Ice shattered, flinging its self into the once purely white plastic wall. The wall, stained with the relentless onslaught of pucks, hockey sticks, and skates ripping, tearing, and wearing the plastic, was spattered with orange, black and blue marks as if a maniacal kindergartner rigged a "Crayola 3 pack" with c4 and had it detonate a couple of feet from the plastic. Along the bottom a four and a half inch thick plastic yellow barrier rimmed the ice. Frozen water which had built up over time, seeped between cracks, expanded them, and left the barrier rugged and worn. Ice collected near the bottom of this rim sloping from the main ice to the solid plastic. The surface, once pure, clean, transparent, now was infused with cracks, fissures, and was white from abuse. The ice leading to it had not fared much better. Slashes spread across it in no discernable way shaved and broken ice fragments lay atop the solid surface beneath. Colossal "C" cuts shattered the red line. An endless typhoon of blades raged at the rigid surface, tearing and shattering the ice, leaving square-edged canyons behind. Remnants sprang from these gouges, a man-made hailstorm roared with fragments flying in every which direction, pelting the plastic walls and skaters around it. The fragments slammed into the walls with a hundred or so dull thuds, a shotgun of frozen water. Blades slid and chattered along the surface, a dull screech emitting from the back of the skate. Shrill cuts echoed across the still water filling the ice with an incessant sound. Creaks and moans of the ice unwilling to move, alongside the hard crunches and rips of its more willing brethren duplicated the quick shred of flint against uneven steel. Though torn and shredded, the arena still possessed a dull gleam, a shine breaking through the shaved and broken ice, unbroken unused ice peeked through beneath the remnants lying atop it. Dancing shadows filled the ground moving as a group, lunging towards each other and fighting for their place. They hunted the rubber, some furiously attacking each other over it, whilst others layed back ready for when it escaped from the forerunners. Savage yet elegant, they moved with the speed and fury of a brutal animal tracking worthy prey, yet while performing feats unimaginable at even slow speeds, they twisted, spun and changed direction in the time it took to blink. Snow bounced from the backs of these figures, small blizzards following like contrails to an f-22. Salty raindrops fell from above onto the ice, trying in vain to mend the wounds caused by their creator. A shrill vibration echoed through the ice signaling the shadows to stop there hunt.
The reverberation bounded down arena. Snow and fragments of the ice vibrated and bounced atop it. The shadows slowed, and glided back to their origins along one wall of the center of the arena. On the top right corner of the ice, a wall shuddered creaked and moaned. Its smooth corner cracked along its middle point and slowly expanded. The motion started as a smooth gliding away from the ice, but caught along the rugged ice that was hidden away from view. With a crash the slabs wall broke there restraints and slid until the extent of their hinges stopped them once more from going further. Ice creaked beneath the hulk of metal that loomed just beyond the double doors. Rubber crawled onto the broken and shattered ice. The ice, now completely white had been desolated by the relentless onslaught of blades, the gentle beast of metal slowly crept onto this once-battleground. The rubber would hit first, black and riddled with crevasse's slowly turning over the ice. Behind them, the blade loomed, it stretched the width of the beast. The blade giant and metal, shone with a smile. The snow and pieces of ice left their home picked up and carried away by this hulk of machinery. The blade left only scratches in its wake canyons and holes in the dull white surface trailed behind the thing. Water slammed into the ice, burying itself in the fissures, engulfing every space. A tan thin rubber tail ran along the back of creature smoothing this water flat. It filled what was empty soothed the wounds created by the shadow beasts before it. She seeped into the cracks, and sacrificed herself for the ices beauty leaving a perfect mirror of the ice behind her. The beast slowly and relentlessly crossed the ice filling every last piece with shining gleam after it. The hulk of rubber, steel, and water eventually found itself back where it begun, in the dark, with beautiful ice behind it. Mirror-like, it shone, the beasts care would surely not be forgotten, the dancing shadows wouldn't come back this time, but as the huge plastic slates slammed behind it as it retreated back to its home, the ripping of the ice filled the arena.
Ice shattered, flinging its self into the once white plastic wall. The wall, stained with the relentless onslaught of pucks, hockey sticks, and skates ripping, tearing, and wearing the plastic...