AN: Hello everyone! Quick note, I've decided to develop more chapters together, therefore you can expect regular updates for the next few weeks, so hopefully you will enjoy more this new approach. Please let me know if there's anything you notice, some mistakes, anything, as I will try my best to promptly fix it. And again, finally, a huge thank you to all of you, cannot express how much I'm glad to share this story of mine with you guys.
In the last chapter
"And who exactly appeared, do you care to explain?" She breathed almost in his face. He could see her nostrils dilatating.
Wait what? She hasn't… she hasn't seen her! The siren, or the woman, I don't…
"Well?" She pressed on.
Oh boy, this is going to be fun.
"Look" he said, finding back some of his old sassy tone before pausing.
Yeah. I'm just gonna say there was a magic woman that shoot ice out of her hands that distracted me from finding a safe place away from the explosion.
"There was a magic woman that shoot ice out of her hands and distracted me from finding a safe place away from the explosion." He smiled like a retard.
Why do I do things!?
"You… there… WHAT!?" She was definitely surprised. He kept the smile up.
Chapter 7 – The hunt
"What if it is her?" Hiccup asked excited, slightly muffled behind the padding of the black mask and heavy clothes.
"What?" Astrid answered absently as they were getting ready to leave.
Ducking underneath toothless' neck the young chief made his way to the blonde girl saddling the Nadder. "What if it's all her?" He asked once more, while tilting his mask up as he looked for her reaction.
She snorted, not really paying attention, so he gently grabbed her hand. "Hey!". Reluctantly, she gave up getting ready and huffed, annoyed. But it worked, for now he got her attention, after a roll of her eyes.
"Hiccup…" She started, trying to avoid eye contact, and gently placed the saddle over the Nadder before turning to the young Viking. "It's one thing to somehow… give the impression of shooting ice, but creating a permanent winter? This magnitude? Come on Hiccup, I mean… It can't be her, or whatever you saw". She said, biting nervously her fingernails.
"Yeah, yeah I know" He tried to dismiss it quickly "But we can't ignore that possibility either"
He was met with silence.
"And besides, if it is her causing all this then we can just convince her to stop!" He half joked with the young girl.
She smiled. "Sometimes you do remind me of the little boy I knew. The very same one that when was supposed to go fishing ended up hunting for trolls" She was met with a little smirk poorly concealing an expression of faked disdain.
"Uh excuse you, and who told you that, exactly?" He questioned her playfully.
"I have my sources" She winked. Their eyes met for a moment, they started to close the gap when the two dragons joined happily into the conversation, trotting in between the two of them.
"Hey bud, you ready?" He smiled while petting his scaly friend. Astrid on the other side was mirroring him with the Nadder, although for a moment Hiccup thought to have seen something he couldn't quit place in Astrid's eyes.
He looked up to the now clear sky, uncertain about the weather. "You think it will hold?".
"Mmm let's hope so" Was the short answer, as Astrid was nose up as well. So far it seemed that the snow had stopped falling, yet it was still rather chill, though for them wasn't too different from any particular winter. Only it was summer.
"Blargh!" All of a sudden, he had snow all over his face. in an instant he identified the culprit in Toothless, who, unaware of the damage, was raising a lot of snow on all sides with his tail, having fun gleefully.
"Seriously?" He tried to scold him, but he couldn't even keep a straight face. A giggle made him look up and he found himself looking at blue eyes and lips smiling at his misadventures.
Hiccup simply smiled back and with a shrug of his shoulders made her understand that for some things there was no hope at all.
Both mounted on their respective dragon with a smile and quickly reached the others, just a few paces away. With a look he made sure they were ready to go.
"All right guys, as we have discussed, each has its area to cover, we'll meet here by midday. If you see any Hunter's ship or anything, do not engage, all right?" He looked at each one of them until he was satisfied.
"Just report to me first" He reinforced the point, eyeing the twins and Snotlout in particular.
"Hiccup" a soft voice called him once more. He had to turn his neck to see the blonde girl that was following him on Stormfly. She seemed lost in thoughts for a moment.
"If it is her that is causing this winter… We can't be sure that she is good, you know?".
We're almost there, almost there, one more step, just one.
Elsa looked around anxiously during her mad dash. Nothing she saw seemed familiar, her tired and aching feet were screaming at her, begging her to stop, her arms, sore from the earlier struggle, along with the extensive use of her power were beginning to take a toll.
Her breathing became heavy and labored. Her running steps ultimately became slow and irregular, until she could only drag her feet in the heavy snow.
She stopped and leaned with her elbow onto a tree, the other arm resting on her aching side. The snow all around her seemed to muffle any sound. The labored air was coming out of her mouth and dissolving into a small white cloud, it must have become very cold, but that was the least of her problems. Looking up she realized with discomfort that she was lost, surrounded by trees, she had lost all reference. how long have I been out here? she suddenly found herself wondering.
She took a first step after her pause but found her leg collapsing in front of her, stiff as a piece of wood. She slowed her fall with a hand resting on the soft snow, immediately sinking in it. Pulling it up she realized the presence of multiple cuts and slashes all over the back of her hand, she had not even noticed them, but now that she saw them, she could not look away. She felt a tear fall down her face, she didn't even try to wipe it away, she let it run down her chin until it fell to the snow beneath her.
What do I do now?
She wanted to give up but her greatest fear was closing her eyes knowing that she would see those creatures again. Those things, whatever they were, she had seen them once before, like a nightmare that suddenly turns into reality.
Suddenly she seemed to recall something as blue eyes widened in surprise. And it was. It was a nightmare the last time she saw them. Or she was dreaming right now. She wasn't completely sure, she had only shadows and snippets of memory that was able to recall, yet it was enough to send shivers down her spine.
Shadows of winged creatures, and a child perhaps. No, it couldn't be.
There were more details but at the moment she couldn't, or didn't want to, remember them.
What do I do now?
The more she stood still, the more tiredness overwhelmed her, crushing her down like an avalanche. She realized that her own magic was draining her strength. The wall of fog and snow always present around her felt heavy, she was no longer able to conceal herself. With a single thought of her mind all around her the fog dissipated in an instant, and for a moment, even the temperature seemed to rise. Yet the spotless snow all around her remained. She reached for a tiny patch of land under a tree that was not yet covered. Tired as ever, she turned her eyes to the sky, realizing only after several seconds that she was looking at a wonderful starry sky and, for a moment, her thoughts wandered to Anna. Elsa closed her eyes for a single second.
Birds chirping all around her.
A pleasant breeze caressed her face, but she still didn't find the strength to open her eyes, in fact it felt so good there. Closing her eyes even more, the Snow Queen tried to relax despite a remote voice in her head screaming at the top of its lungs.
Five more minutes... she thought to herself. A rustle of leaves hitting her face partially awakened her, but not enough to rouse her from her drowsiness. She almost subconsciously raised a hand to scratch her cheek for the itch, and there she realized that her arm was hurting. Regaining contact with her body she discovered that she was largely in pain. Only then did she open her eyes wide. The dark and scary forest of the previous night gave way to a white forest full of life and sounds, with the light of a pale sun caressing her face along with the cool breeze of the early morning. She jumped up suddenly realizing with fright that she had slept throughout the night.
A rumbling from her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten in at least two days, and the unbridled use of her magic was leaving a toll on her. As frightening as it might have seemed the Snow Queen tried to recall all the memories of the past evening.
She run. Run from her sister, her house, her only family. They knew about her… Her hearth sunk. The long-kept secret was now out in the open. And the creatures she saw yesterday… again a shiver went down her spine.
A noise high above her caught her attention, instinctively she crouched low and reached for the cover of a tree and hid amongst the lowest branches. Focusing back above her, peering through the branches deep blue eyes scanned the skies but couldn't see anything. Yet, she remained cautious.
She had to warn them, she had to go back to Arendelle, they depended on her! She couldn't let them down, not again. She looked at her hands in shame and disgust, but I can't. I can't go back, not now, not ever. She remained true to her choice to run. She felt something warm trickle down her chick. I didn't know I had more tears left. She smiled at that thought, before another one entered her mind, and wiped the smile.
They are not after the people of Arendelle
And there it was. She wanted to cry her heart out. Home was no longer an option, and apparently neither was living in this world peacefully, hidden God knows where. Flashes of her dream taunted her. Perhaps the cruelest twist was the glimpse of happiness that she felt she could savor even if only for a moment, before the end. She closed her eyes, trying to recall the little figure, but it was long gone, the outlines were confused and distorted, not even a shadow in her memory.
She waited under the covers of the tree for hours. Nothing happened.
Her dress became entangled in the multiple twigs that seemed to stick to it like glue. With a quick flick of her wrist, she immediately changed her dress into a more comfortable, ice blue, long sleeve top and a pair of improvised pants though she still laced them with an elegant pattern all around. She still had standards.
Oh Anna... Green eyes invaded her thoughts, what would her sister think of this, of her? The mere thought of Anna was enough to give Elsa enough strength to move from her hideout. She looked around, nothing seemed to be sending her warning signals. Feeling a bit safer she moved around, trying to figure out what to do. She remembered walking with her dad a couple of times in the forest, never too far, and mostly following him around while he was giving her various tips about the forest. His dad managed to sneak her out of the castle from time to time without being noticed, and she always followed him gladly, happy to leave her home, If only for a few hours.
Remembering his lessons in the wild, she hiked to the nearest high point to have a clear view of the surrounding area. Once up there, with a bit of effort, she observed the position of the moss on the trees and tried to assume the direction of the North. Turning her gaze towards what she believed to be the north she recognized the mountain range her father used to tell her about. The shapes of the peaks coincided with his stories. How many adventures, and how often she dreamed of being there with him, to retrace them. Who knew if she would ever go to the land of the Northuldra she wondered, bringing back the happy memory.
Finally, remembering a brief mention of a small trading post near one of the slopes, she began to scan the horizon in several directions until in the distance she seemed to notice a thin line of smoke rising into the sky. On the run or not, she still needed something to eat, and this was her best bet at the moment.
Once up in the air everything seemed easier to do. Taking in all the beauty of the land he looked for anything unusual both on and above ground. Yet nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. A couple of times they lowered their altitude, even land in a couple of spots and use the Nadder's tracking ability to trace their fugitive, yet the storm must have erased all traces of scent, for nothing was catching Stormfly's attention.
Even Hiccup, when on ground, couldn't see any trace of human passage anywhere, and the snow all covering the ground deleted any remaining trace if there were any to begin with. The most obvious thing to look now was for footprints in the snow itself, but so far, they all came empty handed.
As he looked around, Astrid's words kept ringing in his head. We can't be sure that she's good. Do I? Do I really give everything for granted? He asked himself. No, he decided, he wouldn't take any chances. Yet there was something that bugged him about that woman, something he couldn't place. He had to talk to her, of that, he was sure. He had to try at least.
Well, Astrid isn't gonna like that too much. Yep, classic Viking, strike first and ask questions later. He smiled thinking about her blonde friend. But what if there's more to the story? I need to know everything about her.
For once Hiccup was excited at the prospect of unraveling this mystery.
"Fish for your thoughts?" Someone half joked, as he smiled to the voice.
"Hey Astrid, didn't see you there" He watched her and she smiled back, pulling a lock of hair away from her face.
"You are quite distracted lately". She said light hearted. "You haven't even been paying attention to Toothless" She scolded him, pointing at the Fury. As if on cue the dragon pushed lightly his rider, as to make his point.
"I know bud, I know" He began to pet his dragon before inevitably being covered in saliva moments later. "Aww you know that's just gross" He tried to shake off his companion and related drool when a laugh made him look up.
As he watched blue eyes staring at him, he turned serious for a moment. "Haven't seen you like that in a while".
"Like what?" She inquired, and raised an eyebrow when hiccup took his time to answer.
"Laughing" He simply confessed. Both gazed intensly at one another.
"I know" She agreed, with a hint of sadness. "But I'm sure when all this is over it will be just like before, I'm sure" She declared with confidence, as she turned to the Nadder.
"Astrid… one more thing" He considered how to phrase it. "We are going to need to talk to this woman, trying to figure out what is going on here" Immediately she wrinkled her nose in disapproval. Hiccup figured out that if Astrid could growl, she would be doing it right now.
"Astrid come on! This could be something incredible, completely unheard of" There was a glint in his eyes while he spoke, yet the enthusiasm he had, was not shared.
"Hiccup…" She admonished him.
"How can you not understand, we have never seen anything like this, we need to know more." He moved closer to her and kept talking. "What do we know until now? That there is this girl, this woman who is able to do things..." He started counting the info they had on his fingers until Astrid abruptly shoved them away.
"Hiccup that's enough!" She was scared, she could not hold back the fear growing in her voice. "If it is her doing all this… then she could be far more destructive and powerful than what we could know"
"That's why we need to understand her, study it!"
"She's not one of your stupid dragons!" She yelled sharply, before a surreal silence fell over the forest, and the last echo of her voice died away. They both remained quiet, looking into each other.
More moments passed before Astrid spoke softly.
"Hiccup, I don't want to lose you to something we do not understand".
"You are right, she is not some dragon to study" he tried to bridge the gap, agreeing with her, yet he had to make his point. Her words still echoed in his ears, hurting him. He didn't show it.
"But I know she's not evil"
"She attacked you"
"She was scared, I could see it in her eyes" Blue eyes kept glaring at him. He held the gaze.
"You do your thing Hiccup, but if that doesn't work, I will do mine" She coldly stated, before taking off with Stormfly, leaving Hiccup behind.
It was almost around midday when Fishlegs signaled for hiccup to come close. Seeing that, he prompted the Night Fury to glide next to the rocky dragon and his rider, and in a couple of wing beats the two of them were soaring in close formation.
"Fishlegs, What's up?"
"Hiccup! I saw smoke coming up from the trees, 10 minutes in that direction" He pointed towards the mountain. Without wasting any time, He darted immediately in that direction, and motioned for Fishlegs to gather the others.