Author: I know I promised this in the weekend but I was suddenly busy and then tired. Not a proper excuse but I wouldn't have been able to make a proper chapter because of fatigue. I hope you guys like this, and if you have an ideas then go ahead and tell me. Don't be shy.
Elsa and Anna stalked as quietly as they could through the crunching snow, the roar they heard before sounded like something they did not want to meet, even with sufficient weapons. They passed Kristoff's mangled corpse with silence and remorse. A troubled look flashed across Anna's face, Elsa only got a glimpse of it before the look in Anna's eyes hardened. Sighing softly to herself, Elsa could only imagine what her sister went through when she killed her best friend.
Elsa opened her mouth it try comfort her sister when she heard something. A whistling sound. "Get down!" Anna shouted and tackled Elsa to the ground. Not soon after they both fell to the ground, an arrow flew past them and buried deep in the tree behind Elsa. Anna pushed Elsa into the ground as she got up and pulled out her pickaxe. Whirling around in the direction the arrow came from, Anna squinted into the distance trying to spot the shooter. Glancing back at the arrow, she was shaken by the accuracy of the shot. There was only one person that could have pulled that off. Merida.
Grumbling under her breath, Anna scanned their surroundings slowly and thoroughly before she quickly dived behind a tree as another arrow whistled in her direction. Picking up a rock, Anna spun out from behind the tree and hurled the rock in the direction from where the arrow came from. "Ow! Why would you do that?" Came the unmistakable voice of Hiccup. "Shut up! Do you want them to find us?" Merida yelled/scolded Hiccup. Anna heard Elsa giggle from the ground and could not help but smile herself, those two were always bickering. Kind of like an old married couple.
"Hiccup, Merida, we can hear you." Anna shouted out from the protection of her tree. A couple of seconds passed by before Merida's raucous laughter could be heard. "I can't believe we just tried to kill Anna and Elsa, sorry mate! We couldn't see that it was you." Anna helped Elsa, they exchanged a look and warily made their way towards Hiccup and Merida. True they were friends but so was Kristoff, you could not trust anybody in this game.
Before long, Anna and Merida collided head first into each other. "Oh Loki that hurts." Anna rubbed the sore spot on her forehead, while Merida had doubled over in pain, clutching her forehead. "Why did that hurt you? I always thought you had a thick skull…" Hiccup mused drily as he looked unsympathetically at the redhead. "Pipe down, Toothless. I hope you step on a lego, nothing personal." She hissed back up at him. Hiccup balked at the unaffectionate nickname Merida gave him after an incident with some toffee. "Why would you want that for me? That is heartless."
Elsa rubbed Anna's forehead affectionately, Anna leaned into Elsa's touch and smiled. "Well, it seems like we are all stuck in this Game of Kings or whatever he called it." Hiccup muttered and stared at the girls in turn. Their joyous reunion was short lived at Hiccups comment. "Speaking of the game, did you hear a roar not too long ago?" Elsa questioned and looked behind her shoulder since she felt like someone or something was watching them. Merida stood up and nodded. "It sounded familiar, like something I heard long ago back home…" She tapped her chin thoughtfully trying to figure out where she had heard a roar like that before.
"Ah!" Merida's eyes lit up in recognition "I remember what it sounded like, it sounded like a-" She was cut off by a shout from Hiccup. "BEAR!" He flailed his arms around wildly and pointed behind Elsa. There stood an 8'5 brown bear, its fur was matted and dirty, claws were long and sharp which matching fangs, saliva dangled down its maw and brown eyes were almost black with the desire to maul. It opened its impressive mouth and let out a bone-rattling roar. "RUN!" Merida screamed. Elsa dragged Anna to her feet and took off after Merida. The four friends sprinted as fast as they could in the snow but they knew that it would be impossible to outrun a bear. "Run faster!" Anna bellowed and narrowly avoided the bears snapping jaws. "It's a bear! You cannot outrun a bear!" Elsa retorted hotly. Anna glared at her sister; she did not see the giant paw that came straight at her and collided with her side. Screeching in pain as her already wounded shoulder hit a tree; she slumped into the snow completely dazed. The bear turned to Anna and lumbered over to her, its fascination with the chase over now that it has downed its prey.
Elsa skidded to a halt and without hesitation; she drew the broadsword and rushed the bear. Swinging the sword in a wide arc, the sharp edge barely managed to cut through the matted fur and into its muscles. It growled in irritation at the biting sensation of the blade but otherwise showed no sign of the cut disturbing it, Elsa jerked out the sword and a trickle of blood oozed out of the shallow cut. The bear turned its attention back to Anna who was still trying to get her bearings when three arrows plunged into its back.
Rearing up, it groaned as the arrowheads pierced skin. It tried to shake the arrows off but after realizing that the metal was actually affecting it, the bear's attention changed over to Merida, who was holding up a knocked arrow, ready to shoot again. Letting out a breath, Merida let go of the arrow, at such a short range from a longbow. The thrum of the string mixed with the whistling of the arrow was almost deafening, the bear howled in agony as the arrow embedded itself deep within its eye.
"Ohhhh you shouldn't have done that." Hiccup was looking warily at the bear who was trying its best to get the arrow out of its eye. Elsa had sneaked past the bear and was now helping Anna up on her feet, dragging her over to the others; she looked in terror at the bear before applying some pressure to Anna's shoulder. Shouting out in pain, Anna's outcry caught the attention of the bear who now had a demented look in its one good eye. Foaming at the mouth, the beast charged them with the intent of getting revenge for all the pain they have caused it.
Swearing loudly, the Scot managed to fire off another arrow before running as fast as she could after her friends. "Climb! Climb the trees!" Hiccup hollered and jumped up on a tree. "You idiot! It is a bear! It can climb trees!" Merida spat at him through labored breathing and ran past him. "Is there anything a bear cannot do?!" Anna shouted out in exasperation. "Fly?" Merida replied and Anna shot her a dirty look. An agonized cry stopped the girls. The bear had caught Hiccup's leg in its massive jaws and was slowly crushing it. "Hiccup!" Merida knocked another arrow and was about to fire; the bear saw this and stood up on its hind legs, using Hiccup as a crude makeshift human shield.
"What kind of bear is this?" Elsa whispered in horror and covered her ears when Hiccup's agonized cry turned into a high-pitched screech. The groaning of bones reached their ears when the bear bit further into his leg, blood dripped onto the snow slowly turning it red until, CRUNCH. Hiccup squealed like a struck pig as gigantic canines shattered his shinbone into pieces. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks. "Shoot Merida! Aim for his nose!" He choked out hoarsely.
Merida did not need to be told twice and let the arrow sing. It impaled itself in the bears nose, roaring in surprise and agony, the bear released Hiccup who crash-landed on the snow-covered ground. Whimpering lightly, he began to drag himself towards the girls. The bear recovered quickly from the attack and was about to lunge at Hiccup. Anna thinking through the searing pain in her shoulder yanked out her pickaxe and jumped in front of Hiccup. Hurling the pickaxe with all that she had, the axe sunk itself deep into the neck of the animal. It smashed into the ground, inches from Hiccup who was desperately trying to crawl away from it. Merida dropped her bow and rushed over to Hiccup, helping him up, she slung his arm over her shoulder and they began to hobble away. "Watch out!" There was a blur of brown, a splash of red and piercing cry. Merida fell to the ground with Hiccup and was bleeding freely from the deep gashes in her back.
"You are worse than Mor'du." Merida hissed out in pain. The bear was breathing heavily from its wounds, hot blood fell onto Merida and Hiccup, but it would not die. It was determined to kill the humans who had caused it this much agony. Lifting its arm to strike Merida who was looking up at it with disdain, it swung its arm down. Elsa charged forward and struck the bears middle, cutting through fur and flesh. However, the bear did not register the pain; it was solely focused on Merida. The girl with the fair of fire who hurt him with small sticks.
Merida squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with her arms. "MERIDA!" Hiccup screeched. The claws disappeared completely into Merida's chest and stomach. Her eyes bulged at the impact and her mouth opened up in a scream but only a shallow gurgling sound escaped her. "Toothless…" She babbled and reached out for him. The bear lifted its arm back up with Merida still impaled on its claws. "NO!" With all 650 pounds, it smashed Merida back into the ground. Blood burst from her mouth as her internal organs ruptured the snapping of ribs sounded like a machine gun going off and half of the bears paw was submerged into her stomach. Lifeless blue eyes stared back her friends.
With a pained, outraged roar, Hiccup launched himself at the bear and pulled out an axe from his bag. The bear tried to shake the nuisance off its head but Hiccup, filled with rage and grief from the loss of his friend clung on. "Hiccup! Get off the bear! You'll get yourself killed." Elsa was standing in front of Anna who was cradling her shoulder. "It does not matter. I'm a dead man anyways." He stared into the lifeless eyes of his partner and red hot tears stung his eyes.
Sniffling loudly, he wiped his nose on the sleeve of his jacket and threw aside his back. Raising the axe his above his head, with all the pent up hatred and rage for the bear, he struck its head with his axe and heard the satisfying split of bone beneath him. The bear roared and howled, swinging its arms around wildly to throw the boy off, it staggered for a bit before falling forwards to the ground. Dead.
Wailing at the loss of his friend, Hiccup continued to hack and chop away at the dead bear. "Hiccup…" Anna whispered and looked solemnly over at Merida. The grief stricken boy did not stop his mauling until his arms could not swing the axe anymore and let it fall from his hands. His hands were bloody from the bear and loose fur was mingled with the blood on his hands. Slipping off the bear, he walked over to Merida's body and picked her up gently. "You guys should get going, I'm dead anyways." He sat down in front of a tree and leaned against it was Merida in his lap cradling her protectively against his chest.
Anna and Elsa averted their eyes sorrowfully and nodded. Picking up their belongings, the girls were about to leave when Hiccup called out to them. "When you play the Game of Kings you either win or die. There is no middle ground." He closed Merida's eyes and stroked her hair gently. "Do not form alliances with anyone, no matter how much you want to." He looked up and stared directly at Anna. "We are not Gods, protecting just what we have is hard enough." Anna glanced over at Elsa before looking back at Hiccup and nodded. The sisters turned and quickly left Hiccup with their dead friend and bear. When the sisters were about a couple of steps away before they heard an explosion behind them. Battling the instinct to turn around and look, the sisters continued forwards with tears in their eyes.
"We should go back later; we can eat the bear meat." Elsa concluded and turned to Anna, but Anna was not listening to Elsa. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and she was breathing heavily even though they were only walking. Her arm with the injured shoulder hung limply by her side and her eyes were droopy and unfocused. "Anna?" Worry crept into Elsa's voice. "Let me take a look at your shoulder." Anna stopped and slumped against a tree, Elsa quickly yet gently took off Anna's jacket and the unmistakable pungent odor of an infected wound slapped her in the face.
"Shit! Anna, your wound is infected!" Elsa hastily unwrapped the makeshift bandages and was greeted with an angry looking wound. Pus was mixed with blood and skin was curling at the edges. Obvious signs of infection. Whipping out a bottle of water, she poured it over the wound making Anna hiss and squirm away. "Sit still." Elsa commanded gently and dabbed at the wound. It did not help much. Panic began to settle within Elsa, she knew very well that Anna would die from the infection if she could not treat it.
Cursing to herself, she mentally went over every plant she knew to rake up anything that could be used to help her sister. But they were in the middle of winter, nothing was growing now. Thinking quickly, Elsa packed up their things and helped Anna to her feet. "It is ok Anna, I've got you." She pulled Anna's uninjured arm over her shoulder and began in the direction of the cave. "We will go back to the cave and I'll treat your wounds." Anna leaned heavily against Elsa, the walked for a good thirty minutes before Anna passed out. Elsa grunted when she solely carried Anna's entire body weight. Adjusting her position so that Anna was on her back, Elsa carried doggedly on.
Her legs were beginning to give in from the extra weight of Anna on her back and the continued running they had to do before. The bruises on her face pulsed with every heartbeat, moaning lightly in exertion, her knees buckled and she smashed her knee into the ground. Biting her already split lip, she yelped in pain. Taking in a couple of deep breaths, Elsa struggled shakily to her feet and staggered onwards. "I've got you Anna." She whispered over her shoulder to her beloved sister. "It is my turn to take care of you now." Passing Kristoff's body, Elsa tore her eyes away but not before something moving caught her eye.
Blue eyes roamed Kristoff's body until she spotted the slight movement. Edging closer, Elsa's gazed was locked on the light squirming and saw that the movement was caused by maggots that were slowly eating away at his exposed and rotting brain. Elsa nearly vomited at the sight and stumbled away from the sight, gulping in breaths she tried to expel the image from her mind. Her eyes snapped open and a thought plowed into Elsa's mind. Maggots! They eat dead flesh! They can eat the infected flesh on Anna. Securing Anna on her back, Elsa as quickly as she could made her way towards the cave. Seeing the cliff her heart dropped, she would never be able to climb that cliff with Anna on her back. Looking around she found a covered area not too far away. That will have to do for now.
Settling Anna down, she buried a small trench in the snow and placed Anna in it before covering her up. "I won't be gone long." With a tender kiss placed on Anna's forehead, Elsa went back to Kristoff's body to collect the maggots. Shuddering in disgust, she shakily plucked the maggots from within Kristoff's skull and scurried back to Anna, the squirming and wriggling of the larvae in her hands made her skin crawl. Digging the snow off Anna, Elsa put the maggots on her exposed shoulder. The small insects immediately took to the warmth of the infection and began to eat her. Trying to keep the meagre contents of her stomach inside her, Elsa decided that she would preoccupy her mind with trying to build a fire. Collecting the things she needed, Elsa copied everything Anna did last night to try make a fire. After a couple of tries and nearly giving up, she finally coaxed a small flame alive. Wrapping Anna up in her arms, she took special care as to not touch or jostle her shoulder. Seeing at the sun had only left its midday mark, Elsa looked warily around the small clearing they were currently hiding in.
Anna was currently out of commission and Elsa was in no state to fight off anybody, she could only hope and pray that nobody would smell their fire and find them hear. Elsa was on full alert for any signs of other animals or humans. She sighed and stared back at the sky, wishing for the day to go by quickly and quietly.
Author: Ok guys. Please, please, please, please, please don't go and find random maggots and put them on your friends wounds or your own (not that you will) but still. I cannot stress this enough, unsterilized maggots will give unwanted diseases. Hospitals used sterilized maggots on infections. I had to improvise here since there is no hospital. DO NOT USE WILD MAGGOTS! I'm trying to keep this story as realistic as possible, but it does get hard sometimes. Got does not belong to me, I just borrowed Cersei's quote and edited it to my own purpose.