Birth of a Glaceon

It had been well over ten deep cold winters, going on the eleventh now, since Raiyoko had been found by Old Rennon. He had no memory before Rennon saved him from freezing to death out here. Raiyoko had been found wandering through the deep snows, a bloody head wound that had robbed him of memory. Chances were pretty good that he would never recover them. Not that that bothered the Eevee one bit! He was very happy living with Old Rennon. Old Rennon was a stubborn and strong old Glaceon that had been living out here on his own for the last forty years, or so he'd told Raiyoko. His long blue hair was more silver these days. Rai was jealous of his master, he didn't feel the cold like his young apprentice did.
For the last three years, Rai had been going out on his own, searching for the illusive ice rock that would help him to evolve into a Glaceon as well. If he could do that, he could do more to help the old-timer. Ren hadn't been looking so good lately, and Rai was determined more than ever to find the stone, because then he could go out hunting for longer preiods of time.
Rai pulled his fur-lined coat up over his numb and aching ears. Even the heavy fur around them didn't prevent the chilled wind from sapping all of their heat. He was stronger this year, had been learning all his fighting from Rennon. Ren had faith in him. "I'm not giving up!" he muttered to himself and pulled off his mittens, breathing into his hands and slapping them together and rubbing them hard together to generate more warmth. Warmer, he stuffed them back into the mitts that had ice crusted onto them.
Darkness was falling swiftly, as it always did at this time of year, but Rai had no plans returning before he'd finally evolved. He felt it differently this time. He knew somehow that this time, he could do it, if he could press forward far enough.
He was afraid, though. He had never stayed out this long before. This was his third day out here, searching for the stone, and the blizzard was only getting worse, and his food was getting low.
Low? Nonexistent now, he realized as he searched for more of the jerky in his pack and couldn't find any.
He looked around and sighed. He had no choice. If he didn't find this rock by tomorrow he would probably die out here in the ice and snow.
This time, Rai didn't stop to make camp, he kept going.
It could have been minutes, but it felt like hours and days and weeks before he felt something in the air. It was like some sort of music on the wind.
Rai lowered his hood, ears standing on end with the aid of his hands against the wind blowing against them. Yes, something in the wind. He couldn't tell what it was, but there was something out there, and it felt like it was calling to him.
He felt an excitement beginning to build inside of him, as though this was the thing he'd been searching for, not just for these past few years, but all of his life. The thing that had drawn into the snow alone. A siren song.
Despite the fact that his eyes felt cold and his nose had gone numb long ago and he was quit shaking from the cold, he rushed head long until he suddenly fell head long out of the line of trees into a clearing that had a cold glowing, pulsing, clear blue light flowed off of the rock formation before him.
He'd fallen because there was suddenly no more wind when he'd passed the clearing of creaking frozen tree limbs. He wiped the snow from his face and went to the stone. It was so cold in the space, even though there was no more wind. His face felt almost instantly frozen, and his ears ached, even his jaw did.
It made him so very tired. But he knew if he laid down here he was done for.
Stiffly, he made his way over to the stone, it's light pulsing in his brown eyes. He could feel it, hear it, smell it. It smelled like clean pure snow, like water from a glacier, like the frost covering the trees.
Despite how cold it was, he pulled off his mittens and dropped his jacket. He wore a wrap-type shirt that had no sleeves. He felt the cold like needles dipping into his skin, it was painful and so cold it felt like fire consuming him, but he went forward anyways and stretched out a hand he could no longer feel. Both of his hands seemed to suddenly be pulled onto it, and it burned beneath his grip like a cold fire. And it hurt.
It was white-hot agony through his hands, up his arms and touching inside of him, and would have made him scream out if his gaze hadn't been sucked in as well, and his lips practically frozen together, his jaw locked.
As it reached the point where he was certain he would be frozen to it and die right there, it touched something inside of him and the cold melted into a warmth that filled him where the cold had been. The light flared up, filling his eyes and seemed to burn his body up, filling it with so much energy, he couldn't contain it and it spilled out of him, remaking him, and he could feel the power of ice within his body, shattering his cells then forming them up again and it was the strangest sensation.
No, he had never thought becoming a Glaceon would be easy, but Rai had never imagined it would feel like this.
When the light dimmed back down into it's normal pulsing, he felt a release, as it let him go and his hands came free.
Rai no longer felt cold. It felt like cool spring day. As he looked over himself, he felt the strength inside of him, the power like a cold hard spring kept at bay beneath his skin. It was an incredible feeling! His dark hair fell over his shoulder- no, no longer dark, but a shade of blue! "This....THIS IS AMAZING!" he leapt up into the air in enthusiastic joy. He jumped higher than he could before his evolution. His bangs were dark still, but blue now instead of that dark brown, which he'd seen as red.
He grabbed up his jacket and fallen mittens and rushed out of the area. The blizzard had calmed down while he'd been in there, and it was even warmer out here that he didn't bother to put the jacket back on. He could see easily through the swirling snow, but he was harder to see. He moved more silent and sure footed through the snow than he ever had in his life.
His master would be so excited! He couldn't wait to show him!
It took Rai only a day to get back home, despite his perilous trek to get to the Ice Rock. "Rennon! Master Rennon! Look! I did it! I finally found it! I'm like you now! Master!" he cried out as he got close. But Old Rennon didn't come out of their cave dwelling.
Rai went inside, pushing the sturdy wooden door in and steping in. The fire was out, which was unusual, because even a Glaceon needed heat, even if not as much, and fire was important for cooking, for a light source, many things. "Ren? Old Ren come on! What happened to the fire?"
There was a chill inside that had very little to do with the fire being out. It seemed like it had only been out for a few hours at the most. He turned towards Rennon's pallet and gently shook the old man. But there was a hardness to him. Rai turned Ren over, and his face was still, eyes closed, as though he were sleeping, but it was painfully obvious to Rai that Ren was not sleeping. His chest did not move, the life that had been in his body was gone. Ren was no more. His greatest friend, only ally, mentor, and parent, was gone. And by the feel of it, it hadn't been more than a day.
"Ren....Ren why?" he sobbed softly, crystal like tears falling down his face and splintering ice chips where they landed as he pulled his mentor off the bed and hugged him fiercely against his shoulder.
It took Raiyoko most of the day to get the fire going, to wrap his mentors body up in one of the blankets and find a suitable place to scrape the snow away down to the bare ground. He gathered many rocks and placed them over his friends body.
It would take many days before Rai could work up the desire to keep himself going and alive. It wasn't until a trader arrived that Rai felt like living again, that he managed to get himself up and go and hunt, to make items to trade for food that he could not get himself and tools he couldn't make. He could trade his rough supplies of metals and precious stones for good foods, like honey and milk and greens. He felt like he had to keep going, because otherwise his good mentor's sacrifices in caring for him would all have been in vane.