Two elements together

Prologue

A tall female ice apparition with turquoise hair stared at the young, light blue haired girl who stood in front of her as she speaks in a calm tone, "The elders want her back before sundown, alright?" The young girl nodded her head, making the woman sigh before turning to a smiling turquoise haired girl, who looked desperate to go play with her strange best friend, and the woman moved to let the two girls run off into a near by forest to play.

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"Yukina look the animals have come out to play with us!" Cheered the light blue haired girl to the turquoise girl, who was finishing off the snowman they had built together. "Oh really!?" Yukina asked with excitement and ran towards her blue haired friend, who was patting a fox whilst holding a bunny in her arms. "Oh Umiko, please let me have a turn with the animals." Yukina begged her until a small bird landed on her little finger, making Umiko let go of the bunny and start giggling at the animals who are fascinated by Yukina. "They seem to prefer you over me now, Yukina." Umiko says as she continues to giggle.

Unknown to the two girls, a boy with spiky black hair and scarlet eyes, was watching the two girls laugh and play but to his confusion, he couldn't keep his eyes off of the blue haired girl sitting beside the young girl who possessed the same scarlet eyes as he. He continued to lean forward to get a better look at the young girl, but in doing so he had made the snow on the tree branch he was on fall and hit the ground beside the two girls. When he realising his mistake he hid on a different tree before the two girls looked at the tree he was previously on, with curiosity. "What was that?" Yukina asked with concern in her voice. Umiko places her hand in the snow and narrowed her eyes for a small moment, before relaxing and looking over to her friend with a small smile on her face as she says, "Nothing to worry about, Yukina. Come now, let's have more fun."

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Umiko noticed that the sun had almost set and plunged the world into night, causing her to put an end to the fun that herself and Yukina were experiencing before the two began walking back to Yukina's home. They didn't giggle or speak during this, unlike how they were when they left the girl's home as the two were sad that their fun had ended. Neither of the two were aware that they were being followed. 

When they arrived the elders took Yukina, not letting her say bye to Umiko as they left Umiko alone in the snow. She sighed at these actions despite expecting it, before she then turns to begin her walk back into the forest in search of a lake. She soon had found a frozen lake that laid in the forest reflecting the twilight hue above it. Umiko kneels on the edge of it and looks down into the ice to see a blurry reflection of herself with pained eyes, unaware that someone was nearby.

This someone is the boy that had been following her and Yukina earlier that day. He was perched on a nearby branch watching her closely, until he hears snow crunching elsewhere. His eyes search the perimeter to locate the source of the noise, for his eyes to land on a green demon with sharp claws trying to sneak up on him. The demon pounces from the ground with it's claws stretched upwards towards the branch that the boy occupies said branch. The boy leans backwards in order to get away from the creature, causing both him and the demon to fall and land near the now shocked and scared Umiko, who witness them crash into the ground and roll onto the frozen lake.

The boy pulled out his katana whilst trying to make sure he doesn't slip on the slippery surface as he and the demon start fighting. Umiko remained on the edge of the lake watching in shock and uncertainty as she didn't know what actions to take or who should she even side with, this was her state until she noticed a certain stone that was tied to a string around his neck. Seeing this made her realise that it was an ice maiden's tear and the boy must have been the offspring of an ice maiden who fell in love with a demon she wasn't supposed to. After coming to this conclusion and seeing the boy covered in deep cuts near vital parts of his body, Umiko placed her hands on the frozen lake and wills the ice to turn back into liquid everywhere but where the boy was standing. This made the deadly demon fall into the lake, and with haste she froze the lake again and ran towards the boy as he was about to collapse from exhaustion. Umiko was about to ask if he was alright until the demon broke through the ice and pounced at the two children, causing the girl to scream and the last thing the boy saw before being consumed by slumber was the demons body covered in sharp shards of solid ice.

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The boy suddenly opened his scarlet eyes when he felt the familiar warmth of a nearby fire, to which once seeing caused him to dart his eyes around him in order to take in his surroundings. He was in a cave it seemed instead of being by or on a frozen lake. He tilts his head forward to see the pure white cloak covering acting as a blanket for his body, which lays on the ground. When relaxing his head and deciding to turn it to the side in order to face the fire, he notices the blue haired girl eying him from across the fire. His ruby eyes seem to lock with her electric blue eyes. "I see you're awake and all healed up." Umiko said, causing him to look at her in confusion and when Umiko noticed this she continued, "My name is Umiko. You were injured and I healed you after accidently killing that mean creature, who attacked you for that tear that you have around your neck." Her words seem to have scared him, as he jumped up and points his unsheathed katana towards Umiko, but she doesn't flinch. The boy then noticed something hanging around her neck thanks to a shine catching his eye. He looks to her neck and sees a luminous blue tear-shaped diamond dangling around her neck and resting on her chest. This made him realise she truly means him no harm as he had heard rumours of a child with such a necklace having tremendous power, but would never hurt anyone unless they killed mercilessly.

He put his katana away and looked away from her before he mumbled, "My name is Hiei." Umiko smiled and stood up before asking, "Why were you spying on me and my friend?" It seemed that Umiko did in fact notice him, but put up an act of being completely unawares whenever he was watching them. This realisation makes him decide to hold his tongue. But his silence ended with him releasing a gasp as he felt a presence invading his mind, and Umiko confirmed this to be so by saying, "Because Yukina is your twin...and you want to keep her safe from danger." The feeling of invasion had left him as Umiko decided to stand up and wear a determined look and said, "Well if that is the case, let's be allies. I know you view friends to be for the weak, so we will be allies. Whenever I meet up with you, I will gladly answer any of your questions you have about her." 

Hiei finally processed everything that had just occurred and that she somehow knew things about him that only he knows, making him narrow his eyes and ask, "How did you do that?" She giggled and makes her way to the cave's mouth as she said, "It's a secret." This makes him say, "Then I agree to your terms, but only so that I can uncover this secret." Umiko released another giggle and looked back at him and replied, "Whatever you say." And with that she disappears from his sight.

Hello fellow stars, some of you already are aware that this book has already been published years ago and was still being updated until one day I had announced the book was going to be unpublished so it can be edited. I hope these edits are acceptable or good for those of you who have been generously patient with me. Also the cover above was generated by AI when describing Umiko's new look, and a friend of mine edited the image to have the background the way it is. Enjoy, till next time 🙋‍♀️