Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2019 - Licia

She continued to pace, wringing her hands, gaze occasionally going to the river.

"Come on, Nokk! You can't avoid me forever! We both know it was an accident!" She sighed. "We both know how connected we are to each other, because we're of the same element. I don't blame you. It wasn't solely your fault, it was mine too. We're both at fault."

The rustling of leaves caused her to turn from the river, and she relaxed slightly. "You left this." He held out the staff, but she didn't take it. "What are you doing out here?"

"Trying to reach the Nokk. I need to go back to Ahtohallan. I haven't been back for... weeks, and... I just need time away. I need time to myself. But unfortunately, the only way I can get to Ahtohallan is by way of the Nokk, because it's in the middle of the Dark Sea. And... he's ignoring me." She lifted her skirts, plopping down on her rock, and pulling one knee to rest her elbow on it. A moment passed in silence, before, "What are you doing out here?"

He shrugged, taking a seat on the rock across from her, leaning the staff against the back of it, so that it rested in the dirt. "You disappeared not long after lunch. Just wondering if you were okay."

"I'm fine." She stopped, thinking. "As fine as I can be." A moment passed before she pulled her legs up underneath her, gaze going to the water. He watched her, saw how her skirts flowed around her, dripping into the water, how her hair tumbled about her head and reflected the waning sunlight like the finest of white gold, how worry seemed to fill her body, and she slumped forward. "Come on, Nokk, I know you're in there." She lowered her legs, reaching down to trail her fingers through the water, seeing a glimmer of something within as her toes drug in the cool water. "I see you. Come out, please?"

Hans watched, confused as to what she was trying to do, or who she was trying to reach. "Um... Els?" She ignored him. "Elsa?"

"What, Hans?"

"This is going to sound like a stupid question, but... what is the Nokk?" He had a sneaking suspicion he knew what it was, but he wanted the explanation from Elsa before he made a definitive conclusion.

"What do you mean, 'what is the Nokk, how can you not know what the Nokk is?" She reached for the shimmering within the water, only for it to move further away. "Damn it!" With a huff of annoyance, she turned to him. "You're a sailor, aren't you?"

"I was, but-"

"Then what do you think the Nokk is?" She stood as if that would punctuate the question, and Hans watched her take a few steps in the water, the skirt of her dress billowing out around her. "Come on, Nokk! Come out! Please? We need to talk!"

He sighed. He knew the legend of the nøkken and the dangers they often posed. "They're shape-shifting water spirits. In the Isles, we call them Undines, beautiful women with enchanting singing voices who inhabit rivers and waterfalls, and unlike humans, they possess no soul. They are not necessarily malevolent, but can be."

She turned back to him. "I thought the Southern Isles were, you know, Isles. Islands. Islands can't possess waterfalls-"

"But they can have rivers, and there's a river that cuts through the north eastern half of the isles. You forget, Els, that my family's kingdom is very small, and on a very small island." He scoffed. "I was never happier to see the black beaches receding away than when I was a ship. The years I spent at sea were some of the happiest of my life."

She watched him. "When did you join the navy?"

"When I turned sixteen. Technically, fifteen. I lied about my age. Figured since my family didn't want me, I'd be of better use to a sea captain, and... it's common in the Isles for those of the royal family to take up some form of military service at some point. Not necessarily required; most of my brothers talked themselves out of it, only a small handful of us went into the service in some form." He sighed, pulling a knee up and wrapping his arm around it.

"What about your mother?" She asked absentmindedly, continuing to move slowly through the water.

"What about her? She died after I turned ten. She lived long enough to see me prove that I could walk, died not long after. Scarlet fever. Father blamed me; that if I'd never been born, she'd still be alive. That it was my life that strained and eventually ended hers." He stopped, becoming lost in his thoughts, only puling himself from them when he felt a hand on his cheek. He looked up to see Elsa standing over him, sympathy in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Hans. I know what it's like, to carry guilt over something you couldn't control. I still blame myself for my parents' deaths- even though they went on their own, of their own choices, they still did it to find answers about me. I don't know that I'll ever stop blaming myself." He caught her hand as she pulled away, pressed a kiss to her palm. "And then there's Anna, and... even though I know it's not my fault, I'm the reason she's gone in the first place."

"What are you talking about? Anna's... Anna's in Arendelle, isn't she?" While he didn't know the specifics, he knew that the sisters were separated, and that something in regards to the redhead weighed heavily on Elsa's mind. She sighed, taking a deep breath to gather her thoughts.

"Kind of... but... not necessarily. I mean... it's... Anna... but it's not."

An eyebrow rose. "I'm sorry? Elsa, I don't understand."

She scoffed gently. "It's... it's difficult to explain, Hans. I wouldn't even know where to begi-" But she stopped, her attention drawn from their conversation at the sound of water lapping. Her head snapped to the side, and she gasped softly. "Nokk." Without another word to Hans, she pulled her hand out of his embrace and gathered her soaking skirts, taking off as fast as she could in the water, towards the lightly lapping waves. Hans watched in confusion as she went. "There you are! It's about time you show up! We need to-" But as she reached the lapping, it shifted, moving further away the closer she got. "This isn't funny, Nokk! We need to talk, and we need to talk now!"

From his place on the embankment, Hans watched as she moved closer to the lapping water, saw it move away, and then watched in horror as a rogue wave came up, washing over Elsa, who let out a scream of surprise and threw her hands up. He stood, hurrying to try and help, only to stop when Elsa, soaked through the skin and dripping wet, put her hands on her slender hips. "So instead of talking to me, you decide to splash me instead? Very mature!" The water continued to roil, but Elsa just continued further and further into the river, until it reached her knees, her thighs, her hips, her waist.

"Elsa!" She glanced back at Hans as he carefully made his way towards her, but then turned back to the water and the horse beneath it. "Come on, Elsa, this isn't funny. We need to get you in front of the fire before you catch cold."

"Go back to the shore, Hans. I'm fine. I have something I need to deal with right now." He reached for her, but the roiling river was only succeeding in pushing him back, though Elsa didn't budge. "Come on, Nokk! Show yourself, now! No more hiding!"

Hans looked up in time to see a rogue wave rise and make its way towards her, but the river wouldn't let him go to her. "Elsa!"

When he looked up next, it was to Elsa, who had her hands out in front of her, and a sheet of ice that quickly crashed upon the waves. Seeing that she was okay, he sighed, relaxing slightly and closing his eyes with a shake of his head. The sudden stillness of the water alarmed him however, and his gaze snapped open. The river was calm, or, as calm as a river could be, and Elsa was nowhere to be found. Last I saw, she was in the river-

His heart leapt into his throat as he realized she must have been pulled under with the current, and as he scrambled to the last place she'd been standing, the roughness of the water soon picked up, tossing him further and further back, until he was scrambling for the shore.

"Woah, easy, Nokk!"

Heart in his throat, Hans found himself lying on his back half on the shore and half in the water, face to face with a pair of very angry glowing blue eyes. Eyes that weren't Elsa's. Slowly, his gaze moved up to see that it was a horse that was glowering- if that's what the expression was- down at him, and Elsa...

Elsa was seated, dripping wet but okay, on its back, holding onto a pair of ice reigns. The Snow Queen released a breath, tossing her head with a soft laugh. "Why is it whenever we argue or fall out of sorts, we resort to that?" She asked the horse, leaning down and patting its neck. "Is it payback for my taming you that day?" Her voice dropped to a stage whisper. "You know I never actually tamed you, right? Taming implies breaking, and I would never do anything of the sort, not to you or any other horse."

Hans sat up, catching his breath before slowly climbing to his feet. The horse watched him silently, though it's attention was on Elsa. So that's... that's the... Nokk? That's what Elsa called it, right? Right, the Nokk.

"We're connected, that's different to breaking; it's why you're so in tune with my emotions and why we work so well together- we're both of the same element, just different forms. You're literally water, and I..." She shrugged. "well, I command ice and snow, components derived from your element. We work together, not against each other." The horse snorted, tossing its head lightly. She sighed and dismounted. "Though I really don't think it's necessary for us to settle all our disagreements under the water, regardless of it being our shared element."

Does she understand how beautiful she looks that way? Dripping wet and soaked through the skin? He quickly shook his head. Wait a minute! Why are you thinking- well, of course she's beautiful! She was beautiful the night of her coronation and she's beautiful now, if not more so.

She worked on wringing the excess water from her hair as she finished speaking, before flicking her wrists and drawing the water droplets from her clothing until they were dry, which Hans didn't understand, since they were made of ice. She met his confused glance. "I don't like smelling like the river. River water smell tends to cling to my ice if I'm not careful. Speaking of which-"

She held out both hands, and he watched in surprise as the water from his close were lifted out, leaving his clothing completely dry. Once he got over the shock, he turned to her. "So... are you..." She glanced back at the horse, who shook its head with a snort, and after a moment, she grinned at him before going back to the animal.

"Yeah, we're good." Hans watched as the horse proceeded to nuzzle her hair with its snout like a normal horse would do, which only resulted in it drenching her with water. Lips pursed, she reached up, lifting the strands that had been pulled over her head in the process. "Really?" She turned to the horse. "Was that really necessary?"

His hands instantly went up to protect himself as she shook her head, sending water every which way, before pulling the water from both clothing and hair. He sighed, cautiously making his way towards her. "So... this is the... the Nokk?" She nodded, continuing to stroke the animal's neck. On instinct, he reached out, before stopping and glancing at her. "You can pet him. He doesn't bite. And if he does, it's basically just water. There's no real bite to him."

"He'd... let me...?" She nodded. A moment passed, before the horse began to skitter, and Elsa, still stroking his neck, grabbed the reigns, whispering softly to him in her native tongue.

"Shh. Det er i orden, det er greit, du er ok. He won't hurt you, Nokky, I promise." Hans grinned at the nickname she'd given the horse, and gently brushed his fingers against the horse's snout-

Only to have his fingers go through the animal.

The horse snorted, and backed up slightly. Elsa sighed. "I forgot. Water." After several minutes, she led them both back to the shore, and watched as Hans gathered the staff. "Thank you again. I really do love it. It's-"

"Uniquely you?" She rolled her eyes and laughed as he grinned, and he was relieved to see the smile she awarded him. A moment passed in contented silence, before he turned back towards where the tribe would be. "Supper's probably ready by now. Shall we?"

She bit her lip. "Actually, I think I'm going to head back."

"Head back?"

"To Ahtohallan. I haven't been back in weeks and... I just need to get away for a bit. Time to myself."

"Oh, right. Why don't you go after supper-"

"I should get back-"

"Elsa, that magical glacier or whatever it is you protect, will always be there. And you need to eat. You barely ate at lunch." A moment passed, before she finally relented.

"Fine, I'll stay for supper, but then I really do have to go. There's something I need to look up, and I can't do that here, because all my books are back in my library."

"As long as you eat first." He started walking, before realizing that she wasn't beside him. "Elsa?" She stood beside the Nokk, talking softly with him. "Are you coming?" A moment passed, before he returned to her side, the staff in hand. She looked up, meeting his gaze.

"Hey Hans?"

"Hmm?"

"How long has it been since you've ridden a horse?" He furrowed a brow, thinking.

"I... it's been a while, why?" She met his gaze briefly, before turning back to the Nokk. "Hey... Els, what are you doing?" His eyes widened in shock as she reached up, resting a hand against the Nokk's cheek, and then her forehead to his snout with her other hand just above where her forehead rested. In a matter of seconds, frost had coated the water horse, and in pulled away, prancing out of the water and onto the embankment, around the pair as Elsa giggled. Hans couldn't help but stare at the animal open-mouthed. He'd no idea Elsa could do such a thing, though, given her powers over ice and snow, clearly it was possible. Before he could gather his wits about him, Elsa was already sitting atop the frosted horse, holding out a hand.

"Well, are you coming?" Once he was seated behind her and the Nokk had adjusted to the extra weight, Elsa took the reigns again. "Ready?" He scoffed gently. "Hang on. We're going for a ride." He had just enough sense to grab onto her waist as they took off across the land, back towards the camp.