Hello everyone! I'm so sorry this took so long, my beta reader got slammed with school stuff and thus was unable to edit until pretty much yesterday and today! But we managed to get this chapter up.
Thank you all for sticking with me and reading along
If you have a tumblr, follow me: Ishipit333
Or my writers blog: scribes-scribbles
Enjoy~
Fleeting Moments
"Tempus enim non cessat. Time stops for no man Jack Frost."
Chapter 10
"Frozen Insecurities"
Her heart was pounding. The sound drowned everything out as she and her horse galloped through the forest. Her horse ran as fast as its legs would carry it, and her hands gripped the reigns so tightly she feared her fingers would snap. An arrow suddenly shot past her left ear and she had to duck low to avoid another volley. Her horse veered sharply to the right and ran through a clearing of trees, three arrows sinking into the bark of where they had just been. Her pursuers were gaining on them.
"Just a little faster! Keep going!" She urged the beast that was whisking her away. The beast let out a snort and its hooves pounded harder against the forest floor as it ran for its life. The horse weaved through the trees until suddenly its back legs give out from under it. The beast collapsed with a panicked sound, and its rider felt herself go crashing into the cold, unforgiving earth. Lifting her head she watched as her beloved companion struggled to stand, its hind legs littered with several crossbow bolts. Dark red blood stained its beautiful grey coat and it cried out in fear as it writhed in pain. The poor beast tried in vain to stand, its legs attempting to pull it upright but the damage was done. Its back legs were useless and so the horse could do nothing but writhe in agony. It had begun to snow.
She felt fear stab into her limbs and freeze her to the spot as her eyes took in the black shapes that closed down upon her from all sides. They materialized from the tree line and surrounded her with evil laughs. The shadows were humanoid in shape but nothing marked them but large white, and cruel grins. The ring of steel pierced the air and she felt herself try to move but her limbs were heavy and useless. She was trapped.
"Jack! JACK!" She heard herself cry out into the snowstorm as the figures closed in around her, suffocating her with their presence. "JACK! JACK!" She screamed his name to the sky, her voice cried out so loudly she felt her throat rupture and give out. The metal taste of blood was all she could taste as she gurgled out screams as the blackness covered her. The shadows laughed as they mocked her,
"He left you."
Elsa bolted upright in her bed. She looked around the room with large, wide eyes as she took in the familiar walls and decorations of her sanctuary. With a deep breath her heart began to steady, she was relived to find that it was just a dream – she was safe in her room. She pressed her hand to her chest, she looked to the clock and saw that it read fifteen past six in the morning. She had woken up earlier than she normally did, but there was no use going back to sleep now.
Elsa pushed the covers away and swung her legs over the edge and stretched her arms. It felt good to take a moment to ease the sleep from her muscles. She stood, grabbed the nearby robe and pulled it on. Tying the knot around her waist as she turned, Elsa stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at the frosted window.
There was no one sitting there. The window ledge was void of any corporeal being and the wood had dusted over with the freshly falling snow that was drifting outside. Fear eclipsed her heart as she thought back to last night. Her muse had returned in the dead of night to save her from the shadows, but was it all just some cruel, horrible dream? Some vivid hallucination that her mind conjured up to rationalize the slow decent into madness she was facing the night before? Had he lied to her yet again and made promises he could not keep? Elsa wasn't sure which answer she hated the most, all of them were painful. She made her way to the window hoping that the closer she got the more likely he would be to appear through the misty morning. Setting herself upon the cushioned bench, Elsa felt her heart sink lower than it ever had before. She had allowed herself to hope and now it was dashed across the floor. Wrenching her eyes away from the window Elsa looked down at her hands and had to fight to keep the tears at bay.
"Morning your highness!"
Elsa let out a startled yelp as she jumped at the sudden greeting! Her wide eyes flew to the window where she found Jack, who was looking through her window from the roof, his head upside down and a lopsided grin plastered over his face. He looked genuinely amused that he had startled her! "Nice bed head, highness." He teased and when Elsa huffed and crossed her arms he laughed. "If you keep pouting Els, your face is going to stay that way."
He grinned widely but Elsa felt her cheeks and ears burn in embarrassment! She quickly tried to pull her face into a more relaxed look but it was proving to be difficult: Jack had just scared the living daylights out of her! "Where were you?!"She demanded but then quickly recovered with a follow up statement, having realized her slip. "I mean I didn't expect to see you this morning. So I didn't have time to get ready." She explained while furiously trying to get a few tangles from her hair as she prepared to try and braid it. "And I remember asking you to call me Elsa." She commented lightly. Turning her gaze back to him she watched as his shoulders shook a bit as he let out a quiet chuckle and climbed gracefully down from the roof to crouch on the window ledge. It was surprising how nimble he was, it reminded Elsa of a cat.
"C'mon Elsa, I told you I'd be here didn't I?" He gestured to the light snowfall that had begun outside. "I left for a bit to spread some winter fun around the Kingdom." He shrugged while turning back to look at her, "I just got back anyway. Good timing huh?" A smile on his face as he looked to her through the glass.
She breathed a sigh of relief to know that he hadn't seen her having a nightmare, or at if he had he didn't let on. Night terrors were something she didn't want to burden anyone with, and that included Jack. Smoothing her braid onto her shoulder, Elsa smiled lightly towards him, "I'm sure its absolutely lovely Jack, thank you." She paused as she inspected his handy work on the window, "This is impressive." Her hand reached out to gently press against her side of the glass, and she watched as her own frost shot up in a wild array of swirls and vines. A frown settled over her features – it wasn't anything like Jack's. His patterns were intricate and beautiful, swirling in amazingly complicated designs that took her breath away. What she created was jagged, rough and disjointed – it was ugly to be quite frank.
Jack however looked on in awe as he watched her powers form over the glass and a grin formed on his face. "Now that's pretty impressive Els." That smug look reappeared on his features when she raised an eyebrow at his mispronunciation of her name, "I mean, it could use a little work," He shrugged, looking aloofly down at her, "Its nowhere near as good as what I can do…but…" He locked eyes with her then, "It's a good start."
She had to break eye contact with him after a moment to try and stop the rush of heat that pooled in her cheeks. The way he often looked at her always caused her to blush, no matter the situation they were in. Maybe it was the intense way he engaged her in conversation, or perhaps it was his child-like nature, but something about Jack Frost made her blush with surprising frequency. Taking a moment to regain her composure, Elsa raised her eyes back to him and found that a frown had settled where a grin used to be. He canted his head to the side in confusion, "Was it something I said?"
Elsa quickly shook her head and tried to reassure him with a smile of her own, "No. No, it wasn't you Jack." She met his eyes, "It wasn't anything you said. I'm just…" She sighed, trying to find the right words. "Not used to…being praised for my abilities."
That crooked grin that made her heart flutter spread across his face and Elsa had to fight to keep her expression neutral. He shrugged his shoulders and that grin only grew wider, "Well you had better get used to it." He paused when she raised an eyebrow at him, "Because I'm going to be doing it a lot."
He shouldered his staff as he smiled happily through the glass, "Get dressed, because we're going on a little trip to help you," He pointed at her, and then the frosted over glass, "and that frost on the right track."
Elsa frowned as she thought about the plans she had for the day, which she would have to put aside if she went out with Jack. Her hands rose to play with her braid nervously, "Oh I don't know Jack…I have so much to do today." She started to count the day's activities on her fingers; "I have to have breakfast with Anna and Kristoff, and then my usual morning meeting with my advisors. Then I have to train my horse in proper etiquette for formal ceremonies and then I have to have my afternoon tea with honored guests, then dinner, then coffee and dessert with the guests and finally sleep."
Jack's mouth fell open through the first half of the list and when the latter half began he groaned loudly, rolled is head back and then rubbed at his face as if he were in pain. "You have to be kidding me Els…" He groaned in exasperation as he peeked one eye through his fingers to look at her. Elsa on the other hand had crossed he arms over her chest and fixed him in a stern half glare.
"I can't just shirk my duties as Queen to go gallivanting with you Jack. It doesn't work that way, I have – "
He waved a hand to dismiss her explanation, giving one of his own, "Hard work and responsibilities. I'm aware." He fixed her with a gleeful look then, "But that's just too bad because we are going to have some fun and train today – Ah, ah, ah!" He held up his hand to silence her when he watched her mouth open to protest. "No complaining highness. This is happening." He grinned, "So go on, get dressed and meet me at the stables with your horse when you're done." He stood up then and balanced himself on the ledge with a smirk as he watched frustration filter over her features.
"But Jack—"
"Uup! Nope. None of that!" He then looked at his right wrist like he was looking at a watch, "Time's wasting highness, you better hurry up!" And with that he fell backwards off the ledge, which nearly caused Elsa to have a heart attack.
"Jack!" She cried as she threw open the window and looked out over the ledge only to see him literally gliding like a leaf on the wind towards the stables. Elsa sighed but couldn't find it in herself to remain angry with him, nor could she find reason to continue frowning. In fact, she felt her lips pull up into a contented little smile as she shook her head. Just then her clock on the far wall rung seven times and Elsa quickly spun around and rushed to get ready. She had a date after all.
It had taken two and a half hours to get everything rescheduled for the day, and most of it had been spent in the stuffy meeting hall with her advisors. Demanding the day off had gone over half as well as she expected, with few agreeing and others questioning why she needed the time to herself. Concerns of failing health and other outrageous over thinking had occurred which Elsa had managed to quell fairly easily but coming up with a suitable excuse had proven difficult. She couldn't just tell them the truth, because the truth was so unbelievable! How was she supposed to explain to her advisors that she was going on an adventure with the personification of winter weather so she could learn to manage her powers? That wouldn't exactly go over well. Regardless the lie she managed to work up had appeased them, seeing as she told them she would be horse training and drafting letters to House Ingvar.
Elsa stared at the clock as her advisors managed to get the final pieces of business either rescheduled or taken care of. Looking to her lead advisor, Elsa offered a polite nod, "Are we concluded then?" The moment she received a nod of assurance, she pushed herself from the table. "You're all excused then." She nodded to the group and strode outside.
The late morning air was cool and refreshing and it flowed through her veins and awakened the swirling power within her. She felt it stir with the magic in the air, or at least she assumed it was magic, but the one thing she was sure of was it felt like Jack. Now that was an odd thought - the weather just felt like him. The crispness of the air, the inviting and invigorating nature of the light snowfall, overcast sky and the crunch of the snow under her boots: it all just reminded her of him. As she made her way towards the stables she could see her horse being brushed and groomed by the stable hands. Resting casually on one of the stable pen walls, with his hands behind his head and his staff against his arm, was Jack. He looked as relaxed as the day was cool as he lay there, humming some tune she didn't recognize to himself with his eyes closed. Stepping up to the stable boy, Elsa dismissed him and then took the reins and petted her horse gently on the nose. The magnificent beast nickered happily at her, and pressed her head against her hands for more attention, which she happily gave. In truth Elsa was relived to see the beast was alive and uninjured, visions of the night terror had crossed over her mind as she murmured softly to the grey animal.
"Took you long enough Your Majesty, I've been waiting for ages!" She heard Jack complain with a loud groan. She rolled her eyes at his over exaggeration she peeked over her horse and saw that he had draped himself over the stable pen wall, his arms and legs dangling off the edges, as he looked as exasperated as he could. Elsa tried hard to stop the laugh that forced its way up from her throat but couldn't catch it in time. Perking up at the sound of her laughter, Jack lifted his head and smiled that lopsided smile of his before he rolled off the ledge to his feet and wandered up to her and the horse.
Jack watched as the usually steely queen of Arendelle lost herself over the horse. She had been talking to the beast and rubbing its nose and generally fawning over the creature. She seemed to brighten up when she was around it, and she was laughing and giggling and smiling more thanks to this animal and so he got an idea. "Why not bring the horse along?" He suggested which earned him a skeptic look from her Majesty. He shrugged and held his hands out, "Look I'm just suggesting. You're supposed to be out horse riding right?" When Elsa nodded in affirmation, Jack nodded and gestured to the horse, "That would be pretty hard if you left her here now wouldn't it?" He grinned widely at the fact that he had already caught her in her lie to the advisors!
Elsa rolled her eyes at Jack's antics. She simply shrugged and nodded, "Fine then, we'll take her with us." She hopped on the saddle and took the reigns, before gesturing to Jack to lead on. "Lead on then Jokul. Seeing as this is your grand master plan."
He turned to face her, and gave an overly flourishing bow. He held his hand out to the side and spoke in his best formal tone, "After you m'lady!"
She rolled her eyes again with a chuckle; she cracked the reigns and took off down the cobblestone paths, Jack hot on her heels.
The ride was both beautiful and haunting for the Queen of Arendelle, it reminded her of her night terror but the scenery they passed by was breathtaking. She found that she was constantly looking around and behind herself, searching for her assailants and to make sure Jack was close; to her relief he always was and there was no one chasing her.
Aurora, as Elsa had come to call her, ran smoothly and perfectly, the ideal horse for any equestrian activity she may have to participate in. Despite all that had happened between Bjorn and her, this horse was absolutely stunning. When she rode she felt free, like the wind was carrying her and giving speed to her journey to the horizon. To her amusement Aurora seemed to have a competitive streak, as whenever Jack flew just a bit too close she would speed up so she would always be in the lead. A few times Jack had let out protests and would try to overtake the two but with a snort the grey horse would charge forward. Soon they were embroiled in a race to some unknown destination that Jack had planned. He hollered beside them as he ducked, weaved and dashed over the air currents. Elsa threw her head back in joy and laughed as she clutched the reins. She urged her steed to go as fast as her legs would take them; she couldn't let Jack win! Aurora answered her rider's command and thundered down the snow-covered path, her pounding hooves piercing the silence with their war drum beat.
Perhaps it was the cool air, and the wind in her hair, or maybe it was the feeling of freedom that came with riding; or perhaps it was the competition of racing Jack, and the smug knowledge that she was winning but there was something absolutely thrilling about this moment for her. Elsa let go of the reins, giving complete trust into her newfound companion and lifted her hands to the sky as she let out her own whoop of joy. She felt alive, she felt invigorated, and she felt free.
Soon the three burst into a clearing and wound up before a small lake surrounded by trees. Aurora nickered as she walked towards the sparkling water to get a drink only to be frustrated by the thin layer of ice that had settled over the waters surface. With a chuckle Elsa slid from the saddle and moved to inspect the ice and found that with a good push it began to break apart. Aurora let out a bluster of appreciation and leaned down to get a good drink of the cool water. Making it back to her feet, Elsa dusted off her dress and found Jack lounging lazily across Aurora's saddle, his long legs dangling down while his arms fell over his head as he laid completely limp upon the saddle's arch – he looked quite uncomfortable. His staff was dragging against the snow and his chest rose and fell with even breaths as he waited to be acknowledged.
Raising a delicate eyebrow, Elsa leaned down to collect a bit of snow and then balled it up in her hands before lobbing the snowball towards him. It crashed square in the center of his chest and Jack let out an audible groan as he wiggled his toes. Elsa had to raise a hand to stifle her giggling as she watched him slowly sit up and brush the snow from his tunic. A grin soon replaced her giggling as she took in his rather pouty look, "Oh don't tell me you're upset that we beat you Jack."
He blew a particularly long strand of hair out of his eyes with his best impression of a dissatisfied nobleman who didn't get what he wanted. The look was so spot on that the laughter that rang from Elsa was hearty and genuine: she hadn't expected Jack's face to create such a look. His ears seemed to perk up at the sound of her laughter and soon his whole face was alight with the idea of getting her to laugh. He then gracefully slid off the saddle and landed on his bare feet and strode up to the Queen, his staff lounging against his shoulder as he smiled. "Alright then Els, lets see what you got yeah?"
She raised an eyebrow at him as he walked right out onto the surface of the lake, the water froze under his bare feet the moment they made contact. The intricate swirls of ice and frost danced this way and that as he moved just a foot or two out and then turned to shoulder his staff and smile at the Queen. He then shrugged, "Lets see if you can reach me." There was a teasing quality to his voice, like he was daring her to attempt and walk on the water towards him. The ice pulled in from the shoreline and pooled itself just around Jack's feet so Elsa would have to use her own abilities to get to him.
A smug smile tugged at the corners of Elsa's lips and she squared her shoulders and strode right up to the edge of the small lake and set her foot upon the liquid surface. She felt her power surge out and onto the surface of the water but whenever she put any pressure upon the ice it would give way and dissipate. Twice she nearly lost her balance and stumbled in.* She pulled her brows together in frustration at the surprising lack of control she seemed to have over something so trivial. She had done it before with no issue on her coronation day so why wasn't it working now? Frustration overtook the queen and she closed her eyes to try and focus her power into the soles of her feet and with as much confidence as she could muster she set her foot upon the surface. A moment of elation shot through her as she felt the ice condense and sturdy itself beneath her, but it was short lived. A split second later it gave way and she fumbled forward, ready to face plant into the cold water but luckily a hand was there to catch her.
"Woah there Highness! Easy! Don't want to ruin that dress of yours now do we?" She heard Jack chuckle as he helped her balance on the stable earth. Pushing away with a sigh of frustration Elsa moved from Jack, her arms wrapping around herself as she glared down at the snow.
"I don't understand why it isn't working." She grit out as she pulled her hands out to glare at them instead. She flexed her fingers and looked at her palms, hoping the answer would write itself on her flesh. Yet her hands gave her no answers. Her powers simply weren't working today and that was excessively odd, the one-day she's allowed to actually use them they decide to just vanish? Was her life that ironic?
Unbeknownst to the Queen, Jack was watching as frost began to form around her feet and spread to the powdered snow that was around her. The frost condensed and began to spike upwards as if being fed by the frustration that was rolling off her in waves. His eyes went from the frost up to Elsa and then back to the frost as he got a thought – perhaps her emotions were the key. With a few long strides he made it to her side and gripped her arm firmly before tugging her back towards the water. Elsa let out a startled cry of surprise as she protested and tried to wriggle herself free. Her hand swatted at his arm in a futile attempt to get his hand off of her but Jack's grip was iron. He strode them up towards the lake and then he himself stepped upon the surface and tried to tug Elsa along with him but she wrenched her arm free just in time. "What are you doing!" She demanded with an edge to her voice, looking rather startled at the sudden forceful nature Jack had taken.
He shook his head and tried to urge her to come towards him, "Just come on Elsa, trust me okay? Just take all that frustration you feel and just come at me." He moved his hands to try and coax her forward but she wasn't having any of that.
Her arms instead crossed over her chest as she glared at him, "I'll fall in Jack." She deadpanned at him but was answered with a groan.
Again Jack tried to coax her with a few arm motions, "Not this time, just trust me okay? Just come at me, and you'll be fine. I promise."
Elsa stood rooted in the spot, glaring daggers at him. He just didn't understand the situation at hand. Her powers weren't going to hold her up; they hadn't then why would they now? She just wasn't strong enough with them, and they were unpredictable. She was unpredictable. Her arms wrapped around her center and she looked off to the side, "It won't work Jack…I can't control my powers."
She heard Jack groan hard and she could see the exasperated look on his face without even having to look at him. She didn't want to look at him because it was embarrassing; he was skilled and able to call his powers at a whim, she just didn't have that kind of mastery. She wrapped her arms around herself tighter and sighed softly as she shook her head, "It won't work Jack…"
"What do you mean it won't work? You're doing it right now." Her head snapped up and over to him. He was standing a few feet out on the surface of the lake, a small bit of ice keeping him up but all before him swirled the intricate designs of her own personal frost. It emanated from her, rushing out from around her feet and moving to overtake the water and the soft earth at the edge; leaving her mark upon the ground and the water. Her eyes went wide as she watched her powers spring to life. She looked up at Jack in confusion and tried multiple times to ask him a question. Instead she just stood with her mouth agape. Jack shrugged and moved to stride over the ice she had created only to stop right before her. The smile on his face was warm and understanding, "Its okay Els, really." He then looked back over his shoulder with a shrug, "It looks like your powers are connected to your emotions. So we just have to find away to use them when you're happy and not scared or frustrated." He then looked back to her and grinned, "So we'll just have to work on it."
She wanted to smack him for his constant acceptance of her unpredictable powers. She wanted to ask him how to control them and hope he could make all the problems go away with a snap of his fingers. She wanted to impress him with fantastic displays like she had up on the North Mountain– wait, what? Her brows furrowed as that thought crossed her mind and she quickly had to avert her eyes and tilt her head down to look away from him. She wanted to impress him? Why? There was no reason for her to want to impress the personification of winter; there was no way she could. She heard him chuckle and then let out a whistle and she raised her eyes to see him looking towards the lake. Looking back she saw that it was completely covered over by now, the intricate patterns of her frost dancing across the surface in the most beautiful of ways.
"Now that's impressive. I don't even think I can do that from way over here." He half muttered under his breath but then realized that she could hear him and quickly caught his slip up. "I mean, of course I could. I'm Jack Frost." He grinned then to try and hide his appreciation of her work but it shone through his eyes.
Elsa felt herself blush as she watched his face, which was alight with a smile of his. He looked so honestly impressed by her work and like everything around him was new and exciting. His awe struck her and before she knew what she was doing, her hands were rising to press against him in some way.
Their bodies never touched however because as she was looking at him, Elsa noticed the way the shadows and the light danced off his hair and face. She looked up and caught a glimpse of the sky and the deep oranges and reds of early dusk. A gasp escaped her as she quickly moved away and hustled back to Aurora, who was busy munching on a bit of grass she had found through the snow. Elsa climbed atop the saddle, took the reigns and turned the horse around toward the castle. She smiled towards Jack, "Sorry Jack, but I wasn't able to cancel dinner..." She frowned at his disappointed look and tried to quickly make up for it. "See you tomorrow though, right?"
That crooked grin overtook the frown on his face and he nodded with a shrug, "I suppose I'll have to make time for you. I mean I'm soooo busy after all." His grin perked up a bit as he heard her try and stifle a laugh. He then gave another overly flourishing bow only to straighten and stick his nose high into the air, trying to look as pomp and proper as he could. "Off you go then mi'lady, don't want you late for your evening meal."
Elsa rolled her eyes at him, "See you tomorrow then Jack. Good night." And with the slightest bit of hesitation she took off down the road and back towards the castle. Jack sighed as he watched her go and reached up to rub the back of his head as his gaze roamed up to the sky. If only there had been just a little more time in the day for them to spend together.
*Twice she almost fell in – My personal head cannon is that Elsa's powers are very emotionally based. She had no emotional need to get to Jack at that moment in time and thus her powers didn't respond.