they won't know I'm missing 'til they pull me out the mystic

Under the midday sun, the cloud cover overhead was barely holding on to its reign over the skies. Thin beams of sunlight broke through, turning the pillars of ice that rose up from the lake into glittering, crystalline monoliths. As one dove hued paw collided with a loose chunk of ice, it went skittering across the lake. Rather than shattering against the arch of ice that it struck, the pointed chunk embedded itself in the larger body with a hollow thunk and was still. Intrigued by this turn of events, the titan plodded over to get a better view. Well, that certainly was something. Whiskey eyes fell upon a few more loose shards, probably the size of his paw or smaller. The giant settled himself behind one of them, taking aim at a distant pillar of gleaming ice, and smacked it with the pad of his forepaw. Away it went, skidding and spinning over the slick substrate until it collided with the target. Thunk. Same result as before. Upon further inspection, a few shards had broken free of the small projectile, but it remained intact. Now there was the question of whether or not this could be replicated in a more refined weapon. With a low hum, curiosity took hold of the hellish beast.

Scooping a few loose chunks of ice into a pile with his forepaws, he kicked and prodded them until he had assembled a sizable pile from which to choose. Now he had room for error, and could simply start over if he didn't like what was happening. If the ice was strong enough to be used as a weapon, he might be able to get away with some truly vile acts. Or, he could make use of the naturally occurring substance for hunting. Skinning an animal with a knife was one thing, but if he forgot a knife? Maybe ice could do the same job in a pinch. Now, all he would need to make this work was a heavy, flat stone. If it was anything like knapping, a hammerstone was critical. Amber eyes lifted to scan the expanse of the frozen lake around him, searching for any kind of sizable stone. When nothing was immediately obvious, he rose to his paws with a low growl of irritation. Why couldn't everything just work for him? What was the obsession with forcing him to exert energy and effort over the littlest things? Heavy steps brought the behemoth across the lake, weaving through the maze of strange, frozen pillars. They might serve as good defensive barriers, in the event of a raid or some variety of chase. A small band could hole up here and never have to worry about being caught, if they learned the land well enough to be able to lead their pursuers into ever more confusing circles and dead ends until they gave up.

Upon the snow covered shore, he managed to unearth a nice, heavy stone. It was just round enough to work perfectly for his needs, and he carefully collected it between his jaws. It wouldn't be that useful if he chipped or broke a tooth while carrying the damned thing. By the time he had returned to his pile of ice and strange ideas, a fervour had settled into his bones. He needed this to work. He was determined to make this work. Flopping heavily onto his belly, he clasped the stone in his grip and pinned a chunk of ice beneath his wrist with only one edge poking out. He struck once, a decisive blow to the edge that would have freed up a flake of stone, had he been knapping with rocks. Instead, the entire block of ice shattered. Auds pressing flat against his skull, the beast bared his fangs and snarled in frustration. Of fucking course, how could he have thought it would go any other way? Fucking idiot. Pinning a small chunk of the offending ice beneath his paw, he raked dark talons over its surface in frustration. Crimson dipped banner thumped angrily against the ice, causing blooms of bioluminescence beneath the ice with each frustrated strike.

Whenever he found the nerve to finally calm himself, and looked at the stupid ice trapped under his paw, he found himself tracing the gentle curvature of the scores that ran through the ice. Flesh never held the marks quite so beautifully, always ragged and inflamed at the edges. Wait. That was it, all he needed to do was carve the ice, instead of knapping. A self-satisfied grin played across his sanguine marked features as he slid a fresh new canvas closer. Instead of working away with the stone, he braced the chunk between his paws and slowly scraped his fangs and incisors over the edge. The mouthfuls of frigid debris weren't the most pleasant, and his tongue started to go numb almost immediately, but he was far too invested in his creation to truly care. It took a while, and he ended up swallowing most of the frost that landed on his tongue, but he finally had a haphazard blade clutched between his paws. The hilt was nothing impressive, a blocky chunk of ice meant to be gripped between his teeth. The blade, however, he was quite proud of. By lightly biting into the edges, he'd formed small serrations along each edge. It would be perfect for slicing through flesh, he mused. In a foolish bid to test the fruits of his labour, he ran the edge of the blade over the skin of his front right leg. Sure enough, it stung. However, only a few droplets of blood managed to well up from the resulting wound. Barely marking the pale grey fur of his leg. Another low growl rumbled in his chest, frustration blooming yet again. What a bunch of bullshit. Ice was obviously just something meant to trip you up in front of everyone and embarrass you at every opportunity.

~~~(WORD COUNT 999) ~~~

Tossing the makeshift weapon aside, he sighed. Just like that, his anger had flared and then snuffed itself out. Now he was just cold and tired. Ready to head back south in search of his cousin, and maybe some roughhousing with her little ones to redeem the day. The scarlet breasted goliath heaved himself to his paws, shaking the debris and frost from his pelt. Well, this had been a waste. Heavy paws carried his burly form across the lake at a steady, lumbering pace. Another, smaller sigh escaped his nostrils with a plume of mist. At least he'd gotten to see something new and exciting. Perhaps he ought to spend more time exploring the north, see what lay beyond the frozen tundras. There had to be something to see around here.

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