Chapter 16 - Hope and Fear

April 18, 1794

Even though Captain Anton had pans to be back on the shore of the uncharted island by the crack of dawn, the weather had apparently decided to alter those plans. As if often was, the Ã…lborg fog was blanketing the area through the entire morning. It was only by mid afternoon when it had lifted enough for the crew of the Askel to even spot the island again at all.

Anton, Sebastian, and the four other crewmen who accompanied them last time had all returned to the island. They had parked their rowboat on the shore, and left two men to stand guard by it again as the four others ventured out across the sand, swords drawn and on high alert.

"Where do you think would be the best place to start looking?" Sebastian asked the Captain as they were walking along the beach.

"Well, the tide seems to have washed away the footprints from yesterday." Anton replied. "So the best thing to do is probably walk the beach until we spot new ones. If we still don't come across anyone after we circle the island, we'll head into the interior."

It was a plan that could potentially take a while, as they were not sure how long it would take to walk around the island, but it was safer than blindly wandering through the pockets of forest that were spread across the landscape. The chances were that they would come across some other sign before then anyway.

Sure enough, they did. About tem minutes into searching, they came across fresh footprints leading from farther up shore and down to the water. An identical set was right alongside them, leading back up away from the sea.

"These are recent." Said Anton as he crouched to examine the prints. He followed the trial up with his eyes leading to a rock formation that was partially concealed by trees far up inland. A perfect spot for someone to hide.

Rising to a standing position again, he twirled his sword in his hand. "Let's go." He announced, and began walking towards the rocks.

The three others followed him, weapons also at the ready. As they approached the groundcover turned from sand, to long grass, to dirt and it became harder to notice the footprints. It didn't really matter though, as they were clearly leading directly to the massive boulder ahead of them that protruded from the earth.

They were close enough to notice nothing unusual about the front side of the rock, but it was a very large formation, and there could have been anything, or anyone, on the other side. As they were ready to round the obstacle, the realization of the potential danger suddenly hit Sebastian as he watched his Captain still in the lead, taking point for their four-man group.

"Sir." He called to Anton, quietly so that his voice would not carry too far. The Captain turned to acknowledge the Lieutenant but said nothing.

"I think for your safety, it would be wise if I took point." He commented, trying not to sound like he was giving his own captain orders. But it was his job to keep the Captain safe, after all.

"I told you, Sebastian, I'm not going to stand by during this mission while others do the job." Anton replied, determined to be the one to face the mysterious person first. "But..." he added, realizing that his eagerness might not be wise. "Perhaps instead we could both take point."

Sebastian still didn't like the idea, but it was better than the Captain being up front alone. Nodding, he walked up beside him, and the two began to make their way around the left side of the rock, carefully peeking their heads around it's edges as they moved, the two other men taking up the rear and keeping an eye on the small forest beside them.

Once they were near the back of the rock, they were surprised to meet the smell of smoke. Campfire smoke. A few more steps and they had cleared the boulder enough to see a smoldering pile of sticks, making the remains of a somewhat pathetic looking campfire. Around it, the dirt and ashes were disturbed enough to identify that this site was recently occupied.

They had found he hideout of their mystery man.

Still hugging the wall of the rock formation, the four men stayed as quietly as possible as they scanned the area with their eyes, looking for any sign of the person. They were about to conclude that the site was vacant at the moment and that the occupant was off somewhere else on the island, when suddenly they heard the faint sounds of movement from around the corner of the rock.

Daring to take a look, Anton poked his head out and noticed that there was a small hollow in the base of the boulder directly across from the smoking fire. The angle at which he was standing meant he couldn't see into the hollow, but he knew that there was someone in it.

He wordlessly turned his head to face the other three men and used hand signals to explain that there was someone around the corner from where they were standing. They all nodded and got ready. Anton then pointed at Sebastian, then himself, not needing to explain what he wanted to do next.

They heard another sound of stirring from the stone hollow as they each stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to make their move. With his sword in his right hand, Anton held up his left, showing three fingers. He then started counting down on his digits.

Three... Two...One!

As he lowered his final finger to make a fist, him and Sebastian quickly darted out in front of the hollow, pointing their swords directly into it's opening and at whomever they would find inside it.

"STAY WHER YOU AR..." Anton yelled, but was quickly cut off as he saw who was standing before them. Their mystery man was not a man at all, but a woman. More specifically, she was...

"Queen Elsa!" The Captain exclaimed, instantly lowering his sword from its aim towards the young woman. Sebastian followed suit and lowered his sword as well, a very stunned look on his face as he gazed upon the sight of the Queen they had all thought was dead.

Elsa herself was also startled. Her hands were raised before her, ready to protect herself against the men who had seem to come out of nowhere and had nearly given her a heart attack. But as quickly as it had come, her fright and shock turned into relief and joy.

"Captain... Anton?" Elsa asked tentatively. She knew the captain, of course, but her question was more of a means of making sure the sight before her was real and not a dream or some kind of wishful thinking manifesting itself into a hallucination.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Anton replied, a gentle smile on his face to reassure her.

"Oh my goodness! You... You found me!" She cried out, taking a few steps closer to them. "I was starting to wonder if anyone would ever show up at all. I'm glad it was a friendly face!"

"We are equally as overjoyed as you, Your Majesty!" The Captain answered. "We thought... we had assumed you were dead."

"At first, I thought I was as well." Elsa replied. She remembered thinking that when she first awoke on the island days ago. She also knew that the rest of the Kingdom would make that assumption considering the nature of the events leading up to her disappearance. With the immediate euphoria wearing off, she soon became aware of how she must have looked to the men. Her current ragged appearance was surely not the way they were used to seeing her.

"Oh, please excuse my appearance." She lowered her head slightly in embarrassment of the situation. "My clothes were damaged and, being alone, I felt no need to... create new ones."

I didn't really want to either. She thought to herself. Elsa was still using her powers at a minimum since the incident with Rasmus. She was still a bit ashamed for what she had done with them.

"That's quite alright, Your Majesty." Anton told her, genuinely. Her appearance was insignificant compared to the fact that she was alive.

"We're all simply happy to see you!" Sebastian added, finally able to speak after his shock had subsided.

"And I am happy to see you." Elsa said to all of them. "In a few more days I was figuring I would have to try and make my own escape from this place. Now that you're here, I'm very relieved that I don't have to face that unpleasant situation."

"Of course!" Anton said as he extended his hand towards her. She took it and he guided her out of the stone hollow. "We will get you back to Arendelle immediately."

"Thank you." Elsa replied. She took a quick last look at the little place she had called home for the past few days and then turned to follow the men out towards the beach before she spoke up again. "Tell me... Is Anna okay?"

"She made it safely back to Arendelle with the rest of the Boreas' crew." Said Anton as they walked. "She seemed sad, but that's to be expected, I suppose."

"Yeah..." Elsa lowered her head again. It pained her to think Anna was feeling that way. Elsa remembered the brief moment back on the icy fjord, right after Anna had frozen solid to protect her from Hans. The indescribable grief she felt over losing her sister... It was a painful experience, and she felt terrible for having to put Anna though a similar situation in the past few days.

At least Anna will know I'm alright soon.

"Wait..." Elsa exclaimed all of a sudden. "What about Captain Halvard?" The last she saw of Halvard was when he had shown up on the deck of the Odin. While she was dazed from having just killed Rasmus, he picked her up and threw her overboard to get her clear from the following explosion. But that explosion caused her to lose consciousness, and she didn't know whether Halvard had made it off as well or not.

"Unfortunately, we did not find him." Lieutenant Sebastian answered this time.

Elsa's spirits dropped. "I had hoped... perhaps he was recovered."

"No, I'm sorry, Your Majesty." Anton added. "And it's been almost a week, so I doubt that..."

"I know." Elsa replied. She was well aware that the only reason she had survived as long as she had was because of her powers being able to create water for her to drink. Halvard had no such ability, so even if he had survived the explosion, he would not have survived this long on his own.

It was a sacrifice Elsa would never forget, and when she got home, she intended to see that he was honored properly. He deserved nothing less.


The Aksel was peacefully sitting off shore from the location where Captain Anton and the others had landed on the beach. At the moment, the two men who were guarding the rowboat on the beach were making a quick trip to the ship in order to pick up some food and water for when the search party returned. It was all planned ahead of time and should have taken no longer than a few minutes.

"It's all ready for you." The man left in command of the ship, a Junior Lieutenant, said to the men that had docked with the ship in order to pick up the food.

"Thank you, sir!" The crewman replied, and turned to head back to the awaiting rowboat. He was stopped in his tracks, however, by a sudden shout from the rear of the ship.

"Ship sighted astern!" An officer yelled.

All eyes turned to him and followed his gaze out to a vessel, larger than their own, that had suddenly emerged from around one of the island's many rock promontories that divided up the beaches. The direction it had come from meant that the crew of the Aksel did not see it at all until it was very close.

The Jr. Lieutenant in command felt his heart beat faster as he noticed the flag flying atop the ship and he recognized the crest.

The crest of Weselton.

It was well known that tensions between Weselton and Arendelle were high after Queen Elsa had broken off all trade between the two. It had made a bit of an impact on Arendelle's income, but the resulting cascade of broken trade agreements that occurred in Weselton was far worse. After finding out what the Duke had nearly done to the two sisters, other kingdoms became wary of dealing with the Duchy.

With that knowledge in hand, combined with the fact that this Weselton ship had snuck up on the Aksel and was now approaching in a battle maneuver, made the Jr. Lieutenant very nervous.

"All hands to battle stations!"


On the deck of the Viper, the Duke stood up with General Ghemor and Admiral Bronok, the latter of which was at the wheel of the ship, bringing it to bear down on the Aksel which was sitting helplessly ahead of them. The majority of the Viper's crew was standing ready, with swords and muskets, prepared to board the Aksel and take it over, as per the Duke's orders.

This was the location in which his hired privateer had told him about finding the piece of fabric and the mysterious glowing stone, so the Duke was not at all surprised to see an Arendelle ship here as well. He knew they had probably come for Elsa, but he had no intentions of letting them recover her first.

"Gunnery crews!" Bronok shouted across the deck to the men up at the bow of the ship, manning the chaser cannons. "Target their cannons and sails only!"

"Yes sir!" They shouted back, and aimed the cannons appropriately.

"Hold for my signal!" The Admiral added, bringing the ship to the perfect firing position. The distance between the vessels shrank, and only when Bronok began to see the crew of the Arendelle ship starting to get their cannons ready did he figure they were close enough, and he gave the order to attack.

"Fire!" He yelled.

Immediately after, the cannons at the front of the Viper let lose their shots. The projectiles flew through the air and impacted the target. Some grazing the top of the Aksel and knocking cannons off their positions, others impacting near the base of the sails, sending thousands of splinters across the deck. One shot, however, hit lower than intended, impacting the middle of the vessel. The blow was accompanied by a small puff of flame that shot out of the hole the cannonball had made in the side of the hull.

Not a second later, a massive explosion erupted form below the Aksel's deck. In the blink of an eye, the entire ship was decimated. The hull was splintered and pieces of the masts and sails went flying through the air away from the point of the explosion. The crew of the Viper was shocked, to say the least, but The Duke, along with Admiral Bronok, were furious.

"I said to disable them only!" Bronok yelled across the deck at the forward gunnery crews. "We wanted prisoners!"

The crewmen on the deck trembled with fear at the sound of the Admiral yelling at them. After a brief moment of silence, one of the men spoke up to explain.

"A lucky shot, sir. We must have hit their powder keg." He called out.

"Unlucky for you!" Bronok replied. "You..."

"Sir, If I may suggest." An officer to his left interrupted, postponing the punishment Bronok was about to dish out.

"What?!" He snapped back, ready to direct his rage at anyone and anything in front of him, including the man who had just had the audacity to interrupt him. Whatever he had to say better have been good.

"If it's prisoners you're wanting, I believe I just saw several people over on the island." The officer commented, putting away his spyglass. "One of them looked like the very woman we are searching for."

Bronok, Ghemor, and the Duke glanced over to the shore. There they saw five people, one of them definitely a woman, hastily retreat back off the beach and into the tree-line. The Duke looked at the General and wicked smiles began to form on each of their faces.

Bronok shared their elation and glanced back towards the officer who had informed him of the discovery.

"Very good." He said, complementing the man. Perhaps the blunder would work out after all.


Having just emerged from the trees and beginning their walk towards the beach where the rowboat would come pick them up again, Elsa, Anton, Sebastian, and the others arrived just in time to see the Aksel explode out in the water where it was anchored. The shockwave was powerful, and they each jumped slightly as the force hit them.

"Wha...!" Anton exclaimed as he watched flaming pieces of his ship rain down onto the surface of the water. The destruction was so complete that it would be a miracle if anyone onboard had survived. He had enough experience on the sea to know when such incidents allowed men to swim to safety, and when they did not.

All five of them were speechless as they stared at the blank space their ship occupied only a few seconds prior. Looking over to the right, barely in sight from behind a rock formation that extended out to the coast, a larger vessel was slowly approaching. It was undoubtedly the ship which had just sunk the Aksel.

"Captain..." Elsa spoke up after regaining her faculties form what she just saw. "Do you recognize that ship?"

Anton was in shock as well. Most of his crew had just been killed, and the ship he had proudly commanded for years had been destroyed, but he managed to focus on Elsa's question and looked over to the unknown vessel.

"Um... I'm not sure, Your Majesty." He replied, somewhat vacantly. "It's too far away for me to identify the colors they are flying."

"Well whoever they are, we're not going to sit idly by after they have committed an act of war against Arendelle!" Sebastian announced, taking a step towards the shore before Anton grabbed his arm to hold him back.

"Sebastian, think." He told him. "We can do nothing against them by ourselves. And we have to keep the Queen safe." He gestured to Elsa who was behind them.

The Lieutenant knew his Captain was right. Taking a deep breath and thinking the situation over, he nodded in agreement.

"We should retreat to a safe location. Somewhere they will not be able to find us if they send men ashore." Said Anton.

"Yes." Sebastian replied, nodding again.

"Queen Elsa," Anton continued, directing his inquiry at the her. "While you were here, did you happen to find anywhere that might provide such cover?"

"Unfortunately, no." Elsa answered. "This island is fairly unremarkable. No places that are particularly good for hiding." She was being truthful. Except for the small patches of forest and the occasional rock formation, the island they were on was fairly small and would be easy to find someone on if a thorough search was conducted. Their chances were slim at staying undetected if that ship decided to come looking for them.

"Well... we'll have to try anyway." Anton replied. "Come on!" He began to direct the Queen and the other men back into the trees, away from the open beach.

Elsa's heart rate began to rise very quickly, and it was not just from running. Once again, her and some of her people were put in a deadly situation. Once again, people had suffered a death at sea because of her. Even if it was not directly her actions that caused it, she still felt that she was partially to blame. And on top of that, once again, she was stranded on this miserable island, meaning that she would not be getting back to Arendelle soon at all, and Anna would have to go even longer thinking she was dead.

The situation was dire again, and as she ran with the others, she couldn't help but let out a few tears.


A/N: I should have mentioned earlier, the island in which the action is taking place around right now is NOT the same island that Elsa and the others had discovered the Ice Stone on back in chapters 7 and 8 of Retribution. This is a different island in a different location. It's smaller, uncharted, and not inhabited by angry natives.

As for the previous chapter, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. I got almost double the views on it that I typically get on most chapters. It seems people like the action. :)

This chapter has action as well, and there will be much more to come when the Boreas arrives at the island. Stay tuned! And don't forget to leave a review!