Helga was getting frustrated. She was in the woods a good distance from the village with the blacksmith's son, Finn, trying to lose her virginity to him. Not that she actually cared about him, she just saw him staring after that wench Ingrid, and there was no way in Hel she was going to be bested, especially to a social nobody like her! So she lured Finn to the woods that night and stripped down naked as the day she was born. If only this boy would participate! He kept pulling back and looking around.
Finally, he stepped back completely and said, "Sorry, I just can't."
"What do you mean, you can't," Helga demanded angrily as Finn picked his shirt up off the ground, the only thing Helga was able to take off of him before he pulled away.
"Just that," he said with a shrug not looking at her. "I gotta go."
"Fine," she yelled after him, "leave! I didn't even like you anyway!"
Helga kicked the ground in frustration when he didn't even turn to acknowledge she had spoken. She turned to pick up her clothes from where she'd left them just to find they were missing. She looked around the area trying to find her missing clothes. "Finn," she yelled angrily into the woods. "This isn't funny! Give me back my clothes! FINN!" Hearing a twig snapped behind her, she angrily whirled to face the bastard.
Just to come face to face with the largest wolf she'd ever seen. Her legs gave out in fear, and she started crab walk away from the beast. It had midnight black fur and its dark blue eyes seemed to glare at her.
"Please don't hurt me," Helga whimpered. The giant wolf merely snarled angrily in response before snapping at her. Terrified, she took off running back to the village, her clothes long forgotten. The dire wolf watched her leave before turning and heading back to the hole she had started. She filled it up, burying the blonde's clothes and then taking off into the night.
Kristoff was walking around the village square helping the guards with patrols. A few nights ago, a patrol had rung the alarm bell waking the entire village. A dire wolf had been spotted nearby and the village was on alert. Guntar, the village leader, had ordered all families ensure no one was missing. All was calm until his wife, Lady Astrid, came out of their home in a panic shouting Helga was missing. Kristoff and his father were part of the volunteers to go into the forest to look for the girl when she appeared. She was screaming about a giant wolf chasing her, but no one really heard what she had said since they were distracted by the fact that she was completely naked.
Guntar quickly removed his cloak and covered his daughter, before sending her off with an angry look with his wife. He then ordered for patrols to be doubled until the wolf had been dealt with. No one had seen any trace of it since, and Kristoff secretly hoped it stayed that way. From Helga's description, he was sure it was Shadow. He didn't want to see Anna's reaction if they managed to kill the wolf.
His thoughts were interrupted when someone suddenly slapped an arm around his shoulder. Startled, he turned to see it was Asal who had a giant grin at sneaking up on the taller boy.
"Truly, I feel so much better knowing you're looking out for us with your keen powers observation. Clearly nothing gets by you!"
"Normally true, but you're so short, it's hard to see you," Kristoff replied dryly.
"Ah, and a quick wit," he replied. "I shall truly sleep well! Now you just need to muster up your courage and send your letter to DunBroch and you'll be unstoppable!"
"I never should have told you I still hadn't sent that letter," Kristoff mumbled, face red as he looked away.
"Leave the boy alone, bard," came a gruff voice behind them. They both turned to see Baldar, the high priest of Skadi, sword attached to his back. He and the other priests of Skadi had volunteered to help patrols, although Kristoff knew it was just to keep the dire wolf safe.
"I was just teasing, priest," Asal responded with a smile, "I don't mean anything by it."
"It's not your place to interfere," Balder said solemnly. "If he chooses to keep this to himself instead doing the courtesy of letting the young royal know his feelings that his business."
"Does everyone know about that," Kristoff demanded as Asal laughed.
"Your sister was very… passionate… in her prayers to Odin to grant you courage," Baldar replied with a small smile. "I apologize, but it was difficult not to overhear since his altar is close to the Winter Goddess'"
"At least tell me why you refuse to send it," Asal asked once he'd sobered up.
"Because I embarrassed myself in front of her entire family," Kristoff said angrily. "Happy?"
"Now that's quite a claim considering all the Highlander men like to wear skirts," the bard shot back.
"The last night we were in DunBroch there was a feast," Kristoff explained. "It was to celebrate the Spring Equinox, but there was also suitors there vying for Princess Merida and Alex's attention. They kept one upping each other with exaggerated tales of bravery about all the men and monsters they've slain."
"I'm sure the princess saw through the hyperbole," Baldar assured him.
"Yeah, and she kept trying to avoid them and talk to me. They noticed and kept talking down to me, making me sound like some dumb farm boy, saying things like I didn't even know which end to hold a sword or I'd never proven myself in combat since I refused to join in the sparring contest earlier in the day. They followed us around taunting me until I snapped. I shouted they'd clearly never fought in a real battle otherwise they'd never be so eager to fight. The entire hall got quiet and I realized everyone had heard me. I took off before I could embarrass myself in front of Alex further and made sure to avoid them all until we left."
"It takes wisdom to know when to use a blade," Baldar replied sagely.
"Wisdom those idiots clearly lacked," Asal agreed.
"You learned that lesson at a young age, Kristoff, and despite your fear, you still managed to save the young royal's life. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
"I embarrassed Alex, and by extension her grandfather the king."
"If you'd embarrassed the Bear King, you'd have known," Asal laughed.
"Look, Asal is right," Kristoff said angrily as he shoved the bard's arm off his shoulders, "I am a coward. I've barely been able to touch a sword since that day I found Alex, and it's only been to train with my father. I'm only helping now because I don't want Shadow to get hurt. It'd be better if Alex just forgot about me," he said with a defeated sigh.
"What makes you think that? Are you some sort of love expert," Asal asked sarcastically.
"Just leave me alone," Kristoff huffed as he walked away from the men. He saw his sister walking towards him and he raised his arm in greeting.
"Hey Kristoff," she said once she got close, "any sight of Sha… I mean the dire wolf?" Kristoff inwardly gave a sigh of relief. They couldn't risk anyone else knowing they'd hidden a dire wolf.
"None. Apparently Helga was the only one beside the patrol to see it." The siblings shared a smirk at the memory of the night she ran into town naked. Kristoff looked around, just for the smile to disappear from his face. "Speaking of the witch…"
Anna turned her head to see Helga approaching, an angry look in her eye. Helga had become the laughing stock of the village, and clearly she was going to go after her favorite target to make herself feel better.
"Hey, don't let her get to you," Kristoff said softly. "She's so bitter about life that she has to bring others down to feel any happiness, don't give her the satisfaction."
"My, my," Helga said with fake friendliness as she came up to the siblings, "how nice it is to see you found time to spend with us, Anna, what with that girlfriend of yours taking up so much of your time…"
Anna forced a smile for her brother's benefit even though she knew he could see through it. He was about to say something, when suddenly a loud whoop went out at the village entrance and they all turned to see what was going on.
Alex came charging in on the back of a horse, her raven black hair flying behind her and dark blue eyes full of mirth. When she got to them, she jumped off her horse and practically tacked Anna in a hug.
"I've missed you, Piuthar," Alex said, holding her friend tightly. She let go enough to hold Anna at arm's length and said with a large smile, "I told you I'd be here for your birthday."
"I knew you would be. I didn't doubt you or anything," Anna said nervously as her friend looked her over.
"You know you're a terrible liar, right," she observed with a smirk.
"Shut up," Anna said with a laugh as she pulled her friend in for another hug.
"Who's this boy, Anna," Helga asked with a smirk. "It is a boy, right? There's no way a self-respecting woman would go out in breaches and… that top," Helga said, curling her lip in disgust at Alex's outfit. She wore a light grey cloth shirt, brown cloth riding pants, and matching brown riding boots.
Alex rose an eyebrow before turning to Anna and asked, "Who's the fatty?"
"What did you call me, peasant," Helga demanded, face red with anger.
"Adorable," Alex said with a condescending laugh, "honestly, where did you find this one?"
"I am the daughter of the village leader!"
"And I'm the heir to the throne of DunBroch," Alex said with a shrug. "What's your point?"
"Oh, Anna, did you finally find someone to impersonate the princess just so you could pretend you have real friends," Helga asked with a laugh.
Alex looked her over with a contemplative look before she started laughing. "Wait a minute, you're the village leader's daughter are you?"
"That's right," she answered, suspicious.
"So you're the streaker?"
"You heard about that," Kristoff asked, noticing how red Helga's face was getting.
"Are you kidding," Alex laughed. "It's all anyone would talk about in the villages we passed through."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Helga insisted, face getting even redder.
"Yup, she's famous," Alex added.
"Shut up," Helga demanded through clenched teeth.
Alex continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "I honestly thought Aunt Merida was going to fall out of her chair when we first heard it she was laughing so hard."
"I said shut up," Helga shouted, grabbing Alex's shirt in both her hands.
"It would be wise to let me go, lass," Alex said, eyes burrowing into Helga's.
"What are you going to do about it, peasant."
"I won't do a thing, but the DunBroch royal guard isn't exactly forgiving."
"Still holding onto that lie?"
"I tried to warn you," Alex said with a sigh.
Just as Helga was going to reply, she felt someone grab her from behind and throw her to the ground. She was about to yell in complaint when noticed a blade at her throat, pinning her to the ground.
"'A princess does not engage in fisticuffs'," Alex said, mimicking Queen Elinor before saying in a normal voice, "that's what the royal guards are for, apparently."
"Please, don't hurt me," Helga begged. "I'm so, so sorry!"
"Don't apologize to me," Alex said with a shrug. "It's not my day you tried to shit on."
"I'm sorry Anna," Helga quickly gulped. "I'm sorry for everything I said! Just please don't kill me!"
"What say you Piuthar," Alex asked, putting her arm around her friend's shoulder and giving her a quick wink.
Anna let out a quick giggle before saying, "Let her go. I think she's learned her lesson."
"You always know how to ruin my fun," Alex said with a dramatic sigh. "Let her go, I don't think her shadow will be darkening my path anytime soon."
"No! I swear," she agreed still on the ground. The guardsman removed his blade dutifully before stepping back to join the others who had ridden to the village with her. They were close enough to respond should Alex signal them, but not too close to eavesdrop on her conversation.
"Wait right here," Anna said excitedly, "I gotta go get mama and papa! Don't move!"
As soon as Anna was out of ear shot, Kristoff watched curiously as Alex put out her hand to help Helga stand up. As soon as she was upright, she pulled the blonde close and whispered with a dangerous gleam in her eyes, "You even think of going near Anna again, and a snap from a dire wolf will be the least of your concerns. Am I clear?"
"Y-yes," she choked out before pulling away and running off.
She made eye contact with Kristoff and shrugged. "Just wanted to drive home the point she should leave Anna be."
"That'll last only for as long as you're here," Kristoff pointed out.
"Maybe, maybe not," she replied cryptically. Quickly changing subjects, Alex stated, "So I never got a letter back from you."
Kristoff felt his face redden as he tried to think of a way to answer her. "It's… complicated," he finally said with a sigh.
"That's a load of shit," Alex responded heatedly. "Either you feel something for me or you don't. If you don't just tell me, and I'll drop it," she said angrily. "Just don't play games with me, I don't have time for it."
"I do feel something for you," he answered, trying to placate the girl in front of him
"Then why haven't you told me? Why are you avoiding me?"
"Because you deserve someone better than me," Kristoff answered, his voice raising.
"You mean like one of those idiot nobles," Alex demanded, raising her voice to match Kristoff's, "whose only interest is my title?"
"No, not like them! Someone who actually cares about you, someone who'll protect you without trying to own you."
"So someone like you, just not you," Alex asked.
Kristoff sighed in defeat. "Your family would never allow it," he said after a long silence, "especially after my outburst at the feast…"
"Wait is that what this is all about," Alex asked, shocked. "You think I was embarrassed when you put those guys in their place?"
"Your family is full of warriors, and I implied no one should go looking for fights. I'm surprised your grandfather didn't throw me out right then."
"Are you kidding, he loved your answer!"
"He did?" Kristoff was confused. How could the legendary bear king not be angry with him?
"My grandfather has fought in many battles and knows the cost of war. After you'd left, he ripped into those little shits and offered to send them to the nearest war front he could find. Their bravado quickly faded and they left with their tails tucked between their legs."
"Really," he asked, suddenly hopeful.
"Really," Alex replied with a smile. "He knows you're no coward. You defended me from a notorious bandit without even knowing who I was; it would take a lot for you to lose favor in his eyes."
"Why choose me," Kristoff asked, a question that had been bothering him for a while.
"Because you cared about me before you even knew about my bloodline," she answered honestly. "You don't want my title, just a simple life in this village raising a family. And do you want to know a secret?"
"What's that?"
"That's all I want out of life too," she confessed.
"Really," Kristoff asked. He could feel his head starting to spin at her words, he never thought she'd ever want the same thing as him.
"Really," she confirmed with a smile. "Now will you promise to stop avoiding me?"
"Yes," Kristoff replied sheepishly. "What does your family think about all this?"
Alex gave a tired sigh before answering, "Aunt Merida and I had a long talk about it. She's not thrilled at the thought of me leaving DunBroch, but she also knows that if she just forbids me from leaving I would probably just run away like my mother did."
"What about the throne?"
"I don't want it, and the monarchy will certainly go on without me," she replied with a smirk. "It would be a while until any move happened, but it's not like there's any rush, right," Alex asked, smirk still firmly in place.
"I-I… well…" he stuttered, face flushed red. Fortunately for Kristoff, Anna came running up, their parents right behind her.
Smiling broadly, Alex quickly moved towards the pair. "Uncle Erland, Aunt Dagny," she said, hugging both of them. They both flushed at the term of endearment by the young royal.
"It's good to see you, your highness," Erland said gruffly.
"Please don't call me that," Alex pleaded. "The second best part of coming here is no one treats me like I'm royalty. Please don't ruin that for me."
"As you say, dóttir," he replied with a laugh, causing Alex to smile widely.
"Will you be joining us for dinner, Alex," Dagny asked.
"I don't want to be a bother…"
"Shut up," Anna said as she hit her shoulder, "you know you're not."
"Anna is right, although she could work on how she treats her friends," Dagny replied as she gently chastised her daughter with a smile.
"In that case, I'd love to join you for dinner, just let me tell the royal guard. Part of my concessions with my royal aunt for coming here while she went on to Arendelle was to not ditch the guardsmen."
"A concession you've already violated," the guard captain stated as he walked up to the group. He had dark red hair and green eyes that seemed to be able to penetrate anything he looked at. He stood a head taller than Kristoff and was glaring at the young royal. "You charged off with only a few words warning, leaving your escort behind."
"That was the point, Sir Bryant," Alex replied with a smile. "Those 'few words' were 'race ya!'"
Barely holding back a tired sigh, he turned his attention away from the source of his frustration. "Master Erland, I trust we'll be able to come to some arrangement so that we may look after the princess while she stays within your home?"
"Of course, guard captain."
"Very good, I'll be by later to make arrangements," Sir Bryant said formally while bowing slightly in farewell.
They watched the captain join his men before Anna broke the silence saying, "You really know how to bring out the best in people."
"I can't help myself," Alex said with a shrug. "He's just so serious, I've made it my goal to give him an eye twitch."
Anna just laughed as she looped her arm with Alex's as they made their way back to the farm house.
That night Anna hoped to see Elsa in her dreams. She was still reeling from everything Elsa had shown her, and wasn't sure what to think. As if to give her space, Elsa hadn't appeared in her dreams since the night she revealed her past and Anna missed her.
She entered her dreams just to be extremely disappointed; not only was Elsa absent, so was Shadow.
"They both had business that required their attention," said a woman who suddenly appeared in front of her. She was a beautiful brown haired woman in a simple blue and white dress. Smiling down at her, she explained, "Elsa asked I keep you company tonight, I hope you don't mind, Anna. Is it alright if I call you that?"
"Niorun," Anna asked, breathless. She recognized the Goddess of Dreams from the statue that graced her temple.
"That is one of my many names," she replied with a gentle smile, "but you may call me Belle."
"I-I don't understand what's going on," Anna confessed.
"I can imagine all this must be overwhelming for you," Belle said sympathetically.
"It's just that I'm a simple farm girl who one day started having dreams with a pretty girl just to have her tell me that she's the Goddess of Winter. And now the Goddess of Dreams is not only asking if she can be on a first name basis with me, but wants to spend time with me as well… You can understand why I would question all of this, right?"
Belle let out a small chuckle before responding, "Yes, it is perfectly reasonable to have your doubts. I can assure you it is all real, as is Elsa's feelings for you. It's been a long time since I've seen Elsa this happy and I know it has everything to do with her relationship with you."
"What caused her to close herself off," Anna asked quietly. "She showed me her memories, but it wasn't clear what caused her to withdraw."
"Knowing her, she intentionally skimmed over that part," Belle sighed. "The answer is complicated, and it is not necessarily my place to tell you. However, suffice it to say the war was hard on her. Taking a life changes a person, and when you're actions, or inactions, cause a loss of life that also affects you."
"I guess that makes sense," Anna replied, thinking how Kristoff changed after the day he killed the bandit.
"She carries a lot of guilt with her, chief of which was allowing any of the Goddess of Summer's children to live. Immediately after the war, she began to question herself, any decision that she had made based on emotion was wrong and caused self-loathing to bubble up inside herself until all that was left a very cold, logical person locked in her routines controlling the domain of winter and death. Over time I was able to get her to open up a little, but the work I did pales in comparison to how much you have done for her."
"I didn't do anything special," Anna said sheepishly, looking at the ground.
"Don't you see, you didn't have to," Belle replied with a smile. "Just being you was enough to break through the ice she had built around her heart."
"I don't know what to make of all this," Anna sighed as she sat heavily on the ground. "All I know is one day I fell in love with a dream girl and the next she's telling me she's the Goddess Skadi. And do you want to know the most confusing thing of all this?"
"What's that," Belle asked as she gracefully sat next to the auburn haired girl.
"That while a part of me wants to pretend none of this ever happened and go back to my simple farm life, another part wants nothing more than to hold her and never let her go. I-I really miss her."
"Do you still love her," Belle prodded.
Anna bit her lip as she contemplated the Goddess' question. It was the same question she'd been asking herself for the better part of a week. "I think I do," Anna finally answered. "Even if everything she showed me is true, even if I don't understand how a powerful Goddess could want a lowly farm girl, even if the thought of all this being more than a dream terrifies me, I still love her."
"Then you should tell her," Belle advised, a happy smile on her face.
"How? She's been avoiding my dreams."
"Go to her altar," Belle answered as if that was the most obvious solution. "We hear every prayer sent to us from it, it's why the temples exist in the first place, to give you a place to come to us."
"But what if this all just a dream," Anna groused. "How weird would that be to walk up to an altar and say, 'Hey, I know you've been visiting my dreams and I just want you to know that I love you even if you are a Goddess.' I mean, if this is just a dream, don't you think Skadi would be a little offended?"
"Trust me, we've heard stranger things than that," she laughed in reply. "The stories I could tell you…" She looked Anna over who seemed to be internally debating her next move. "Enough of this," Belle said standing. "I promised Elsa I would entertain you tonight, and I always keep my promises. Now, have you ever heard of a land to the East called China?" Anna merely shook her head in reply as she rose from the ground. "Well, it's a fascinating place, and they've come up with many amazing creations, none more so than something called fireworks. Let me show you," she said as she waved her arms, changing the landscape. Exotic buildings and foreign sounds filled the dream, but Anna was too distracted by the bursts of colorful lights exploding in the sky to fully notice. The wonder of it all caused a giant smile to fill her face, one that made its way to her face in the waking world.
Helga ran as fast as she could, despite know how futile the effort was.
This was the seventh night in a row she'd had this nightmare. It always started out the same, she was running, although she didn't know why, then something would happen; one time her feet froze to the ground, another she was blasted to the ground by a heavy snowstorm, still another she fell through thin ice and was trapped in freezing water. The dream always ended the same: a woman with snow white hair, pale skin, and ice blue eyes coming upon her, anger dominating her otherwise beautiful face. She would always wake up in terror before the woman would get to her, but tonight the dream was different.
Tonight she knew exactly why she was running, tonight she was being chased by the dire wolf she'd encountered in the forest. She ran as fast as she could, but it was no use, the wolf easily caught her and pinned her with her back on the ground. The wolf was snarling at her, snout inches from her face. She could feel the hot, musky breath coming from the wolf. Helga tried to tell herself it was just a dream and force herself to wake up, but it was no use.
"You are not in control here." Helga watched as the blonde haired woman stepped into view to the left of the wolf. "This is not your domain, you have no power here. This is your only warning, mortal: change your ways, stop tormenting those you believe to be inferior to you. I assure you, the terror you feel now at a dream of a dire wolf pinning you down will pale in comparison to the terror you will feel if this should happen in the waking world. Do you understand?"
Helga was too terrified to think, let alone talk. Impatient at her silence, the wolf snarled louder, prompting her into action.
"I'll change! I swear! Just please leave me alone," she begged, tears streaming down her face.
"This is your only chance, I suggest you do not waste it. I will not be so merciful should we meet again."
Helga woke up panting, sweat pouring down the side of her face. Relief flooded her at the realization it was just a dream, and she let out an embarrassed laugh that she let a dream get to her. Just then she heard a loud howl from just outside the village and an icy wind blew in from her open window. She felt her blood run cold as she ran to shut the window, knowing she not only shut the window before she went to bed, but had also locked it.
It had just been a dream… Right?
A/N: It amused me just how many messages I got stating how much people hated Helga. For those that wanted to see Elsa take even more steps to go after Helga, don't worry, Helga's gonna be one of those slow learners. Definitely have plans for her lol
FYI: Piuthar is gaelic for sister, dóttir is Norse for daughter
For those who thought the last chapter felt rushed at the end, you're right it was, and I'm sorry. Towards the end, I just had to wrap it up and get on with the story, but as I tried to start here, I plan on trying to answer any open questions in future chapters. Thank you everyone for your input, I do take it into consideration when writing future chapters. For instance, I initially never planned for this to be over 10 chapters, and now here I am posting Chapter 11.
Sorry Elsa had such a small role in this chapter, I felt bad for ignoring Kristoff for so long that I finally gave him his own chapter. He was feeling left out lol. Don't worry, she'll have a larger role in the next chapter, hopefully it'll be up soon. Thank you again for all those who leave reviews!
