I ended up going to the Mess Hall anyway, and quickly discovered that they only had food out at set times, with no opportunities for snacking. I was given the reason that the spell just worked that way, which didn't make things any clearer. Now that my excuse had gone I wandered back to the training hall, hoping to avoid my fellow Descendants of Jack Frost.

I went back to the ice room later when I was certain that no one was around, now I could get some proper practice in. I pulled the dummies out into the main part of room so that they hung at different heights in different places.

I set out my usual ice bridge and took off in alternating directions throughout the whole room. I formed my blades and came in close to the dummies, slashing at various points and moving on again.

After a few minutes all the dummies were "dead" and I came back to the floor, my blades disappearing.

The dummies were now in poor condition, so I formed an ice needle and thread and began to sew, moving my fingers to guide the ice.

I'd never really done this via ice, but I was sick of pricking my fingers when I used to do it at school, so this seemed like a better alternative.

Once I was done a voice spoke from behind me.

"Thought I'd find you in here."

I turned and a smile broke across my face.

"Billy!"

The Australian laughed as I ran over and pulled him into an awkward hug. He looked a little more tired than usual, but overall hadn't changed.

"You must be glad to see me; I've never seen you start a hug."

"Of course I'm glad to see you."

"What about Sally and Tina, you haven't said hello to them yet."

I pulled out the hug and looked at my feet awkwardly. The truth was I hadn't looked for them because Pitch's words were still running through my head. Billy didn't need to know that though.

"I didn't really know where to look, and after what happened today I needed a good practice session to clear my head, which didn't work because Chris and Mary decided to watch."

"How was that a bad thing?"

"I was practicing what I call 'psychic ice' and they both came to the conclusion that only the most powerful can do it, since they've tried and gotten nowhere."

"Well, you kinda are kiddo."

"But I didn't learn to do that just like that! It took me months to get it to how it is now, which is far from perfect. If they practice as well they'll get it."

"I think what they meant is that they think it comes a little easier to you than it does
them, which is why they you're the most powerful."

"I don't want to be, not if I get that kind of attention."

"It's not something people can help, just tell them how uncomfortable you feel about it and ask them to stop treating you differently."

"Easier said than done." I said, folding my arms. Their attitudes made it hard for me to think straight around them, since I managed to get so flustered.

"I'd have thought you'd know better than most, not everything is easy."

I still had my arms folded as I looked at my feet, deep in thought.

"Say, do you know where the others are?" I asked, looking up.

"Yeah, they're all in the Main Cavern, why?"

"Let's go and see them. I've missed you guys."

Billy grinned, "Alright then, let's go!"

We left the Training Halls and headed into the Main Cavern, where a familiar group of three people were waiting.

I hugged Tina and Sally, glad to see them well. We all sat and caught up, swapping stories. Well, more they told me stories, I didn't have much to tell other than about what happened today, which Nigel had already shared.

Billy was the main one who told the stories, in his wild manner, with the others chipping in when he got over dramatic.

"That did not happen!" Chided Tina at one point. "Your boomerang took out five at best, not a dozen."

As usual, the pair were at odds with each other, and I had to laugh as Sally put up a precautionary barrier between the two as Nigel and I laughed.

It was good to be these guys again. However, I was involved with the war now, so now was training time until another raid was going to happen.

I went to bed later that night, happy that the others were safe and for the first time in months I didn't have nightmares.

I spent the majority of the next couple of days in the training cavern, either in the ice room or being roped into sparring with my wrist and elbow blades.

I learned a lot in those sessions, about how and when to block and parry, looking for openings to attack and weaknesses in armour. Nigel was usually my mentor, when he could spare the time. He had the most experience with blades than most of us, so his knowledge was invaluable.

In the ice room the roles were reversed. After some nagging, I caved in and taught the others about ice, however, it wasn't easy, they had all taught themselves, and therefore had their own technique. It felt wrong to standardise, so I concentrated on shared technique and expanding our conscience to the ice we were controlling.

However, it wasn't just me teaching.

Whenever we were all there, Alfred would come in, giving us the benefit of his many years of practice. Although he was an old man, he seemed to be able to get around with the best of us, and looked a little younger than his age would suggest. His hair was still snowy white, but his dark eyes somehow twinkled with youth.

His way of doing it seemed to be softer than mine, more flowing and planned than my sharper, more instinctual movements.

After one such practice session, Alfred pulled me aside.

"There's bin something I've bin meaning to discuss with ya lass."

"Yeah?"

"The whole, Head thing."

Dread made my stomach clench, but I nodded my head for him to continue.

"You know that we originally wanted you to step up, after seeing the little display at the meeting back in March."

I nodded again, the memories coming back.

"Now, I stand by that decision, you should be Head."

I opened my mouth to object, but Alfred held up his hand to stop me.

"I'm not done yet lass. You should be Head, but not yet."

I opened my mouth again, but had nothing to say, instead doing a goldfish impression. Alfred chuckled through his beard.

"You and I are different. We have different ways of using our powers. What you have is raw power, power that you still struggle to control, am I right?"

"Yeah." I replied, a little despondently.

"I, on the other hand, have had years more practice than you, making me, without trying to make ya look bad lass, more skilled than ya."

"That makes sense."

"A Head is, typically, the most powerful Descendant at the time. Like I said, you've got the raw power, which is why we considered ya, but I didn't think that ya were ready. I had to argue hard with the other Heads to keep my position, let me tell ya."

I let out a soft chuckle at the image of Alfred bellowing at the other four Heads.

"However, a few more years of practice, I reckon you'll be ready, and I know ya don't want it." He added, holding up his hand again.

"But I reckon you've got what it takes, ya just don't know it yet."

I folded my arms and looked down at the floor, poking at it with my foot.

"I really don't want it." I said under my breath, underestimating Alfred's hearing.

"Ya say that now lass, give a few years and I reckon you'll looking at things differently."

"Don't be so sure."

Alfred chuckled and clapped his hand on my shoulder. "We'll see lass, we'll see."

He drew his hand back. "And just a warning lass. Your power is only going to get stronger for a few years. It'll level out eventually, but the sooner you get proper control, the better."

"Thanks for the warning."

"Well, I've got stuff to do, and I bet you're hungry. See ya lass."