Hey guys, sorry for the sporadic schedule. I'm back in school and I'm really swamped with homework, but thinking about this story is helping to keep my anxiety at bay so I legit just stayed up till 5 am finishing up this chapter/working on the next LOL. Consistency isn't going to become a habit with this until I graduate in May, if at all, but I really want to keep working on this story.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

CHAPTER 6

Time moved slowly for Hiccup. The days stretched into weeks, but no matter how long he stayed with the blacksmith, he still could not feel settled.

It was as if a part of him knew it didn't belong there, in that city. In this time.

Many things took a while to get used to, such as the customs of Arendelle; many of which Kristoff was no real help. The blacksmith, Aksel, also was not much help, constantly exasperated that Hiccup seemed to not know much about the smallest of things.

It wasn't Hiccup's fault he hadn't known what a toilet was!

At least he had proved his worth with the blacksmithing, and learning about the more modern inventions was… fascinating. He could easily follow complicated instructions, and even told Aksel about some of the things he himself had designed. It was probably the only reason Hiccup still hadn't been fired, yet, considering how often he exasperated his mentor.

Aksel had seemed very concerned when Hiccup had told him about the catapult he'd invented, which made Hiccup realize it was probably best to keep any more talk about weaponry to himself. This kingdom was a peaceful one, and did not take war lightly, he soon found.

One thing Hiccup realized was that, while the spell did hide his true form, it did nothing to hide his shadow. He discovered this while running an errand for Aksel, and happened to glance down at his silhouette during the noon hours. He was startled to see the shape of wings and a tail staring back at him. He'd dove into some bushes, hoping no one else had seen it, and since then had taken great care to keep his shadow from being seen in its entirety.

Today marked a month of being here in Arendelle.

Three months since he had woken up from being turned to stone.

Somehow, it did not get any easier…

Hiccup slowly rolled over in bed and got up. The beds here were a lot nicer than the ones back in Berk, but…

He still missed his room. He missed his home… he missed his dad. Astrid. Even the other teenagers, they had started to grow on him more before he'd left…

Today was his day off, so he was in no rush to leave the room Aksel had given him. The light of the morning creeped through the slits of wood covering the windows, washing the room in a gentle golden glow. Faintly, Hiccup could hear life outside his window as the people of Arendelle began their day.

An ache, physical and non-physical, made it impossible to lay there any longer.

He slowly stood and stretched, walking to the door to make sure it was locked. He glanced at the windows, double-checking they were covered, before taking off the pendant, now dangling from a metal chain instead of the weak twine from before.

His wings stretched out like a scroll being unfurled. They ached from being so useless for so long. He knew that not being used wasn't good for them, but… bringing himself to exercise them—he just couldn't.

He stretched the wings out for now, trying to ignore how tender they were.

A knock at the door startled him. He jumped and scrambled for the pendant, yanking it on.

"Uh, just a second, not wearing pants!" he called, grabbing some trousers and yanking them on.

"Hurry up," Aksel called from the other side of the door. "I need you to run an errand for me, boy."

"It's my day off, though!"

"I need these parts by next week, so either you pipe down and do what I say or I'm not payin' ya this week."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, tugging on his shirt before unlocking his door. Aksel was there, holding a sheet of paper.

"I need you to deliver this to the post office," he said, also handing him a penny.

"Fine," Hiccup sighed, taking the letter. The post office was across the city, but it wouldn't take long to get there.

He headed out, letter and penny in hand. Maybe he should go visit the trolls today…?

The sun was bright and the air was crisp. But even with a thick layer of snow on the ground, it felt very warm to Hiccup, who was used to the freezing temperatures and only a mild thaw for the summer. He could only imagine what the summer would be like here.

"Hakon!" a voice called. Hiccup glanced over his shoulder to see Maja, the nine-year old daughter of the general store owner, running to him. He stiffened up, trying to walk a little faster, but she easily caught up with him.

She was a black-haired energetic young girl, with a pointed nose sharp enough to poke holes in the business she stuck it in. Her blue eyes were keen and watchful, and her ears large enough to hear just about all the gossip in town.

"Hello!" she giggled, her voice high and squeaky.

"Ahh, hello there," Hiccup said awkwardly.

"Where are you headed?"

"Post office. Urgent business," he gestured to his letter. "Yep. So, yeah, gotta dash, can't talk, really."

"I'll go with you!" Maja said brightly. Hiccup winced.

Honestly, what was with her? He had met her a few weeks ago, and for some reason she had decided to cling to him like a burr. She was insanely talkative, and couldn't seem to get a clue that he just wanted to be left alone.

"Really, you don't have to. I'm sure you have somewhere important you need to be."

"No, not really," Maja shook her head. "So did you hear that tomorrow is Princess Elsa's birthday? Of course you wouldn't really know about that, considering you're not from around here, but the whole city celebrates even if we don't even see her or Princess Anna. They're like mystery princesses, you don't ever see them but you eat their cake! That's kind of weird, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, really weird. Hey, uhm, I think I heard your dad calling for you," Hiccup said. Maja blinked, turning around, and Hiccup used that moment to bolt, running around a corner and out of sight. He heard Maja calling out his name in complaint, but he didn't care.

He just wanted to be left alone, for Odin's sake!

He reached the post office and stepped inside, handing the letter and penny to the man at the counter, who took it with a sleepy "G'mornin'".

Hiccup let out a sigh as he turned to leave the post office, fidgeting with the pendant around his neck.

"Whatcha got there?"

Hiccup screeched in surprise, nearly jumping a foot in the air as Maja popped out of nowhere, grinning widely in the doorway of the post office.

"Suffering scallops, Maja!" Hiccup cried. "Don't do that!"

"Suffering scallops?" she giggled. "You're weird." Hiccup deadpanned, glaring slightly at her as he straightened his shirt.

"What's that?" Maja asked, pointing to the pendant. Hiccup quickly grabbed it.

"Nothing," he said shortly, sticking it under his shirt. "It's nothing."

"I wanna see it, it looks pretty!" Maja complained.

"It's nothing," Hiccup said firmly.

"Can I have it?"

"No, it's mine."

"But you said it was nothing!"

"Nothing that concerns you," Hiccup said very firmly. "So please leave me be."

"I just want to look at it!" Maja stomped her foot, puffing her cheeks indignantly. Hiccup gave an exasperated sigh before yanking the pendant out and holding it to her, keeping a tight grip on it.

"There. Look at it," he said.

Maja made a mad grab for the pendant, yanking it out of his hands before he could stop her.

Snap!

Hiccup felt the metal links break.

The black shadow of his large wings fell over the little girl, blocking out the sunlight. His tail, loose and free, knocked over a nearby stack of letters and they came crashing to the floor.

"NO!" he yelped, grabbing the pendant back with claw-like hands.

Maja was staring up at him, terrified, before letting out an ear-piercing scream, echoed by the post office worker who was quaking behind the counter, pointing at Hiccup with a shaking knobbly finger.

"Y—Y—You! M-m-m-monster!" he cried in a garbled voice.

"No, I'm not! I'm not!" Hiccup croaked, but his voice went unheard as Maja's screams were drawing the attention of those outside the post office. He heard shouts from behind him, more screams of terror.

Hiccup whirled around, seeing other townspeople staring at him through the open door, every single face pale at the sight of him.

"MONSTER!" the post office worker yelled. "HE'S A MONSTER!"

Hiccup ran. He didn't know where he was going, he just bolted out the door and in a random direction, fumbling with the pendant and trying to get it back around his neck, but it had been broken in a place that was not easily fixed.

"AFTER HIM!" he heard men shouting behind him.

He found himself on the bridge, heading towards the castle, and in front of him a row of guards running towards him with their guns jutting forward. Hiccup did the only thing he could think of and jumped to the side, off the bridge and into the water below.

The water was icy cold, but he swam as deep as he could, trying to see through the murky blue water.

His lungs burned. He needed to breathe.

He swam out as far as he could before breaking the surface of the water, his lungs not being able to take it anymore. He coughed up seawater, blinking water out of his eyes.

He was near the back of the castle now. He could hear the guards calling for aid, to search for him, to send for boats.

"Shit," Hiccup cursed, swimming for the shore closest to him. His feet touched the rocks of the shoreline and he scrambled up.

He was behind the castle, where giant walls towered above him. Not too far ahead was a door that clearly lead into the castle grounds.

Should he hide in there?

He didn't have time to wait, he heard the sounds of oars drawing nearer. He ran for the door and quickly entered, thankful it was unlocked, and slipped inside.

He was met with a narrow corridor that he quietly slipped down, all the while trying to fix the pendant. When he couldn't fix it quick enough, he gave up and yanked off one of the laces of his boots, slipping the pendant onto it and quickly tied it around his neck.

The wings and tail vanished at once. But the damage was already done…

"He went through this door, I'm sure of it!" Hiccup suddenly heard a voice cry. He cursed and bolted for it, running into an open courtyard. He kept near the edge of it, hoping no servants or guards spotted him as he desperately looked for some form of escape.

He spotted a large stack of wooden crates stacked by what seemed to be the entrance to the kitchens, and quickly climbed them up. The crates barely reached the first window, but he jumped for them and grabbed hold. From there he was able to climb his way up the wall, hopping from window to window until he reached a pillar that offered a route to roof of the castle. Thankfully, none of the guards had spotted him yet, but he kept climbing the many roofs of the castle, keeping low to try to avoid detection.

Finally, he noticed a half opened window and headed for it, hoping to hide inside and wait for the guards to give up, to think they'd lost him.

He reached the window and tumbled inside, slamming the glass planes shut and locking them tight. He panted in the silence, hanging his head. There was a small plink on wood as the shoe-string cord unraveled from his hasty not, and his pendant fell to the wood floor. He didn't reach for it however, trembling as his now visible wings shook.

He'd been discovered and chased out for being a monster. There went all hope of finding some sense of normality. It would never work, Hiccup would never find any place—!

A sudden, shrill screech made Hiccup freeze as he remained crouched against the glass windows. Slowly, he turned his head, his heart now settled in his gut as he realized he had forgotten the simple detail of checking to see if the room was empty.

Which it was not.

Staring at him from across the room was a girl who couldn't have been older than him. She had platinum blonde hair and her blue eyes were wide in terror. She was dressed in a regal dress, ten times nicer than the clothes Hiccup had seen in the shops, or on the people of Arendelle.

"Uhhhh," Hiccup croaked, slowly bending down to get his pendant and inching back for the window, scrambling for the latch, all the while trying to not look away from the girl.

The girl slowly backed away from him, her eyes never leaving his form. As her back hit the door, a faint crackling sound was heard at her feet as small ice particles began to form around her legs.

Hiccup did a double-take, his hand freezing on the latch as he watched the ice grow against the door, the source still appearing to be her feet. Even the doorknob in her hand began to ice over.

Magic?! The girl had magic?

Terror filled him and he whirled around, shoving at the window and pushed it open.

"W-what are you?" Her voice was faint compared to the sounds of his claws against the glass, but it was enough to give him pause.

He looked back at her, meeting her terrified eyes. Realizing… they were as terrified as he was.

"...I'm human," he croaked, not pulling his hands away from the window, but didn't move either. "I'm… I'm human."

She stared at him for a long while, the crackling of ice stopping. What ice had already formed remained, but she managed to slowly take her fingers off of the doorknob.

"Are…" she swallowed thickly, "Do you have magic powers?"

Hiccup stared, glancing down at the ice as his uncertainty grew again. Slowly, he shook his head.

"No… I was cursed," he said guardedly, inching back but his feet hit the wall below the window. The tail behind him lashed with his unease as he surveyed her carefully. "...what about you?"

"I…" the girl looked down at her gloved hands, clenching her fingers into fists, fear still present on her features even as she looked at herself. "I was born with this… but it may as well be a curse."

Hiccup swallowed, gripping the pendant tightly in his hand. Slowly, he raised it, tying it around his neck again. The wings vanished at once, leaving him human in appearance again.

The girl stared at him incredulously. Ice was once again heard at her feet as Hiccup realized her powers seemed to be connected to her emotions or moods.

"How did you do that?" she asked him, a hint of jealousy in her voice. "How did you make the wings and tail go away?"

"Uh," Hiccup lifted the pendant with a small grimace. "Just this. It's… not really gone. The Troll King gave this to me, to make me… look normal. But… it's just an illusion."

"The Troll King was able to give you something to help?!" Anger flared across her features, ice inching closer to him on the floor.

"Hide," Hiccup corrected but flinched when a large shard of ice snaked across the floor to his feet.

"Still!" She began to pace in front of the doors, clutching her arms as a swirl of emotions hit her.

"Uhm… do you mind if I ask who you are?" Hiccup asked tentatively. The girl stopped to look at him guardedly, considering.

"... Tell me who you are, first. And why the Troll King was still able to help you conceal your wings and tail." She demanded, tilting her chin up at him, her gaze almost as icy as the shards around her.

"Okay, okay," Hiccup said, taking a side-step away from the ice that was now almost touching his feet. "Uh, my name is Hiccup. I was kidnapped by a lunatic wizard and my body was combined with my dragon, turned to stone for a few centuries, the troll king wasn't able to separate our bodies and now all I can do is try to find some place to live without being discovered and hunted down as a monster. So yeah."

"...Did you hit your head? When you came in the window?" the girl asked slowly.

"I wish," he muttered, looking away.

"A dragon, though?" She pressed, still unconvinced.

"What else did you think my wings were?" he retorted, taking the pendant off again and showing his wings, causing her to flinch briefly. They stretched out, though not to their full extent. Hiccup's large black draconian ears flickered. "Is this proof enough for you?"

"I thought they were bat wings, really…" she mumbled. "Dragons are- uh, were just… things in fairy tales."

Hiccup's heart immediately clenched as a question in his mind rose, one that he hadn't actually considered.

What had happened to the dragons? Had they all been exterminated?

He forced himself to not think about that at the moment as he yanked the pendant back on.

"Yeah, and I thought the same thing about trolls," he shrugged. "But here we are. So what's your name?" he asked, turning the questions to her.

She looked at him, her eyes looking over his features as she seemed to struggle internally with if she should tell him her name. Their eyes met once more.

"Elsa," she murmured. "My name is Elsa."

Hiccup paused, his eyes widening.

"Wait… as in… Princess Elsa?" he asked slowly.

Elsa nodded, then paused.

"Why do you sound so surprised? You snuck into a castle," she pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" Hiccup paused. "In all honesty, I was just trying to hide. I wasn't thinking about… uh…" his cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. Well that had been a giant oversight on his part. "I panicked. I saw an open window and I hid."

Elsa slowly seemed to grow more comfortable with his presence, though she still looked at him warily. The ice that had formed at their feet was beginning to melt away.

"Still, if you were trying to hide from guards, I wouldn't have picked a castle," she told him.

"They were coming after me in boats!" Hiccup cried defensively. "I made a hasty split second decision."

"If you were in my sister's room," she told him, pausing for a moment as she thought of her younger sister's reaction, "You'd probably be arrested by now."

Hiccup paused at that.

"...So… why aren't I?"

Elsa opened and closed her mouth a few times, holding her hand up as an explanation tried to find its way to her lips, but any words she tried to utter died off. She dropped her hand and looked at him.

"... Because…" she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, "You reminded me of me…"

Hiccup stared, admittedly shocked.

"Well… thanks for not calling the guards on me," he whispered. "I'll… I'll go, before they come looking in here."

"Wait!" Elsa suddenly looked alarmed.

Hiccup paused.

"You can't tell anyone about my powers," she pleaded with him. "No one but my parents know. Not even my sister... Please, don't tell anyone."

He looked around at the ice, at how it was creeping up again with her desperation.

Who wouldn't want to hide that?

He gave her a soft sad smile.

"Trust me, if anyone understands the need to hide… it's me. I won't tell a soul," he swore.

"Promise?" she whispered, fear evident in her voice.

"Who would believe me? Who would I even tell? Currently everyone out there is trying to get my head," he grimaced, jerking a thumb to the window.

"... Why don't you stay here?" Elsa suddenly suggested, wringing her hands together nervously. "I mean, no one's found you yet and I don't… Let anyone in my room, anyways."

"Stay here?" Hiccup echoed, startled.

"At least until they stop looking for you."

The idea was extremely tantalizing. He glanced out the window once more, and spotted a large swarm of guards far below, clearly grouping to divide up and search for him.

"That… would actually be… uh, nice," Hiccup croaked, backing away from the window.

Suddenly, there was rhythmic knocking at Elsa's door, causing the pair to freeze - in Elsa's case, literally, as ice shot across the floor.

Hiccup immediately scrambled for a desk, diving underneath it and hiding behind the chair.

"Elsa?" A young girl's voice was heard faintly through the door. "Do you wanna play? The guards are all busy so we could totally sneak some chocolate from the kitchens!"

"G-go away, Anna!" Elsa cried, leaning against the door in case her sister tried to push it open. "I don't wanna play right now!"

"But…" Anna groaned and there was a dull thud from the other side of the door, causing Elsa to wince. She had clearly slumped against it. "Well, there was an intruder in the castle. Everyone was saying it was some kind of troll or goblin or something, but Daddy isn't sure what it is because he didn't see it."

"If there's an intruder, why aren't you in your room safe and sound?!" Elsa demanded, glaring at the door. Sometimes, she wondered if her sister had a brain or not.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay!"

"By asking me to play when there's someone in the castle?! Anna, just go back to your room!" Elsa sounded exasperated, resisting the urge to actually open the door to shake her little sister into having some common sense. The ice surrounding the door and the quivering half-dragon under her desk were enough to keep her from following through with that kind of action.

"All the guards think whatever it was went into the dungeons, anyway," Anna huffed.

"Still, you should go back to your room where it's safe." Elsa sighed. "I don't want you to get hurt, Anna."

"Ugh… fine," she groaned dejectedly, and the sound of footsteps slowly receded.

Elsa slumped heavily against the door, letting out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. A few snowflakes fell from her exhale.

Hiccup peeked out from under the desk, wide-eyed.

"... I told you," she said so softly that he almost didn't catch it, "I don't let anyone in my room…" Sadness was laced in her voice as her body remained pressed against the heavy wooden door.

Hiccup slowly got out from under the desk.

"Is there anything like a cure?" he wondered. "Something to stop all… this?" he gestured to the ice coating the floor.

Elsa shrugged.

"The Troll King didn't… Say there was one. He just warned me that-that I could really hurt someone if I can't control it." she blinked back tears, glancing at Hiccup. "I already had hurt Anna."

Hiccup watched her, his heart aching with empathy.

"I'll find a cure," he said, speaking without even realizing.

Elsa shook her head.

"I don't think there's a cure for this."

"There has to be something to help you. To help the both of us," Hiccup pressed. "I'll find something."

Elsa wrapped her arms around herself as she studied Hiccup warily.

"But if the Troll King could only disguise you and couldn't even help me… Then, who could?" she asked him, not willing to give herself any hope of actually being free from the powers she felt were a curse ever since the day she accidentally struck Anna with ice.

"Well… I have wings. I guess I could fly around until I find something," Hiccup said with a small shrug, though he grimaced deeply.

He still hadn't flown with them. He didn't even know if he could.

"Where would you even look?" Elsa asked as she sat heavily on her bed, looking down at the swirling patterns of ice on the floor.

"As much as I hate the thought of it, somewhere with magic. Maybe I can find more wizards…" he shuddered at the mere thought.

"Just like dragons, I thought wizards were just in fairy tales. I mean… I know now they did exist at some point but… Do you think there are any left?" she asked him, finally looking at him. Worry was written all over her face.

Hiccup paused, not wanting to think of that horrible thought.

What if there weren't any more wizards?

"Well… they must have left something behind, if that were the case," he said, trying to think fast. "I don't know. I have… one place in mind to start looking," he did his best to suppress a shiver that ran down his spine. It was the last place he would ever want to return, but… He had to at least try.

"Where?" Elsa asked.

"Back to that island," Hiccup murmured. "Where I was cursed."

"Is it… far from here?" she asked slowly, as if actually considering going to such a place.

"It's a day's journey on a sea serpent, apparently," Hiccup shrugged.

"... On a what?!"

Hiccup managed a snort. He would think that a girl with magic ice powers wouldn't be so shocked at the existence of things like sea serpents and dragons.

"You heard me. Sea serpent."

"How? Wh-where even did you ride one?!" she asked incredulously as she moved across her bed so she was sitting on the other side, closer to him. It seemed her apprehension towards him was finally beginning to melt away. Literally.

Hiccup sat in the desk chair, scratching his head.

"Well… it was back on the island, there were trolls there, too. They helped me out," he explained. "They summoned this giant serpent, who took me to this mainland so I could reach the Troll King, to see if he could help me at all."

Elsa nodded slowly.

"I wanna say it's crazy you even believe me, but…" Hiccup glanced at the ice. "Honestly, these past few months for me have been pretty—er, eye-opening, I guess you could say."

"Eye-opening?" Elsa asked, tilting her head at him.

"I didn't think magic was a real thing," Hiccup shrugged. "Just… things from fairy tales. I mean, dragons existed, yeah, but they were natural beasts. Not magic."

Elsa couldn't help but snort.

"Yet for me dragons and wizards are the fairy tales," she said between un-princess-like laughs.

"Well then I guess this encounter was eye-opening for the both of us," Hiccup gave her a small smile.

Elsa couldn't help but smile back. It felt nice to not have to hide her abilities from everyone aside from her parents. Even if it was accidental this stranger found out about them in the first place.

"So, uh… What do dragons eat? Er- I mean, what do you like to eat?" she asked him sheepishly.

"Uhhhhh…" Hiccup's stomach gave a sudden growl. He hadn't eaten breakfast. "Well, I eat anything. Dragons usually like fish though—but not eels," he added.

"I dooon't think we have eels." Elsa told him slowly. "But we may have some chocolate or bread or something."

"...What's chocolate?" Hiccup asked curiously.

Elsa stared at him as if he had suddenly grown an extra head in addition to the draconic features he had shown her earlier.

"You'll see," she promised him as she pressed an ear to her door. Hearing nothing, she nodded to herself then turned to look at Hiccup. "Stay here, I'll be back in a bit with some food while everyone's distracted. Don't open the door for anyone, okay?"

"I mean, opening the door would kind of give it away that I'm in here, so…" Hiccup snorted.

Elsa glared at him briefly before quietly slipping out the door, leaving him alone in her room.