Sorry i know A/N are annoying at the top but i recommend listening to the deleted frozen song "More than just the spare" because its sorta relevant in this part and yeah just a suggestion. enjoy!
"Are you afraid?"
Andy blinked at her, "Should I be?"
They walked along the rim of a mountain, her hand gripping Suri's harness- to steady herself or the reindeer she didn't even know anymore. The Prince walked along beside her, holding the Arendelle book like it was his child. He had told her he'd read it later, because according to him there were 'things to be learned' from it.
"I should be afraid, shouldn't I?" Andy frowned. "But I'm not. Is that weird?"
Krista didn't know. She should have been, but like Andy, she kind of wasn't. The little monsters screeching and blurting out lyrics from the ice harvester's song had really bothered her though. Those things no taller than a troll had troubled her a lot; she didn't want to find out if the King had created any others and if so, she did not want to meet them. But as afraid as she should have been feeling? Not even close.
Andy's unyielding faith in his brother was outstanding. She wondered, if she'd ever had a sibling- a real human sibling- would she be doing the same for them if this were their situation?
"Why are you going after the King?" Krista said. "He ran away, didn't he?"
"He's my brother," he replied almost automatically. "I need to find him."
"But usually when people go to the mountains, it's cos they wanna be alone," Krista said slowly. "Maybe he doesn't want to be found."
"Is that why you go to the mountains?" Andy said. She glanced at him with slight irritation, but there was no malice in his voice, he looked genuinely curious.
"I go out of necessity, mostly. Harvest some ice, yeah?" she said, the annoyance gone from her face. "That's what I live from. But sometimes the distance is... nice."
"Why are you an ice harvester anyway?"
"That's what my dad was."
She almost clamped a hand over her own mouth. Why had she told him that? Andy had his lips parted- like he wanted to ask. Probably deciding against it, he pressed his lips together and nodded, leaving it at that.
But then he opened his mouth again and started to say something, but the words died in his throat and his eyes widened.
"Arendelle," he whispered.
The three of them stopped abruptly. They had reached a clearing; where far below, nestled in the fjord the kingdom of Arendelle was covered in snow. Every high structure she could see from up there was covered in white. A huge cloud was buffeting the kingdom with hail.
"It's completely frozen," Krista said in awe. She hadn't actually seen the kingdom, just the snow coming from the North Mountain and Andy's poor description of what had happened. She could only imagine what the Prince was feeling, seeing the state of his home.
"It... uh, it'll be fine. Elliott will thaw it." Andy said confidently, but his eyebrows were drawn together in uncertainty. They might have trained him in that castle of his to control his voice, but his body language gave him away.
"Yeah? By the way, you never told me how you planned to save my ice business," she gently took him by the elbow, turning his back to the kingdom, getting him to stop torturing himself over Arendelle's grim state.
"Oh. I have a plan. Don't you worry."
"And that is?" she pressed.
From his shirt pocket, he pulled out a teal glove and held it up to her face, like it was supposed to mean something to her.
"Oh, yes. You'll beat him with the glove until he unfreezes everything?" she said dryly. "I'll hold him down while you beat him. Sound like a plan?"
"Have a little faith, mountain woman." Andy tucked the glove back inside his pocket and patted it fondly, "He'll just put the gloves back on, and everything will return to normal. He'll thaw out the fjord."
"...wait, are you actually serious?"
"Yes! This happened when I took off his stupid glove, so the way I see it, putting them back on will fix everything."
She shook her head in disbelief and leaned against Suri, her arms folded. Suddenly Andy's cheery face turned into something darker, his face turned red, making his freckles stand out even more.
"Look, it's the best I got, okay? I don't want everyone back home to think I'm just the useless spare!" he spat. "Nobody believes in me!"
His outburst startled her."Andy, nobody thinks that-"
He waved her words away, his jaw set, "I'm not part of the town, nor was I born to be King. I'm just somebody hopelessly in-between. Just the baby brother, the screw up-"
"Stop, please-"
"The extra button on a jacket, in case the other one comes loose!" he was rambling now, his shoulders hunched and his hands gripping the book really tightly. How long had he been holding that one in? "Why can't I be a button that's of use?!"
She panicked. Dealing with people was not her strong point. She could barely comfort a reindeer that had accidentally licked a thorn bush, let alone another human being. Even a gloomy troll she could help feel better. Other people were a complete mystery to her.
The prince needed assurance that he wasn't completely crazy for going after the king, yeah? That he was useful, and not how he'd so eloquently put it, the spare. He'd been hurting, she realized, he'd been hiding behind that smile. She could relate.
Okay, maybe she hadn't been the nicest or most respectful person, but sarcasm was her only defense. People will beat you and curse you and cheat you. Maybe every one of them wasn't bad. So far Andy wasn't like them, at all. Maybe Andy was like a reindeer. She'd been harsh. And what did she know, maybe the gloves would stop the King's powers.
"Andy," she said, her voice firm. Andy looked at her, his green eyes wide and glassy. She bit her lip and placed both hands on his shoulders and tried to make her voice sound with as much conviction as possible. "Nobody thinks that you're useless. You're not a button. You're... you. The town loves you. And I'm sure Elliott does, too. So you'll never be the heir, who cares, you're so much more than just the spare."
This time when he stared, it was different from the other times. No contempt, or awe or curiosity- just at her. She felt the tip of her ears get warm and she dropped her arms, shifting her eyes away.
"You're willing to climb the tallest mountain just to find him," she mumbled, almost to herself. "Putting yourself at risk and- I'm not sure many people can say they'd do the same..."
Andy wiped at his eyes, walking ahead of her, hoping she wouldn't see. But she did.
"The button on a jacket metaphor is stupid," he said evenly. Then he looked over his shoulder at her, his familiar smile back in place. "Thank you. I- I needed that."
She felt her heart swell at that smile. It just looked so right on his face, almost like the permanent scowl did on hers. Wait, what?
"Let's try to find a way up that perilously high mountain now, yeah?" she smiled back, while Suri did a sort-of excited bark and ran ahead to where Andy was, the tension completely dissolved.
• • •
Some forests were really freaking scary, like the dark one where the crazy snowmen had attacked them. Others, though, were really beautiful. Frozen willow trees were one of them.
The low hanging branches glistened with tiny crystals of ice, reflecting off light and making the scene look like nothing Andy had seen before, taking his breath away. He never knew winter could be so beautiful.
Suri was the most excited. She ran back and forth, tangling her antlers in the braches and bringing the hanging things along with her. They tinkled like chimes, and the little sound pleased the reindeer so much she kept bouncing back and forth to show Krista every new decoration on her antlers.
"They are so beautiful," Krista said, holding one in her hand and letting it slip between her fingers. She'd actually taken off her gloves just to get a feel. "How can your brother go from bloodthirsty snowmen to something as gorgeous as this?"
"I'll give you and the frozen branches a moment, if you want," he said teasingly, holding one himself and letting it drop, making it chime. Then he swatted the one next to it, and it chimed also. Krista chuckled as Andy continued pulling at the branches in a funny melody, it would make a really nice music box—
"STOP THAT SISSY, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING ACTIVITY."
Both of them immediately jumped back from the tree and looked around, alarmed. All that he saw was Suri, with her head tilted to the side with her tongue hanging out. But the voice that had spoken had been a manly grunt. Vaguely familiar...
Andy raised an eyebrow at a stunned Krista, "Did your reindeer just—"
Krista screamed, her eyes fixed on something behind him.
Andy had never been the athlete out of the two brothers. But the roundhouse kick he delivered to the talking snowman's head would have put any of his self-defense instructor's to shame. It was more reflexive than intentional, because the little menace had snuck up on him, but it still sent the snowman's head flying. Left behind was the chest, the stubby legs and the feet. And, how could he forget, the arms gripping a wicked sharp sword— made of ice.
He had time to exchange a fleeting look with Krista before the head landed on her upturned palms.
"Ew, ew! You decapitated it!" she yelped, tossing it at him.
"I don't want it!" he shrieked, throwing it back at her.
"What makes you think I do?!" and their little game of throwing the head around continued. From the ground, the small body started walking around in circles, waving its beefy snow arms- sword and all.
"If you drop me I will strangle you in your sleep—!" it howled, and Andy screamed in a very unmanly way. He slammed the head back on the body with a soft crunch. He backed away, managing to trip over his feet in the process, so he was at eye-level with the snowman. He blinked. From that angle, the snowman looked even more familiar...
"Andy, what are you doing? Get up!" Krista hissed, pulling the Arendelle History book out of the satchel and raising it high above her head, sneaking towards the snowman, "This'll only take a second..."
"That was really impertinent of you, Soldier." the snowman grumbled, tilting its head from side to side so it settled properly. It suddenly whipped around to face Krista, the ice sword at level with her chest, "Drop that, young lady."
Krista narrowed her eyes, weighing her options. They weren't good. She put the book back in the satchel and raised her hands in surrender. The snowman motioned with the tip of the sword at the spot next to Andy, and she reluctantly sat down next to him. From behind the snowman, Suri watched on, wagging her tiny tail playfully.
"What great attack reindeer you got there," Andy mumbled. "I feel so safe."
"Shut up." Krista crossed her arms, scowling at their... captor.
"Now..." the snowman turned to them, the ice shards it had for eyes inspecting them closely. Andy noticed it had a handlebar moustache and a long, regal-looking nose. "I apologize for that impolite introduction, but heavens boy! It is not becoming of you to be playing with those things!"
"But they are so pretty," Andy whined.
"Irrelevant. Let's start over." The snowman thrust the sword down, planting it on the ground. "I am General Winter! Salute!"
Andy didn't even think about it, his arm automatically went straight up and he saluted the snowman. He gasped, with his hand still raised, as everything clicked. It triggered a memory... of the ballroom. Wait, what? No... the brief flash of the ballroom dissolved as soon as it had appeared, instead showing one of Arendelle's gardens. Elliott there for a quick second. Laughing. Young. Then gone.
Krista nudged him with her shoulder, "Don't do as he says!"
Andy felt dizzy. The quick ballroom picture was now hazy, as if covered by fog. But the outdoor one was crystal clear. He blinked and lowered his arm. "That's right... General Winter," he repeated, his eyes lighting up, "Did Elliott build you?"
"Yes, m'boy," General Winter actually smiled. He bowed his head, "Soldier Anders. I've been looking for you."
Andy's face broke into a grin. The snowman he and Elliott built when they were kids! Before he shut him out! Only Elliott could have built him. Sure, he may have also created that crazy little gang- but the General? That was one of his few cherished memories from childhood, and Elliott had made it a real, talking being.
"Why are you suddenly best buds with one of them? Remember the woods?" Krista demanded. "Conceal! Don't feel! Your land shall be cursed with unending winter!"she made a squeaky, scarily accurate impersonation of those crazy menaces from earlier.
The General pulled out his sword from the ground, pointing it at Krista, "Aha! You're one of the Meltlings, aren't you?!"
She flinched, and Andy immediately batted the sharp sword away from her face, "Stop, General! It's not like that! We were attacked by this group of..."
"Deformed lumps of evil," Krista finished. Andy nodded vigorously as Krista continued, "They were yelling really random stuff and chasing us- we, uh, we barely made it."
"Meltlings," the General repeated, a deep hatred lacing the one word. "They are not to be contended with. They were created from dark, desolate thoughts." He spread his arms, gesturing at himself, "As for myself, I was created with love!"
Krista snorted but quickly tried to cover it up with her hands. Andy cracked a half-smile.
"What amuses you so, dear? I simply ooze love!" the General sheathed his sword at last. "Some of us are good, yes. We are hope and freedom and love! But the others..." the General narrowed its icy eyes, "The Meltlings... they are resentment, hate. They are fear! And I must destroy them!"
Andy was slightly taken aback, but Krista looked really upset for some reason. Suri finally decided to approach them, she sat down next to Andy and licked his cheek.
"Fear? So Elliott..." Krista muttered, probably to herself. Andy raised an eyebrow at her.
"Something you wish to share?" he asked her.
"D-did I say that out loud? It doesn't matter... General Winter?" she said, "There's two types of snowmen? Those like you and, um..."
"The Meltlings, yes," he said Meltlings like one would say the black plague. "Their two leaders are merciless and wicked, but no match for me of course!"
"Do you know where King Elliott is?"
"Certainly."
"Will you take us to him?"
"I could, yes. But why?"
"I'll tell you why," Andy said, "We need Elliott to bring back summer."
"Summer..." the General suddenly looked wistful, "I've always admired the idea of summer... that powerful thing, heat! The warm sun, all things hot... my snow getting gorgeously tanned..."
"A chance to relax, let off some steam! A nice summer breeze..." he sounded almost melancholic. He suddenly brightened up, "Put me in summer and I'll be a happy snowman! Yes, I shall help you bring it back!"
"I'm guessing you don't have much experience with heat?" Krista was trying hard not to laugh, and when the snowman shook his head, she smirked, "I'm gonna tell him-"
"Don't you dare," Andy smacked her arm lightly. Then to the snowman, "You wouldn't like it, General," he said, finally incorporating himself and pulling Krista up as well. "Trust me. You'd absolutely hate it."
"As much as I despise Meltlings? I seriously doubt it, Soldier Anders," The snowman said. "But, alas, I'm here to help you." He straightened up and pointed at Suri, "Lend me your steed."
I'm here to help you...
General Winter reminded Andy of parts of his brother he had long ago forgotten. The protective, loving brother he knew once. Did Elliott unintentionally put those parts of himself into the General?
But the 'Meltlings' part bothered him. What did the General say those were made of? Dark, loneliness, resentment, hate...fear. Had his brother accidentally put those parts of himself onto those snowmen too? Andy dreaded meeting them again, now that he had a closer idea of what they were, what they represented.
A new image flashed before his eyes. A younger version of himself, catching falling snowflakes with his tongue- Elliott beside him, stomping his foot on the hardwood floor- and then just as fast as it had happened, the images stopped, leaving him with a dull ache behind his eyes.
He blinked several times, trying to conjure up the moment again- but hard as he tried he could not. It was gone, snatched away. He concentrated until his eyes watered, but finally he sighed in defeat, going to where the General and Krista were. The moment he'd laid eyes on the General something had just... shifted. He wasn't sure what, but he hoped the weird images made sense later on.
"Let's bring back summer, children!" the General called, all saddled up on Suri's back, Krista looked unhappy about the arrangement.
"Don't look so glum, chum," Andy said playfully at Krista, pushing the troubling thoughts to the back of his mind.
"Why would I be glum, my Prince?" Krista opened her mouth to say something else, but bit her tongue. She shook her head and smiled instead.
"You held back a reply that would've most likely hurt my feelings," Andy noted with a smirk, "Thanks."
"I get nothing from... from being rude. Better to encourage you." She patted him on the shoulder, shuffling her feet awkwardly, "I... know what it's like to feel like no one believes in you."
"Aw, Krista-"
"Stop being so touchy-feely in my presence! I am the chaperone and I will not stand for this!" the General steered Suri to stand between them, "Enough!"
Probably what Elliott would do, Andy thought with a small smile.
++++do you know how tempted i was to title this chapter "WINTER IS COMING"? very. but lets leave GoT references for another time
+++ i dont really like the song In summer but i did add some stuff from it, i think it fit in okay
++ so in the movie it bothered me that anna didn't remember those memories the trolls 'fixed', or that kristoff didnt tell her or elsa or just ugh. so andy here may eventually remember knowing about elliott's power when they were little i think it'd be cool
+alsoooo Helena chapter coming up next! she's proving to be really fun to write about, actually. too bad she's not all that she seems
please review!