Princess Elsa of Arendelle sat in her room, perched on her bed and staring at the floor. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and holding them to her chest, and her whole body was trembling. She was only eight years old, and this was her fifth month of isolation from her little sister, Anna.
...
"Catch me!"
"Anna!"
...
Elsa shook out of the memory, closing her blue eyes and biting her lower lip, then a five-beat knock met Elsa's ears.
"Elsa?" A small child's voice asked softly. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" Elsa remained silent, shaking slightly as she clenched her eyes shut even tighter. "Okay... Bye."
/\
Grand Pabbie, leader of the trolls of the Valley of the Living Rock, sighed quietly as he watched over the projection in the air. The king and queen of Arendelle truly meant well, but Elsa was slipping further and further into despair and fear with every passing day.
"If only there was a way that I could help her." He lamented, looking down, then he blinked in surprise before looking up. Maybe there was a way. "Perhaps a spirit of the past could lend their hand…"
Grand Pabbie laid green crystals out in a circle within a moonlit clearing, frowning as he grabbed a wooden bowl and shifted it in his grey hands to mix the strange ingredients within, muttering strange words as he did so. After a few moments, he set the bowl down and raised a red crystal over it, still muttering as he closed his eyes and focused.
"... Departed spirits, I call upon you to intercede on behalf of an innocent child!" He announced gravely, and a light wind began to blow and rustle the leaves of the ancient trees surrounding the clearing. "If any among you can lend your wisdom to the salvation of a girl who can control one of the very elements of this universe with naught but her hands and will, come forward!"
Grand Pabbie snapped the crystal in half before dropping it into the wooden bowl, opening his eyes and stumbling back as the bowl and its ingredients burst into powerful orange flames. The troll watched worriedly as the flames changed colors and condensed, becoming more light than flame, until he as face to face with a white-haired man dressed in strange red robes. The man opened his eyes, seeming surprised for a moment, before his eyes narrowed.
"... My name is Avatar Roku." The man spoke, looking down at Grand Pabbie with a frown. "Who are you, and why have you summoned me?"
"I… I am Grand Pabbie, leader of the tribe of the Valley of the Living Rock, and I require the guidance of one who once possessed control over an element." The troll explained, and the man blinked. "In the nearby kingdom, Arendelle, there is a little girl in the castle who possesses a strange magic that allows her to create and manipulate ice and snow, but she is young and she cannot control it - and there is much fear as a result, especially in her. Please, sir - is there any way that you can help her, so that she will not have to live in terror? She's just a child."
"... Such power is foreign, in this land?" Roku asked, raising an eyebrow. "... There is one way I can think of in terms of being able to assist her. I will most-likely not be able to appear to her in person, but I have some living family that may be able to provide some assistance - namely my granddaughter, her brother-in-law, and my great-grandson. They have kind hearts, and great knowledge and skill that they could pass onto this child. However…" His eyes narrowed slightly. "My granddaughter's husband is power-hungry and my great-granddaughter is unstable, and the nation of our origin is not fond of those who wield any element other than fire."
"Fire?" Grand Pabbie asked, concerned, then he looked away. "... Do you believe that it would be for the best for the girl?" Roku blinked, then he looked off into the distance with a small frown.
"Allow me to observe the situation." He suggested, folding his hands. "If I believe that my family could change the course of this child's future… I shall act accordingly." A moment passed in silence as the troll and the spirit gazed at each other.
"... Will she be safe?" Grand Pabbie whispered, his expression forlorn. Roku sighed, gazing down at the troll.
"I cannot guarantee that there will be no hardship… But would you prefer that she stay in these dire circumstances that you have gone to such great lengths to save her from?" He asked, and Grand Pabbie looked down, wringing his hands. "... Can you tell me her name?"
"Elsa." The troll looked up at the spirit. "Princess Elsa, the true heir to the throne of Arendelle… And a sweet, kind little girl who has been separated from her sister and taught to live in fear of herself."
"Then, do what you believe is right." Roku suggested, and Grand Pabbie slowly nodded and removed one purple crystal from the circle before he waved his hand. Roku dissolved into red sparks, which quickly began to fly towards the castle.
/\
Elsa gazed forlornly out of her window, then she looked down at her gloved hands with a small sigh before looking up. Her mother and father stood there, watching her, and she could see the uneasiness in their eyes.
"How much longer until I can see Anna, again?" Elsa asked quietly. None of the living occupants of the room could see that they were in the presence of one who was dead. Avatar Roku stood in a corner with his hands folded beneath his robes, his eyes narrowed as he observed the scene. "My gloves… She should be safe from me now, right?"
"We don't know." The king announced, and Roku's eyes narrowed further. "Elsa, Anna nearly died the last time you played together. I think it would be fore the best if you remained in your room a little while longer, until we can be certain that your power truly is contained."
"... Alright, Papa." Elsa nodded, forcing a small smile. "I'll go over those words you taught me a few more times before bed." The king and queen nodded, also forcing smiles.
"Good girl." The queen seemed to approve as she and her husband began making their way towards the door. "Goodnight, Elsa."
"Goodnight, Mama. Goodnight, Papa." The girl gave a small wave, then she blinked as her parents cringed before looking down as they closed the door. Slowly, Elsa stood and walked over to her fireplace, turning to face it with a frown before closing her eyes. "Don't let them in, don't let them see. Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show. Be good, be good…"
Roku watched in silence as the girl spoke those same words over and over again, putting emphasis on every negative command that she was giving herself. A few minutes passed, then the girl walked over to her bed and sat down, gazing at the floor in silence before regarding her gloved hands again.
It was then that Roku left his corner and walked over to the girl, placing two fingers on her forehead. The girl barely managed to let out a faint grunt of confusion before she fell backwards onto the bed, unconscious. Roku gazed at the girl with a frown, gently resting a hand on her shoulder, then he sighed and shook his head as a wind began to blow outside the castle.
"My past lives, I require a great favor of you - but I feel as though protest against it shall be little… Let us help this child." He spoke, then his eyes began to glow. A shimmering blue light began to surround the girl, and she shifted lightly, her eyes clenching shut before she slowly curled up into a ball and hugged herself, forming her hands into fists - as if she was trying with every fiber of her being to contain the great power within her tiny body, even in her sleep. "Rest now, little one… You will need all of your strength for the trials to come."
Elsa dissolved into blue sparks as the wind blew the window open, and those blue sparks flew out the window and into the sky as Roku's eyes stopped glowing. He watched the departing sparks with a worried gaze, then he dissolved into red sparks and followed her, leaving the world that Elsa knew for another, stranger world - the world that he once called home.
/\/\/\/\
In the morning, Princess Anna of Arendelle skipped down the hallway and up to a door decorated by beautiful blue symbols. She smiled sheepishly, reaching up and knocking on the door.
"Elsa?" She asked, and there was no reply. "Okay, Elsa - I'm sorry if you're sleeping, but I'm coming in now! I wanna play!" The toddler drew an ice-pick of all things from within her skirt and began picking the lock, closing one eye and sticking her tongue out as she worked. After a few moments, the lock clicked and Anna opened the door, beaming. "Elsa? It's me, I-" Anna blinked, surprised, as she found the bedroom empty and the window open. "Elsa?"
"Anna!" A voice shouted, and the little girl looked back to see a man and a woman - her parents, King Adgar and Queen Idun - running towards her with wide eyes. It had been her father who had spoken. "What are you doing?!" Anna pointed into the room, her eyes wide.
"Papa, Elsa is-!"
"Oh, no." Idun kneeled and rested a hand on Anna's face as Adgar looked into the room. "Sweetheart, your sister is-"
"Gone." Adgar whispered, and Idun looked up in disbelief. "She's… She's gone." Idun stood and ran into the room, looking around in horror.
"Elsa? Elsa?! ELSA!" She cried out as she frantically searched. A few guards ran in, and Adgar looked back at them with narrowed eyes.
"Search the entire kingdom. Find my daughter."
"Yes, sir!" The men shouted, quickly running out again. As this was happening, Anna slowly crept into the room, and she slowly walked over to Elsa's desk and sat down on the chair, numbly looking around. Her eyes fell on something that glinted, and she blinked before picking it up.
It was a golden pendant hanging from a red ribbon, and Anna slowly ran her thumb over an image of a flame composed of three curved lines, frowning. This wasn't something that she would imagine Elsa wearing… Slowly, Anna turned the pendant over and blinked again as she saw a small inscription.
Ready?
"Ready for what?" She murmured, then she stuffed the pendent into her pocket and looked back to see her mother on the floor, sobbing as she clutched a pair of gloves and her father tried to comfort her. Anna slowly stood up and walked over to them, frowning, then she looked out the open window. "Elsa."
/\
Roku silently carried Elsa through a courtyard at the center of a large, crimson palace in the early morning. He hummed quietly, kneeling beneath a tree and gently laying the girl beneath it before standing and looking around. It had been nearly a hundred years since he had stood beside this turtle-duck pond, and he gave a small smile as he looked at it before looking down at the sleeping girl.
"Not long, now." He assured her quietly, kneeling and placing something around her neck. He stood, leaving a blue ribbon with a silver pendant with the image of a snowflake on it hanging around her neck. "This shall connect you to your sister, little one. When the time comes, you will both know what to do…" He sighed quietly, shaking his head as the sun began to rise over the palace. "My time is up… I wish you only the best, little one." With that, Roku faded away and Princess Elsa of Arendelle was alone.
A little boy ran into the courtyard, his eyes filled with tears as he stumbled and fell into a knee beneath the tree that stood by the duck-pond. He was dressed in ornate red clothes, his longer black hair tied up with a red ribbon.
"St-stupid Azula!" He shouted, clenching his fists over the fabric resting on his knees as he closed his eyes and hung his head. His shoulders shook, and he slowly sat down in a different position, hugging his knees to his chest and resting his head on them. "I-I hate her! I hate everyone!"
"Hm?" A soft, tired voice hummed, and the boy looked back with wide eyes. There was a little girl around his age laying beneath the tree, and the boy gasped as he turned around on the ground and scrambled back a little bit in his surprise. It then occurred to him that the little girl was sleeping, so he slowly crawled towards her to get a better look.
"... Huh?" The boy blinked, intrigued, then he slowly sat down and gazed at the girl, his eyes wide. He had never seen anyone like this girl - snowy-pale skin without the need of makeup, hair that looked like frost-coated gold, and her outfit was unlike anything he had ever seen - she wore a long dress of blues and purples with a jacket, along with black tights, black shoes, and white gloves while hair was in a messy braid spun with blue ribbon. "Wow…"
"Ah…" The girl cringed, curling up a little bit on herself. She was so tiny, the boy thought, around his sister's size even though she appeared to be as old as he was - three years older… He suddenly realized that the girl seemed to be in pain, and that her breathing seemed strange.
"Hey." He whispered as he pulled her into his arms, gazing at her worriedly as he gently shook her. She could have been some diplomat's daughter, and he knew he would be blamed if anything happened to her. "Hey, wake up!"
"Huh?" The girl whimpered, and she opened her eyes. They were a bright and beautiful blue, and the boy's eyes widened.
"Whoa…" He spoke, then he shook his head and frowned. "My name is Zuko. Who are you?"
"E… Elsa." The girl replied before she winced. "W-where am I?"
"You're in the courtyard, and I think you're hurt. I'm gonna try and take you to get some help, okay?" The boy asked, and the girl nodded shakily. "Don't worry, Elsa - you're gonna be okay." With that, Zuko stood and carried Elsa into the palace, running down the hallways in search of help.
And the rewrite project continues!
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