It's over 9000 words! I got a big chapter this time around as we head back to the present and see how everyone is doing in Arendelle. This chapters also prominently features Anna!
Petrus streamrock: Do not worry my friend, this fanfiction will definitely finish. We got about seven more chapters to go and we will be near the end by the end of the year.
Ian Elsie: Hopefully this chapter will fill your hunger, atleast until the next chapter.
To my readers and reviewers: I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
One last starting note. This chapter is quite large and I have very little brain power left to go through the entire chapter again. If you could help me out and point out any errors and typos that would be awesome!
Chapter 17: The Rise of Princess Anna
Loud but small stomps echoed through the halls during the early mornings of sunrise, just before the sun's radiant light seeped through the windows from high above the palace.
The darkened halls made the echoed noise no less intimidating due to the petite source of the noise. The other occupants of the hallowed halls stared in quiet amusement at the bundle of nervousness. Gathered in front of a very non discreet door, some of the most powerful people of Arendelle gathered namely Councilor Eric and Councilor Mia along with General Grahm.
"How could this possibly happen!" cried Anna as she paced back and forth with little regards for any other who might stand in her way.
"Princess Anna from what I managed to glimpse away, it was not that bad," Councillor Eric Seranov said attempting to calm down their fretting princess.
"Not that bad? Elsa is incapacitated right before the royal festival. How is that not that bad? Anna retorted as she threw up her hands in frustration.
"It is not the solution, nor is it proper for the princess of the palace to be raising her voice," Councillor Mia reprimanded sternly, flinching from the loud noise. The older women was clearly not suited for early morning activities as she rubbed her head to ease the pain.
From behind the group, the royal doors of the Queen's chamber opened with a loud click, the door hinged squeaked under it own weight as it opened wider and wider and out came Master Helgen along with Hiccup.
"Give it to me straight doc. This is all just a big misunderstanding right? Elsa is the Snow Queen. How could she possibly get a cold?" Anna said as she bolted straight to Master Helgen.
"Princess Anna," Master Helgen said preparing his most fatherly lecturing voice, "Queen Elsa may have extraordinary powers and commands snow and ice but she is still a human and is capable of getting a cold like anyone else." The doctor explained, while Anna stared back at him in disbelief.
"Besides, Elsa doesn't have a cold," the doctor said, "She has a fever."
"Do we postpone the festival then?" Anna asked.
"The festival has been a sacred tradition of Arendelle. I don't think it would too big of a deal to move the festival to another time. However, moving it on the day of the festival would be quite a problem," General Grahm explained.
"This is just another step as you transition from princess to queen" Doctor Helgen added, " During times like this, it is expected of you to take on the full role as Second Queen of Arendelle."
"But I'm not ready," Anna cried. Her shoulders turned inwards and hands held together, Anna's body subconsciously showed the others how scared she truly was, "We were suppose to share the role as Queen, and Elsa was supposed to guide me if I mess up. What if I forget something? I'm going to mess up on the throne before the first person even walks up to me."
"General Grahm please sit next to me" Anna pleaded, turning to General Grahm for help.
"I'm sorry princess only the ruling family may sit on the throne. We have to follow procedure," General Grahm said sadly to the defeated Anna.
"There is nothing to fear Anna, since I will be sitting next to you,"
Turning her head towards the source of the voice, Anna spotted her savior to be Hiccup, "Thank you, thank you, thank you Hiccup!" Anna cried as she flung herself at Hiccup in an unrestrained hug.
"You have no time to prepare nor any experience. What happens if princess Anna stumbles. What if one of the guests tries to corner you into to speaking. It would look extremely bad if you were to say nothing or say something completely disastrous," Councillor Mia voiced.
"Elsa and I have already discussed this months ago. I have no intention of ruling alongside Elsa, but I have no issue helping when I am needed. This is why Anna will ascend as Second Queen of Arendelle, while I take her place as substitute. When one queen is unavailable, I will take their place. I have been keeping up with my duties as the substitute and have done the necessary preparations just as Elsa and Anna have," Hiccup explained, struggling stay upright as a grinning Anna clung onto him by his shoulders.
Councillor Mia gave a huff of approval before stalking down the hall no doubt to return to her own chambers to sleep. Master Helgen, Councilor Eric, and General Grahm soon followed shortly after.
After giving a quick wave to Hiccup, Anna ran off back to her own quarters, no doubt to prepare for her big day. Hiccup waved back with a smile, before heading back inside the royal chambers to check up on Elsa.
Quietly Hiccup entered the royal chambers. The door closed with a soft click. The window was cracked slightly open bringing fresh air in the form of gentle breezes that rustled loose papers, flowers, and anything else that could be moved. The sun was now high enough that sunlight poured into the room.
"Hiccup?" Elsa asked as she shifted in bed.
"Yea it's me Elsa," Hiccup said approaching and sitting on the side of the bed. Elsa turned her face towards Hiccup. Brushing aside some stray bangs to get a better look at Hiccup but clumps of stray hair clung stubbornly on her moistened forehead.
"How are you feeling?" Hiccup said with a voice full of care.
"Sweaty," Elsa replied tersely before giving a small smile, "and a bit dizzy."
Grabbing the cloth that had fallen off Elsa's head, Hiccup rinsed the cloth from the small bucket filled with water besides the bed and place it back on her head.
"Better?" Hiccup asked and Elsa replied with a slight nod.
"Bit unfortunate timing isn't it?" Hiccup said offhandedly as he shifted the bed sheets to make sure they would not slide off the bed.
"I may have pushed myself a little bit too hard," Elsa admitted.
"Yes Master Helgen is quite upset with me that I did not call him sooner, and waited until the morning."
"Well we only found out when you woke up, and found me in my condition," Elsa said.
"Turns out that the dreams are not costless, they tax your mind and your body responds by trying to fight back," Hiccup said with a frown on his face, "Why didn't you tell me it was too much Elsa?"
"I was managing it up until the preparation for the festival started," Elsa defended, "I just didn't want to stop."
"No excuse is going to get you out of trouble my little queenie. I'll be watching you like a hawk from now on." Hiccup joked to which Elsa grumbled as she shifted closer to Hiccup.
Elsa's hand left the dark comforts of her bed sheets and reached out towards Hiccup's hand, that rested on top of the bed next to her.
"But today you will be watching over Anna right?" Elsa asked.
"Of course, wouldn't want Anna to fall apart on her first debut now would we?" Hiccup replied, "Besides, I wouldn't want to waste all the time we spent together preparing."
"More like all that time distracting me," Elsa retorted.
"That's funny because I remember it being the other way around." Hiccup smirked to which Elsa gave a heated glare, although Hiccup couldn't tell if it was because of the fever or her recalling the memories of their nightly activity.
"Don't you have a festival to prepare?" Elsa snipped, frustrated that she could not properly banter back at Hiccup in her weakened state.
"Right I should get going," Hiccup said hopping off the bed and making his way towards the door.
"Hiccup?" Elsa said stopping Hiccup midway. "Can you let me have the next dream?"
"Not today Elsa you need to focus on getting better," Hiccup said opening the door.
"But I need to kno-"
"It can wait until you get better. Until then, try and not brood on it too much." Hiccup said gently before closing the door behind him.
OoOoO
The gates opened and the citizens of Arendelle flooded in, excited for a day of fun and smell of food permeated through the air as food booths lined up against the walls of the palace The music ensemble played as children ran ahead of their parents excited to go ice skating.
Their excitement was stopped short as they reached the plaza to find no ice anywhere in sight. Disappointment and confusion came across the faces of the children.
Suddenly a deep roar echoed in the skies and by now, everyone instinctively knew to look up to the sky. Dragons carrying palace guards flew up and around the palace. Twirling and dancing the dragons made a colorful light show with their fiery breath before gracefully landing onto the plaza. At the very front leading the dragons and riders was Toothless. Standing tall and proud Toothless let loose a mighty roar to which the dragons followed suit right after and shot fireballs up into the air.
Climbing down off their dragons the palace soldiers gave an inviting gesture to the guests and citizens of Arendelle. The children came charging through with excited laughs eager to get up close to their first ever dragons.
Trumpets blared and more fireworks showered the skies that silenced the crowd as an usher exited from the royal palace.
"Announcing your royal hosts for the royal festival! Princess Anna and Dragon King Hiccup!"
The crowd was surprised but nonetheless cheered loudly as Anna and Hiccup appeared out at the top of a balcony, waving and smiling as the crowd cheered.
"Thank you for coming!" Anna said, "I hope that all of you will have fun on this beautiful day. Eat, play and be merry as I Princess Anna of Arendelle and Dragon King Hiccup declare that the royal festival is now officially open!"
OoOoO
From inside the palace the cheers could still be heard as Hiccup and Anna looked at each and laughed. Anna hopped and shifted around attempting to use up the remaining adrenaline that she had just received mere moments ago.
"We are just getting started! The real game starts now," Anna said amping herself up as she grabbed Hiccup's hand and dragged him through the halls.
"So where is Kristoff?" Hiccup asked happily getting dragged along by Anna, "Shouldn't he be here supporting you on your big day?"
"Kristoff is out on the plaza working at his booth," Anna explained, "Olaf and him, are handing out frozen treats. We should visit them after we are done!"
Following after Elsa's coronation the royal festival started once again. Every year the royal palace opened its gates for the citizens of Arendelle to host a party providing foods and drinks. During this time citizens talked directly and openly to the royal family in an event known as the royal sitting.
Entering the waiting room just before the throne room, Anna carried a large notebook as she mentally ran through everything that she had memorized in the past few months. In order to have fully prepared answers and responses, the citizens of Arendelle are encouraged to mail in their requests in advance.
"Are you ready to begin your highness? Dragon King?" said the man standing next to the doorway that leads to the throne room. The tall man wearing all black and a monocle with his unusual accent that accentuated his oddity is the man known as the record keep. Whether it was property records, business records, or criminal records, this man knew where to find it. Ironic that this man who did not particularly like interacting with people was in charge of maintaining information about other people.
The throne room was expansive and properly dressed for the occasion just days before. Numerous chairs were set up for the audience. Adults, who have left their children outside to the care of the palace attendants, sat down hoping to have their many questions answered and their curiosity satisfied. The elderly sauntered in prepared to observe the sacred traditions of the Arendelle. There was also an additional group present that had appeared once at the first royal festival hosted by Queen Elsa. This group of people were interested to see princess Anna and the start of her ascension as the Second Queen of Arendelle.
Anna always had the power but never the authority. Any change that Anna would want would have to go through Queen Elsa. Because of this it was pointless for Anna to take part next to her older sister for the royal sitting. Anna would simply be middle person to talking to Queen Elsa. This will soon change in a few months as Anna's coronation day gets closer and closer. Today will be the first observation to see how well princess Anna will take on her new role where her words were royal decree. But today will have another special surprise.
The usher walked out of the waiting room signalling that the royal sitting was about to begin.
"Her royal highness Queen Elsa has fallen ill and unfortunately will not be attending the royal sitting. In attendance of course, will be Princess Anna and substituting for her royal highness will be the Dragon King Hiccup!"
Confused and worried looks once more were plastered on the faces of the guests. Murmuring and mumbles swept the audience, but it was all silenced as Anna and Hiccup walked out onto the throne room, followed closely behind by the royal record keeper.
Anna could feel the nervousness build up inside as the curious onlookers bore their eyes onto Anna and Hiccup. Anna had attended every royal sitting, back when it was her mother and father to when it was her older sister's turn. She had watched the royal sitting from every perspective except for this one. The throne room looked bigger than before, the audience size felt like it was double than what it was before. The long red carpet that stretched from the main entrance up to the front of the throne seemed to stretch forever.
Clamping down on her muscles to stop her from jittering about, Anna reminding herself that she needed to act like a Queen. "Today, I am Queen of Arendelle," Anna told herself as she sat herself onto the throne next to Hiccup.
A single man walked across the length of the red carpet from the main entrance to the forefront of the throne to which Anna frowned. The first person was suppose to be a women a bring up issues with the state orphanage. Anna racked to her brain to connect this man's face to the wealth of information that she had crammed into her head, but her brain felt empty.
"Greetings to you, Princess Anna and Dragon King Hiccup," the man spoke as he gracefully bowed on the red carpet. The man was dressed smartly for the occasion and had his long black hair slicked back "My name is Hoder Hodersson, a humble citizen of Arendelle,"
"My family is interested in expanding the family farm," Hoder said, nervousness clear in his voice, "It is quite clear from recent events that Arendelle will become quite the tourist destination. Travel north to Arendelle to the land of fire and ice, where the queen commands ice and the king commands dragons people are saying. Arendelle will need more food to accommodate these people. Unfortunately our family could not secure a loan for that resources that we need because we don't have the required collateral. The Hodersson family humbly requests a loan from the royal family.
"I, I, uhh," Anna stuttered out as she tried to force an answer out. From her own memories, Anna recalled that the treasury was stretched to its limits, and could not afford to hand out loans to every single person that asks. Was this some sort of scam? Would she be considered naively generous or unfair if she said yes? Anna was not sure what the correct answer was and needed more time. Her mind quickly spun into a downward spiral.
"The Hodersson family has been part of the kingdom of Arendelle, for many centuries," Hiccup cut in. Turning to face Hiccup, Anna saw him looking down at a book, that the record keeper gave to him. Anna could see Hiccup rapidly reading through the book as his eyes quickly moved from left to right and back.
"Numerous times, the Hodersson family has had opportunities to advance further than simple farmers but chose to stay content. And numerous time the Hodersson has been generous to Arendelle. It would be a great disservice should the royal family turn their backs on such an exemplary family," Hiccup said tilting his head away from the book and back to the man,"
"However, the royal treasury has already been budgeted, and cannot afford to grant such a large loan," Hiccup stated to which Hodor became visibly depressed. Murmurs of agreement waved through the audience but was cut short as Hiccup had more to add, "Instead the royal family shall grant you a treasury slip. Using this slip, you can receive a loan that you need from the bank who do have the financial resource and meet the required collateral. Should an unfortunate fate happen to you and your family, the royal family will step in a pay back the loan."
"Thank you Dragon King Hiccup! Thank you Princess Anna!," the man said as he dipped back into a deep bow.
"Thank you Hoder of the family of Hodderson for your continued and noteworthy contributions to the Kingdom of Arendelle," Hiccup said.
Watching the man walk away, the only thing Anna could do was let out a crestfallen sigh. It seemed that Anna was not prepared for pressures of her new role. Falling deeper into her own despair, Anna did not notice Hiccup drawing closer.
"Anna it's okay to not have all the answers," Hiccup whispered into her ear, "The sitting is meant to show others, the work and accomplishments that you and Elsa have done over the months. Remember the purpose of the royal sitting.
"Right," Anna quietly said, slowly composing herself as she recalled the lecture that Elsa had given her. The royal sitting had two purposes. The first being transparency. With the citizens of Arendelle busy working everyday, it can be sometimes difficult to know what the royal family has been doing or is up to. Through this public meeting, people can see how the royal family has been helping and improving the lives of the citizens of Arendelle. The second purpose was accountability. With every promises and dealing out in the open, the citizens of Arendelle can hold the royal family accountable for their actions.
It would be extremely inefficient to wait for one specific day for the royal family to hear the requests of its citizens. Many projects were in progress as the citizens brought their requests year round. It is during the royal sitting that all the requests throughout the year were gathered up for tradition's sake. It was rare for a person to bring up their request to the royal family for the first time during this day and equally unfortunate that it happened with the very first person.
"Just take a deep breathe and know that the hard work is already over. I know you can do this Anna," Hiccup said giving one last tip before leaning back on his throne.
Sitting up straighter, ready to try again Anna watched as an elder women in a long flowing dress began to walk across the long red carpet. The women from the state orphanage! This time Anna was ready. The state orphanage was a personal project of hers that not even Elsa touched. She alone had worked out the drawings the necessary manpower and budget and knew every single detail about the orphanage.
""Greetings to you, Princess Anna and Dragon King Hiccup," the women spoke after she gave a reverent curtsy, "My name is Margaret Mentsy, a humble citizen of Arendelle and caretaker of the state orphanage. I humbly requests aid from the royal family for developing a new orphanage, as the current facilities are completely deteriorated."
"Thank you for bringing this to our attention Margaret," Anna started, taking it nice and slow. "Over the past few months, the royal family has been working alongside many other citizens of Arendelle and have been developing designs for a new orphanage. The budget has been set using the royal treasury and construction will begin very soon."
Anna thought that she answered with grace and poise, similar to Elsa that she had seen many times over. But looking down at Margaret, the women still had a body language that showed a hint of nervousness, Anna couldn't help but be concerned.
"I am sorry princess, I did not properly make myself clear. The rain storm a couple of months ago has sped up the deterioration of the orphanage far greater than what we had expected. A portion of the roof fell down this morning. I also humbly request immediate shelter for the children until the new orphanage is rebuilt,"
Taking a short pause, Anna took the time to gather herself and formulate an answer.
"The kingdom of Arendelle has personally taken stewardship of the children from the orphanage that was created by my ancestors long ago," Anna said quickly thinking on her toes, "providing shelter and care for the children that have fallen into misfortune, it is only natural that the royal family open its doors for these children, temporarily until the new orphanage is built,".
The princess had to word herself carefully, to highlight the special condition of the children and to make sure that everyone understands that not everyone can simply move into the palace. Letting out a sigh of relief, Anna knew that she did was an excellent job.
Overcome with emotions, the elderly women welled up into tears as she gave a deep curtsy.
"Thank you Princess Anna, and thank you Dragon King Hiccup for your generosity and help."
"Thank you Margaret for your continued and noteworthy contributions to the kingdom of Arendelle," Anna said. Watching the women turn and leave back down the red carpet, Anna felt a lot better about her performance this time around. This time Anna was ready.
OoOoO
Today was suppose to be a fun day. A day of treats and dragons but not for little Mary. The girl that had yet to reach her puberty stage had tied her brown hair into twin tails and wore flowery clothes. Sitting on a bench crestfallen, Mary watched as the children and the adults had fun. With curious looks, the children placed their hands onto the thick skins of the Gronkle and giggled as the dragons pushed back in playfulness. Jealousy welled up inside of Mary of the other kids as they strung their parent along to each type of dragon. But Mary wasn't interested in simply playing with the dragons.
"Mary! The dragons are so cool," a tousled brown haired boy said as he ran up to the girl.
"Sure thing John," Mary said in a disinterested voice.
"I'm definitely going be a dragon rider someday," John said puffing his chest and beating it with his right arm, "Who knows maybe I will let you ride with me if you're nice to me."
Looking back at Mary, John could see that his friend had lost interest with their conversation and had fallen back to to her depressed mood.
"Mary!" John yelled, "Stop mopping around just because your father isn't here,"
"He said that he would be here today," Mary said, refusing to move from her spot on the bench.
"Are you a scaredy cat?" John said, "You don't need your father to protect you from the dragons. I can protect you from the dragons." grabbing her arm John tried to pull Mary off the bench but the little girl refused to be moved. After a great struggle John smiled as he finally pulled Mary up but his success was short lived as Mary sauntered off on her own.
Wanting to be left alone Mary left the main plaza and started to walk the perimeter of the palace. With each step Mary could hear the festivities become fainter and fainter. About to move around the next corner, Mary stopped when she heard voices.
"Where are the slackers?" said a man with a deep voice, "They should be here to relieve us by now."
"Probably still hiding out in the barracks," a second voice said, "how about you stay here and I will go look for them."
"I have a better idea! How about you stay here and I will go get them,"
The sound of the pair arguing grew louder and louder, looking around Mary spotted a pile of crates and quickly ducked behind the crates.
The voices grew louder, and soon enough Mary could hear heavy footsteps pass her from left to right. Eventually the voices died down and the only sounds Mary could hear was from the festivities back at the plaza. With a sigh, Mary pulled herself up and peeked over the corner of the crates just to be safe.
Walking back out into the light, Mary looked in the direction towards the back of the palace that the soldiers were guarding.
"Mary!" a voiced echoed from behind.
Panicking Mary did not want to be found, with little other thought Mary ran in the opposite direction of the voice going further towards the back of the palace towards the stable.
"Mary!" John's voice echoed once more.
With nowhere left to run, Mary had no choice but to run into the stables. Bursting into the stables, Mary quickly shut the door. Her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness but eventually Mary looked around the dark stable and froze on sight.
Standing right in front of Mary was three blue Nadders. Their eyes stared down and directly into Mary's eyes that caused Mary's knees to become weak and shake. High pitched squawked was heard from the dragons, a conversations amongst themselves, clearly talking about what to do with the little girl that had stumbled into their stable.
"Dragons are friendly and safe," Mary reminded herself as she made an audible gulp. Mary recalled back to when she was sitting on the bench watching all the other kids play with the dragons.
"H-h-hello," Mary stuttered out, lifting an arm, the young girl gave a small wave. The Nadders seemed to respond to Mary's greeting as the dragons, in synchronous movement, sat down and continued to watch the girl with curiosity, squawking and ruffling their spikes in a casual manner.
"If John won't listen to me than maybe they will," Mary thought as she relaxed and sat down next to the dragons. Petting the closest Nadder that she could reach for comfort, Mary relayed her story to the listening dragons.
"My dad was suppose to be home today to take me to the festival. But he never came home and now I'm here alone. None of the adults want to go look for him. John wants me to have fun without my dad but how can I have fun when I am worrying about my dad? If only I was older I could go look for my dad myself," Mary explained with a sad sigh.
The Nadders listened and stared back at her in silence, as if to say that Mary was missing the most obvious answer that was staring right at her. It was only a matter of time before realization came to the little girl as her face lit up.
"That's right, you're all dragons! You can all fly!" Mary said in sudden realization, excitement welled up inside her tiny little body as she jumped up.
"Maybe you can go find my daddy?" Marry asked. Mustering up all her cuteness that a twin tailed child could muster, Mary quietly begged the dragons for their help. The Nadders stared amongst themselves squawking and talking amongst themselves once again.
After the longest wait of her life, Mary finally got her answers as the Nadders slowly got up and ruffled their spikes, preparing themselves for a flight. Opening her mouth, a Nadder picked up Mary by biting onto the back of Mary's dress.
"What are you doing!?" Mary said she waved her arms and legs in helplessness. With a quick flick of her head, the Nadder flipped Mary over her head and onto her back. The Nadder shook her body that threatened to throw Mary off the back of the Nadder. Mary's body reacted instinctively to the shaking, as Mary tightened her legs around the back of the Nadder, and her hands grabbed onto the back spikes of the Nadder.
"Wait!" Mary screamed as she hung on tightly as she could, "I can't go with you. I've only ever ridden a horse, I don't know how to ride a dragon!"
Mary's words fell upon deaf ears, as the Nadders opened up their wings. With one great push the Nadders bursted out of the stable. The doors of the the stable swung wide opened and smashed against the walls of the stable. Piles of loose hay flew every everywhere as the graceful and intelligent Deadly Nadders shot upward to the sky.
The only thing the brown haired girl could do was hold on tight. Looking down she could see two soldiers flabbergasted and standing beside them was John staring wide eyed back at her. Looking helpless John watched as his friend getting kidnapped by dragons, there was only one thing he could do.
"Mary!"
OoOoO
Anna had finally found her groove. She felt powerful, indestructible and could do no wrong. The royal sitting was a roaring success. Despite a fumbled start, the audience still left excited and were spreading the good news. For the rest of the sitting, Hiccup had stayed mostly back, only giving the occasional observation and opinions, preferring to let Anna show off her hard work and abilities. "Today marked the rise of Queen Anna," passed the lips of the citizens of Arendelle that filled Anna with glee.
The royal sitting had lasted for five hours but the royal festival was far from over. The sun was still shining brightly above and Anna was determined to have the festival be a success.
"Princess Anna! We are starting to run low on drinks," a group of soldiers said, running up to Princess Anna.
"Follow me men!" Anna ordered as she went charging to the cellars beneath the palace. From the dark corners of the cellar, the soldiers pulled out barrels of drinks that Anna had ordered specifically for the festival.
"Princess Anna! A fight has broken out near the front gate"
"Let's go!" Anna said, waving her arm forward as she charged to the front. With poise and grace, Anna broke up a fight between two drunken men without incident. "Yup! Yup!" Anna said to herself as she watched all the guests play with the dragons out on the plaza. Absolutely nothing will go wrong under Princess Anna's royal watch!
"Princess Anna! Princess Anna!" A soldier said running up to her.
"What is it now?" Anna asked, prepared to tackle the next problem head on.
"A child has taken a couple of dragons and flown off your Majesty,"
"What?" Anna blurted out, taken by surprise that a child could take a dragon but Anna recovered quickly, "Call for Dragon King Hiccup immediately and show me where."
A soldier quickly saluted and headed off to get Hiccup as Anna was led to the back of the palace towards the stables.
"Dragon King Hiccup thought that it would be a good idea to have some extra dragons on reserve. A child must have snuck her way past the guards and taken the dragons."
"We will have to mount up our own dragons and go after the girl," Anna ordered.
"Unfortunately all of the dragon on reserve flew after the girl, we will have to take a dragon out from the plaza," the soldier explained.
Just as the soldier was explaining the pointed yellow ears of a Triple Strike popped out from behind the stables and sauntered out in the open. It's scorpion like body with wide wings and big claws moved with curiosity. In terms of colours the dragons had it all and for this particular dragon he had a yellow underbelly and black stripes on his back that went all the way up its long tail.
"Looks like we still have one more dragon," Anna said happily as she started to approach the dragon.
Sensing Anna's approach the Triple Strike started to roar threateningly. Raising its long tail above its body, the dragon pointed its tail and claws at Anna that clucked with a methodical sound.
"Stand back your majesty!" the soldiers said seeing their princess being threatened. The three soldiers unsheathed their swords prepared to defend Anna from the dragon.
Fast as lightning the Triple Strike clicked and unwound its tail into three tails. The scorpion like tails stretched and knocked the soldier's sword out of their hands."
"Please step back, you're scaring him," Anna ordered, holding her arms up putting herself in between the Triple Strike and the soldiers. After a brief pause later, the soldiers complied.
Taking a deep breath, Anna turned her attention back to the Triple Strike. The dragon had not lowered its guard. The swords being the most dangerous threat to the dragon was removed, and now the Triple Strike returned its focus on the closest threat, that threat being Anna.
Under normal circumstances, Anna would be scared witless, if not for two things. Anna knew that Hiccup would never allow a dragon to simply wander about if it was dangerous. Secondly Anna recalled Elsa's teachings on how to tell the difference from an aggressive dragon and a defensive one. Her sister taught her how to make a connection with dragons and how to befriend them. Anna trusted her older sister and future step brother.
Slowly Anna outstretched her hand and took another step to which the Triple Stinger clucked signalling that it was ready to strike.
"As the princ-," Anna was about to say before pausing, "No that's right," Anna mumbled to herself before starting over.
"As the future step sister, of your Dragon King, I humbly beseech thee noble dragon for your aid," Anna said as she closed her eyes and turned her head away.
To the amazement of the soldiers, the Triple Strike seemed to respond to Anna's words as he slowly lowered its sharp claws and wound up his three tails and slowly approached Anna until his forehead rested on Anna's open hand. Feeling the smoothness of Triple Strike's head against her hand, Anna opened her eyes in amazement.
"This is so cool!" Anna said laughing to herself, as she moved to hug the black and yellow dragon, to which the dragon welcomed wholeheartedly,"
"Alright, we have a dragon that is willing help us," Anna said as she turned back to the soldiers.
"All we need now is someone to go after the dragons and the girl," Anna said as she started to move away from the dragon. But before she could take two steps, The Triple Strike, grabbed Anna with his tail, put her on his back, and took off into the air.
"The princess has been taken by the dragon!" The soldiers yelled in surprise as they looked amongst themselves for answers. Their faces said it all as they had no clue what to do.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind past by them to which the soldiers had to brace against in order to keep their feet on the ground. Three large shadows, quickly passed over them. Looking up into the sky, the soldiers saw a Terrible Terror, a Nightmare and a Zippleback chase after the Triple Strike,
"The princess deserves a small break, don't you think men?" A voice said from behind the soldiers. Looking behind them, the soldiers saw the Dragon King Hiccup casually walk up to the soldiers. Hiccup watched as Anna flew off with the dragons without a worry on his face. The best the soldiers could muster was a confused face as they stared at Hiccup.
"We wouldn't want Princess Anna to end up overworked like Queen Elsa now would we? She will be back in an hour or two and until then I will oversee the festival," Hiccup explained.
"Of course Dragon King Hiccup," the soldiers smartly saluted before returning back to their posts.
Once more Hiccup looked up to the sky, and saw that Anna was now just small speck in the sky.
"A Triple Strike, hey Anna," Hiccup quietly mumbled to himself, very impressed with Anna, "a special dragon for a special lady," Hiccup said he turned around and headed back to the heart of the festival.
Up in the air, Anna continued to screams her lungs out as the Triple Strike continued to ascend. Whether the scream were of fear or enjoyment was anyone's guess. Anna could feel the force pushing down towards the ground as she clung onto the black back of the dragon. Anna could not keep her eyes open, and tears flew freely as the wind whipped into her eyes.
Eventually the Triple Strike leveled out and gracefully soared in the open sky. All those times Anna bothered Elsa for flying lessons only to be postponed, it was certainly worth the wait. Flying above the clouds, Anna could see her entire kingdom. With each passing moment, Anna was moving farther and farther away from the palace.
"I didn't mean for you to take me! Please I need to go back I have a festival to look after," Anna said in panic, as she gently tapped the dragon on his back but the dragon did not make any moves to turn back.
Suddenly the sound of flapping and noises emerged from behind that cause Anna to whip her head around. Looking behind Anna could see three other dragons chasing after her. A Terrible Terror sitting on a closed picnic basket riding a Nightmare, opened its wings and carried the basket to Anna and dropped the basket in front of her.
Curious, Anna opened the basket without hesitation to find sandwiches and drinks neatly placed within the four walls of the container. Anna's stomach responded automatically and grumbled as it voiced its desire to consume the sandwiches. Anna had not eaten anything since this morning. Knowing the only person who could bring this basket to her Anna couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. Nothing happens to the dragons without Hiccup knowing about it. Hiccup must have sent the additional dragons to help Anna along with bringing her lunch.
"I suppose taking a small break wouldn't be so bad," Anna thought to herself as her hand reached into the depths to pull out a sandwich. With unrestrained gluttony Anna took a big bite and consumed her first sandwich in mere seconds.
Leaning back in a relaxed position, enjoying the sensation of food in her stomach. The Terrible Terror landed on Anna's shoulder and started to bump his head against Anna's.
"Alright alright," Anna giggled as she leaned forward, dipped her hand in the basket, and handed the Terrible Terror a tuna sandwich to which the Terror gobbled up in one bite.
It did not take long to find the missing dragons and missing girl. Located at a nearby mountain at a clearing in the forest, Anna spotted the three missing Nadders, and the girl a few meters away being held by a man.
"Over there!" Anna said, pointing at the clearing to which the Triple Strike responded and the other dragons followed closely soon after. Lazilly the dragons glided and descended in a circular fashion before landing in the clearing with a great stomp.
Hopping off her dragon, Anna let out an unladylike exhale as she tried to shake off the adrenaline that coursed through her blood. With her open hands Anna patted her thighs as she tried to wake up her sleepy legs.
"Princess Anna!" A deep voice said in surprise that brought up Anna's attention. Sitting on top of a rock, was a very large man with an equally large backpack that rested beside the rock. The man had a beard that covered almost the entirety of his face. His heavy clothes built for traveling, had seen every kind of punishment that mother nature could throw at him. This was a man who had not seen civilization and a warm bed in a long while. Sitting on the man's lap was the missing little girl clinging on to her father with all her adolescent strength.
Anna walked up to the father daughter pair and was about to speak before the battered man started rambling out apologies.
"My name is Hagrid," the bearded man said before placing a gentle hand on the top of the little girl's head, "And this is my daughter Mary,"
"I was suppose to be home in time for the festivities, but I sprained my leg yesterday," Hagrid explained as moved his child free leg to show the sprain. "My daughter was worried about me and had somehow manage to take some dragons to find me,"
For a man so large, he showed great flexibility as he bowed his head, "My most sincerest apologies Princess Anna,"
Mimicking her father's action, the little girl bowed down as well, "I am very sorry for taking the dragons without permission," Mary apologized.
"Fear not Hagrid and Mary, there is nothing to apologize for," Anna said and couldn't help but let out a small laugh before addressing the little girl, "Mary, you did not ask the Dragon King for permission, but he and the dragons decided to help you nonetheless, so you are not in trouble"
The man let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the kindness of the dragon king and Princess Anna that was shown to him and his daughter today.
"I think it's time for us to go home, if we leave now we can still make back in time for the evening festivities!" Anna said clapping her hands together.
"That is a very generous offer my princess and we humbly accept your offer," Hagrid responded.
"Can I ride with Princess Anna?" Mary asked turning her head from her father to the princess eagerly looking for an answer,"
"Of course you can sweety," Anna answered.
"Yay!" Mary said as she threw her hands up, hopped off her father's leg and ran to Anna.
"Hold on there sweety, first we have to help your father up on a dragon first," Anna said giggling at the girl's enthusiasm.
"Uhhh, I am quite heavy your highness, I'm not going to slip and fall off a dragon am I?" Hagrid nervously asked.
"There is nothing to worry about, I have full confidence in the dragons, and Hiccup did send extra dragons to catch anyone just in case." Anna reassured although Hagrid was still nervous and jittery as Mary brought a Nadder to her father.
The other dragons helped up Hagrid as Anna placed Mary on the back of the Triple Stinger before climbing up herself.
"Hold on tight everyone!" Anna said as she clung on to the waist of the little girl and tightened her legs around her dragon. With a much gentler start than the one at the palace, the dragons took off and soon enough they were in the air.
"Look! Look! Look how high we are daddy!" Mary said as she waved her hands about,"
"That's very nice dear," Hagrid shouted. Hanging tightly onto the neck of the Nadder with his eyes closed, Hagrid imagined himself flying only a meter off the ground instead of the very fatal heights that they were actually flying.
"Princess Anna?" Mary said as she craned her neck upwards to see the princess.
"Yes sweetie?" Anna responded looking down at the brown haired girl.
"King Hiccup is really really cool, do you think I can meet him and thank him for helping me find my father?"
"Of course sweetie, I will personally bring you to him and you can thank him all you want!"
"Yay!" Mary shouted once more and throwing up her hands. Laughing at the girl's enthusiasm, Anna couldn't help but agree with the little girl's super in depth analysis of Hiccup, as she watched the sun finally begin to set.
"Hiccup certainly is the coolest step brother a girl can have!"
OoOoO
Elsa turned to the cooler side of the bed, for the umpteeth time. With little choices available, Elsa took Hiccup's word to heart, resting, waking up, eating and resting some more. Having woken up for a second time. Elsa felt considerably better, which led to a completely different problem.
She was extremely bored.
Just a few hours ago, Elsa's was wallowing in her own self pity of helplessness and was focusing on getting better. And now her mind was clear, and firing on all cylinders. Constricting her arms around a spare pillow, Elsa buried her chin into the soft pillow, recollecting on the dreams of Hiccup's past.
Hiccup's dreams were certainly different from regular dreams. Elsa could recall everything about Hiccup's life after waking up. But it wasn't technically everything. After all, Elsa was at a point where Hiccup was well into his adulthood.
Time within the dreams was not one to one with reality but Elsa still felt like she knew Hiccup for his entire life. Elsa couldn't remember what Hiccup had for breakfast on his eleventh birthday, but knew that was the day Hiccup received his first hammer and started working for Gobber. The mundane was fast forwarded while everything that was significant to Hiccup's life was burned into Elsa's mind. Just like memories of her own childhood, the life of Hiccup was slowly melded into her own mind that she would never forget.
It was inspiring to see where Hiccup had started, and what he had to go through to become the leader that he was. And as a result, Hiccup was about to host The Great Gathering of Chiefs. With all the clans gathered, Hiccup will butt heads with the best of them. It would no doubt be interesting to see how Hiccup will handle the negotiations and fight back against the endless viking spirit.
The door opened with a click and Elsa sprung up grateful for the external stimuli. Immediately Elsa's heart began to beat faster as Hiccup entered the room having already loosened his tight tunic.
"I see you that you have already eaten and are looking much better now Elsa. Although a little sweaty and smelly" Hiccup joked to which Elsa glared back against his insensitiveness.
"Not to worry my queen. I will have a bath drawn for us in a jiffy" Hiccup declared as he headed into the bathroom.
"How was the royal sitting?" Elsa asked, climbing out of the bed and heading to the drawers for some fresh towels and clothes for Elsa and Hiccup.
"It went great and Anna was perfect. I hardly had to do anything." Hiccup said, his voice echoing from the bath chambers.
Entering the chamber and shutting the door Elsa could already start to see the steam rising and escaping from the heated pool of water.
Safely setting aside everything in a dry area, Elsa began to strip her clothes off, eager to shed the clothes that so grossly clung onto her skin. With little hesitations, Elsa dipped herself into the large bubbly pool. Following soon after, Hiccup entered from the other room, began to strip himself and dipped himself into bathing pool. A pop and a squirt later, Elsa could feel Hiccup's hands on her scalp, gently soaping her hair.
After weeks of close nightly physical contact comforted by the shared warmth of two bodies under the covers of the bed sheet, Elsa and Hiccup were comfortable with each others body. Although the couple has yet to reach final level of intimacy, the weeks of close nightly physical contact has built up their tolerance. And after copious amounts of groping and giggling, nothing seen wasn't already touched. Simply put any shyness or awkwardness between Hiccup and Elsa was a relic of the past.
"I hope everyone wasn't too disappointed about no ice skating this year,"Elsa softly purred out as Hiccup worked his magic on her scalp and hair.
"The dragons were a great success, a good first step towards what we are planning for the future," Hiccup said.
"Although there was one girl who had climbed on top of a Nadder while the guards were distracted and asked for help to find his father," Hiccup recounted and they both laughed.
"Finished," Hiccup said as he finished washing her hair and back.
Elsa brushed her hair straight and dived underneath the water. Twisting and turning Elsa's hair flowed like water as she swam underneath the water before she emerged in front of Hiccup.
"Your turn," Elsa said simply and Hiccup complied. His poofy hair that Elsa loved to bury her hands in and play with, was now forced down with water as Elsa soaped his hair.
"So what did you do today? Hiccup asked enjoying the feel of Elsa's delicate hands on his scalp.
"Being stuck in bed didn't leave a whole lot of options," Elsa replied, "I've mostly thought about your dreams. There wasn't really a time where i could look back and reflect until now."
"Any fascinating insights that you have discovered?" Hiccup asked.
"Only two so far, the first being your secret obsession with blond haired women," Elsa said.
"What? No! Don't be ridiculous," Hiccup refuted. From behind Elsa could see Hiccup stiffen.
"Really?" Elsa said in surprise of Hiccup's denial, "Astrid, Camicazi, me," Elsa listed off.
"A mere coincidence," Hiccup replied in a higher pitched voice than he would have liked.
"Uh huh," Elsa let out unconvinced, "I will be watching you very carefully from on. I better not catch you with another blond women." Her hand grasped Hiccup's hair tighter like an owner who was maintaining her dominance over her dog.
"So what is the second insight," Hiccup said quickly, praying that the second topic was less lethal.
The mood had quickly sobered as the bath chambers suddenly went silent. The sound of scrubbing disappeared as Elsa's hand stopped. Hiccup could tell from the resting hand that hung loosely on his shoulder that Elsa was deep in thought.
"You really are amazing you know that," Elsa said her voice low, barely audible to Hiccup. "To where you first started, and what you had to go through, compared to what I went through, it makes one with confidence issues feel even worst."
"Elsa the two aren't comparable. You had to go through almost your entire life without control of your ice power. Having something like that haunt you day and night would of course be damaging. I atleast had my forge where I felt like I had some control in my life. It was enough to give me the confidence for what I wanted to do. And it's true for you now as well. Running an entire kingdom by yourself is incredible Elsa.
"I'm not sad or anything Hiccup, It took some time but i figured that out on my own as well, I managed to beat back my low confidence this time around.
"And how did you that?" Hiccup asked.
"By focusing on you." Elsa said as she snaked her arms underneath Hiccup's arms and crossing them in front of his chest. Her chin rested on Hiccup's shoulder. Pressed against his back Elsa embraced herself in Hiccup's warmth.
"Finally knowing who you are, the boy you were, the man you are everything I ever wanted and are everything I never knew I needed. With you here, with me, I couldn't be happier. I love you Hiccup."
Hiccup let out a breath of air he didn't know he was holding. Hiccup grasped the soft hand that covered his chest a gentle squeeze. Elsa may be the Snow Queen, but Hiccup felt like he was melting. But frozen in position in Elsa embrace, Hiccup finally knew after all these years, that choosing to be with Elsa was correct.
"I love you too Elsa."
Making sure to dry themselves off completely. The couple made their way out onto the balcony for a delayed dinner and to see the festivities from below. Resting against his shoulder, Elsa recalled a third insight that she neglected to share with Hiccup. When she was younger, Elsa had read a lot of fairy tales. In many ways Hiccups life was just like a fairy tale, with dragons and magic, a battle for what is right and wrong, or a charming prince saving a princess. But there was one aspect of fairy tales that had Elsa worried. For Hiccup, the end of his fairy tales was here in Arendelle, living with her. Something terrible was going to happen in Hiccup's memories. After all, no fairy tale has ever had two happily ever afters.
Author's end notes: Once again if anyone can point out any errors or typos for this chapter, that would be awesome. Season 4 of Race to the Edge was totally awesome! I couldn't help myself but add the Triple Strike somewhere into this story. As I will be finishing up my last semester of University I will not be finishing the next chapter for atleast three months so until then, have a good life and keep on Fanfictioning!
Cover page by Mistress of Snow
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