She was being jostled around, yet said nothing, following her mother's lead. It didn't matter that her ankle hurt from her icy slip. It didn't matter that they'd left an obvious trail of frost from the castle out here. It didn't matter that she kept feeling like people were watching. None of it mattered.
Her sister….it was her fault, all her fault.
Young Elsa followed her parents through the woods, hoping against hope that whoever her father was seeking for help could heal Anna, because the thought of her baby sister not being there to wake her up in the middle of the night and drag her downstairs to build snow people with her was too much for the eight year old girl to consider. One minute everything had been perfectly fine, the next…she had been so very cold.
They made it to a clearing, a strange arrangement of rocks covered in moss, and she slid closer to her mother uncertainly. What manner of creature would live out here, especially one that could help them? She glanced up at her parents, but they were focused on the land before them, eyes fixed as her father spoke. "Please, help. My daughter…"
Elsa's eyes widened in fright as the rocks around them began rolling forward on their own. She hid her face in her mother's cloak, sure that they were about to be crushed. Yet the boulders stopped just before them, to reveal…
"Trolls!" the young boy whispered from his hiding place with his closest friend Sven right beside him. He received a terrible fright when the boulder he was hiding behind shushed him, revealing that it too was a troll. She, judging by her voice as she hugged Kristoff to her stony bosom and told him that she was going to keep him.
Below, the trolls parted way for one older than all the rest. They called him Grand Pabbie, the wisest of them, and despite his somewhat sweet countenance there was an undeniable whisper of power about him. He nodded to the king respectfully, intoning a, "Your Majesty," before tilting his head towards Elsa, who jumped at the attention. "Born with the powers or cursed?" He quickly placed his hand upon Anna's face.
Elsa and her parents looked on, worried, as her father replied. "Born. And they're getting stronger."
The troll hesitated at this. Cursed, he could handle. But born with? That was the realm of a spirit much more powerful than himself, and he turned to his closest kin and whispered, "Fetch him, and hurry now. This is beyond my powers."
The king and queen traded glances, unsure as to who he was speaking of. If he couldn't help their daughter, who could? Who could be more powerful than the spirits of the land? The queen's hand dug into her older daughter's shoulder, and Elsa shifted uneasily. Why weren't they healing Anna?
Grand Pabbie turned back to the anxious family and forced a calming smile. "Forgive me, your majesties. I, myself, am unable to heal your daughter, as the ice within her is too pure. However there exists another who can, and I have sent for him. He should be here shortly, since he was in the area."
"And who is this other?" the queen asked anxiously, unsure. The old one smiled and started to respond, but they were interrupted as the wind began to howl and the snow nearby was whipped into the air.
Elsa's quickly beating heart slowed slightly at the familiar taste of magic, one that she knew all too well, as it resided within her. It was the magic of the cold, and the snow, and the frost, the wind, the sleet, and the ice. It was the magic of winter, with a touch of wild uninhibited joy thrown in. The wind swirled around her, carrying flurry after flurry of crystallized whiteness with it, and her parents were forced to step back with Anna in their arms as the gusts came faster and faster. They could hardly make out Elsa at all, forced to throw up their hands to protect their eyes from the snow, but they could see as she tipped her head back and stared above her, recognizing something they themselves could not.
Through the storm a figure descended, drifting upon each draft like a gently falling snowflake. His long winter cloak was a frosty blue, with crystals of white ice clinging to it in beautiful patterns as if they knew of no better home. His staff was curved as if carved from the very ice and wind of winter itself, and his pure white hair was as disheveled and windblown as a cold day in January. His sparkling sapphire eyes gazed back at the young princess as he alighted upon the ground before her, swirls of frost extending across the dirt from his bare feet.
"Can you help Anna?" Elsa whispered, not in the least bit afraid of the being before her. He shot her a crooked grin and nodded, offering his hand. Her parents' eyes widened in shock, only seeing their daughter talking to the emptiness around her, her hand clasped by air alone. Elsa turned back towards her parents, gently leading the stranger towards her sister.
The wise troll sighed before speaking to the parents, soothing their fears slightly. "You are lucky it wasn't her heart. The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded. If you will allow it, he will heal your daughter now. You can trust him."
The king nodded, attempting to put on a brave face for his wife despite the fact that his hand was wrapped around hers just a little too tightly. "Do what you must."
The winter boy stopped before Anna, gently tracing his finger across the white strip of her hair, before turning to the young girl beside him. "Elsa, I am going to have to remove all of the magic within your sister, including the memories. I'll leave the fun, but she will not remember you have powers." The princess bit her lip, before nodding at the ground. He tilted her face up with his free hand, winking at her, and she slowly smiles back.
"It'll be alright, little one," Pabbie added. The boy reached out his hand and pressed a finger to Anna's forehead, and the royal couple stared in awe as a vision begins playing before their eyes, and each of their daughter's memories of her sister's ability was altered until no trace was left.
Elsa let out a sigh much larger than herself, a tear slipping down her cheek. The being beside her tilted his head before catching the tear on his finger. He blew on it gently and it turned into a glowing snowflake, drifting back into the face of the now giggling young girl. Alighting on her nose, its light swelled warmly for a moment before sinking beneath her skin. They traded smiles, before the boy knelt down in front of the girl, placing his hands upon her shoulders. The troll led her parents off a few steps to explain what had just happened to Anna and what was now being said to their eldest.
"Elsa," he whispered, "you must listen to me. As you get older, your power will only grow with you." He lifted one hand from her shoulder, exhaling a flurry of snow into his palm before tossing it into the air and twisting his fingers through it in an intricate design. Through the falling snowflakes an image appeared. It was a white silhouette of a beautiful maiden, twirling snow swirls from her hands. "There is beauty in your magic, but also great danger." The swirls in the picture turned to spikes, and other figures appeared, panicking and attacking. Elsa gasped in horror, her eyes swimming with tears as the boy looked at her sadly.
A hand on her other shoulder caused her to look behind her to see her father, and she ran into his arms. "We'll protect her," the king stated to the seemingly empty space. "She can learn to control it, I'm sure. Until then, we'll lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit her contact with people and keep her powers hidden from everyone... including Anna." The girl sobbed into her father's chest, before turning back to the elemental behind her. He nodded sadly at her, before standing from his kneeling position.
"I will be back, Elsa, but not for many years. I believe in you, and don't forget, never forget, your love for your family. I believe in you." With that he sprung into the air and disappeared, the young princess watching sadly from the ground.
Kristoff gaped at all he had just seen, and turned to Bulda beside him. "Who was that?" he asked, hardly believing everything that had come to pass.
The troll smiled sadly back at him. "Jack Frost, dear."