Chapter 4 || Meet Ice

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- Kai's POV -

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Iris looked just as confused as I felt. "Wielder?" she questioned, "The hell is a Wielder?"

I shrugged, leaning back further against the Oak Tree, which we were sitting under, thankfully hidden from the harsh afternoon sun. The area around us was alive with kids doing their normal lunch-time stuff, chatter buzzing around and screams of laughter sometimes reaching our ears. Iris was wearing her favourite denim vest; her hair was draped across one shoulder and head layed against the cool tree trunk. Her eyes were as icy as always, and were on mine as we both shared the same thoughts after I'd explained to her my dream.

"No idea," I sighed. "But it's an important-sounding word, so would probably pay off to know."

She raised an eyebrow. "Nice logic there, Dare. I guess you're right, though, sort of. You gonna ask your mum 'bout it?"

I sucked in a cheek then let go. "I dunno. There's just something . .  . a feeling that's telling me to not tell anyone, especially her, for some really weird reason. I'm not sure."

She bit her lip, pushing herself off the tree, looking down at me. "You told me, didn't you? That feeling's probably just some stupid thing your brain was wired with if it got too full."

"You suck," I returned. "And yeah, of course I told you, you're you. It's extremely different from telling my mum."

She sighed through a grin, her gaze dropping to the grass then back up to me. "Just do it, Dare. If you want information then asking Nya is probably the best way you can get it. She knows everything about everything, I swear to Notch."

"It's helpful in the best of times," I commented, before sitting back up so my back was flat against the tree.

We sat in silence for a bit after that, both starving and snacking, before Xavier showed up with a lanky grin on his face, Flora beside him with an arm around her side and a delicate smile.

"You guys are literally impossible to talk to seperate, jeez," He scoffed, before sitting down in front of us, well within the enormous tree's range of shade. Flora sat next to him, lightly dropping onto her knees.

"You really are," she added with another smile. Flora Falcon was pretty with light brown hair, soft features and honey skin with green eyes that shone like a dawn-lit jungle. She usually wore pink and had dirt under her fingernails, but she was sweet as a flower. She was pretty shy, though, and although I didn't care all that much Iris was definitely someone who did. Iris wasn't ever rude to her - it's impossible to be rude to someone so nice - but she wasn't all that friendly, either. Or at least, as friendly as Iris can get. Which wasn't very.

"Lookin' good, Ice. In fact, you look great. Blue really suits you. Has anyone ever mentioned -"

Iris interupted him with a knowing smirk, eyes light. "What is it you want me to do for you now, Merch?"

He sagged his shoulders dramatically in defeat, and groaned "Damn, you caught me. Nothing much, just some notes for the history test comin' up."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, fine. You owe me."

"Sure." He nodded towards her in thankful acknowledgement. Iris and Xav tended to pretend they didn't like each other, but you could see in their faces that they were both joking around.

Flora spoke up, her voice honey-silken and melodic. "So what were you guys talking about?"

I briefly saw irritation flash across Iris's face, but thankfully she kept any snarky comments to herself. "Nothing important," she opted for instead.

Flora, still smiling, said: "Oh," before gazing down awkwardly. Xavier leaned over and wrapped her into a big hug, pulling her into his lap.

Xavier was my best mate; his brown hair was styled as a brushcut and his eyes were a similiar hazel to my dad's. He was just a little bit taller than me - which was saying something. Flora was just below me height-wise, however, so they made for a pretty tall couple. He was all-round a very chilled out guy, which meant he was fun to be around; although sometimes he could overreact suddenly and cause wide-spread panic because hey, if the relaxed kid starts stressing, everyone starts stressing.

The day went by fast, the periods all merging into each other. I was beyond the boundries of tiredness now. All that could save me was sleep.

After school finished, I said goodbye to Iris, then walked down to our street with Tali being her usual upbeat and slightly insulting self all the way to our house.

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- Iris's POV -

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I shoulded the door to open it, almost tripping as I got inside. "Hey, Dad!" I yelled into the house, hoping he would get the message. Mum was usually out working quite a lot - she had her own potions store in the main city area - and Dad would usually swap between multiple day jobs.

"Welcome back, Rose!" he returned. Funny story, that name. Before I was born, Mum and Dad had fought endlessly about different names for me, Dad's opinion firmly biased towards 'Rose'. Mum didn't let him go through with it, though, and won him over with 'Iris' long enough for him to sign the papers. Ever since, he's just stuck with calling me Rose. I don't really care that much. Well, actually, I kinda do, since there's no possible way to really shorten that name or, like, hide the fact that I was named after a flower. At least with Iris I can adjust it slightly. Although I'm not particularly fond of that name, either. Rainbow. It just had to mean rainbow.

Kai never lets me hear the end of it, that dork.

I dropped into my room and threw my bag onto my bed. It was sort of (very) messy, clothes strewn all over the floor, paper scruched up everywhere. That's the way I like it, though. No one understands how great a mess for a bedroom can be.

A muffled 'neigh' sounded from outside - then I remembered Holly, our dark brown horse, who probably hadn't had any attention all day. I left the room and walked through the kitchen and lounge, opening the birch door that lead into the backyard.

It was huge in terms of a garden, but most of it was pretty overgrown. None of us were into outdoorsy, dirty sorts of things, so we tended to leave the plants to their own wills. We thought of ourselves as free-range growers.

One thing I really liked about this place was the small area I'd built as a kid with leaves and logs. It was a small cavern, about four blocks high and six-by-six wide, and was practically filled to the rim with sword-fighting equiptment Zach had given me over years of birthdays. Sometimes he would give me tips, too, which was pretty damn prestigious, since he's essentially a legend around here.

Kai wasn't quite into the whole sword thing. 'If it becomes necessary,' he would use as an excuse, 'then I'll learn.'

I scoffed in my head. What a loser, I thought. A cute, dorky little loser.

Holly was eager to be ridden, but that was one thing I refused to do in any circumstance - ride a horse. It just won't ever, ever happen. Ever. I felt a tad guilty, but hey, when Mum comes home she always takes Holly out anyways.

So I ended up training in the cavern the whole afternoon, stopping only when I heard a knock at the door. I knew Dad would answer it, but went back inside anyway. I was looking forward to seeing Mum.

I walked into the lounge room with hair filled with broken bits of leave, dusting off my jeans when something caught my eye.

Well, really, they always catch my eye. Our hearth was topped with heaps of decorations, colourful little things Mum collected over the years, changing as the years passed. But two things always stayed the same; a couple of small paintings that I presummed my mum got made for herself ages ago.

One was of a group of friends; nine kids, all looking in their late teens or early twenties, lined up with their arms around each other's shoulders, looking happy and dazed and cheerful, some pulling poses or grabbing their friends' cheeks. I was able to recognise four of the figures; one was Nya, young and beautiful; another was Zach, his blonde hair caught by the sun, holding Nya bridal style while she laughed; the third was Ethan, one of my mum's good friends who visited every now and then - he was a swordsman too, outlasting Zach in his length of career, which he was outwardly very proud of (apparently they didn't get along all that well when they were at school together - Mum still reckons Zach could beat Ethan in a one-on-one fight and taunts Ethan whenever he comes over); and the last was my own mother, back when her black hair was long.

The other five I've only ever snagged the names of. There was Jordan, the brunette boy at the front, whose arm was draped over Mackenzie; Vent, a lanky-looking boy with a grin; Emily, a tomboy with holding up a peace sign, and Clare, the girl at the front, next to my mum. They both had black hair, but Clare's skin was tanner, and eyes slightly darker. I've always found it weird that all I know about the girl I was named after is her name. Whenever I try and ask Mum, though, she would just sigh and look sad, which was unlike her and made me just awkwardly wander off.

I ran up to the door, and unsurprisingly, Dad was already fixing Mum some dinner, while she had her head down and arms stretched across the kitchen bench, groaning loudly.

"I'm going to fire her," Mum was saying, her voice muffled.

"No, you won't. She's a good worker."

"But she almost killed me with that potion. Again."

"You won't, though."

"I will."

"You won't."

"I wiiiiiiiiill."

"Emerald, you're such a kid," Dad sighed, knocking his head against the cupboard above the furnace. "I'm not having this strictly un-adult conversation with you again."

I leaned against the doorframe. "Mum, you aren't really setting the best example for your daughter over here," I said, smiling.

She lifted her head and grinned back. "Hey there, Ice. How was school?"

"Decent," I replied, pulling out a seat and hopping in it beside her.

"That's an awful answer. C'mon, tell me what happened. I wanna hear all the details." she pushed.

"Muuuuuuum," I groaned, mimicking her by dropping my head on the benchtop. "No, Mum, we've been over this. Discussing your day with a parent is weird."

She flicked the side of my face. "Teenagers are weird," she returned, and I scoffed.

A moment passed before I heard a clank beside my ear, and I looked up to see a plate of steak and bread sitting appetizingly in front of me. Dad pulled out a seat opposite, and we all started eating the food, hungry and talkative.

Mum hadn't changed too much from the girl in the photo; she got older, obviously, but her eyes were still the shame shade of blue and her hair was still as black as it was years ago, if not shorter, since it'd been cut down to her shoulders. Dad's hair was the same shade as mine, turquoise blue, which was a running family joke. If anyone were to ask Dad if the colour is natural he'd just say "Yeah, definitely, my daughter has it too!" and me vice-versa. It was a long-standing joke, too, since I decided pretty early on in my life that white-blonde wasn't the look for me.

We were a small family, but we were tight and friends; I wouldn't ever have it another way.

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- Unknown POV -

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It was a cold night, even for the heatless, and snow fell down from the sky like it were being dumped. A small cabin lay amongst these woods; a cabin that would soon be home to none.

I sent five of my brothers in first, and the wooden structure was quickly filled with screams of terror as the targets realised they were being attacked. I could hear the endermen being wounded, however, so I sent in another three along with myself. The roof was low, the only warmth came from the torches hung across the walls, and the only sound I could now hear were the family's lungfuls of fear.

We made quick-doing of the slaughter - four people, two adults, one teenager and one young child - and left their bodies as mangled as they were for the next human arrivals to find. I continued to lead the army through the night, teleporting between biomes and cities, killing anyone we were required to kill. All targets had one thing in common - their heritage. Either Parker or McKinnon. As of tonight, no Parker still lived to walk the earth.

Now, only two family groups remained; both of which were still known as McKinnons, living nearby. We'd done our research, and we knew that one was simply a young couple, and the other was a couple with a daughter. Both would be easy to exterminate and move on from; then I could lead the army to aid The General's plan to murder the Fire Wielder. It shouldn't be too difficult.

Not in the slightest.

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- Alex's POV -

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This is a mistake. All of it. The girl - the girl who I have to keep reminding myself is not Lillian anymore - is just being stupid and reckless beyond her ability. You can't bring back the dead and expect no negative outcome.

It was agony, pure agony living - if you could even call it that - like this. Pulled back onto the ground, a world filled with sound and feelings and harshness and hate when I belong somewhere else free of that. And the worst part is that I help her, I tell her things no mortal should know, but I can't not tell her because the very essence she recreated me out of is directly within her reach of control. Whatever she asks for, I serve. I have no will and no purpose I wish to uphold.

I felt especially bad for the hundreds of people who would surely die during her rampage; the Wielder-blooded, the innocents, anyone who would get in her way. I wasn't meant to tell her any of that, yet the words spilled out, choking me in guilt, guilt being something I'd almost forgotten about after all those years being dead. Almost.

Bringing back the dead was a mistake, and as much as she tried to hide it, she knew it, knew it just like she knew that the Fire Wielder was insanely dangerous, like she knew that Notch was watching her, that he would follow the path she leaves for him, a path of blood and death upon his flawed world. But she knows it because it's what she wants. She's too cunning for her own good.

Every day I try to free myself - every day I fail. But every day I will try to escape, because as much as a part of me wants the chance to live again, better, I know that my place is among the stars; the cold, ice-hardened stars; the place where my guilt can seep from lasting wounds I cannot feel and I can breathe alongside the ones who find no point in breathing. The place of stillness and immortal calm, of quiet and peace and never-to-be-restored failure. The place where I belong.

The place among the stars, among the stars, among infinite stars; away from calamity and fresh, fiery fear. The place I can stand, and where everyone waits patiently for my return.

The only place I can finally and truly be free.

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Iris is my baaaaaaaaaaaae

I like to think those last few paragraphs were poetic, but hahaha no. Never mind.

However, something I can be proud of is the fact that (for me) this was a reasonably fast update!! I hope you guys enjoyed. More swords and blood next chapter, promise.

QOTC: What did you guys dress up as for Halloween?

(us aussies don't celebrate it for some irritating reason, but i'm interested in all your answers)

See you guys all next upload!!!!!!!!

- Jazz

*whispers* i (almost) survived the upd8