Note: I am crossing posting this from AO3, newer chapters will hit there first, but I will be updating this one a bit faster at first to catch it up. My first foray into this fandom, should be fun.
Chapter 1
Time.
Measure it, count it, track its every movement, mark its every second.
Elsa found that more often than not, she felt forgotten by it.
Ironic, she thought, for an immortal spirit to be bothered by the concept of time. Yes, immortal, at least as far as she could tell.
It was a realization that had not come to her right away after taking her place at the fifth spirit; but as time passed she began to realize the world was moving forward, she was not.
Even still she was happy, bound by the same love and duty that had helped her to rule her Kingdom, now these things also gave her comfort and purpose as the 5th Spirit.
She had her purpose, she knew where she belonged, she was the 5th Spirit.
She was one half of the bridge.
The bridge continued on when Anna's son was born.
When Anna celebrated her 10th year on the throne with a lavish ball it was the happiest she could ever remember being. The castle was full of life, bursting with warmth, Anna practically glowed the entire night. Sven stole food from the buffet with Olaf's help, Kristolf did his best to keep his young son out of trouble.
By the end of the night both Olaf and Anna's son were covered in chocolate.
She and Anna both laughed until they cried.
Time flowed onwards.
She did not make it to her nephew's wedding, but that was okay, she had her duty, her purpose.
The bridge held firm.
Even when Anna's brilliant and fiery hair turned to silver.
Fifty years had come and gone.
She held to her purpose even as she sat by her sister's bedside while she breathed her last and Elsa held her hand.
Love and duty kept her going as Anna's son took the throne.
Her visits to Arendelle became less frequent, she took comfort among the enchanted trees and among the few Northuldra that lingered still in the forest. The last time she visited her nephew she felt more like a myth or legend to him than his aunt.
She supposed that was mostly true.
The other Spirits were her closest companions as Anna's granddaughter took the throne.
She wept when the last Queen of Arendelle died childless, leaving the Kingdom without an heir and it was eventually absorbed into the neighboring kingdom just after the Great War.
She stood beside Anna's grave, watching as the castle was shuttered, windows locked, doors bolted.
She spent weeks looking for Olaf, but was unable to find her little friend.
More wars would come and the kingdom's population dwindled. The ice trade had collapsed and with it the once bustling little kingdom slowly became a shadow of its former glory. It's great port fell mostly silent, only a few stray fishing vessels remained, it's harbor too shallow for the newer ships.
The place gates were once more shut tight.
Looters tried a few times over the years to break in, Elsa would have none of that. She made sure to seal the entrances with ice that never melted. She created snowbirds to stand guard as sentries.
Tales of a scary Snow Queen began to take root.
She remained in the forest.
One half of a bridge that no longer connected to anything.
Time marched ever onwards. Soon a century had come and gone.
She saw the other spirits less and less, they often slept for great lengths of time. There were no Northuldra left in the forest. She returned to Arendelle only once during that time, walking down the mostly empty streets she felt like a ghost.
The first time a person walked through her Elsa nearly screamed.
It had been a child from one of the few remaining families. Elsa had smiled as the girl skipped down the street, bundled up in her winter coat. The girl waved excitedly and dashed forward towards her but did not stop, for a split second Elsa thought they were going to collide, until she felt a strange empty sensation and suddenly the girl was behind her.
Bewildered, she turned and called out to her. The girl made no sign that she heard her and continued onward towards her mother at the end of the street.
Frantically she ran through the streets desperately trying to get anyone's attention. She turned a corner and a man walked right through her.
No one could see her.
Her knees gave out beneath her, she gulped for breath, collapsing onto the now empty street. Frost crept out around her onto the cobblestones. Was she nothing but a ghost now? Did no one remember her? Could no one really see her? With a broken gasp she forced herself to her feet and ran, ran until her chest heaved and every breath hurt, she did not stop until she reached the forest border where the spirits stone markers stood.
So great was her distress it woke both Gale and the Nokk from their slumber, both came to her. The wind sadly whirled around her as she clung to the water spirit's neck and sobbed. The Nokk gave a sympathetic whinny, it knew she was upset, but it was never human, it did not fully understand her pain.
It did not know what it meant to be forgotten.
The winter in Arrendell was a bit colder that year.
She did not leave the forest again for several years, the other spirits slept, Elsa walked among the forest and along its river, often walking all the way to the sea. As the waves crashed at her feet she softly sang her mother's lullaby,
"Where the north wind meets the sea
There's a mother full of memory
Come my darling homeward bound
When all is lost, then all is found."
She stared at the Dark Sea she'd once fought so hard to cross, she considered many times returning to Ahtohallan, but the thought of being surrounded by all of those memories seemed more painful to her now than her current isolation was.
After all, isolation was an old familiar friend.
She felt haunted by her own memoires, more than comforted.
What are memories; if not ghosts of our own making?
It felt like all the magic in the world was slowly dwindling and only she remained, there beneath the fading trees. She shone faintly, her dress glimmering in the waning light as she moved through the fallen leaves, a pale star on a dark winter night. The forest became colder, her heart heavier, but yet she remained, now the sole active guardian of a place that time and the world forgot.
That was until, one late fall evening, quite literally, a boy fell out of the sky.
Elsa sat upon a large rock beneath a tree, absently frosting the trees and leaves that fell slowly to the ground. Frantic cooing caught her attention, standing, she held out her hand for one of her snowbirds.
"What is it, little one?" It chirped and chirped at her, this one was from the forest border near the stone markers. Something was happening there.
She thought for a moment about calling Gale, but decided to wait until she knew more about what was happening. Dashing quickly through the forest, part of the river iced over as she ran across it. Slowing as the tree line came into view she breathed deeply to calm herself, magic thrummed in her fingertips as she edged closer.
In the darkness ahead of her she thought she saw a shadow move, but when she looked nothing was there. In the distance a sharp cry, it reminded her of the Nokk but somehow different, higher pitched and hollow sounding.
She hurried towards the sound, stopping just at the forest's edge.
There in the clearing stood a horse, blacker than that night around it. It shimmered and it's shape shifted as if whatever gave it form was swilling and constantly moving. Large nostrils flared, it had not seen her yet, sharp yellow eyes gleamed dully in the dark.
Elsa had never seen such a creature before, if it was some kind of spirit she did not like it. Something about it made her stomach sink just looking at it, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as the creature suddenly looked her way.
Inhaling sharply she was ready to call for Gale when the wind came rushing in on it's own. The black horse gave another cry and leapt into the air, several others she had not noticed leapt after it.
She followed the black shapes and swirls as best she could when suddenly something came out of the sky towards them. The sky lit up with a blast of piercing light and for a moment she saw a silhouette of something...or someone, the light was quickly followed by a gust of cold wind. The wind whipped her hair and train of dress and she frantically swept her hair out of her eyes, straining to see what was happening above her.
She gasped when one of the black horses fell out of the sky right next to her, shattering as it hit the earth. She realized it had been made of black sand.
The more stunning realization to her was that it had been frozen solid.
Her eyes jerked back to the sky just as a cry rang out. That was not one of the horses, that sounded like a …
It was then a boy dropped out of the sky, barely catching himself, sliding along the grass, with a shepherd's staff in hand. Two black horses dove after him.
He left a trail of ice in his wake, glittering in the pale moonlight.
Two of the horses charged, he leapt gracefully to the side of one and then launched himself into the air above the other. He took his staff and pointed it downwards at the charging horse and what looked almost like lightning shot from its tip and slammed into the creature. Elsa could feel the charge of magic fill the air, a strange cooling sensation that was both familiar and foreign to her all at once.
Goosebumps raised on her skin, but not due to the cold.
The first horse gave an angry shriek rushing back at the boy, she caught sight of a cocky grin and a glint of blue eyes as he turned to face it. He did not see the other sand horse dive down from above.
Elsa moved without thinking.
The boy blasted the horse changing right at him. It froze in place mere inches in front of him. He turned just in time to see the dark horse from above, it's hooves about to make impact with his chest. He flinched and threw up his arms and staff on instinct just as Elsa's own ice came hurtling past him, sharp dagger like icicles sliced through the horse and it dissipated into sand.
The boy whirled to face her, eyes wide.
"Woah, that was awesome! How did you…" he took a step towards her and Elsa threw icicles at him.
He leapt up and out of the volley and perched up upon the crook of his staff, "Hey, hey chill lady!"
Thinking back later, Elsa mused that as far as first meetings go she'd had worse. Though his highly ironic choice of words did not amuse her much at the time.
"Who are you? What were those things? Why are you in this forest?" Circling around him, her hands still raised, ready to defend herself if necessary.
He looked fairly young, someone just on the cusp of manhood, but she knew from her own situation that was likely not the case. His bright blue eyes followed her as she circled him, they were the same color as the deep ice in the depths of Ahtohallan.
Holding up his hands in a gesture she felt meant to seem less threatening, he slowly eased back down to the ground and held his staff over his shoulder. She took notice of his bare feet as they touched back down. "Okay, okay, one question at a time. My name is Jack Frost. You?"
Her eyebrows disappeared up into her hair as she eyed him, "Jack Frost?"
He deadpanned, "What, you seriously just saw me freeze those nightmares into oblivion and don't believe me?"
Nightmare.
The name dropped into her mind, something about it made her skin crawl.
"Those…horses were nightmares? As in bad dreams?"
"Yep, made by the Boogie man himself. I was chasing them down before they could get back to him. They feed off of fear and terror." He peered at her intently, "So, who are you exactly? You must be a spirit, considering you can actually see me. How'd you get ice powers? Those icicles of yours were pretty awesome."
Else's mind swarmed with the sudden information and onslaught of questions. Somewhere between thoughts of the Boogie man and nightmare horses was when she realized he'd come much closer to her. Frost dusted his shoulders and clung to his wrists along the fabric of his hooded sweater, twinkling in light from the rising moon. He was about her height, though he slouched.
His skin was a milky white made all the more ghost-like in the moonlight, she looked up into his eyes, that deep, deep shade of blue, and realized his irises were ringed by what looked like snowflakes. He was seemingly giving her a similar once over, he seemed particularly fascinated by the ice crystals that dotted her shoulders and train.
Slowly lowering her hands she stepped back, "I am Elsa, 5th Spirit of the Enchanted Forest."
He smiled, "Elsa huh? Pretty name."
"Are you really Jack Frost?
He smiled ruefully and then gently tapped his staff to the ground, frost spiraled out from it towards her feet in delicate plant like vines. "The one and only. Are you also a winter spirit? Are you pretty new? I don't remember there being any winter spirits here last time I visited. In all fairness though it's been over a century since I've spent any real time here"
For her reply Elsa held up her hand, creating a perfect snowflake. He watched as she swirled it from one hand to the other and then tossed it up, where it dissipated into tiny ice crystals.
"I am the 5th Spirit, I am half the bridge that connects nature to humanity," a sigh here, "I have been here for nearly two hundred years now, give or take, I don't leave the forest often."
He raised an eyebrow, "So…" before he could finish a bright light rippled through the sky above them. He groaned, "Really North? Right now?"
Else looked up to the aurora above them and back down to the boy in front of her-who was now floating just above the ground.
"Hey, I hate to just run off but I'm being summoned."
"Summoned?" By whom, she wondered. This evening had turned into quite a strange one. Flying boys straight from myth aside, it was nice to meet someone who might be at least a bit like her. She could hardly remember the last time she'd spoken to anyone that wasn't one of her fellow spirits. It felt strange…but also nice.
Still, if this spirit was involved in some kind of ongoing fight, she did not want to be a part of it.
"Yea, North and the others are calling me. You gonna be here later?" He leaned forward slightly, still hovering in front of her. "I'd totally love to swap some tips. Do you like snowball fights? I could use a good challenge, Bunny and the others are usually too busy."
He grinned at her.
There was something so...earnest in his expression that Elsa could not find it in herself to out right distrust him. "I am always here in the forest. My sentries are along the border."
One of her snowbirds came down at being mentioned and alighted on her shoulder. Jack gave a low appreciative whistle.
"Did you make it out of snow?" He reached out towards the bird only to have it peck at his hand. "Hey!" he rubbed the back of his hand giving the bird a dirty look.
Else could not help herself and a small laugh escaped her, before she covered it with a cough.
"Shouldn't you be going?"
"Oh! Right! I'll be back later. Nice to meet you Elsa!" He gave her a jaunty salute and then quickly flew north towards the horizon.
Elsa stared after him until she could no longer make out his figure. She blinked, her snowbird chirped on her shoulder. As she returned to the forest she wondered if all of this would turn out to be a strange dream.
