[A/N] You just had to like it, didn't you? Very well then, since I find this fic bizarrely easy to just write in my free time and since the latest chapter of my other fic is written and just in the long, dull editing stage, I think I can keep this one going for the interim. Reminds me of the style I used in my older fics, which is a rather fun method to revisit. Okay then since we're officially doing this now, may as well pick up right where we left off…
Chapter 2: Blizzard
Jack slinked over the rooftops in perfect silence. He'd meander around the various outcroppings of bay windows and balconies and hop chimneys, all without making so much as a single sound or even slowing down.
He came to a stop by a large skylight over a darkened room and edged closer until he could see what lay below. The room was still and empty. Jack guessed that it was most likely one of the many guest rooms he assumed the palace had. He jiggled the catch open on the window and then slipped inside. He hung down by one hand and then tugged the window closed with the other. He then dropped soundlessly onto the carpeted floor below before his fingers could get caught in the closing skylight.
Jack tensed when a noise emanated from the door opposite. A dim shaft of light was visible from underneath. He darted to the side when it opened an instant later, only for Kristoff to walk out of what turned out to be an en suite, yawning loudly.
Jack stayed still and quiet, pressed flat behind the full length mirror while Kristoff sleepily circled the bed before flopping down and tucking himself in.
Staying low, Jack dropped down and circled the edge of the room, keeping a wary eye on the bed, thankful that Kristoff was at least rolled on one side and facing away.
Jack slipped swiftly out the door and dashed down the corridor, quickly pressing himself back again alongside an empty suit of armour. He waited for a moment until he heard the door click shut again. Peering out, Jack confirmed that Kristoff had merely closed the door again without further investigation.
"So far, so good…" murmured Jack quietly, who came out of concealment and began calmly strolling down the hallway.
He gave an appreciative hum as he surveyed left and right, "Nice place," he said, his hands swinging idly back and forth in the absence of his staff, "Must be nice being royalty…"
Jack hissed with frustration when he sighted a shadow moving from around a corner up ahead. He looked quickly about for a place to hide. He rolled his eyes with dismay however when he realised that the only place available was a set of long curtains. He slipped behind them regardless.
Jack peeked out just as a sleepy-looking woman with dishevelled strawberry blonde hair dressed in nightclothes walked slowly by. A plate piled with chocolates and other snacks was balanced precariously in one of her hands. It took Jack a moment to recognise her as Princess Anna.
Suddenly, her left foot slipped forwards and she barely caught herself before completely losing balance.
Anna let out a loud yawn and bent down to pick up the small assortment of bites that had rolled to freedom from her plate. Her eyes cleared slightly and Jack realised with annoyance that she'd slipped in the trail of ice he'd inadvertently left all the way up the hall. His irritation turned to panic when he realised said trail also led right up to his current hiding place.
Jack's fear became a swift reality as Anna eyed the trail up the corridor before looking back the way she'd came, and back again once more. The guardian tensed when she looked right in his direction. The barely perceptible movement of the curtain wasn't missed by her.
Anna narrowed her eyes, "Elsa?" she asked unsurely.
Jack made no response other than to accidentally freeze solid the entire curtain he was gripping in both hands.
"I'll take that as a yes…" said Anna, who tilted her head slightly, "What are you doing?"
Jack again gave no response other than to slip free one hand and wave it in a dismissive circle, as if to say, 'Well, y'know…' and let her make something up for herself.
Anna smiled weakly, "You know, if you're going to go sneaking midnight snacks too, it'd probably help if you didn't leave such an obvious trail of evidence."
Jack made a show of holding that hand up in admission.
Jack gritted his teeth, mentally screaming, 'Come on, princess bed-hair, just go already!'
"What are you even doing back there?" asked Anna, stepping forwards and tilting her head curiously.
"Stop!" yelped Jack, holding a hand out. And he clenched his eyes closed, face-palming himself with the other in shame when he realised he'd actually yelped it out in a squeaky girlish falsetto.
Anna blinked, and then frowned slightly, "Elsa, what is up with your voice?"
Jack coughed audibly, "Ahem…just a cold." He adlibbed, "Must've caught something." He squeaked, much to his mounting, literal eternal shame, "Best not get too close."
Jack was just thankful to whatever deities that may be out there that the Bunny wasn't around right now. It would be decades before he heard the end of it, if ever.
"A cold?" echoed Anna, cocking an eyebrow up, "I didn't know you could get colds."
"Well, I surprise even myself sometimes," he squeaked.
"If you say so…" said Anna dubiously, and she turned to walk off, "You make sure you get some rest then."
To save himself further shame, Jack just gave her a silent thumbs up in response.
Anna's bemusement went up another notch, but turned and left regardless.
Jack began to slip out of his cover.
"And one more thing," she called back.
Jack flinched and rolled his eyes full circle, "What?" he snapped, not bothering to change his voice this time.
Anna seemed put back for a second, "Just…umm…make sure clean up all this ice tomorrow. If you're feeling better that is."
Jack said nothing this time beyond making throttling actions with his hands behind the curtain. Anna turned to walk again after a brief hesitation.
But something in Jack had snapped; a limit had just been passed. A proper response was needed.
Needless to say, Anne was more than a little surprised when a snowball suddenly impacted her in the backside with enough force to knock her down once more, face first into her plate of snacks this time.
Stunned, Anna scrambled back up just in time to see a pale, blue-clad figure vanish round the corner at the other end of the corridor. A distinct chuckling could also be heard, one that somehow didn't disturb the quiet of the night.
"Okay," said Anna, brushing the snow off and missing the subtle blue sparkling of light that fluttered away from it, "So Elsa's officially gone nuts," and for some reason she found a mischievous smile appearing on her face, "and she's officially bought herself a snowball fight…" and she found that it took great amounts of willpower just to force herself to add on, "….in the morning, of course."
With the bizarre compulsion to immediately pursue Else and pelt her repeatedly with snowballs barely squelched, Anna turned to finally retire for the night.
-α-
Meanwhile, outside in the normally tranquil quiet of Arendelle's night, Olaf was on edge, which was to say the least a very rare occurrence for him.
Something simply felt off in the night, and it was giving him a distinct chill down his spine, which was quite a feat considering he was made entirely out of snow and had no spine to actually speak of.
Olaf didn't really sleep, he sometimes gave the illusion of snoozing while he daydreamed (which he did often), but that was about it. After all, magically animated snow constructs didn't really have a need to nap. As a result, he did get quite a lot of free time whilst the rest of the world slept, and so he often took it upon himself to patrol the town during the hours of darkness and keep an eye on things. This was what he had been in the process of doing as normal until he'd felt that ominous sensation.
Something felt wrong.
For some reason, Olaf found himself edging slowly through the streets, being careful to peek around corners before continuing.
He spun back around on his midsection when he heard a bizarre squawking sound coming from the darkness of a nearby alleyway. It didn't sound like a mouse or a bird. Whatever it was there was something horribly eerie about it.
"Somebody there?" the snowman asked, leaning into the shadows.
Olaf staggered as a blur of movement shot out from the blackness and across the street past him. He barely caught sight of what looked like a tiny, almost skeletal black horse as it dashed off into the skies, dragging behind it a long, dark sandy trail.
"What?" murmured Olaf who, now that he was looking up, noticed numerous other trails on the edge of his vision. He did a slow, sweeping 360 on his base and realised there were in fact black trails coming out from the roofs of nearly every building in town, all heading in the same direction.
Consumed more with wonder than anything resembling fear, Olaf kept his gaze skyward as he followed the stream that was directly above him. He followed as it meandered and twisted, drawing him inevitably downhill toward the water's edge. He almost had to crouch by that point due to the sheer number of black torrents now streaming from all directions just above his head.
Olaf edged along the pier parallel to the trails of black, keeping a careful eye on them as he went. They eventually began spiralling about each other and out over the water, where they gathered finally down to one point.
A large, perfectly spherical orb of shimmering black sand hung silently in the air above the water. Its surface rippled like liquid at the point where the streams fed into it. Olaf could only stare at it in open wonder. It was an incredible thing to see a blackness that could somehow shimmer in the full moonlight so brightly.
The snowman's gaze was then drawn downward and he finally noticed the sphere's shadow. It was of course black like the orb, but it was such an odd black in that it was so sublimely perfect in its sheer darkness that it was less a shadow and more an utter void of pure lightlessness.
Strangest of all, the shadow didn't even look sphere-shaped.
No, it was shaped like a man.
It was only now, as Olaf looked into that darkness, that a twinge of creeping fear finally started to tingle in the back of his mind.
Then things changed: the trails of black suddenly wafted into the air and wavered there, making the shimmering orb appear as if it had sprouted tails. Each Olaf noted had one of those strange equine creatures riding upon their flat surfaces. He then watched as the trails suddenly and swiftly vanished into the large sphere, as if sucked in by some unseen force.
The point where the trails vanished then rippled outwards like a membrane had been torn until finally the orb seemed to bleed out a thick, dark teardrop of the sandy substance directly into the shadow below.
Olaf half-expected the substance to pool out over the water's surface, but instead it simply vanished into that black void.
Suddenly, the shadow convulsed, warped and shifted, as if it were being displaced by the additional mass.
The shadow then elongated, as if squeezed at one end. To Olaf's shock, it then shot towards him across the water with blinding speed like a serpent.
The snowman staggered as the black shape sped up the dock and then made a beeline right for him. He held his stick arms up in front of him as the shadow streaked into his own and then…
Nothing.
Olaf slowly lowered his arms to look out in front of him. There was nothing there. Silence now blanketed the area. There was absolutely no noise with the exception of the gentle splashing of the waves against the dock supports and the creaking of nearby boats.
Olaf seemed to sag and exhaled a long, icy sigh of relief. He wasn't sure what the anomaly was that he'd just witnessed, but that was okay, he rationalised, just so long as it really was-
"Well, well, well…" interjected a slow, almost amused voice that seemed to slice straight through Olaf's thoughts like a scythe. The snowman staggered back in shock so hard that he ended up hitting the ground and dislodging his own nose in the process.
Olaf readjusted himself and spun back about as that calm, cold voice continued, "What do we have here?" and the snowman took a hesitant step back when he discovered there was in fact a figure standing right inside his personal space.
Olaf didn't care that he lacked an actual oesophagus, he gulped regardless.
The tall, almost unnaturally thin figure was stood within Olaf's own shadow. He was garbed in clothes so black that the snowman couldn't quite tell where man ended and shadow began.
The newcomer was peering down at Olaf with an almost twisted smile of curiosity. His grey, bony fingers were laced together almost cordially in front of him. He had harsh, angular features and black hair so jagged that Olaf wouldn't be surprised if you could actually injure yourself on it.
The snowman found himself recoiling backwards when the figure leaned suddenly in to scrutinise him with intense, yellow eyes that burned with the darkness of a solar eclipse.
The figure's brow clenched and he pulled back up to full height again. He then raised a finger up in thought before pointing it right at Olaf, "You can see me."
Olaf returned a slightly disbelieving glance in response, "With the greatest of respect, you're kind of hard to miss, sir."
The man's eyes narrowed in thought, "That is interesting. That is…very interesting." He mused almost in a whisper. His gaze then travelled past Olaf and he began moving. The snowman couldn't help but notice how he seemed to glide rather than actually walk as he went over to one of the posts supporting the dock. His thin hand then extended to almost experimentally touch a patch of frost that was different from the rest of the early winter's snow that dusted the ground. A thoughtful frown knitted his sharp features as he rubbed the icy residue between his digits. He arched about then, his gaze following what appeared to be a trail of similar frost leading up and away from the dock towards the town.
A smirk that showed just a few too many teeth then pulled at the man's mouth. The expression actually looked far less like a smile and more like an animal readying to sink its jaws into prey.
The man then orientated his head and torso back about in one smooth movement to look right at Olaf, as if he were suddenly considering something. The sheer darkness of the man's gaze had the little snowman edging slowly back further with each second it was trained on him.
The figure then dropped his hand back to his side once more and drifted closer. He began circling the snowman, observing him, assessing him, "Tell me, creature…"
"-Olaf," corrected the snowman in a tone that was possibly just a little too chirpy as he looked up. His mid-section circled continuously about so he could keep track of the man.
"Olaf…" intoned the man, smiling in a non-too pleasant way, "Tell me, what are you?"
"I'm a snowman," he replied happily.
"My eyes told me that," the man snapped, his expression shifting briefly to a scowl before being masked behind that smile again, "What I meant was, how did you come into being?"
"The princesses made me when they were little girls. We always used to play together, but they forgot about me for a long time, but now I'm back again."
The man smiled again, though it seemed immensely forced, "How sweet, how…adorable."
"Why thank you."
The smile vanished, "I was being facetious."
"Oh…" said Olaf, who just smiled again, "Well you are very good at it, sir."
The figure glowered at the snowman and then just continued circling. He raised a hand up and began idly, almost experimentally swirling his fingertips through the flurry above Olaf's head.
The snowman was more than a little disturbed when the cloud above him seemed to darken, and he staggered clear away from the man when an angry crackle of dark, impossible lightning flashed through his perpetual storm.
The slender figure just chuckled at the reaction and then brought his hand up to his face, examining the icy swirls of residual magic that clung to and danced about his fingertips. He inhaled and then let out an almost pleasured shudder that seemed to go all the way down the length of his tall form.
He rounded on Olaf suddenly and held his hand up before him, "Tell me, snowman, whose power is this?" he demanded, an almost excitable note in his voice as he looked at his upheld limb, "This…power over the cold that can imbue life itself?" He continued, leaning ever closer as he spoke, "This power that oh so positively reeks of such barely overcome, such barely forgotten…fear?" he finished, his manic eyes and bared teeth far too close for the Olaf's taste.
There was a moment of silence between them.
"Question…" said Olaf.
The man hadn't moved, though his brow twitched, "What is it?"
"Look, uh…Mr umm…"
"Pitch," he said, "Pitch Black."
"L-look, Mister…uhm…Mister Black. I'm not very experienced in the ways of the world. I haven't travelled as far or as wide as I've dreamed of doing yet, so I just hope you won't take this at all the wrong way…"
Pitch frowned as he stood back up to full height, "What is it?"
"Are you evil?"
Pitched blinked, and then just smiled, "Now what would make you ask a thing like that?"
Olaf hummed and gave the shadowy, seven foot tall, darkly dressed figure with manic eyes, claw-like fingers, threatening voice and ominous name a brief up and down glance, "I'm not really sure what it is…"
"Well…" said Pitch, holding out his hands amicably, "You know what they say: Never judge a book by its cover."
Olaf wasn't quite sure that expression applied when the book in question had the words 'Evil. Do not open.' written on the cover.
"So you say a 'princess' made you?" asked Pitch, his voice as low and sickly cordial as ever.
Olaf suddenly looked even more uncomfortable, "D-did I say that?" he asked hastily, "No, no, no. I didn't say Princess'. I said, umm…Princes. Yeah, that's it. In fact, you should be looking for someone, say, thirteenth in line for the throne. Huge family, Kingdom in the isles down south somewhere, you can't miss him. You should go and look for him right away."
"A wonderful suggestion," said Pitch with his usual flare and faux amicability, "But I think I'll just set my own course for now…" and with that, Pitch turned and began to walk off. He stopped a few feet away from Olaf however and then glanced down at him over one shoulder, "Oh, and thank you for your assistance," and without another word, Pitch swept a foot back from under his robe and unceremoniously booted Olaf off the pier and into the fjord.
Pitch waited for the splash before nodding in satisfaction and then turning ahead once more.
Olaf's arms appeared over the edge of the dock seconds later as he scrambled to draw himself up in a panic. His body was already half melted by the time he dragged himself up completely, "Quick, quick!" he cried, waving his arms up at his snow flurry, stirring it up until his body swiftly reformed.
He looked back up the dock, only to find Pitch Black had vanished. Olaf scratched the side of his head with one stick hand, "You know, I can't help but think he did that on purpose…"
-α-
Unlike those in the surrounding areas, those in the palace that night were not plagued by sudden and almost bizarrely terrifying nightmares.
One person in particular was having a very strange dream indeed.
Queen Elsa was almost always formulaic in the sort of dreams she had, even the bad ones. This was mainly due to the fact that she was never the sort who would lie to herself about what her fears, insecurities and hopes were. And so when dreams did come, they rarely actually surprised her. If anything, Elsa normally prided herself with how ordered and composed she was able to keep herself most of the time.
This night however was a rare exception. It was an exception that came, rather literally, out of the blue. It was a dream so abstract, so paradoxical and out of left field that Elsa couldn't help but wonder at the time what could have possibly spurred it on.
Elsa was stood upon a vast, flat plane of which she could see no end. Snow lay thickly on the ground and a blizzard seemed to blow from every single direction. There were no visible hills, trees or any other sign of life. It was just an all-encompassing, unending winter; winter and literally nothing else.
Elsa told herself that she should feel lonely, or perhaps scared about not knowing where she was or where everyone else was.
But she didn't.
It was just her and the wind and snow, and so Elsa started walking.
She didn't feel confused, she felt connected. That was the only word she could use to describe it. Elsa had friends, a sister she loved so very dearly, and powers she had come to feel blessed for having as opposed to cursed, but it had always only been her when it came to those abilities.
No matter how close she became to others or how hard she tried, there was always that one thing making her feel just that little disjointed with the rest of the world; something that set her apart. But that was not the case right now. Right now Elsa didn't fear the winter around her because she felt so much a part of it, like she was bleeding into it.
She'd once said how she felt at one with the wind and skies. Now, in this place, she felt she was the wind and skies. It was as if she was linked to winter as a whole; to the entirety of the winds and snow all over the world, as opposed to just being a person who caused such things.
Connected.
At one with the world at last.
Such aweing concepts should have frightened her as she pushed further into the whiteness, and Elsa almost felt like she was screaming at herself to get scared.
But she didn't.
This was fun.
This was a fun dream, and Elsa had absolutely no idea why, and she didn't care in the slightest.
Suddenly, from all around, there came a sound. From the world around her came a laugh; an innocent, joyous exultation of pure freedom that seemed to dance within the wind itself.
"Is someone there?" called Elsa, looking desperately about to find the source. It was as if the never-ending whiteness and joy had suddenly found a voice. There was another.
A blur shot by Elsa's form and she swung about, trying to face it. It appeared again from the opposite side, and again it just evaded her sight, "Who are you?" she demanded almost desperately, but every attempt to catch sight of the shape would always end in failure. It was as if it were everywhere at once, appearing in one place only long enough to tease her.
Desperation became frustration, which contrasted oddly with the bizarre sense of fun she was having.
Another chuckle sounded out. It was as if the form found her tries to view it in any one place amusing.
Dream Elsa clenched her fists, and that was when a bizarre idea came to her.
If this winter had a shape it was using to appear in, but it was also everywhere at once, then the answer was simple: cram the entirety of absolutely everything down into one place.
It was dream logic, and therefore made absolutely perfect sense to Dream Elsa. She was, after all, very good with winters.
Elsa closed her eyes and began extending her influence. The wind erupted around her in protest until it was almost deafening. The snow spun about her as if part of one incomprehensibly large twister, but Elsa wasn't afraid. She just kept on pulling, kept on gathering.
All at once, the swirl of winter began spiralling downwards around her, and Elsa tried to force it into a shape. Somehow, the entire landscape suddenly vanished, as if she'd accidentally ripped it away too in the process.
Elsa gasped, her voice echoing over the sudden silence. A perfect void of white surrounded her. It was absolute nothingness. But somehow Elsa knew that she didn't fail. After a brief survey, she realised indeed that the landscape wasn't completely empty.
Elsa looked curiously ahead. There was a pond sitting there, looking rather out of place in the middle of the nothingness.
Elsa drifted in a beeline closer. The water was frozen almost completely solid with the exception of one small section near the middle, as if someone or something had fallen through it. And standing perfectly upright, contrasted against the white and joined to the ice at the base was a wooden staff that Elsa dimly recognised.
The Queen edged forwards until the tip of her feet touched the rim of the ice. The instant she set her foot down however a long crack appeared in the frozen surface. But she had to get at it; it was somehow the key to what she wanted to know. Not that she knew why.
"Careful…" came a borderline cocky voice, "That really doesn't look safe."
Elsa frowned, "I'm not afraid of the cold."
A quiet humph sounded out, "Suit yourself…"
Else scowled and turned about to tell the voice to just leave her be. There was a hooded figure standing with his back to her a few metres away.
Elsa looked briefly ahead again, only to notice the pond and staff had vanished. When she looked back again she saw the staff once more, only now it was hanging loosely in the hooded figure's hand.
The Queen stepped closer, but somehow no distance was closed. She tried again, but no matter what she did she simply couldn't get close. She ran and she ran, but not an inch vanished between them.
Elsa staggered to a halt, "Who are you?" she demanded.
The figure remained silent and unmoving.
Elsa curved about to the side, trying to circle about the stranger and see his face, but it was to no avail. The world seemed to orientate with every step she took, as if to tell her that this was not something she was meant to see. But she kept running. She had to see. If this was the winter she'd been at the heart of then she had to find out…
"Please," she called out pleadingly to the image; to the seeming embodiment of all of winter, "Just tell me your name!"
The turning world stopped so suddenly that Elsa tripped over her own feet. She didn't get up though, something was stopping her from doing that, but she could still see, so she didn't care too much.
She could see the figure was no longer perfectly still.
She watched the staff tilt upwards. The hooded figure then flipped it almost idly into the air. It twirled full-circle once and was caught deftly in the other hand without him even bothering to look up or back, "Who am I?" came an almost musing voice.
Elsa took a sharp breath. She hadn't actually expected a response. She said nothing, and watched as the stranger slowly turned his right palm upwards. Then, to her surprise, a shimmering blue snowball began to materialise.
Elsa found that she still couldn't move, and she watched the figure flick the hovering snowball into the air and then catch it readily in his grip.
Despite all the other emotions swimming about in her, Elsa felt a strange, almost mischievous joy welling up to the surface. She had absolutely no idea why. It was as if it wasn't even coming from her, "Oh, don't you dare…"
The hooded stranger angled himself about slightly. Else tried to make out his face, but all she could glimpse was a single, piercing blue eye looking out at her from under the hood along with a cheeky smile peaking on the side of his face.
"Think fast!" and before she could move, the stranger swung about and pelted her clear in the face with the snowball, causing the world to erupt into blizzard once more. And suddenly nothing else seemed to matter anymore. There was just the winter, the fun and the wind and the sky.
And so Elsa ran, and though she couldn't see anyone else now, she knew she was no longer just one among the wind and snow.
She'd never dreamed her powers could be a connection to something or someone. They were normally just always something for others to come to accept in her.
But she had dreamed it now, and the truth was that Elsa was just happy she had.
-α-
Jack could sense that it was close now. He walked down the corridor in perfect silence, eyes sweeping left and right, 'Now if I were a staff, where would I be hidden?'
Jack found his focus being drawn to one doorway in particular, and he felt his senses narrow down almost to a point.
'This is it…' he thought, edging slowly toward the door and reaching for the handle. Thankfully, both handle and hinges had obviously been well oiled, as they didn't make so much as a squeak as Jack opened the door and slipped inside.
"Now," he murmured under his breath, "Let's see where you've been hide-" Jack bit off the end of his sentence however, clamming up instantly as he took in the room around him.
It was a tastefully decorated bedroom, one obviously intended for a female occupant. It had large windows revealing the currently full moon outside, which cast everything into dim, silvery illumination. In the middle of the room was a very comfortable-looking bed which, most importantly of all, was currently occupied.
'Well great. That's just great, Jack,' thought the guardian to himself with exasperation, 'Sneaking into a girl's bedroom in the middle of the night…that's not creepy in the slightest.'
His shoulders sank with the weight of defeat, "Let's just get this over with…" he allowed himself to murmur.
Jack began a slow, sweeping survey of the room, scanning for his elusive staff.
He looked to the vanity table by the door, but all that was on there was a brush, a tiara, and an open box of chocolates that the occupant seemed to be keeping hidden inside of a jewelry box for some reason.
He looked to the dressers and bookcases next; nothing on or propped up against those either.
Jack's spirits began to sink as he realised there was nothing up by the windows, nor by the dress mirror either.
He even went so far as to spare the ceiling a glance.
Finally, he let his gaze travel to the one place he really didn't want to look.
'Of course it's there, where else would it be?' he thought, fighting the urge to groan as he looked over at where Queen Elsa lay, curled up and sleeping like a baby with Jack's staff hugged close like a teddy bear.
Jack flung his hands up in exasperation and began padding silently closer, "It's just one thing…" he grumbled, twirling around what his feet could detect was a creaky floorboard, "…after the other." until he found himself standing over Elsa's bedside.
He tapped one pale finger off his chin in thought, 'Now…how am I going to do this?'
Then he looked at his staff. The top was resting up against Elsa's head and letting out a gentle sparkle of etheric blue light that danced over the Queen's slumbering features.
Jack cocked an eyebrow up, regarding the staff dryly, 'Traitor…'
He reached gingerly for the staff, biting his lip. His hands came within inches of it. However, it was only then that he found his eyes drawn properly for the first time to Elsa herself.
Jack found himself giving pause as he looked down upon the slumbering Queen. Her creamy pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight and her hair shimmered like liquid silver. A content smile graced her features.
He felt his hand drift closer, as if daring to just brush her cheek. He could feel the warmth radiating off her even from this distance. Then he heard a crackling noise off to one side, and he caught sight of where his other hand was braced on the bedside table. He felt the ice already spreading over the surface.
Jack lifted his palm up and looked at it for a long moment. He then retracted his other hand quickly, berating himself in silence, 'What are you thinking?'
She was human; a mortal, and he was a guardian; an immortal spirit. Jack knew that as much as people believed in him, as much as he loved to watch over them, there was always that barrier. There could never be that connection.
Jack closed his eyes and shook his head. He then shoved the feeling aside and returned his attention to the task at hand. He reached his hand quickly towards his staff. He suddenly felt an urgency to leave this place.
Jack's hand closed on the staff. Suddenly, as if somehow sensing the guardian's presence, Elsa let out a quiet mumble and rolled over, taking the staff with her.
Jack's hand dropped back to his side. With a roll of his eyes he marched around to the other side, 'Right then…' he thought, reaching out, only for Elsa to roll over again, mewling contentedly.
Jack clenched his fists and walked back once more. But as he reached close, Elsa began to shift again, "Oh now you're just messing with me!" Jack barked, his mouth bypassing his brain for one brief second.
That second was enough.
Elsa's eyes flicked open and she sat bolt upright in surprise, cracking Jack square between the eyes with her forehead in the process.
Jack staggered back, cradling his nose and leaning forwards so his hood flipped up over his head, "Really?" He yelped, "Just…really?" and he dropped his hands to his sides, looking up to find Elsa staring right at him with saucer-wide, unblinking eyes. She then looked to the sides, and then all about, as if needing to confirm something, before finally turning her startled gaze back to Jack again.
'Okay, Jack, play it cool, just…play it cool. Nobody does that better. Just talk your way out of it.'
"Sorry, Your Majesty," said Jack suddenly, composing himself, "Palace room service. Just checking to see if you need your bed turned down, but it…looks like you're already in it. I'll just be getting out of your way now…" and he reached almost offhandedly to take his staff back, only for Elsa to hug it closer and lean away, her blankets held up to her chest with the other hand.
"Palace…wooden staff polishing service?" he offered.
Elsa just blinked once, but said nothing.
"Palace...wooden…look, are you going to buy anything I say?"
Elsa shuffled her head once to the left, then to the right.
Jack sighed and decided to drop the pretence. He extended his hand again, Elsa pulled back again on reflex. This time he didn't pull back, he just held his palm up, smiled tiredly, and then said quietly, "Look, I'm going to need that back…"
"Am I dreaming?" Elsa finally asked in a small voice.
Jack seemed mildly startled by the query, but he couldn't help but smile weakly, "Sorry, that's not my department…"
"But you never even told me your name…" she whispered.
Jack's confusion rose up a notch, but he didn't let it show, "You never asked."
Confusion seemed to sweep over Elsa's features this time, "Who are you?"
Jack just shook his head, "It doesn't matter. Just forget you saw me."
Elsa began to frown, "Tell me your name," and this time there was less wonder and more authority in her voice.
Jack, being Jack, had an ingrained reaction to anyone trying to force any kind of authority on him, even if the request was reasonable, "Tell you what," he said, "You give me the staff, and we'll talk for as long as you want."
Elsa passed the staff to her left hand, and Jack watched as she slowly and subtly slipped off one of the silken gloves that she seemed to wear for bed.
Her frown shifted to a glower, "I want to know who you are."
This was not going as Jack was expecting. He had no idea why she was more obsessed with his identity than why he'd broken into her room in the dead of night, "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you…" he finally responded, "Look, will you please just give me my staff back?"
Jack suddenly noticed that ice was creeping along the floor, closing quickly in around him.
And he wasn't the one causing it.
'So it's true then…' he thought, marvelling for just an instant. His eyes then flicked back to Elsa, who was holding him affixed with her gaze. A smile started to appear on Jack's face, 'Let's just see what happens when she really gets riled up.'
Jack cocked his head acceptingly and laid his palms flat on the side of the bed, gripping tightly. He then looked at Elsa "In all fairness, I did ask nicely…"
Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but only got out a startled yelp when Jack proceeded to swiftly and unceremoniously flip the blankets up, tossing both them and the Queen wrapped up in them right out of bed.
Jack reached nimbly over and plucked his staff free of the bundle of blankets and limbs as Elsa tried to work out which way was up.
The guardian smiled widely as he hovered back toward the door just as the blankets encompassing Elsa burst into a cloud of snowflakes.
Elsa, looking distinctively dishevelled with her braid half undone at her side, dragged herself up using the edge of her bed, glaring as Jack vanished through the doorway.
Elsa moved to climb across her bed. She only got half way however before Jack briefly reappeared in the doorway and leaned in over Elsa's vanity table, "In for a penny…" he said, and promptly stole the box of chocolates right off the table before vanishing again.
Elsa's jaw dropped before letting out an indignant, "Oh!" She then scrambled the rest of the way over and went immediately into determined pursuit.
Jack's gleeful laughter echoed through the hallways. The floor froze in his path. He flipped about, skating backwards as his staff trailed behind.
Elsa then appeared in the corridor. She looked briefly stunned to find everything frozen. Her scowl quickly reappeared though, "Stop right there!"
"Stop?!" echoed Jack gaily, pausing in his retreat to execute a perfect three-sixty twirl, "I never stop!" He then hopped up so the ball of his heel was resting in the curve of his staff, essentially riding it through the corridors as Elsa began running after him, somehow managing to keep up and not slip despite not wearing skates of any kind.
Jack leaned casually back against his staff, hands resting behind his head, "I'll tell you what, why don't you try catching me?"
Elsa's gaze narrowed and she came to a stop, "As you wish…"
The Queen flicked a hand forward and released a swirl of Icy magic ahead. Jack flicked his head to the left and let it pass harmlessly by him, "That the best you-" but Jack was cut off when he found himself slamming back into a wall of solid ice that had materialised directly behind him.
Jack slid to the floor, shaking his head, "That's what I get for not looking where I'm going…"
Frowning, the guardian flicked his staff back, shattering the wall as if it were made of wafer thin glass. He then began backpedalling slowly, the base of his staff tracing left and right, leaving zigzags of icy patterns across the floor as he went.
He then swung the staff about, releasing a cold, horizontal shockwave towards the Queen.
Elsa slammed a foot down, causing a spire of ice to erupt directly up in front of her and shielding her from the wave. The rest of the corridor ended up being effectively transformed into an icy cavern.
Elsa retaliated by flinging her arm out, summoning a large, hovering sphere of ice that she hurled at the guardian.
Jack merely chuckled as he jumped up and bunny-hopped over it before skidding to a halt again using his palm.
Glowering, Elsa gathered two swirls of light in each palm and flung them forwards.
Jack smirked, "There it is…" and he bounced straight up again. He physically booted one swirl out of the air. It slammed into the wall, forming an array of icy spikes. He then caught the second in the curve of his staff and landed again, skidding backwards as he twirled his staff continuously above his head, the icy blast dancing about the wood, imprisoned by the momentum.
Jack dug one heel in, reared back with his staff, "Right back at ya…" and then flung the ball of blue energy right back at Elsa.
The Queen tensed and thrust a palm ahead, releasing a counterblast at the oncoming attack. The two swirls slammed into each other and erupted into an indoor snowstorm.
Jack looked about, smiling appreciatively as he tossed his staff idly across from one hand to the other, "Not bad. Not bad at all. You definitely get an A for effort. A bit lacking in imagination though…"
Elsa frowned, "Who are you calling lacking?"
Jack caught his staff between his toes so he could hold both hands up defensively, "I'm just saying, try showing your work a little."
Elsa's brow twitched. She could tell he was goading her, and she was about to take a second to calm down when Jack flicked a chocolate out from his hoodie pocket and into his mouth. He hummed, "Truffle…nice."
"Alright…" said Elsa, and pressed both hands onto the ground this time. Jack stood back to full attention, staff at the ready as two huge ice crystals formed on the ground, which then began swelling up and growing, shaping into something…
The icy formations quickly shimmered and adjusted, coalescing in the space of a few seconds until Jack found himself face to face with a pair of perfect, icy copies… of himself.
Jack's jaw dropped.
Elsa then flourished her fingers out and a pair of blue swirls danced about the clones' hands before transforming into a pair of perfect, snow-white copies of Jack's staff.
In perfect tandem, the crystalline versions of the guardian shifted into a readied stance.
Jack could only stare in silence. Then his expression changed.
Jack snickered, as if trying to contain something. A chuckle escaped next. Eventually the guardian just cracked up into a fit of unrestrained, joyous laughter, holding himself up with both hands on his staff.
"W-what is it?" stammered Elsa.
"I-it's just…" said Jack, waving a hand between the two clones, "you're amazing!" and he chuckled again, "I mean that's just fantastic!" He paused to look between the two, "I never would've thought of anything like this." He looked to Elsa then, "You really are something special."
Elsa shifted, tugging at the neck of her nightgown as she looked off to one side, "Y-yes well…are you willing to at least talk with me now?"
Jack hummed, "Hmm, no…I'm still going to run," and with one final, cheeky spin of his staff, the guardian turned about and sped off.
"After him," said Elsa. The clones nodded back at her before launching themselves into pursuit.
Jack glanced back, smiling widely as he skated off, "Come and get me, you handsome devils!"
The two clones crisscrossed paths as Jack spun back about, staff raised sideward to block an overhead strike from one of the imitation guardians. The other hooked the top of his staff about Jack's midsection, swinging him fully about and straight into the wall. This allowed the other to pin him firmly in place with one forearm.
Jack's eyes flicked to where Elsa still stood, observing from further down the hallway in silence. He returned his attention to the now still clones and smiled, "I'm telling you, you guys are taking this way too seriously," and he kicked down on the top of his dropped staff, causing it to flip up and clonk the clone restraining the guardian on the back of the head, "You two just need to learn how to have a little fun."
The icy form peeled away from the guardian and twitched, spasming slightly as if disturbed. Jack then flipped his staff back into his hand and tapped the other on the head too for good measure.
They both shook their heads in confusion, "So…" said Jack, looking between them, "How you guys doing?"
"Not bad," said one, much to Elsa's surprise, since she hadn't actually made them with the ability to speak.
"I'm actually feeling pretty good," said the other rather chirpily.
Jack spoke between them almost conspiratorially, "Hey, you guys know what might be fun?"
"What, boss?" asked one.
Jack nodded back up the hallway, "Get her instead…"
"You're the boss!" they chimed, mock saluting with their snow staffs.
Elsa gasped as the two faux Jacks spun about and charged her head on whilst the real one remained back, "You three have fun!" he called, waving with his staff as he turned and left.
Elsa braced herself, and an instant before the clones reached her, she jumped back a step, leaving a perfect snow copy of herself in her place.
The clones impacted the fake Elsa, which immediately expanded to encompass both before exploding into a shower of snowflakes and taking the two copies with it.
Elsa sagged forwards slightly and exhaled a relieved breath. She then looked up just in time to see a snowball smack her in the V-neck of her nightgown. There was a chocolate embedded in it.
Elsa followed it as it as it peeled away and fell to the floor, "You can have that one back!" came a shout from somewhere up ahead, "It had hazelnuts in it. I'm not a fan."
'Staying calm…' thought Elsa, her whole right eye twitching, 'I am staying…calm.'
-α-
Yawning, Anna found herself waking up for the second time that night. Only this time it was due to a racket that even a sleeper as heavy as she was couldn't ignore.
Rubbing her head, she emerged into the corridor, "What on earth is going…" she trailed off however when she took in the winter landscape that seemed to have taken over the hallway, complete with indoor blizzard, "…on…out here?"
"Guardian on a sugar rush, comin' through!" a voice shouted from off to the side and a blue blur shot by Anna, missing her by a centimetres and almost knocking her clean from her feet. Only a hand braced against the wall prevented her toppling over entirely.
Anna looked quickly off in the direction the blur had gone, but it was already out of sight, "What is going on out here tonight?" She noticed something moving in her peripheral vision however and turned to find Elsa standing at an intersection in the hallways, looking between the various directions before striding down the hall in her direction, eyes set dead ahead.
"Elsa?" asked Anna unsurely, noting that her sister didn't look entirely in sorts. Her hair was a mess, something Anna had never seen with her before, and was almost entirely pulled free from its usual braid. Her nightgown was ruffled too and coated with snowflakes.
And she did not look happy. Her fists were balled up at her sides as she looked up ahead for something. And if Anna didn't know any better, she could've sworn her big sister was twitching slightly.
That couldn't have been a good sign.
"Are you…okay?" asked Anna.
"Where is he?" she asked, still looking ahead.
"Elsa…" said Anna as slowly and calmly as possible, "I'm going to need you to calm down. You're causing a mini-winter in here."
"It wasn't me!" she objected, "Well…not…entirely at least."
Anna frowned, "Then who was it, the other person in the palace with mystical ice powers?"
Elsa was about to inform her sister that that's precisely who it was, but instead she just took a long, calming breath, "Just…which way did he go?"
"Who?"
"The boy that was in my room!" she snapped, "I had him for a moment but he got away."
Anna's eyes went wide and her jaw slowly dropped, "A…boy?"
"Yes," she replied, still glancing about.
"You had a boy in your room?"
Elsa nodded.
"You?"
"Yes," she snapped impatiently, pausing again to recompose herself and disperse the snow and ice in the hallways, "Well did you-" but she cut herself off when she realised Anna was wearing possibly the widest grin she'd ever seen on her face. Elsa frowned, "What is it?"
Anna seemed to almost bounce on her feet and Elsa's bewilderment went up a level when her sister suddenly swung about and knocked rapidly on the door next to hers, "Kristoff, Kristoff!"
A barely awake Kristoff appeared a moment later, "W-what is it?"
"It finally happened!" cried Anna happily, clapping her hands.
"What did?" he asked, squinting his eyes and rubbing some sleep out.
"Elsa sneaked a boy back to her room!" she whispered.
Elsa rolled her eyes, her warring feelings briefly vanishing in a cloud of utter exasperation.
"Really?" said Kristoff, instantly awake as Anna edged back towards Elsa and began fixing her hair without even looking in that way only sisters seem able to do while gossiping.
"It's not what you think," groaned Elsa, briefly massaging her temples and letting Anna fix her appearance.
"I'm sure…" said Anna as she finished with her hair and brushed off the snow.
"We only just met!"
Anna stood back and rested her arms on her hips, "Oh, so it's a crime when I do it, but when you do it-"
Elsa clapped a hand over Anna's mouth, "-It is not like that. He broke in, stole that staff I found and then ran."
"Staff?" asked Kristoff with a frown, "Did…did he have white hair by any chance?" Elsa's attention turned to him instantly, "And a strange aversion to footwear?"
"You know him?" she breathed.
"Not really, we just met today. He mentioned he was looking for the thing that broke the window earlier on. He said his name was Jack."
"Oh, so then he wasn't imaginary…"mused Anna, eliciting a grumble from Kristoff, "Then maybe it really was his."
"It was…" said Elsa quietly, thinking to herself.
Anna shrugged, "Well it's not like I agree with him breaking in, but if he's got what he came for, and it is his…maybe, and I'm just saying…maybe we should just drop it."
"He…" said Elsa, unsure suddenly, "He had…powers. I…think they were like mine," and she found herself looking down at her hands.
"Are you sure?" asked Anna.
"I told you to look at Sven's back earlier." said Kristoff, "I swear he froze solid part of his fur just by touching him."
"Is that why you want to catch him?" asked Anna.
Elsa looked away, "I…I don't know. He just…he ran away from me."
Anna and Kristoff looked to each other. The princess edged closer and nudged her sister in the side, "Come on then…"
"What?" asked Elsa, looking back to her sister.
"You know…"
Elsa shook her head.
"Was he cute?"
The queen rolled her eyes, "Don't be ridiculous, Anna."
"Spill…" said Anna, folding her arms.
Elsa glanced at her, "He was five parts absolutely insane, four parts utterly infuriating…"
"…And?" prodded Anna, poking her in the side again.
Elsa almost pouted before reluctantly adding, "…and maybe one part cute."
Kristoff looked to Anna, "Translation?"
"He was really, really cute," Replied Anna with a nod.
Elsa just groaned and turned for the window. She fumbled with the catch for a second before pushing it open.
"W-what are you doing?" asked Anna as Elsa lifted one leg over the side.
"I'm climbing out the window, "she replied with a grunt as she pulled herself up to sit on the windowsill.
"I can see that. I'm a little more curious as to the why though."
"Because it's a shortcut to the main doors."
Anna frowned, "And what makes you think he'll escape by going right out the front door?"
Elsa's gaze narrowed, "Trust me. That's where he's going."
"Why don't you just let him go?" asked Kristoff, only for Anna to elbow him once in the side, "Ow! What?"
Anna scowled at him, "He broke into the palace, vandalised the place-"
"-and he stole my chocolates…" mumbled Elsa under her breath,
"Oh, w-well in that case you should…umm…you should totally go and get him," said Anna, swinging an enthusiastic fist, "We can't be letting that stand." and then looked to Kristoff, narrowing her gaze pointedly at him.
He blinked, "R-right…what she said."
Elsa looked back to her sister and gave her a barely visible, thankful smile.
Anna just nodded, and Elsa dropped herself outside and vanished into the dark.
The princess sighed dreamily and flopped up against Kristoff's side, "Ah, I'm so happy for her…"
Kristoff frowned, "I don't get it. I mean it looks like she hates his guts."
Anna looked up at him with confusion, "You really don't understand anything about women, do you?"
Kristoff gave her a definitive shake of the head, "Not a thing."
Anna could only just smile and wrap her arms about him, "Good answer…" She then dragged him by the arm and started walking down the corridor.
"W-where are we going?"
"To go and watch, of course," she whispered.
"Of course…" sighed Kristoff, who resigned to just let himself to be dragged along.
-α-
A great gust of wind blew through the courtyard, carrying the palace doors open in the process. Jack erupted into the open, skidding to a stop using the base of his staff.
Jack executed a perfect on-the-spot somersault in celebration and held his arms aloft, "Whoo!" he cheered. He then spun about to look back the way he'd came, and he suddenly felt his smile fade. His hands fell back to his sides and he turned away from the doors, swinging his heels as he walked idly toward the mounds of snow someone seemed to have piled in the courtyard before flopping back into them like a waiting blanket.
The lone guardian let his staff roll from his hand as he stared up at the stars above. He cocked his head almost dejectedly, "Suppose it wouldn't have been so bad if she'd chased me just a little further…"
Jack closed his eyes and stood slowly back up, reaching for his staff as he went. He noted how the snow almost seemed to reach up and cling to him as he went, as if drawn by his presence alone.
It took Jack a second too long to realise however that the snow was in fact clinging to him, and he didn't have time to process a single thought before the mound of white he'd been laying in erupted into a great white hand that snapped shut around the guardian before he could move so much as an inch.
Jack reached for his staff, but it was caught in the changing snow just inches from his fingertips, "Oh you have got to be kidding me…" he groaned as he found himself rising up off the ground, watching as the mounds of snow that had appeared so innocent before started gathering into one main mass that quickly grew and shaped itself.
In the space of a few seconds, Jack Frost suddenly found himself in the grip of a gigantic snow copy of Elsa herself. Jack inclined his head acceptingly as he dangled there, regarding the perfect copy of the upscaled Queen, "Okay, I will admit: that is pretty cool."
Jack sighted his staff. The base was embedded in the giant's wrist. He reached over, stretching as far as he could, but he went limp when he realised he couldn't quite reach it.
The guardian sighed, "And so it's the attack of the fifty foot Ice Queen, is it? Let's see you get out of this one, Jack."
"That's Snow Queen," and Jack squirmed around just in time to see Elsa emerge from the top of her clone's head, "So your name is Jack..."
Jack could only stare in amazement at Elsa for a long moment. In the time since they'd last encountered each other she'd somehow not only fixed her hair, but her nightgown had been transformed into a shimmering blue/white dress that trailed elegantly along behind her.
The Queen began descending her copy's braid like it was a simple staircase before walking slowly down the length of the arm, stopping when she reached the hand.
Jack looked up at Elsa and then gave her construct a long, surveying sweep, "Amazing…" he breathed, "You really are amazing, did I mention that to you before? I mean this thing must've taken some serious skill."
"Well…" said Elsa, looking away once more, "I have been practicing. Are you saying you can't do anything like this?"
He shrugged, "I've never really tried making things with my powers."
"Why not?"
Jack smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, "There was nobody around to see it…"
"You mean you're alone?"
Again a shrug, "I've always been alone, ever since I became what I am. I've had allies and friends I guess, but it's normally always…just been me."
"And who are you exactly?"
Again that smile, "I'm Jack Frost, as in the Jack Frost."
There was a slight furrowing of Elsa's brow, "I've never heard of you I'm afraid."
Jack chuckled, shaking his head, "Don't be silly. That's impossible."
Elsa cocked a single regal eyebrow up, "Oh, and why is that?"
"W-well you can see me," he glanced around at the hand, "You can touch me."
"Well of course I can. You're right in front of me."
Jack shook his head, "You don't understand. I'm a spirit; a guardian. You can't see one of us unless you believe in us."
"I believe in you because I can see you."
Jack rolled his eyes, "Trust me, if things worked that way round then my life would've been a lot peachier these past three hundred years."
Elsa was unable to hide the look of surprise on her face, "You're three hundred years old?" she breathed.
Jack shrugged, "Give or take. I stopped keeping track at around two hundred and fifty." A look of confusion then crossed his features, "But this doesn't make sense. How can you all see and touch me if you don't believe in me?"
Elsa had no answer for that, "Assuming you are what you say you are. What are you the spirit of exactly?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm the spirit of winter; the embodiment of the ice and cold. I'm also the Guardian of Fun. That's sort of a new title though."
"That's not possible…"
"Yeah, a lot of that going around tonight," said Jack.
She then looked at him quizzically, "And the 'Guardian of fun?'"
This time Jack's smile was almost dazzling, "That's me, all the way. I mean didn't we have fun tonight?"
Elsa gaped at him, "Fun?" she echoed incredulously, "You call that fun?"
Jack just laughed that unrestrained laugh of his, "Of course! Come on, you look me in the eye and tell me you didn't have just a little bit of fun."
Elsa tried to look away.
"Come on…" prompted Jack, smiling still and watching the edge of Elsa's mouth twitch despite her best efforts, as if his very nature was infectious and appealed to that little voice in her that still yearned to rush out in the night and build snowmen with her sister.
"There it is…" intoned Jack, "Come on, you and me back there; that was fun."
Elsa turned away to hide the blush on her cheeks, "It was improper."
"Hey, wouldn't be fun if it wasn't."
"You're immature and incorrigible."
"Are you any different, deep down? Though in my defence, I have been told that I've got very good dental hygiene."
Elsa turned sharply back however when she heard a distinctive cracking noise coming from her side. And she'd turned just in time to see her construct's fist solidify from snow into a solid block of ice which quickly shattered around Jack's form. Now there was nothing holding him up beyond the open air.
Jack was already moving though. He wrapped his legs around the remnants of the wrist and swung upside down. That allowed him just enough wriggle room to slide one leg down and kick his staff free. With his grip lost however, both it and he dropped like a rock.
"Jack!" shouted Elsa, the giant's arm restoring as the other moved to catch him, only to swipe out at thin air.
The arm she was on moved to the side and Elsa peered down, searching for the fallen guardian, "Jack?"
"You called?" said a voice from just behind Elsa, eliciting a shocked intake of air as she swung about.
It was of course Jack. He had his foot resting against the inside of his staff as he lounged against it.
Twenty metres off the ground.
The look of shock on Elsa's face was almost pleasing to Jack. She had an almost childlike wonder in her eyes as the guardian hung silently in the air, swaying slightly upon the breeze, "You can…fly?"
He floated off into a slow circle around the Snow Queen, "Didn't I mention that part?" he asked, leaning casually back again in that impossible way of his, "Wait, you mean you can't?"
Elsa shook her head.
A moment of silence passed, and there was a look in Jack's eyes. It was the look of him considering something that he never had before, but it was gone as swiftly as it appeared, and he found himself looking away and floating just a bit further back from Elsa, as if he suddenly felt the need to protect himself from her in some way.
Elsa blinked, "Is something wrong?"
Jack still wasn't looking at her and he affixed his usual smile in place, "You've got me on style, I'll give you that, your majesty…"
"It's Elsa…" she added gently.
A quick flash of something bordering on either irony or pain crossed over Jack's features, "Y-yeah…so with the flying thing in mind, I guess we can call it a draw."
He then paused, as if considering something again. Then, with a flutter of his fingers, a single glowing snowflake shimmered into being in his palm. He toyed with it around his fingers like it were a coin before flicking it out towards Elsa.
It fluttered gently on the breeze towards her and she reached out to catch it. Upon contact with her fingertips it emitted a flash before transforming into a simple blue rose formed entirely out of ice. A winter's storm was visible within the petals and stem.
"That's to say sorry if I bothered you," said Jack, drawing her attention up to him again, "In my experience, winter tends to do that to people after a while." And a huge gust of wind forced Elsa to look away for a second, and when she looked back…Jack Frost was gone. Elsa noticed a rapidly growing trail of clouds above, leading off towards the mountains, each creating a snowstorm in their wake.
Elsa regarded the rose once more, allowing a single finger to trace the thornless stem for a moment before lacing it up into her hair and returning her gaze back to the sky. The makings of a smile appeared on her features, "The winter never bothers me, Jack Frost…"
This wasn't over, not as far as Elsa was concerned. And as Jack Frost soared upon the northern winds high above, a tiny voice in the back his mind began whispering the exact same thing...
-α-
To be continued…
[A/N] Funny how when I just start a story the opening chapter ends up just few thousand words long, but once I know the plot and what I want to do in each one they end over ten. Still, I found oddly that this barely took long to write at all, even though this really is just a mischievous little fun piece that I'll continue to squeeze in as I work on other things, but I really didn't want to leave this without anything having really happened yet so hope it gives a modicum of enjoyment to you folks out there too. Until whenever next time is…
Catch you in Chapter 3: Creeping Darkness