the rainbow. My eyes must have been bulging out of my head. A real live portal, conjured up by Master Eon himself. I had thought that portals had to be made of stone in order to work properly, like the one found at the Winter Keep. It had never crossed my mind that a portal could be created out of thin air. With a quick flap, Spyro dove into the portal-

And we emerged into the heart of Skylands.

It was indescribable. There were islands of all shapes and sizes, of all colors, terrains, and climates. There were mountains, volcanoes, forests, plains, deserts, lakes, waterfalls, and the ever present clouds far beneath us. And all the cities! They were huge, the buildings sometimes larger than my entire village and full of all kinds of people. We flew past Mabu, Molekin, elves, fairies, Treemen, Gillmen, robots, and a whole bunch of others I couldn't name on sight. I even spotted a few dragons when we neared a large mountain called Dragon's Peak. Spyro weaved between the floating landmasses, constantly switching directions and altering his flight path. He pointed out a few key places, large kingdoms, markets and arenas, for example, but he mostly left me alone as I took everything in.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably closer to forty-five minutes, we came to rest on one of the smaller floating islands, one that was just large enough to hold two people comfortably. My head was buzzing with everything I had seen, every one of my senses overloaded to the extreme, so it was nice to just sit and watch the clouds float by as I tried to make sense of...well...everything.

"So, what do you think?" Spyro asked.

"It's incredible," I marveled. "It's simply incredible." We sat in silence for a few minutes more, relaxing under the warm sun. The wind whistled past us, catching my hair and bearing it aloft, before continuing along its path. A few airships in the distance passed by, and always, the ever present clouds lazily floated by.

Suddenly, like they had just appeared out of thin air, ominous dark clouds began to roll in, purple lightning flashing between them. The wind picked up into a fast, uncontrollable gale within a heartbeat that almost picked me up and carried me off. The thunderclouds swelled high into the sky, folding in over each other in large wave-like motions. Large claps of thunder followed each lightning flash, the clouds coming a little too close for comfort.

These clouds weren't natural. Correction, this storm wasn't natural. Not even the worst thunderstorms looked even remotely as bad as the clouds before us. Purple lightning wasn't normal, not that nothing in Skylands ever is, but something just felt extremely wrong. Apparently, Spyro thought so too. He quickly sprang to his feet, unfurling his wings in with a snap.

"Time to go." Scrambling onto his back, I barely had time to orient myself before he shot off the floating rock. The winds were even fiercer at this level of the sky, and we were battered mercilessly by gales that seemed to only want to give us grief. Spyro turned his wings every which way, doing all he could to get us away from the dark clouds, while I clung helplessly to his back, unable to give a measure of assistance. Oh, how I wished that elves knew how to control the air element!

"Hold on!" Spyro shouted as he folded his wings in. We dropped like a rock, hurtling downward at a pace that surpassed way-too-fast within a millisecond. It took all the willpower I had to not scream bloody murder and doom us both to a messy and equally bloody death. My eyelids were slammed together and I prayed to the Ancients, the elven gods and goddesses of Nature and Stars, the elements that made the world around us, and anyone else who would listen to my pleas to get us out of this alive.

"Eon, portal, now!" Spyro shouted. A swirling vortex appeared below us and we shot through, emerging above a large meadow island. With a hard twist, Spyro managed to prevent us from totally crashing, sending us instead rolling head over heels until we had slowed down enough to come to a halt. Collapsed on the ground, all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and never leave the ground again. Saying I was terrified was a grave, grave understatement. I hate, hate, hate, hate flying.

"Are you okay?" the purple dragon asked, his voice steady despite everything we had just gone through. He looked battered and a little worse for wear, but other than that, he seemed to be fine.

"What...in Skylands...was that?"

"Discord storm. They've been appearing more and more frequently lately, although that was the worst I've seen yet. Kaos seems to enjoy sending them out to reek havoc. Every time they appear, we have to go out in full force to stop the destruction." I shuttered a little. I had heard of Kaos, and even though I had heard that he ended up defeated more often than not, he was still the most powerful wielder of the Darkness Skylands had seen in centuries. More than a few frost elves whispered about his involvement in the invasion of Crystal Port, how trolls were able to get to the Ice Forest Island with such ease.

Until now, I hadn't truly grasped what the Skylanders did. They didn't just fight against the Darkness, they fought for every inhabitant of Skylands, protecting them and allowing them to live in peace. There were so few of them and they were always outnumbered, but they didn't care. They didn't care of they had to give their lives; they just wanted to make Skylands safe. That's how much they loved Skylands, people, places and all.

And that's what Spyro was trying to show me.

"Spyro," I finally said after I managed to stop shaking. "I think I'm ready tae go back." He nodded his head. Climbing on his back once again, we took off, diving through one last portal. We appeared over my home village and Spyro touched down in front of Master Eon. As I climbed off, I could feel eyes focused on me, waiting for what I was going to say. Gossip travels faster among frost elves than it does among wind spirits. No doubt everyone knew about the Skylander's newest recruit. Taking a deep breath, I faced the Portal Master.

"Master Eon, I think I want tae be a Skylander."

Hm...I wonder where this is going...

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