Ayla nodded, accepting the plan. "Yes. And in the meantime, I'll keep an eye on the royals. Maybe we can even send Seth to try to locate them; I'm sure he'll survive on his own."
Hans nodded eagerly, perfectly willing for his son to actually have a use rather than being a painful thorn in his side. "Agreed."
Pabulover123: Wow, now that you mention it Elsa did act pretty out of character last chapter- that being said, she'd had a pretty rough time of it already so I guess it doesn't matter too much. And an update, the baby goat's doing well and the Mum's just about pulling through still. Also, I'm glad the second part made more sense as its own chapter, as for whether Seth will rethink his view on Hans and Ayla... there's a good chance he will.
WildVirus (guest): Thanks for the review!
asome (guest): Yeah, I have deviantart- why don't you get it? And yes, it is lucky that they pulled through the attack!
KLime (guest): Oh, wow, I forgot that Elsa would have been exhausted- I guess in the moment the exhilaration would have made her feel strong still. And I'm glad the description of the sinking boat was good, especially since I was exhausted. And I'm glad there weren't too many mistakes in the chapter to make it unreadable! And onto the next review, oh dear, I keep getting their names mixed up - I'll go back and change that now! As for Hans turning on Ayla- perhaps he would have, but Ayla used her powers to calm him slightly so he wasn't quite so angry. Perhaps he will in the future, though-and then he'll face the wrath of Ayla!
OmegaMarker: Thanks for all the reviews- don't worry, I completely understand how busy exams make everyone (mine finish on Monday, can't wait to finally get on holiday!) And you mention that the disappearance of the boat will trigger more to come to the seas-I hadn't thought of that, but it's a very fair point so thanks! And yep, the Southern Isles knows where they are, but the only chance for the group is that Ayla and Hans don't know exactly where. So, for example, if they were in Paris all Ayla would be able to tell would be the north of France. Still, that does narrow things down considerably! And as for Arendelle, at the minute the Royal Advisor is in charge, but you'll find out who the new King/Queen is soon!
Jealouswayward: I'm excited to hear you're planning another fanfic... for this fanfic... Haha, that always sounds weird but I'm thrilled all the same! Can't wait to see what you come up with.
Mia was silent as she walked back into the cabin, her frantic heart pounding rapidly in her chest. She jumped as a wave crashed against the edge of the ship, mistaking it rather foolishly for the distant sound of another canon. The screaming of the wind outside made her thoughts frantic, adrenaline coursing through her body as her brain decided that it was stalking her. Slowly chasing her down. Preying on her...
"Sweetie, it wasn't your fault." Her mother's gentle voice, slightly faster than normal itself, interrupted the paranoid wandering of her mind as she jerked her head around at the unexpected sound, "You didn't tell them the captain to sink the ship; he just happened to do so by accident."
Mia remained silent for a few seconds as her body slowly recovered from the shock which, for the briefest of periods, had left her incapacitated. "It wasn't the captain, Mama, just a normal sailor." Mia informed, her voice timid and shaky, "I had to make him say he had news for the captain to get to the wheel. And it was my fault; he wasn't doing what I told him so I... I pushed harder on him and then he just... Snapped. I pushed him too hard; he reacted too suddenly-no, too jerkily-to be able to control how much he turned the wheel. I pushed him too hard, so I... I s-sunk the ship! I killed all those people. I-"
"Mia." Anna said firmly, but her own voice shook slightly also. "Now listen to me. This wasn't your fault. It was the sailor's fault because he was refusing to listen to you. If he had, the ship would have turned away without any fuss. It was the captain's fault for sailing near us and firing at us; if he'd steered the ship in a different direction we'd never have met. Perhaps it could be argued that it's... It's my fault, for encouraging you to use your powers. But it's not yours-all you are guilty of is doing what you were told to do."
"Is that a bad thing?"
Anna gave an exceptionally weak laugh and gently rubbed her eldest's head, soft strands of platinum-blonde hair getting slightly mussed up as she tried to reassure the poor child. "No, Mi, that's not bad." She crooned softly and, though she did not look convinced, Mia tentatively nodded once, looking away from her mother so as to try to convince her to say nothing more. Recognising her daughter's wishes, Anna obliged.
"P-Papa?" Freddie stuttered out as he saw his father come a little closer to him, leading the group back into the cabin with Elsa. The poor child was having trouble forming the words as his body shook slightly; his eyes were wide and shining, his forehead and palms sweaty, his skin pale. "Are they... Gone?"
Odd walked over to his son and nodded confidently, the least affected of the group at the sinking of an entire ship. He was more used to the concept of 'survival of the fittest', even more-so than Kristoff who'd had a similar upbringing to him, if a little more sheltered. "They're gone, mate." He said as he wrapped his arm around the boy's body to restore his confidence, but drew back quickly, his arm damp. "Freddie, you okay?"
Elsa hurried over quickly, looking terrified when she saw his sweaty state, but the young prince smiled as strongly as he could. "I'm 'kay, Mama," he assured as he wiped his damp forehead with his arm. Elsa tried to accept his words, nodding as she drew back a little upon hearing that he was not unwell, but the doubt and concerns were still there.
"So... is that it then?" Thomas asked as he sat a little further forwards on his hammock. He, similarly to Freddie, looked fearful and very slightly sweaty too, however he had not suffered from the attacks as badly as the latter. Upon hearing his question Anna nodded as she smiled weakly once more, the overwhelming joy countered by the sorrow over the fate of the other ship.
"Yep—we can keep going now." She said and Thomas visibly relaxed at his Mother's confirmation that the threat was gone. "Fingers crossed we'll be able to avoid any other encounters."
"Our main aim should be finding land, though, Anna." Kristoff reminded his wife as he sat down on a hammock, pulling her over to sit next to him; with a little of her cheek restored, Anna shifted onto sitting on his lap before positioning herself so that she was laying down on top of his legs. He looked at her with mock disdain, his concerns for Sven replaced by relief that the remainder of his family were still alive and—with the exception of emotional pain—unharmed as he asked, "What do you want?"
"Can you massage my head?" She asked in a reasonably lighthearted tone, "Please?" Kristoff let out a huff but consented, softly rubbing his wife's head as she sighed in contentment at being able to relax. "Thank you..." She muttered quietly as she close her eyes, happy. Mia watched her mother with a little indignation, very slightly annoyed that she was relaxing despite the fact that possibly one hundred—maybe more, even—people had drowned. On that note, she was bitter that her mother was even able to relax; she, for sure, could barely contain her guilt.
"Wait, wait!" Thomas interrupted, a thoughtful look upon his face. "Do you mean that we can get off of this boat?"
Kristoff nodded. "Yeah—well, when we find one."
Thomas looked overjoyed at this announcement and he hopped down from his hammock without a second to spare. "Cool! How long 'till we're there?"
"Did you not just hear me?" Kristoff asked with an unsure chuckle, not wanting to sadden his suddenly joyous son. "We haven't found an island yet, Tom. We can't just land on an island without finding one first."
Thomas rolled his eyes and laughed at his father. "Well, duh!" He said, an almost goofy grin plastered across his freckled face, "So it's kinda lucky really that there's one just over there!" He giggled, his face illuminated with excitement, while the adults all looked on unresponsive for a second. Then, tentatively, as if afraid that it would end up one big, cruel joke, Elsa stepped forwards towards her nephew.
"Where, Tom?" She asked, terrified that his 'island' was just a made up fantasy. "Where did you see the island?"
Thomas clambered back onto his hammock and crawled across, more for fun than for practicality, and then hopped off on the other side. He scampered over to the thin window of translucent ice, barely a few steps away from where he had been originally, and he gestured rapidly for his aunt to follow. Motioning for her to look outside, he pointed towards a small dark mass a little way off, slightly hidden by the lolling, crashing waves all around the boat but visible when they settled for the briefest of seconds. There was a short pause in which Elsa struggled to see what Thomas was indicating, and then her face broke into a massive grin. Turning around, she beamed at her family and said, "It would look like Tom was correct." She held her tongue for a second to let her words settle in, and then finished, "We can all get off of this damned boat!"
A short cheer rang out among the group, all weary and more than ready to get off of the boat; Elsa immediately began to turn the boat in the direction of the small island in the distance, doing her best to make a larger wind behind the sail to get them there faster. The ship rocked almost dangerously as the stronger gusts made the already-treacherous waves double, perhaps triple in size, smashing into the ice and wearing away at the walls. Still, everyone kept their mouths shut and did not utter any complaints, aside from the moans of a rather sea-sick Freddie and Mia and the whines from the uncomfortable animals downstairs.
"So, Auntie Elsa..." Thomas said with a grin as a particularly strong wave made the boat rock considerably; everyone else had the sense to hold on, but he simply stood still and slid over to where his aunt was now stood, crashing into her legs with a groan. He took a second to recover, picking himself up using her body for support, and then he smiled sweetly in a way which only suggested danger. "How long 'till we get off of this "damned" ship?" He laughed slightly as he saw his aunt's face fall in shock and he smiled up at her sweetly when she looked down at him with large eyes.
Bending down to his level, having to make a rope of ice from the floor to hold herself in place as the boat convulsed, Elsa smiled at her nephew but gently pushed his shoulder by way of reprimanding him. "Now, you—don't go repeating that, okay?" She felt her cheeks redden slightly as the young boy folded his arms and looked at her in a way which said, 'then why did you say it', and Elsa sighed. "Look, I was wrong to say that, but don't you go using it or your mother might just have me sent to jail for corrupting you!" At Thomas' blank look, Elsa almost scolded herself for forgetting that, intelligent as he was, he was still barely more than five years old. "For ruining you. For making you a naughty boy." She confirmed and the young Prince grinned.
"Mama couldn't send you to jail; you're the Queen! But you'd better be nice to me Auntie or I'll tell Mama that you're ruining me!"
Elsa laughed at her nephew's cheek and gently pulled him into a hug, before pushing him away and whispering, "Why don't you go see your Mama? She's probably getting jealous."
Thomas grinned and nodded, sliding over to Anna as the ship swayed again, this time caused by an extremely strong wave which made the windows of the ship dip into the frigid salt water; with an effort which made her vision cloud over and her ears begin to ring, Mia used her own powers to create a wind strong enough to right the boat in the water before she promptly vomited into a bowl of ice she had to fashion for herself quickly. With a moan, she apologised to Freddie in the hammock across from her, before she began to expel the contents of her stomach once again.
It was going to be a long half an hour.
I am so sorry this chapter's so late, not to mention that it's a short one as well. I've literally been up the yard doing animals from 9:00am until about 10pm for the last few days, I've barely had a chance to write! I'll try to better this week, I hope you can forgive me :"(
Next, looking at the view count for each chapter, it's currently averaging at about 100. So, not too shabby, but not great either; if anyone can promote this fic in any way I'd be really grateful! Also please review—I'm losing reviews faster than I ever have before and it's sad. Even a 'nice' is appreciated!
I'm currently working on getting enough points on DeviantArt to get a commission of the whole FP cast, help is appreciated!
That's all until Friday!
Luna
