A/N- Hey guys!
Man it's been a pretty busy week, I was planning on updating on Wednesday as usual..but I was caught up in birthday shopping and ended my night early instead of updating! My girlfriend's birthday is this weekend and so this will be the only update until next week, spending time offline to be with my supportive lovely! I apologize for the busy schedule DX
Also...I got SO MANY REVIEWS (and messages) on the topic of Elsa so I wanted to address it as some people seemed a little upset, or maybe just annoyed, that they felt everyone was kinda 'attacking' Elsa.
When I started writing Elsa's character for this story, I sat down and I thought about how I would write her. I pictured in my mind how I thought Elsa would treat Anna, how they would meet and how everything would play out (Especially since they aren't sisters or even friends!) Elsa's bitchiness will come and go as the story progresses but she is also not wrong in her 'terrible' or 'mean' ways. I saw two kinds of reactions from Elsa's mood and I just wanted to point out both sides (Honestly I really felt super giddy about all of them X3) I am teasing when I say Elsa is being a bitch, I think she is wonderful and I think her character has a lot of issues that need to be resolved but I also see how she is being a tad bit extreme as well! Regardless..I hope nobody is offended with the comments made on Elsa's mood from everyone, or my own personal comment in the last A/N! I love Elsa and I love Anna, they both will be doing a lot of growing!
Anyways, now that I'm done rambling...here we go! -Talk Pillow
"Shit.." Anna gasped as she tore through the blankets once more, the failed attempt to find the girl causing her body to shake in fear. "Where the fuck did you go Elsa?" she cried, running out of the tent and looking in all directions. Her horse was still there as well as all of her belongings, meaning she couldn't have gotten too far. Anna's eyes fell on every section around their campsite, looking for footsteps or any trace of evidence to lead Anna in the right direction.
"Okay..." Anna said to herself, trying to calm herself down from the heart attack she was having. "I just need to focus...she was here last night...so she couldn't have gotten too far on her own?" Anna concluded, no other evidence proving this theory correct or incorrect. As if to make the situation worse, the girls parents fell into her mind as well as the looks they gave her during the meeting, very intent on destroying her if she should lose the Princess. "Gah stop brain!" Anna yelled, her voice echoing loudly and she turned to see a flock of birds flying out from a grouping of trees. The birds were her saving grace as she looked over to see the blue gloves, the woman was always wearing, sitting on a tree branch as if they were placed there purposefully.
Running over to the gloves Anna pulled them down and realized instead of their being two gloves there was indeed only one, surprising her for some reason. "What did she just decide to leave one?" Anna spat angrily, walking into the surrounding trees and searching around for Elsa or at least the gloves pair.
The forest hummed alive in the early morning, the wind blowing through the tree's and causing Anna's teeth to chatter as she drew her cloak to her. "Why is it so cold this morning...we should be some distance from Adlai by now?" Anna mocked, angrily. She wasn't sure how she was going to survive being in Adlai, whether with her friends or as a Knight, the cold literally would freeze her to death. "Next time I decide to be a Knight somewhere...I better figure out the location first..." she breathed, her eyes never leaving the scenery before her.
For some time she continued to walk, glancing here and there in the forest, until the girl noticed something out of place amongst the green in another tree. "Is that..?" Anna gasped, running up to see another glove had been placed there, matching the one she held in her hand. Eyeing them, she tried to figure out what the girl's angle was by placing the items in a tree. It didn't make sense to Anna, leaving them amongst the tree's as if she just grew tired of them. "Perhaps that's what she did with me..?" Anna pointed out, continuing the search. As she walked deeper into the forest the trees became thicker and thicker, making Anna's heart beat rapidly as she realized there was a good chance of her becoming lost.
The girl next found a shoe in a tree, sitting atop a branch perfectly, and Anna pulled it down as she looked it over. "Her feet are so tiny..." she laughed, trying to urge her mind to still be angry. She found the pair of the shoe quickly and Anna practically screamed when she came face to face with a purple cloak, her eyes apparently not taking it in until she was face to face. Pulling it down the girl placed all the other items in the cloak and used it as a makeshift bag to carry.
"What's next, her dress?" Anna laughed loudly.
The words set off images in the her mind, of the Princess slowly pulling the back of her dress down and exposing her ivory skin as she slipped off her dress and placed it into the trees as she did the other items. Anna stopped dead in her tracks, her face blushing as the image played over and over again. "I'm sure she wouldn't do such a thing.." Anna choked out, her throat feeling dry as she quickened her steps. Trying to clear the thoughts as well as the images that poured from her mind, she couldn't think of the Princess that way.
To her surprise, Anna was not met with another item for a long time; clearly Elsa didn't find it necessary to discard all of her belongings. Especially being the 'Princess' that she was. Just as Anna was about to comment on this her ears picked up on a small sound, barely audible through the waving tree's.
"Is that..." she paused, hearing someone's soft words as she tried to follow the noise. It was difficult to pick up the words, especially since it was so soft and was nearly drowned out just by the simple movements of the forest. But then her eyes found an opening in the tree's and the noises coming just from that direction. Anna slowed her steps, taking each one with care. This could be anyone, even if she assumed it was Elsa, it could easily be just the opposite and Anna shouldn't let her guard down just in that moment.
But then her eyes fell upon a pond and they burned as she saw Elsa sitting next to it, hands out in front of her. Just as Anna had expected, she was missing her shoes and her gloves along with her cloak, clearly not eager to return to fetch them. Anna brushed through the trees and walked over to the girl, her anger quickly finding its way back after all the searching she had done.
Elsa rose early that morning, her body unable to sleep anymore. The night was difficult, trying to get used to the ground and the feeling of being far away from her kingdom and family. It didn't help that she was practically fighting with the only other person on this trip, pushing her to the very limit the night before and causing her to snap.
"What is wrong with me..." Elsa sighed out, sitting up in the tent and looking at her hand that had fallen across Anna's face. "I don't think I've ever felt like slapping someone since..." she trailed off, her mind going to the Prince. No sooner had his smug look graced her vision, she shook her head, refusing to think of that man of her nightmares. Anna was nothing like him and she wouldn't frighten herself again with comparing the two.
Pulling the tent back she walked out, her hands running through her hair as she fixed her braids back into place. It was still dark, the sunrise was close to arriving and soon they would have to set out. But Elsa wanted to walk, to clear her mind, especially of last night. Walking slowly around her guardian, she glanced down to see Anna looking quite ridiculous as she slept. Her body was shivering, pigtails displayed unruly around her face and she grumbled something in her sleep about reindeers. Reaching down Elsa pulled, slowly, at the blanket that was tied up in her legs and draped it over Anna's body. The girl hummed in satisfaction and she rolled over in her sleep, unaware of Elsa's small moment of kindness as she walked into the forest.
Taking one of her gloves, she slipped it off and placed it in the tree. The mark was going to help her find her way back to the camp, especially if she planned to walk for some time, and she slipped off her second glove as well. Readying herself to place it another tree as she continued on.
"Perhaps I should have woke Anna..." Elsa thought out loud, turning back to see the camp was nearly out of sight. She placed a glove in the tree then, knowing it was some distance between the pair. "I should be back before she wakes..." she countered, reminding herself of how she had to wake the girl the past few days.
While she rose with the sun, Anna rose with the night and it reminded her of another way they were so different. Anna did everything with her hands, enjoyed doing things that seemed unfit for a woman and was loud. So very loud. While she did enjoy doing things for herself, Elsa wasn't nearly as brave as Anna was and followed all the rules. She was so different, so very different.
"And yet she was right..." Elsa stated, placing her second shoe down upon the tree. She had been walking for some time now, placing her belongings here and there. The sun was rising then and with it the Princess started to realize how much Anna was catching on about her, much to her dismay.
It was true, that Elsa was going to have to figure this entire thing out. She was putting her trust in a man she didn't know and she was going to eventually have 'relations' with him that she had never had with anyone before. That thought, honestly terrifying her the more she continued on through this trip. She hated that Anna pointed it out; practically calling her a prude as she explained how much Elsa would fail with her new husband. Words she didn't need to hear, words she already feared would happen.
"But I will be good..." Elsa breathed, stripping her cloak off and placing it into the trees. "I will be...for my husband.." she concluded, finding her hands before her as she played with them.
Before she knew what she was doing, the girl was walking up to a pond in the middle of the forest. Turning back she realized she had come quite a distance in her walk, praying she hadn't managed to get herself lost. But with the pieces of her outfit spread throughout the forest, Elsa was sure she could manage her way back. She was in fact a little more capable than she was ever willing to admit to Anna.
Sitting down before the pond, Elsa watched as the water's moved every now and then as frogs and other pond life made themselves known to the Princess. She plucked a piece of grass from the ground and twirled it in her hands, enjoying the quiet of that morning and wishing Anna could have joined her in this relaxing experience. "Then it wouldn't have been so quiet..." she laughed, bringing the grass closer to her face. "I'm sure Anna would have asked me thirty more questions just in the short walk too.." she mocked, her face falling for a moment as she thought of the girl. As much as she wanted to deny the fact that she would have actually enjoyed Anna's presence, she found herself actually missing her in the short amount of time away from her. "I wonder if she'll hate me for slapping her..." Elsa wondered, her heart dropping.
Something cooled in her fingertips and Elsa looked down to see the blade of grass freezing in her grasp. Dropping the grass from her hand she gasped, eyes wide and staring at it as if it were poison. No sooner had the blade left her fingertips, the ice melted and water dripped from its edges, much to Elsa's concern. "These powers..they can't follow me once I get to the Southern Isles..." Elsa reminded herself, "Father and Mother said I will be fine...from the evil magic till then...but what if..". She brought her hands up before her and flexed her fingers, trying to understand. Crackling noises sounded and Elsa gasped, turning to see the pond waters were freezing. "How...?" Elsa tried to say, faltering as she heard footsteps approaching her.
"Hey!" Anna called, practically silencing herself as the girl turned and stood to face her. Elsa's face looked a mix between surprise and fear as Anna approached her, mimicking the emotions she had back in the library. The look she sported quickly changed and she sighed audibly, glancing between Anna and the pond. Anna's eyes looked at the waters as well; confusion rising up inside of her as she tried to figure out what the girl was looking at. It was only a pond, the water was clear and she could spot a few frogs swimming about as she looked. Hardly a thing to look worried about in a moment like this. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Anna raged while Elsa lifted an eyebrow, clearly challenging her words with the look.
"Language."
"What?"
"Your language.."
"...What about it?"
"It's terrible, you need to fix it." Elsa spat, her arms folding before her. Neither the words nor her actions were able to help Anna's mood she was in.
"Listen here Princess, I have been searching all morning for your butt and I will speak whatever fucking language I wanna speak with you!" Anna spat back, her finger pointing directly at the girl. "I understand if you don't wanna be around me...if you even like me or if you wanna delay our trip, but you are not going to disappear like that again...got it?" Anna's voice echoed against the trees and she could have sworn they quaked from the power of her words. "I will not be the one to come running after you every single time you decide to leave or put yourself in danger, I am your guardian but I'm not an idiot and will not be treated like one!" she added, just out of her spite.
Elsa stared at her for a moment, a long moment, and Anna nearly groaned as she thought she saw the girl's lip quiver. The telltale sign that she was going to cry. But then her eyes traced over to Anna's hand and the items that were firmly locked into it, her face making what Anna would call a confused scowl. "You have my stuff..." she breathed out, bringing a hand to her head.
"Of course I do, you left it in the forest?" Anna half laughed half yelled out.
The Princess shook her head, folding her arms once more and looking beyond Anna before resting her eyes back on the girl. "I placed those things there so I would be able to find my way back..." she explained, sending Anna into confusion. "This forest is thicker than I was expecting...and I don't suppose you even know which direction you came from." Elsa concluded, going up and holding her hand out, signifying that she wanted Anna to give her the cloak full of items. Anna sighed, placing a hand to her head as well before passing off the cloak. The Princess yanked them quickly out of her hand, hardly allowing the contact between them to last a second before eyeing its contents.
"I didn't do anything to your gloves or shoes Princess.." Anna spat, locking eyes with the girl as she glared at her.
"Good." she said simply, opening the cloak. Elsa quickly returned the gloves on as her guardian turned around, looking at the trees around them.
"I'm not sure if I do know which way I'm going actually.." Anna admitted to herself, feeling absolutely stupid in that moment. She could understand how she would have grown confused by the first glove, even the second, but by the time she reached the shoes she should have known better. This was a thick forest, one neither had imagined to be upon walking into the small bunch of trees. The simple choice was to walk back from once they came, hoping it would lead them out into open land. But it could also lead them to wild animals, thieves or even a land further from where their horses lay. Anna turned back to see Elsa placing a shoe on each foot, the items were all back on the girl and she was waiting for Anna to make a call. "Well...I came that way, I think...so we'll start...that way!" Anna laughed while Elsa rolled her eyes.
"Then lets go.." she said, waiting for Anna to lead them. The guardian sighed and took off, slowly but surely.
Walking back wasn't difficult, moving through trees and avoiding tripping over roots as well as rocks wasn't the bad part either, but walking back with a grumpy Princess was making the walk impossible.
"Mind explaining what you were doing in the middle of this forest, completely away from camp...without telling me?" Anna asked, although she felt like she was more begging as the girl remained quiet. "If you would have just woke me up before leaving, I would have been fine with you going...but you just left after our.." she silenced herself, realizing she was going to bring up the fight. It wasn't that she didn't want to bring up the fight, she wanted to apologize for her words, but she also didn't want to make the walk back any more awkward. The fact that she had effectively made them both lost was bad enough, let alone bringing up more things she had caused to happen.
"I was in need of some space..." Elsa said simply, surprising Anna that she had gotten that much out of her.
"So much space you couldn't tell me where you were going?"
Elsa paused, thinking intently on her words. "I didn't think my absence would be a problem, I planned to be back before you woke."
"It is a problem though...you're my.." Anna trailed off, sighing loudly.
"You're what, Miss Anna of Arendelle Camp?" Elsa questioned, her frustration showing as well.
"You're my job, if I lose you..your parents would have me killed..!" she explained, thinking it would have been obvious now.
"Is that all I am to you?" she questioned, practically a whisper. Anna stopped as she spoke these words, her eyes looking to Elsa as the girl continued to walk. Seeing that she had stopped, Elsa turned back and gave her a quizzical look. "What are you doing?" Elsa asked, clearly not understanding the words she just said to Anna.
"Did you just.." Anna said quietly, trying to understand if it was the Princess who said this or if it was her own imagination saying it. The tone of the words, 'is that all I am to you', sounded so sad and sounded so angry that Anna couldn't imagine them to be something she misheard. Elsa had actually felt something, felt something sad towards Anna. She was disappointed that Anna had called her a job, that she was only taking care of her and worrying over her because her parents would be deeply upset. At least thats how Anna took it. But then Elsa was back, staring at her in the same typical blankness that she always did, seeming to internally try to prove Anna's thoughts wrong.
"Are we not going the right way?" Elsa asked, her hands folding before her. Anna wanted to ask her if she said the words she had heard so clearly, what she meant by them and to help her understand that she wouldn't be just a job to her but also her friend if she allowed it. But memories of last night and this morning poured into her mind, urging her against it.
"Ah yeah I'm sure this is...sorry." Anna laughed, forcing herself to move forward and took a step forward only to stop again as she heard rustling from beyond them.
They were silent for some time after that, walking amongst each other while Anna tried to focus on the situation that had just happened to the two these last few days. Elsa was so different, so very different, and Anna was having a hard time figuring her out. She came off as emotionless, cold and rude. But then Anna continued to travel with her and saw a side to her that begged differently. Elsa was also tearful, had some sort of mysterious history and had the ability to be hurt by Anna's words just as she did a few moments ago. As much as she wanted to hate her and to try and block the girl out, she couldn't help herself from wanting to try again and again to get through to her.
"I'm sorry for last night...everything I said.." Anna spoke out, turning slightly as she watched Elsa purposefully avoid her eyes. "I sometimes say things that I shouldn't say...and even if they are true they aren't exactly kind...so I wanted to apologize for that and for today as well, you should be able to have time to yourself and I should have trusted that you would have come back...but for the future if you need time alone I'd really like a heads up..." Anna laughed out, her voice laced with some bitterness as well. Before her she could see the forest was clearing a bit and the thickness of it was more like a small patch of tree's. Horses were neighing in the distance, much to her relief.
"I didn't mean to slap you.." Elsa said suddenly, when they were just before the camp.
Anna was so taken aback by the words she nearly stopped in her footsteps again, "What..?" she managed to croak out as Elsa turned away.
"I said I didn't mean to slap you..or to worry you." she continued and Anna could have swore she saw her face burn red. "I'm sorry.." she whispered so softly, hardly reaching either of their ears. "I guess I was just scared I...oh...?" Elsa went to speak more, but her eyes caught something in the camp and she pointed ahead and her face gave the most ridiculous confused look Anna had ever seen.
Following her line of vision she too found herself confused as she looked at their tent moving back and forth, strange noises coming from them. Anna went to draw her sword but stopped as she saw an orange faced animal poke his head out, a book in his mouth as he skittered away.
"Hey that's my..." Elsa gasped out, watching as the fox started to run out into the open field.
"I got it!" Anna yelled, causing the girl to jump as she took off after the animal. "Hey you stupid fox!" she cried, doing little to help the situation as the fox took off in a mad dash. Anna proceeded to chase the animal, tripping once and yelling out in frustration. "Damn it get back here!" she snapped. The fox was literally teasing her, making no efforts to hide in the forest or flee back into a hole but continuing to run around in circles as Anna chased after it. "That's Elsa's book!" she snapped, nearly grabbing it, only to fall as the fox took a sharp turn.
Elsa watched on in amazement as the guardian looked like a complete fool, chasing the fox and nearly every time losing it again. Still as Anna continued on, refusing to stop until she finally grabbed a hold of the Princess' book and tore it away from the animal, Elsa couldn't help but find her hand above her mouth as she held back a smile.