ONE WEEK LATER (2 days until the alignment)
Hannah blew a strand of hair out of her eyes as she tightly clutched a wooden mallet.
Inhaling with determination, she reared it up above her head, and then slammed it down on the peg that uprighted the tent.
"There." Hannah announced triumphantly, despite the tent's crooked form.
"Here... let me help you with that." Benji insisted after laying eyes on the deformed structure.
"Okay fine, I get it", Hannah joked, "My tent sucks—I'm not that outdoorsy, okay." She chuckled.
A week had passed since everyone evacuated Arendelle. And a long week it had been.
They brought with them only the necessities, stopping to set up camp in a new place every day, in hopes of evading the wielders.
So far they had been successful, although, their main problem lied with the natural disasters tearing through the terrain. Hail, snow, rain, and earthquakes of great intensity seemed to follow wherever the girls went.
They had been traveling towards the Troll Valley, but chose a longer route to get there, lead by Kristoff, in order to hide from Garth for as long as possible. As the dark of night crept over the mountains, they decided to camp out in a small clearing in the trees, and had begun to set up multiple tents.
Jess looked up with concern at the black sky when she felt a drop of rain cascading down her nose. She knelt and crawled into Hannah's now resolved tent.
"Hey guys, another wave of imbalance is coming." Jess warned.
Elsa, Hannah, and Anna, who were now seated in the tent, turned their attention to Jess.
Elsa frowned, uncrossing her legs and exiting to instruct the citizens to take cover.
Walking to the relative center of the camp, she cleared her throat to address the people within ear shot.
"Everyone take shelter wherever possible, another imbalance is on the way, and it could be disastrous this time." The young queen announced, projecting her voice to her subjects who were scattered around here and there; some still pitching tents and others sitting around the fire.
Turning away to return to her own shelter, Elsa spotted a significantly large group of townsfolk crowded around together, speaking in hushed voices.
She narrowed her eyes, a little suspicious of them. Someone in the group must have tipped off the others of the Elsa's observation, because after shooting a glance or two at her, they quickly dispersed.
Elsa decided to shrug it off for the time being. Safety was the first priority at the moment.
An hour or two later, the rain slowed. The only indication of harsh weather that remained were the puddles of water and slush on the previously snow-coated ground.
Hannah peered her head out of the tent, and watched the heavy, dark clouds fading away.
Many of the other men and women did the same, and upon seeing the coast was clear, let their children out to play amongst the water saturated trees.
Jess, Hannah, and the rest of the group joined many of the other townsfolk in the center of the encampment, where one substantial bonfire had been lit to cook dinner.
"We should arrive at the Troll Valley in a few hours if I'm right." Kristoff informed, as he trudged up behind Elsa and Anna, startling them slightly with his booming voice.
He joined them on the log that they sat on, holding his hands up in front of the fire to warm them.
On an adjacent log, Hannah and Jess sat side by side, staring into the rising flames.
In a quick motion, Jess pulled a small wooden box out of her dress pocket. After lifting the lid, Its contents were revealed to be a few delectable looking chocolates.
"Look what I found hiding in the tent." Jess gloated in a sing-songy voice.
"What? Who brought that?" Hannah inquired with an amused expression.
"I don't know, probably Anna." Jess answered offhandedly, busy with selecting the chocolate she would eat first.
"Yeah prob—"
Hannah cut her sentence short when she noticed the crowd around her had quieted to gasps and murmurs.
Hannah let out her own gasp, when she saw a group of people surrounding the center of the encampment, many of them bearing weapons.
Hannah grabbed Jess's shoulder to catch her attention. The two of them stood and backed away, Jess dropping the chocolate box upside down. The name 'Elsa' was carved beautifully into the bottom.
"Hey it's Elsa's stash, not Anna's." Jess whispered loudly into Hannah's ear.
"Not really the time Jess..." Hannah whispered back, not taking her eyes off the impending attackers.
Hannah spun around quickly, tension pulsing through her mind when she felt someone grab her on the shoulder. Although, her anxiety eased, upon recognizing him as Benji through the shadowy flames of the fire.
"Benji! What's happening?! Did Garth find us?" Hannah sputtered out.
"No this isn't Garth's army...it's a group of the Arendelle citizens. It's an uprising of some sort by the looks of it." Benji replied.
Elsa stepped between the girls and the uprising, approximately ten feet between each, hands raised and ready to shoot.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Elsa hissed at them.
A man weaved through his fellow colleagues to the front of the attackers.
He revealed himself to be the resentful doctor from the Arendelle castle; the very one who had treated Hannah's wound just days ago.
"You?!" Elsa exclaimed, momentarily losing her queenly composure.
"Forgive me your majesty, but we demand that you hand over the imbalances to us." The doctor's voice bellowed darkly through the air.
"Do you understand you are committing an act of treason?" Elsa stood her ground, not lowering her hands for a second.
"Queen Elsa, you have to understand, these girls have displaced your people from their homes and endangered us all at every turn. All of our families' lives are in danger just in order to protect them. Sir Garth of Cattarri is no villain, he just wants to stop our universe from collapsing. If we just execute them now every hardship will cease!" He exclaimed, eyeing the girls past Elsa's shoulder.
"We are mere hours away from the wishing star alignment, and everything will be restored in due time, I promise. I will make it up to each and every family once this is all over. Until then, if you lay a finger on either of them, you will have to deal with me." Ice formed at Elsa's feet as she spoke, revealing the anger hiding behind her level voice.
"I'm sorry Queen Elsa, but we've had enough..." The doctor gridded his teeth.
"NOW!" He shouted at his supporters, and Queen Elsa's previously loyal subjects lunged at the girls.