Author's Note: Hey guys, Cass here! I know, I know, this was bound to happen, and I'm sure others have done it, but I'm throwing my voice into the ring. My second try, please be nice-I don't have any dirty language in my Fics, so PLEASE don't put any in your reviews (no one has yet, and I seriously appreciate it).
Elsie Frost cried snow. She knelt on the cold of the ground. Delicate, swirling patterns of ice spiraled out beautifully from where her bare knees touched the stone. Flakes from her rich blue eyes drifted to the ground and rested gently on the ice. She distractedly drew her white braid over her shoulder. The silver snowflakes pinned into the plaits glimmered in the weak winter sunlight.
A careful hand rested lightly on her shoulder. Elsie turned to see a fiery-haired woman with blue eyes smiling over her. Her Aunt Anna. She sniffled and wiped snow streaks away. Anna sat down next to her and took one of her cold hands. "You look so much like your mother. But you get that too-skinny look from your father," her aunt commented. Elsie managed a small smile for Anna. Who gave her one in return. "Come my dear, your father wants to see you."
"Okay." She stood up and allowed her aunt to guide her through the castle to her parents' chambers. The entire room was coated with ice. Anna shivered with cold. Elsie had never felt the cold. It never bothered her.
"Thanks Anna," her father said from the huge white-coated desk at the other end of the room. Elsie's aunt bowed and closed the door as she left. Elsie stood there awkwardly in front of the closed door. Her father stood and regarded his daughter with concerned love in his lapis lazuli eyes. Elsie scratched her arm and couldn't meet his gaze. Her parents never called for her unless something very important was happening. "Elsie, we have something very important to tell you." Her father's voice was rarely serious—this was one of those times.
"Now, now Jack," her mother, Queen Elsa, chastised her husband. "You'll scare her." Her father grinned. He approached his daughter slowly and rested his long, thin fingers on her shoulders.
"The dignitaries from around the world are coming here so I can have a conference with them," Jack said. "You'll need to look your best—but you always do my dear."
"When are they coming?"
"They'll be here any second. Go put on your best dress."
Elsie ran off, her bare feet making no noise as she slipped almost silently into her bedroom. She slipped through the door. On came her proper shoes, her best pale blue dress, her gossamer cloak. The long white braid she usually sported was undone, allowing her hair to spill in thick waves around her shoulders down to past her waist.
There was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Elsie called as she brushed the last plait out. Anna poked her smiling face around the corner.
"They're here," she announced. Elsie, looking nervous, took a deep, fortifying breath and trailed out of the room after her aunt. She had spent most of her fourteen years disconnected from most people. No one was afraid of what she could do, and the townspeople knew, but Elsie was too afraid of hurting someone to go out and find friends. She only knew her family and the staff. Her parents and aunt loved roaming the town. Elsie occasionally accompanied them, but preferred staying by herself in the catacombs below the palace.
"And you must be Princess Elsie!" a voice exclaimed. A man exclaimed as she entered the ballroom. She froze in her tracks. He was seven feet tall—or so it seemed—with a long white beard, big blue eyes, and two tattoos Naughty on one arm, Nice on the other. There was a woman covered almost entirely with feathers behind him—she had violet eyes. A tall rabbit with boomerangs who could talk—which Elsie found shocking. The last was a small golden man with sand floating in pictures over his head.
"Yes, I am," she replied hesitantly. The man strode forward and offered her his hand. She placed hers in his—her entire hand fit in his palm with room to spare. He kissed her knuckles.
"You look like your mother," he complimented. Elsie grinned courteously.
"Thank you, sir," she said.
"No! No 'sir' please! Call me North," the man insisted. Elsie blinked her sapphire eyes in confusion and nodded graciously.
"Hello North," she said. She was feeling more and more awkward by the second—she could feel the ice crawling up her legs like it did when she was distressed. Finally, her parents strode into the room, commanding a power and authority Elsie would probably never have. The four dignitaries glanced around at each other after eyeing her father. The ginormous rabbit snorted—much to the bemusement of the young ice princess.
"Who ever thought Jack would end up here?" he asked. His accent was strange—to say the least. Elsie had never heard it before.
"I did," the feathered woman replied, revealing hummingbird wings. She lifted off the ground and gave Elsie's father a hug. The attention of the dignitaries was shifted off the teen princess for the moment—something Elsie was grateful for.
"I didn't," the rabbit commented. North gave Jack a quick sideways hug and a handshake. He also kissed Queen Elsa's hand. His attention turned to Anna—who stood behind Elsie. The white-haired princess stepped out of the way and ducked behind her parents as pleasantries ceased and the business began. The Queen and her husband took their seats at the heads of the table. Elsie slipped out of the room—relieved to get away. She stood out in the hall.
"They're called Guardians, not dignitaries," a voice commented. Elsie turned to see one of the butlers standing there nonchalantly. She scratched her nose.
"Okay. Why are you telling me that?"
"So you don't make a mistake my dear."
End Note: That was a really long first chapter. The next several won't be that long (actually the rest won't be). I don't know how long it's going to be, and it'll only be updated when I'm inspired and have something new to write (unlike Under a Violet-Sky my other fic that I'm trying to update regularly-and we'll see how long that lasts). I have no idea where this is going, but I'm going to have fun writing it nonetheless.