"Land Ho!" Jil Fallensand, captain of the Northern Star, gazed through the fogginess that was in perpetual residence on the southern seas. She cleared her throat to yell up to the crow's nest "Ahoy, crow's nest, can ye actually see a cursed thing through this pea soup?" "Aye, captain! 'Tis a wee island, and a bit o' clear seas ahead, just off the port bow!" "Helm correcting two degrees to port, cap'n!" "Aye, then. Make it so!" Jil quickly consulted the Phoenix compass, and found the lookout's words rang true. "All hands, GIT yer lazy arses on deck!" she bellowed, her voice easily carrying to the brig. "LAND HO!" Almost as soon as she finished, the Northern Cross entered a ring where the temperature suddenly dropped. Immediately, Jil, as well as everyone else shivered in their places. Puffs of white could be seen as the whole crew and its passengers breathed. Jil glanced up, only to see a burning sun blaze down on her ship. The whole crew was silent. Strangely enough, so was the sound of waves slapping against the side of the ship. A desert isle was at the center of the clearing. It was a desolate place, with not a speck of green anywhere. The only feature, aside from the sand was a steep cliff with a cave at the top. Shizuka voiced what was on everyone's mind "This one believes that we have arrived at the island of the Knight of Ice." -------------------- Reill grumbled as he tromped up the gravelly slope. He promptly fell down, and quickly plunged his naginata into the dirt, just before he slid the whole way back down to the shore. "What was that Reill?" hollered Kyle "I'm wondering why we aren't using our Boost engines, sir! Might make things a lot easier!" "We can't, Reill. I don't want to use them, and then overheat them in this kind of weather. Besides, Bolgan said he'd never tried testing them in conditions like this. The saltwater, the cold, plus the fact that there's a lot of sand that could get into the engines, anything could make them burn out, or worse. Better not to use them not until we have to." Kyle plunged his naginata into the dirt again, and pulled himself forward. He grunted at the exertion, as he finally made it to the top. Shizuka had merely skipped her way up, jumping lightly off large rocks, and was already inspecting the mouth of the cave. Kyle stood there, catching his breath, as Reill, Jil, and two burly sailors, each armed with a blunderbuss and cutlass each, caught up with him. "D'ye see anything, lass?" "This one sees that there are steps leading down, and this cave is composed entirely of ice. Light is let in freely through the ice. Shizuka sneezed as a puff of icy wind blew deep inside the cave "This one also sees that this one should have worn something warmer", she sniffled. "Ren, Podge, stand guard just inside the cave. I've got a bad feelin' about this," instructed Jil. As Kyle, Jil, and Reill descended, they too felt the effects of the wind. Kyle and Reill hunched deeper into their armor, while Jil pulled her coat around herself more tightly. When they reached the bottom of the steps, they found that the whole cliff they had climbed up was made entirely of ice, with dirt covering the outside. Shizuka, acting as a scout, glided across the ice effortlessly, and hopped onto the raised platform at the far end of the cave. "This one warns that the floor is extremely slippery." Shizuka noted that the rest of the group did look rather comical as they slid rather unsteadily across the ice to where she stood. She delicately hopped to the side as Reill tripped and slid the rest of the way to the raised platform on which she stood, nearly colliding with her in the process. As he regained his balance, the others began to look around. Intricately carved chests of ice lined the walls, with an altar of some sort on the platform where she they stood. Jil randomly wandered from chest to chest, admiring the carvings, until her curiosity got the best of her. She stopped in front of one such chest, and peered at it, looking for a handle or something she could get a grip on. Failing to find one, Jil drew her cutlass, and slid it into the barely perceptible crack where the lid apparently was. She pushed down hard on the handle. she thought <'tis harder than I thought it would be> As she pushed down a little harder on it, it abruptly snapped on her. She whacked her head on the lid, and fell back. Shizuka glided up behind her, and sneezed. She pressed a small unassuming button carved in the shape of a Heartstone. An audible click sounded, and the chest opened by itself on smooth hinges. Jil gawked at the chest, and shrugged her shoulders. Further searching by the others showed that weapons were the only contents of the chests. "I don't get it. I mean, this is the Knight of Ice's island, right?" asked Reill, leaning against a nearby wall. "This one believes that the Knight must be awakened," mused Shizuka -SSssssssTT........*POP* "*DAMN* you, Kirin!" Everyone whirled from their respective inspections of a chest, and drew their weapons. Jil grabbed a machete-like blade from the chest closest to her. Siegvin crouched in the middle of the chamber, both Ashura blades clutched in apparent rage. "What the *hell* do you think you're doing here?" Kyle demanded Siegvin looked up, and noticed the group assembled. "Well. I guess I can thank Kirin for at least *one* thing. If I can't get the Heartstone of Jikuu, at least I can get that pretty little stone of water from you. He slung his left blade over his shoulder, and held the other one rather casually. "You're not getting it, Siegvin. Now how the heck did you manage to get here?" Siegvin paused, "It just so turns out that I was headed for the Clocktower. Problem is, Kirin is a very hard monster to beat, let alone hit. I managed to find an opening, only to find myself sent here by a Remove spell." With that, Siegvin sprang from his crouch straight towards Kyle. Kyle gritted his teeth and set his naginata in a defensive stance, just a second before Siegvin clashed sword to his naginata blade. Siegvin pulled back and slashed at his legs, which he easily hopped. What he didn't see coming, though, was the pommel of the *other* Ashura blade crash into his face. Kyle went flying across the room. "Huh. Pushover," derided Siegvin. He casually sliced an incoming dagger in half, and deflected a shower of shurikens towards a charging Reill, causing him to stop his charge and cower, all with the same sword. "Correction. Pushovers." He began to advance on a dizzy Kyle. -Ugh. . .got. . .to. . .get. . .up, he thought. As soon as his vision cleared, he realized that it was almost completely obscured by his now-crumpled helmet. The realization jolted him back to full awareness -Shit, he just crumpled starsilver with his bare hands! A sudden jolt of pain shot through his back as he tried to stand up. He clutched his naginata in an effort to bite back the pain -No good... Siegvin didn't change his pace. "Too late, boy. Now, hand over the Heartstone, or you die." "Never, you frazzling bastard" snarled Kyle. Siegvin merely shrugged his shoulders and raised his sword. "Suit yourself." Kyle put up his naginata in a desperate effort to block. Instead, Siegvin flew across the cave, and smashed into the wall. Kyle looked at his naginata, and wondered just what Shale had done with it. Then, he noticed the gigantic fist made of ice that protruded from the wall above his head. As everyone watched, it evaporated into a light frost cloud. At this point, even Siegvin was watching. It swirled into a small patch of snow in the middle of the cave. A massive spike of ice shot up from the middle of the circle, and shattered into sharp daggers of ice-an entrance that would have made Shiva proud. Shizuka grabbed Jil by the coat and pulled her head down as one nearly hit her head. Reill cowered some more, while Kyle covered his face, his armor taking the brunt of the punishment. When the deadly shower had ceased, Jil noticed a Ryukin man stood in the column of ice's place. He was grizzled, slightly gaunt, with a good deal of snowflake-like stubble on his face. His hair was cut in a neat buzz cut, but completely white. His clothes were a monk's red robes, and his stature and face reminded her of Cid, down to a missing left arm. He looked straight at her, his cold blue eyes burned straight into her soul. After a while, she had to avert her gaze. He turned back to an entrapped Siegvin, caught in thick bands of ice. "Not today, Siegvin, nor any other day, for thou hast disgraced the knights far too long. I hath a score to settle with thee, Fallen One." He indicated his missing arm. "Well, what do you know? Yet another pushover has decided to show up. Oh well, it's just one more to the body count." "If thou truly wishest the Heartstone, then thou wilt take it from me like a man." He reached his right hand into his voluminous robes and pulled out a slightly bluish Heartstone, on the end of a golden chain. To further punctuate his challenge, an arm of ice flowed from the loose sleeve of the knight of ice's robe. A scimitar of ice coalesced into each hand. He gestured with the tip of a blade and the bands of ice encircling Siegvin flowed away from him. Siegvin stood up straight, and looked him straight into the eye. "I'll take it from you all right. You never did stand a chance against me, Hamado." Siegvin didn't even have time to bring up his swords. A fist shot from the wall behind him, propelling him straight at the knight of Ice. Siegvin got his blades up quick enough to block a whirling wall of edged, icy death. Siegvin grunted "You've improved. Besides, I thought you were the 'honorable sort', Hamado. You know, code of honor, and all that feeble stuff." "Thou has just answered thine own question, Siegvin." he answered coolly. "I was. I hath learned much from thy treachery. To kill a snake, one must strike from behind." Hamado gave Siegvin a *very* cold smile. Jil shuddered at the sight. The dance of death wore on. Siegvin began to go on the offensive. Left, left, left, left, right, right, overhead, double thrust were all foiled by a quick jab here and there, deflecting the blades *just* enough to miss. "Thou mayest not know, but Kirin did send thee here for a reason." "Oh? wha-" Siegvin was cut short by a smash to the face. He stumbled back a few steps. "What the..." "Thou knowest I can hit faster than thee. Dost thou remember this?" The man named Hamado allowed his chipped and cracked ice swords to crumble. He lifted his hands in a gesture of apparent helplessness. "I remember this. DUAL GUN-" "Not so fast, Fallen One." Jil blinked once, first seeing Siegvin wind up for his attack, and then next see the knight in behind his foe's swords, pounding away with bare fists at a helpless Siegvin. A flurry of quick punches, finished with a hard uppercut, sent Siegvin flying across the chamber. Again.