First off, to anyone who's been following me-I'M ALIVE! Sorry for being gone for, like, a year *dodges rocks and bottles*. And as you can see, this is not the fandom I usually do, but I'm gonna switch it up a bit.

To the rest of you, hi, and I'm Lunrav14. This fanfic is my first for this category, and originally, it was supposed to be just for myself. But then I got bored and wanted to see what everyone else thought. So, now I'm here. None of the original Skylanders will come in during the prologue, but please bear with me. I don't own Skylanders.

Please enjoy.

Prologue

I was born small. And I mean small. While most elves are born around one foot long, I was half that size. I wasn't weakly or sick, just small. That's been my life story ever since. I was always the shortest in the room, the one who had to look up at her peers while she stayed the size of a child. Even today, I'm no taller than three feet. It's not necessarily a bad thing, however, being small. It just becomes inconvenient at times.

"Hailey...," I called, trying to keep up with my significantly taller friend, her red hair whipping behind her. Hailey was my age, but was also a full foot taller than me with considerably longer legs. She must not have heard me, effortlessly gaining speed and putting even more distance between us. Attempting to put less distance between us, my foot caught a root and I fell to the ground, landing flat on my face. Thankfully, the thick snow broke my fall, the powdery crystals being thrown into the air by the impact. Pushing myself up, I looked around at the empty forest, the small footprints the only indicator that anyone had come through recently. Sighing, I got to my feet and slowly followed the footsteps, not bothering to try and catch up.

My name is Pixie Icela, fourteen years old and an oddity. Well, an oddity in the terms of my appearance at least. It's probably due to the fact that while my mother is a wood elf with deep green skin and bright blue hair, my father is a frost elf with blue skin and light red hair. Of course, due to the randomness of genetics, I ended up looking like neither of them in any way, shape or form.

Let me explain.

I have light green skin, the color closer to new spring shoots than the mature summer leaf green of most wood elves, with the skin around my lips tinted blue. My hair is a light turquoise, reaching the middle of my back in gentle waves. Like the average frost elf, I sport pupils and irises the color of ice in my eyes, although they are slightly pointed at the ends like a wood elf and tend to glow. My ears are disproportionate to my body, large and curved out beyond my head. And as I mentioned earlier, I'm really, really small.

See what I mean? But enough about that. Back to the story.

The pine trees loomed overhead as I made my way through the forest, the branches heavy with midwinter snow. I lived in the Cloudbreak Islands of Skylands, a section long known for its wonder and magic. Specifically, I lived in the Winter Isles region, made up of four large islands circled by dozens of smaller ones. The Frostfest mountains were toward the north, always surrounded by fierce blizzards and home to the yetis. The Boney Islands to the south, home to a wonderful outdoor museum and the location of the best fish markets in all of Cloudbreak. The Winter Keep was to the west, our stronghold against all invaders since frost elves called the Winter Isles home. The island we were on, the Ice Forest Island, was the largest island by far, full of wildlife, trees, and lots of small villages. Our capital was also located in the Ice Forest, directly in the center of the island, far from its perilous edges.

The Winter Isles were cold year round, so the ice and snow never truly melted. I don't remember the temperature ever rising above freezing. Our clothing reflected the wintery climate. I wore a high-necked, long sleeved dress that pleated into a crystal like skirt, stopping just below my knees. The fabric was as white as the surrounding snow and warmer than fur, spelled to trap in heat. My pants were blue, and according to my mother, the color of the bluebirds from her homeland. On my feet were a set of white lace up boots that stopped short of my knees, lined with soft sheep wool. Despite the cold, however, I shunned wearing a hat or gloves.

After following Hailey's footprints for some time, I began to hear the shouts of children, the laughter of young couples, and the scrape of metal upon ice. Coming to a large clearing, a large pond came into my view, frozen year round and the most popular ice skating spot in all of the Winter Isles. Hailey, already skating hand in hand with her boyfriend, spotted me on the sidelines and waved enthusiastically. I waved back, although with a little hesitation. Pecking her boyfriend on the cheek, she skated over to me, quickly turning to avoid crashing into the trees.

"Hey Pix," Hailey said, calling me by my preferred nickname. "Why don't ye come ontae the ice?"

"Um...I...I don't know," I muttered. "I'm...not sure if I want tae..." Hailey sighed and reached for my arm, giving my sleeve a light tug.

"Come on...ye promised," she pleaded. From across the pond, a shrill laugh pierced thought the air, almost certainly female and far too familiar. I tugged my arm back, backing up behind the trees, desperately trying to make sure that I couldn't be seen.

"She's here...," I said, keeping my voice down. I stiffened as a girl our age skated past, surrounded by her posse of followers. She was quite tall for a frost elf, sporting long braids and fashionable clothing, her posse dressed almost identically. The posse spotted Haily, giggling shamelessly before moving on. Hailey grimaced, sticking out her tongue at their backsides. Sighing, she stepped off the frozen pond, slipping the skates off the bottom of her boots before coming around to face me.

Hailey was a very pretty elf, with delicate blue skin, smaller pointed ears and bright ice blue eyes. She wore a cute brown dress with white leggings and sported a fur lined coat around her skinny frame. Her long red hair was held up in a high ponytail, elaborately tied with a brown cord. I suddenly found the tops of my shoes very intriguing.

"I'm sorry Hailey..." I muttered. She smiled kindly, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"It's fine, Pix. We can go somewhere else," she said. I shook my head.

"No, Oslo's here. Ye go skate with him. I'll be fine," I replied.

"Ye won't be and ye know it. Ye belong with friends," Hailey said forcefully. I smiled slightly, pushing her in sight of Oslo. He saw her and waved, motioning for her to come back onto the ice. Hailey looked at me, then looked at Oslo, her eyes continuously flickering back and forth. I nodded in his direction and she looked at me indignantly. "He's just a guy."

"Who happens tae be datin ye."

"He can come with."

"And leave me the awkward third wheel and him even more so?"

"Friends come first."

"Yes and he's yer boyFRIEND. Trust me, I'll be fine," I assured her. Hailey sighed and wrapped her arms around me, admitting defeat even though I could tell she didn't want to. It hurt me too; I really wanted to spend time with her, do something fun together. The problem was that if I didn't deliberately force her to go with Oslo, she'd loose him, and he was the first boyfriend she had ever had. One more guy than I would ever have. She broke the hug extremely reluctantly before slipping the ice skates on again.

"Fine," she said, stepping on the ice. "But ye and I are going out fer ice cream later." I smiled in reply and she glided off, the quick clicks of her skates fading away. Waiting for a few seconds after her departure, I quickly ran away from the busy pond. Up the hills and off the paths l ran, the screams growing quieter with every step before disappearing completely. I ran and ran and ran until I came upon another clearing deep in the forest, the trees and surrounding hills hiding a good sized pond. It was quiet, calm, serene. Perfect.

Taking a breath, I held my hands out, steadying my mind. Like most elves, I learned to control elements from a young age, although since I'm half frost elf and half wood elf, the scope of elements under my control is a bit wider than usual. Technically, I can control four out of the eight elements if I wish: life, fire, earth, and water. In reality, controlling more than one element is hard. Controlling even one element is hard. It's almost impossible to control all the elements that exist within a person's range. As to be expected, I focused my talents on only one element, the element that made the most sense given my surroundings: water.

With the tiniest flick of my wrist, I summoned a thin stream of water around body. Another gesture and it spiraled towards my ankles and forearms as I continued to add more liquid to the floating river. It swirled faster and faster, the water almost glowing with the infused magic, before suddenly freezing in place. When the telltale glow of magic had faded away, I was left with skates made of solid ice on the bottoms of my boots and arm guards with a slanted blade along the side, larger near my elbow and disappearing at the wrist. Satisfied with my work, I stepped out onto the frozen lake, and with a quick exhale, pushed off.

Within a few strides I had established my rhythm, zipping around the edge of the pond. The wind whipped through my hair as I picked up speed, the clicking of my skates barely heard over the air blowing past my ears. It felt so good to be skating again. As I turned the corner, the exhilaration overcame me and I let out a giddy laugh, putting on a burst of speed. The busy pond was too congested, but here, I could move as fast as I wished, with no one to see or judge my movements. It was just me and the ice.

After a few minutes of warming up, I pushed one skate hard into the ground, leaping into the air. Pulling my arms in tight, I spun as I came back down, twirling into a quick spin. I followed this with another jump, alternating spinning and jumping as I covered the entire surface of the pond. My body fell into the repeated pattern, moving unconsciously as my moves gradually got more complex. All my cares and worries fell away, all my fears and insecurities pushed away as I flew through the air, landing in a sweeping motion.

Now comfortable with the ice beneath my feet, I switched back to straight speed skating, although a touch slower than before. In a flash, I began to mimic slicing an enemy with the blades on my arms, quickly slashing and turning away. My movements became increasingly more precise, my mindset shifting from just casual skating to a complex fighting style, perfected over the years by only the greatest of frost elf warriors. As I kept slicing and moving, the years of discipline and training focused my mind to a pin point that absolutely nothing could-

CLAP!

The sound scared me clean out of my skin, my feet coming out from me as I hit the ice, landing hard on my rear end. Pain shot through my lower back and I unwillingly let out a yelp, mentally cursing for letting someone sneak up on me. The familiar scraping of turning ice skates filled the air and a gloved hand I had seen far too many times came into my vision. Sighing, I grasped it and was hauled to my feet.

"Elder," I said, more than slightly annoyed, "I don't find yer antics funny." The older man chuckled, placing a hand on my shoulder. The elder of our village was only slightly taller than myself, but very much a frost elf in both looks and garb, dressed in layers of brown fur with matching hats and gloves. His sturdy boots had ice skates just like mine attached to the bottom. The oldest man in Winter Keep, he was the wisest person I knew, my combat teacher for the past eight years. He was also the one person most likely to give me a sudden heart attack.

"Humor an old man, will ye?" he asked, his eyes twinkling. Looking into his warm eyes, all of my annoyance melted away and I nodded. The elder smiled, motioning for me to continue skating. I did, although not nearly as fast. My teacher matched my pace, the two of us slowly gliding around the pond. "Yer form looked good today. Not a single mistake that I could see," he remarked. "Oh, an' I found these yesterday by the side of the pond," he said with a small lift in his voice, pulling two knives out of his pockets. They were throwing knives, the blades made of unbreakable ice with handles of white birch. Small runes etched along the knifes wove a spell of enchantment, ones that would freeze anything they came in contact with solid, only to return to their owner as if they had never been thrown...their owner being me.

"Ah...thank ye, elder," I sheepishly replied, taking the knives out of his hands. I slipped them into the pockets on the sides of my dress, the additional weight hardly noticeable. In addition to the blades on my forearms, my fighting skills also included the use of throwing knives. I was just as good with them as I was my arm blades, giving myself a way of attacking long-range as well as close up. I had crafted them myself and I was very proud of my work. The only issue was that I had no adequate place to store them besides my pockets, which were not suitable for a teleportation location, and often got misplaced.

"Ye really need ta find someplace tae keep those," he remarked with a smile on his face. "They don't do ye much good in ma care." As we rounded a bend, my teacher's face molded into a slightly quizzical expression as he gave me a second look.

"Is something wrong elder?"

"No, nothing's wrong," he responded. "I simply thought ye were takin today off tae spend time with yer friends." I dropped my eyes, starting at my boots, slowing my glide almost to a standstill.

"Sigga was at the skatin pond," I explained in a low voice. "I panicked and I just couldn't..." I trailed off, struggling to keep the memories of my childhood suppressed. Sigga was the local mean girl, loving to pick on anyone she deemed out of her circle. It had been almost eight years since she last singled me out for torment, the elder finally stepping in after she had gone one step too far and...I couldn't even think about it without slipping into panic. She no longer even acknowledged my existence, but the trauma still remained. I still couldn't face her, still couldn't show my face in public, still too scared to say even a simple 'hello'. It was maddening, being so afraid.

My teacher remained silent for a long while, then with a sharp turn, braked at the edge of the pond. I followed suit, stepping onto the ground and removing my ice gear. The elder began to walk in no particular direction, staring into the ice-covered trees. As he came upon a tall tree, he placed one hand on its massive trunk and stared up into the sky.

"Did ye know that there was a Skylander who fought like us?" he asked. I shook my head but I wasn't surprised. Skylanders were the greatest heroes in all of Skylands, chosen specifically by Portal Masters to defend the people who inhabited the various islands. Their powers were as different as the elements they represented, each putting a new twist on their chosen path. "His name was Freeze Blade, a member of the SWAP Force. A feline, if I remember correctly," my teacher continued. "One of the best speed skaters in the history of Skylands. I never met him, of course, but from what I understand, ye could definitely be his equal."

"Thank ye elder, but I'm far from bein as good as a Skylander," I replied. His story seemed innocent enough, but his words were laced with undertones of his desire for me to take part in defending the village. He had seen my potential when I was young, finding me at this very pond years ago. I had fought against some Chompie infestations, but I had no desire to take part in an actual battle. I wasn't afraid of combat so much as afraid of what people would think of me, a small, half frost elf girl fighting against armies of cyclopses, trolls, and who knows what else. "Besides, fightin is fer warriors, fer people who enjoy fightin, fer heroes. And I'm none of those." The elder closed his eyes, his head still oriented to the sky.

"What makes a hero, Pixie?" he asked. I bit my lip, examining the ground for a few seconds. I had never really thought about what makes a hero, or a heroine if you wanted to give females a chance in the spotlight. It was just something that everyone knew, or at least, I thought I had known. Searching my memories, I compiled a list of similarities from all the stories I had heard about people who had been called heroes, trying to find their one common factor.

"Someone who is brave, someone who protects others," I finally said. My teacher smiled and opened his eyes, the irises bright with knowledge. He walked over to me and motioned around to the trees, my eyes following his hand higher into the sky.

"Long ago," he began, "Someone once asked this question of Ninjini, the greatest of all the elves and one of the Elder Elementals. As legend states, she replied with, 'Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but what we all have in common is the feeling we get in our stomach when evil is being wrought, and the urge that follows to stop it in its tracks.' True or not, her words inspired countless generations of elven warriors, including yers truly."

"But Ninjini...was Ninjini," I said. "A Giant brave enough to take on the Arkeyan army and win. I'm not like her. I'm not fearless. I'm not brave." Coming to the edge of the forest, the elder looked to the horizon, the floating islands in the distance slowly bobbing in the wind. The birds around us whistled and chattered, their songs floating through the air and past my ears.

"Bravery is not the absence of fear, Pixie," he replied. "Bravery is when the fear of doin nothin overpowers the fear of doin somethin."

"Who said that?" I inquired. My teacher chuckled a little.

"I did," he answered. Suddenly, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Do ye smell that?" he asked just as I caught the sent of wood smoke. Smoke was bad. Smoke meant something was burning. Burning meant...

"Fire..." I whispered, my feet leaping into action. Breaking free of the trees, I found myself standing on the back end of a small cliff. The Ice Forest Island was huge: it took almost two days to reach the edge from the capital, and that's if you traveled nonstop. There was snow as far as the eye could see, all the way down to our village, which rested along the eastern portion of the island, a good-sized port town. There, smoke and ash were rising from bright red flames engulfing most of the buildings, spreading faster than I could believe possible. A boom shook the forest, sending up a plume of soot and debris.

We were under attack.

"Trolls," the elder spat. "No one else would dare use explosives. I almost wish they were cyclopses. We must get to the village!" My teacher started for a path down the hill, only to cry out in pain and collapse on one knee, a hand on his backside. "Stupid back," he growled as I ran over to him. I offered him a hand, but he swatted it away irritably. "Always seizes up when I need it most." He attempted to stand, only to hiss in pain, sinking back onto the ground. I felt my heart drop into my stomach. The elder was the greatest warrior on the island and he was far from home and unable to fight. Most of our other warriors, including my parents, were out on a hunting mission, trying to get us food so late into the winter. While large, the Ice Forest Island was the least populated, the nearest village being a half a day's walk away. Our village was defenseless.

I looked back to the town, seeing the flames tearing through the houses like paper. I heard more explosions, the blast muffled by the distance. I smelled the burning wood, harsh on my sensitive nose. The flames were too far to feel, but I knew what fire felt like, the searing heat blistering skin more accustomed to frigid temperatures than hot weather. What I did feel, however, wasn't external. It was internal, and it spread as fast as the fire I saw before me. It started in my gut and rose through my body, my very skin tingling. I clenched my fists, narrowing my eyes. How dare they attack my village, I thought. How dare they attack what I loved, even if no one else realized I existed.

I was scared, from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I was small and I even though I used the water element, ice wouldn't do much use against fire. However, I was fast. If I moved quickly enough, then maybe, just maybe...I quickly scanned the hill, trying to find the fastest way down. All of the paths wound around the hill, none looking any faster than the other. My eyes flickering wildly, I finally spotted a treeless swath that led straight to the village. Perfect...except for one little detail.

What I was about to do was incredibly dangerous and possibly insane. It was more likely that I would be killing myself than helping anyone. At the same time, however, I couldn't just stand by and watch as the only home I'd ever known was burned to the ground. I wondered if this was Ninjini meant by the need to make something right, a passion deep within your soul that had only one outlet. Action.

With all deliberate speed, I twisted water all around my body, preparing myself for battle. Needing some sort of protection, I focused the water around my chest and shoulders, forming plate armor. I reformed my arm guards, and for good measure, constructed a belt around my hips with little slots for my throwing knives. Fastening them into place, I took a deep breath, the last I was sure to get for a while. The elder watched all of this in silence before shifting into a sitting position.

"Pixie, what are ye doin?" he asked. I turned my head to him, meeting his eyes with the most serious face I could muster.

"Somethin." Before I could reconsider my options, I swung around, sprinted for the edge of the cliff, and jumped.

Within a millisecond, skates were firmly planted on my feet. Summoning water as fast as I could possibly muster, I formed a sheet of ice below me, curving up into a ramp. My feet hit the slope hard, but I had no time to think as I continued to create my own path to the village, gravity soon taking over.

Yep. This was definitely a bad idea.

I zoomed down the hill, the wind bitting my exposed face and ears. My mind didn't have a chance to keep up with the speed; my body was on its own. This wasn't the first time I had performed downhill skating, I'm not completely insane, but that was on a closed course with a gentle slope. The hill I was currently on was much steeper and I was the one creating the track. With every second, my speed increased exponentially, my feet threatening to slip out from under me and to a gruesome death, until I found myself at the bottom. Even then, I couldn't stop, my speed too great to consider slowing down of my own accord.

Nearing the village, I cleared a small hill, launching myself into the air. I flew over snowbanks and shocked villagers, straight into the heart of my hometown. Thankfully, the flames had not melted the frozen ground and I landed, twirling to absorb some of the impact. Finally at a standstill, I found myself surrounded by elves of all ages, including Hailey, Oslo, Sigga, and her posse, who must have come from the skating pond. All of them were staring at me, dumbfounded. Facing me was a troll, orange skinned and carrying a stick of dynamite, and very confused judging from the expression on his face.

"Who are the hell are you?" he demanded. I put my arms up in a fighting stance, the blades facing out as I stared him down.

"I'm Pixie. Ice tae meet 'cha." Before he could respond, I pushed off, bringing my right blade into his arm. Twisting, I brought my leg around in a kick, smashing the skate into his torso. He fell to the ground, crying out, before I whipped out my knife and brought it down into his chest. The enchanted blade glowed for a spilt second before the troll's entire body was encased in a giant block of ice.

I removed the knife, sickened at what I had done. Chompies are one kind of foe. They don't have much conscious thought and aren't very smart creatures, preferring to bite everything they lay eyes on. Trolls, on the other hand, are fairly intelligent and excellent engineers. It was easier to see them as people, even if they were destructive and had a passion for war. I know I was being irrational. The troll would have tried to kill me, my friends, and everyone in sight, blowing everything to smithereens. I still felt awful. However, I had resigned myself to do whatever it took to defend my village. The blade heavy in my hand, I placed it back into my belt. One down, a couple bazillion more to go.

For the first time since I had skated into town, I could feel the eyes of my neighbors, all fixed directly on me. With all the adrenaline pumping through me, the normal urge to find myself a large barrel to hide behind was gone. Most of the kids were staring wide eyed at me, mouths gaping, mirrored by a good portion of the adults. Sigga and her group of girls were looking at me with expressions ranging from thankfulness to disbelief. Oslo seemed the least surprised out of the bunch, giving me a quick, sharp nod of thanks, which I returned with a small smile. Hailey was looking at me in complete and utter shock.

"Since when can ye do that?" she demanded. Unwilling to waste time, I started spewing out commands. Social status and reputation be damned, I was trained as a warrior and I was not about to let innocent people get hurt.

"We need tae evacuate the village. Get everyone intae the forest. Ye know the land better than the trolls. Head fer the skatin ponds," I blurted out in a single, rushed breath. Without waiting to see if anyone had listened to me, I pushed off again, skating off to a different section of town. There were trolls everywhere. From dynamite wielders to grenade throwers, there were more explosives here than I had ever seen, period. Although still haunted at what I had done to the dynamite wielding troll, I skated without hesitation into what appeared to be certain death.

Everything from there on out was a blur. Slash, twirl, kick, throw knife, repeat. I kept repeating these same motions, dodging when necessary, but mostly just taking troll after troll by surprise. They hadn't expected any resistance, much less from a small half frost elf girl, and I managed to get through mostly unscathed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I found myself face to face with their general, a large green skinned troll wielding a flamethrower.

"You've been giving us a lotta trouble, elfling," the troll sneered. "Let's see how you like this!" he shouted, turning the flamethrower on full blast. I jumped out of its path, but just barely. The heat seared my skin, my ice armor threatening to melt as the flames came within an inch of my body. Landing in a crouch, I could feel my breath coming heavily. My limbs were shaking with exhaustion. Mostly unscathed means something different to everyone. For me, mostly was the operative word. I had several cuts along my arms and legs, all shallow, and burns on my torso where a blast had caught me off guard. Nothing was life threatening, but I was new to the art of battle, and I knew I was on my last legs.

The troll general knew it too. He swung the flamethrower in a large arc, the flames licking the frozen ground and melting the ice. From my crouch, I quickly dashed across the remaining ice, but not before a wave of intense heat washed over me. I felt the tell-tale sign of magic too late and my ice armor instantly melted. Without the skates, I stumbled to the ground, my knives clattering beside me. The troll general marched up to me, grabbing me by my collar and yanking me to his eye level.

"You've got spunk. I'll give ya that, elfling. You'd make a good ally," he commented, bringing a knife out of his pocket. In a fit of desperation, I kicked his stomach with as much force as I could muster, although I wish I could've aimed lower. He didn't even blink as he raised the knife to my throat. "But you've caused me too much trouble."

THUNK.

The troll general's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. His grip on me loosened and I dropped to the ground as he fell sideways, his eyes glazed over. Snatching my throwing knives, I scrambled away from the dead troll. Embedded in his back were two hunting daggers. Looking up, two elves came into my vision. One was a frost elf male, with light red hair and eyes the color of ice, unusual for an elf born of the Winter Isles. The other was a wood elf female, her hair as blue as the ocean with glowing featureless eyes and tattoos spiraling from the corners of her eyes. Both were wearing hunting gear and looked as if they had sprinted across the entire island to get there.

"Maw...Da," I gasped as they ran over. My mother threw her arms around me, my father not too far behind.

"Pixie...oh, my little girl," my mother whispered.

"It's okay. Daddy's got ye."

"I thought the hunt wasn't supposed tae be back before tomorrow," I whispered.

"So did we," my father said in a low tone. "We had a good hunt and decided tae head back early."

"Let us be thankful we did," my mother added.

"Maw...Da?"

"Yes, Pixie?" my mom asked.

"Ye're huggin my burns." My parents quickly retracted their arms, then took a good look at the condition I was in.

"By the Ancients," my father swore. "Ye look like ye've been through a war."

"Considering that yer daughter single handedly took on an army of trolls, I'd say she did." Turning around, we came to face the mayor of our village, a older woman by the name of Ofelia, flanked by some senior members. They walked into the plaza, closely followed by other warriors and a few villagers. With the help of my parents, I rose to my feet. "That was quite an impressive performance. Tell me, Pixie. How long have ye been able tae fight?"

"Since...since I was six years old," I responded.

"Who taught ye?"

"That would be me," a voice said. The crowd parted to reveal the elder, slightly limping but otherwise alive and well. "Sorry fer not coming tae help, but ma back gave out at the absolute worse time. I'm not as young as I used tae be. Seems everything turned out fine though." Ofelia smiled a little, turning back to me.

"Well, it seems we are all fortunate tae have had such a competent warrior in our midst. Otherwise, our casualties would have been much greater. On behalf of us all, I thank you, Pixie, fer yer heroic acts today."

"It...it is no trouble, Ms. Ofelia," I replied.

"Have you ever considered joinin the village guard? I know ye are still quite young, but we could use a warrior such as yerself," Ofelia continued. My heart leaped into my chest. The village guard! They were made up of our greatest warriors, hand picked from only the best. Several of our members had gone on to serve at the Winter Keep, the capital, or even the Frost Elf Guard. It was the highest honor I could get at my level.

I looked around at my neighbors. The looks of sympathy and of simple recognition had been replaced with looks of pride. Suddenly, I wasn't being overlooked. People knew what I could do, but they didn't judge me. The villagers were seeing me not as a small, helpless girl, but as a warrior, as someone they could count on. It was...nice.

"I...I would be honored, Ms. Ofelia," I declared.

"Then Ms-"

"Wait," my mother interjected. At first, I was fearful she would refuse to let me become a warrior, but instead of looking worried, my mother beamed with pride. "Among my people, it is traditional to give a child a new name when they have proven themselves adults. As my daughter will now be serving in the village guard, I think she deserves a more mature name." Turning to me, my mother held my shoulders. "I named you Pixie because you were the little drop of fairy magic in my life. However, it is the name of a child, and seeing what you have done today, you deserve a name worthy of a woman. Do you have a name in mind, or would you like me to choose?" I smiled at my mother.

"Ye chose my name once. I trust ye to chose it again." My mother returned my smile.

"What do you think of Icicle?"

"Icicle..." I rolled the name over my tongue a few times. Unusual, not a typical elvish name, but, then again, I wasn't a typical elf. "I like it."

"Then from this day forth, you shall be known as Icicle," my mother declared.

"And also from this day forward, ye shall be known as a member of the village guard," Ofelia added. "Let it be so!"

"Let it be so!" the village responded with a resounding shout. Before I knew what had happened, everyone was clapping and cheering. Hailey burst through the crowd, throwing her arms around me. I looked around, seeing the smiling faces of all my neighbors and peers. Even Sigga was smiling a little.

So this is who Icicle is.

I like her.

And yes, I am aware of how long that was. The other ones will be shorter. Promise.

Please review!