The female guard standing in front of the cell of the captured crusader looked through her glasses observing the chaos that reigned in building. She wore the attire of the personnel and had been hired only hours before. She'd just traveled from the northern lands so had come far to get to this government building. The rebellion and crusaders had teamed together to attain a common goal something that even she would never have dreamed of. Taking the key she had to the door she unlocked the room and slipped in unnoticed by anyone of the outside. Once in, she locked the door from within and stood facing three doctors and a handful of guards.
****
Lina had walked the streets when she felt the urge, or rather the need to leave the city. I'm not doing anything here, she reasoned. I might as well get something done. Forsaking her hotel room which was paid for for the next month, Lina left a note with the house cleaning lady so that she wouldn't be startled by Lina's extended absence and alert the police. She'd had many conversations with Mrs. Frost and the elder woman had mentioned her trips to the North Pole, and her awe at the majesty and power of nature. Heading to the train station, the ice maiden purposely forsook telling Midnight of her intentions to journey out of the country. The car was incapable of making the trip any way, and Lina know that the vehicle would attempt to deflate the truth despite the validity of it.
As much as Lina had come to identify with the ice that she had control over, she'd never thought to visit nature's natural wonder known as the Arctic. Antarctica was out of the question currently but inwardly the girl knew that a trip would be in place soon.
***
The crisp air chilled her air way, and Lina placed her mitten in front of her face. She knew she should have gotten one of those face guards but had been stubborn enough not to. She regretted being that stubborn. She'd been walking out on the ice pack for three hours now. Her body was becoming numb, and she would run at intervals despite the 60lb pack in order to keep her blood flowing.
What was I thinking?! she thought. The trip out into the arctic was unlike anything she'd expected. The sun shone, but gave off little heat other than to sting her eyes when she looked into it. Walking for two hours more, she erected a box ice house to camp in for the night. It was nothing like the igloo of the Inuits but it would suffice. The concern about bears and wolves awoke a fear in her unexpectedly. She was on their turf now and at their mercy. This was nothing like watching Discovery and declaring that one may or may not be afraid of these creatures. Silently, she hoped that her worries would subside when the morning was quickly ushered in by the passing moon. Lina laid down her sleeping bag, crawled in and quickly slipped into slumber.
The sound of scratching near by had Lina in a crouching position with knife drawn within seconds. The small fire she'd created from flint and small pieces of dry wood she'd carried had ceased to burn so the owner of the noise remained covered in darkness uninterested in her presence.
"Go away!" she screamed into the darkness hoping to startle the creature into abandoning its ventures throughout her makeshift campsite. Yet the noise continued unperturbed by Lina's action.
"How foolish, child, " came a voice in the darkness followed by a pair of green eyes reflecting in the dark off some undetermined light. "Fox got your tongue?" came the question followed by a light chuckle.
Indeed a fox had, for Lina found herself no longer able to speak despite her attempting to scream. "Come" said the voice, and Lina watching the reflecting eyes disappear in the direction of the box-gloo(>.>) door. Crawling, after the pair of eyes, Lina exited. Once she was sure she'd passed the length of the entrance Lina stood on the outside, buffeted by the charging winds. It was then that she realized she didn't have on her parka or other important clothing items.
"Leave them," said the eyes peering up from the earth below. "And follow me." Lina and the green eyes walked for 30 minutes that seemed like an eternity in the darkness and cold of the night.
"Sit," was the command, and she did as told despite her vehemence at being told what to do. Lina was beginning to shake visibly. She'd mustered to stave off the chill of the arctic by using her own ice to shield herself. As strange as it seemed she was beginning to freeze to death from her own power that was being used in excess. Lina was so wrapped in her thoughts that when she refocused on what was occurring around her she noticed that the pair of eyes had disappeared, and panic set in.
"To panic here means to perish. Only the sound of mind survive," came the voice, sounding more feminine now than it was before being indescribable. "Settle your mind. The vixen does not panic when her pups do not eat. She keeps searching knowing that the spirits of the arctic will supply her need. She toils in the darkness and day fearing neither for she is small and agile, cunning and determined. Focus on your surroundings and make light of them. Your fear is your hindrance. Speaking boldly does not bespeak a bold heart."
Lina blinked in the darkness. This being seemed to know her better than she did. The things that she couldn't accept about herself she covered with falsehoods that appeared grounded.
"Focus. Meditate. Listen. Can you find me? I am here. Here. Here." The voice kept altering its location seeming to be in one place and then another, and then all around her at once. "The darkness is not a thing to be feared, but something to find yourself in. Know that you are the center, and find the energy of the things around you. Signle them out...." Lina endured lessons similar to these throughout the night. She became tuned to the music of herself in relation to other elements of the arctic....
A smile tugged at her lips as Lina lay sleeping within her box-gloo. The passing instructions to go to her homeland were the only words left to her as her dreams passed on to other normal dreams, but the lessons she learned imprinted within her as if she'd indeed awaken.
****
"What are you doing here guard?" one of the doctor's inquired. "You have no business here."
"Sure I do," was the reply. "You see, the elephant you got there....he's my friend." Before anyone could reply or move, Lina had entombed everyone in the room, her signature move. Taking a dart from her pocket, Lina removed the protective cap, and injected enough of the reverse tranquilizer drug into the back thigh of the elephant. The reversal drug would take effect faster and bring josh back to his senses faster than the steady effect of the tranquilizers that were shot at him over a period of time.
"Come on, Josh..." Lina said, going to look at the face of the elephant to determine his progress. The doctors and guards would not be able to be entombed for much longer before their air supply would decrease and/or frostbite would set in. Ice could keep you warm for only so long before it could take on a reverse effect.
OOC: A lil' more time(tomorrow or rather later today since it's almost two) and I'll have a post for Richards etc. I didn't want to make this one terribly long...