Ice Skating on the Lake

A girlish giggle fills the quiet night air as a white figure darts out of the cave systems like a shot and touches down on the surface of the lake. Where the cover is weakening, the Froslass's body radiates enough cold to solidify it into sheets of sturdy, slick ice. She seems oddly excited, for an ice-type Pokémon, to be gliding––well, not on it, per se, but about three centimetres above the surface.

The late snowfall is light and melts before it hits the ground, but it is beautiful, nonetheless.

Diamond noticed the beautiful Froslass as she groomed on the banks of the lake. The Dragonair's eyes flashed. Someone prettier than her didn't deserve to be happy. Under the moonlight of nighttime, she usually thought about her sister. The sister she had always looked up to...

It made her vengeful every night. Moreso than usual, that is. Her violet-red eyes turned redder with rage as she gracefully slithered towards the Pokemon. "Excuse me," she said in a sweet voice, though it was edged with an icy tone and her eyes were slightly narrowed.

Miyuki executed a beautiful pirouette to face the newcomer, a sly little grin on her face as she slid to a stop. 'Isn't it a little dangerous for a pretty dragon like you to be sitting on ice?' she asked, holding a sharply clawed hand to her mouth and giggling behind it. Those fingers looked like they've been purposely sharpened, though the crystals on her head were jagged because they grew like that. Her head jewellery glittered in the moonlight. 'Brave. Naughty, naughty... Care to join me?'

The wings on her head fluttered with anger. "I wouldn't dare ruin my beautiful scales by dragging them across the ice," she snapped. In all honesty, however, if she hadn't been so angry, she still would have refused because she was terrified of thin ice.

Miyuki made a kind of delicate snort, the kind that shouldn't be ladylike but manages to be perfectly elegant by virtue of the ethereal echo of her voice. 'And that is why little dragons should learn how to fly,' she commented, drifting backwards above the surface of the ice. 'Then the ice wouldn't be so scary, hehe!'

A quiet growl rose in her throat. This creature managed to make such a horrid sound elegant, and was now taunting her. Every part of her wanted to attack this Froslass and put her in her place, but the tiny voice of reason in the back of her mind reminded her that Froslass were dangerous anyway. Not to mention they could be deadly to a vain Dragonair.

Miyuki regarded the Dragonair's nonresponse with smugness and drifted away, humming her ghostly song as she returned to dancing across the lake's surface. As her breath from her song hit the surface, the ice thickened from the extreme cold.

She started to hiss in anger, but the phobia of ice she wasn't willing to admit turned it into more of a fearful growl. I should wipe that smug smile right off her face! she thought with a small huff, but wasn't quite brave enough to take her on. She then decided this Pokemon was, in face, taunting her, and she let herself fly into the air before doing a graceful loop so that she was closer to ground level and over the frozen lake.

'There you go!' Miyuki said, her tone leaking condescension behind her girlish voice. 'I heard an "excuse me," but if you have nothing relevant or interesting to say... Well, I have more entertaining things to do, darlin'.' She smiled under her mask and continued in her dance across the lake, which was now showing signs of thickening ice rather than the brittle layer that was previously there. From the air, it'd be obvious that Miyuki was purposely freezing the lake.

"Listen here, Miss Ice-Skater," she snapped in her usual vain tone. "Just because I don't want to scuff up my scales doesn't mean I don't have relevant or interesting things to say!"

'Are you still talking? Oh, fine. Try me.' Miyuki glided to a stop, her hand outstretched to the side to balance–arbitrary, since she was not actually on the ice. 'My name is Miyuki. You would do well to use it.' Her eyes flashed. 'Or not. It depends on how smart you are. Some Pokémon are wise to whisper it.'

A quiet growl rose in her throat again. "Just who do you think you are, talking to me like that?!"

'Oh, I don't know.' She pretended to think about it. 'Someone who doesn't like pests. Someone who has a purpose and prefers if it isn't interrupted. Someone who lives at the top of the chain and finds herself...' she gestured to the ice, 'on familiar territory.' She steepled her hands in front of her face, looking like her patience was running dry. 'I'm still waiting for the follow-up to the "excuse me," dear.'

Remembering why she had been angry, her eyes darkened again as she made up a proper reason. "You're messing up the ice. It'll melt much sooner without you, and then I can swim again."

'Messing it up? Love, I think it's all the more beautiful.' She hovered back to admire her work, the intricate patterns frozen onto the top layer in geometric patterns. 'And you're right, it will last a bit longer. That was rather the point.'

"Some of us who actually care about maintaining their appearance would rather wash off with water that isn't freezing, though you obviously wouldn't know about keeping yourself pretty," she replied in a sickly sweet voice. It was in her nature to insult the appearance of those prettier than her.

'Oh, is that jealousy I hear?' Miyuki giggled, clever and observant as always. 'There is a river, love, just up above. I can feel the chill in my soul; there are still storms approaching, waiting to drop the last of their snow on the ground... And I know some poor little hatchling's going to wander out on the lake. Wouldn't want a babe to drown because of your inability to groom yourself without help?' She ran a clawed hand down the front of her hollow husk, like smoothing the folds of a dress. 'If you'll excuse me now, I can think of fifteen other things I'd rather do than continue this conversation~' With a musical giggle, she started to glide in the other direction, towards the river and the mountains.

Her eyes widened as she was temporarily stunned. She had figured her out!

However, between being found out and already being angry, she felt the adrenaline rush she had used to get all the time. The rush of being about to do something dangerous, knowing that she would probably get hurt, and not caring.

Logic was gone from her mind as adrenaline and rage welled up in her. With eyes flashing, she lashed out at the higher-leveled Froslass who also happened to have a type advantage with what shifted to a Dragon Rage attack.

((I forgot to add, Diamond's accuracy is really low when she's angry))

((Good to know, thanks!))

Miyuki darted sideways without looking, hearing its approach and feeling the odd heat sear past her. As if it was all part of a dance, the dodge morphed into an attack as she sent back the glowing sphere of an Ice Shard attack, her arms outstretched to apply more velocity to it.

She roared in anger she hadn't felt in years. This was from long ago, a primal desire to fight she had buried when her sister didn't recognize her. The Dragonair dodged most of the attack, but a few shards pierced her smooth scales that had been groomed to the point where they were thinned, causing her to take damage. Then, she aimed an Iron Tail at the Froslass.

'Feisty, aren't you?' Miyuki remarked with delight, catching the Iron Tail across her skirt and barely batting an eye at the pain, strong as it was. 'Your envy is delightful. You crave something you don't have, and never will get.' She inhaled deeply and blew a cold blast of air at the dragon Pokémon, the Blizzard spreading wide as it interacted with the frigid temperatures.

She let out a cry of anger and pain as her blood was chilled by the attack. Diamond felt her heart rate begin to slow, as a reptile's did in cold temperatures. With an angry growl, she unleashed another Dragon Rage, but more to warm herself up than to actually harm Miyuki. Still, she moved to hit her with the attack.