Ice & Rainbows

Percy happily wiled his time away wandering this way and that, trying to see all that he could of what these eastern lands offered. He'd spent the last several days following the waterways that had led from the lake, heading in a generally southern direction away from an ever-intensifying northern winter. It wasn't that he minded the weather, and harsh conditions brought challenges that could be interesting, even entertaining, once one worked their way past the intrinsic risks. It was just that he'd found himself heading south, so south he went.

As more channels led into the stream it grew in size and ferocity, cutting a deep channel into the land as it insisted on falling faster than the topography itself. Before long a distant roar had his ears twitching, and the big man perked up, picking up his amble into a quick trot. Rapids? That could be fun. Not for himself, he was quick to clarify to his own inner voice, lest it start getting ideas. At least not until the days became warm once again. In the meantime, maybe he could find a small log or something to send down its course instead. Images of it bobbing and turning and thrashing among whitecaps filled his mind, so he was unreasonably disappointed when the approaching roar began to sound very little like rapids at all.

Instead Percy found himself standing on a clifftop rise, the earth before him falling away as water crashed over and down into open air. He peered cautiously over the edge to the deep pool below, where froth boiled and churned. The rising mist had caked in a thick crust of ice onto either side of the cliff face, and captured a rainbow within its midst. He settled down onto his stomach to stay and watch a while. I'll find myself some rapids another day, he reasoned, smiling to himself. This is good too.
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