How very alike near everyone else this Mira was. They always had so many opinions. So many self-righteous beliefs. As if they believed the world was somehow still something of a pleasant place. As if they might survive it with that singular belief that people where inherently good. How long would it truly take them to learn that nothing about the world was fair or right or just or kind? Truly he was becoming almost tired of having to teach that lesson. He got so little thanks for it even despite the fact his very 'lessons' had saved the lives of those he had taught them too more than once. Perhaps his methods were a little harsh, perhaps they believed him cruel in what he did and yet he had survived this long hadn't he? When so many others had not. Mira content to do as they all did, her words some desperate little attempt to dissuade him or irritate him or wound his pride. The stallion hardly entirely assured which, really he supposed it mattered little. Her little mind entirely flawed, Frost seeing little need not to twist it but a tad more when he was having oh so much fun watching her debate his words already. His own affinity allowing him to peer even briefly into her thoughts as some part of her reluctantly seemed to admit he was right in his own thinking. It was a shame really so was so determined to believe Raven or Tetradore or that....lanky fool of a Beta and whatever they had told her about him. Those broad, muscular shoulders rolling in something of a horse-ish shrug.

"If I used my power to heal you, would that be a declaration of war? If I use them without you knowing is that a declaration too? It is quite cute really, that way you believe everything must fit into some neat little box that you designed."

One violet eye lifted somewhere beneath that mop of white man, that pale coated stallion continuing to watch her all the same, those ears pricked forward atop his skull even despite the fashion in which he rested near placidly upon three legs. The war horse far more watchful then he truly appeared and yet- so acting as if he was entirely at ease was perhaps one of his more perfected skills. That near snappily added comment from the little wolf that he was hardly displaying his good side saw no more then a single flick of his ear in response. The stallion far more taken instead with that heat that had begun to radiate from her form. Heat hardly caused by himself. The wolf seeming perhaps as surprised as he was and yet his features remained near expressionless all the same. Mira so evidently possessing some sort of ability for heat or fire or....molten? That single ember was flung towards him, that heat searing into his own flesh, his head thrown backward in that near instinctive response to that sudden pain before his own figure readily responded, reaching for that heat in turn to lessen that burn as much as he was able. The stallion, for the first time, considering whether or not he could heat his own form enough to prevent her damaging him and yet how imprudent it would be to test such an idea in that moment. It would do no good to allow the woman to believe herself capable of harming him when it was that very wariness, that very fear, that kept her at bay now and so provided the man that upper hand. If he had learned anything from his own captors it was surely how....compelling fear could be.

That uncertainty seemed to settle upon the girl again, Frost content to keep it there as she near demanded he remove that heat he was content to pretend was his own. Allowing her to believe he held more control then he did and yet, didn't every leader do just that? That white tail lashed up at his flanks, the woman commenting upon the annoyance of his threats, his lip merely quirking in response and yet once more that ever present façade of near utter indifference seemed to persist. Her lips pulled back from her teeth then, Frost entirely aware of their power, something almost instinctive within himself disliking them intensely. After all, nature itself so demanded he be wary of those. No matter how much he might desire otherwise he still remained a horse. One so often underestimated and yet those instincts tugged at him still, no matter how hard he might try to bury them. That age-old desire to flee those teeth turning within the back of his mind, that very war horse he was bred and trained to be arguing that very idea. Those commands to stand seeming to echo within his mind even now. How loud those voices could be. That wild frustration turning within him with near all the fury of that molten heat that seemed to simmer on Mira herself. A snort at last forced from his lips as Mira seemed to further consider that veritable escape clause he had given her.

He had made that choice almost too easy for her, the surely both knew it. The girl was smart, or at least, he was inclined to believe she was beneath that rage and anger. She knew the implications of taking that deal and of rejecting it in turn. The woman surely weighing up those odds he had stacked so neatly just as he desired them. How easy it was. Yet...hot Mira was seeming to get all at once. His affinity so allowing him to near read that heat from her. The wolf seeming to grow further and further towards that inevitable eruption, a part of him almost inclined to...push, if only to see what might happen. Those words carefully chosen once more, tipping her a little more towards that edge. Her eyes very near seeming to glow. What a beautiful little weapon she would be. That sudden acceptance of their little deal seemed to be the final straw, that lava all but oozing from her. She would melt the damn rock in a minute. That small simper seemed to find his lips then, almost indefinable and yet there all the same, the woman near begging him to stop that heat she believed he was creating. Frost content to watch for a mere moment longer before his head simply nodded.

"Oh, I will think on it well. Fear not. Keep still now."

He could hardly control that power and yet he was almost assured he could lessen its hold enough to give her back that control and allow her to cool herself with but a touch of his assistance. Frost content to be merciful when people so appeased him. His own affinity was readily embraced then, shifting from that heat to that sheer, freezing cold. Frost readily beginning to draw that heat from her, allowing that chill to flow into her veins in its place, Frost largely focusing that power towards her own mind if only to bring back that clarity of thought and allow her to better grasp her own power and lessen that heat by her own hand even if she hardly knew such was the case. The stallion so aiming to pull that heat out of her faster than she could create it, leaving ice in its place- bringing her temperature further and further down. His voice, this time, far more...gentle.

"Focus upon pulling that heat back within yourself, focus on that fire becoming a dull warmth instead. Something pleasant, not uncomfortable. Picture it in your mind. Picture something cold if you must."

How easy it was to let those snowflakes begin to fall, or at least, seemingly so from the sky above. That grass seeming to frost over beneath them, that cold, frozen chill of winter surrounding them both. Frost so effortlessly combining but two of his affinities in that moment, that cold and that gift for illusions. The stallion making it appear as if they stood in the depth of winter itself. The mind after all was a powerful thing. His affinity combined with her own simple will to stop that heat and embrace that cold sure to see that goal achieved. Everything around her encouraging that lowered temperature. Frost assured it was lowering now.

"You did well. Tell me, do you like my winter forest? I was born in a place like this- almost."

He had so left out that edition of fences baring that landscape, of ropes and chains and bridles. That stallion so content to show her that very illusion in every sense of the word. That untouched landscape of Iceland as it should have been. His breath rising like smoke in that chill. Those heavy hooves pressing forward then until he stood at the base of that boulder, the closest he had come to the girl so far.

"Do you know the Ljóð ís og elds? You would like it, I think. It is a shame truly, you would have been almost useful to me if your mind was a little more open."

Those Icelandic words rolled effortlessly from him then, that accent that tainted all his words thicker in that moment and yet he offered no true translation as he simply allowed that illusion to begin to fade. That greenery returning slowly, that night air clearing until they stood within the south field once more.

"You may go now, if you desire. I am done with you."

-and just like that, his near frosted demeanour had so readily returned.



f r o s t
we built this city on broken glass