Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Hands of Ice
Characters: Ryou
Word Count: 500||Status: One-shot
Genre: Angst||Rated: G
Written For: Diversity Writing Challenge, A90, write for a character you've written (or feel you have written) the most for; GX Flash Bingo, #020, angst
Notes: This takes place in my Hell's Ice universe, where Ryou, not Fubuki, was abducted by Amnael and Kagemaru.
Summary: Ryou knows he has to master his power over ice, cold, and snow. Doing so isn't easy, especially when thoughts of the past like to intrude now and then.

A thin layer of ice spread over the card from where he touched it. Ryou frowned, trying to get rid of it. Nothing happened. His control over the ice wasn't what it should be; Snoww kept telling him that and now he had evidence right at his fingertips.

He put the card down on the table and pulled away from it. If he had to wait for it to melt, then so be it. It was just a common trap card, not something important like Cyber Dragon or Power Bond. But he didn't want to freeze everything that he touched.

With certain exceptions, of course. The way Broww and Scarr kept looking at him, he would not object to freezing them with a 'friendly' clap on the shoulder. His own ached still from where Broww's arrow had taken him weeks earlier. Holy Elf's skills healed him much more quickly and thoroughly than it would have been if he'd been on Earth, but he didn't forget injuries.

Ryou clenched his fists. He could feel the cool brush of his fingertips against his palms. He'd never been a warm person before but since he'd stepped from the swirl of shadows into this realm of darkness, he'd been colder than ever before. He knew he needed to master his new powers before he could return to his own world. But he didn't feel a rush to do so in order to see people again.

He knew that Shou and Fubuki, Asuka and Yuusuke, as well as his parents and Master Samejima - they probably were all worried about him. They probably thought he was dead. But he couldn't bring up any anger or fear. It didn't seem to matter. He would see them again, sooner or later.

He remembered walking to Professor Daitokuji's classroom to tell him that Fubuki wouldn't be there due to a cold. Then a whirling blizzard of confusion, ice, and snow filled his mind, only parting when he'd found himself on a hill not that far from Brron's fortress.

He'd known that he and the ice were one and that was almost all he knew. He'd struggled to remember his own name then. That revealed itself, as did bits and pieces of his life before, but never was there a sense of urgency. He didn't know how long he'd been here, but he had time to learn how to use his powers.

Ryou picked up another card, bending his will to keep the cold inside. It yearned to get out, to coat the world in a cozy layer of ice.

It crept over the card. Ryou frowned harder at it.

Gloves. I'll get gloves. It might work, at least until he could control himself better. Black gloves. He didn't like Snoww's white gear. Black suited him much better. It wouldn't be such a bad idea for a whole wardrobe makeover, either.

Fubuki would approve. He'd always had a taste for fashion.

The ice thinned a little on the card.

The End

Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.