And now he was bored. Jack sent a flurry of snowflakes up into the air above him, watching as they spiralled slowly back down, landing all over his prone body. He raised a bare, skinny foot in the air, snatching at another flake with his long toes, observing the way the digits wiggled as they tried to close around the tiny ice crystals. The white of his skin glowed softly against the smoke-laden clouds in the pale winter sky above. For just a moment he was completely still. The last of the snow settled all around him.
He was pathetic, he decided, letting the whole limb smack back down again next to its fellow. The thin powder particles bounced lightly under the blow, settling again as he rolled his head further back over his arm. Some of the white substance was crushed by his movement, but none of it melted. His body had not produced enough natural heat for that since the day he had emerged from that frozen lake long ago, half drowned and iced over in its dark waters.
A loud sigh escaped him, his face twisting with the force of it. He stretched his shoulders against the hard rooftop, pumping the hand that supported his head as he lay spread-eagled on the dark expanse of brown-black rectangles that swept down to the tops of the grand wooden fascias. The sides of the grand seafront house were richly decorated, the rich trader who owned it clearly angling for prestige among the other citizens of Arendelle, but up here, out of the sight of anyone but the gulls and Jack, things were more spartan. Only the chimney and the crown of the roof showed any signs of moulding or whittle-work and that only where it might be visible from the street below. The tiles themselves were fairly simple plain slate in the same endless sweeping rows. At this time of the year the dilapidated nest at the base of the big square chimney was empty and weather-beaten, it occupants long since flown. There weren't even any insects thanks to the cold. It was just Jack and the smoke and the gently drifting clouds above and the sheer peacefulness was maddening.
His free hand flexed against the grain of the shepherd's crook that lay beside him. The bare slate was increasingly rough and uncomfortable against his back and the sharp incline left him pretty exposed to the salty sea air. His shoulders were getting sore and his throat was drying out. Chimneys around him puffed gentle streams of warm, but acrid smoke that made him feel worse not better and the sounds of the distant population mixed in with shrill cries of sea birds and the lapping of the nearby waves only reminded him on what he was currently missing out on.
Ordinarily he did not do bored. He could almost always find someone or something to entertain himself with. Winter was a time full of snowball fights and ice slides and frosted patterns over houses. His elevated position gave him some view of the embankment below and the sight of all those dowdy mundane people just getting on with business made him twitchy. He really wanted to liven things up. There were ice patches begging to be created, ready to literally throw preoccupied worry-warts out of their own thoughts as as they went toppling over themselves. There were crates in need of freezing to the ground, to make the swaggering muscle-bound dock men huff and curse in entertaining ways as they discovered that something out there was still stronger than them. He was sure at the very least he could find some bad tempered self-important curmudgeon with a lead pipe or two to burst. That always made someone somewhere smile as they remembered the unnecessary mean comments the old grump had last hissed at them in passing.
However none of this was an option right now. At least... not here. If he caused too much trouble, it wouldn't be him getting the blame. For just a little while longer, he needed to stay on his best behaviour or everything he was trying to accomplish would come undone… and she would hate him. He sighed, shifting uncomfortably on the rooftop and gradually blowing a large snowflake out through his nose. The tiles were really starting to cut into him too.
Still... if she wasn't back within the next fifteen minutes, he was officially outta here. He had already checked the entire castle, looking for her, only to find himself disappointed at the sight through every window. Nothing but servants and guards everywhere and even they didn't look especially busy with anything but their regular duties. There was no sign of the royal family indoors or out – and yet there were also no indication of the winding down of activity that meant the household was being left to vegetate while their mistresses were on a long journey somewhere.
They couldn't have gone far. He could wait another ten minutes, really he could. His nose twitched. His fingers tapped the gnarled wooden cane awkwardly. Make that five minutes then. He groaned. Make that five seconds.
No. Sorry. He couldn't take it any more. This was not him. He was going stir-crazy and he was done with it. He was off. Fini. Finito. Færdig. Avsluttet. Bye-Bye.
His knees pushed his feet down hard against the tiles, his bare arches responded in kind thrusting back up from his toes. Rolling in mid air, he sprang and righted himself with a long arch of his grateful back. His staff whirled over his head, propelled in both hands... and then he caught sight of the silent castle just a little way up the jetty, nestled among the delta and the silent mountains.
Silver-white mist plumbed up from the sea, swirling around the tall icy towers with the steady steam of ocean air. It glinted softly in the distance, a swirling jewel of blue and grey and white, quietly inviting him back. An image of Elsa's face flashed across his mind. It was just a little longer.
An involuntary groan escaped his lips and his legs crossed underneath him. He fell back down on his rear with a thump, jamming the crook between the tiles at his feet as he slumped forward, letting his upper body hang dejectedly off his arms like so much dead weight. Okay, just five more minutes. He just... really wanted to see how this turned out.
It took another half-an-hour before the sound of laughing voices roused him out of a near-stupor. He started, his staff smacking him about the head as it fell and clattered against the roof tiles. Scrambling to his feet, he gathered up the wayward crook even as he intently scoured his surroundings for the source for the noise. Most things hadn't changed much, except… just circling the wooden pagoda in the village square below, came a large dark blue sleigh decorated in a stylised winter design and pulled by a single reindeer. A half-dozen or so of the local people had noticed before he did and were already waving and greeting the passengers. Jack was actually surprised their bubbly noise hadn't woken him earlier.
The sleigh pulled away in the direction of the castle, scattering people out of the gangly reindeer's path as it gently shouldered its way though them, the heavy load carried forward easily by the transferred momentum. There was barely any sign of antlers on the animal's head any more, just furry bumps where next spring's regrowth was starting. The deer didn't seem to care though if it looked ridiculous, tossing its intelligent cheerful face from side to side and throwing its hoofs up high as it happily cantered along, evidentially pleased with the attention it was receiving.
Behind the animal on the driver's seat of the sleigh, was the tall blonde man, Kristoff, whom he seen with Arendelle's princess before, enthroned with knees spread wide and his elbows akimbo. The deer's leather reigns were draped over loosely over the Sámi's grey fur mittens as he glanced over his shoulder. His broad featured face and long large nose were still red from a brisk ride in the cold, despite the brim of the warm bobble hat being low over his ears and the thick fur of his burgundy-trimmed tunic. His gentle, round eyes were visibly tired and baggy from a long day and yet in spite of this the small high-set cheeks and the large square chin were broken by a massive grin as he regarded his companions.
Flush with excitement, Jack let the wind carry him gently behind some large stacked crates near the dock, close enough to see without being seen. Kristoff's gaze seemed particularly drawn to a snow-white stallion not far away, a sturdy powerful beast decked out in dark gold-trimmed riding tack with its mane cut short and dyed in a block pattern at the tips in the traditional style of Arendelle. The Sámi man seemed particularly keen on watching the rider, the young red-headed princess who was speaking animatedly with both hands waving through the air and none guiding her steed. Despite Kristoff's waning smile, the horse didn't seem affected by the inattentive handling. It strode gracefully alongside the sled with no sign of straying or panic, apparently used to interpreting the wishes of an easily distracted passenger. Thick blue woollen skirts billowed over the hard leather saddle and heavy black boots poked out of the stirrups on both sides of the muscular flank, as the cloak of the young princess dangled dangerously off her shoulder with her expansive gesticulation, threatening to rip off and pull her under her horse at any moment.
"Okay," someone giggled in defeat from between the large barrels transported on Kristoff's sleigh, "Okay, I admit I had fun today." Jack's eyes widened in excitement at the voice, but before he could find the source he was distracted by Anna's reply.
"I told you you would," the princess declared, leaning towards the back of the sled with a giant grin, "This was just what you needed." One hand finally returned to the slack strip of leather draped on her horse's neck as she waved at several passing merchants. "No responsibilities. No worries," she shrugged her clock back into a safer position, "No invisible phantoms with ice powers."
Jack froze. He had been clambering around the side of the embankment towards the jetty, but he remained hanging off the stone wall like a spider suddenly caught in the light. Anna's words had failed to register properly into their full meaning at first. It took several moments in which his mind replayed the sounds he'd barely heard until he was sure of what had been said, but then those last five words kept ringing in his mind and left him feeling laden and heavy.
A small part of him had started to panic. He swung himself up and under the dangling chain fence, rolling into a crouch behind the slowly moving sleigh. Keeping himself hidden behind a large barrel, he leapt onto the back of one of the long runners, moulding himself. The deer gave a start at the slight change in the sled's weight, but thankfully Kristoff was still paying more attention to Anna than his own steed. Jack peered hopefully around the wooden frame of the barrel.
It had taken less than a moment, but it seemed like an eternity until he finally he spotted Elsa among several large wooden barrels of fish, packed down firmly in layers of crushed ice. She was squatting on a blanket on the floor, her legs curled under her with her slit skirt and cloak laid out over her feet in a very ladylike fashion. His hungry eyes latched onto the sight of her even as he fought an odd churning sensation in his gut, willing her to refute her sister's words, but the queen merely huffed gently, her smile and laughter draining from her delicate features as she deliberately glanced away from her companions and back towards the village. Her face tight, she got on her knees and leaned over the dark blue side of sled, a flick of her sparkling white-clad wrist sending a swirling nest of little miniature ice figures dancing through the air towards a group of increasingly distant local children.
Her cape caught the tiny up draft from the sleigh's gentle motion and rustled slightly against her back. It made an oddly tinkling sound that vaguely mimicked that of bells if you listened carefully enough. The blue-white and whiter still of the ice that formed her dress swept down her body like a frozen river, caressing every curve like the tightest glove. Her blonde braid bounced gently against her subtly rounded chin, but her expression did not lighten as she remained on her knees, staring back towards the diminishing houses of her kingdom.
"I saw him, Anna," she insisted wearily, as the enthralled infants copied the dancing figures and tried to catch them, "I've been seeing him for ages. It's not just a trick of my mind." It wasn't what Jack had hoped she'd say, but it didn't seem to be what he had feared either. He gripped the outter grip of the sleigh so tightly his already white knuckles lost any remote trace of colour. His head bowed and he listened intently with eyes pressed shut and his breath caught.
"Hey," Anna protested, shrugging her shoulders, as she regarded her sister with a conciliatory frown, "If you say you saw him, you saw him. I'm not judging. I'm just glad your not lurking around the castle, jumping at shadows. He's like the boogeyman. He's taken over your life." Elsa looked relieved, but Jack let out a noiseless gasp as his mouth was suddenly too dry for sound. He felt only an oddly painful numbness radiating out of his chest and gut.
Settling herself back among the barrels, Elsa gave her sister a half-smile. "I guess I have been a little paranoid." Jack felt stung. He barely kept his balance with the need to reel backwards.
"A little?" Anna laughed, shacking her head, "Somebody sneezes too loud you jump out of your skin!" Jack flinched, feeling ill. His eyes burning hot against his naturally cool face, he stared at his feet, a crushing invisible weight suddenly pressing on his back as he struggled for breath. His hands were trembling and he had to made an unusual effort to keep his balance.
"I guess its just..." Elsa paused, rubbing her neck, "You have no idea what its like. I'll just be getting on with my day and then out of the blue there's this face there, staring in at me. You never hear him or expect him. You just think you're alone and then... He's just there. It's unnerving." She paused, running a hand over her braid in thought. "I don't know what he wants. He just stares. I don't feel safe any more," she shivered, looking at her feet as she continued in a small voice, "For all I know he could be anywhere... And I can't even alert the guards and have them more vigilant, because they can't see him, so they won't spot him if he does come back... "
Jack sank to his knees, turning on the runner so that his back was flush against the sled. The sky was an endless blue above. His eyes were wide, staring into it. His jaw was slack. The crook trembled in his fingers. This couldn't be...
"He does sound really creepy," a thoughtful voice interrupted.
Elsa started, looking wearily over her shoulder with her eyes narrowed. "Thank you, Kristoff," she began, her voice wavering slightly.
"What!?" the blonde turned his head, his eyes wide as the reindeer easy manoeuvred the heavy sled onto the jetty with almost no guidance from the reigns. Anna brought her horse into step only a fraction behind them, waving at the townsfolk they left behind. "I mean it," Kristoff was saying, gesturing his elbow as he held onto the reigns. "He does sound creepy! Invisible or not, real or not, what kind of a person just stares at you through a window? That's pretty much just criminals and perverts. Normal people knock on doors or write a note or say 'hi', but to just climb up to a girl's window and just watch her... Definitely creepy."
Slumping back against the barrels with a loud sigh, Elsa drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them gently, as crystalline fabric flapped loosely about her shins. "He is real," she repeated, referencing Kristoff earlier comment.
"Then he's real and creepy," the Sámi man shrugged, adjusting the reigns in his hands.
"And has no regard for privacy," a small voice interrupted, as a large blob of white bounced into view from between the barrels, "Or what people other than him might want. Elsa doesn't want to be stared at. He should leave her alone... or at least tell her what he wants... and then leave her alone."
"You said it, Olaf," Kristoff agreed with a nod, now back in a more traditional driving position.
"Maybe he just can't talk?" Anna offered thoughtfully, rubbing her horse's neck as she gazed aimlessly across the fjord, "Or… or... do normal stuff...? Like knock politely and ask if Elsa wants to speak to him."
Elsa shook her head without looking up. "No, he can talk. He did last time he was here."
"When I was there?" Anna's eyes widened. Her horse started as she inadvertently yanked on its reigns. Then recovering, it gave a snort as it realised she didn't actually want anything.
"Yes." Elsa nodded, barely looking up.
"When I was there?" the snowman squeaked. His body oscillating forward as he stared up at his creator.
"Yes, Olaf," the queen sighed, straightening out her cape.
"And I didn't hear him?" the princess added, tensing in her saddle. The horse shifted in uncomfortable anticipation. Kristoff sent it a sympathetic glance.
Elsa nodded again. "That's right." This time she did raise her head to acknowledge Anna, regarding her with a careful expression.
The younger frecklier face drew itself up in disgust. "Eww... That's really..."
"Creepy?" Kristoff suggested with a quirk of his eyebrow as he glanced around at her, "I think we've covered that."
"Well, don't worry, Elsa," the snowman declared, bounding into place just in front of her, "I'll protect you. You just tell me where he is and I'll one... and I'll... two and then... three..." He bounced around the sled in apparent combat with an invisible opponent and then promptly lost his balance, topping head first into a barrel of fish.
Instantly Elsa crawled forward to gently lift him back onto his feet. A carrot end was poking out from behind his twiggy hair and there was nothing orange visible between his eyes and mouth, but he seemed unfazed and oblivious as always. "Thanks, Olaf," she sitting back down with a half-smile on her face, "I feel much better with you around."
"Ah, don't mention it," he beamed, pulling his nose through his head back into the correct position, "It's what I'm made for. That and hugs. Do you want a hug too?" He opened his little wooden arms hopefully.
"Maybe later," she patted him gently on the head, still smiling, "But can we stop talking about this? It's really putting a downer on a great day..."
"Sure. What do you want to talk about? Little fishes?" he hopped off her lap with a sudden burst of enthusiasm, pulling a small bucket with live and very out-of-season baby pollack fish out from a dark secret corner of the sled. "Oh, I'm so excited about my little guppies. I'm going to put them in a big bowl and watch them grow... Oh, and maybe we should put them in the pond and..." He gushed happily.
"They're sea fish, Olaf," Kristoff sighed, waving the guards as they approached the gates, "They need salt water. The pond only has fresh. For the ducks and pond fish." As the snowman paused in disappointment at the Sámi man's words, Elsa smiled fondly, steadying the bucket in Olaf's hands as the water threatened to spill.
Olaf frowned. "Maybe we can build a new pond? One with salt? Oh and...oh... oh... OH!" At the rear of the sled Jack started upright in alarm, suddenly panicking as he realised something.
"Oh!" Anna pulled her horse up short, slowing it as she started wide eyed at what was waiting for them in the courtyard.
"Oh-oh..." Kristoff tensed involuntarily. Jack closed his eyes in defeat, huddling up into a small ball as he waited for the inevitable.
Someone had been decorating. A disk of crystal blue-white ice shimmered in the glow from the castle windows. It spanned the entire section between the two fountains, laying out an enormous icy foundation over the well-worn flagstones. It wasn't just a disk though. Spiralling inwards towards its centre was a massive storm of leaves and branches. Icy crocuses showed their blossoming little flashes here and there among the foliage. Right in the centre a massive beast appeared to have forced its body through the maelstrom. Gargantuan front hooves were caught mid-swing in the air, a great shaggy mane tumbling wildly down it's might neck and there among its mighty set of antlers a small figure of a snowman seemed to be dancing. The oblong snowballs that defined its odd seeming arrested in the middle of a playful bounce. The twiggy arms spread out wide for a potential hug. The face caught in a familiar smile.
The reindeer paused considering the artwork critically and sneakily mimicking its attitude. Olaf was already leaping out of the sled. "Elsa, is that for me?" he gasped, running around in large circles, his coal based eyes bulging. "You remembered! It's just like I wanted! That's me and that's Sven... well, his nose is a bit off, but I think it's still just per..." He spun on his giant round feet, arms spread wide and faces hining with glee.
"Olaf," Kristoff began uncertainly, "I..."
"Come away from there!" Elsa's face had grown hard. She got to her feet. Each step resounded from the wood as she climbed stiffly out of the sled and made her way to where the snowman was standing. Her fingers twitched and her face was flushed.
Olaf gave a surprised start. "But..."
"Just come away from there," Elsa muttered, her features pinched as she reached for one of the snowman's twiggy hands, "Now."
"But..." He waved at the beautiful reindeer sculpture, apparently lost.
"Now, Olaf," she snapped, pulling him by the arm. All that happened was that the branch-based limb came loose in her hand... It waved at her nonplussed face as Olaf stared at her in wide-eyed bewilderment.
"I'm guessing that's not hers?" Kristoff sighed, indicating the ice statue as Anna's horse drew level with his seat.
"No," she shook her head, her expression blank as she pulled on the reigns, patting her horse's neck, "I don't think so either."
"It's not...?" Olaf's head drooped in obvious disappointment as he turned towards Elsa, apparently still hopeful she might contradict them.
She didn't notice. Her fists shook. Her mouth had pressed down into a thin line. Olaf's arm slipped from her clenched grasp. It lay twitching at her feet, like a strange three-pronged caterpillar, but she stepped over it oblivious.
"I can't believe this," she hissed, striding towards the offending statues with an expression that was as much exasperation as it was rage and fear. "I can't even get away for one day! It's just everywhere. Everywhere!" She stopped, her breathing ragged. Suddenly she started screaming incoherently, bringing the gate guards hurrying back and a couple of nervous maids peering out from the castle doors. They stared openly between at the royal party at an apparent loss to understand what was going on. Strange ice figures appearing out of nowhere was hardly news to them and they hardly likely to assume that the queen would be upset by something they also assumed she created.
"Elsa!" Anna leaped out of the saddle, her foot catching in the stirrup in her haste. Hopping madly on one leg, she waved her hands frantically as she tried to free herself from the surprisingly patient horse, "Elsa, wait. Maybe there's a reasonable explanation? Maybe someone else made it for you? Like a.. like a royal tribute or a diplomatic... thingie? Maybe because you do snow and ice and all... they thought an ice sculpture seemed...?" A couple of the guards were staring at the sculpture with new eyes. One even drew his sword, looking around wildly.
"And they just happen to know exactly what Olaf looks like?" Elsa snapped, rounding on her sister with a distracted snarl. "Not many people outside of Arendelle have even seen him. How did the artist? All the local people would leave flowers or pastries or something and nobody else..." Apparently realising who she was yelling at, the queen drew away, running both her hands distractedly over her braid as she strode through the two nervous maids towards the safety of the castle, "I just can't believe this. I just can't..."
"Elsa, Elsa please! Elsa wait!" Finally tugging herself loose Anna chased after her sister, taking the marble entrance in a single leap.
Kristoff pulled his cap over his head, sighing as he leant back against the sled, "This is not going to end well..." he declared with a half-hearted wave towards the reindeer.
"I'm not quite sure the creepy artist guy got the curve of my nose right either actually," Olaff added, turning to the reindeer and the horse with a thoughtful expression as he careful reattached his arm, "Hey Kjekk, Sven, is my nose that bumpy?" Unnoticed behind the sled, Jack had drawn his legs up close to his chest, his head was bowed as the tears ran freely down his cheeks.