More then just the spare
Anna shuddered as she went out of the reach of the warm campfire and went on to check on sven. Kristoff had made a shift for both of them – in case any wolves should return, one of them could alert the others who are sleeping.
However, with sitting so long, Anna felt her feet going stiff. And since she had to check up on Sven and give him one of his carrots… The princess grumbled as she saw the curious reindeer tilt his head towards her. "Yeah, sorry it isn't Kristoff!" bit Anna towards the animal.
Sven huffed questionly. There is no reason to be so angry, seemed the eyes to say.
"Here!" With a quick movement, Anna held the carrot in front of Sven, ignoring his unsaid question. With a frown - could reindeers even have a frown? wondered Anna – the animal munched the food down.
The princess couldn't help but break the silence. The night was long, and she longed for companionship. So, she did something she would never admit aloud to anyone – she began to talk to the reindeer.
"Yeah, I'm angry alright." Said the princess at a softer tone, as she felt herself relax seeing the reindeer eating his food. "The problem is, I don't know at who. Its not at my sister, I mean… I caused her to reveal her powers to everyone. " With a pang of guilt, Anna winced at the memory of her harsh words. "Its not my parents either, who favorited my sister above everyone else…" the princess blinked tears away as she thought of all the times her parents ignored her, to tend to "their golden child, the so called heir".
So, at who are you angry then? Asked Sven as he nudged Anna.
"I… I don't know. I'm just angry. Angry at everyone!" said the princess as she fundled with her gloves.
That's not an answer. Anger is directed to someone in particular, answered the reindeer wisely.
"ALRIGHT, I'M ANGRY AT MYSELF!" roared Anna as she threw the sack of carrots away. With a trembling body, the princess sunk to the ground and began to sob. "I can't do this, Sven! I can't DO anything!" sniffed Anna as she clapsed her hands around her body. "I can't sing, can't dance, don't know anything about politics…I don't want people to see that I'm incapable, that I'm a useless spare."
Anna again felt Sven nudge her head, asking her very innocently what the word "spare" meant. "Spare?" repeated the princess bitterly. Anna looked up to the sky to see the aurora above her.
I'm not part of the town, not born to be queen
Just somebody hopelessly inbetween
She's the scholar, athlete, poet
I'm the screw up, don't I know it
But then who could ever compare?
Of course they're gonna think I'm just the spare
Well I won't care"
Why do all this effort, when she didn't even get a single 'hello" in return? Oh, she had tried many times… but she had become so tired of being unnoticed that… that she simply didn't want to care anymore, about anything.
So I'm the extra button on a coat
In case another one comes loose
But if I have to be a button
Why can't I be a button that's of use?"
Anna stood up again, but her wobbling arms, accidentally wacked Sven's nose. "Oops!" grinned Anna apologetically.
"I may lack style and I may lack grace
And once in a while I might fall on my face
But this little button deserves a place in the sky
This button wants to fly!"
Anna frowned at the last sentence, and saw Sven just as confused. Wait, buttons can't fly, it doesn't make any sense! Better was to use another metaphor to explain it further to Sven..
"So I'm a rusty horseshoe hanging up
Over somebody's old barn door
And I'll be hanging there forever
Just wishing the horse had one leg more
And maybe I can't be the perfect one
And maybe I err on the side of fun
But horseshoes need a chance to run somewhere
This horseshoe is more than just a spare"
Anna began to assemble the falling carrots she had thrown away in the snow, and put them back into the sack.
"Someday I'll find my thing
A thing that's on my own
That thing that makes me part of something
Not just all alone
If only all this feeling I have in my heart
Could mean something to someone, how I'd love to play that part!"
Anna felt her heart soar when she thought of Nickolaj. She could go away with him… She would finally be seen as more then a spare…
"So I'm just the second born sister
Who most of the town ignores
Like a button, like a horseshoe
Like a girl who's bad at metaphors
Maybe I don't have a magic touch
And maybe I don't have a talent as such
Just this heart with much too much to share
So I'll never be the heir, but I'm more than just a spare…"
As her song ended in a whisper, Anna felt her eyes drop from exhaustion. "You animals are truly better then people. You won't judge me by what I have or don't have… thanks, sven." she fell asleep on the reindeer's flank before she could move herself back to the campfire.
A figure stood nearby in the shadows, who had unwillingly earshoved on Anna's conversation with the reindeer. When he came into the light, Sven softly grunted when he recognized his friend Kristoff.
"Shhh, buddy!" whispered Kristoff as he slowly petted his friends forehead. "Don't wake her up." The ice harvester then turned his attention to the princess. Somehow so innocent… and vulnerable, mused Kristoff as he knelt by the sleeping girl. It then struck the man how old the princess actually was. She was only 18, and had seen nothing else but her palace, and her pampering servants.. always unnoticed by everyone in the kingdom.
He couldn't help but feel guilty as he thought of all the snarky remarks he had given her during the first day of their shared trip. Princess Anna had made her view about him… but hadn't HE made assumptions as well about her?
Carefully as for not to wake her, Kristoff picked the shivering girl up in his arms and laid her down close to the fire. After that, the man took out a reindeer skin and draped it around her. After a few minutes of staring at her, the man shifted his shoes uncomfortable in the snow. He didn't want to leave her like this either. the man looked to the east, to see the first sunlight. He could take the last 2 hours of the shift. It wasn't as if he was going to get much sleep anyway.
"Loki…"
"Go away. If you are here to bring a message from the Allfather, the-"
"I came to speak my own words!" snapped Skadi to the Trickster. A big silence grew in-between the two, before Skadi started again. "Loki, Ragnarok doesn't need to happen." Whispered the winter goddess as she cupped his cheek.
"You know as well as I that our end is inevitable." Said the Trickster coldly. "The Gods break their oaths right and left... who's to say they will keep the peace between Asgard and our homelands?"
"And that is a reason to kill Baldr?" asked Skadi with a growl. The Great 3 year long Winter that had transpired, had been caused by her grief for Baldr's death.
"The norns-"
"Yes, the Norns foretell everything!" interrupted the giantess. "But since when do you CARE about destiny?"
"Since I realized I was never a part of the aesir" snarled Loki with fire in his eyes. "Bloodbrother of Odin?!" the trickster shook his head in anger and spat on the ground. "Odin took everything from me… my children, my people… its time I returned the favour."
Skadi couldn't help but shudder at the trickster's eyes. "He didn't take everything from you." whispered Skadi. "I'm still here…" The goddess stumbled backwards when Loki backslapped her so hard that she fell on the ground.
"You? you, who killed my two sons, who chained me up?! You think you can just walz in and that everything is forgotten?!" yelled the Trickster.
"Loki… I had no choice!" whispered Skadi with tears in her eyes.
"As have I" said the Trickster with emotionless eyes as he let his spear appear in his hand. Skadi's eyes widened at the sight. "No, my love, I'm not going to kill you…yet" smiled the Trickster cruelly. "You'll see your Odinson's die by my own hand…. Its simple justice, really."
Hans' eyes snapped open and he groaned once more. These dreams were getting too much for him to handle – on a psychical and emotional level.
"Got new dreams again?"
Hans didn't look at Haakon. "Everyone has dreams when they sleep." Replied Hans as he tried to keep the shudder in his voice out. The pain, the rage.. it still resonated in his bones…
"True. But dreams can have a meaning on their own. Especially for someone who possesses magic" went Haakon on. The prince was still half-awake, and therefore still open to his suggestions. If he pushed the prince to know the answer, he would never believe him…
"I lost my magic. Thanks to a certain someone next to me"
"If you'd lost it all, you would be dead. Its still inside of you. You still use even till this day."
Hans laughed bitterly. "Sorry, old man, but I don't see any fire at my hands."
The leader of the heptagon order shook his head. "Magic isn't just something you can see, prince Hans. Its in our soul, in our memories… and our dreams."
"You are just trying to make you feel yourself better, aren't you?" narrowed the prince his eyes. "By telling me that "magic is a part of our dreams", you try to put your guilt away!"
"Don't you ever wonder where the magic comes from?" Hans was still too tired to tell the man to shut up and he let him rambling on. "I believe you've heard of the World Tree Yggdrasil?" Haakon saw the prince stiffen at the last name. So it was indeed true…
"Everyone knows the legend" replied Hans smoothly. Inside however, he was shaking. Again, that tree came up, that same tree that appeared time and time again in his dreams…
"Yggdrasil is more then just the bridge between the nine worlds. It keeps reality together as we know it, and it shapes it always anew."
"The Tree of Life was destroyed during Ragnarok" snorted Hans at Haakon's explanation. "Sorry lad, but your theory falls flat on the ground."
"Ah, but why should magic be visible?" said Haakon with a big smile now that he got the prince's attention. "The tree of life is still here, but it connects people in a whole different way then before the Twilight of the Gods. Magic comes now from the mind and soul…. That's why your magic's and Elsa's are so interwined with your emotions."
"Brilliant story to pass the time, really" said Hans as he shifted his eyes towards Haakon. "But it still feels as if you are making excuses for your own actions." The prince stood up when he heard the guards come for his trial.
"I'm not. And neither do you… Loki."
Hans felt his breath disappear completely. his heart was hammering in his chest as he felt… something rush through him.
Magic comes from the mind and soul…
"Prince Hans! Stand with your chest against the wall!" spoke the first guard who entered the prince's cell
And Yggdrasil is the connection between that binds magic and mankind together…
"I'm not going to say it again!"
Magic comes from dreams and memories… the dreams he had about the trickster Loki…
Hans was shaken out of his thoughts when he was pushed harshly against the wall with two vice grips on his wrists. A second later however, the guards screamed in agony and Hans felt the pressure on his body disappear.
When he looked around, he saw the guards' hands being covered in second degree burns…
Anna yawned but frowned when she didn't feel herself to be in the same position as she was before. When she tilted her head, the princess found a reindeer skin draped around her. Wait… who had… Anna moved her head again, and saw a very sleepy Kristoff stamp out the burning coals.
"Good morning." Replied the princess politely as she tangled herself out of the pelt.
"Good morning, princess" Kristoff took the pelt from Anna's hands and began to pack up their camp, while the silence grew.
"I… can I help you with packing?" asked the princess, causing Kristoff to be surprised.
"uhm… well, yes." Blinked the ice harvester surprised at her request. "Here, hold this up, then I can tie this together" instructed the blonde man to the package. They worked on, with sometimes Kristoff instructing Anna what she needed to do.
The princess yelped when a splinter came in her hand from the wood. The falling blocks alerted the ice harvester and he glanced to her slightly red finger.
"Here, let me…"
"Its nothing really" replied Anna as she shook her finger in annoyance. It Stung, but it wasn't that uncomfortable. Besides, she didn't want to appear weak.
"Princess, if it gets infected, you'll have to go back to Arendelle." Said the man as he roughly took hold of her hand. Before Anna could protest, Kristoff took her finger in his mouth and sucked the splinter out. "There" Kristoff spat the splinter out on the ground. "All fixed."
"Uhm… thanks." Blushed Anna slightly as Kristoff let her hand go.
"No problem, princess."
"Anna. Call me Anna please."
The ice harvester blinked surprised before giving her a brief smile. "Alright… Anna."
"What is the meaning of this?" Normally, she shouldn't be here before the trial – she had to remain objective after all to the accused. When the guards had run to her in the throne room, screaming that the prince had burned their hands, the queen had gone with them.
After all, who else could stop the Trickster but her? He had given everything for her.. And she for him…
Elsa shook her head to get those nagging thoughts out and went to the celldoor Hans was in. "Prince Hans?!" surprise was visible on the Queen when she saw Hans just sitting there, in the still open prison. Why hadn't he run?
Hans's eyes snapped towards the queen. She's here… vulnerable… strike her down, let her pay!
Elsa slowly approached the silent prince, but stayed just far enough from him in case he would attack her. "My guards said that you burned their hands. Is this true?"
"I… I don't know." Whispered the prince. He didn't know what was real anymore of his feelings, his thoughts… everything was so messed up.
Elsa glanced coldly to the only witness that could have possibly seen this event: Haakon. "You! What happened here, prisoner?"
"I told him about the origin of both you and your powers, your grace."
"And you believed him?" asked Elsa incredulously to the prince. This man had chased them their entire childhood in order to see them dead! How and why would the prince EVER accept such stories?
Again Hans stayed silent at her question. His mind was torn in-between two sides. While one part screamed that this was ridiculous, the other part hesitated.
It could explain everything… the dreams he had, the similarities between the god and him, the similarities between the events in Arendelle, and the events of Ragnarok… they were somehow connected to one another…
LISTEN TO YOURSELF! Are you even hearing what you say? You are Hans Westerguard, not some… trickster-god!
But don't you lie and deceit as you are doing now? Didn't you kill Bald-
Stop it! These are myths and legends! You are seeking answers and excuses for yourself, to make your actions look okay!
But they are… you are the destroyer of the nine worlds…you are fire, death and destruction..
A sob came from the prince' s mouth as his mind spiralled out of control. "Leave me please" spoke Hans hoarshly. "You have my trial to prepare after all."
Elsa slowly took the prince's hand, somehow… was it hope? Fear? Perhaps all of those. But when she touched his skin, it was warm, just like Anna's.
"Your majesty!" The queen's hand disappeared from the prince's when she was taken back into reality by her guards. "That man BURNED us!" showed the man angrily his arm.
"And what would you have me do, captain? Whip him with 10 lashes?" snapped Elsa back. "This man will be trialed within the hour already. We can't postpone this again, with all the visiting dignitaries who attone as witnesses. We will take this event into account, and my own personal doctor will attend to both of you."
"But-"
Elsa's glare stared coldly back when the guard objected again. "But what?" Her patience was wearing thin now…
"Perhaps it is better to have… some sort of protection around him, your grace. For everyone's sakes."
The queen hummed as she thought over the man's advice. He was right… if something should happen like this again, and she wasn't able to somehow stop it… The queen waved her hands, and ice formed around the prince's hands.
"Bring him to the dressing room so he can clean himself up." Immediately after, the queen strode out of the dungeon cell so the guards could take the imprisoned prince away.
A gasp came from Elsa's mouth when she felt a hand clasp itself around her wrist. When she looked for the source, she saw it was Haakon.
"This is only the beginning." Spoke the man rapidly. His voice wasn' t threatening or angry, but afraid. "Yggdrasil is out of balance and so are you two. Don't repeat the cycle, your majesty."
Elsa forced her hand out of his grasp and stumbled backwards, before running back upstairs to the throne room. What did he mean by not repeating the cycle?! What was even going on these days?
So yea… not a good chapter I think…
I wanted to focus more on Anna and Kristoff this time, and on how their development as a couple comes forth in this AU.
I also wanted to focus more on the magic-lore: what did you think of the revelation that Hans and Elsa are somehow connected to Yggdrasil, and that it is the source of everyone's magic?
Also, I don't focus on the Gods just for fun… There is much more to Loki's and Skadi's story that has yet to be revealed.
Next time, Anna and Kristoff will reach Elsa's palace and Hans will get his trial for his attempted regicide on the two sisters.