Author's note: Hey guys, here's my genderbent take on Disney's beautiful movie; Frozen. I had a genuine blast writing this, as I love the movie and thought it would work really well with gender-swapped characters. So Anna is now Aaron and Elsa is now Erik. This fic is gonna be a mashup of mostly the 2013 film, but also the Broadway musical and a few of my own creative liberties. I own no Disney properties, so please don't sue me Mr Mouse! I thought it was a cool coincidence that I've now written two red-headed male protagonists named Aaron (except for the spelling) and that Erik was the name of the original character from my other fanfic. (Again, except the spelling. Lol) Boy, I'm gettin' unoriginal.
Hope you enjoy ;)
Chapter One - A Proper Snowman
The kingdom of Arendelle was cosily tucked away atop the mountains of Scandinavia. Due to the usual winter weather, their main export was ice, and the harvesters woke at early morning to cut out blocks on the frozen fjords. This particular frosty morning was no exception. Several sleighs powered by reindeer equipped with spiked horse shoes pulled up on a vast, frozen lake, and several dozen men jumped off the sleds and grabbed their large, heavy tools, often singing folk songs while they worked.
Born of cold and winter air and mountain rain combining,
This icy force both foul and fair has a frozen heart worth mining.
So cut through the hard, cold and clear,
Strike for love and strike for fear, see the shining ice frontier,
Split the ice apart, and break the frozen heart
The men used their enormous saws to cut through the ice easily and plied the large ice cubes from the arctic water, loading them onto sleds.
Hyup, ho, watch your step, let it go!
Hyup, ho, watch your step, let it go!
Beautiful, powerful, dangerous, cold,
Ice has a magic, can't be controlled,
Stronger than one, stronger than ten,
Stronger than 100 men!
They worked into the night, splitting the ice apart by torchlight, still humming their song of warning. The song told of the beauty but also the dangers of ice, and how you cannot control what has a mind of its own.
Born of cold and winter air and mountain rain combining,
This icy force both foul and fair has a frozen heart worth mining.
So cut through the hard, cold and sheer,
Strike for love and strike for fear, there's beauty and there's danger here,
Split the ice apart, beware the frozen heart.
As the sleds retreated below the northern lights, a little girl of about seven appeared behind the sleds with a tiny one of her own, accompanied by her equally tiny baby reindeer. She gave the fluffy little animal a carrot and snapped off the other half for herself, taking in a large amount of reindeer slobber with it. But she didn't care. Being an orphan, she didn't ask for a lot in life, just food and a place to sleep. The ice harvesters provided her with just that, but they also knew that the ice fields were no place for a child, especially such a little one. So, they let her play in the snow with her reindeer while they worked. However, she had managed to haul her own ice cube from that day's harvest, and loaded it onto her miniature sled, knowing that this was what she wanted to do in life. There was just something about the way the ice looked; it was so clear and inviting. She knew she had to be a part of it someday.
"Ya!" she exclaimed when she was mounted onto the steed, and they raced on to keep up with the others.
Meanwhile, in the early slithers of morning, the two young Princes of Arendelle were fast asleep. Or, at least, one of them was. The platinum haired boy of ten lay in the land of dreams, comfortably nestled in his enormous four-poster bed. When all of a sudden a little red-head appeared above the bed's side. These red locks belonged to the youngest Prince, of age seven; Aaron. He usually never woke up early, being very much a night-owl and sleeping in till midday sometimes. But as soon as the glimmer of the northern lights outside pried open his little eyelids, his mind had turned to one thing and one thing only; playtime He had shook himself awake, checked to make sure no shadows passed under the door meaning a pesky servant would catch him out of bed, and bolted over to his brother.
"Erik…" the red head whispered in an attempt to wake his brother. When the blonde boy remained asleep, or at least pretended to be, he jumped up on the bed and started shaking him. "Erik! It's morning! It's morning! We can play now!"
The older prince groaned in annoyance. "No... brain want sleep... play later..." he muttered dreamily.
"No, we play right now!" the younger boy replied, "The sky's awake, so I'm awake!" Aaron pleaded, dropping his full weight onto the blonde.
Erik was having none of it. With a grin, Erik shoved his little brother off the bed. "Do you have a death-wish? Go play by yourself!"
With a thunk, Aaron landed on the floor, a pout appearing on his face. When suddenly, an idea struck him. He clambered back onto the bed and pulled open Erik's sleepy eyelid, knowing perfectly well what always got his brother up no matter what. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" he asked with a cheeky grin.
And with that, Erik cracked a smile of his own.
The next thing the eldest prince knew, he was being hastily dragged to the ballroom, both boys trying desperately to silence each other's giggles as to not wake up the castle's inhabitants. Aaron wore thick winter boots, but Erik only wore a normal pair of shoes, as a very special gift left him numb to the feeling of cold.
When they made it to the enormous ballroom, the little one energetically bounced up and down, "Do the magic! Do the magic!" he demanded playfully.
"I'm not supposed to, though," his brother replied.
Aaron crossed his arms. "We came all the way down here! Just do it anyway, please and thank you!"
"Aaron-"
"Erik, please! I can't do the things you can do, and your magic is the most special, most beautifullest, most fantastical thing in the whole wide world!" Erik smiled and gave in to his brother's request, gesturing for him to come closer. With a motion of his hands, Erik created a snowball out of wisps of ice-blue magic, minuscule snowflakes emitting from his hands. Aaron sighed in amazement.
"You ready?" Erik asked, to witch his brother nodded eagerly. The magical one then threw the snowball up into the air, causing an explosion of snow and snowflakes to fall down from the ceiling. The younger Prince began dancing around in the snowy mist, expressing his delight eagerly.
"This is amazing! Woohoo!" Aaron hopped and skipped around the ballroom, and his brother pulled him closer. Erik had been gifted with the ability to create snow and ice at will, a gift not he nor his family understood. But that didn't stop him from using it to entertain his little brother.
"Watch this!" said Erik, and he stomped his foot on the ballroom floor, covering it in ice instantly.
A huge ice rink now lay beneath them, and Aaron gigged as he started to slip away, and a series of ice games began. This was the brother's favourite way to play together, having snowballs fights, slipping down snow piles that Aaron called "tickle-bumps", and especially making snowmen.
"You know, there's a special process to go through when one makes a proper snowman," said Erik after successfully defeating his brother in a snowball fight. He always won.
"Oh yeah?" the red head questioned, and the blonde nodded and knelt down.
"Watch..." he said. Aaron sat down in front of him and let his eyes widen in awe as Erik pinched his fingers and moved them round in little circles, where a small stream of snow fell from them in white sparkles and a base formed on the icy ground. "See, that part was from me," the eldest prince continued, "I chose for it to love dreaming about things, and for it to be nice and love warm hugs. Now you choose," he said, and the little red-head put a hand to his chin in thought.
"Hmm... you said nice... I it should be a little naughty too, then!" he said, and Erik nodded.
"Indeed, wise knight. It's a little bit like me, and a little like you. A loyal friend who's always there for you, to make sure you're okay. Ooh, it should have a round belly-"
"And a big butt!" Aaron laughed.
Erik chuckled. "Aaron!"
"A bouncy one!"
"Aaron, it's a girl?" said the older prince.
Aaron blinked. "Giant head, then?" he said, and Erik nodded.
"Okay. Now, hold my hands," the younger did as he was told, "By the magic invested in me, I now pronounce this snowman, or... snowgirl, to be a little like me-"
"And a little like me!" Aaron piped in.
"-to be nice but a little naughty as well, to love to dream and have a big, bulbous head filled with the jokes mama and papa don't want us to make," he said, and Aaron chuckled under his breath.
The two broke apart, and with a wave of his hand, a small tornado of snow flourished around the base Erik created, and a snowman now stood proud and tall. Although, it was a little awkward shaped. It was made up of one large snowball for the base, a jagged smaller one in the middle and, just like the prince's had requested, a big, bulbous, misshapen head.
Erik attached some stones and sticks and made dents for eyes, and turned it around to show his brother. "Hi, I'm Olga, and I like warm hugs!" he narrated in a feminine sounding voice.
With a delightful cheer, Aaron jumped up and hugged the snow creation warmly. "I love you, Olga!" he exclaimed. "Can she be our sister?" he asked.
Erik smiled. "Sure. But younger, of course."
"Yes, of course younger. 'Cuz we're the big boys!" Aaron said as he flexed his tiny muscles in the air.
Erik snorted and waved his fingers, where right next to the red-head, an exact snow replica of him showing off now stood. Aaron burst out laughing when he turned to look at it, as the way his face tensed up and his lips pouted when he was trying to look strong was undeniably funny.
"Yes you are, little bro," Erik chuckled.
The boys played for hours in their snowy wonderland, so long that the early hours of daylight began to creep in through the windows, although the days stayed darker for much longer at this time of year. Different snow statues now littered and grew over the ballroom floor as the boys moved from one project to the next. One of their favourite ice games was jumping onto snow mountains as Erik created them, simply titled 'catch me'.
"You sure? You nearly fell last time," Said Erik after his brother had requested they play the game.
"Yeah, but I didn't. Please please please!" Erik couldn't say no to those eyes, and from under Aaron's feet, he was suddenly being lifted up on his very own mountain of snow. He cheered due to getting his way.
"Ready?" Erik called up to his little brother who stood at the top of the snow heap.
"Yes!" the little one saluted, like a soldier ready for battle.
"What danger are you running from this time?" he asked, and Aaron thought it over.
"A dragon!" Aaron called, and Erik prepared his magic.
But first, an idea came to mind. "Do you want an actual dragon?" he said with a smirk, and Aaron's eyes widened.
"Really?!" he said in disbelief.
At the far end of the hall behind the red-head, Erik strained with the effort it took to craft a real looking dragon out of snow. It was as if he was trying to crush a boulder between his hands, blue wisps of glittering magic bursting from his palms. But eventually, the work was done, and a relatively big, real-enough looking dragon flapped its snowy wings in mid-air at the end of the hall.
Aaron cheered. "Alright, alright!"
"Ready? Aaaaaaaaaaand go!" the eldest exclaimed as he shot pure snow out of his hands. When it materialised in the form of another snowy heap, Aaron landed on it expertly, the dragon gaining on him.
"Again!" exclaimed the youngest, picking up speed. "He's right behind me!" he cried. Erik created heap after heap, Aaron jumping off and landing on a pile of snow at the last second, each one taller than the other. It was the closest thing he had ever felt to flying. Now, at least a dozen snow heaps spanned the length of the great hall, but Aaron still had to reach the end. "He's breathing snow at me!" Aaron cried in playful fear, but he was going too fast.
"Wait!" Erik exclaimed, trying his best to make more snow mountains faster than his brother could jump off them. "Slow down!" he called.
"I can't slow down, he's gonna eat me!" Aaron replied.
All of a sudden, Erik felt something he had never felt before; the sensation of slipping on ice. The stress and unsteadiness of his mind had thrown him off and betrayed the natural connection he had with his power. He saw his brother jumping off the tallest mountain and heading straight to the icy ground. As his legs buckled from under him, Erik sent a last ditch snow blast at the place where Aaron would land, hoping to break his fall, but his slip made him aim too high.
Aaron screamed.
As Erik saw the force of gravity pull his brother downward, he sent a streak of magic, intending for it to form one last landing pad, but instead it hit Aaron right in the head. Aaron's eyes rolled back and closed completely, but by sheer luck he landed on Olga the snowman, demolishing her but surviving the fall. He rolled to the floor... unconscious.
"AARON!" Erik screamed.
Erik ran over to his brother and placed his head in his lap, cradling it as if it were made of glass. "A-arron…" he whispered. A white streak slowly coloured a lock of the younger boy's scraggly mess of hair, and Erik burst into tears as he felt how cold his little brother was. "Mama! Papa!" he called out into the empty ballroom, hoping someone, anyone, would hear.
The dragon had continued to fly on its straight and narrow path, and crashed into the wall as soon as it collided with it, bursting into regular old snow that rained down to the floor in a clump.
"Don't worry Aaron. I got you…" suddenly, Erik's emotions began to manipulate his powers, and as his hand slipped from protecting his brother's head and touched the floor, large, dangerous looking spikes of ice began materialising from all corners. Icy stalactites began to grow from the ceiling, and a few jagged icicles littered the floor. Erik looked around in horror. How could his powers do that without his consent? How could something so beautiful have made something so dangerous? He tried to comfort his non-responsive brother, when his parents burst through the door; the King and Queen. They were still in their day clothes as they had been in the royal library next door, working on kingdom management through the night and well into the morning.
"Erik, what have you done?!" his father, King Agnarr, exclaimed, "This is getting out of hand!"
Erik looked up in shame, as he had always feared his powers would someday get out of control. He had tried to avoid doing magic all together tonight, but he just couldn't say no to the brother he loved so much. "It-it was an accident! I'm so sorry, Aaron…"
Queen Iduna picked up her youngest son, gasping at the touch of his skin. "He's ice cold!" she gasped, striking a match of thought in the king's head.
"I know where we have to go…"
The King raced to the palace library where he had been just moments ago, retrieving an extremely old book from a hidden safe. Opening to a specific page, the King produced a map, faded with age and delicate to the touch, depicting a place at the end of the Arendelle woods.
"Are you sure?" the Queen questioned, looking at the book her husband had taken out. "Northuldra magic?"
The King only stood his ground. "Look at him," he exclaimed, gesturing to their son in his wife's arms. Erik felt a pang of guilt and hid behind his mother. He had done this.
The Queen sighed. "You're right."
Mere minutes later, the royal family were galloping off into the morning light on horseback, one horse leaving a trail of ice behind them, as the fear held by its young rider travelled through him the whole time, unable to control itself.
As they rode out of the kingdom and through the forest, a little girl with a reindeer ducked out of sight as she noticed the glistening trail of blue. "Ice?" she breathed. Taking it as a sign, she too mounted her steed and demanded for him to run as fast as his baby reindeer legs would carry him. "Faster, Sven!" she cried.
When the royal foursome arrived at their destination at the very end of the woods, the trees seemed to bind together so tightly that they made a sort of grotto, its leafy ceiling covering the sky and leaving it much darker than the outside world. A layer of mist seemed to float around the forest floor, making it hard to see what resided below, besides the tops of mossy boulders. The king dismounted his horse and stepped into the clearing, which seemed to house nothing but hundreds of perfectly round, moss-covered rocks.
"Help!" cried the King, "Please! It's my son…"
Suddenly, the boulders rolled to life, springing up into their true forms; the native rock trolls of the forest, brought to life by the Earth Giants of Northuldra magic centuries ago. Each one wore a glowing crystal around its neck and had a large, oval-shaped nose. One of them at the front of the crowd gasped.
"It's the King!" it said, and a hum of whisper washed over the group.
They then parted to make room for another troll, rolling down the middle of the makeshift aisle to which it then sprang up to reveal a more regal looking troll, or at least, as regal as grass and rocks would allow one to look. He wore a trailing cape made of matted, green moss, and a crystal of every colour swung from a necklace.
He walked up to the eldest prince and signalled for him to hold out his hand. The boy did so. "Was this child born with the powers he possess, or cursed by a higher power?" he asked.
The King answered on Erik's behalf. "Born." he said.
"Why?" Asked the troll.
Agnarr looked to Iduna. "We... don't know."
"The gods would not give powers such as these to just any child. My Queen..." he turned to face Iduna, "you are Northuldra. Did the spirits tell you anything at all when you were with child?" he asked with concern.
Iduna's eyes widened, and despite the cold look from her husband, answered the troll, shaking with fear the entire time. "No one has entered the forest i-in years. But... it was said that... a woman who s-saves the child of her enemies w-would be blessed by delivering the fifth spirit of the forest. I never knew what it meant, until..." the King and Queen locked eyes, remembering their childhoods. Their families in battle... Agnarr unconscious... Iduna carrying him to safety.
The troll looked back to the small, frightened boy in front of him.
"Then he is the-"
"No," the King cut him off. "He mustn't know yet. He's still so young, and, none of us understand his powers. All we know is that they're getting stronger. We are..." he looked up at his wife, "unaware of his full capabilities, but, after what happened today... it's beginning to get out of control. My son..." King Agnarr stifled a cry.
The troll abided the King's request, but Erik had heard everything. What was he? Why wouldn't they tell him? His brow knotted in anger.
"Very well," said the troll, "Bring him to me." The Queen then knelt down with her tiny son in her arms, and Erik stood behind his father's back; terrified. The regal troll inspected the young Prince, placing a hand on his head. "You are lucky it wasn't his heart. The heart is not so easily changed," he said with a heavy sigh. "But, the head can be persuaded."
The King looked eagerly at the troll, desperate for any chance to bring his son back to life. But also curious at the fact that the troll was able to decipher exactly what had happened simply by touching his head. Forgetting his suspicions for the sake of his son's life, he turned to the ruler and begged. "Do what you must!" he pleaded.
Krista, had hidden behind some nearby rock formations with Sven, and stared from her hiding place in amazement. "They're trolls!" she exclaimed in a whisper.
Suddenly, another troll sprang up from behind her. "Sshh!" it said, "I always skip to the fun part, you're gonna make me miss it!" all of a sudden, the troll noticed that the little girl and reindeer were all alone. "Cuties. I'm gonna keep you!" said the troll as she pulled the duo into a bear hug. Krista smiled. She had never actually been wanted by anyone before, and accepted her new family right then and there. The ice-harvesters misplaced her all the time, anyway.
The King troll placed a hand on the little boy's head, and a blue wisp of magic protruded from it. The wisp expanded to display moments in time, as if projected onto a screen. "I suggest we remove all magic. Even memories of magic, to be safe. But don't worry, I'll leave the fun..."
With a wave of his hand, the memories of Aaron and Erik playing snow games indoors wearing plain night clothes changed to them playing outside in full winter gear, as normal as can be. Pictures of the boys skating in the ballroom changed to them skating outside wearing scarves and ice-skates. Sceneries of Aaron sledding off of a snow mound propelled by nothing but Erik's magic changed to them playing outside, a real sled replacing any trace of what Erik could do. And finally, Olga the snowman, who they had made inside the grand ballroom, sitting in front of her with their arms around each other, changed to them sitting in the castle courtyard.
The memories of Erik's magic disappeared from Aaron's mind forever, and the troll placed his hand back on the boy's head, and Aaron smiled as his body warmed up. "He will be okay…" said the troll, and the Queen sighed with relief and hugged her son closer.
Erik stepped forward. "But he won't remember I have powers?" he asked.
The King knelt down and placed a comforting hand on his eldest son's shoulder. "It's for the best." he said apologetically.
The King troll then pulled the eldest Prince aside, but before he could say anything, the boy spoke first. "Take away my magic too! Please..." he asked with a pleading look, distraught at the fact that he had nearly killed his own brother.
The troll only sighed. "I cannot, Erik, your magic is a part of you,"
"But I'm scared of what I might do!"
"Listen to me," said the troll, "Your power, it... it will only grow. There is beauty in it," he began, "But danger as well. Great danger." he walked up to the little Prince and placed a hand to his head, where a mystical hue glowed blue. "Tell me. What do you see?"
Erik closed his eyes as the troll seemed to gift him a vision of the future. He concentrated on what he saw as colourful visions painted themselves across his eyes, graceful and floating like the trail of mist from a candle flame. "I see... Arendelle..." he began, "It's a winter night... people are... staring at me. They're frightened, there's jagged ice everywhere! They're... they're scared of me! They look at me and... and... they see a... a monster!" he cried and shook his head frantically, trying to choke the image from his mind. The crowd gasped. He scratched at his closed eyes and the troll noticed the boy's distress, and sucked the vision from the boy back into his hand. Erik fell to his knees, sobbing, and the King rushed over.
"Erik, what did you see?" he breathed.
Erik croaked through sobs, "They attacked me..."
The King's face went white. Could these creatures show the future?
"Fear will be your enemy, child," the troll continued, "And when fear is in your heart and consumes you, death will be its consequence." the crowd gasped, and Erik's head jolted up, his tears stuck to his face.
"Papa? Is that going to be me?" Erik's little voice squeaked.
"No!" said the King, "We'll protect you!" he turned to address the troll, "He can learn to control it, I'm sure. Until then, we'll lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit his contact with people, and keep his powers hidden from everyone! Including Aaron."
Author's note: Whoooo, first chpater bayBEE! Whadda you lovelies think? Lemme know in the reviews! Some of this dialogue is inspired by the musical. Love ya!