Frosted Dreams (NaNoWriMo2020)

'Umi kūmāhiku

Hika groans, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders. She feels so cold, she can't stop shaking. Her flame stirs, trying to warm her. There is a shout from close by and the blanket is yanked away. She curls around the flame, cradling it close to her stomach and tries to slip back into the peacefulness of sleep. There is a touch of cold on her cheek and she flinches away, her eyes flying open.

There is a young man leaning over her, wavy midnight hair curling against his neck and accenting his icy blue-grey eyes. They're a strange color, she's never seen it anywhere except for in the ice of the river she was following and in Poli'ahu's sledding chamber.

He has a scar over one of his eyes, and she can't tell if it makes the boy's eye darker or lighter than the other. She just knows that it makes the eye look different than its twin. The boy frowns at her.

"Are you trying to set my belongings on fire?!"

Hika blinks, frowning at him in turn. Her words slur slightly, she's still waking up. "What are you talking about?"

The boy lifts a blanket into the air, pale turquoise with one end slightly charred. "You set fire to the blanket!"

Hika frowns. "I did?"

"Yes, now put out that flame!"

Hika looks down at her hands and tries to pull the fire back into her chest. The fire in her hands dims, flickering, and a few small flames flicker out. But most of her palms stay aflame. She shakes her hands again and curses.

"Why won't you go out?"

The boy sighs and drops the blanket to the floor, stepping over it to close his hands over her own. Hika pulls back, trying not to burn him. The boy smirks slightly.

"You won't hurt me. Let me help."

Frowning slightly, Hika stills and lets the boy clasp her flaming hands between his cold ones. Steam curls up from where their hands touch and he pulls back, fingers undamaged. He nods to her hands.

"The flame is gone."

Hika flexes her fingers, feeling the residual cold on her fingers, keeping the flame at bay. "Thank you. How did you do that?"

The boy smiles and splays his fingers flat. Snow begins to fall from the ceiling and collect in his hand. It forms a small pile and he squeezes his fingers around it, forming a small bundle of bluish flowers. They have darker veins and bright orange stamens, glowing amidst the blue petals. He presents the flowers to Hika with a flourish and she takes them, smiling.

"They're lovely. How did you learn to do that?"

The boy's smile dims slightly for a moment before it returns. "I was taught how to manipulate the snow in this way by my father. Anything of snow I can make become something else. Within reason, I can't change the size or make snow become flame."

Hika laughs. "That must be a very useful skill."

"It is."

He pauses and glances towards a chair and Hika's eyes widen at the sight of her kapa cloth. It is unharmed, the chair positioned in front of a fire to dry the cloth. She had worried that the snow would ruin it, but it looks as beautiful as it did when Hina gave it to her.

"How-"

The boy flicks his fingers and a snowflake forms above them for a moment before fading. "It was covered in snow, my dominion. It wasn't much trouble to remove it. Tell me, what is a girl from Hawaii with fire magic doing in Russia?"

"Traveling." Hika yawns, her body still waking up.

He lifts an eyebrow. "Indeed. Who are you? I've never met you before in my visits and you would not have been so close to death if you were immortal. Are you a demigod?"

Hika shrugs. "Not quite. I'm a young goddess, I haven't yet come of age so I haven't gained my immortality."

The boy blinks in shock. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen. I come of age in a few months, but I wanted to travel first."

"Why would you, when it puts you at risk?"

"I can't control my flame."

"That seems like a reason to not travel, especially through the human world."

Hika shakes her head. "I'm afraid that when I come of age, I won't get the chance for a long time. My fire has been increasingly escaping my control and when I gain full access to my powers, there is a chance that I may be mastering it for a long, long time."

"How is it escaping your control?"

Hika snaps her fingers, a flame sparking to life on the tip of her finger. She feels weak, her inner fire hasn't fully recovered from the fire. But she has recovered enough to use her flame, she knows that much. She tries to dismiss the flame again and it flicks out at once. Hika inhales in shock. The flames hadn't gone this easily in years. She brings the fire back and dismisses it, over and over again. It follows her command smoothly, without question. Hika looks up at the boy, her eyes glowing.

"My fire is listening now!"

"Really? What caused it to finally obey you?"

"I don't know, perhaps it was the exposure to cold? It's possible that it balanced my magic out."

The boy's eyes flicker. "Perhaps so."

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'Umi kūmāhiku = seventeen, when counting

Hmmm. Why do you think Hika's magic is behaving now? What do you think of the boy? What's going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out