I own neither of the universes to appear in this story!
Now that's out the way, enjoy!
Elsa twirled a pencil between her fingers back and forth out of habit as her focus on reality dropped and her inner thoughts took over, as of noon today it had been two weeks since a simple merchant trader named Liam... or was it Joanne? Requested an audience and sold her a book, but this book was no ordinary book, no, this book was the journal of Queen Idunna, Elsa's mother. When Elsa asked for information on where the book was found the trader offered to sell her the location of a shipwreck for a dizzyingly high price, but the Queen could afford it and so the sale was made.
All of a sudden the royal yacht Elsa was travelling on bowed forward and Elsa could hear her sailors crying 'Sea Serpents', this was the third time in 18 hours that such cries were heard and as predicted four royal guards entered her chamber and stood guard by the door, sure, the men would be needed more up on deck but every time she told them so she would just get an apology and to be frank disobedience as they refused her orders to join the battle, citing they were to protect her at all costs as ordered by General Frankas Lukdile, one of the last Generals in her council that served her parents.
With the battle up top still being raged Elsa tried to relieve her understandably built up stress by thinking back some more, after learning of the journal and the shipwreck Elsa immediately ordered her royal yacht and two escort vessels to be readied, but word spreads quickly in Arendelle and within hours she had her council breathing down her neck, demanding answers for why she was about to venture into uncharted waters to find a shipwreck, even after telling of the journal and the shipwreck her council was not happy and if she was not queen she honestly believed they would have called her every name under the sun for her will to venture into the 'forbidden fog', an uncharted area on the maps where no boat ever returned from, many believed the vessels that entered the forbidden fog discovered and fell off the edge of the world, others believed a mythical kingdom of merciless and cannibalistic warriors called Vikings lived in its depths, but Elsa is educated meaning she knew the planet is a sphere so there is no edge to the world and she didn't believe in mythical warriors who would eat human flesh, no, they were tales told by sailors and merchants to make entertaining stories.
It was only after a few hours in the 'forbidden fog', that wasn't very foggy in reality, did the ships come across their first glimpse of what was to await their voyage, standing a hundred feet high in the middle of the ocean was five giant stone statues with devilish-looking beasts chiselled into them, the ancient looking statues understandably unnerved many sailors, even her own yacht's captain, but Elsa ignored her crew's fears that the statues were a warning to turn back and ordered the ships forward and further into the unknown.
They travelled for five uneventful days till they encountered their first beast, and only after a rather brutal fight in which many sailors were wounded did they scare it off, Elsa thinking that it might be a one-off attack persisted with travelling further into the unknown but only a few short hours later did another attack come, being slightly more prepared than the first attack they took fewer casualties but many were still wounded and it was decided that if another attack came then they would turn back, or else there was the very real possibility that they would face a severe lack of uninjured sailors to man the ships.
When the boat levelled back out after a few short minutes she wondered how many had lost limbs, flesh or even their life this time but before she could dwell on it for long she heard a rapid knock on her chambers door. "Leffe?" She called to one of the guards in her room. "Please see who that is."
The Guard give a nod before opening the door to see a small boy around 14-15, the boy whispered something in his ear before the guard frowned and turned back to his Queen. "My majesty, there is something requiring your attention on deck."
The queen raised a brow before standing from her couch and finding her way to the top level of her boat, there she found her men had gathered at the front of the ship around someone she had never seen before, a tall blonde woman who was in her middle 20's if she had to guess, at seeing her the woman crossed her arms. "Are you in charge here?" Elsa was about to reply but her body language gives her away. "Do you realise you're travelling through Scauldron nesting grounds? Are you wanting to get killed?"
Elsa was at a loss for words. "Sorry?" She stammered.
"Foreigners." Grumbled the blonde woman at hearing the Queens accent. "This area is Scauldron nesting grounds and if you keep going the way you are you aint going to last much longer."
"Scauldron's?" Asked the Queen.
"Yes." The blonde replied. "You know, the big green dragon that was just spitting boiling hot water at you? That scauldron."
Elsa raised a hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry, let us start from the beginning, who are you and how have you gotten on my ship?"
"I'm Astrid, and I got on your ship by my Dragon, now I'm going to call her down to show you so please don't attack her." With confirmation that Stormfly was not going to be harmed Astrid turned and give a loud whistle, resulting in a large sky blue dragon landing on the deck behind her. "And if it wasn't for me and her..." The blonde reached blindly to pat the dragon's snout. "...you would still be fighting that Scauldron, kapeesh?" Elsa was forced to double look at the winged animal, aren't dragons mythical beings that belong in fictional tales? Apparently not if her eyes were telling the truth. "Look, you guys are obviously not from around here, why don't you come back to my village where you can get resupplied, have a few days rest, learn about our waters and then set off again?"
"And where is your village?" Asked the queen after finding her voice.
Astrid pointed in a North Easten direction. "40 ish miles that way." The queen followed Astrid's gaze to a large land mass but at this distance, she could not make out much detail.
"And you say we can stay in your village for a short duration?"
The blonde give a nod. "Our chief is usually open to foreigners, wishing to make good relations and all so yes, he will welcome you with open arms and probably woo you all with some free supplies."
The captain of the Vessel leant over and whispered in the Queens' ear. "My Queen, after the last few encounters we are running low on crossbow bolts, it would be wise to resupply before returning to Arendelle."
Elsa swallowed as she looked back to the dragon that was crooning in the woman's hand, she still could not truly believe the beasts existed. One light swallow later she made her decision, turning to the blonde the queen spoke, "Then I look forward to meeting your chief and seeing your village. In order to reduce further attack from the serpents could you please guide my helmsman?"
"Sure thing." The local replied. "Tell your helmsman to head north-northeast for now, I'll stay here and give further instructions when needed."
"Very well." Replied the queen as a sailor moved to inform the helmsman. "Thank you for you help."
The blonde shrugged. "Don't mention it."
Elsa give a nod before starting the return journey to her chambers, as she walked the captain joined her. "My Liege, is it wise to visit such town without knowing anything about it?"
Proper procedure for docking in an unknown location would be to send a scouting party first, especially so if royalty was on board. "Yes, but if these beasts roam these lands and seas then I don't believe we have much choice, but that is not to say I'm not going to take precautions, Lume, warn the men I want all cannons armed for when we dock and this local under constant watch while on this ship, also please have my best men ready to escort me when we go landside."
It was nearly sundown by the time the small fleet of vessels arrived at Berk and due to the large size of the Arendelle Vessels only one ship could dock, meaning the Queen had little backup if anything was to go down, but she hoped the fact that if she was killed then Arendelle would go to war would be enough to discourage any hostile actions. As she approached the gangplank that allowed passage down to the dock she heard a few of the locals talking in accents so heavy she could hardly believe that they were talking the same language, as she was about to climb up the plank Astrid stopped her. "Look, there are two things I need to warn you about." The queen tilted her head slightly. "My chief lost his left leg a few years back, so try not to stare please, and whatever you do, do not attack the dragons, because we will protect them." Without saying any more the blonde climbed the plank and wandered down to where she met a large giant of a man who stood at least 7 foot tall, Elsa gulped at the man's size but swallowed her fears and carefully made her way down the plank.
"...3 masts? I bet it has 3 hulls too!" Elsa only heard the last part of the conversation the man was having with Astrid but she guessed how the rest of the conversation went like so she allowed a small smile to cross her face. Arendelle's navy while small certainly boasted fine vessels.
"Aye, but first where is the chief?" Astrid asked the giant.
The man scratched his balding head. "Working the metal, you know how he is when he's in there."
"Yes, I do." Chuckled the woman. "Only Thor himself would be able to drag him out."
"Aye." The man agreed. "Now, who's this?" He pointed a short stubby finger that seemed a little out of proportion for man's size in Elsa's direction.
Astrid turned to the Queen. "This is..." she paused as she realised she did not ask who the white haired woman is. "In fact, that is a very good question Hoark, who are you?"
Elsa swallowed her nerves before talking in her most professional and queen like voice. "I am Queen Elsa from the Arenedelle Kingdom."
"Queen? What kind of title is...?" The man never finished as Astrid give him a bash over the head. "Just another word for Chief, now go make yourself useful or something, I'm sure the nets need servicing before tomorrow." The man give her a nod before walking off with a bit of a sulk allowing Astrid to turn back to the Queen. "Now I know it would be rude of me to take you to Hiccup and not bring him here to you but when that man gets in the forge we never get him out, so it's probably best we take you to him."
"Then I will take an escort of my own men." Replied Elsa.
Astrid shrugged at seeing the men. "Sure." The 'men' Queen Elsa talked of looked much like Hiccup before he started weapon training, toothpicks, and while Hiccup was still not the average Viking by a long, long, long shot he had still gained a lot of muscle on his still lean body. "So, this way I guess." Astrid took the Queen of Arendelle the short route to the forge hoping to catch Hiccup before he took to the sky for Toothless's sunset flight. "So, this is our forge." Astrid Started when Gobber's and Hiccups second home came into sight. "Might not look like much but in there our chief and his mentor Gobber have created some of the strongest metal known to man."
"I'm sure he has." Stated Elsa blankly, trying her best to hide the disbelief in her voice.
Astrid was not a stupid woman, she stopped and looked at Elsa. "Then I'm sure you would not mind a bit of friendly competition, Gronkle Iron vs your best steel?"
Once these Vikings learn of modern metal Elsa was sure she would have a trade agreement on her hands. "Sure, I accept."
Astrid grinned, many had come and failed to believe so most took the challenge, all left defeated. "Right, tomorrow in the training academy, first light." Astrid started to walk once more to the Forge where the door was shut, but before she entered she turned back to the Queen. "Oh, and don't touch anything or you'll be scrubbing dirt off your hands for months." Without another word Astrid opened the door and the Queen had to take a little gasp at the amount of heat to hit her.
Astrid led the woman through the forge till she came across two men who were both bashing some metal with perfectly timed hits so that their strokes just missed one another. "Hiccup!" Shouted Astrid so her voice could be heard over the metal strikes. Neither of the men noticed and continued bashing the metal. "Dragon Boy!" Shouted Astrid again, this time, both men looked at the group like deer caught in the headlamps of the royal carriages. "This is queen Elsa of Arendelle."
Elsa was not sure who Astrid was talking too, one was about her age and tiny when compared to the rest of the Vikings here and the other was a typical giant Viking, but when both men turned to face them the Queen noticed one had no left arm, surely Astrid would have told her not to stare at that too if he was the chief? Using this logic she turned to the skinny man. "It is a pleasure to meet you Chief Hiccup."
"Actually the pleasure is mine, just give me a second would you?." The young man asked the other he was just moments prior working with a question regarding the work before he rounded the bench so that he was stood a few feet away from the queen. "And please, just call me Hiccup, I'm not the one for titles."
"As you wish."
"Right, well now that's said I propose we get out of here and to some place more suitable for conversation." The queen nodded in agreement since the forge was uncomfortably hot, and allowed the man to lead her out of the forge but just after he left the small building Astrid stopped the queen at the door.
"Wait for it." She informed the Queen.
"For what?" Replied Elsa but shortly after she understood, a flash of black had jumped off the roof and onto this towns chief, Elsa felt her heart race, was this man being attacked? She was quickly reassured though when she heard laughing. "Is this..."
"Normal?" Finished Astrid. "Yes."
It was a good few moments till the chief pushed the black dragon away from himself. "Bud, will you ever learn?" He questioned the dragon, and while he tried to look angry at it Elsa could see by his face he was humoured. "I mean how am I supposed to talk to a queen covered in this?" The dragon released a few wine like sounds. "Oh really?" Replied Hiccup, but the dragon crooned some more. "Well, in that case, how can I be mad? Come here bud!" He pulled the dragon close and made sure to rub as much slime onto the beast as possible in some friendly revenge.
Elsa tried her hardest to suppress a chuckle at the way the man acted with the flying animal but she eventually failed and a high pitched squeak broke free, at realising she failed her face blushed bright red. "I am so..."
Hiccup waved her apology off, many had seen his interaction with Toothless and laughed so he was used to it. "Don't worry, I know it looks funny." He broke free from his dragon after making sure to wipe his slime covered face over the dragons own. "Now Queen Elsa this is Toothless." He gestured to a rather tooth full dragon. "Toothless, this is Queen Elsa, be nice." The obsidian black dragon sniffed the air before giving a slight growl. "Toothless..." The Dragon rider and dragon shared a moment's glance before Toothless turned back to the queen and give a quick huff. "Oh come on, she and her men won't attack you or the other dragons, won't you not?"
Elsa understood the hidden message, attack the dragons and expect a very angry chief. "That is correct."
"Good good. Now unless you want to talk to me when I'm covered in this slime and soot I will ask Astrid to take you to the town hall where we can discuss whatever you fancy after I've changed."
The Queen give a slight nod. "Very well, I look forward to discussing with you."
/.../
Elsa tapped the side of her stein mug unconsciously as she allowed her mind to think as she waited for the Chief's arrival, the man in her culture would be a Lord due to the medium size of Berk and when compared to 'normal' Lords they were worlds apart, this man worked in a dirty forge, no Lord she knew of would willingly allow their nails to be dirtied by such a place, in her culture Lords held their head high and made sure everyone addressed them by their title, this Hiccup character simply didn't care about the title apparently, a Lord of Arendelle would demand the best clothes, this Hiccup wore what everyone else did, her lords would never approach a dangerous Lion without armour or a long sword, this man here had approached a fire-breathing dragon with nothing more than a tiny dagger if the stories Astrid told her during the journey to the Forge were to be believed.
"Penny for the thought?" Hiccup's voice pulled her back to the real world.
"Very well." She decided to entertain his question. "In my opinion, you do think of yourself as any more important than any man you rule over, why not?"
Hiccup answered as he sat. "Well, that would be because I'm not?"
"But you lead these people." Replied Elsa.
"True." Started Hiccup. "But everyone in this town plays an important role and we couldn't lose any without repercussions, for example, if we lost a fisherman it is likely we wouldn't have enough food to last the harsh winters, should we lose a warrior it is likely the next who dare raid us would do more damage than if we had not lost said warrior, it just so happens I landed the job of making all the hard decisions. Now tell me, Queen Elsa, what brings you twelve days north of Hopeless and 2 degrees south of freezing to death?"
"Sorry?" It took Elsa a moment but she finally realised what the Chief had meant. "Oh, right, I am here looking for an island called Andlat."
"Andlat?" Questioned Hiccup. "You do know that is Old-Norse for death yes?"
"No?" replied Elsa, her voice portrayed her question of the name as much as her knowledge of Old-Norse.
"Well, you will understand when you see the place. Now tell me, what brings you to Berk."
Elsa placed her hands on her lap as she assumed the role of Queen and negotiator. "I was hoping you could train my men on how to navigate your waters and avoid dragon attacks." If he could do that then Elsa would continue the voyage.
Hiccup sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but my answer is no."
So, I'm not going to deny this story is going to be a guinea pig for me, I'm useless at writing relationships (If you ever read my other stories you will realise I skip a lot of that stuff for this very reason) and well, I want to improve on that so this story will be my guinea pig for that.
I'm also not going to deny 'Like Growing Frost' by Lysistrate inspired me to write this as I never would have thought of this idea without his / her story (It's a good romance story, go check it out if your into hiccelsa) I'm also going to admit it's not going to be my usual type of story - that is action packed, so saying it here, this is a new genre for me.
As for updates, I plan every 2 weeks, (Although I will probably update quite a bit to start with to get the story rolling.) but don't hold me to that, work is not fixed hours and I don't know how much free time I have, for people who have read my other stories BSW will probably be the same, 2-3 weeks, but TUKM will be a delayed, I plan on pushing out the final few chapters in one burst.
Anyway if you like it give it a follow or review or something and let me know how I'm doing with this romance malarkey, if not, oh well still want to hear your thoughts are so please tell me why it sucked!
And if you're still reading this, Cheers for clicking on this and reading! Hope you enjoyed!
(19/10/16)