Yes, the reference to God of War is the emotion pep talk :) specifically when Hiccup mentioned about the power of a weapon, until he gave his girl a kiss. His lines are the reference. Glad you're still reading :
Anna's POV
I. Have. Gone. Rusty.
I sat down on the ground, piercing the blade onto it as well by my side. My breathing was not managed, so I needed to catch them again. The temperature of the air was chilly, but I was sweating myself out. Even if it looked like a mere clash between two swords from the outside, the intense focus really worn us out.
Well, at least I was worn out. Elsa seemed to be doing fine with her stamina despite the long training we just had. It was mainly because of the fact that… I hate to admit it, but she was better than me. Hiccup and Elsa are better than me in sword combat. Sure, Elsa did use her power to make me slip on my own at first, which I quickly complained about since it was not fair. However, she really was good in wielding her sword. Not even once did I even come close in pinning her down.
I looked behind me to see my sister murmuring with Hiccup while sharing glances to me. Seeing that I have spotted their so-secret conversation, they stopped it in the middle of the track.
"You're good?" Hiccup asked.
"Huft… no?"
"Anna, you need to conserve your energy more," Elsa advised. "You need to… let the mind get involved as well. Not just the heart. That way, you'll do better in the combat."
I smirked, shaking my head in annoyance sarcastically. "Of course, you'd have the same advice with Hiccup. Well, to be fair, you cannot not be angry to your enemy, right? I mean, you label them as your enemy because they did something that enraged you," I shrugged.
"Correct. But Elsa said 'let the mind get involved', not 'take over completely.' They… complete each other, they… work together. Put them in a nice harmony, and you'll pull better swings and parries and blocks!" Hiccup explained. "Theories aside… perhaps you should do less… battle cries, okay?"
"Battle cries?" I asked.
"The 'hyah', 'hup', and all," Elsa answered, snorting a little. "We don't want anyone to hear our voice when we're doing stealth mission, right?"
"Correct again! In a large battle, sure, shout all you want, as long as your attacks are equivalently as strong as the shouts," Hiccup smiled.
They were right. I did let out shouts when swinging my blade around a lot. Countless times.
"I'll… admit that. I do shout a lot," I scratched my hair.
"Well, we have a lot of training to do," Hiccup approached me. "Isn't there like… a class or something for something like this in the royalty?" He glanced to my sister and she nodded to confirm. Once he glanced to me, I could only smile sheepishly. The Viking proceeded to judge me.
"Huh… have you been skipping those classes?"
"I have… but only because I was not good at it," I grabbed the inferno blade, giving it an inspection. "It was never my thing. To take one's life."
"It was never mine either," Hiccup crouched in front of me. "But what if you have to defend yourself?"
I thought of an answer for a moment. "I'll run. In defense."
"What if you're cornered with nowhere to run?" He asked again.
"I'll hide," I smiled.
"What if there's nowhere to hide?" Elsa asked.
I remained silent.
I gave the two a big sigh to acknowledge just how much of a dangerous path ahead of us, and how necessary it was to face it seriously. I used the blade to help myself stand up and taunted Hiccup with it for a round.
"En Garde, Sir Haddock," I spoke in a manly tone.
"Un what?" He asked, bringing his broken sticks up while walking in circle with me.
"Be ready."
We walked in circle, waiting for each other for a move. Hiccup took a step forward, but it turned out to be a mere faking move. Once again, he took several steps forward, but only to jump backward. Seeing the taunting, I carefully studied his move. His foot, eyes, his hands, heck, his old yet newly returned prosthetic leg.
The Viking charged forward and swung his sticks from above. I placed my blade horizontally to block them. His momentum was so powerful, once we made contact, my own blade nearly hit my face.
He tried pushing more to break my block, but I resisted by giving his peg leg a sweep. He didn't lose his footing, but thanks to that, I managed to break free from the contact. Hiccup was not in a ready position, and I immediately took the chance by giving him a swing from the right.
His incredible reflex made me gasp as he jumped backward to avoid my blade!
Despite a little in shock, I continued my attack. I swung my blade from above, which, once again, Hiccup evaded by jumping away to the right. To continue the attack, I charged to him by pointing my blade right at him. My speed was bringing the tip of the blade so close to him, but out of nowhere, he merely ducked to avoid it.
But that left me with nowhere to go except himself. So, I ended up crashing on him.
My reckless charge made some dust fly around from the ground. Hence, it took me a moment to really realize that I was laying on the Viking's chest.
"Just as a reminder, you two are still enemies. Not lovers. Until one side is pinned down," Elsa sarcastically reminded.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I immediately got off of Hiccup and helped him up. I brushed off any dirt on my outfit and his.
"Well… were you seeing an improvement, Els?" Hiccup asked, turning to my sister.
"Hmm… she did break the sticks," she pointed to the sticks that were scattered by the crash. I never noticed, but apparently, they were now even more broken.
"Ah, never noticed that," Hiccup said. "Well, I saw a small improvement. You finally began studying my movement."
He read me! "I… was. But I'm still learning on how to do it more efficiently."
"You'll come around," he picked the even more broken sticks, gesturing to them. "You did make your enemy unarmed."
"Yay me!" I retracted the inferno blade. "What's my reward?"
"More training," He nudged my back with a smirk, throwing away the sticks. That reminded me.
"Hey, are you gonna get yourself any weapon soon, Hiccup?" I asked.
He half turned to me while walking to the pond. "Hm. I was thinking about a hatchet. Now that will be an interesting one, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"You will have to fight in a different style when the enemy wields something that is not a sword. We haven't even tested you with a shield as well!" He nudged me again. Irritation slightly grew inside me; despite he was true.
"Ughh… since when did I become a student of you two?" I crossed my arms.
"Maybe I can give a try in teaching you?"
It was a voice that belonged to neither of us. We turned to the entrance of the cove and found the blonde woman, Astrid, I believed. She walked seamlessly while carrying a large axe with one hand, which she planted on the ground after approaching us.
"Hiccup, your mother wants to see you in the dining hall," Astrid pointed a thumb to the back. Hearing this, Hiccup immediately put on a serious look.
"What's the matter?" He asked, walking to the entrance of the cove.
Astrid shrugged. "I dunno."
"Well," he turned to me and my sister, "I'll see you later."
With that, Hiccup ran off to the distance. The three of us watched him leave until he couldn't be seen anymore. At least, Elsa and I were.
"Practicing, your majesties?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip.
"Well, I am. My sister is already good on her own. Like she will use a sword, anyway," I scoffed. Elsa acknowledged it with a shrug while playing around with her ice sword.
"Queen Anna… and Queen Elsa, am I right?" Astrid asked. When she mentioned my sister's name, she gave the person a playful glance, which my sister returned with the same thing in the same manner.
"Mhm! Astrid, right?" I asked.
"But please, you can address us with our names only," I requested.
"Astrid it is. Very well. Heh, I remember finding your sister on that very spot where you're standing," Astrid recalled, which I clearly did not have a clue of what she was on about. I raised a brow at the statement, but Elsa laughed it off.
"You still remember?" Elsa asked.
"Who wouldn't? When else do you get a royalty with a very royal outfit in the middle of the woods near Raven Point?" Astrid intended full sarcasm in her tone.
Once again, Elsa laughed it off.
"Ohh… yeah, I imagine that'd be quite the embarrassing sight," I chuckled along.
"I know right? Anyway," Astrid grabbed her axe up. "A round, Your Majesty?"
The sight of a girl wielding an axe that big was quite menacing, but I was up for the challenge. I grabbed the blade and readied myself. "Yes please."
Astrid nodded, and we proceeded to walk in circle. From my perspective, I could only see one of her blue eyes, since the other one was blocked by the giant blade she possessed. Right away, I could tell that Astrid had the spirit of a warrior. It wasn't there, but I could sense a fire deep inside her eyes. It's what I felt absent with my training with Elsa and Hiccup; the sense of genuinely facing an enemy. Astrid, on the other hand, looked so fierce that I really felt threatened.
With a leap, Astrid swung her axe from the side to me. I avoided it by jumping backwards. The female Viking gave another swing, which I barely anticipated. I did the same maneuver to avoid it. The gap between my chest and the swinging axe was a mere tiny one due to my late anticipation. Giving no time to catch a breath (not that she needed one, anyway), Astrid swung the axe from above. It was too late for me avoid it, so I raised my blade horizontally and blocked it. My knees bent because of the force, but the axe was blocked. Upon contacting, I slid the axe to the left, which left me a window to finally initiate an attack. I swung my blade from the side, and Astrid's maneuver was something I've never seen.
She bent her spine backward, her face being so close away from my swing. Having evaded it like a pro, for a split second, she used this window to swing the handle of her axe to my face. There was not a second for me to react, so I simply closed my eyes to prepare of what's next.
Swoosh
I opened my eyes to see an Astrid with no axe. She looked as confused as I was. Later, we discovered her axe on my right with a mark of an ice blast on the blade. I turned to see Elsa, and my guess was right. My sister used her power to knock the axe off.
It took her a moment to realize of what she'd done after we gave her a gesture that screamed 'what was that for?'. "… I'm sorry. Force of habit." She placed her hands behind her back. "Please, do continue."
"I was going to stop right before hitting her face, Elsa," Astrid commented. She picked up her weapon once again and set herself in a ready stance.
"Before we continue," Astrid halted. She walked to me and pressed a button on the inferno blade that ignited the fire of the blade. It shocked me for a second.
"You gotta get used to the heat, Anna," she smirked. I believe she meant it literally and metaphorically; the blade was blazing hot!
We walked in circle again. This time, I decided to do the first move. I charged with the tip of my blade pointing at the Viking. She jumped away from the blade seamlessly. I tried to give her no breathing room by giving another swing. Once again, her seamless jump made my swing have no contact with her. Still with the same mindset, I swung my blade at her.
Within a blink of an eye, Astrid swung her axe to the direction of my blade and the next thing I knew was that I was unarmed from my weapon. I turned to my left to see my blade landing near the pond, still consumed with fire.
"Good lord…" I breathed a gasp.
"Come on Anna!" Elsa cheered for me.
Astrid didn't just parry me, she also made me an easy target. I slowly walked my way to the blade.
"I think we've had enough for today," Astrid suggested.
"Heh, I was about to suggest the same thing," I grabbed the handle and retracted it with a press of a button, hot smoke emitting from the hole where the blade resided.
Astrid looked at my blade while grabbing her chin. "Wait, before we end it there, let me teach you a cool technique that you can use with the blade."
"Really? Human trafficking?"
"Uh huh. This is why they're no joke, Astrid," I said as help my sister climb a tall ledge. "I should've done more digging into their background, honestly. Now I would like to end our diplomatic relationship with a huge bang."
"Well let's make sure we make it out of this alive and not missing a limb or two, Anna," my sister advised. When she looked up ahead, she was in awe. I turned to see what really made her feel amaze, and I was caught right away by the same thing. A view of the isle of Berk.
Astrid said there was a hill with a great view near Raven Point. It was a no brainer for me and Elsa since we were in the mood for exploring more. The rough walk took us hours to finish, but we had a lot of time to really bond with the female Viking. Though, to be fair, most of the conversation was quite grim, because we happened to talk about how she and other Vikings escaped New Berk. It was quite the bloody story that Elsa and I actually attempted to shift away from. We didn't want Astrid to tire herself mentally with her dark experience with Therondia's mercilessness. However, she kept on with her stories along with the details, which were mostly bloodbath. Not having experienced as many bloodbaths as Astrid had in our lives, Elsa and I couldn't help but to cringe every time she mentioned how the necks were slit, the mouths gagged blood, the scream piercing their ears, the swords piercing through the hearts, and more.
"Well, they are a bunch of assholes, then," Astrid commented, looking at the view ahead of us. "Anyway, great view, right?"
"Beautiful view." I commented, sitting down on the grass with Elsa.
"Worth the walk?" Astrid asked, joining us.
"It was definitely worth it," Elsa assured.
We remained silent to really take the view in. It was nearing evening. The air relatively warm to be fair, despite being all the way in the north, more north than Arendelle. Everything about the view was beautiful, the towering cliff to the left, the sea, the sun, the minimalist clouds, all except for… Berk itself. Grimmel's wrongdoing brought some infrastructures of the village down to the ground, and there was no fixing. It was beyond repair.
"Hey Anna, um…" Astrid called. "Are you two… together?"
Who was she referring to? "What, me and my sister?"
"No! I mean, you and um… Hiccup."
I swear, everyone was able to read me like a book. "Oh, uhm, yeah. We are."
She raised her brows 'nonchalantly' and looked to the ground. "Okay."
Elsa shared a glance with me, conveying her uneasiness with the question. The worst possibility that came to mind was the probability of the two of them being together before Therondia attacked. But it was not the most comfortable topic in the world, so, I wouldn't dig to find out.
Astrid looked up to the view again. "It would've only taken us minutes to get us up to this very hill," she turned to us, "On a dragon."
"I suppose so," I replied.
"Do you think the Therun… whatever they're called, have got their hands on the dragons?" She asked.
"Hmm… I want to be optimistic and positive, so I think they haven't. I mean, you and Hiccup have been to the Hidden World, right?" I asked.
"I have."
"The entrance is not so friendly for ships, is it?" I reminded.
Astrid nodded. "It isn't. But who knows what they have under their sleeves. They are full of tricks."
"Mhm. That's one hazard that we must be aware of," I nodded in agreement.
Astrid once again ignored the view ahead of us to watch the ground beneath her. Elsa and I noticed the lack of optimism of the Viking. I was about to convince her when Elsa placed a hand gently on her shoulder pad.
"We will be just fine, Astrid," Elsa assured.
The Viking smiled, appreciating the effort. "Thank you, Elsa."
"Anytime, Astrid," she replied.
"Say, can you show me your power again?" Astrid faced my sister in a great curiosity. Elsa chuckled in response. To fulfill the request, she danced her hands in a circular motion and created a snowball out of a flurry of ice, handing it to her afterwards. Astrid 'wow'ed at the snowball.
"Can you make something else?" Astrid asked excitingly.
"Um, name me something?" Elsa asked.
"Hm. A dagger."
"One dagger coming right up."
Elsa palmed her fists and placed them together. She parted them slowly, and inside grasp, a dagger made out of ice was materializing. She handed the item to the Viking again.
"Wow! You even created the details!" Astrid complimented while examining the object. I scooched closer to look what she meant, and she was true. There were patterns on the blade and the handle bar of the dagger.
"I tried making it look as Viking-ish as possible, he he," Elsa confessed.
"That is so cool… Anna, do you have any power?" Astrid asked.
"I wish. No, I don't have any power."
"Then… Why does Elsa have ice power?"
I was about to ready myself for a long explanation, but then we heard a cry of a Terrible Terror. When we looked for the source of the cry, a flock of Terrible Terrors landed between us. Blue was one of them. He bit my cape gently and pulled it.
"I think they want to take us somewhere?" Elsa asked, as one Terrible Terror was also attempting to pull her by the arm.
"Yeah, they are. Must be Hiccup's mother. I think she's calling for us now," Astrid said. "Well, it's another long walk down the hill again. Wish Terrible Terrors were big enough to carry us, though. The story can wait."
"Alright, let's go," I said.
"I have an idea," Elsa proposed.
We stood up. Astrid and I watched Elsa walk to the ledge we just scaled moments ago. On there, she stomped her foot to the ground. Soon, a big slide made out of ice materialized out of thin air. It kept forming and forming, following the route which we took in order to climb the hill.
"Whoa… how did you do that?" Astrid asked, watching the ice slide forming until it was gone into the woods.
"Mm, will magic do?" Elsa asked sheepishly. "I made the slide go all the way to the village. We should be there in minutes."
"Okay! Race you two there!"
With zero hesitance, Astrid jumped onto the slide and slid along it while screaming her lungs out.
"She just jumped right onto it…" Elsa said. "Well, you're competitive, aren't you?"
With that slight mockery, Elsa jumped onto the slide and went off into the distance. The last time I had a go on one of Elsa's ice, I was with Olaf and I hit myself with a branch of tree. Put it simply, it was against my wishes. Having experienced that, of course, I hesitated with the idea. But I never got the chance to come up with another idea. As if I would have anything better, anyway.
Slowly but surely, I stepped on the ice and knelt down to position myself. Before I could push myself away, I sensed something pushing me from behind out of the blue. Coincidentally, it was Blue himself!
"BLUE! WHOAAA—"
I tried to control my slide, but I had nothing to grab on. Everything was going so fast, several blinks I made resulted me in a place where I didn't know I was in. At one moment, I was still on the hills. At another moment, I was already in the woods. At another another moment, I saw the cove to my right. Finally, after what I swore was the longest three minutes in my life, the sight of Viking civilization was in sight. But what caught my attention the most was this pile of snow by the end of the slide.
"Oh no…"
I closed my eyes and let myself crash into the snow. After feeling myself finally stationery, I opened my eyes and was immediately greeted by two familiar figures.
"How was it?" My sister asked, lending a hand for me to get up.
I accepted her hand. "Ugh… no comment," I replied.
"Whoops."
"They must be in the dining hall. Come on girls," Astrid said, gesturing us to follow her. So, we did.
The walk to the hall didn't take long. Once we were by the entrance, I could hear chanting and laughter. Inside, there was one large long table. On top of them, many kinds of food were prepared. Apparently, everyone had gathered and started on their own with the food, including Hiccup.
One person who noticed our presences was Valka, who was sitting beside her son. Right away, she waved at us, gesturing the empty seats in front and next to her. We did as her wish. Astrid sat next to her, while Elsa and I sat across her.
"Please! If there's a reason why Mrs. Hoffman survived the raid, it's to celebrate Hiccup's return with a great dinner!" Valka said, showing the food in front of us which varied from size, shape, and color.
"Who's Mrs. Hoffman?" I asked, while looking at the food to determine which one to have.
"Oh. The woman who has prepared all of this! She is a great cook," she explained. Suddenly, Valka stood up with her cup.
"Everyone! Listen up!"
With that exclaim, everyone stopped their chattering and paid attention to her. "Tonight, we are celebrating the return of my son, and our chief, Hiccup!"
"YEAH!" Everyone cheered. Hiccup could only smile sheepishly at his mother.
"This is to our chief!" She raised her drink, and so did everyone. "And to our partners, who have found himself, Queen Anna and her sister, Elsa! CHEERS!"
"CHEERS!"
With that, everyone chugged their drinks and proceeded to continue with their previous conversations, only after slamming their drinks against the table.
"Thank you, Hiccup's mother," I expressed once she has sat down again.
"Oh, it's nothing. It's the least I can do for now," she waved it off. "And please, Valka would be fine. Please, drink your drinks! It's our finest wine, nobody has touched it ever since we left!"
"Oh. So, it's been years…" I said as I examined my drink.
"Mm... I love it," Elsa commented. I turned to her and her lips were already covered in stains of the wine. Afterwards, she took more gulps of the drink.
"I believe the taste of a wine will only become finer as we leave its fermentation going," Valka reminded. It's true, but it's something that could never really convince me. However, since this was their delicacy, I wanted to try it.
I gave the wine a sip. Right away, I scrunched my face due to its strong taste. After swallowing the sip, my stomach felt warm.
"Oh god… I think I'll gobble the food first," I placed the cup to put some pork on my fork. Elsa went with the same option.
Everybody was enjoying their conversation during the feast, including Hiccup. I would've liked to talk to him, but he was sat too far from me and was talking to his other companions. In the end, the four of us, Valka, Astrid, Elsa, and I talked about Arendelle and its recent history. Not that I was complaining, but, you know, you don't want to be left out by your partner in an event like this. But in the same time, you want your partner to really enjoy their time fully.
The conversation lasted for as long as Mrs. Hoffman kept refilling our empty cups with more wine. When a cup was finished, a topic was finished as well. Not that mine got empty anyway. After finishing mine halfway, Elsa was already on her third refill. I never knew that she was this strong with alcohol, especially since we're talking about cups that were twice as big as the ones I had in home, so the portions were large. I believe Hiccup was quite the strong drinker as well, he asked for refills numerous times, but he kept a straight face all the time.
Though the cycle was continuing, after a good hour or two, I was worn out by this amount of social interactions. I wanted to call it a day, but I didn't feel okay with just standing up and leaving. However, Elsa was there to save the day.
"Valka, Astrid, Anna and I will have to check on Nokk. I'll see you tomorrow?" Elsa excused.
"Oh yeah, sure. Good night you two," Valka said, finishing her wine.
"Good night Anna, Elsa," Astrid bid.
With that, we walked out of the dining hall. We exited the hall and were greeted by the full moon above us. The food, the drink, and the conversations really made time fly away. And for the others, it was still going on. Their laughter echoed in the hall, and was very much heard from outside.
We walked along the path, only to stop when Elsa was suddenly about to collapse. I caught her within an instance.
"Hey! You okay?"
She stood back on her feet. "Yeah… I'm good."
Her tone sounded funny. "Are you drunk?"
"Mm… I think I'm about to be… please, take me home before I do something stupid…" my sister requested.
"You shouldn't have had so much, Els," I took her arm around me and helped her with her steps.
"Anna, did you even try it? It was soooo good!" She said in a slurry tone.
"Yeah yeah…"
Luckily, she remained silent throughout the walk. Once we reached our house, Elsa suddenly made herself heavier. Only after looking at her face did I realize that she had fallen asleep, while walking. Cursing under my breath, I carried her in bridal style to her bed.
"Mmm… you're the best sister ever…" Elsa spoke as I gently laid her down on a couch. It's as if she knew what I was doing, without having to see me.
"I know."
I covered her with a blanket we brought from Arendelle. Since there was no lighting in the room, I ignited the fireplace in the middle of the room. Right away, it provided not just lighting, but warmth. The fire allowed me to see my sister sleeping soundlessly, while smiling. God knows what was in her mind.
Thud
I turned to the door to see a familiar slender figure.
"Hey honey…" Hiccup called. He hiccupped afterwards, which was a laughable sight.
"Haha, hey. You know your way home," I greeted back, approaching him.
"Well of course! I live here!" He replied in a slurry tone. Oh no, he's drunk too.
"Let's get you to the bed, shall we?" I took his arm around my neck to help him support his own weight while having only half of his brain active. With baby steps, we took the stairs to reach his room. He let out incoherent moaning while walking, sometimes murmurings as well.
Later, I prepped him on the bed. He sat down and looked blankly onto the floor.
"You're okay?" I asked, kneeling down to meet his face. His eyes remained staring blankly, even with mine being the center object of his sight.
"Will we be able to do this?..." He asked.
"Do what?"
"This whole thing. Saving the dragons. Getting rid of Therondia. What a stupid name," he looked away.
"We will be victorious," I gripped his arms firmly. "I will ensure that."
"I don't think it's possible with this amount of people we have…" He argued.
"At least we have a number. And we have the element of surprise."
"What if they are the one who will surprise us first?"
"What if they are not?"
Finally, he looked into my eyes. Even with the dim lighting, his eyes were still visible.
"Big goo-goo eyes…" Hiccup said, chuckling. "You have beautiful eyes, Anna."
The sudden change of topic was very sudden, indeed. I inevitably blushed. "Yours are beautiful as well, Hiccup."
"Well these eyes have seen too much blood, I'm surprised they haven't turned red yet," he replied.
The logic made me erupt a laugh. "Right…"
"Maybe I'll have them scooped out with a spoon or something…"
"Hiccup!" I shook his arms. That got his attention well, and he looked sorry in an instance.
"I'm sorry… you shouldn't listen to me while I'm drunk," Hiccup said.
His obviousness was both sarcastic and true in the same time, which was laughable as well. "Heh… I know. Go to sleep. Good night."
I let go of his arms, but only to have them catch mine again in midair. I looked to him in curiosity.
"Mm… sleep with me."
It shocked me to death to hear the request. It would be a lie to say that I didn't want to, but this was a drunk Hiccup. Was I willing to take the so-called risks?
Yes, I was. "Make space."
His face lit up. The Viking pulled me and kissed me by the hair, in which I responded with a mere chuckle. I laid down next to him, close enough to have his shoulder as a pillow. His hand was stroking my hair in a loving manner.
"Good night, Hiccup," I whispered.
"Nighty night, Anna. I love you."
That was it. The first magic triplet words. Spoken while he was drunk.
"I love you too."
