The dead grass at her feet didn't matter and the uprooted trees didn't matter and the faerie waiting to kill her didn't matter. All of a sudden, the only thing in Elsa's world was a perfect rose of ice floating in the air. A perfect rose of ice which she hadn't made.
At first, Elsa stood there, staring somewhat stupidly at it. But then the flower darted away through the trees, and the next thing she knew, Elsa was sprinting through the forest in her heels. The magical flower made some sharp and sudden turns, and Elsa nearly crashed into a tree trunk more than once, but she didn't care. She wasn't about to let this thing get away from her.
With every twist and turn through the forest trail, Elsa's heart pumped faster and faster and faster and faster until finally the flying flower came to an abrupt halt and her heart did likewise.
Elsa brought a hand to her mouth. She tried to say something, but her throat would only allow her a couple of awed gibberish noises. The rose had led her to a riverbed in the middle of the woods. There was water, but thanks to the drought, it was more a trickle than a river... and absolutely none of it was liquid.
"Caught you."
The ice-rose did a figure-eight, looping around Elsa first and then the boy standing on the ice.
His eyes. That was the first thing Elsa noticed. They almost shone like a pair of diamonds in his face. Even from several feet away, Elsa could tell the irises were the deepest blue she'd seen since the last time she looked in a mirror. His skin was like a fresh snowfall, so perfectly white it made Elsa's look tan by comparison. Even the boy's teeth had a shine to them, which Elsa could see because he was showing off all of them. The only things that detracted from his presence were his hair, which, while just as silvery and radiant as the rest of him, looked like it hadn't touched a comb since the days the earth was young, and the colorless rags draped across his body, which looked like they'd been soaked to the bone and dried off a couple hundred times.
He seemed right around Elsa's age, too. No... No, this had to be a dream. An illusion sent by the faerie to toy with her. Another accidental snowman like Mary. He couldn't be real.
"Knew I... would..." The boy took his first step forward. He sounded like he'd just had a long coughing fit. "Just... had to... set the... bait... Like fish..." He didn't make it to the second step.
"Are you hurt?" Elsa got over being awestruck and ran to the river to help him to his feet.
"Nothing I can't... handle..." he said with a smile. The boy took her outstretched hand and pulled himself up. Elsa nearly flinched at the skin contact. His hand was as cold as the blackened grass she'd made. "I... came a long way, Your Majesty... Heard Arendelle had winter a bit early this year."
Before this moment, Elsa hadn't realized you could make your cheeks hurt from smiling too much. "Are you... like me?"
The boy gave her a smirk that said, "What do you think, genius?" then held out his palm and conjured a second ice-rose.
Elsa laughed. It wasn't the usual kind of laugh you have when you hear something funny. It was pure joy escaping her mouth. She held out her own palm and made an ice-rose of her own. A breath of cold air sent his rose to snuggle up against hers, but that pushed Elsa's out of her hand. It fell and shattered against the frozen river.
"I don't know how to make my ice float like that," she said.
"I can teach you."
Elsa was almost worried for herself. It couldn't be healthy to go from being grief-stricken to feeling like this in the span of seconds.
"Who are you?" she finally asked.
"Daniel," answered the boy. "I'm Daniel."
Elsa beamed. "I'm Elsa."
"Yeah," smirked Daniel with a slight roll of his eyes. "Everyone this side of the Atlantic knows who you are. Most of 'em are terrified of you."
"Well..." Elsa laughed again. "I suppose you haven't made quite as much of a name for yourself?"
"If I freeze a country, I'll be sure to let you know."
"Where did you come from?"
"Really, really far away," said Daniel. "I didn't know where else to go... Came to Arendelle... Saw that little snowstorm just now... Figured it was you."
Elsa frowned. "Do you have a home?"
Daniel's eyes met the ground. "No."
Elsa took his arm. "You do now."
"No." But Daniel pulled out of her grasp. He tried to back away and almost lost his balance again. "No, no, I can't. You don't understand-"
"Daniel, if the people of Arendelle are fine being ruled by a cryomancer, I hardly think they'll-"
But Elsa's voice trailed off as she watched Daniel tumble into the dirt. His hand struck a dry patch of riverbed... and immediately cased it in ice.
Elsa connected the dots, then put her smile back on. "How about we make a deal? You teach me how to make my ice float in the air, and I'll teach you how to not freeze everything you touch."
"Yeah... Yeah, sounds like a plan." Daniel made another unsuccessful attempt to return to his feet.
"Can you walk?" asked Elsa, helping him up again. She glanced at Daniel's chest beneath his loose rags. He made Fritz look buff.
"I can," said Daniel. "When I'm not starving to death."
"Gerda?"
The old maid had been exiting the queen's bedroom with a fuller laundry basket than usual – containing the dress Elsa had worn to the art exhibit – when Elsa approached her from behind.
"Gerda, fix a plate of leftovers from the kitchens and bring it here. Don't tell anybody about this."
Poor Gerda was left scurrying down to the castle kitchens in the middle of the night. She prepared the plate of food with trembling hands. By giving her this plate, Gerda knew she would become an instrument in the queen's demise. But she was powerless to stop the horror. She'd been given direct orders. It was all Gerda could do to keep from bursting into tears.
Queen Elsa's diet was ruined!
Elsa couldn't take her eyes off him. Apparently, there was nothing Daniel could do that didn't fascinate her, be it making pretty flowers from ice or sitting in her bed, messily devouring a chicken leg.
"Feeling better?" Elsa asked from the bedside chair.
"You can't begin to imagine how hungry I was," said Daniel as he licked the last bits of juice off his fingers. "Sorry if I made a mess."
"It's fine." Elsa let out a sigh. "Daniel, I know you're scared, but there's really no reason to keep yourself hidden from the palace staff."
At her words, the plate of food suddenly found itself covered in ice.
"Sorry, sorry," grumbled Daniel, dropping it to the floor. "Happens when I'm upset..."
Elsa picked up the frozen dish for examination. After a brief experiment, she discovered she couldn't thaw another cryomancer's ice with her own magic. "So it doesn't always happen?"
"Only most of the time." Daniel brushed off the crumbs and threw himself over the bedspread. "I'm not quite as powerful as you. I can barely make enough ice to cover this room, let alone all of Arendelle."
"From what I understand, your case is the normal one," said Elsa. "I don't know why my sorcery is so much stronger."
"Strength's never been my forte," said Daniel. "My upper limit's about five hundred roses – I've counted. After that, I crash, as you saw. Problem is, I can't control when I do and don't make the ice, so..."
Elsa looked over him, the slightest hint of sadness creeping into her face. "Daniel, I had control over my ice at first... until... until something bad happened."
Daniel rolled over on the mattress, hiding his face.
"After that, I let myself live in fear, and... I didn't fully accept that I was loved. The day I finally regained control was the day I realized... love willthaw. If you want control, Daniel, you need to open yourself up to-"
"I know that!" Daniel suddenly snapped. "I had love. I just... don't anymore. That's why I came here."
There was silence.
"Well, I hope you find what you're looking for," said Elsa softly.
The silence persisted until the sound of shouting reached them from outside the empty door frame. "Elsa? Elsa, are you up here?"
"That's my sister," said Elsa, rising to her feet. "I'm going to bring her in here. I don't keep secrets from Anna. But you can trust her, alright?"
Daniel's only reply was a small nod.
Anna was expecting a lot of things when she finally found her sister in the bedchambers hallway. Mostly, she was expecting yet another sisterly bout of crying, consoling, and hug-fests. What she was not expecting was for Elsa to almost knock her off her feet with the ferocity of her hug and then declare, her voice overflowing with glee, "Anna! Something incredible's happened!"
"Whoa, that sexist old advisor was right, you are having mood swings- Agh!"
Anna was practically dragged into Elsa's bedroom and plopped before the pale, sickly boy in her bed.
"Um... Hi," said a disoriented Anna.
"This is Daniel." It was a little surreal for Anna to be the calm one in comparison to her bouncy sister. Elsa's voice was literally shaking as she said, "He's a cryomancer!"
"Oh, wow, uh..." Somehow, as she met eyes with him, Anna couldn't bring herself to feel her usual bubbliness. "That's... something."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," said Daniel. "I'd shake your hand, but then it might freeze and fall off."
Anna brought her hand to her temple. Something was... off here, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "What brings you here, uh, Dan?"
"Trying to escape from people trying to kill me," said Daniel flatly.
"He heard about my eternal winter." Elsa moved herself a tad farther from Anna, a tad closer to Daniel. "Daniel came here to be with someone like himself."
"Well, that's... great!" Anna wasn't exactly on the verge of smiling, so she faked it. "Glad to meet you, Dan! Danielle! Danny boy! Um, random question time – How old are you?"
Daniel bowed his head. "I don't know anymore. I was eighteen when I left home, but... it's been so long. I haven't kept track."
"Right, right," nodded Anna. "Where did you say you were from?"
"Far away," said Daniel, scowling. "I'd actually rather not talk about it, if that's alright with you."
Elsa took Anna's arm. "Excuse us for a minute, Daniel. I need to speak to my sister in private."
"I was just gonna say the same thing." She let Elsa lead her out into the hall.
Once they were a good distance from the doorless doorway, Elsa said, "Is something the matter, Anna? You don't seem very... happy about this." The obvious disappointment on her face was almost enough to make Anna apologize on the spot.
"No, no, I'm glad for you, Elsa!" said Anna hurriedly. "Really, I am. This just... came out of nowhere, that's all."
"It's a miracle," nodded Elsa. "It's like he answered my prayers."
"Yeah, that's another thing. Doesn't this seem a little... perfect?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, one minute you're all freaked out because of that Brandr jerk, and you read that book on Dad's desk and get upset-"
"Oh." Elsa's face fell. "You know about that?"
"I... peeked at it after you left," said Anna. "All those people like you who got killed... Look, what I'm trying to say is, right when you're feeling your loneliest, right when you want another person like you, that's when he shows up..."
"Has he done something to earn your distrust?" asked Elsa, pursing her lips.
"Has he done something to earn your trust?" countered Anna. "The guy's a creep! He's all tragic and shiny and soooo sympathetic with everything you've ever been through and he's too perfect! Doesn't it leave you with a bad taste in your mouth?"
"Oh, Anna..." Elsa took her hand. "I see what's happening. Anna, listen to me, just because Hans hurt you doesn't mean-"
"What? This isn't about that!" Anna yanked her hand away.
"Then what is it about?"
"I... err..." Anna failed to meet her eyes. "I've been having dreams about this guy."
Now Elsa was the one with the skeptical eyebrows.
"No, wait, hear me out, Elsa! I've been having these weird dreams for the past few weeks where I'm all like, 'You can do it, too? Wooooooooow, that's amaaaaaaazing! Just wait 'til I tell Elsa!' It took me a while to figure it out, but it's gotta be another cryomancer. And Daniel's another cryomancer! But the dude in my dream was a grown-up when we were kids, and Daniel looks your age, and he said he lived really far away, so how could he be in Arendelle as a kid anyways? It doesn't add up. Something's fishy, right?"
Elsa's expression was unchanged.
"And then she said I have an 'overactive imagination!' Can you believe her?"
Anna paused to give the portrait of the reindeer playing cards a chance to reply.
"Uh huh, uh huh," she nodded. "I know, right? It's totally unfair!"
There was another pause. Then Anna turned to scowl at the dude looking up the lady's dress in The Swing. "Yes, I know at first I thought Hans was dreamy and Kristoff was a creep. That doesn't mean my creep-radar doesn't work right sometimes. I bet beneath his innocent facade, Daniel's a total jerk."
"Sorry about her," said Elsa as she returned to her bedroom. "Anna's an amazing person, but she can be headstrong. And she's... had issues with men lying to her before."
"Don't worry, it's a welcome change from people's usual reaction to me." While she was gone, Daniel had crawled out of bed, and he was now sitting cross-legged before the snowwoman in the corner of the room. "What's this?"
Elsa sighed, then seated herself beside him. "It's a memorial to someone lost during the winter... During my winter..."
You could hear a pin drop.
"It's the worst feeling in the world, isn't it?" Daniel's voice was barely audible. "Once it happens, your life is changed forever. No going back."
Slowly, cautiously, Elsa reached out a hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "You really do understand me?" It was kind of halfway between a question and a statement.
"I killed someone the day I was born." Daniel shut his eyes. "When I came into the world, she didn't even say it hurt. Just complained it was cold. I don't actually remember, of course, but... my dad made sure I never forgot." He gave a very, very bitter laugh.
"Daniel..."
"I had to leave, Elsa." Now his voice was shaking. "I couldn't stay locked in that room forever. But... no matter what I do, I can't stop hurting people." As he spoke, his free hand brushed the ground, casing the snowy carpet with more frost. "But I can't hurt you." He met Elsa's eyes. Now his seemed less jewel-like, more watery. "I searched for so long for someone like me. I don't know how many years I spent alone. Do you know how happy I was when I first saw you?"
"I do, Daniel," said Elsa with a small smile. "Because I feel the same way. You're not alone anymore. You know, I-" She gave a considerably less bitter laugh. "I really wasn't expecting my family to grow so quickly. But I'm glad it is. We'll have your ice under control soon, I promise."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"So you were locked away, too, I take it?" added Elsa.
"Yeah," said Daniel. "Difference is, I wasn't a mysterious princess. Nobody knew or cared who I was. I think my dad forgot I existed most of the time."
"So you were completely alone?"
Daniel bowed his head. "I had my brother. But... when I ran away, I had to leave him."
"Maybe once your powers are under control, we can find him again?"
"He's better off without me."
"Daniel." Elsa released a hand so she could lift his chin up, meeting his eyes. "You can't shut your family out. You'll have to accept that if you ever want control."
At first, he stayed silent. Then, Daniel took a breath and said, "The day I ran away from home-"
"Uh, hi, me again." But it was at this moment that a voice spoke up from the doorway. The cryomancers turned around to see a pigtail-wearing redhead standing there. "I, err, didn't mean to eavesdrop. Sorry," said Anna. "Danny- Daniel, I, uh... might have misjudged you. I think we got off on the wrong foot."
"No, no, you're right not to trust me," said Daniel. "I'm dangerous."
"Well, uh, wanna hug it out?" Anna somewhat awkwardly offered her outstretched arms.
"I can, but I don't think you'll like it very much." Daniel wiggled his fingers and conjured up a little flurry of ice crystals to illustrate his point.
"Oh, yeah, right." Anna drew back, clearing her throat.
"What was that you were saying about the day you ran away?" asked Elsa.
Daniel's eyes flickered towards Anna. "Another time. I think what I need right now is some rest."
"Good idea." Elsa rose to her feet and made for the door. "Oh, but Daniel, I'm going to alert the staff about you. Only the ones I trust. You'll be perfectly safe, I promise. We can get you your own room with guards outside the door and maids waiting on you."
"Wow, I should've come to Arendelle sooner," Daniel chuckled as he crawled into bed.
"Good night, Daniel." And with that, Elsa walked past her sister and down the hallway.
Now Anna and Daniel were left alone.
"Night," said Anna. "Don't let the frostbite bite." When she was met only with silence, she made for the doorway herself. She was about to leave, but then one last question struck her. "So, uh, why did you come to Arendelle, exactly? Why now?"
"I came as soon as I heard," said Daniel from beneath the covers, which were now covered in frost. "I can only go so fast on foot. Trust me, Princess Anna, you've got nothing to worry about from me. I couldn't hurt your sister if I wanted to. As for why I came here..." He rolled over to meet her eyes. "I guess I want what you have."
"Good looks?" smirked Anna.
Daniel smirked back. "Good night."
Anna skipped down the hall feeling considerably reassured. At her bouncy pace, it only took her only a couple seconds to catch up with Elsa.
"Well, now we've got two of you ice-people running around," said Anna. "That's bound to be fun."
"I still can't believe this is really happening," smiled Elsa.
"Sooooooo... when are we planning on telling him about the cryomancer-slayer living next door?"
"Let him rest first."
