Elsa remembered the blond man saying something about her being a fox, but Elsa had never seen one before. Always kept isolated she rarely got out. Only recently had she left. And of course she was attacked the first time on her own. She should have been more aware of her surroundings. Elsa, had only wanted a bit of freedom, to see the world beyond her parents small canopy of trees. But, this world she now found herself in was dark and enclosed, the trees covering the sky, boxing her in on all sides. She was never this far below them, either high up in the branches or soaring above them.
Elsa caught her self as she tripped on a small twig. Walking through the woods was harder then Elsa thought. Anna was right that her shoes were of almost no use to her. Only getting caught on sticks, and small rocks getting caught between her foot and shoe bed. Anna slowed her pace down and kept glancing back at her.
They had been walking along the base of a large rocky outcropping, when Anna turned left suddenly, and disappeared into a cave. The opening was small and she couldn't seem to see how far back it went. Elsa shuddered to think what else might be in there. She was so busy scrutinizing the opening that she was startled when Anna poked her head out.
"You coming? It's not as scary as it seems, I promise" Anna said smiling. Reaching out Anna grasped Elsa's hand and lightly tugged. Finally bending down Elsa ducked into the cave. Anna pulled her further back.
Elsa's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, and saw some blankets and a pack lying beside them. Anna let go of her hand. Grabbing the spare blanket she quickly laid it over a small bed of moss.
"Here you go. I'm sorry this is all I have. Maybe if you are with me for longer I can find more." She said biting her lip in worry. "I can start a fire if you get too cold, I should have thought of that sooner. I can go get wood before it get's dark. Oh wait you must be hungry I have food, not much but-"
"Anna, please it's alright. This is alright." She smiled reassuringly at the smaller girl. Elsa slowly lowered herself to the ground, sliding her wings to the side so she didn't accidently sit on them.
Anna watched her curiously. Knowing that Anna was watching her Elsa slowly closed her eyes in a sign of contentment. Elsa opened both eyes again when she heard the red head rummage through her bag. Elsa couldn't help but look at the girl's ears again. The soft red fur poking out through her hair, she wondered if they were as soft as they looked. Elsa slowly tore her eyes away from the girl's head, back to what the other girl was doing.
Anna was looking for something to eat. She had some nut's, berries. And some apples she'd swiped from a farm yesterday. Pulling them out of her bag she handed an apple to the blonde then pulled out the bag of berries as well. Placing them between the two she pulled out a couple and began to chew.
Elsa looked at the red sphere Anna had handed her, before glancing back at the red head confused.
Anna noticed Elsa hesitate with her food. "I can get us more food tomorrow, but all I have right now is some apples…"Elsa still looked at her then back down at the food. Anna finally realized the blonde didn't know what to do with it.
Reaching into her bag she pulled out one for herself. "You eat it like this" She said.
Taking a huge bite out of the red fruit.
Elsa watched her curiously before copying the motion and doing the same. The juiciness burst in her mouth. Elsa was so shocked, it was sweet; she'd never tasted something like this before. "Mm, this is so good!" She said.
Anna laughed out loud. Seeing Elsa enjoy something so simple as an apple made her smile. Anna was beginning to like her more and more.
The sun had set completely leaving them in darkness. Elsa's sharp eyes could see Anna sitting across from her biting her nails; the young girls pupils were completely dilated making them appear black. Finally seeing the red head come to a decision.
"We should sleep, if we plan on getting more food tomorrow, we don't want to be exhausted for our adventure!"
"Yes, of course" Elsa spoke before lowering herself down on her side. Elsa felt a flutter when Anna said we, her brows drew together at the feeling. She concentrated on the cold moss beneath her, it was not comforting but it felt safe. Elsa for the first time missed her soft blankets from home, her room high up in the trees at the base of the mountains keeping the outside world out. These blankets didn't do much for comfort so Elsa just wrapped her downy wings around herself.
Hearing Anna moving she glanced up to see the other girl moving toward her with another blanket. Anna draped it over her shoulders before going back to her own.
"Thank you Anna, but you should use it. I don't want you to be cold." Moving to give back the blanket.
"No, keep it. As my guest you need to be comfortable! I will not accept it back!" Anna said. Elsa pulled the cloth back around her before lying down again.
"Thank you, Anna…for everything," Elsa said quietly.
Elsa curled her wings tighter around her body attempting to stay comfortable, but nothing seemed to be working. She finally gave up on trying to sleep and opened her eyes. She saw the morning light coming into the entrance of the cave. Surprised she realized she'd slept all night. Sitting up she glanced at her companion lying across from her.
The small girl had a brown coat wrapped around her and a hood covering her entire head. She was wrapped in a ball her hands tucked between herself and her legs. Elsa noticed the slight shiver that ran through Anna. Grabbing the blanket she had been giving the other night she carried it over to her and carefully wrapped the fox in it, hoping it would help.
Standing up, she stepped toward the entrance, hoping the morning sun would bring her some comfort. Glancing back at Anna before stepping out she smiled at the young girl who had thrown herself at those men to save her.
Her parents had always said that the world on the other side of the mountains was dangerous. And she believed them when she was caught, but maybe the world wasn't all bad.
Elsa stopped in a patch of sunlight. She stretched out her wings trying to rid herself of the stiffness. Her whole body was still sore, but she felt better. Her wings pushed downwards raising her body into the air. She repeated the motion till she was above the trees and then began her flight.
Her body started to ache and sharp pains began traveling from the tips of her wing and down her spine reminding her to head back. Flying over the clearing she saw Anna come running out of the cave frantically. Elsa frowned 'was something wrong?' she thought. Brining herself into a controlled decent she circled.
Anna saw a shadow fall over herself. Fear overtook her, ducking and leaping to her side she rolled out of the way. Rising to her feet she saw Elsa land. Letting out a relieved sigh she ran up to Elsa.
"What happened, where did you go? Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.
Seeing the genuine concern on Anna's face caused warmth to spread through her body. "I'm fine, I just went flying. Though I might have pushed myself a bit far" She smiled.
Anna nodded a little worriedly "So you can actually fly?" She asked excitedly. "What's it like? Can you see everything from up there? It must be so beautiful," Anna said dreamily. "Oh, wait, are you all right?" Anna peared around her to see if she could tell if Elsa was hurt, but saw nothing that would suggest injury.
"I'm alright, just some pains in my back, I'm sure it will go away with time" Elsa said smiling, she continued " and yes, it's amazing. I wish I could fly for longer, but I should try going a bit slower." Her face lost its smile as she thought of this. Her anger toward the one-called Hans was growing.
The growl of Anna's stomach brought Elsa out of her musing. She burst out in a laugh she couldn't contain. Seeing Anna look at her in mortification. "Umm…let's go find something to eat!" Anna said, trying to brush off the embarrassing moment.
Quickly heading back into the cave she came back out with her hat and a bag. Elsa watched her curiously as she tucked her tail under her jacket, before she had a chance to ask why Anna chimed in "Follow me!" She said as she marched off. Elsa caught up to her, walking alongside the energetic red head.
After about 20 minuets of walking, and Anna's non-stop rambling Elsa saw buildings through a break in the trees ahead. Grabbing Anna's arm she pulled the smaller girl to a stop. Leaning down "why are we at a human town?" Elsa hissed into Anna's ear.
Anna looked back at her, how had Elsa been able to see the small village from this far away, shaking off her curiosity she tried to reassure Elsa. Placing a hand over Elsa's she tried for a reassuring smile. "I'm going to get us some food. You wait here, I'll be back in a jiff!" She said. Before Elsa had a chance to say anything Anna smashed the hat down over her ears and dashed out of the forest and to the town.
Anna slowed her pace down when she got close enough for people to notice her. She shifted her ears trying to find a comfortable position, the hat was muffling sound and making her head itch. Swinging her arms slightly to try and appear normal, she walked through the morning market, which was in full swing. She wished Elsa could come and see it 'she's probably never seen something like this' Anna mused. Though Anna knew Elsa would have a harder time blending in with her large wings, then herself.
Anna smelt the bakery long before she saw it, sauntering up to the cart set up outside the building she walked past looking at the loaves of freshly baked bread. Glancing at the baker she saw him pointing his finger reprimanding some children playing to close to his cart. Taking this distracting she grabbed a loaf and pushed it into her bag before scurrying along.
The streets were becoming busier as the morning wore on. Anna's next stop was the butchers shop. Seeing up ahead she drew closer. She saw the store was filled with people all vying for attention to get their required amount of meat. Anna kept to the back, wondering near a table filled with jars of smoked beef. Slipping her hand onto the table she slid the jar into her bag. Grabbing one more she was about to put it in when someone bumped into her sending the jar crashing to the ground.
The storekeeper spun around to her, spotting her looking wide eyed at him. He glanced down at her bag then back up. Anna turned at sprinted out of the store. "Stop her!" He yelled. Anna heard someone begin to chase her.
The people milling around were bumping into her throwing her off balance. Making a mad dash through the throngs of people was difficult. She finally broke through the morning rush, to the open field between the town and the forest.
Making it out of the market she had a hundred meters of open ground to make it to the forest. She was making good head way when something hard hit her on the head causing her hat to fall off. She fell to the ground. She glanced back to see a young man running at her with rocks in his hands.
Dragging herself up to her feet she started sprinting again. Her pace was slowing, her head throbbing with every step. She saw the tree line up ahead 'come on Anna just to the trees.'
Anna crashed through the tree line, running head long into Elsa who caught her around the waist to keep her up. Anna pulled away; grabbing her hand she pulled the other girl deeper into the woods. Glancing back she couldn't hear anyone following them.
Coming to a stop, she bent down placing her hands on her knees panting. A headache was beginning to form. A wave of dizziness swept over her. Sinking down to her knees, she glanced up at Elsa. "I got bread and meat! What luck!"
"Luck? Does it go worse then today?" Elsa asked in shock, sinking to her knees next to the red head.
"Yeah, I can only get small things most of the time. And usually I get caught sooner" she chuckled slightly. "We'll be having some good food today!" Anna couldn't help the big smile that broke out across her face.
Elsa had seen the rock hit the younger girl in the head. Elsa reached up running her hand along the back of the smaller girls head, she felt a slight bump, reaching further she paused with her fingers on the soft furred ear, rubbing slightly she was so lost in thought that when she heard a soft purring coming from the smaller girl she pulled back in shock.
Anna's face was turning red very quickly. Elsa just smirked at her, before moving on to running her hand over the spot the rock had hit. She felt the small bump near the back of her head. She saw Anna wince when her fingers ran over it.
"You should be more careful…" Elsa spoke, trying to keep the bite out of her voice. She'd been worried when she saw Anna fall. Her body had tensed ready to explode out of the forest to snatch her up and make to the sky injury be dammed. But Anna hopped up before she had a chance.
"It was nothing, just a teensy-weensy-ow!" Anna broke off, when Elsa pressed a bit harder on the bump.
"You were saying?" Elsa asked with one eyebrow raised.
"Nothing…" Anna trailed off.
Anna's eyes became distant, as if she was lost in thought. Elsa pulled her hand away from the Anna's head worried that she had hurt her. Moving so she was kneeling in front of the other girl she bent down so her face was even with the fox's.
"Anna?" She called out. Finally seeing the teal eyes focus back on her, she saw her face perk up.
"You hungry!?" The red head exclaimed leaping up to her feet. "I know the perfect spot to eat this!"
