Chapter 7
The Finding
Icefire followed Pond Skater and the rest of the group to the edge of an ocean. The vast expanse of water stretched out before her like a giant blue tarp, rippling and moving with the wind.
Pond Skater motioned for Icefire to follow before plunging into the aquamarine abyss with her friends. Icefire took a deep breath of air and jumped in after her. She swam through the surprisingly clear water, struggling to stay down instead of floating to the surface.
How Pond Skater stay down here? She thought. Icefire kept swimming downward; she felt her lungs being compressed by the seawater. She thought they would bust and started for the surface; too late! She let the air out of her lungs and accidently inhaled a mouthful of salty water. She felt her lungs fill with water, burning her throat and nose, drowning her. The feeling soon passed and Icefire, still conscious, found herself floating in the water.
Freaked out, Icefire swam forward, toward Pond Skater and the group, who were waiting with amused expressions on their faces.
"Not used to it, are you?" Pond Skater asked, right there in the water! No air bubbles came out of her mouth when she spoke.
Icefire shook her head and followed the group into an underwater cave, deep at the bottom of the lake. Pond Skater broke off the rest and beckoned her to an air pocket just on the other side of a rocky dip. They maneuvered under the dip and surfaced, taking a second to get used to the sudden air.
Icefire took in the room: a few tables sat in random places, frozen fish and fried octopus tentacles were laid on them. One particular table had an assortment of colorful powders and liquids. An elderly woman with white hair and ocean-blue eyes sat behind that table, crushing some little red berries.
"Water Song," Pond Skater started, bowing in respect, "Icefire is here to see you."
"Ah…" the woman sighed peacefully, her voice watery and smooth, "I knew she would come soon. She looks so much like Ice Heart."
Icefire stepped forward and bowed to the woman as Pond Skater did, asking, "Why am I here? You must have something to tell me or I would not be here."
"Yes, please get something to eat, both of you, and come sit down."
Icefire took some fried tentacles and let herself down onto a cushion on the other side of the table, Pond Skater joining her.
"Now, let me see," Water Song began, "I called you here so you can learn a little bit about your past. Forgive me for not telling you earlier, but I could not reach you until now."
Icefire nodded as she continued, "I have called you into a deep sleep so I may speak to you. I don't know much about your past, but I can at least tell you about your parents." Icefire's eyes grew wide, "Let me start from the beginning: you are related to the great sorceress, Snow Flame. She is from the Tribes of the Ocean, but she fell in love with a powerful man from the Fire Clans. His name is Sun Fire; he is a very kind man, but he should have known better. These two are your great-grandparents.
"Snow Flame gave birth to three girls, Stream Speaker, Ice Heart, and Blazing River. Ice Heart is your grandmother." Water Song stopped and let her take in the story so far.
"So, I'm in my grandma's body?"
"Correct." She replied, nodding.
"Go on." Icefire urged her to continue telling about her history.
"Very well. Ice Heart was determined to prove to everyone that she would not make the same mistake that her mother did, so she married a nice boy named, Frozen Lake. They had two sons: River Runner and Lake Storm. Unfortunately, River Runner, like his grandmother, fell in love with a Fire Clan girl. Her is name is Flicker. They had one daughter: you." Water Song stopped again.
Icefire couldn't believe it, after all those years, she had finally learned about her parents! "So, how did River Runner and Flicker meet?"

"Your father and his friend, Aqua, were sent to spy on a group of kids traveling to find a Roc. They discovered him and Aqua and they accompanied the group, crossing into Fire Clan territory. Along the way, they met Flicker and Spark Fire, another friend. River Runner fell in love with Flicker after awhile and they had a child, but you were not safe there, so they sent you to another dimension of Earth. Eventually, you ended up escaping a Dark Master and found a new home with the Guardians."
"Oh, so I'm really from a different dimension?" Icefire asked, "This is hurting my brain, I need to think."

As she got up to leave, Water Song said, "Yes, you do. Think hard. I will send you back now."
"Thank you for the information on my past, Water Song." She bowed again and said good-bye to Pond Skater as her vision blurred. Everything went black.

Icefire awoke from her dream with a jolt, feeling her spirit flow back into her body. She leaped to her feet, wobbling, and ran down to the first level of HomeOak, the familiar rough bark under her feet. She breathed in the fresh air that blew through the gap in the window and searched for her friends.
Icefire found Snowburner lying on a shady branch near the entrance, breathing deeply with sleep. Echo sat on a boulder farther out, chatting with Falcon while keeping watch. Nebelung phased in and out of the trees, patrolling the forest for the evil that lurked. Pyro and Azalea were the first to spot Icefire, running happily toward her and waking up Snowburner in the process. He sat up and smiled when he saw her.
"How'd your nap go?" he asked.
"You would not believe me if I told you." Icefire replied.
"Oh, come on now." Azalea pestered, "Tell us."
"Fine, I'm not from this dimension." She stated.
Snowburner stared at her in disbelief, but Pyro and Azalea just nodded thoughtfully.
Icefire told them about going to the Elemental Nations in her grandmother's body and everything from being chased by men from the Earthen Cities to talking to Water Song.
Finally, Pyro spoke, "Yeah, that would make sense."
"Snow Flame was very famous." Azalea agreed, nodding. "You're lucky to have her as your great-grandma."
"Thanks, any sign of Sotako?" Icefire asked.
Snowburner shook his head. "Fortunately not."
"Good. I don't think I'm ready to face him yet."
He looked over his shoulder as Nebelung appeared out of thin air. "All clear, maybe Sotako got scared and ran away."
At that moment, Echo let out a warning howl, which was added on by Falcon's yowl. Wolf, Tiger, Bramble burst out of the tree line, followed by Sotako and all the rest. The three cat-people streamed across the clearing, reaching safety as Falcon unleashed whips of dark magic and Echo expertly slammed into Sotako's chest, knocking him back.

Icefire followed Snowburner into battle, shooting ice shards at Keeta. The redhead dodged out of the way, blasts of white light streaming from her hands. The impact sent Icefire sliding back, but she kept her feet on the ground. Blocking the energy had drained her, and Icefire fell to her knees, trying to regain her strength.
A hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked upward, flipping her onto her back. She stared into the dark eyes of Sotako. He held an ice-knife in one hand and pinned her down with the other. She struggled, but her energy wasn't fully charged yet and she regretfully went limp. Sotako raised the knife above her chest.
"I'm going to enjoy this, kid." He hissed and the knife plunged. Icefire squeezed her eyes shut as tight as possible and braced for the impact. However, she felt no pain, just darkness. She felt as though she was falling into a never-ending pit of blackness.
Icefire unconsciously opened her eyes. An orb of blue light surrounded her and the shattered remains of the ice-knife lay on the ground. She didn't feel right, as though she was a different person. Involuntarily, she stood up and, inside, she realized that she was not in control of her body! She was trapped in her head and, suddenly, she couldn't see, as if she had been shut out.
Then it struck her, she was in self-defense, or lockdown, mode! Sometimes, when she was in peril, her spirit would shut down and her body would go into lockdown, unconsciously attacking anything that moves.
Icefire fumbled around in the darkness, trapped in an all too familiar cage as her body attacked every living thing. She needed to get out soon and that would be hard since her powers won't down here. Then she remembered the only way to snap her out of the trance. Ice! She had to be exposed to ice! Sotako, Snowburner, and Azalea were all water-users; they had to use ice eventually.
If I don't kill them first, Icefire thought miserably. I'll run out energy anyway, that's the only other way to get back in control.

However, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what happened while she was shut out. A cold sensation ran up her spine and spread throughout her body, but it wasn't fear. It was ice!
The air left her lungs as she was flung upward, out of the trance. Her energy drained as she flew toward a bright dot above her. The dot grew larger with every passing second. Air rushed back into her lungs as she surfaced, as if being pulled from water.
As she gained control of her body once again, she looked down and saw that she was up to her shoulders in ice. Glancing up, she looked into Snowburner's startled blue eyes. Her spirit fell.
"What happened?" Icefire asked hoarsely, terrified of the answer.
"You completely went haywire on us." The blonde-haired replied, gesturing to Sotako, who was surrounded by his allies.
"I killed him?" she stared in disbelief at what she had done.
However, Snowburner shook his head, releasing her from the icy prison. "No, but you slammed into that tree other there. If I hadn't contained you, you probably would have." He stared intently at her, concern glinting in his eyes. "What happened to you?"
Icefire lowered her head, "I went into lockdown mode. It's a condition that shuts me out of my body. It then attacks everything that moves. I can't control it and it's only activated sometimes when my life is in complete and unstoppable danger."
"I knew something was wrong when your eyes started to glow ice-blue." He told her.
"I'm sorry; I didn't know what I was doing."
"I know." Snowburner lifted her chin and hugged her. "It's okay."
Icefire closed her eyes and hugged him back. When she turned around, her enemies had vanished. And so had Echo! The blind girl was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Echo?" Icefire alerted, looking around.
"Echo!" Falcon called out, listening for an answer. But none came. "Echo!" she cried again.
In the distance, a small, choked howl rose and was quickly cut off.
"Sotako has her!" Icefire realized.
Snowburner turned to his team. "Falcon, Nebelung, Tiger, and Nightsky. You come with me and Icefire. The rest of you, stay here. Let's go!"
Icefire followed the blonde-haired boy out into the forest. Nebelung disappeared to scout, while Nightsky tracked Echo's scent, and the rest traveled with their guard up.
Hang on Echo, Icefire thought, her gaze shifting through the trees. We're coming.