*FOR REQUESTS SET UP*
Link for dA: xxscarletxrosexx.
deviantart.
com/art/An-Ungodly-Hour-of-Love-467371082
(c) Based on The Hunger Games
(c) Elsa belongs to Disney's "Frozen"
(c) Syndrome belongs to Disney's "The Incredibles"
(c) Jack Frost & Pitch Black belongs to Dreamwork's "Rise of the Guardian"
(c) Written by XxScarletxRosexX
Summary:
Elsa's head is the trophy, and she knows that she can't trust anyone. But for some reason, an opposing district member, one with silver hair and mischievous blue eyes, has confessed his feelings for her?
Requested by: Foreverdelighted
Trust no one, Elsa. Your head is their prize.
The booming voice startled the young woman awake with a violent shudder. The crisp foliage broke her fall with a raked crunch as she pushed and fought the vivid hunter from her unconsciousness. When her mind finally registered her whereabouts and her current situation, all activities fell still with a crunchy plop.
The last she recalled were the gathering tributes awaiting for her crystalized walls to collapse. She was fortunate, but at the same time she was not. The arena was both her comrade and her opponent, depending on its mercurial change of weather. They were treacherous, ranging from a blazing desert to the frigid sub-zero degrees. From hurricanes and typhoons to tornados and earthquakes.
She was lucky to overcome these life threatening hurdles, but the exchange for her survival had cost her innocence. Killing was not her nature, nor was it something she would ever opt for regardless of the situation. But to be a sitting duck inside her crystalized walls until the weather changed left her to settle on that option. She was beyond fatigue emotionally, physically, and mentally. Keeping her sanity in check became a hassle rather than a simple promise to Kristoff. He knew this was what the council had wanted, what President Black wanted. It was the burning hatred towards that man that kept her together so far, that motivated her to keep moving forward and fight. She was the prize after all, her abilities were a threat for his order.
So what could she possibly do in this situation? Her survival kit served useless with only emergency food packs, a knife, a lighter, and a first aid kit. Her powers were her last resort, and something she vowed to never use on another human being. The clock was ticking and her walls were beginning to crack from the change of rising heat wave. The odds were on her side the moment the answer fell from the sky; from viewers who supported her from a different district.
Be careful when you open it.
—S
The note stated. Hesitantly, Elsa observed the metallic sphere and gently rocked it in her arms for a sign or a sound. When she rocked it again, she heard it—a small glub, the sound of a liquid crashing to its container. The guttural sound was soft to her relief, safe from the ears of her camping enemies—one especially in particular. A snow haired boy with electric cerulean eyes was the closest to her crystalized walls. He had a habit of finding her when she least expected it. He held no malice for her by the way he openly flirted with her throughout the games, but all had dissipated when he had appeared before her with the other districts. She thanked herself for her wise decision to stay skeptical and keeping her distance, but a part of her from deep within throbbed for exposing his true nature.
His back was towards her during the early dawning hours, his sleeping posture read troubled by the way he hugged his long legs to his chest. His staff lied in front of him with the curved head towering over tousled ivory locks.
Elsa rocked the ball once more whilst digging into her memory where she had recalled hearing such a sound before. The pressure of her crumbling and dissipating walls distracted her train of thought when a trailing droplet caught her attention. With short idling interest, she observed the racing droplet trail down and overtook a bystanding droplet on its path and become a larger mass until it was huge and quick enough to race to the ground. It was then she remembered the weapon. Initially invented as a source of security but now a lethal weapon when not deactivated in time. Unfortunately, it was only the inventor who knew how to destroy such a complex device, thus district members who were swallowed up by the goo-like balloon would suffocate to death. According to Kristoff, it was a rare present to receive from any viewer due to its expensive price. That meant she could only receive it from two people: President Black or the inventor himself, Syndrome.
An idea quickly formulated in Elsa's mind with the small parcel, she knew what to do at this point. She had no time to waste and her powers were limited when the heat rolled by the hour. She had one shot and her timing had to be perfectly executed. If she was too fast, her sweaty palms would miss the opening the case and the weapon would roll into their hands. But if she was too slow, she would share the same fate.
Standing to her feet, Elsa held the ball with her left and tightened her hold on the right. With a strained gulp, she began to turn the top half with increasing strength. The moment a hiss of white smoke rolled out of the container, Elsa tossed the silver sphere into the air and recreated a dome just above her head. The top half of the sphere flew off, bouncing cacophonously over her melting dome, and slid towards the sleeping snow haired figure, while the other half tossed the exposed growing obsidian blobs towards the sleeping district members. The action startled them awake with piercing screams. Each member carried at least ten blobs from back to front. When they had called the others to their rescue, they found themselves stuck together, with the multiplying blobs growing bigger until both parties suffocated. Other member, in their panicked state, assumed running as their only option to escape but due to its sticky and heavy composition, the individuals also suffocated from loss of breath and collapsing face first to the ground.
Ten minutes passed, and Elsa was exposed to the blistering heat. No signs of surviving district members were in sight and the several sounds of cannons confirmed that she had won this battle with a clean victory. With her diminishing strength, Elsa created an icy path to take her down to the forest where she had spotted a lake during her first day in the arena. When she was far away from that dark pond, she had blacked out. It was sunset now when she had came around.
Staring at her reflection at the lake, Elsa took a moment for a full body assessment. The tight bun on her hair fell apart, with miscellaneous locks flying about from each and every direction. Giving up on its pristine look Elsa took it down, allowing her long tresses to tumble down in messy, but graceful waves. When she glanced at her reflection again, she noticed a red cut just beneath her left eye. She had expected to leave the field unscathed, but she assumed her black out towards the pond might have done something to cause the gash. She recalled carrying the dark green backpack along with her, but it was nowhere in sight. A chill ran down her spine when she grasped a conclusion: she was not alone.
Squatting down, Elsa strained her ears to hear for any signs of intruders. One in particular came directly behind her. With nothing armed on her or anything to hide in, Elsa stood to a crouch, ready to attack defensively when the time arrived. Suddenly the crisping sound came to a halt. Automatically, the young blonde assumed that the individual had spotted her and was waiting for her to make her move. Just to be cautious, the young woman waved her arms to recreate another dome, when something attacked her from the side.
She struggled and wriggled with as much force as she could, but the attacker was too strong and held her grounded.
"Let me go!" she demanded.
"No." The reply was stern, but not threatening. "Not until you believe me."
She knew this voice. She has heard it multiple times throughout their encounters. When she finally stopped fighting him, she looked up to meet the same pair of azure, innocent eyes.
"I'd rather die," Elsa spat venomously.
"Then all my efforts would amount to waste then," he hissed.
"What effort? Planning to kill me?!" she exclaimed, "If you want me to believe that you're the enemy, then you're doing a hell of a good job at it!"
"PROTECTING YOU, DAMNIT!" he shouted out
"Oh yeah," Elsa carried on sarcastically, "bringing other districts members who are after my head is the perfect protection!"
"Listen to me, woman!" he demanded.
"Over my dead body!"
"A dead woman can't listen!"
"What the hell is it then?"
"I LOVE YOU!"
That shut the woman up beneath him for a split moment.
"Oh, you think you're funny, huh?" the platinum blond began to shake her head vigorously. "You think a single declaration of love will win any woman's trust?!"
"If not, then I know this will."
The young man brought his lips and crushed them over his victim's lips with great fervor. It was alien like, being her first kiss, but it wasn't disgusting like she had always imagined. It was strangely pleasant, despite being unsure of what to do. Then she felt his hands loosen from one of her hands and brought up to cup her face. It was the perfect time to push him away and escape, but instead she was drowning in the pleasant sensation. She was suddenly kissing him back with as much anticipation. When he had pulled away, with only their nose touching and labored breaths exchanged between them, Elsa found herself staring into the same pool of sapphire eyes with a wave of hesitancy in her grudge against him. Only a single word was uttered to express the wave of swirling emotions.
"Why?"
"I wasn't kidding when I said I love you, ya know?" he replied softly, rubbing his nose against her.
"Why… should I trust you?" she whispered.
"I brought you here myself," he answered. "you may have thought you escaped the scene quickly, but you knocked out just on the outskirts of the forest. And I'm very aware of your dehydrated state inside that tent of yours. Unfortunately," his hands softly brushed beneath the stinging wound, "I couldn't protect you unscathed when you tumbled down the rocky path. I'm glad you're alright now."
Elsa began to sit upright, causing Jack to apologetically and timidly sit across from her.
"Who set you up to this?" she pressed on.
"If I wanted you dead, Elsa, I would have killed you the moment I saw you at the creek during day one."
Elsa knew this was true. She was reckless the first day, only finding shelter and a chance to snag a backpack when she had the chance. She recalled rolling down a path and landing right in Jack's path. Even at her dazed state, she knew she would have died had it been another tribute rather than the snow haired male.
"And if it came down to one of us to survive," Elsa began.
"Then it will have to be you," Jack answered confidently, "I'd rather die than kill you with my own bare hands."
"What about earlier then? Why did you join those other tributes?"
"I knew your abilities just from watching you during practice. I mean, despite sharing the same abilities, I can't create domes like yours can, or anything else for that matter. And you're more accurate in your abilities than I am."
"But your attacks are as quick as lightning," Elsa acknowledged.
Timidly, the male scratched the back of his head. "I didn't know you were watching…" he answered embarrassedly, "but like lightning, the chances to strike the same object is extremely rare. In short, it's a one hit deal if I'm lucky to strike one in the first place."
"But given my situation…"
"I was praying for a miracle, believe me," Jack replied softly whilst meeting her eyes, "I was also thinking of a back up plan in case my initial plan failed."
"Which is?"
"I'd have to risk trying out that trick and freezing them place, and whisk you elsewhere. It would have expulsed my true intentions. I'm sure they'll be planning a way to get you and me to separate and attack when we least expect it. But since you were in a pinch, I knew there was a chance that a viewer would come save you sooner or later."
"What made you so confident?"
"I know you, and I'm sure a lot of people have learned to see what kind of person you are by simply watching you survive these past few days, Elsa. Not only are your abilities are so pristine, but your personality as well. You're strong in the way that you refused to kill other tributes directly with your powers. You didn't succumb to bloodlust to win food for your district—although it's a great prize for them and for yourself. You didn't think twice to offer your life in exchange for your sister. I don't think you see it, Elsa, but you're what everyone needs… someone to look up to and to remind that there's hope," Jack finished. On a lighter note he added, "and it would make me the happiest man on Earth if I knew I had a chance with this lovely creature."
Elsa giggled softly. It was the first time she had ever laughed since the reaping of the annual hunger games. For once, she was glad that her instincts were wrong. For once, she was glad that Jack was one of the odds in her favor.
"I'll think about it," she answered, teasingly.
"Oh come on…" he begged, "a kiss wasn't enough?"
"Doesn't mean I didn't like it," she answered earnestly with flushed cheeks.
"Then a kiss?" he asked.
Elsa leaned in to give him a quick peck on the lips. "There."
Jack cupped her face with both of his hands while he whispered, "Not even close." With tentative reaction, Jack waited for Elsa to respond negatively to his actions. When her eyes slowly closed, he brought her face closer to his until their lips met for another long passionate kiss.
Moments later, another beeping present fell from above, breaking their kiss short. With it, another note was attached.
You call that a kiss?!
Jack laughed as he read the note from over her shoulder.
"Looks like I'll need to teach you better." Cupping a hand from her chin, Jack guided her lips back to meet his. And for the first time, Elsa brought her guard down and lost herself in the blinding pleasure.
A/N:
Sorry to take so long, girl! I was a bit indecisive about how I would write this one-shot, especially with the scene taking place. I opted it to be one of my favorite scene because it was the trust-him-or-kill-him break. I thought it would make a good character build up and interaction in the way that Elsa sees Jack. There may be a slight AU, but I thought it would work for the spur of the moment, especially under pressured times such as this! I was also debating of ending the fanfic on a cute note relating to "may the odds be in your favor" but I opted to end it with humor just so you can see Jack's flirtatious, charming ways, as you had requested (since it's only a brief mention at the beginning). And simply because I totally laughed at that scene when the watchers critiqued on the way they kissed too! I hope you enjoy it! Cuz I most certainly did love how it came out :'3
This fanfic is based on the scene where Katniss is stuck in the tree and surrounded by other tributes. But rather than copying the exact event, I replaced it with something more creative with a special mention of Incredible's Syndrome.
...
-Reposted 4/20/15-
Because I hate drabble dumps and I don't know what I was thinking back then, since one shot requests should deserve their own individual glory.