#basically she has ice magic but also tritons suck at temperature

[ryahisbored]

“Do it again.”

“I ca… can’t…”

“You’re doing it until it runs out or you physically can’t. Now,” He kicked the bucket towards her, “freeze it again.”

Ari wished she could shiver to warm herself up, her entire body was frozen light blue and the moisture on her skin was frozen. The room was freezing. They were far enough under the ground that it was a cool cave but full of ice and cold water to cool it down further. She almost guaranteed there was magic at play as well, but she didn’t want to think about who was chained up somewhere else to make that happen. The triton hugged herself, trying to keep some kind of warmth in so she could stay conscious, but it wasn’t working. 

The chain around her wrists was yanked forward until her hands were on the bucket again. “Freeze it,” the man said coldly. She finally noticed the bat in his hand, and focused her hands cold once again, fingertips barely touching the surface of the water. 

After a minute, once the water was frozen again and she peeled a bit of skin off the surface of the ice, her body was colder than it had been since the blizzard. She could barely see or think through how painful everything felt. Panic welled up in her chest and tears froze on her face — she just wanted to do better than last time. The bucket was taken away and another full of water was placed in front of her. 

“No… no more… I can’t—” The man took the bat and quickly smashed the chain into the ground, sending a shock of pain and awful vibration up her arms. Her brain couldn’t even process what had happened fast enough, and her groan of pain was delayed. A bucket of ice and cold water was thrown over her back. The room started to blur together. 

“Again.”

Ari wasn’t going to fight anymore, but she was going to fight to stay awake. She owed herself that, even if it was just practice for next winter. Cold rushed fast this time, freezing the water quickly and bringing that old pain into her chest. She yanked away from the water and curled in on herself again. The pain built, and she could barely see another bucket placed in front of her before pain shot through her head and everything went black.