'Tis my doggo's birthday, so I am posting this chapter early to spread the good feels.
Enjoy;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Frozen.
Anna rubbed her temples as she shuffled down the hall. She had to return to the throne room sooner or later, but just the thought of those idiots made her head hurt.
I swear, if they say something like that one more time, I'll—
A pair of arms slipped over Anna's shoulders, and a chin plopped onto her head. The princess yelped but quickly calmed herself when she recognized the warm body pressed against her back.
"Gods, Elsa," Anna gasped, clutching her heart. "I told you to stop doing that. You scared the crap out of me."
"Hnnn…," Elsa hummed, the sound reverberating against Anna's head from where the blonde had so graciously decided to lay on her. Her voice was scratchy like she had just woken up, and her limp body leaned against Anna like a dead weight. "I am naturally terrifying."
Anna pursed her lips. "Well, I am not a table. Why do you have to be so tall? It's not fair."
Elsa's arms slid off Anna's shoulders to curl around her waist. She tugged the redhead flush against her, her warm hug enveloping Anna like a blanket. Elsa sighed when their bodies melded together in comfortable familiarity, and she eased her head into the cradle where Anna's neck met her shoulder. "Why do you have to be so short? I worry for you, princess. If you get any shorter, you'll fade out of existence."
Anna rolled her eyes. The shape-shifter would never admit it, but when she was tired, she acted like the big cat she was, clinging to Anna's side and curling around her in any way she could.
Anna scoffed. "I hate you."
"You love me," Elsa mumbled through a smile. A throaty purr rolled in the wake of her words, and she nuzzled the underside of Anna's jaw.
Anna grumbled, a light blush rising in her cheeks. She tried to look mad even as she sunk into Elsa's embrace and rested her arms over hers. "I tolerate you, especially when you're such a smartass."
"I wouldn't be such a smartass if you didn't give me so much to work with," Elsa said, her purr continuing to thrum against Anna's back.
"You know, I'm jealous of the people who don't know you and think you're a quiet person. I do know you, and I'm starting to wish you were."
Elsa hid her face in Anna's shoulder. "…'M sorry…," she groaned, the small sound almost pitiful.
Anna glanced at her in her periphery. The exhaustion and general sense of being done with everything in Elsa's voice flared her concern. "Elsa, are you okay?" she asked. Elsa groaned, and Anna patted her arm. "Come on, tell me what's wrong."
"Do you want a list?" Elsa mumbled into her dress.
Anna scowled at the vague response, but then she saw the leather vambraces on Elsa's arms. "Maybe Kristoff should train you at night instead of in the morning. You're always so grumpy afterwards."
"…You know, I don't need to learn how to use a sword," Elsa said without lifting her head from Anna's shoulder. "I don't need any weapon, actually. I was born one."
"This morning went that bad, huh?"
Elsa groaned again. "I'm going to beat the crap out of that stupid reindeer-man, but I'm too tired right now. Karma can get him warmed up for me. Why do I have to learn how to hit people with a sword again?"
"I believe the term is 'stab', Elsa dear." Elsa scoffed, and Anna laughed. "I'm sorry, Elsa. You're a knight now, and it's mandatory for you to know at least the basics."
"Anna, you cannot possibly fathom the depth and intensity of the damn I do not give."
"I wouldn't dare to try."
"Hm…" Elsa brought her face out of Anna's dress. "Anna, why were you angry earlier?"
"What? Angry? Me? Pfft. What are you talking about? I wasn't angry. Who said I was angry?"
"I felt a disturbance in the universe. I think I even saw some small animals flee for cover. You were angry." Elsa adjusted her grip on Anna's waist. "Plus, I can feel your heart racing, and you smell like adrenaline and sweat. So, if you didn't just run around the capital, please tell me who I have to kill so I can prepare the body-bag in advance. You can grab the shovel."
"Elsa, don't say things like that. I know your mouth runs away from you when you're tired, but that's just mean."
"What? That old guy from yesterday kindly informed me that I'm going to hell for being an unholy monster, so I might as well work for a good spot. I tried to tell him my horns were only there to keep my halo straight, but alas, I couldn't follow him into the church without bursting into flames."
Anna shook her head. "You're ridiculous."
"And you're avoiding my question."
"Well…" Anna sighed and slumped against Elsa's chest. "I just had an audience with some lords to tell them about your knighthood, and they just…Ugh!" she growled, crossing her arms. "Some people try to find fault in you like there's a reward for it, I swear."
"They still don't like me? That's a shame. I'll remember to cry about it later." Anna half-heartedly smacked Elsa's arm, and the blonde laughed. "Anna, I don't care what other people think of me. Honestly, I don't."
"Well, I do care. You are kind and selfless and amazing, and they are too stupid and narrow-minded to see it. You deserve their respect. I try to be the bigger person, but today they said you were…they said you were my pet!" Anna nearly shouted, her face blooming crimson. "They actually had the guts to say that! Right to my face! I yelled at them for gods know how long and stormed out. I can't even remember what I said because I was so mad."
Elsa's small laughs bounced against Anna's back. "Narrow minds and big mouths usually go together, Anna. Don't give them the satisfaction of a response. That just legitimizes their opinions." Elsa took one of the princess' clenched fists and massaged the tension out of it. Her purr dimmed to a comforting trill. "You can't control the things people do or say to you—or to me—, but you can control your reactions to them. Trust me, you need to control your emotions, or they'll control you."
"I wouldn't need to control my emotions if people just controlled their stupidity," Anna grumbled.
Elsa nuzzled Anna's neck and gently squeezed her waist. "Thank you for defending my honor. Your chivalry is commendable."
"I doubt it'll stop them from doing it again. If I could pass a law saying anyone who talks bad about you is entitled to my fist in their face, I would. I know Gerda would be thrilled to have a chance to go at them. Oh, wait, that reminds me." Anna turned her head to glimpse Elsa's face. "What were you doing in the library so late last night? Gerda told me that she saw you there."
"Um…Well, I was kindof sortof maybe looking to see if there was anything about, y'know, what I am. At least in pictures since I can't read," Elsa quickly said. "My mother never told me—never had the chance to—and the library is so big that I thought there would be something there. It's no big deal. There was nothing there, anyways."
Anna turned out of her arms. Elsa evenly held her gaze, but Anna recognized the guard she was building up.
"Elsa…"
"Don't worry about it, Anna," Elsa said, her grin neutral. "It was just a passing existential crisis. I'm already over it. Happens all the time."
"That's not—"
"Heyyy, look who's here!" Kristoff's cheery voice rang down the hall, Snowgie's meows at his heels. He slid to Elsa's side and slung his arm over her shoulders. "The fabled Elsa-horsie has come out to play some more! You did great in today's practice, by the way. You almost got a hit on me."
Elsa bristled with a low growl, baring her canines. "Remove your hand, or I will rip your arm off and beat you to death with it."
"Don't be like that, Frosty." Kristoff patted her back, and Elsa coiled up like she was going to attack him. "You and I get to spend the whole day together! Isn't that exciting?"
Elsa blinked. She opened her mouth to question him, but she stopped and looked pointedly at Anna.
Anna rubbed her arm, suddenly finding the ground very interesting. "Hahaha...Um, yeah, about that…Well, you see, I was thinking—"
Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose. "Gods, not again."
"I was thinking," Anna said, pursing her lips, "that you and Kristoff could go with Galan to the shipyard. They just finished building a ship with the blueprints you helped him improve, and he's been begging me all morning to let him give you a tour. He's practically glued to my side. It's pretty irritating."
Elsa held her chin and pretended to think. "You know, that sounds really fun and all, Anna, but I'm going to be busy not doing that because it sounds like a terrible idea."
Anna put her hands on her hips. "And how do you know that?"
"My survival instincts are urging me not to go," Elsa said, crossing her arms. "That man is going to bore and or annoy me to death."
"Well, too bad because I already told him you're going."
"Ughhh…" Elsa rolled her eyes to the gods. "Dear gods, whatever I've done to deserve this, I am truly sorry." She grabbed Snowgie—who had been rubbing against her ankles—by his scruff and held him up. "Please, accept this blood sacrifice as a token of my faith and relieve me of this ill fate."
Anna took Snowgie from her. "Elsa…," the redhead nearly growled. "Don't make me pull rank on you. You are my knight."
Arctic blue slid into half-lids. "That sounds like a threat. You know what it also sounds like? Not my problem."
Anna's eyes hardened to steel, her furrowed brow casting her teal irises in an ominous shadow that highlighted the fire blazing behind them.
Kristoff whistled. "You better watch it, Ice Block, or that glare will be the last thing you ever see. Besides, how bad could it be? Red's ideas have never steered us wrong before."
Elsa opened her mouth to prove how very wrong he was, but the promise of pain in Anna's eyes made her stop.
Elsa's shoulders deflated. "Fine. I'll go. Just take care of the boys while I'm gone."
A broad grin split Anna's face. "Love you, hon~."
"Are you sure? I couldn't tell. I'll try to remember that amidst the slow torture you've so kindly volunteered me for." Elsa smirked and held Anna's chin, placing a kiss on her cheek to turn her pout back into a smile.
"Aw, I didn't know you had emotions. That was so cute," Kristoff cooed. "Can I get a kiss, too? I know you love me."
Elsa glared at him. "I wasn't born with enough middle fingers to express how I feel about you, reindeer-man." The shape-shifter not-so-subtly shoved past him to go change into something not leather and sweaty.
After Elsa rounded the corner, Kristoff turned to Anna and whispered, "Your girlfriend has such a way with words, Anna. I can't fathom why no one else sees her appeal. She's as charming as a dead mouse in a loaf of bread."
"I heard that!" Elsa yelled from several hallways away.
"You were supposed to!" Kristoff yelled back.
Gerda stuck her head out a door. "Children, please, no shouting across the castle."
Anna drummed her fingers on her father's throne. She dug into the reserves of her patience as she listened to the bickering lords at the foot of the dais. She wished she could tune them out as easily as Olaf and Marshmallow could. The pups peacefully dozed in their bed to her right.
Gods, why can't Papa get better faster? I'm going to snap if I have to keep listening to these idiots.
The princess sighed and rummaged through the papers on her lap. She paused when she found a letter with her name illegibly scribbled on it.
Anna opened it and pulled out its note. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw Elsa's indiscernible handwriting covering the page. 'My own font, not bad handwriting' the blonde called it.
Thankfully, Gerda provided a translation on the back.
Dear Anna,
Gerda told me you had to listen to those stupid important people again. I'm sorry. Just know that I love you and that they use big words and insults because they don't have the balls to back them up. If you get mad, try holding Marshmallow. He's always really calm, and I find that he helps me resist the urge to knock the stupid out of people.
Also, I'm sorry we argued earlier. We need to stop doing that. I hate it when you're wrong.
Love and Tolerate,
Elsa
P.S. I would get you back for making me look at a stupid boat, but I'm an adult and revenge is beneath me. But accidents may happen to your chocolate stash.
Warmth spread through Anna's chest, a small smile tugging at her lips. She carefully tucked the note away and lifted Marshmallow into her lap. He huffed a whine at being moved, but the rhythm of Anna's pets ushered him back to sleep.
The wolf pup's presence helped Anna endure the lords' arguing for half-an-hour more before she had enough. Even she couldn't mediate the red-faced nobles into a compromise.
The princess was mentally preparing herself to break up the pissing contest the men's shouting had devolved into when a servant approached the dais.
"I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but this just arrived for you," he whispered, handing her a letter.
"Oh, is this from—"
Anna looked at the servant and froze, her words dying on her tongue and her eyes widening to saucers.
She yelped when he grabbed her arm and yanked her out of her father's throne. Marshmallow flew from her lap and tumbled down the steps of the dais. The chorus of people screaming, running, and drawing swords in the throne room drowned the white pup's cries.
A thick arm around Anna's waist bound her arms to her sides like a chain. She struggled fiercely, but a dagger at her throat made her still. She gritted her teeth when extra pressure on the blade forced her to tilt her head into her attacker's shoulder.
"Don't come any closer!" he yelled at the two dozen guards sprinting towards the dais. They stopped dead in their tracks when he pushed the dagger under Anna's jaw, making her wince. "Back up, or I slit her throat!"
The guards waited, glancing at their princess. The man holding Anna growled and pressed the dagger's edge into the veil of skin under her throat, drawing a thin stream of blood. The guards backed away, and it was only after they reached the far wall that the dagger let up on the fresh wound.
Anna glanced her attacker's face in her periphery. "Fredrik?!" she gasped.
The man holding her looked like a shadow of the nobleman's son her father tried to court her with. His inky hair grew long, and his thin beard neatly disguised him. He held himself like he was still nobility, but the crazed look in his eyes made him look like a rabid animal.
A crooked smile curled on Fredrick's lips. "So, you do remember me. Good, good. I'm glad our time together left an impression. It's a shame your father banished me. Our union would have been a great one. But, when I heard rumor you were allowing that animal to court you..." He shook his head. "Tsk, Tsk, dearie. Don't you have any standards?"
"You're the animal!" Anna yelled. "You got drunk and attacked me! What did you think was going to happen?!" The dagger pressed harder into Anna's jugular, forcing her voice to a tense whisper. "Look, just let me go, Fredrik. You don't want to do this to yourself."
"Neither of us are going anywhere." Fredrik sat on the throne, dragging Anna into his lap. His nose brushed the column of her throat. "I'm right where I want to be."
"Release the princess, you bastard!" a guard yelled.
"Ah, ah, ah," Fredrik cooed. "That wasn't very nice to say, good sir. In fact, you hurt my feelings." The dagger slipped under Anna's jaw, digging into her throat and thickening the blood running down her neck. Anna gritted her teeth from the pain, refusing to make any noise as her head was pinned further against his chest.
"Princess Anna!" another guard yelled. He turned to the soldier at his right and grabbed his arm. "Phillip, go get the captain. Tell him to secure the king and rally the other soldiers over here but be quiet. We can't start mass panic." He glared at Fredrik. "This fool can't be working alone."
Fredrik tossed his head back with a laugh. "That's perfect! Yes, yes, get them all! The more, the merrier! This party has just started, after all!" He brushed his lips over Anna's jaw. Anna clenched her hands into white fists when he ground against her and breathed a shaky sigh into her ear. She sneered at him, and he hummed through a smirk. "I intend to enjoy every second of it."
"What do you want, Fredrik?" Anna hissed. "If you're going to kill me, then just do it."
"Kill you? I'm not going to kill you. We're friends, aren't we? Is it so wrong for a friend to stop by for a chat? It's been so long."
"My father was merciful when he banished you. The only reason he didn't kill you was because he and your father were friends. He gave you a chance to start over somewhere else." Anna tried to look at him. "You do realize this is treason, right? Our fathers' friendship can't save you this time. You're throwing your life away for some petty revenge."
Fredrik laughed, the sound as twisted and unhinged as the man it came from. "I already know I won't survive this, dearie. It doesn't matter." He tightened his grip until Anna whimpered. "You and your father stripped me of my life and destroyed any reason to keep living a long time ago."
"Then, why?" Anna hissed. It was hard to speak with Fredrik's arm crushing her diaphragm and the dagger digging into her throat. "What's the point of this suicide mission if you don't want to kill me?"
Fredrik shrugged. "I just want to see the look on your face, is all."
"…What? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Fredrik growled in Anna's ear. "I want to see what your pretty little face looks like when I set fire to your world and tear it apart, dancing in the ashes as it crashes down around you. You did the same to me, so it's only fair."
"And how do you plan to do that? You'll be lucky to be alive for another thirty seconds because Elsa's going to—"
"Oh, oh, oh! That's just it, dearie! She's the reason I'm here!" Fredrick said, suddenly excited. He lowered his giggles to a whisper. "Right now the castle is being surrounded by every guard, soldier, and officer in the city. By the time they get an archer on that second level and stick an arrow through my skull, it'll be too late to get to her." Fredrik laughed to himself. "I'm just the distraction."
A hard knot caught in Anna's throat. Something cold and sharp and terrifying twisted in her chest like a snake spasming after its head was crushed. "What? That's…That's not…" She swallowed, her throat bobbing against the dagger. "Elsa…Y-You can't—"
"Ah, there it is! There's the look!" Fredrik laughed. He squirmed with glee when the color left Anna's face.
After he caught his breath, Fredrik sighed happily. "Oh, dearie, I really must thank you. All this trouble was so worth seeing your face when you realize…
"…you'll never see her again."
Elsa pawed her nose. The blinding smell surrounding the shipyard got worse and worse the closer they got to The Seeker. It made the air thick and heavy like molasses.
"You know, you could at least try talking to Galan," Kristoff whispered. He patted Sven's flank as the reindeer trotted at his side, and all three of them ignored Galan's rambling ahead of them. "You have to learn people-skills eventually."
"Really? I didn't realize you were an expert on my life and how I should live it. Please, continue while I take notes."
Kristoff smacked the back of her head.
"What the hell was that for?!" Elsa hissed, quietly growling and rubbing her head. Galan didn't notice the disturbance.
"I'm sorry, you seemed to have mistaken me for the woman who takes your shit," Kristoff spat. "I'm trying to help you, Ice Block. Just—"
Yelling from the next dock over drew the pair's attention. Two sailors were butting heads in a screaming contest that quickly turned into a brawl.
Kristoff hopped onto Sven's back.
Elsa glared at him when Sven turned around. "Kristoff, don't you dare—"
"Sorry, Frosty, but duty calls, and I have a fight to break up. I'll catch up with you when I'm done." He kicked his heels, and Sven galloped away. "Have fun!"
Elsa snarled, barely resisting the urge to chase down the knight. She groaned and trudged after Galan, the engineer still rambling.
Have to look at the stupid boat because Anna asked me to…, Elsa thought. I don't care what she asks me to do next time because whatever it is, I'm saying no.
The Seeker was a massive vessel. It was so tall that the deck wasn't visible over the lip of its fancy-looking railing.
Elsa didn't think it was possible, but the blinding smell got even worse as Galan led her up the gangplank. It would be a miracle if she could ever smell again.
"I apologize for the odor, my Lady," Galan told her as they climbed onto the ship, apparently not caring or not noticing that Kristoff was gone. Frost covered The Seeker's deck in a thin veil, its virgin sails clumped with snow and folded against the mast. "The last ship bringing herbs and spices to Wheilia was boarded and forced to return, so The Seeker's maiden voyage is delivering a double load to compensate for the delay."
"Hm," Elsa grunted. She tried to keep her breaths shallow so the stench didn't suffocate her.
"Ah, here we are." Galan opened a small hatch leading into the heart of the ship. "After me, please, and watch your step. It's very hard to see."
Elsa didn't bother telling him she could see in the pitch black. She just nodded and reluctantly followed him down the ladder, closing the hatch behind her.
As soon as Elsa's cloth-bound feet touched the floor, she wanted to leave. The suffocating smell turned her lungs to led and made her eyes water, sticking to her skin in a greasy film and clogging her throat like smoke.
She glanced at the crates stacked along the walls. The cargo was so tightly packed that only a few narrow strides of free space were left in the hold.
Elsa swallowed thickly, a cold sweat beading on her brow.
"My Lady?" Galan stood in another doorway that looked like it went further down. "Are you alright? I know the smell is a bit overwhelming, but we need only go a little further. You simply have to see how your design—"
"No," Elsa said, just a little too quickly. She curled her hands into fists to stop their shaking. "I…I have to go. I—" Her breathing came shallow and rapid, her chest so tight that it felt like she was drowning. "I'm leaving."
Elsa turned without giving Galan a chance to respond. She quickly climbed the ladder and pushed the hatch.
It didn't budge.
"What—Ah!"
Elsa's hand flew to her neck. The sting there devolved into a coolness that fizzed under her skin before flooding her muscles with an intense, thrumming heat. It wept into her blood and fled into her chest like ink dropped into a pool of water, curling and whipping at the ends of her limbs. It made her insides feel like slush—it made everything feel wrong.
The cargo hold sprung to life with breaking wood and guttural hollering. Hands grabbed Elsa's waist and threw her to the floor. The breath fled from her lungs when her spine hit the ground, and black dots danced in her eyes as her arms and legs were pinned down, someone's forearm pressing her cheek against the floor.
Elsa couldn't breathe. The pressure on her limbs and the creeping numbness under her skin made her struggles little more than mild squirms. She was blind to what was happening. The hot breaths and sweaty musk from her attackers consumed what little of her senses that were still working.
A heavy body sat on her middle. "Hold her still, dammit!"
Elsa looked at him, glimpsing the iron collar he shoved towards her throat.
The collar. The lack of space. The lack of air—
Memories of Elsa's old hell flashed before her eyes in crimson glances, and her body just reacted.
Ice pulsed over the floor like a jagged wave and consumed the hold in a thick layer of frost. Even Elsa herself went cold, the sudden drop in temperature blistering her captors' hands and making them release her with squeals of pain. A spear shot from the floor and plunged into the man sitting on her middle, other meaty thuds chorusing with it. He dropped the collar, and more than one man gargled through a mouthful of blood.
Elsa jumped to her feet, but she almost fell over just as quickly. It took her equilibrium way too long to catch up to her movements.
"Galan! Get back here, you coward!" one of the men yelled.
Elsa let herself shift and change, roaring at the remaining men. They were big, but she was bigger. They backed as far away from the silver and white tiger as the narrow cargo hold allowed.
They stood at a standoff. Elsa crouched and bared her sharp canines, a growl rolling from her throat like thunder while her crimson eyes glared at the two surviving men.
Elsa stepped forward, but the movement was shaky and unbalanced. She stumbled to catch herself.
The men charged.
Elsa bit one man's leg, but she was too slow to stop the other from jumping on her back. The man in her jaws howled in pain when her teeth sunk deeper into his thigh from her attempts to buck the other off. Elsa could do little more than thrash in the narrow cargo hold, and the man on her back fisted clumps of her fur and held on through her struggles.
The man on Elsa's back wrapped something thin around her neck, right under her jaw. He pulled it taut, and it closed around her throat like a noose, sinking through her thick fur and clamping on the skin underneath.
Elsa choked. She heard the dull snap as she broke the leg in her mouth. She released it to gasp, and the injured man crawled away with blood pouring from his leg.
Elsa tossed her head and clawed the man on her back, but her limbs felt cold and distant and her paws swiped at nothing.
She collapsed on the floor, desperately trying to roll or buck or do something to get him off.
"That's it, beastie!" he yelled. His elbows dug into Elsa's shoulders as he pulled the cable harder. "Go on! Go on and change! You can't hold it forever!"
Elsa gagged and clawed the floor. The lack of air made her vision hazy and doubled.
The cable tightened again, finally forcing Elsa to become human.
The man hollered and laughed, his heavy weight on her back easily pinning Elsa to the ground. Elsa had barely enough energy to make the shift. Becoming human made her neck smaller than the cable loop, and she gasped for breath. She only got two gulps of air before it tightened again.
Elsa fumbled to claw her fingers under the loop. She tried shoving the man off, but his weight was too much.
He took both ends of the cable in one hand and shoved his elbow between her shoulders, pinning her torso to the ground and pressing her throat against the floor.
"Hold still, you bitch!"
Elsa tried to lift her head and pull at the loop. The man shoved her hands away, and he fumbled with something broad and cold around the base of her neck.
The collar. He had the collar again.
The man got it half-way around her throat before a thin ice spike ran through his heart like a needle.
His weight fell limp over her. Elsa rolled him off and pushed herself to her feet, gasping and catching herself on one of the boxes before she fell.
The red in her eyes went away. She blinked hard several times. She could see again.
Elsa looked in horror at the carnage around her, but she didn't have time to think about the blood and bodies. She couldn't think about it.
Too small. Too close. Just get out. You can get out. Get OUT.
Elsa fell onto the ladder. She glared at the hatch overhead. The last scraps of her strength gathered in her left hand, and she shot her magic skyward.
The hatch and weighted box on top of it exploded into icy splinters. Elsa gritted her teeth and dragged herself up the ladder. Her hands refused to grip the rungs, but she fell onto the deck before they gave out on her.
"What the hell?!"
Elsa forced her eyes open. Two more men rushed towards her. She tried to stand, but she collapsed before she got past a kneel.
A sword sprouted from one man's chest. Blood streamed from his mouth before his corpse fell.
"K…Krist…off?" Elsa slurred. Her tongue felt swollen and heavy in her mouth.
Kristoff dispatched the second man with the same ease as the first and ran to her side. "Elsa! What the hell is going on?!" He threw her arm over his shoulders. "Are you okay?! What—?!"
His grip went slack, and Elsa fell onto the deck. Her head smacked against the planks and threw her brain around her skull. When the world stopped spinning, her bleary eyes found Kristoff's body lying beside her.
Beatle black boots sauntered into Elsa's vision. She tried dragging her head up, but her neck wouldn't support the weight.
A large hand reached down, and Elsa couldn't resist when it forced itself under her jaw and grabbed her bruising throat in a vice grip, dragging her to her feet. She gasped on nothing, weakly kicking and trying to pry off the calloused fingers crushing her airway.
Hot breath fanned over her face. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in."
Elsa froze. She forced her eyes open and fought to look at the man strangling her. Fear as cold and hard as a glacier crushed her chest like an iron maiden.
Crow grinned when she struggled harder. Elsa could barely squirm in his grip, her shaking hands clawing his arm. "Long time, no see, lass. How ya been? I hope you missed me as much as I missed you."
Elsa grabbed Crow's wrist and tried to summon her powers. She only managed to conjure a thin layer of frost over his sleeve.
Crow laughed and brushed it off. "Well, would ya look at that. You ain't such a scary beast with yer wings clipped, now are ya? Oh-ho, we have so much ta catch up on." His fist tightened, forcing a pained whimper from Elsa's throat.
Elsa sneered at him, not having the breath or strength to growl. She tried to move, she tried to do something, but her numbing body and clouded mind refused to help her.
Crow pulled her closer, his face splitting into a yellow grin.
"I believe you an' I have some unfinished business."
Muahahahaha
-REKA
