You need to find a way out of here without attracting the guards. On your own, you could leave no problem. But the fact that you have an unconscious queen on your back makes it hundreds of times harder. You look around for an idea out of here. You notice the harpoon with rope is still attached in the room. That could work.
You walk over to the window once again to see where the rope leads. It passes the fjord and is somewhat in the woods. You now have a way out, but there is still the fact that you have someone else with you who can't support themselves. You need your hands to get down the rope. In fact using your sword as a sort of hook for the two of you, but that still requires both hands.
You search her room for some extra rope, or something of the sort. In the end, you concur that her blankets would work just as fine. Plus, if you take them you have something to keep you warm in the frozen terrain.
You start to get everything ready but then you look over at the queen. She is in a night gown. It is very unlikely she would want to stay in that gown for your entire journey. You rummage through her drawers to find the proper clothes. They are all noble clothes but they'll work just fine.
You grab some sort of garbs for her and underwear. You only grab one set of clothes, otherwise it'll no doubt slow you down. You grab the queen and the blanket to start. You move her to your back then wrap her with the blanket. You tightly tie it in front of you. She's like an oversized baby for you.
You stuff the clothes you gathered for her between your back and her chest. They should stay put for the time being. You get yourself in position for this exotic plan. You pull your sheathed sword out from your belt and place it over the rope. You grab the hilt and the end part of the sheath. There is always a chance the sword could start to unsheathe during this, but you have a back-up plan.
You make sure the blanket is secure before jumping down the rope. You take one deep breath, look at Elsa, and then jump. You hold your sword as tight as possible during your decent. It's going smoothly so far. But to your guess, the sword begins to unsheathe itself. You use all your might to keep it together.
You do well in this endeavor until Elsa start fidgeting. Her movement starts loosening the nice baby spot you made for her. The ground was close and you didn't have any arms to deal with her. You let go of the sword with one hand to let you both fall. Once shove the sheath between you and Elsa to secure it. You use the sword to quickly cut a portion of the blanket so you could face Elsa. You grabbed her and held her tight as you landed.
Your feet grinded against the snow and dirt as you landed, but it went fine. Neither of you died, so there isn't much to complain about. You keep Elsa in your arms, but reposition the entire blanket to fit around her. She may not feel the cold, but it's still a sort of decency thing. Plus you could cover her face with the blanket if you passed by someone. You also re-position your sheath on your belt.
You begin walking away from Arendelle and up a small cliff. Your feet drag through the heavy snow, slowing you down. You laugh at your situation. You wanted to get as far away as possible, but here you are walking right back. You couldn't just leave her though. You know she would die if you left her, as the doctors there likely have no idea how to treat this poison.
Dragon Blood, they called it. You remember Zander favoured it when he was sent to kill. You never liked poison. It was too slow and caused too much pain. You preferred to kill people with your blade. To let them see the better person before they died. Zander just enjoyed watching them suffer. Besides, the blade gives a quick death.
You trek through the mountains for hours. You are far from Arendelle but far from your intended city, Tocia. That place should have the supplies you need to heal Elsa. After that, she can do what she pleases.
However your wounds are weighing down on you. You're slowing down and becoming fatigued. Draining yourself like this doesn't help Elsa's health. You decide to take a quick rest, then continue in an hour or so. You scour the mountain side for a cave. It takes some time, but you do find a suitable one. You set Elsa down deep in the cave. You covered her up in the blanket and left her there.
You exited the cave in order to find some firewood and maybe some food. The firewood is easy to find. You don't walk too far to find a suitable tree. You knock on it a few times to confirm that it's good. You smirk, and in one quick motion you grab your katana and slice the tree twelve times. You brush off the blade and start to put it back in your sheath. You wait a second before fully sheathing it. The tree falls apart the moment you do so.
You smile at two things. One is the fact that you have firewood now, while the second is you can still pull that off. You always found it to be one of the coolest things you've ever seen. You gather up the firewood and place it within the cave. Elsa is still unconscious but she is moving around more.
With this in mind you stay in the cave. You weren't that hungry anyway. You started the fire up and basked in its warm glow. You lie against the cave wall with your sword arched between the ground and your shoulder. You are mesmerized by the fire. You enjoyed the occasional crackle the fire would cause.
You noticed that Elsa was slowly pushing herself off the ground. You didn't flinch at this, just kept your eyes on her. She rubbed her head then remembered what happened. She shot up and looked around when she saw you her eyes seemed conflicted. You saw that she felt angry but also confused. There was a chance she may just kill you right now.
You both stared at each other for a moment. There was silence between you except for the crackling of the fire.
"Where are we? Why did you bring me here?"
You continue to stare at her eyes. They were actually really nice, even with the hint of anger. You lifted yourself off the wall and walk towards her.
She remains uneasy but doesn't do anything to stop you. You poke her sliced cheek. She feels the cut but remains confused.
"What does that have to do with this?"
You can feel the cave get colder, even though the fire was right there. You pulled a kunai out of your pocket and showed it to her. You grazed your finger over the stained tip of the kunai.
She was hesitant at first but she leaned in to look. She saw a clear greenish liquid across the tip. It took her a moment to get an idea.
"Have I been poisoned?" She slowly asks.
You nod your head then put the kunai away. You turn your back to her and re-position yourself at the location you were before.
Elsa remains ever confused. You were an assassin, a killer. Why didn't you just let her die unknowingly from the poison? Why take her away from Arendelle? She was determined to get the answers.
"Why did you kidnap me? Do you realize how serious of an offense that is?"
You look into her eyes and give a weak shrug. You returned your attention to the fire. Elsa was getting annoyed. You wouldn't answer her questions. You seemed think there was no consequence for what you have done.
"I'm returning to Arendelle. My doctors can discover a cure what whatever poison I have been afflicted with."
Elsa begins to leave the cave. You chuckle then get up to stop her. She notices this and turns to face you.
"Why won't you let me leave? Why do you have to take care of me?"
You remain silent for a moment. You obviously move your eyes down and up her body. She looks at herself to see she's still in a night gown. She covers her slight cleavage and begins to blush.
You smirk and point towards her clothes.
"You… brought clothes for me? What about undergarments?"
You continue to point towards the pile. Elsa cautiously made her way towards the clothes. She was about to thank you but she notices you left the small area and are standing at the cave entrance. You wait for her to change. She looks back at the clothes for a moment.
She removes her gown, exposing her naked body. You heard this happen but kept staring at the harsh winter night. She slips into her undergarments then into her clothes. It wasn't the most formal thing in her wardrobe, but she assumed you did that on purpose. She also got a reminder of a horrible day. She was in the same clothes as she was during her coronation day, over a year ago.
She shivers a bit at the thought, but quickly dismisses it from her mind.
"I'm dressed now," she calls to you.
You immediately turn around and re-assume your position. Elsa holds in a chuckle.
"You aren't very talkative, are you?"
You look at her for a second then back at the fire.
Not very talkative? Huh, how times have changed.
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The clashing of swords and the impact of staffs were filling the air. It was free sparring time at the temple, and you were having fun with it. You were always challenged to use different weapons, as you have gotten quite used to all of them. The other students were green with envy at your technique.
You were 9 years old at the time, and you couldn't be happier. Even though you were brought to the temple at the age of 3, you accepted the life you lived and tried to see the benefits of it. You were young, but incredibly strong. However you were only counted among your age as strong because the older students were naturally stronger. You always tried to close the gap between yourself and others, but you never could. Your body could only grow so fast and trying to rush it would lead to disaster.
You were always frustrated by that fact, but The Master always said the right thing to calm you down. You always saw him as your father figure, even though you knew so little about him. You didn't even know his name – granted nobody did. He insisted on being called "Master" even if he wasn't a student's designated master. He was the only person to be granted a code name, other than the Grand Master.
You were fighting against one of the older students. He was about 14, so he was stronger than you. However you had the better fighting style. You blocked his right slash with your tonfa. You push the sword back, spin your other tonfa to face him, then smack his left leg. He crumbles down and you finish him off with a hit to the face. He falls on his back, groaning in pain.
You spin the tonfas around your hands then place them in your belt. You walk up to the boy and extend your hand.
"Good match, Roy."
He chuckles for a second before taking your hand. You pull him up and he towers over you. It's not that he is really tall, it's simply that you're short.
"Yeah, good match. You know you may graduate soon, if you keep that up."
You give him a smirk, partly thanking him.
"I'm not all that, really. You just suck with the katana."
His face shows he's jokingly insulted.
"Ouch, that's mean (Y/N). But it's also true. I'm going for sais when I graduate."
That made sense. Roy was a genius when it came to sais. He would have beat you if he was using them. He just moves so fluently and deadly. He surpasses some of the masters with his technique.
Roy was one of your best friends in this place. You had made quite a number of friends in your time here, even though it wasn't recommended you get close to people. You never understood why, as this place was full of people who do care about each other. Roy was the first to show you friendship here. He was your student mentor at the time, but it didn't last long. However you two always laughed together. The bond was strong.
Most of the masters around here didn't like that the students were becoming friends. In their training, it was much more strict. However they couldn't argue it. The Grand Master has been one of the best in the Dragon Clan's history, and this generation has some promising students. The training hasn't degraded over time. If anything, it's gotten worse. What makes the students enjoy it is the teamwork they show. The comradery. It made the training less grueling.
Your master strolls up to the two of you.
"Roy, (Y/N)," he bows.
"Hello Master," you both say, bowing back.
"The Grand Master wanted to speak with you Roy. I wouldn't suggest keeping him waiting."
Roy bowed before he jogged off. You watched his energy as he left and let out a smile.
"Roy is one of our best students," the Master states.
You turn and look at him, curious about what he was going to say.
"But we have other students just as good. Younger students."
He looks at you and smirks before he walks away.
You stand there for a moment utterly confused about what the Master was getting at. You shrugged and walked away, intending to find another training partner. You don't however, but you find a crowd that seems to be preparing for an obstacle course. All the students taking part are older, but you just assume all the younger students are at the front.
The group was lead outside the gates of the temple.
"Alright students, today we are doing your final obstacle course to determine whether you are fit to graduate or not," a master yells out.
Your eyes widen and realize what you got yourself into.
This obstacle course isn't meant for you, but you can't just leave. Students get severely punished for abandoning training sessions. Even If you explained you got here by accident, you may be punished just for that fact. You decided to keep quiet and try to escape during the training.
"First you must pass the field of hot rocks. Now, as you should know, our hot rocks are very different from the average hot rocks. If you can't do this than there is no point in you being here. If your feet become too injured during this first section, then I wish you good luck trying to do the rest."
"Second, you must traverse the jungle. There will be three instructors giving you a general idea of where to go. The catch is, you must stay in the trees. We got some students ready to attack if you fall to the ground. While you are traversing, the students on the ground will be throwing kunai knives at you. You must stay alert."
"The last portion of this obstacle course, is fighting me and our well known Master."
Your Master jumps down from the trees and lands beside the other instructor.
"We will be guarding the way in, so you have to pass us. Be warned, if you slip up we will kill you."
You gulp at the last part.
"Begin!" He yells.
All the students jump into the trees. You are left standing there for a moment. Luckily, the two masters turned their backs to you. You run up part of one of tree and grab the branch. You swing up to a higher branch then make your way to the others.
You are behind everyone, but are catching up quickly. You reach the group of students. Most of them don't notice you but the ones who do give questioning looks. You simply smile and continue to jump across the braches.
You're surprised you can do this, as you haven't been out of the temple for a year. Your journey goes smoothly until a kunai wizzes past your face. You look down to see another student preparing to throw again. Your focus turns towards the projectiles being launched at you.
"I thought that was supposed to be after the hot rocks!" You yell.
The students around you don't complain at all. In fact, they seem to be enjoying it.
"Stop complaining youngster!" One yells at you.
"Hey, don't judge a book by its age!" You shout back.
"Really? Cause the newer books I've read are pretty bad."
Some of the other students chuckle. You feel a need to prove this guy wrong now. You're going to be better than these guys! You all jump through the trees until you reach the field. All the students hop down and land perfectly, even you. They all stare at the rocks which seem to span for miles. The heat coming off of them effect you, even from the distance you're at. Whether that's actually from the rocks or the blazing sun in the sky is up for debate.
"So… Who's going first?" You ask.
They stay silent. You assume they are scolding you or something. You wonder if they actually know you're not supposed to be here. You're definitely not of age, but you could just be short.
One of the students gets fed up with waiting and jumps across it. He does moderately well, but you can tell he had trouble with it.
The others run through the field as well. You watched as all these people ran away from you, but you just stood there. Almost everyone made it fine. You noticed one person didn't do too well. He had tripped on the rocks and can't get his bearings. He's going to die there.
You grind your teeth and get moving. You oddly make your way across the rocks. You jump a few times then hop onto your hands, progressing a little before getting back onto your feet. You jump, then roll on your shoulder to reach him. You throw him on your back and start moving.
He was much heavier then you and slowed you down immensely. You could feel your feet burning, but you kept moving. You ran as fast as you could until you reached the end. All the other students stopped to watch you do this. They were envious of your courage to help him, even though you were obviously too small for the job.
You reach the end and throw the man off your back. You fall to your knees and breathe. You also did it to get off your feet. It's strange, but they don't feel too bad after a minute. You're able to walk around with no pain.
The other student had burn marks all over his body. He wasn't going to make it through the rest of the course. You looked over at him and closed your eyes. You were disappointed you took so long to get there. You could've gotten there sooner.
The other students kept switching from looking at you and the injured one.
"How old are you?" The one who heckled you earlier asks.
"Nine… why?"
"You shouldn't even be here," he says, your head lowers. "But it's a good thing you were. How about we all finish this quick?"
Everyone nods. You all jump into the trees to progress. Another student offered to take the injured one back so you could continue. You didn't understand why they didn't kick you out, but you never complained. Why would you?
"What's your name, anyway?" The same student asks.
"I'm (Y/N). Who are you?"
"Marcus."
"Well, let's hope we get through this."
"You especially. They could kill you for interfering," he points out.
"I know," you say, your voice heavy with guilt.
The jungle you all jumped through soon became full of kunai knives. You had to be attentive to every single noise that came through the air. You were better at focusing on your surroundings, but it was way too much. As you landed on one tree branch a kunai went straight through it. The branch fell and you along with it. Just as you thought it was over you feel a hand grip your leg and throw you.
While you were in the air you see one of the students throwing kunai knives at you. Her brown hair is tied in a bun, as most girl had them. Her nose was small, but cute. There were freckles across her cheeks. You knew exactly who it was. Both of your eyes met for a moment before you grabbed the closest branch and moved as fast as you could.
"Ohh man. I'm so dead if she realized it was me," you mumble.
You keep hopping from branch to branch until you see a clearing. You all cheer for a moment before landing. The area is clear, which is odd considering there is a jungle right behind you. The field leads directly to the back of the temple. You smile and rush forward with everyone else.
Everyone is prepared for the two mentors to ambush them, but they haven't come yet.
"Didn't they say they would be here?" One student asks.
"Keep your guard up! This may just be another test!" Another responds.
"No matter what just keep going!" You contribute.
Twenty seconds after you arrive the two masters appear in front of you. Everyone stops dead in their tracks in shock. They appeared out of thin air, it didn't seem possible. The Master is wielding a katana while the other master had a staff. You think his name is master Ko, but you're not too sure.
You aren't sure what the game plan is. Nobody is talking around you. Everyone is simply staring at the two masters, making their own plan of attack. One charged forward and pulls out two nunchucks. He jumps over the two masters and proceeds to make it for the exit.
"Would you like to, Kal?" The Master asks.
"Very well. You keep the rest of them at bay."
Master Kal, in one swift movement, jumps back and lands in front of the student. He recoils a little bit but attempts to keep his cool. You want to watch the fight but your view is blocked by other students attempting to reach the goal.
You join in the rush! While running towards the goal you saw students being knocked around. There were some already on the ground, bleeding. Your stomach filled with butterflies. You could hear the screams and grunts of people being beaten. Whether they were actually killed… You don't want to know.
After sprinting past the two masters you head for the exit. You need to get out of this now, it isn't fun and games here. Before you could reach it you hear something. It sounded like a tick, or a click. You scan the area for a moment. All of a sudden little darts are flying everywhere. You jump into the air to avoid the first barrage, then lay flat on the ground to avoid any more.
Unfortunately almost all the other students fell into the trap. Only three students – including yourself – didn't get hit. You look around to see that most students begin to collapse on the floor. The ones who didn't get hit are watching their comrades fall. Marcus was among the standing. You push yourself up onto your feet and lock eyes with the other two. You all nod at each other and rush into a group. You were stronger together.
"Ah, so these were the ones to catch our little trap," Master Kal taunts.
"Yes inde-" Master pauses for a moment. "(Y/N)…"
Your eyes widen. Your muscles tighten. You fear what he'll do to you.
The other students look at you, they know exactly what is happening. They stand with you all the same.
"We're going to have to fight them," Marcus warns. "Do you think you can fight?"
You nod, "Yeah, but I don't have my weapon yet."
"Oh… Well this isn't good."
Marcus takes out two sais and positions himself accordingly. The sais have a dragon carved handle. It's meant to signify the clan. The other student pulls out a pair of katars. You never really practiced with those weapons, so you were somewhat eager to see what he would do with them.
You see a katana on the ground. It was likely another students. You are tempted to grab it but refrain from doing so for now. You put your fists up and get ready.
"Shall we finish this quickly, Master?" Master Kal asks.
"I want to fight the small one. You can take the others."
You gulp in nervousness.
The Master jumps into the air and readies his weapon. He comes in for the kill shot right away. You jump to the side, evading a slash. He looks over at you and attacks again. He lands a nice slash across your chest. You put your hand over the cut. You feel the blood start to dribble out. You can tell he held back because you should have died right there.
You notice the other two fighting Master Kal. They are losing. He is too fast with the staff and they can't get close enough. At least they were doing better than you. You completely focus on the man in front of you.
"Can't I get a break? I didn't even mean to enter this," you say.
The Master chuckles and shakes his head, "Sorry (Y/N), you have to fight."
The Master sheathes his sword and enters a fighting stance.
"But I will give you a chance."
You smile and get ready. You throw a punch at the Master which he easily catches with his right hand. He places his the back of his left wrist behind your elbow and spins you towards him. He raises his knee to collide with your stomach. This irritates the cut but you ignore the pain. You break the grip he has on you then try to knee him. He places both hands in the way of your knee to absorb the impact. He pushes your knee up, sending you slightly above him. He jumps into the air, spins two times, and then extends his leg right under your ribs. You cough out spit while you plummet to the ground. Dust covers the area you land, making you invisible to everyone.
The other three individuals stop for a moment and look over. They see the Master land a few meters away, and only assume the worst. The air goes silent as the dust clears. You force your body to stand up. You won't let your age blind everyone to your strength. Your muscles are on the verge of collapse as you stand. It looks like you're going to fall over any second.
The Master observes you and smiles.
"I admire your will to keep going, but you have to recognize that you can't win every time. Sometimes it's better to lay down and live, rather than get up and die."
You breathe heavily, and shake your head.
"If I live with my face in the dirt… Then it isn't truly living."
You raise your hands again, indicating you want to go on. The Master shrugs before dashing towards you. He is seconds away from you at this point. You prepare to block his punch, however it seems he went right through you. You relax a little bit and look behind you. Before your head turns a punch knocks you right to the ground.
The Master steps on your head to hold you there.
"Sorry, but rules are rules."
He unsheathes his sword and prepares to finish you. The Marcus notices this. He rushes away from his fight to help you. He gets close before he spirals in the air towards your location. His sais catch the Master's sword and knock it away.
Marcus slides across the ground, then springs himself towards the Master. The two start fighting as you lie on the ground, defeated. You know you can't fight anymore. Your body won't allow it. You stay on the ground until your eyes close, and you rest in darkness.
4 hours later
Your eyes force themselves open. It's dark and cold. You can hear crickets all around you, enjoying their night. You look around and see the inside of the temple.
"How did I get here?" You ask yourself.
You attempt to move but your feel restrained. You observe yourself to see chains wrapping around your body.
"What the…"
You attempt to struggle but it's in vain. You give up and slouch your body so the chains catch you. You try to remember how you got in the temple. Last thing you remember is getting punched in the face and lying on the ground.
"You're aren't that smart sometimes, you know that?" A female voice jokes.
You look over to see the woman.
"Cass? What're you doing out so late?"
Cassandra walks closer to you and leans against the pole you are chained too.
"Oh you know… stuff," she smiles.
You shake your head and smile.
"So what were YOU doing in the graduating course?"
"I… Well it was all a mistake."
You start to tell the entire story on what happened. You talked her ear off with your opinions and take on everything that happened. At one point she chuckled.
"What's so funny?" You asks.
"You're quite talkative, you know that?"
You have nothing to say to that. You just pause for a moment and smile. Cassandra stayed with you for as long as she could until The Master came around to patrol. She waved and walked away. You kept your eyes on her the whole time.
"I'm not that talkative…"
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You slowly open your eyes to see the fire still blazing. You take a second to wake up and gain your bearings. You look at a stick you placed by the fire to measure time. It was half way burnt, which meant about an hour or so had passed.
You look around the cave to find the queen. You tilt your head over to where she was but nothing was there. She wasn't there and her clothes weren't there. You bounce onto your feet and rush out of the cave. You look scan your surroundings but can't see her.
Why do people always have to run away?
Well, there it is guys. I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it took so long, as much as I want to I can't be writing all the time. If I could, you would get a lot more chapters in one day. Anyway, happy reading!
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message!
