Ok guys, I pumped this one out tonight alone so that's why it's a little shorter, but worry not, big things are a-comin'! Plan on this Friday night for a new post! (Hopefully 3000+ words) Thanks to all my followers, you guys rock, and to those who don't follow, hit that button! Gimme a review for some inspiration and some constructive criticism if you have some! Peace!

Just as Elsa and I were about to enter the gates, I stopped. She looked back at me. "What's wrong?" she said, puzzled.

"I-I just don't really think I should stay at the castle since, you know, I attacked a civilian."

"Don't be silly, he was way out of line." she replied supportingly. "And plus you were just defending your queen."

"I guess you're right."

"Come on," she said, gesturing inside as the guards opened the door for us. "It's lunchtime anyways."

Had it really been that long? It seemed as if we had just finished breakfast and were heading out to "interact" an hour ago. I guess time flies when you're having fun and threatening drunkards.

"I'm not really that hungry." I told her, which was the truth. I was lucky if I had a scrap of food every other day, so three large, royal meals a day didn't really appeal to me. "I think I'm going to go for a walk."

"You want company?" she replied hopefully.

I sighed. As much as I wanted her to be with me, I knew she couldn't. She was already in enough danger as it is being around me, I wanted her to be safe more than her to be with me. "No, I really just need to think some things out for myself. I don't think I'd be great company."

Her expression fell gloomily. "Alright. Just be back by dinner. Don't be late!" she replied, trying to restore the playfulness that we had earlier.

I watched as the wooden door to the palace shut behind her light blue cloak. I looked down at the ground, putting my hand on the door, as if to reach out to her but knowing that it won't do any good. I started walking towards the woods that bordered the castle's walls. Trudging through the snow, I started getting cold again. I put up the hood of my new cloak, shielding my face from the biting north wind. Hiking deeper and deeper into the forest, the slope I was going on started to steepen. Soon, I was scaling a mountain, thinking the whole way up there, trying to relieve my anger.

Once I had walked for a considerable amount of time, I stopped at a plateau-like landform, a single outcropping squeezed between a craggy, frozen cliff and a free fall down to the bottom of the mountain. I glanced around. Sick of all the snow, I summoned fire to my hands. With a single, fluid, wave-like motion, I brought the flames upon the snow, melting it away until only green, matted grass remain. Now seeing everything clearer, I noticed two boulders in the middle of this small meadow/plateau, spaced about twenty yards away from each other. I walked over to the nearest one, dropping to my knees from the tiredness of walking. I laid my staff on the wet grass next to me. I pressed my knuckles up against the cold, rough surface of the boulder. Staring at it, I reflected on the events of the day. Looking intently at it, I could swear I could still hear the obnoxious bellows of the drunken idiot in the market. Then I heard the cool, condescending laugh of my brother. To top it all off, a certain ringing started echoing in my ears: the screaming of my own mother.

As soon as that sound came into focus, anger started billowing up inside of me. Not just anger, but hatred. Hatred for my brother, hatred for that awful drunk, hatred even of this snow around me. But most of all, it was hatred for myself. For all the times that I could've been there but wasn't. For all of the times that even when I was there, I just made things worse. I couldn't take it anymore. With all my strength, I cocked back my right arm, and brought my fist crashing into the boulder. Pain coursed through my whole body as the fingers in my right hand shattered. I looked at my knuckles. They were torn and bleeding, the blood running down my forearm. I smiled maniacally, but then the memory of that fateful day came back, followed by the tortured screams of my mom. "Damnit." I said, putting my hand on the rock. Fire filled my eyes. I took my left hand now, cracking it on the stone as well. With more and more fury, I started screaming, "DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT!" With every word, I broke my hands repeatedly on the rock, not knowing what else to do. My blood coated a splotch on it, my broken hands aching, but I had now somehow obsessed myself with breaking this rock apart. I stood up on my feet, blasted myself into the air, and fell down towards it, my fiery leg extended. This boulder would feel my wrath.

But, as soon as my flames hit it, I was blasted away by a force from it. I looked in wonder as my blood on the stone started to burn with my own fire. Suddenly, a crimson seal appeared, with what looked like the same fire magic symbol that my staff had on it. A wave of brilliant light washed over me, emanating from the rock. My hands healed before my eyes, and my mind was cleared of the incessant ringing that took place earlier. The seal, getting brighter and brighter, was the first light to ever hurt my eyes. I squinted, trying to at least get at least a glance of what was happening, but the luminescence was too great. I closed my eyes and shielded them with my forearm until it dimmed. Within a minute, the light had completely vanished, but was followed by a loud crack. I looked over to it. A gash was cut clean through the middle, but not all the way through. I looked at it, puzzled. The fire emblem was etched into the stone, and I looked at the base of the stone, where some grass and dirt were pushed away by the brilliant light. There were ancient runes encircling it. Pondering what it meant, I looked over to the other rock. Elsa. I thought.

Without pausing another moment, I turned around, and jumped off of the edge of the cliff. Free falling for a few seconds, I ignited by legs and was soon burning through the night sky, the wind in my face and a new goal, a new piece to the puzzle.