The touch of warm lips glued to his, and the hot breath that filled his chest, brought him back to life. Snow cough and threw-up a mouthful of water he had never really drank. His chest burned, his head ached, and he was wet and shivering from the cold again. And yet, the moment he looked up, the cold blue eyes staring down at him immediately grounded him, pulling him away from that frightening memory. It was the second time he drowned that night.
“Did you find it?” ZaiWin1Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). asked and Snow nodded, still lying on his back.
Swiftly moving away, ZaiWin grabbed his wrist and pulled him up to a sitting position, making him cough some more.
“Are you sure?”
Snow nodded again, a shiver running down his back. As a child he had always hated being cold, and now he was cold on purpose every single night.
“You were sure the last time, and you still ended up being dragged to that shitty memory again,” ZaiWin pointed out, sounding annoyed, and Snow gave him a half-smile, still trying to catch his breath.
“I was wrong,” he admitted, his voice even quieter than normal, his throat throbbing and burning. “I was focusing too much on whose fault it was that I had to go through all that, when that doesn’t matter at all.”
“Well, it was clearly your fault! Who told you to jump into a river in the middle of a freaking storm?” ZaiWin quickly solved his dilemma and Snow sighed in defeat.
That’s right. The man in front of him would never even consider blaming anyone else but himself for the consequences of his own choices, even if other people had somehow influenced the final result. It was a rather straightforward, easy way to see things, Snow concluded. He had jumped into the river, so it was his fault that he had almost drowned. Sure, those other people could have saved him, especially after all he had done, trying to save the little girl. But, ultimately, he had been the one to place himself in that situation. Depending on other people’s will to act on his benefit had been a mistake right from the start. Yes, it had been his fault. But, thinking back, he didn’t regret it. After all, he hadn’t really died. And a little girl had lived thanks to his sacrifice.
Taking a deep breath, Snow straightened his back and faced the cold eyes still watching him.
“Again.”
“Haven’t you stopped my heart enough times for one night?”
“That won’t happen again.”
Nox2Literally nox (night). Nox is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province. ZaiWin uses it because he is the Governor of Nox. ZaiWin sighed. He really hated that fucking memory of his, and he hadn’t even lived through it himself! It was as if someone was constantly tugging at the leash wrapped around his neck, even though he had been doing his best to ignore its presence. That damned link!
Squatting behind him, he pressed his fingers against his marking and went back to sit in front of him, watching him attentively and expecting the worse.
Drops of water kept falling from his silver hair, sliding down his face as if he were really standing under the rain. But then, when he thought he was about to start chocking again, all the small drops of water ceased their movement, as if time had stopped around him. As ZaiWin watched expectantly, they started sliding on the opposite direction, flowing upwards even though he knew that was an impossibility. In no time at all his clothes, his skin, even his hair were completely dry, and a ring of clear water circled just above Snow’s head. After conquering that obstacle, the genius part in him quickly kicked in and, in no time at all, the water floating in the air was jumping up and down and forming different shapes, obeying Snow’s will.
Finally relaxing, ZaiWin leaned back on his hands and took a deep breath. It would seem he didn’t have to almost die again that night, he thought, a small smile tugging at his lips. Now the fucking brat was actually having fun, he noticed, when Snow split the column of water into hundreds of small drops and easily molded them into snowflakes.
In the next instant the temperature around him dropped so fast that ZaiWin couldn’t help shiver, rubbing his hands together. And then all the snowflakes froze in midair, becoming beautiful and intricate minuscules ice statues. Making them fly around them, close to the ground, whatever they touched, be it a leaf or a flower, would immediately freeze in place. And then the temperature rose again, melting the ice, transforming the snowflakes back into water, which Snow allowed to fall on the ground, in the form of a gentle sprinkle of rain.
He hated that about him!, ZaiWin grunted in his thoughts. The way he could easily control his markings, when he hadn’t even known what markings were just a couple of months ago. It almost made him wish he would suffer a bit longer within those memories of his, if only he didn’t got dragged down with him as well!
With an annoying, victorious smile on his lips, the brat finally opened his eyes to look at him.
“I think this one is a bit easier to control,” he declared, his voice still rough, and ZaiWin crossed his arms, increasingly irked.
“Says the damn brat that had to almost drown three times before he could actually learn to control it!” he threw back, successfully erasing that annoying smile from his face. “But I see you managed to conjugate it with your other marking.”
Snow nodded.
“They kind of … go well together?” he tried to explain. “The other markings are also easy to use at the same time but … how can I put it. They’re still separate things. But these … these just mix together, almost as if they were supposed to be only one.”
“That’s what normally happens with elemental markings. They complement and strengthen of one another. And even though people always learn how to control them one at a time, once the learning process is concluded, they rarely use them independently. Just like you did now, joining cold and water to form ice.”
Snow seemed to think about his words for a moment.
“But you said I had other ice markings. If I’m already able to freeze things around me, why do I need the others?”
“If you join them all together they will probably become even more powerful. Maybe make the effects last longer. Maybe allow you to better resist another elemental attack.”
“Resist an attack?” he repeated, his entire expression perking up. “Like … forming a wall of ice?”
“For example,” ZaiWin conceded, even though that was a rather childish idea. “If you form a wall of ice using only these two markings you’ll probably be able to defend yourself against a child’s attack. But it will take much more than that, if you’re trying to defend from one of ZenTar3Literally zen (silent) + tar (wind).’s tornadoes, for example. Those other markings you have may just grant you the resistance you need.”
“But you’re not sure,” Snow realized.
“They are your markings. No one can be sure about anything regarding them but you.”
Snow nodded, pondering again. ZaiWin could easily see it, the way his mind kept studying and analyzing his every word.
“How long did it take you to control all your markings?” he suddenly asked, catching him off guard, and ZaiWin quickly stood up, hoping to cover it up.
“A long time,” he simply replied and Snow looked up at him. He looked even taller, seen from the ground. But, somehow, right now, he didn’t look scary at all.
“How much is a long time,” he insisted, expecting him to get angry at him, but ZaiWin merely averted his gaze.
“Years,” he ambiguously replied again and crossed his arms. “If you’re done for the night, get dressed and let’s go back.”
So he wasn’t going to give him a straight answer, Snow concluded. Even though he always answered all his questions as plainly and directly as possible.
“Can we stay a bit longer?”
Those blue eyes peered down at him for an instant, as cold and piercing as always, and then looked away again.
“Do as you please,” he told him and silently made his way to one of the trees that had been caught inside his dome, leaning against it as he patiently waited.
