The Creator's Escape | AnotherWorld: Original

Chapter 43 - Ice Lad

"Aha! Take that!" Yelled a cheerful voice of a man, taunting joyfully as his snowball hit one of the children.

"Hey! I'll get to you!" The young boy, bundled up in a thick scarf, attempted to launch a snowball at the man before him. The man, however, seemed unfazed by the boy's attempt. Without a single speck of snow falling from his grip, he effortlessly caught the snowball mid-air with his palm.

"That's not fair! You already gonna win this!"

"Hahah! Well, that's the fun part!" Hollered the man, his black and white side swept bangs danced smooth as silk to his movement, mixing with his deep blue hair. With a dust of blue like ice, he formed a bigger snowball, posing like the pitch in a baseball game, he yelled, "Eat snow!"

The cryokinesis let out a hearty laugh as the young boy emerged triumphantly from underneath a heap of snow, his face beaming with joy and contentment. The children, bundled up in cozy jackets, gloves, and scarves, giggled and cheered as they watched the playful scene unfold in the midst of the serene winter landscape. The snowflakes, glimmering in the sunlight, danced lightly around them.

"HAHA! Again!" The boy insisted as he threw a handful of snow at the immortal man.

"Alright!" The immortal blocked the attack, the snow halted in front of his presence before bundling up into a ball mid-air. "Who's next?!"

As he was getting ready to launch the snowball towards the group of kids, he felt a soft, gentle tap on his shoulder. The man immediately stopped his playful snowball fight with the children he was taking care of and turned around to see who was trying to grab his attention. 

"Maven." 

"Yeah? Oh hey, Blake! Sup?" Maven chirped, his golden eyes widened eagerly to see his comrade.

"I need to talk to ya, got any minute?" Blake asked, scratching his dragonlike horn.

"Awh, man. I'm having fun with the kids!" Begged Maven, his right eye had three rectangular marks that used to glow blue. However, they have turned black now as his powers have been deactivated.

"Ya, can take a break. You have been playin' with kids instead of workin'." Blake snorted, crossing his arms.

"It's my break time! Lighten up, bro?" Maven sprayed dust of snow on top of Blake's neon purple hair, coming from a cloud that lingered on top of his head. "I don't slack off."

"Yea, right. Come on." He walked away.

"Mr, Maven?" A girl with earmuffs tugged on his white shirt. "What's wrong?"

Maven rushed over to see the girl, his golden eyes fixed on the other four children who had stopped playing and were waiting for him.

"Uh... I gotta go, work called." He crouched, smiling playfully at the girl while tussling her hair.

"Awh! We just getting fun!" Shouted the boy with a green sweater. "You haven't built us an ice castle yet!"

"I know right?!" He groaned. "Uh, but that Blake guy just couldn't leave me alone." He playfully mocked his comrade, whispering to the kids gathered around him, and earning a few giggles from their warm faces. Their presence made Antarctica seem less threatening, Maven thought.

"Go, take a break with your parents and have some warm chocolate." He urged, the kids obeyed him and went to their homes. Fleeing on their little boots made the ice-bender chuckle.

As Maven stepped through the snow, the sound of his boots grinding against the frozen of the icy landscape. His sight was filled with the residents of the village, whose lives depended upon the aid of immortals like him, an ice elemental. The wooden and stone houses were buried beneath the weight of the snow, and if the impending blizzard he had foresaw were to arrive, their struggle would only worsen. He hoped against hope that his predictions were untrue.