…Echoes of monotonous footsteps broke through the barrier of unconsciousness as the world around me faded into view. Nothing but the boundless expanse of darkness met my wary gaze. No landmarks. No people. No direction. My teeth chattered at the lack of the sun's loving embrace. The cold nipped at my exposed face like a hungry bird Pokemon would to their prey. The only thing occupying this immense space was the sound of my aimless march. Each step felt like an echo of a lingering desire of purpose I had lost within this infinite void. But despite this, a sudden realization flashed through my mind's eye. I was walking on two legs.
Halting my dazed trek, I looked down at myself to find two arms and two legs where a set of paws should have been. My long sleeved shirt and pants were bleached with a dull white in contrast to the soft, violet-blue light cast upon me that felt unnatural somehow. I flexed every dark skinned appendage of my hand, as if trying to convince myself they were mine. I reached up to my hair, feeling the soft, fluffy texture between each finger. It was already fluffy when I was a Vulpix, but this newfound hair was a lot longer and more refined than before.
"I'm… I'm me again," I finally put together, the distant hint of joy escaped my lips. 'But how?! This doesn't make any sense but I… I'm so glad.' It'll soon dissipate as I surveyed my surroundings, or lack thereof. "But where am I? Damini?"
I called out into the void. No answer.
"Damini!"
The vast emptiness answered the call again. Dread colonized my back as the dark reality finally set in. With unsure, wavering steps, I continued my march or what I want to call it at this point.
"I was heading in this direction before, so maybe I can make some headway if I keep moving forward," I reasoned, balling my hands into fists to hold on to my courage, "But what is this place? I can't remember how I got here."
At that moment, the air around me suddenly shifted. A creeping chill ran through my entire body, occupying every sense and instinct with a numbing dread. Sounds of a blitzing wind could be heard up in the blank sky.
"W-What's going on?" I looked around for any explanation, "What– What is this presence I'm feeling?"
The shadows seemed to cling to my every word until–
WROOOOOOAAAARRR!
Every nerve in my body shot awake, I instinctually whipped my head around to find the source of that roar.
"W-What was that?! I can't tell where it's coming from!" Panic gripped my chest, making it harder to breathe.
Suddenly, high up in the supposed sky, specks of glowing, violet lights dotted the space as they began to form and expand. My blood ran cold when I saw giant, dark purple hands emerge from the lights, all reaching for one thing: me. Liquid shadow seemed to ooze and dripped from the tips of their fingers. A malicious, hungering desire exuded from the mysterious creatures.
Without a second thought, I ran right before numerous arms swarmed the spot I was just standing in. The air pulsated with a thick, malevolent energy. The colossal appendages groped the empty space. Their shadows casted by the unearthly lights, creating a chaotic shadow dance resembling tons of restless snake Pokemon on the featureless ground. I darted through the endless dark, heart pounding in my ears, as the pursuing hands seemed to multiply in their relentless pursuit.
'This is bad! If I let them take me… There's got to be something– anything– I can do to get me out of this.' I thought frantically as I could feel the exhaustion impede my legs.
As if to answer my prayer, a lone dot of light broke through the dense void. The dot grew and expanded into a beckoning exit of light the closer I got to it.
'That must be my ticket out of here! Just a little–'
I ducked out of the way of the giant, shadowy hand's path. Stumbling from the last minute maneuver, I recovered my balance and pushed my waning legs past their limits. The fleeting taste of freedom numbing the heavy toll on my body. Nearing my luminous escape, the dense air around me seemed to lift on its own. The constant pressure from my pursuers lessened along with it. A jubilant flame ignited in my core, fueled by the ever growing exit within my sights. But then…
WROOOOOOAAAARRR!
High velocity winds came crashing down on top of me, sending me straight down onto the ground. The world spun as I struggled to rise, the consequence of my attempted escape weighing heavily on my muscles. I rose my head expecting the light shining on my face, but instead in its place, was a towering, pulsating shadow almost fully eclipsing my hope with its palpable dread.
Gazing up at the beast, what appeared to be a gaping, dragon's maw glowed a fervent, fiery crimson with piercing eyes of the same color fully locked onto its cornered prey. With an enraged bellow, a stream of fire erupted from the dragon's mouth aiming at my helpless body. No matter how much I screamed, it was all drowned out by the world of fire fully engulfing me. Despite this, a lone voice broke through the impenetrable inferno.
"Fi–lly, our dr—… our s—-tion… will fina– be rea—-d!"
Before I knew it, a monstrous hand burst from the flames, encasing me in its crushing grip as everything went dark.
"Gaaahh!"
I shot up from the coziness of my hay bed, whipping my head around to find myself back in my and Damini's room. The darkness of the night has completely draped over the surroundings. Everything remained deathly still as if the ambiance itself respected the peace induced by the night sky. Not a peep could be heard except for my sorry attempts to calm my irritated nerves. The hay bed beneath me was still warm from my slumber, and the room exuded a familiar scent of wood which filled my lungs with a sense of reality. Moonlight filtered through the window, casting gentle shadows on the desk and its contents while providing the only source of light. I took a deep breath, expelling all the anxiety out of my body and gradually adjusted to reality.
I raised my arms and silently prayed to whatever god is out there before I inspected them. As I feared, snow white paw pads greeted my view. Disappointment struck my heart, I shut my eyes tight in hopes it was just drowsiness blurring my vision. I opened my eyes to see the same result.
'So it really was just a dream,' I thought, looking off to the right to see Damini sprawled across the bed, mumbling and kicking his hind leg as if engaged in a pursuit with an imaginary foe, 'But everything felt so vivid. Like it actually happened. But it doesn't make any sense.'
I quietly huffed and stood up from the unappealing invite of sleep. Tiptoeing across the room, I reached the windowsill, feeling the moonlight's radiant glow revitalized my mind. I gazed off into the slumbering wilderness in the distance, allowing my thoughts to dance freely in the space presented to them.
'My human form, those hands… that dragon, the dragon in particular seems so familiar to me, but I can't piece together why. Everything's so muddled.' I rapidly shook my head, hoping the static in my memories would disappear, but it lingered there as if to mock me and my situation.
Opening my eyes again, I witnessed the first light of dawn brightening the waning night's sky, gradually making way for the morning. The slow transition from dark cobalt to a gentle royal blue held my attention longer than it should. Before I knew it, the morning sky burst to life, bringing with it the warmth and motivation for the start of a new day. The faint calls of the wild echoed across the gradually awaking world, welcoming the first rays of sunshine.
The subtle sounds of moaning and yawning reached my ears. Turning away from the window, I spotted Damini stretching his back and extending all of his legs before finally opening his drowsy eyes.
"Mornin', Lumi," he groggily said before letting out a big yawn, "I didn't know you were an early riser."
"Good morning," I glanced back at the window, "And I guess you can say that."
"That's good," Damini said, wiping away the drowsiness from his eyes while he approached me, "Today's our big debut, after all. We need to be ready for anything."
"Right," I agreed before stepping away from the window to face him properly, "So what do we do now?"
"Since we have to wait until the morning assembly starts, we can prep our exploration gear," Damini suggested.
"One of the many rules of being an explorer?" I asked half-jokingly while arching an eyebrow.
"Now you're getting it," Damini nodded as he walked toward the cabinet, "Let's get you familiarized with everything.
While waiting patiently for Damini, I slipped back to the recesses of my mind. 'Constantly asking a million questions isn't going to get me anywhere unless I find a lead. So for now, I should chronicle any memories or findings to keep everything in order. Yeah, yeah, I think that's a good plan.'
"Um, Damini," I started, "You would happen to have an extra notebook I could use?"
"Ah, thinking of keeping a diary?" Damini asked, curiosity resonating as he spoke.
"Something like that," I answered briefly.
"I don't have one unfortunately, but I think we should try the market," Damini suggested, "You're bound to find just about anything there."
"Duly noted," I nodded with an assured smile.
"Now!" he exclaimed as he slammed the bag on the desk, "We review the basics."
I let out a hearty yawn while I follow the overly energetic Electrike up the hallway. The lack of sleep dragged my steps to an unbearable slug. I couldn't help but cast an annoyed glance at Damini; his constant "Hurry up!" grated my ears like gritty sandpaper. It was softened, however, by the dull roar of chatter drifting from the meeting room. Upon reaching the meeting room, all manner of conversation ceased immediately as the two rows of Pokemon turned their attention to us, or more specifically, me.
"Mornin', Chief," Damini greeted Orion as he joined him in the top row.
"Morning, Damini," the Gabite turned to me, "Lumi, glad you could make it on time. Hope you had a good rest."
"Well I'll live," I joked with a nervous laugh as I stood in the bottom row with Ebony. Despite doing so, I could still feel the rising tensity of every Pokemon's stare, making me shift awkwardly in place.
"Don't mind them," Ebony said, floating beside me, "They're just curious, is all."
The weight of the attention drew my gaze to the non-judgemental wood floor. 'Easy for you to say.'
"Alright, everyone seems to be in attendance," Ramon announced as he scanned the crowd, "Guildmaster, you have the floor."
Gracefully stepping up to the front of the crowd, the guildmaster wore his signature jubilant smile for all to see.
"Gooood morning, everyone!" Guildmaster Quaquaval greeted, "Before you all get to your morning routines today, I have a small announcement to make.
The guildmaster clasped his hands together as he shifted his legs. "Due to last night's events, there's been some civil unrest that has yet to be resolved and would likely keep the guards busy. If you please, as you all go aboooout your day, help as much as you can to restore our fine city's sense of security. Thaaaaat's some good fellows!"
With a simple nod, Ramon stepped up next to the guildmaster. "Alright, Pokemon! Time to get to work!"
"HOORAY!"
With a thunderous cheer, the crowd of Pokemon scattered, the oppressive pressure dissipating almost instantly as they disappeared from sight, leaving Team Dracowraith and Ramon to keep us company. A sudden nudge from Damini snapped me out of my stupor, turning around to see him practically oozing excitement through his grin.
"Sooo, what do you think we should do first, Lumi?" Damini asked.
"Um, I'm not sure. I'm still kind of new to this, remember?" I pointed out.
"Oh, right. Then I'll take the lead," Damini proudly placed a paw to his heart.
"Sounds like a plan," Orion stated, "Then we should be on our way too. Let's move, Ebony."
"Right behind you."
Orion and Ebony joined the rest of the guild in briskly leaving down the staircase. A certain warmth seemed to be absent without them around. A speck of cold, unlike ice, immediately took its place.
"We should follow them, Lumi," Damini suggested, "They're heading to the same place we should be going to anyway."
"Oh, I see," I smiled, "Lead the way."
"Let's go–!"
"Hold it, you two!"
Ramon flagged down our attention decisively with a patient but authoritative raise of his leaf fan.
"I am sorry to spring this on you, but there's been a change of plans," Ramon calmly said.
"What do you mean?" I asked apprehensively as we approached him.
"After yesterday's event, it is not wise for you to be seen in public, Lumi. The citizens are still on high alert and no doubt will react in the worst way possible to your presence. So until further notice, you are to remain at the guild under our watch," Ramon finished.
"W-What?!" Damini exclaimed, "B-But we just started as a team! You can't do this to us!"
"I'm sorry Damini, but this is just as much for Lumi's safety as well as the public's. There's no telling what will happen if she carelessly interacts with the cautious populous," Ramon argued.
"I… I guess you're right," Damini admitted, "What should I do then?"
"You will still take care of the posted jobs, though I advise teaming up with your fellow guild members as you are still inexperienced," the Oranguru suggested.
"Gotcha," Damini hung his head low; I could almost hear a faint whimper emitted from his muzzle.
"It'll be fine, Damini," I assured, "I'm sure we'll have our first official mission soon."
"Y-Yeah, you bet," Damini perked up, "You hang in there too, okay?"
"Okay," I agreed with a nod.
"I better hurry up then," Damini grumbled before speeding off down the stairs.
With an assertive cough, Ramon brought my attention back to him. "As for what you'll be doing, we will have Yuki assist you in your training today."
"Training?" I questioned.
"Although you did well in your trial, not being able to use moves will make you a liability more often than not," Ramon explained, "Fortunately, we have the only known Ice type in the area under our guild that can teach you."
"So all I'll be doing today is training to use Ice type moves?" I inquired.
"Exactly," Ramon confirmed, "Once you have mastered the basics, it should be 'smooth sailings,'as they say, from there. Yuki will be in her quarters. I suggest you make haste to not keep her waiting. Her room will be the second to last door near the end of the hallway."
"Yes sir!" I nodded before scurrying off into the hallway I emerged from not too long ago.
I slowed down to a casual stride when I was deep in the hallway, taking in the sudden reality of my situation. With each hollow echo of my footsteps, a cold ice dagger was thrusted deep into my body.
'No, I need to stop thinking like that. It's not the same as when I first arrived in this world. It doesn't matter if I'm alone,' I assured myself, 'I just have to focus on training. The sooner I finish, the sooner I can get a grasp of what's going on.'
Following Ramon's directions, I stopped dead center in front of the door moderately close to our room. Nearly a carbon copy of our own door, except their mailbox was bursting at the seams with all sorts of letters. I took a deep breath to calm my frayed nerves before taking the plunge and knocking on the solid wood door.
'It's been made pretty clear that in order to survive these missions they'll assign us, I need to learn how to fight,' I concluded, 'This training will be my chance to become accustomed to this body.'
The door swung open, revealing a familiar Quilava on the other side. His eyes narrowed with hidden disgust as he spotted his unexpected guest.
"We meet again, it seems," he said with an unamused tone.
"U-Um, I was told to come to Yuki to begin my training," I informed him, "Is this her room?"
Torch let out a deep sigh before moving out of the way and gesturing to come in. Not wanting to irritate him further, I quickly went through the doorway and entered the room. The interior is a lot like our room, except chock full of various orbs, berries, and gold and silver alike lining the shelves. A huge map was on display on the east wall with scattered red pins poked through several points. The furniture was practically dust free compared to our dilapidated shelves and desk.
"Oh! You arrived earlier than expected," Floating away from the desk, the Froslass approached me with a curious, almost frigid air to her, "I assume Ramon already gave you the rundown?"
"Yes," I nodded, "My name is Lumi, by the way. It's nice to meet you."
"You're polite at least," she noted with the faintest of smiles, "Then allow us to introduce ourselves too. My name is Yuki, and that grouch over there is Torch."
Torch strolled up beside me while crossing his arms. "Since you're going to tell her anyway, we're Team Dianthus. A Silver ranked team focused on mysteries."
"I see. So you two are like detectives?" I inquired.
"You can say that," Yuki somewhat confirmed, "Though our prime objective is the Mystery Dungeon phenomenon. But let's not get into that for now. We shall begin your training while the day is young."
"Sure–"
"Hold it, Yuki! I still say this is a bad idea," Torch interjected with a thrust of his paw.
"I just got through saying, we can't disobey the guildmaster's wishes," Yuki argued, "Besides, we will be going off of mere speculation. You of all Pokemon should know that."
"Yes, but for all of this to happen after she came into the picture," I could feel the blazing suspicion of his side eye engulfing me, "I can't help but wonder if I made a mistake."
"What mistake will that be?" Yuki questioned.
"Um, he saved me when a Crawdaunt was furious with me back in the city yesterday," I mentioned.
"A Crawdaunt…? Ah, yes. You did mention that when you came back from your shopping trip," Yuki surmised.
"Let me make one thing clear," Torch said, "I didn't intend to save you. You were disturbing the peace of the city, and if a fight broke out, it would be chaos. So I did what I had to to calm it down. I figured the guards would apprehend you without making a scene, but that strangely didn't happen."
"O-Oh…" A daunting weight was placed right back on my shoulders.
"Even so, there's not much we can do. It's either I help her train or we answer to the guildmaster why we chose to disobey his orders," Yuki stated.
"Tsk, fine. But I'll try to get to the bottom of this attack in the meantime. The moment anything leads back to you, Aexite…" A full on glare was launched my way before Torch left the room.
"I don't blame him for being cautious," Her words filled the space left by the Quilava, "We could very well be training our enemy to backstab us later."
"Y-Yeah, I see your point…" I tried to shake off the uneasiness clinging to my coat.
"Regardless, I'll trust that the guildmaster knows what he's doing. I do admit I am quite curious about you," Yuki mentioned, her eyes trained on me, analyzing every twitch I made.
"Actually, while we're on that subject," I brought up to ease her unrelenting gaze, "I heard you met the beast that attacked the city. What did it look like exactly?"
She held her hand to her chin. "Hmm, curiouser and curiouser. She claims she doesn't know the beast…"
"Uh, what?" I uttered, barely picking up on her muttering.
"I'm afraid we don't have much time to delve into it. Like I said before, the day is young and we should get moving to where we'll hold your training," Yuki explained.
"Where will that be?" I asked.
She floated toward the cabinet and started fishing through its contents. "You'll know when we get there. Here, take this."
Yuki emerged from the cabinet with a dark gray cloak in hand. It seemed to be the perfect length for any small creature to be completely covered by it.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Although we'll be going to a place fairly out of the way from the main bustle, I have you where that cloak so you're not immediately recognized," she explained.
"But wouldn't I look suspicious regardless?" I inquired further while taking the cloak from her.
"Yes, but it's either that or getting attacked on sight," She laid out blatantly.
"Fair enough," I admitted as I donned the cloak, pulling the hood over my head. The waxy fabric clung to my fur like a magnet.
"Come on then," She urged as she led the way.
The old cloak, held together by the string tied close to my neck, fluttered in the stirring, morning breeze. The calls of several bird Pokemon filled the widening silence between me and Yuki as she led me through the eastern edge of the city close by the guild. Our brisk walk soon led us to a rather ancient looking building with a centerpiece depicting the head of a white furred and black eared Pokemon, its gaping mouth serving as an entrance. Unlike the normal wood structures of Centrare City, the roof consisted of red stone tiles lining the surface in neat rows, the walls were made out of a clay substance that seemed to be rock solid, along with bamboo shoots serving as the door and curtains for windows.
"What is this place?" I asked Yuki.
"This is Pangoro Dojo," Yuki explained, "This is where many exploration teams come and train to their heart's content. Luckily, since it's rather early, there won't be many teams here and we'll have a room to ourselves. So there's little risk of you being spotted if we're careful."
"Right, I understand," I affirmed, "Where do we begin?"
"First, I need to talk to Guo. I'm technically here for a job to help train Pokemon against Ice type moves, but since the guildmaster wants me to train you, I figured I can kill two Pidgey with one stone."
"I… see," I smiled awkwardly at her blunt words. 'So I'm just part of a checklist.'
"Well at least here, we can go all out as much as we please," she pointed out, "If you're done gawking, let's head inside."
Without any say, Yuki pushed past the bamboo and entered the building, leaving me to play catch up and follow after her. Inside, we were greeted by a main room filled with entrances to caverns held up by stone pillars. Dusty brown, upright boulders littered the floor, their centers marked with an 'X'. Cracks danced across some of the boulders while chunks of rocks were scattered around the base. A large beige emblem resembling a crumbling mountain was carved at the middle of the floor, exuding an ancient authority I couldn't describe. The walls were lined with bamboo staffs varying in all sorts of sizes, some showing extreme signs of wear and tear.
A towering shadow began to take shape in the central cavern. Sparse sunlight broke through the veil as it marched forward, revealing a gruff, gray and white bipedal Pokemon whose overwhelming presence could through the chamber. It gripped a long bamboo staff tightly in its right black paw. Reaching the central area, its honed eyes examined us both, and an amused smirk quickly formed on its face.
"Ay, Yuki," the giant greeted, "Glad ya can make it."
Yuki gave a little curtsy. "Good morning, Guo. I hope the events of last night didn't rattle you too much."
"Are ya kidding?" he said with a dismissive flick of the waist, "If any of those things came a mile to my dojo, they'll be pummeled to the ground."
"Glad to hear it," Yuki stated with a polite smile, "I'm sure you'll see an influx of Pokemon coming to train here."
Guo solemnly nodded. "Aye. The best way to improve oneself is to train to their absolute limit. That's the number one principle to being an explorer. Ey? Are they one of them right now?"
His curious gaze turned toward me with a slight tilt of his head. I couldn't help but look up in awe of the sheer aura of will exuding from him.
"Well she is going to be training here, but I'll be training her myself," Yuki informed him.
Guo nodded vigorously. "I see! I see! Train as much as you want! But remember, I'll need your expertise in training a few greenhorns later."
"Of course! I assume there's a room ready?" Yuki asked.
"Aye. Right down the way I came," Guo pointed toward the seemingly endless cavern, "Ya can't miss it."
"Thank you," Yuki nodded, "Let's get going, Lumi."
"Right," I affirmed before following her down the rocky cavern.
Despite knowing otherwise, the walls of the dusty brown tunnel seemed to tighten its grip on our space as we traverse the path. Spots of sunlight broke through the ceiling, preventing the darkness from taking hold of the tunnel completely. The air had a light, crisp feeling to it despite being surrounded by solid stone. The silence between myself and Yuki grew more overbearingly heavy, almost like the tunnel itself had magnified the emotional barrier I was feeling. Before long, Yuki stopped in front of a stone door, carefully observing its structure before sliding it open. The room consisted of an open space filled with targets, training dummies and huge boulders lining the walls. The morning sunlight freely filled the room through the opening to the outside world up above. A sudden click of the door brought my eyes back to Yuki.
"No one will be able to see us in this room," Yuki informed, "So you're free to remove the cloak if you want."
"Oh okay," I quickly slid the cloak off my body and placed it near the door in a neatly folded square, "Where do we start?"
"First, let's see what you can do currently," Yuki scanned the room and spotted a ring target stationed upright on the ground, "Get into position and use Powder Snow on that target over there."
"O-Okay," I nodded before darting toward the target, stopping a few feet in front of it. The calls of nature distantly echoed into the room, intensifying the pit in my stomach that made itself known. I could feel Yuki's judging gaze on my being, irritating the piercing icicle ravaging my soul. Calling upon the powers of ice and snow, the foreign energy swelled within me. It started to invade my throat, casing its surroundings with layers of ice. The pressure built up in my mouth until I couldn't take it anymore and released the icy, puffy mist onto the field. The mist sluggishly crawled across the ground, filling the space between me and the target. Tiny specks of ice materialized on everything the mist touched. A sharp "Hmm" broke the silence.
"That's quite odd. This is supposed to be Powder Snow, yes?" She inquired.
I answered with a nod. "I know it doesn't look right. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."
Yuki floated beside me and observed my work slowly dissipating into nothing. "From what I know, this move should come naturally to Alolan Vulpix."
"W-Well maybe what you know is wrong," I tried to dismiss, though my uncertainty betrayed my words.
"Uh huh. It looked like you were holding your power back. Why, I might ask?" Yuki eyed me curiously.
"...It's because I could feel its hold on my throat everytime I used it," I explained, "Like at any moment, it'll freeze me solid if I let it run wild. I've been trying to resist and control this energy, but it keeps getting worse–"
"Stop!"
I halted my explanation and stared at Yuki, wide eyed with pure shock.
"What do you mean by 'control'," she questioned, placing her hand to her chin.
I tilted my head as I peered into her eyes. "It's just as I said. I want to control this energy so it wouldn't overwhelm me–"
Yuki shook her head. "It seems you led yourself astray. The energy you feel, it's not meant for you to control."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"When a Pokemon uses a move, it draws upon the essence of the elements to fuel their power," Yuki stated, a frosty chill swept past me, "Our bodies acting as a mere conduit for the appropriate Type. We are of the Ice type, so drawing in Ice energy is second nature to us."
The icy wind grew stronger by the minute as it whipped around Yuki like a translucent veil. With a flick of the wrist, a raging blizzard blew across the field and relentlessly bombarded the target with snow ice until it was completely buried. A lasting chill hung in the air after the blizzard had passed. Snowflakes fluttered down from above like twinkling stars.
"It's because of this energy we can perform moves," she continued, "We can merely channel it into ourselves with our intended action in mind. The stronger you are, the stronger your pull of this energy gets and greater access to more powerful moves you'll have. But if you try to enact your will needlessly, the aura will rebel. Resulting in… well, you just demonstrated earlier."
Everything started to sink into my mind, my paw unconsciously gripping my neck. "So, what am I supposed to do?"
"Let it go," Yuki suggested, "The moment you let fear take hold, you'll fail to harness your power correctly. Let it flow through you like a rushing river."
"Right, okay," I nodded, turning my attention to the target still encased in ice.
'Can I really do it? Won't this power just… freeze my throat solid? I can't risk that! I can't risk having a power I don't know run wild like that. What will happen to me?' I thought, indecisiveness rattling me inside until a stray thought striked through the darkness, 'But… if I don't master this now, then the consequences will ripple through everything I'm trying to do. Staying at the guild, working with Damini, recovering my lost memories and finding my way home. If I can't defend myself, there's no hope in any progress being made. Calm down. Do what Yuki says and take the next step.'
I instinctively braced myself, calling upon the powers of ice and snow again into my body. Rows of icicles invaded my mouth again while I tried to retain what semblance of warmth I had in me. But realization flashed in my mind, causing me to gradually relax my muscles. I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. My breath held a much sharper edge to it than before. I opened my eyes to see more snowflakes dancing in the breeze of my released tension. Like clockwork, the icicles began to recede, allowing me to breathe freely once more. A more calm and collected aura course through me, almost smothering me with its promise of power. All of it leading straight to my mouth. With one final inhale, I let loose a flurry of frenzied snow at my target. The target buckled upon impact of the mini blizzard, the snow adding to the pile from the blizzard before. When I was done, a new layer of ice was formed on the field's surface, the target was completely buried in the white, powdery snow.
"I… did it?" I asked no one in particular, marveling at the newly formed snow pile.
"Yes, this is indeed Powder Snow. Well done," Yuki praised, hiding a smile behind her white sleeve-like arm.
'Finally I… I used an Ice move!' I cheered to myself, I could dance in sheer joy if she wasn't here.
"Don't be complacent," Yuki warned, "We have to make sure this lesson sticks. Get into position again."
"Okay!" I nodded, planting my paws firmly on the ground once more.
'One more step…' The thought echoed in my mind, 'Just one more step to reclaiming my life.'