Mirroring

Makura

"The Mirroring Ceremony..." As the words left Makura's lips, a puffy, ice cloud formed. "It's... cold." Makura hoped nobody had heard that. That would be embarrassing. She'd been planning her first words when she started the Mirroring Ceremony, and she'd planned on saying something heroic like, I'll do whatever I can to complete this! Or even something like, I'm not afraid! But she'd been too surprised to even remember what to say. She had been expecting something indoors, or at least... not like this. Not in the wild.

Big, snow capped mountains circled the snowy patch she was standing on, and large, soft grey clouds covered the sky, making it impossible to know whether it was night or day. Fog was swirling around the mountains like a tight scarf. It was a mystical sight, but still... It looked challenging for Makura.

"Not what you expected, huh?"

Makura whirled around, her mouth open to answer, before she found the boy her age sprawled across the snow, his brown and blonde hair filled with flakes of snow, making him look like he had a severe case of dandruff. Knowing him, it was probably what he'd been going for.

"Keisuke," She cringed, horrified she'd answered. The only way to not get in a bigger trouble than she already was was to ignore him. She can't believe her old rival was here in her Mirroring Ceremony with her.

The boy sat up, looking pleased at her reaction. "Hiya, Maki! Miss me? And call me Kei if you could, please," he said in mock sincerity. His personality hasn't changed.
Makura glared at him, and crossed her arms. She wanted to stay silent, so she swapped her words for a punch.

The frost covered boy gave an exaggerated gasp before falling into the snow in a heap. Makura did not smile.

Makura was half ready to turn back and try to find her own way there, but she was already lost. And she was also pretty sure the people testing her wouldn't be so pleased if she was late. After all, she only had 24 hours to complete the Ceremony.

"How do I get there?" Makura asked, with half a sigh and half a groan, guessing Keisuke is the only person that might know.

Kei jumped back onto his feet and batted his eyelashes. "Sorry, the wind is so loud! What did you say?"

"How do I get there?" Makura raised her voice, feeling her face burn in humiliation.

Kei looked at her with his light hazel eyes, which looked as though they were dancing. "What was that?"

"How. Do. I. Get. There." She gritted her teeth so hard she swore she heard a cracking sound, before finally adding, "PLEASE." And scowled under her breath.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Kei looked so smug, Makura considered finding a rock and hitting it over his head. Though that would probably just get her in more trouble, which was exactly what Makura was afraid of.

Kei recited, "You need to walk into the highest mountain, see if you can stand the cold. Find the mirror shards, to snatch something something something," Kei ended. "I forgot the rest."

Makura was so close to punching him now. "You forgot?" She asked with a calmness she didn't know she possessed as her whole head was full of a roaring anger.

Kei shrugged. "It was really boring."

"Seriously?! Can someone else please help! This isn't fair!" She screamed into the wind, and her voice echoed against the high mountains. But no one answered.

"I hate you!" She growled at Keisuke, turning, then stomped away towards the nearest mountain. "Why are you even here? This is my Mirroring Ceremony. It isn't a joke!"