It was in Elsa's nature to worry. Even the constant reassurance of everyone she cared for did not change that –she left no room for doubt on this matter as she walked with her sister through the royal gardens, feeling quite somber even on this glorious sunny day!
"By ship, Anna?! Really! Is there no other way?" the spirit wrung her hands together, a nervous habit she barely had to rely on these days.
"Elsa, how else I am going to get to Corona? I don't have a water horse that carries me over the ocean and this meeting is important for Arendelle! It could mean great trade possibilities and an alliance in case of trouble. You know! Good stuff!" Anna tried to ease her mind, giving Elsa's shoulder gentle squeeze.
"You still travel by ship, Anna. By. Ship. Anna!" Elsa said the very clear and punctuated in case Anna did not understand them.
'BY SHIP! How can she be so relaxed?'
"I know, I know, believe me. And I would be lying if it did not make me a little anxious too but it needs to be done. And we have the best captain and crew you could wish for. It's going to be just fine." Elsa looked at her sister, saw the determination in her eyes and knew she fought a lost battle. She let out a deep sigh and wrung her hands tighter together.
"Can I ask Gale and Nokk to look out for you while you at sea? Gael could bring messages from you every day. I go insane if I don't know what is going on when you and Kristoff are out there!" At first, Elsa had thought that Anna would refuse but the loving hug she received told her differently.
"Thanks. That actually makes me feel safer and it will be nice to hear from you too." There was genuine relief in Anna's voice and Elsa held on tight, thankful that out of all humans this one got to be her sister.
"So, now that we get that out of the way." Anna said, wiping a tear of her face.
"You really helped with the birth of a reindeer?"
"Yes." Elsa answered, not without pride.
"And you called the poor guy Jorgenbjorgen? Really?" Anna asked, raising one eyebrow at her sister.
"Sir Jorgenbjorgen!"
"You are such a dork!"
Two weeks later Elsa had returned to Arendelle, wishing Anna and Kristoff save travel, standing at the peer until the ship, that carried two of the most important people in her life with it, was out of sight, lost on the far horizon. Nokk and Gale had agreed to travel with the queen and her fiancé, the proud water spirit reassuring Elsa with a soft nudge of her snout that everything would go well, and Gale promising to bring one letter each day back to the forest. Elsa thanked them profoundly. She knew it was a lot of effort for them but there had been more than willing to help.
With Nokk gone Maren had borrowed her Vakker, her faithful reindeer, for the trip to Arendelle and back. Like her rider, Vakker was a delightful travel-companion – strong, untiring and for an animal of her size surprisingly swift, the powerful deer had a save step on any terrain, always mindful of her load. Even an inexperienced rider could feel confident on Vakker, no wonder that Maren liked to teach the more fearful children how to ride on the nearly black reindeer. She was calm, considerate and simply a sweetheart in general.
'Well, like rider, like reindeer?' Elsa had to smile at that thought and with a soft push in Vakker's sides, she let the reindeer run faster. It was not like riding Nokk, not as smooth or powerful but when it came to endurance this deer could give the water spirit a run for her money and soon the forest came into view, still some distance away as they stopped for the night, but they would reach home by noon tomorrow.
As Elsa lay with her back at Vakker's warm side, while the good-natured animal munched happily on some carrots the snow queen brought along for her, and a small fire burning brightly warming them both, the young woman wondered when exactly she started to think of the camp as 'home'.
In the early morning, Gale had found Elsa and Vakker still on the ride to the Northuldra-camp with Anna's first letter in tow. The queen assured her that everything was completely fine; Kristoff was taking well to sea life, while her sister herself had the seasickness but that was nothing to be worried about, she left no doubt about that. The crew had made her an old home-brewed remedy that had helped a lot already and the weather was an absolute dream for sea travel.
Elsa felt relive wash over her – all was fine….right?
'I mean Nokk and Gale are with her and these two will not let Anna drown, no matter what happens. Right? But what if…'
As she had predicted they reached the camp around noon. Like Maren had shown her she rubbed Vakker dry with some hey, brushed her fur and gave her water and food. All the while reindeer was very sweet, even for her high standard. She nibbled at Elsa's simple travel gown and was extraordinary cuddly, like she wanted to comfort the young woman, distract her from her worries.
"I am fine Vakker. Off you go! Tell Sir Jorgenbjorgen that I visit him soon!" and with a happy grunt the big animal trotted off to the herd.
With the desire to freshen up and to feed and water herself she heads straight for her goahti. Some of the tribe greeted her casually as Elsa walked by and she returned the greeting, still marveling at the fact how normal she felt here.
To her surprise it was warm in her hut, someone had been here and heated it a little with a small fire that was distinguished now but the warmth had remained. It also looked like someone had cleaned up – everything was dust free and her bedding was fresh. Water to wash, a bowl with tasty looking stew and a steaming cup of tea waited for her. Bruni laid sleeping next to the bowl and cup, keeping it tempered.
The stew was defiantly from Ryder, she recognized the smell immediately and her mouth watered a little - the young man was a good cook. The cup belonged to Venling - Linga had added a beautiful reindeer pattern to it and as she took a sip she tasted Venling's special family brew Elsa loved so.
And she knew that Maren would have been thoughtful and kind enough to brush off the dust, bring her freshwater and warm up her goahti, after she had been gone for five days. Elsa felt her heart melt a little. What had she done to deserve such kindness? What was the reason for all this?
After she washed up, changed clothes and had lunch very quietly, so the still sleeping Bruni would not be disturbed, she heads outside, running right into one of her benefactors.
"Elsa! Your back!" strong arms hugged her tight, lifting her up. She did not have to see Ryder know it was him.
"Good to see you Ryder!" Elsa said a little breathless after he had put her down on the ground again.
"Thank you for the stew. It was great."
"Hey, no problem. So, how was it? The weather was ok when they left right?" Ryder's blue eyes, so unusual for a Northuldra, showed compassion and worry…for Anna and Kristoff, yes, but there was more to it. The way his hand touched her shoulder and the attentive way he offered to go and check on Sir Jorgenbjorgen….she could not quite pit point it what it was.
Only after they had spent a delightful afternoon with the sweet reindeer calf and returned to dinner, prepared by Venling and Alvor consisting of her favorite soup and that delightful flatbread it hit her like a rock thrown by one of the Earth Giants. Her friends were trying to offer something so simple that Elsa had not understood it right away – comfort!
'Of course! They all know how my parents died. And now they want to make sure I feel fine while Anna is traveling by ship.'
Yelena was in the middle of telling her that, when she had been a young girl, she had seen Nokk tame a wave nearly as big as highest tower of Arendelle castle, clearly trying to put her mind at ease by pointing out the power of her fellow spirit, as Elsa fell in love with her tribe all over again.
The next days of Anna's and Kristoff's trip where a totally new experience for Elsa - never in her life she had so many people to take care of her, to ease the load of her worries and fears. Combined with the reassuring letters Gael brought in every morning Elsa's concerns fought a losing battle.
Ryder barely left her side, offering easy companionship, making her laugh when he talked for every reindeer they came across, reminding Elsa so much of her future brother-in-law, telling her of his and Maren's misadventures as kids, well mostly his misadventures and Maren's desperate attempt to help him – she nearly snort-laughed at the tale of little Ryder, who over-eager to help Rue drenched the poor old woman and himself in wild-garlic sud, a great remedy for an upset stomach but also very odorous.
"Our parents were so embarrassed but Rue was great. You know her! She just laughed and said she could scare the Earth Giants away just by standing close to them. And Maren…well she pretty much saved me hearing 'here comes Ry, hold your breath or you will die' for the rest of my life!" he told her as they sat on a beautiful clearing, basking in the sun, both taking full advantage that they had not much to do today.
"Awww, you poor thing." Elsa said, only half teasing while patting his shoulder.
"Yeah, kids can be brutal. But it really helps to have a big sister that can pummel the older kids into the ground even when she was only eight! That shuts everyone up." There was pride and love in Ryder's voice, and Elsa felt the familiar pressure in her chest turn somewhat tender as she imagined a young Maren, standing bravely before an even younger Ryder, arms crossed over her chest, starring everyone down who dared to make fun of her brother.
"Sounds like she has not changed much since then." Elsa said smiling; fiddling with a strand of her hair, gaze turned inwards on something only she could see. "Yeah. Well, her teenage years where kind of…..wild …" Ryder trailed off, turning his head a little to look at Elsa, wanting to add more, but the soft expression of the spirit stopped him. The former queen was clearly not listening anymore, missing the knowing, yet kind smile that appeared on the young man's face.
"Who was kind of wild?" a voice close behind them casually asked, making both jump.
'Damn the Northuldra and their ability to sneak up on you like cats.'
"By the spirits, Maren! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Huh…." Ryder scolded is sister, one hand on his chest.
"You need to pay more attention to your surroundings. Heads up, little brother!" Maren playfully hit him on the shoulder, starting a pretend fight that Ryder enthusiastically joined and suddenly Elsa could nearly see the children their once had been, goofing around and getting into trouble –what had the bold warrior looked like when she was a little girl? She made a note to herself to ask Ahtohallan for a peek at her next visit.
The Nattura sister joined them as often as she could (sadly it was not as much Elsa would have liked) but the north-west border still occupied much of her time and strength – which was a little strange. Had she not overheard whispered conversation between Alvor and Fara yesterday that the repairs on the outposts were finished, so why had the warriors still such a tight schedule? Elsa felt still a little guilty for eavesdropping like this but it was kind of inevitable. She had needed Alvor's professional advice, so she had gone to her goahti and found Fara and her talking. Elsa had not really listened but before she had made her presence know she had heard Fara whisper 'were done at the border but..'. Elsa's knock had interrupted the tall warrior.
Maren chose this moment to end her little play fight, laid one arm around her brother's shoulder and the other one around the snow queen's, hugging them close, in a casual manner.
"So, what have you two been up to?" Even if Elsa had remembered to ask Maren anything at all she would have not trusted her voice at that moment. Instead, they told her how much Sir Jorgenbjorgen had grown, spending the rest of the day lazing around in the warm sun, talking and weaving flowers into each other's hair – a skill Ryder had perfected to a degree that Elsa thought impossible for someone with such short hair.
When brother and sister could not be there, the presence of Venling, Iloh, Alvor or Flippan would cover her like a warm blanket. Even Aru pitched in once, not only surprising the snow queen how well the two could fill the hours as Elsa clumsily helped the tailor with his work.
Rue, knowing how much Elsa enjoyed learning about herbs and healing plants, made room for their private lesson-walks through the forest so often Elsa was sure she was neglecting some of her duties as a healer.
Yelena had started to research interesting facts of Elsa's lost family line, revealing in rapid succession interesting details of long lost relatives, even going so far to teach the snow queen to read the Northuldra runes, something Elsa did with relish. She always loved learning something new and the company of Yelena was certainly a win. The leader of the Northuldra was a no-nonsense person but welcoming and gifted with the driest humor Elsa had ever come across. Like Maren, Yelena was a good and patient teacher and had the ability to correct you without making you feel insufficient.
'I bet Maren learned that from her.'
Linga and her now constant companion Gelwa, ate breakfast with her every morning, while Linga would tell her what they had planned for the day, sometimes pulling Elsa along and often joined by Bruni who seemed to have grown very fond of the two girls – especially Linga. It was heartening for Elsa to see how much the serious and closed of Gelwa came alive around the little artist, still leaving most of the talking to the smaller girl but smiling and even laughing in a way that let her beautiful light-brown eyes shine like ambers in the sun.
It was on the way home of one of these excursions with the two girls - all three fully packed with berries, roots, and flowers Linga could make her colors with – that Elsa spotted a very tired looking Vakker, greedily drinking out of a hastily placed bucket. The poor animal was still gleaming with sweat, making her fur appear even darker than it already was, her legs shaking. Where was Honeymaren? She would never leave Vakker like this. And why would she push the reindeer so hard?
Maren loved that deer; she would never do that without a very good reason! Elsa looked around, searching for Maren, the faint sting of panic rising in her throat. Had something happened to the warrior? Was she in the healing hut, so hurt that she was unable to care for Vakker? But before Elsa's thoughts could spiral more out of control she saw Maren come out of Yelena's goahti, unhurt but looking just as tired as her reindeer. There was a worried expression on Maren's face – at least Elsa thought so, the warrior was a little distance away from her, so it was hard to tell.
Maren had spotted the snow queen, her usual smile returning, honest and bright as she waved before she made her way to Vakker, finally giving her the proper care. Elsa's racing heart had calmed somewhat but there was still something wrong and without thinking Elsa's feet carried her in the direction of the smaller woman, determent to help the other – only for Linga's very loud call to stop her dead in her tracks, make her turn, only to see about ten more children followed the two girls, begging Elsa to let the tiny snow-reindeers appear again, an all-time favorite of the young ones. As Elsa turned around again Maren and Vakker had vanished. Still packed with a diverse mix of wood plants she let herself be dragged off by the mob of children. She would find Maren as soon as possible and talk to her.
Elsa had to learn that 'soon 'could be a very flexible word, for Maren seemed to be even busier than the past days, always on the move, leaving camp at the crack of dawn and returning long after everyone slept, sometimes not at all. The view times Elsa saw the warrior talking to an equally busy Yelena only reinforced her suspicion that something serious was going on! The look on Maren's face, though well-controlled, was very telling.
To make things even tenser for Elsa Gael had brought the message that the royal ship was on its way back to Arendelle after a successful diplomatic visit - that meant one week before Anna and Kristoff would be on save land again. It was in Elsa's nature to worry and she would be lying if she said that she was totally relaxed knowing her sister was sitting on one of this orphan-makers, but everything had gone smoothly so far, that the snow queen decided to trust Nokk, Gale and the praised captain and his crew Anna had picked – they made it to Corona safely they can make it back. Maren and her strange behavior were a more pressing matter.
'Relax. It has not to mean anything bad. Right? But by Ahtohallan, why was it so hard to get hold of that woman!'
In the end, it was Maren that came to her.
Nearly a week later, in the middle of the night, Elsa laid on her bed, tired of long, busy day calming the Earth Giants who started to miss Nokk and Gael. She hearkens for any sound outside, hoping to hear Maren's arrival back at camp, nearly losing her battle against the drowsiness but a light knock on the outside of her goahti startled her back into wakefulness. There was a shadow at the entrance and for a mere second, Elsa felt threaten, reading her magic to defend herself.
"Elsa?"
"Maren?" The former queen would recognize the way Honeymaren said her name everywhere, not to mention the pleasing tingle it sends down her spine.
Quickly the spirit got to her feet, mentally patting herself on the back for not changing into her nightgown and stepped outside. There she was, a tired-looking Maren, a slim basket but over one shoulder, an excited smile gracing her lips, her eyes gleaming with something that Elsa could not quite name. All thoughts of a serious heart to heart with Maren, melted away as she met the warriors gaze, causing her breath to hitch in her throat, the pressure in her chest returned full force, making a clear statement to Elsa how much the presence of Maren had been missed.
"Come. I want to show you something!" Maren whispered, reached out her free hand for Elsa to hold and without thinking the spirit took it, let herself be dragged out of camp, quickly leaving the familiar huts behind, vanishing into the forest. A soft whistle from Maren was enough to call Vakker. With practiced ease she mounted the reindeer, pulling Elsa behind her like she weighed nothing, making her trusted stead go at a quick pace. They didn't go too far, Vakker skillfully wriggling through the trees until they reached a very small clearing with a big rock in the middle.
"You are going to love this!" Maren whispered, jumped of Vakker, stopping at the tree-line, her eyes still gleaming in that odd, yet enticing way. The warrior beckoned Elsa to come to her, offering her hand like before, and the snow queen found her feet walk on her own again, holding on to the hand, surprising herself how much she trusted this woman.
"Come. Carful like I showed you!" the warrior spoke, her front turned to Elsa so Maren had to walk backward as they stepped out on the clearing.
To say a Northuldra were god at sneaking would have been the understatement of the century. If they wanted to they could literally disappear, like there had never been there, to begin with, so fast and silent that Elsa was sure that they had to be some kind of magic involved. But as Maren started teaching her, the snow queen discovered that it was a skill that could be learned and not something you are born with. It was not easy and not needed anymore to avoid angry spirits that could squash you like a bug, burn you alive, drown you or steal the air out of your lungs when you came to close but it still came in handy with predators like wolves or bears.
Elsa had become quite good at it, well at least for someone who learned it in her twenties. But she must be doing well enough because Maren's smile did not falter as she witnessed her performance.
"Someone has been practicing." the warrior complemented quietly.
"I had a good teacher." Maren's smile widened at that, her eyes laughing.
"Oh, I bet she is great. Wait here and don't move." To see the normally so composed Maren nearly jumping with childlike excitement as she vanished into the high grass, barley moving it, was contagious and Elsa had trouble to do as she was told.
Elsa waited, enjoying the tingle of the high grass on her hands.
One minute, two minutes passed.
'What is she doing? Is she…Oh!' Elsa forgot how to breathe, her eyes wide in astonishment as she saw little lights rising up of the grass, first just one, then two, then a hundred and they got more by the second as something, or rather someone rushed through the grass, waking the lights while circling the spirit so Elsa found herself surrounded in a beautiful ring of glowing orbs.
'Fireflies!' was all she could think before Maren appeared next to her, eyes gleaming with a playful challenge Elsa could only accept. Both took off, this time not bothering to step lightly as they chased each other, laughing and crossing paths to form new patterns with the gleaming trace they left behind. Their wild game stopped on top of the rock with both looking down, judging the patterns while still breathing heavily.
"Awww….I like…. this one. Looks like a rabbit." Maren pointed at one close to the tree-line
"Mmmhh, when …..you tilt your head a bit it looks more like ….Ryder as he got stuck headfirst in the big pot ….by the healing hut." Elsa added, hands on her sides, leaning her head to the right, barely containing her giggle. Maren mimicked the movement, squinting her eyes. "By the spirits, your right!" Maren didn't bother to hide her laughter and Elsa let herself join in – it was so easy to be playful with Maren.
"Ryder and I loved it here when we were kids. We still do actually. We always thought that the stars must look like this." Maren said, somewhat shy revealing a silly childhood fantasy, but her smile never left her face, clearly remembering the time she spent here fondly.
"It's beautiful here. Thank you!"
"For what?" brown eyes looked at Elsa, and the snow queen felt warmth spread in her chest.
"For showing me this place." Maren's eyes were smiling at her.
"Your welcome!" the warrior said, giving the spirit a friendly shove with her shoulder in typical Maren fashion.
"You know, it is also a great place to be alone, to think or to relax. Not much Northuldra know about it. Just my brother, Rue and I, so….if you ever wanted to have a moment of quiet and you don't want to go all the way to Ahtohallan…." Maren made an inviting gesture to the clearing, and the familiar pressure in Elsa's chest got stronger.
'How can one woman be so sweet!'
"You mean so I can sulk and worry because Anna and Kristoff are at sea in private?" she raised an eyebrow and smiled, hiding how touched she was that Maren would share such a special place with her – a refuge if her introverted nature needed a break.
"Well….yes."
Elsa had to laugh at that, surprising herself how ungraded it sounded.
"Thank you but its fine!"
"Really?" Maren asked her, her eyes suddenly very serious, searching Elsa's for any signs of discomfort.
"Yes. It was a nice change to have so many taking care of me." The spirit offered, meeting the other woman's intense gaze, trying to convey that she really meant it. They stood like this, looking into each other's eyes for a moment too long to remain on purely platonic ground until Maren seemed to have found what she had been looking for.
"It's good that you let people help you then."
"What about you? Do you let people help you?" Elsa asked gently, sitting down at the edge of the rock, inviting Maren to join her, breathing in the clear night air.
"What do you mean?" there was confusion in the warriors voice but she sat down next to Elsa regardless. The snow queen turned to the other woman
"What are you doing exactly at the border? The repairs are finished, so why are you gone so often? Is something wrong?" The nearly shocked look on Maren's face told Elsa that she had caught her totally by surprise, but the warrior recovered quickly. Suddenly the kind Maren that she had gotten to know so well was gone, replaced by someone stoic and strong, a strict leader demanding an explanation, reminding Elsa for a spilt second of the unyielding Yelena.
"Who told you that?"
"I overheard Fara talk to Alvor. Accidently!" Elsa added quickly as Maren turned her head sharply, eyebrows nearly vanishing behind her bangs.
"I wanted to ask Alvor something and well.."
"Fara was not supposed to talk with anyone about this. Including Alvor!" Mare spoke, her voice unusually hard, rising quickly to her feet again, her body tens with carefully contained anger.
"She is her wife Maren."
Elsa nearly flinched as brown eyes, deprived of their usual warmth and patience, bore into her but she held her ground. For anyone else Maren would looked intimidating, threatening even, but for Elsa, it was just another confirmation that something was amiss –not to mention that this more forceful side of the smaller woman had something oddly enticing to it.
'Ok… we do not think about that when she needs help!' Elsa scolded herself as she successfully fought a hot blush.
"Maybe I could help." She offered, trying to put as much honesty into her words as she could while still holding this ridiculous intense stare, not backing down. At that Maren's whole demeanor softened again as she sat back next to Elsa, arms on her knees, a deep, exhausted sigh escaping her. There was a silence Elsa knew she should not break.
'Give her time.'
Elsa's intuition seemed to know yet again what the best course of action was.
"Someone has been crossing our north-west border frequently for that last twelve days. Yelena thinks that it could be patrols from other tribes that live further in that direction or from some adventures from other kingdoms close by who are simply curious now that the mist is gone. But we can't be sure. Whoever it was, did not go far into our territory, I made sure of that!" Maren quickly reassured her and Elsa knew that the warrior must have had nearly searched the whole forest for any signs that someone foreign had been roaming it. No wonder she was barely at camp.
"But they have been watching our progress on the outposts or watching us more likely. To see how strong we are or what 34 years of isolation did to us. We don't know it yet."
Ü"Are the other tribes dangerous? Yelena said that they are on good terms with the Northuldra." Elsa remembered the practically talk with tribe leader well at one of her rune-lessons – the spirit had been absolutely fascinated that even further up in the mountains whole tribes managed to forge a life in this rough land.
"Yes and that makes it so concerning that, if it's them, they don't greet us openly but choose to sneak around like this. Maybe there are just careful, maybe there are planning an attack or anything in between. A lot can change in 34 years."
"But why did Yelena did not want you to tell anyone? You right, it's concerning but I think the tribe handled much worse. Why the big secret? "
"We have to move the tribe soon." Was all Maren said and everything about the warrior, from her posture to the little wrinkle between her eyes, showed distress.
Elsa didn't understand at first. What was wrong with moving the tribe? Most of her friends were pretty excited about it as far as Elsa knew. Especially Alvor and Iloh had nearly swooned about the hot springs there; the water had a healing effect and would be great for the still sick Ven to bathe in. Flippan already planned to build the resting-lavvu for the fragile old mean close to the spring so the soothing steam could ease the breathing permanently. Gelwa would love this and the spot the tribe used around this time of year was not far too. Only a little further north-west…
"Oh." Elsa understood.
"I know. To move to the healing springs is a risky move for all when trouble could be literally at our border. The spot is to close, too hard to defend, not a good choice. But…" "But here is also to close, we have to move further away." Elsa's chest tightened with sadness. It was very unlikely that Ven survived a long trip, even when going slow. And the nights would be soon growing cold again; the hot springs would have helped a great deal with that.
"Poor Gelwa." It broke Elsa's heart. The little girl had opened up so much now that she had become friends with Linga – to lose Ven, the last of her family left alive would be devastating for her.
"Exactly! Right now Yelena is stuck between a cruel choice and a foolish one. She hoped that whoever is tiptoeing around our border would have sought us out by now but no such luck. Yelena wanted us to stay quite so Gelwa would not hear about by accident and she could think of something else. She wants to spare the girl at least one traumatic experience in her life." The look on Maren's face told Elsa that she wanted the same as their leader. An Idea crossed her mind.
"You know, maybe telling everyone is the solution." Maren looked at her, eyes beckoning Elsa to say more.
"One of the others could have an idea or all are ready to take the risk with the hot spring. Maybe I can figure something out with one of the Earth Giants to make the spot easier to defend without disturbing nature. We will find a way to make this work." Elsa did not just say that to calm Maren down, it was her deepest conviction that the tribe would not let Ven die and leave Gelwa to her sad fate. Her voice most had carried her strong belief, for Maren's eyes regained their familiar and cherished warmth, that little smile of hers also returning.
"You are pretty good at that." the look on Maren's face made it hard to breathe all of the sudden, making it hard to speak.
"At what?" Elsa asked, only a little hitch in her voice.
"Comfort people, giving sound advice. I will talk to Yelena about your idea in the morning. " Elsa could not help the goofy smile that spread across her face – no one, not even her sister, had said that to her.
"Come. It's getting late, or early you might say and I still have to show you the real reason that I dragged you out here!"
"Uh?"
All the way back to Vakker Elsa tried to coax this mysterious 'real reason' out of the warrior, but she was stoically ignored, driving the former queen insane. There had to collect the slim basket Elsa had totally forgotten about on their way to the patient animal that peacefully munched on some grass not too far away. Maren had placed the basket close to the rock, top lifted and as Elsa took a closer look she saw that quite a few fireflies had settled on some twigs and leaves in the basket.
'There are probably covered in Honey.' Elsa thought as she watched Maren nearly tenderly close the basket and carefully place it back over her shoulder.
"What do you need them for?"
"When the time has come you will know." Maren said, turning her back on Elsa and calling Vakker with a soft whistle. Elsa couldn't resist. The harsh sound of a raspberry disturbed the tranquility of the night.
"Very grown-up." Maren said drily without looking at Elsa, fastening the straps of the basket with great care. A snowball hit the back of Maren's head, making her cap slip over her eyes. In one smooth movement she fixed her hat and turned on the culprit, raising her index finger at Elsa, who gave her it her all to look like innocence herself, arms behind her back, eyes gazing anywhere but the other woman.
"If I were you I would stop that or I could decide to not show you at all!" Maren threatened but her smile never leaving her face.
"I don't know what you mean!" Elsa said sweetly, taking a few steps along the rock, her hand gliding over it as she walked, pretending to be very interested in its surface.
"Of course you don't." Elsa could hear that Maren tried to sound stern but failed miserably; her smile resonated clearly in her voice. The pressure in Elsa's chest was a mix of tender end exited – an odd feeling but she hoped it would stay a while. Behind her, she heard Vakker arrive and Maren greeting her but something in front of her caught her attention. From this angle, she could see a deep hollow in the ground so the rock stood over it like a roof. Nature had masterfully covered it so Elsa only found it while nearly stumbling into it. But there was more, the ground to her feet looked different. Elsa squinted her eyes as she bended down to touch it until her hand touched something very soft. So soft in fact that Elsa thought she had disturbed a fox or a wild cat in its den but a second look revealed that the soft thing under her hand was not fur but…
"Moss?!" Elsa said out loud.
"Oh, you found the hollow! One of the best hiding places you could wish for. I can barely count how many times Ryder and I hide her to avoid doing the dishes." Maren chuckled as she behind Elsa, already mounted her trusted reindeer.
"And yes its moss, very rare moss to be precise. We call it 'nouon'. It's impossible soft but hard to come by and dries up very quickly so it's not really practical to use for bedding. We have to spend the night here at one point; it's a nice feeling to sleep on this stuff but now we have to go! The sun will be up soon and what I want to show you only works in the dark." She offered Elsa her hand, and the snow queen quickly took it, happy to sit at the other woman's back so she could hide the blush that had spread across her face.
'Spend the night here. With her…by Ahtohallan….get over yourself, she did not mean like this!'
This time the ride on Vakker took longer - the distance was greater and Maren made her go at slow and steady pace so the fireflies where not tossed around inside basket. But Elsa didn't mind – the forest by night was just as beautiful it was by day and there was a lot to see if one had the eye for it. An owl looked at the three intruders in its hunting grounds, shoohooing softly before flying off to search for a more quiet place to try its luck, bats were swarming between the tress, there screams pricing Elsa's ears in a weirdly pleasant way. A big moth had landed on the spirit's hand, its wings gifted with a fascinating pattern that gleamed in the moonlight, colored in many shades of silver-gray that it seemed impossible to name them all.
'I love to try though. This forest…I…I hope I can call it home for many years to come.'
"Here we are." Maren's voice pulled her back to the here and now. Both dismounted Vakker and Elsa looked at the still intimidating ruin that once was a dam, sold as a gift but meant to drive her people into dependence– a curtesy of her grandfather. A pang of shame hit her to be descended from someone like the old king, cruel and ruled by fear. But Maren did not leave her time to dwell on that thought as she pulled her along - the childlike excitement had returned to the warrior. One moment later Elsa found herself at the entrance of a small cave, not wide enough for people to enter at once so the snow queen had to follow Maren as she led her in the darkness before them.
At first, Elsa could not see a thing but her eyes adjusted quickly. Now she could see when she looked over Maren's shoulder that there was precipice just a few steps after one entered the cave. The rope that was safely embattled at the rim told Elsa that they were not the first to visit that cave. Carefully the former queen followed as Maren had shown her, as the other woman deftly climbed the robe down – maybe not as fast but efficient enough. The descent was not deep but when Elsa thought it was dark before it was nothing compared to now! It seemed to make no difference if she had her eyes opened ore closed. She heard a rustling sound nearby and suddenly there was light. Maren had skillfully picked on firefly out of the basket, which now sat happily on her finger, slurping away at some honey the warrior had smeared on her finger and let its little light shine brightly. The spirit looked around and found herself surrounded by small deep black mushrooms.
"So, this is the cave Gale 'helped' you find?"
"When you mean by 'helped'… 'pushed in' then, yes." Was the dry response as Maren took her hand, leading her further down into the darkness, reaching their narrow path barely visible in the dim light of the firefly and easy to overlook if one was not vigilant. Elsa followed Maren in silence. It was hard to tell how long they had walked but suddenly…
"This is it!" Maren sounded excited as she stopped abruptly, causing Elsa to nearly run into her. Deftly the warrior put their little torch back into the basket, leaving them again in total darkness.
"Good. Now you stand here.." Maren led her out of the narrow passage into a wider cave – Elsa could not feel the walls when she stretched her arms.
"Are you ready?" the warrior asked and Elsa had to stifle a giggle. Maren could be such a dork.
"Yes."
And then Maren opened the basket, encouraging the fireflies with a gentle push to take flight. When Elsa was astounded at the clearing it was nothing compared to now! Hundreds of little lights took into the air but something on the walls of the cave reflected the light, drawing beautiful patterns everywhere, giving the impression of moonlight shimmering trough water. It was breathtaking! With the extra light, Elsa became aware of something else on the walls all around her. She stepped closer to have a better look. Handprints, some small, not bigger than the hand of an Infant, some bigger, belonging to a grownup and so many of them - hundreds, thousands everywhere, with small symbols drawn under them. Elsa recognized from Yelena's lessons that there were runes but she could not read the ones she was seeing.
"Maren, what is this?" A hand grabbed her's, pulling her along to the far end of the cave until they reached a collection of handprints that reached the ceiling and covered a wide span of the wall but got less and less as they came close to Elsa's eye-level, like a pyramid turned upside down. And as Elsa looked at the last pair of handprints, she saw the rune under it; tears welled up in her eyes.
One of the first things she had begged Yelena to teach her was how her name was written in the language of ancestors. Then Anna's, Kristoff's, then her parents…
Under the last pair of tiny handprints, stood the name 'Iduna'.
"Every Northuldra leaves two marks here, one at birth, and one when they reach adulthood. But we lost the cave the day the forest fell. Yelena thinks one of the Earth Giants was angry and closed it, or the construction of the dam made this place cave in, only Ahtohallan knows. Your mother could not add her mark when she came of age but you and your sister can when she comes back from Corona and…." Elsa did not let Maren finish the sentence – she knocked the wind out of the warrior with a bone-crushing hug, her arms slung so tightly around the other woman's neck so that breathing must be hard for her, but Maren did not complain. Elsa felt the strong arms of her friend hold her and what little control had remained crumbled - leaving her weeping mess, tears flowing freely.
It took a while for Elsa to calm down again – she was even to emotionally drained to care much that this hug had been quite intimate. Elsa felt she had crossed a border she had been tiptoeing around like the mysterious 'visitor' from the north-west, but Maren seemed not offended at all.
"We should head back. It's nearly dawn." Brown eyes were smiling kindly at her and Elsa realized she was right. Through some small cracks and holes in the sealing of the cave faint light was shining, relieving the fireflies of their purpose. The bugs found their way up, slipping through the cracks, flying home to the clearing.
Tired but happy Elsa followed Maren the way back to the mushrooms and up the rope, stopping the woman other with an attentive hand on her arm before she could step out into the open.
"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me….how much it will mean to Anna. I don't know how to thank you that you found this place again. I….Thank you." Elsa hoped that she conveyed the good portion of the immense complicated mix of feelings, which pushed against her chest, nearly letting tears fall again. There it was again. Maren's kind smile and the laughing eyes – Elsa would never get tired of them.
"You are welc…." A strong gust of wind pushed Maren back, over the edge and she fell back into the darkness, followed seconds later by a wet thud.
"Owww!"
"Maren!?"
"I am fine!" came the somewhat muffled reply.
Relive flooded trough Elsa as she heard the warrior already climbing back up, only to find herself pestered by an impatient Gael.
'Wait! Gale!?' Eagerly she stepped outside, half pulled by Gael as the wind spirit happily pushed a letter in Elsa's hands. Anna had only written three words on the paper, all in proud capital letters.
WE ARE HOME!
"Maren! Anna is back home. She is ok and she is home! Maren?" she heard the other woman come out of the cave behind her and turned to her, so she could show her the letter but stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the warrior.
The tunic of the woman was bright red, her hands, face, and hair looking equally gory, for the small black mushrooms, commonly known as black rubies, had brought honor to their name yet again. Elsa had to work really hard to stifle her laugh.
"Are you hurt?" she carefully offered; stepping closer to check for any injuries.
"No, just my pride." Maren gave her half-smile. Bell-like laughter was heard and an invisible hand tugged at the warrior's braid and clothes.
"GALE! COME ON! What did I ever do to you? "
"It's her way of showing affection." Elsa apologized for her wily fellow spirit. With a little swish of her magic, she requested Gale to stop being a pest and with another laugh the wind spirit left the poor Northuldra alone, swirling excitedly around Elsa's clothes.
"Thanks, but what are you still doing here! Anna is back. Off to Arendelle with you! I tell the others where you heading." Maren said, making a dismissive yet friendly gesture with her hand. Elsa gave her a thankful smile and tried to call Nokk but the water spirit was not answering. As she told Maren that the warrior whistled and Vakker came running.
"Take her until you find Nokk. Say hello to your sister and Kristoff for me!" Elsa could not say much more as Gale swept her off her feet, placed her on Vakker's back, startling the animal, which quickly broke into a swift run. As she turned around Maren waving her goodbye, grew gradually smaller and smaller until Vakker took a turn so Maren vanished out of her sight. For a second she wished that Maren would have come with her. Maybe another time - now she was going to visit her sister and tell her of the little trace their mother had left in this world, her heart pounding at that thought!