Chapter 6

[Elsa]

"Go on… go" he prodded her.

"I can't, what if…"

"That's why I'm letting you wear gloves this time."

"But Jack, she's better off if…"

" No she's not. She's been suffering just as much as you have, trust me. Nothing is worse than not being able to connect with those you love." His voice had taken on a tone Elsa didn't think he was capable of. He sounded… pained.

"Anyway," he continued seeming to shake it off, " didn't that rock dwarf thing tell you that it was fear that you were supposed to avoid? Well clearly this glove thing didn't work since you still shot me,"

"Well I didn't have them on then,"

"But our actions are driven by feelings, now that I've thoroughly charmed you frostbite I don't have to worry about it. You can control them around me and Frozone cause you know you can't hurt us. So now we're gonna do this my way. You're gonna meet her, if something happens I'll be there to protect her, so you don't have to be scared around her.

"She probably hates me."

"She's Anna for God's sake, now are you done with the dumb excuses? Cause here she comes."

"Jack I can't…Jack!"

"ANNA!" She gave the pale haired boy a frustrated terrified glare, before facing her sister. She'd grown up to look almost exactly like their mother. Elsa found herself stuck to her spot. Her sister… beautiful, pure, full of life… everything she could destroy in a second. She felt a hard bump on her back and stumbled forward, she assumed the impact being from Jack's elbow. Maybe he's right, she thought. I'm Elsa, I've built palaces, defeated snow monsters, controlled blizzards… I can handle this. She began tugging at the fingers of the all too familiar gloves.

"Umm.. Hi, Elsa," She heard her sister's voice say. She realized all she had been doing was standing there dumbfounded for a good thirty seconds. Words. Right, those were a thing she would have to say.

Finally she spoke, "Ummm…Hi. Uhhhh…Well…Jack and I were wondering, well I was wondering, well I think he's coming, but it was his idea…Not that I didn't want to do it! I also really thought it was a good idea, so… oh god." She crossed her arms utterly embarrassed, this was not going well. Not even a little bit. She felt a gust of wind push her farther forward, and she shot a glare back at Jack who pretended to be really interested in the ceiling for a few seconds before looking at her and urging her forward. She turned back to face Anna and the hope filling the other girl's eyes grounded her. In a completely steady voice she heard herself say, " Will you come to the cafe with me after school?" She watched Anna's eyes light up, tearing up a bit too.

"There's nothing I would love more." She said in response. The two stood there for a few moments looking at each other. Great! She thought…now what?

"Ummm… Alright then, I'll see you there." She spun on her heel and sped away, the hallways, lockers and people just a blur. She vaguely heard Jack shouting a few formalities to the other two she had just left. Her breath was coming quickly, a little too quickly, she needed to sit. She chose a small divet in the wall and pressed her back against the cool brick. She slowly slid in to a crouch covering her mouth and letting the tears out. They were years coming. She heard Jack calling her name, but couldn't find the urge to call back. It seemed only right, the end to her solitude should come alone.

For the rest of the day Elsa was anxious, but in a way she had never felt before… she was actually excited. She finally had something to look forward to, something to look forward to with someone else. Once school was out she grabbed her things grabbed Jack's arm and sped out.

"Where are we going!?" He shouted when they were outside of the school.

"To the cafe…" she said utterly confused. Had he forgotten his own plan?

"Wouldn't it just be easier to walk with Anna from the school?". Elsa bit her lip, wow she had really been out of the whole socializing game for way too long.

"Well I didn't tell her to meet me at any specific place in the school, just the cafe."

"Well what class does she end in," Jack asked, "We can just go and grab her from there or near there." Elsa felt her face heat up as she stayed silent.

"You don't know do you?" Jack said sounding slightly annoyed. She shook her head embarrassed.

"Wow Frostbite, you really take this whole avoiding thing to a whole new level. Anyway I think she mentioned during lunch she had a few teachers to meet after school. Just text her that you'll meet her there." Elsa nodded her nerves shooting up even more facing her lack of social skills.

She stood in front of the cafe wringing her hands Jack standing there casually watching her pace.

"By the way I'm ready to hear the beloved phrase, 'you were right' any time Frostbite."

"Yeah, well we still have to see how it goes," she said to him.

"It'll be fine, trust me," Jack said with his usual carefree smile. Suddenly something past her grabbed his attention and put him visibly on edge, like a dog that just saw a squirrel. His face twisted with a look of fear and concern that she had never thought him being capable of.

"Jack… Jack, what is it?" She said turning around to look behind her but saw nothing, just the usual sight of traffic and people bustling around at rush hour. When she turned back towards him, he was gone. He left her. Had this been part of his plan all along, to say he'd be there and ditch her at the last second? He had looked genuinely concerned about something however.

"ELSA!" She heard a chirpy voice call from behind her. She froze he heart racing, her instinct was to run. There was no safety, no guard, there was nothing she could do. Snap out of it Elsa! She thought to 're not a coward are you? You are Elsa of Arendelle. You have controlled entire weather systems, you can control yourself enough to not accidentally murder your sister with a popsicle. She clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and turned to face what she had both feared and hoped for the most ever since she was young.

"Hi… Anna."

[Eugene]

He'd had his doubts, plenty of them, millions of them in fact, but this art thing wasn't actually all that bad. There were tutorials, games where you could compete in sculpture making, drawing , painting, or just throwing color at each other (paintball art and actual paintball were also options). Since culinary art was also included there were so many free samples of foods he'd never heard of calling his taste buds in every direction. After two invigorating games of paintball and a pathetic paintball painting (if was supposed to be the sun but just looked more like a cheese wheel that had hair) Eugene decided to actually try and learn some art. The tutorial on drawing landscapes seemed easy enough at first, but by the end Eugene's piece didn't even look like it could pass as an abstract version of whatever that artist had originally drawn. He strolled around gorging himself on free samples, he'd tried some sweet that he couldn't pronounce, it had some kind of different fruit jam within a flaky buttery puff , with white chocolate and some type of flavored cream. He didn't know what it was, but he made a mental note to go back to the stall and find out, after grabbing a few more of course. He might have to grab Blondie one too considering he was only here because of her, and he'd noticed she had a huge sweet tooth. Where is she anyway? He wondered to himself, taking another bite of the puff. He hadn't seen her all day, he strolled through the pottery, jewelry making, and sewing sections before making his way to the painting area where he saw a familiar trail of blond hair. He found Rapunzel hard at work on a canvas meant as a free paint area where world-renowned artists would come around to aide and critique the amateurs. He noticed a blank canvas next to her and walked over to start a masterpiece of his own.

"This one taken?" He asked as he strolled over. She didn't even look at him but and she shook her head he could tell she was smirking.

"You? You want to actually do art?"

"Hey, you know if I'm forced to be here anyway, might as well right? Brush up on my skills for when I actually need to start making my own art for class."

He noticed Rapunzel looking around, "Okay, where is that girl you're trying to impress? There is no way you'd be here otherwise".

The girl named Ariel had hung on his arm for a bit making the dullest conversation that he had not the slightest problem tuning out. He'd thought she was incredibly beautiful when she'd sat next to him on the bus, but after actually spending time with her he realized she was actually a complete naive ditz (for some reason she had random made up names for a bunch of different objects, he had no idea what that was about). After a while she'd left him to watch a dark haired blue-eyed flutist in the performing arts section ( A section Eugene firmly avoided).

Eugene simply shrugged to Rapunzel's accusation, " Turns out she's really not my type."

He picked up the palette and the brush and had barely begun when he heard a voice cry, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" From right behind him, almost startling the brush right out of his hand.

"MONSIEUR! Are you trying the murder the brush, the canvas, or my poor old soul? Because you'll succeed at all three if you keep at it like that!" An old man shouted at him. "You must caress the canvas with your brush delicately! It's the most beautiful blank space to create to be respected and treated delicately, not hacked at like it's the last carcass on a deserted island!"

Another younger man with a seemingly more flamboyant nature walked over to them. "Oh Rudolph," the younger artist said to the other, "don't be so harsh on the boy. He just needs a hand of guidance is all." The young artist came around behind Eugene, holding his hand with the paintbrush in one hand and his other hand rested on Eugene's opposite shoulder. "Thats it," he said, his voice right by Eugene's ear, "like this, caress the canvas, the way one might caress a lover." Eugene was thoroughly uncomfortable, he didn't think he'd ever felt more awkward in his life, and to make it worse he noticed Rapunzel dying of trying to hold in her laughter next to him. He glared at her but it only made her seem to laugh harder. The other man, presumably Rudolph rolled his eyes at his colleagues obvious flirtation, grabbed the collar of the artist's shirt and pulled him backwards shouting, "Charles they are only in High School, don't be a pedophile. No-one likes them and there are 0 perks."

Charles humphed clearly upset about their current age, he winked at Eugene with a, " Give me a call when you're the magic age eh?"

"What are we gonna do with you?" Rudolph grumbled looking away from the artist, his eyes landing on Rapunzel's canvas. His eyes lit up.

"You my flower, what a masterpiece you have created." Eugene had meant to look earlier but had gotten carried away in conversation and then being attacked by one very grouchy and one very desperate artist. He meant to just glance over, but when he saw the painting the image engulfed him. A beautiful blue sky with mountainous landscape made up the background, the deep hues giving a calming yet mystical feel to the painting. Shimmering water, the waves breaking up the light of a full moon that gleamed low in the sky. The front of a small wooden boat had been painted so that the viewer felt that thats where they were sitting, a pair of hands cupped at the base of the canvas as though they were your own. That wasn't even the most magical portion, the entire painting had intricate lanterns lighting the sky, the hands looking as though they had just released the nearest one. It was truly incredible.

"What conservatory do you study at? I must give my regards to your teacher, what skill you possess."

"I-I don't attend a conservatory, just a normal high school." Rapunzel said, Eugene could see her blushing, she seemed unused to such praise. Rudolph was doubly impressed to see that, and even passed her his card, saying that she truly had a future and to give him a call if she wanted his help getting ahead. As the artists left, Eugene walked over behind her to get an even better look at her painting. She was standing frozen, staring at the man's card, holding it with both hands as if she were afraid it would blow away and she would lose it.

"You know Blondie," Eugene said from behind her, seeming to snap her out of her trance, "I usually hate giving compliments, make people's head bigger than they need to be, you know the whole shebang, but this is actually really good. What's your talent anyway that you can do this stuff? Can you recreate any images you see, make anything you see appear?"

She shook her head, zipping the card up in to her wallet, and safely storing in to her bag before picking up her paintbrush and touching up the painting as she responded to him,

" Art's actually just a hobby for me, my talent's got nothing to do with it. How about you? What's your talent, stealing?".

"Well kinda actually," he said scratching the back of his neck, " If I can see something, I can teleport it to or away from myself." He demonstrated now holding Rapunzel's paintbrush in his hand as she looked at her hand startled and confused. When she saw him holding it she made her little face where she scrunched up her nose with a little frown that had a smile breaking through it. It made him feel warm inside even as she snatched the brush away from him, he simply chuckled.

"Well, all that talent considered, you're a really bad thief," she retorted, contemplatively turning the brush over in her hand.

"Excuse me?" He asked defensively.

"Well you wouldn't even be here if you were a good one."

At that Eugene was at a loss for words. So he simple teleported her brush back in to his hands and launched a smatter of paint at her.

[Merida]

The arrows flew like a dream. The set was the best piece she'd ever worked with, the bow nearly weightless but more precise and deadly than any she had worked with before. She fired off round after round, Hiccup resting by a tree nearby, content to just watch. Toothless resting happily next to him. Once she'd fired a few rounds, she decided to try it mounted on her horse. When that did not prove challenging in the least, Hiccup asked her if she'd want to try it from the skies. Now that was an opportunity she was not about to pass up. With Hiccup steering Toothless in front of her Merida began to practice shooting from the skies, it took a few tries to get used to the distance, the angles, and the wind resistance, but after a few rounds she managed to get bulls-eyes even from the air. She'd never felt more fierce in her life, shooting not only from above, but from a freakin dragon. The gods the only enemies above her, her territory sprawling below, she felt more like Warrior Princess than ever. After a while they returned to the ground again allowing her to perfect some new trick shots she'd been working on. Now with the sun setting, she notched an arrow in her bow, with a slight pull back she fired an arrow straight up in to the air, it made its way down to perfectly land in one of the arrow slots in the sheath on her back.

" I give that a 9 out of 10" Hiccup commented from the side.

"What?!" Merida shouted at him , "How in the world was that only a 9? Is that a challenge?"

"Against you?" He asked, " Hell no, I have no urge to die today. Its just a fact that on execution it was not a 10 out of 10."

"Why the hell not?"

" Because that sheath is a beginners sheath, since that is what I am. It has arrow slots. It would have been a 10 out of 10 if it had landed in the exact slot you took it out of."

"It did!"

"Nope slightly to the left."

"Slightly to the left my foot," Merida muttered and she took the sheath off her back, but to her surprise, he was right. There lay the arrow, two slots to the left of where she had taken it from. She scowled at him, " Well its still better than anyone else could have done,"

"But alas," he sighed, " its not better than anything YOU could have done. My 9/10 stands."

"I hate you."

"Probably" he said at which point Hiccup went to lean back casually but flinched and spazzed to the side as Toothless jabbed him with his tail right in Hiccups pressure point. Hiccup tried to push him away, but Toothless kept nudging his head at him, slightly nipping Hiccup.

"Toothless!….Toothless stop! GAHHH," Hiccup shouted scrambling up and began pretend escaping around the tree. Merida watched and giggled, calling out, " See? Even your dragon thinks you were being a prat!".

At that Hiccup stopped and looked at her, giving her a goofy smile so he didn't even see Toothless's tail come swinging behind him. Merida tried to call out and give him a warning, but it was too late. The dragon tail hit the boy square in the back and he launched forward straight at her, she tried to get out of the way but he still knocked in to her shoulder, toppling the two of them on to the ground. Merida looked up in to a pair of deep warm Hazel eyes as they gazed down at her, seeing a joyous reflection of herself she'd never found in a mirror of her own. He smelled like stables, the leather collar of his jacket was soft in her hand, his body warm, the grass a prickly sort of softness… she could have stayed there forever.

Until a sharp voice biting the word "MERIDA," had them both clamoring upright. In a dark green gown, stood her mother, the principal of the school.

"Care to explain," her mother asked, though it didn't sound like a question.

" Oh mother it was nothing, I was just practicing and the boy's dragon hit us."

"You've never practiced with someone before."

"I…"

"Sorry Madame," Hiccup interrupted, " I just wanted to watch to see if there were any last minute adjustments that needed to be made, might as well fix them now and perfect it, there is no excuse for shoddy craftsmanship as Mr. Tadashi says. As for your unfortunate entrance time, well, my dragon has an affinity for pushing people around." As if right on cue Toothless came up behind him nudging Hiccup's back with his head causing the boy to stumble forward.

Merida watched her mother give him the examination look down, and turning her head to also glance at Toothless her eyebrows now raised.

"The Night Fury and Mr. Tadashi you say? Then you must be his prodigy Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III?"

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III? Merida thought to herself. That is this scrawny little thing's name? Though considering some of the earlier pictures of him that she had seen, she supposed he fit the name better now than he had before High School. Oh puberty really was a gem sometimes. Hiccup simply gave a nod with a "That's me."

Her mother clasped her hands in front of her like any proper lady, " Yes well your reputation does exceed you, you have created some fine accomplishments for this school. I presume you are the boy who has been helping my daughter with her new bow?"

"Yes Ma'am. Don't worry I think this is some of my best work yet, though your daughter would probably still win any competition even with a toy bow and toothpick arrows." He responded giving her a smile before immediately wiping it off his face and looking down awkwardly.

"I see," her mother said with a quirked brow, "Well carry on if you wish it, but make sure you pickup after yourselves, don't forget these are school grounds and will be respected as such."

"Yes ma'am" Merida heard Hiccup sputter but her mother had already turned on her heel and walked inside. Merida stared after her in mother was one of the quickest people in the world to jump to conclusions, and after finding a boy literally on top of her, her mother was just fine with it? That could only mean one thing. Her mother actually liked Hiccup, what if she thought her and Hiccup were a thing? What if other people thought that too? Oh no… no no no no no that was not the idea she wanted to give anyone.

Hiccup leaned towards her and said, " Wow, you're mom's really uptight isn't she? I can't really tell, but I think she might hate me."

If only Merida thought to herself.

"So," Hiccup asked, " Wanna try a few more rounds? I think it would be really cool to see if you could hit the target if Toothless does a…"

We need to make this clear cut and stop it now Merida thought to herself. She didn't need any senseless rumors starting up about her, especially with the tournament so close, she needed to focus.

"You know what," she said cutting him off mid-sentence, " I think I'm good for today," she said collecting a few scattered arrows, giving him a curt goodbye, and speeding away. She heard his slightly confused goodbye behind her but her fear pushed her farther and faster away.