Chapter 3 - The Nomad Shaman

Elsa slept rather soundly that night-a fairly rare occurrence for her. It seemed like she might actually be well-rested and ready to take on the next day. However, she was pulled out of her slumber by a dreadfully loud noise. It sounded like Snowflake was coughing again.

Elsa rolled over and opened one eye. "Snowflake, can you keep it..." Her voice trailed off.

Snowflake wasn't coughing: she was vomiting up more of that strange blue goo, and her skin and veins were beginning to turn icy blue again. "It hurts..." the girl whispered hoarsely. "My throat...it's burning..."

Elsa's eyes shot open, and she quickly jumped out of bed and ran to Snowflake's side. Already there was a puddle of the blue goop collecting beneath the girl's mouth.

"Elsa…." Snowflake croaked, gasping. "Those packets…I need one…."

Elsa dug through her rucksack and pulled out one of the packets and a syringe, filling it with the medicine. She then took Snowflake's hand and injected the medicine into the vein in her forearm.

Snowflake breathed softly and slowly relaxed, the pain beginning to subside. She felt the orange liquid course through her veins, slowing the growth of the blue.

She rested her head back into the sleeping bag and sighed softly. "Thanks, Elsa."

Elsa sat by her, stroking her forehead. "You should rest a little more. You've got a fever again."

Snowflake chuckled. "Shouldn't that be a good thing? Since I'm so cold?"

Elsa sighed, shaking her head. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea."

"I was making a joke," Snowflake said. She coughed again, but there was no sign of the goop this time. "Jeez, you need a sense of humour."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "A sense of humour won't get you very far out there, honey."

Snowflake raised her eyebrow. "What's with all the honey stuff? Are you getting a crush on me?" She smirked. "Elsa, I didn't know that's how you felt."

"No…it's just…never mind," Elsa stated, before climbing back to her bed. Before she drifted back off, she muttered, "I call everyone honey, so don't get used to it."

Snowflake chuckled. "I wonder if you ever had a boyfriend to call honey," she joked.

"I don't like boys," Elsa replied. "For your information, I'm into girls."

"Really?" Snowflake asked. "That's kinda funny."

Elsa rolled over and glared at her. "Is that so?"

The younger girl nodded. "I think I like girls too. It's the only thing I can remember kinda clearly."

"Well, good for you, Miss Lesbian," Elsa said, lying back. "But it's been a while since I've had any kind of romantic interest in anyone. And before you ask, no, I haven't gotten with anyone. I'm not really a big fan of sex."

"I bet you don't stay with anyone long enough for them to even be your girlfriends, what with you being so cold all the time," Snowflake remarked. "But I'm making it my goal. By the time I get my memories back, you're gonna be a better human being, with a sense of humour and a girlfriend."

"Good luck with any of that," Elsa said. "Now get some rest. I'm gonna go looking around for work later on. I can't guarantee it will be easy."

"What sort of work?"

"Any work that gives us food, supplies, and possibly a few more nights in this inn."

Snowflake nodded. "Elsa, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Where did you come from?"

Elsa rolled over, hiding her face from Snowflake as her cheeks went red, her mind filling with memories that she had been struggling to bury for years. "I…I don't want to talk about it."

"Personal again?"

"Yes."

Snowflake sighed. "Elsa, you need to try opening up to more people. It's not gonna be good if you always push people out." She crawled out of her sleeping bag and sat on her knees beside Elsa's bed, laying her arms on the mattress and looking at the courier with calm eyes. "Please tell me, Elsa. It might help me to remember."

"Why would it help you?" Elsa argued, glaring at her. "What would my past have to do with where you came from?"

"I don't know!" Snowflake said in frustration. "I just…I hate not knowing who I am." She held her head in her hands. "There's so much that I don't remember. My name, my favourite colour, my favourite song…." She sighed.

Elsa rolled over, giving Snowflake a rather apologetic look. "Look, I'm sorry. I know you're probably angry that you don't remember who you are, but pressing me about my past isn't the answer to your problem."

"I know, I know," Snowflake admitted. "I guess…I'm just kinda envious. At least you had a past."

"Yeah…although sometimes I wish that I didn't," Elsa muttered. "I'm not saying your past was like mine, but you could be better off not knowing."

Snowflake sighed. "Just answer me one yes-or-no question. Whatever happened to you in your past…is that the reason why you're so distant now?"

"Part of it, yes," Elsa said. "Is that all?"

"Yes," Snowflake looked down. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

"No, don't be. I'm a stone cold bitch, but we're still in this together."

Snowflake nodded, getting back into her sleeping bag. "And Elsa…thank you for saving me."

"Don't get used to it," Elsa quipped, before she closed her eyes and drifted off back to sleep.

xXx

After a few more hours of sleep, Elsa got up and headed over to the front of the inn, her nostrils being pricked by the sensation of breakfast being cooked. Finally, she'd get some real food, and not just some leftover scraps she and Snowflake had found in her Snowcat.

She found Kristoff making some food on an old electric stove. He glanced over at her and said, "Oh, it's you. You hungry?"

"Very," Elsa replied. "Sorry if you heard coughing and spluttering from my room last night. My roommate was doing her blue goop act again."

Kristoff sighed. "You figured out what's wrong with her? I'm kinda worried about her."

"Dr. Tremaine said it was some new disease that's been going around," Elsa stated. "She doesn't know where Snowflake could have got it from, though."

"Hope I don't get it," Kristoff said. "If I wasn't around, this place would fall apart-literally."

"I can tell," Elsa remarked. She looked down, seeing Kristoff was cooking the beans she had given him as her initial payment for her room here. "Oh, you're cooking that, are you?"

"Yup," Kristoff replied. "It's not much, but it should keep our strength up."

Elsa looked closer into the pot. "What about Snowflake, though? She'll need something to eat too."

"I found some beef jerky in my fridge for her," Kristoff stated, pointing to some packets on the counter nearby. "She can have it whenever she wants."

Elsa smiled, picking up the packets. "Good thing meat preserves well in this cold. This stuff should have gone bad years ago."

Kristoff then finished up his cooking, placing two bowls of the beans onto the nearby table and gesturing for Elsa to take a seat.

Elsa sat down, taking a spoonful of beans into her mouth. "Mmm, good and warm."

"I know, right? It's so hard to find good cooking these days," Kristoff joked. "Anyway, what's up with you and Snowflake today?"

"Not sure right now," Elsa said, spooning more beans to her lips. "I'm gonna try and go looking for work."

"Are you?" Kristoff replied. "Well, it just so happens that I've got a little job offer out right now; one that'd be perfect for you."

Elsa nodded, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. "I'm listening."

"Basically, there's an old friend of mine who lives out in the wastes, not far from here," he explained. "She tends to keep to herself a lot, but I usually get someone to send out a supply run to her, since I'd rather she not starve to death out there in the wilderness."

"Sounds simple enough," Elsa remarked, nodding. "How far is this friend of yours?"

"About thirteen miles, give or take," Kristoff answered. "She has her own camp and a little farm, really cosy little place. If you do it, I'd be willing to let you and Snowflake stay here a couple more days."

Elsa chuckled. "At this rate, we'd be living here permanently."

"Nah, the max I'd let anyone stay is two weeks," Kristoff said. "So…are you interested?"

Elsa nodded. "Consider it done. Where are the supplies I'm delivering?"

"In a sack in my room," Kristoff said. "I'll get it for you after we've eaten."

xXx

After breakfast was finished and the supplies collected, Elsa headed out of the inn with Snowflake in tow, both of them heading towards Elsa's parked Snowcat. Elsa could tell Snowflake was ecstatic about the whole thing. It was their first job as a team-although being part of a team with anyone was Elsa's least favourite activity.

As they neared the large tracked vehicle, Snowflake's face beamed. "I call shotgun!"

Elsa looked at her, confused. "Wait, what?"

"I said I'm calling shotgun," Snowflake repeated, booping Elsa on the nose. "I'm riding next to you, silly."

Elsa shook her head. "No can do. The cockpit is narrow, which means you're sitting your ass behind me for the whole trip."

"Awww," Snowflake pouted.

Elsa climbed up onto the top of the Cat, unlocking the long, transparent canopy. "Get in," she said brusquely.

Snowflake did as she was told, straining to clamber up the side of the Cat. "Ugh! It's too tall!" she grunted. "Isn't there a ladder or something?!"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Hang on." She reached down and grabbed Snowflake's hand, pulling the younger girl up onto the Cat. In that brief moment, their gazes met, and they looked into each other's eyes for a moment.

Elsa blushed a little bit, eliciting a giggle from Snowflake. The older girl pushed her companion into the rear seat of the Snowcat and said, "Don't get any ideas."

Snowflake smirked. "Wasn't planning to." She sat up. "Man, that was like a crazy trust exercise, huh?"

"Just sit still and be quiet," Elsa said, facepalming. She climbed into the driver's seat of the Cat, turning the key and starting up the engine. As the mechanical beast hummed and growled into life, the canopy closed up overhead, sealing Snowflake and Elsa inside.

Snowflake leaned back in her seat, twiddling her thumbs. "So…do I just sit here?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Elsa said. "We're only dropping this stuff for Kristoff's friend, and then we're coming straight back here."

"What? I thought we'd be doing more than that!" Snowflake complained. "I thought we were gonna go on this big adventure."

"Honey, life isn't a big adventure," Elsa reminded her. "Sometimes, it's just a bunch of pointless shit that goes on until the day you die."

Snowflake frowned. "Hmph. Well, aren't you Miss Sunshine."

Elsa put the Snowcat in gear, ignoring Snowflake's comment. The treads of the Cat churned through the snow as the vehicle drove out of the street in Snomar and onto the open tracks, heading out into the wastes. The vehicle accelerated to its top speed, a large trail of icy dust spouting from behind it.

Snowflake looked up through the glass of the canopy, seeing a bright yellow sun shining down from the heavens through a group of clouds. "We're in good weather again."

"Not for long," Elsa muttered grimly. "The storms will come back. They always do."

Snowflake leaned forward, looking at a set of controls beside her. "Hey, is one of these to adjust the seat? I feel kinda cooped up."

"No," Elsa told her. "Don't touch anything, alright? Just sit still."

Snowflake frowned. "But that's boring!"

"Life is boring!" Elsa argued.

Snowflake folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at Elsa.

Elsa sighed. Snowflake was behaving like a petulant child. "God, you're worse than my sister."

Snowflake's eyebrows pricked up. "Wait-you have a sister?"

"Ye-I mean, no," Elsa quickly denied. "Just forget it. We've got a job to do, and I want to get it done quickly."

"Fine, fine," Snowflake replied, laying back. "Hey, maybe we could stop for a while before we get there, or on the way back. Maybe go and build a snowman?"

"Don't push it," her companion said annoyedly. "We're here to drop off those supplies. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Aww, you're no fun," Snowflake complained.

Elsa then spied something on the horizon: small puffs of smoke, grey and circular, rising up into the air. "Smoke signals," she muttered to herself. Kristoff had told Elsa to watch out for such a thing before she left, informing her that his friend lived where the smoke would be coming from. "We're almost there," she told Snowflake. "Just let me handle this, okay?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Snowflake sarcastically retorted.

The Cat pulled up across a large snowy plain, with large fences surrounding a rather open enclosure. At the centre of the site was a small tent, beige and rather torn, with a fire pit at the centre, billowing smoke into the air.

Elsa looked to one side, seeing a group of very woolly cattle munching on the sparse, snow-covered grass. These animals, much like the humans, had adapted to their new environment.

"This looks homely," Snowflake commented.

Elsa pressed a button on the Cat's control panel, shutting off the engine and opening the canopy up for her to disembark. "Wait here," she told Snowflake for what seemed like the thousandth time now. She jumped off the roof of the Cat and opened up the storage compartment, taking out a small sack full of various food and medical supplies and slinging it over her shoulder.

Once the canopy was closed over Snowflake, Elsa started to make her way towards the tent at the centre of the camp. Aside from the cattle, the place seemed to be deserted. Why anyone in their right mind would live such a solitary life, Elsa neither knew nor cared.

"Hello?" she called out. "My name's Elsa! Your friend Kristoff told me to drop some supplies for you!"

A figure in a heavy hooded coat with a furry cape walked out from the tent. "Kristoff sent you?" it asked.

Elsa nodded. "Yeah, that's what I just said." She looked at the figure closely. "Are you his friend?"

The figure nodded. "Come inside, please. It's warmer."

Elsa sighed. "Fine, but I'm not saying for milk and cookies."

As the figure stepped into the tent, they turned around to face Elsa again. "Oh, and your friend is welcome to join us."

"My…." Elsa turned around to see that Snowflake had gotten out of the Cat and was now standing behind her. She rubbed her temples, muttering, "I can't take you anywhere, can I?"

Snowflake smiled warmly, waving to the hooded figure. "Hiya! I'm Snowflake, and this is my grumpy partner Elsa. Don't worry, she's really nice once you get to know her. She isn't always this much of a stinker."

The figure chuckled. "The two of you don't get along, eh?"

"We're making the best of it," Elsa said as she and Snowflake followed the strange figure into their tent. The tent was adorned with various tribal markings and symbols, patterned with relics from an era long since past.

"Woah…." Snowflake admired their surroundings. "What's all this stuff?"

"Don't touch," Elsa instructed. "This stuff could be valuable."

"It is," the figure said. "But only to me, it seems." It removed the coat and cape, revealing itself to be a woman around Elsa's age with tanned skin and long, flowing black hair. "My name is Winona Matoaka," she said, introducing herself. "You may call me Pocahontas."

Elsa looked over the woman, seeing she was draped in a traditional Native American shawl. "You're a Native American, I see."

"Yes…although I'm probably among the last of my people," she admitted. "Ever since The Freezing, we've lost sight of the old ways. Our culture is rooted in spirituality, but…there's not much call for that now."

Elsa nodded. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Pocahontas smiled. "But I can see you're both kind and gentle souls who would bear me no harm, and I'm thankful for that." She gestured to a small group of cushions at the centre of the tent. "Please, sit."

"Oh, no thanks," Elsa excused. "We really have to-"

"Actually, we'd be happy to," Snowflake interrupted. She then gave Elsa a look, reminding her that they were this woman's guests and to be respectful.

Pocahontas sat down on the cushions, and Elsa and Snowflake joined her. The Native American woman looked at them with a friendly smile. "Tell me about yourselves. I'm pretty sure you aren't from around here."

"I'm not," Elsa stated. "I'm a courier, just taking work wherever I go."

"And I'm her partner," Snowflake stated.

"Oh, so you and her are-"

"No, no," Elsa denied. "Not like that. Work partners, travelling partners, not…that sort of partner."

She nodded. "If you say so." She then took a look at Snowflake's hands, still perfectly blue like ice. She gasped. "Goodness, what's wrong with your hands, dear?"

Snowflake looked down at her hands, then back to Pocahontas. "Well, we're not really sure what's wrong with me," she excused. "Apparently I have this strange illness from…somewhere."

"She's lost her memory," Elsa stated. "I'm just trying to help her recover it."

"Amnesia, eh?" The Native American woman paused in thought, rubbing her chin. "I think there's an old ritual of my people that can help with that. If we cleanse her soul, her mind should be restored."

"Cleanse my soul?" Snowflake asked.

"As I said, Native American culture is rooted in spirituality," Pocahontas explained. "We believed that most of our bodies' problems were linked to our spirits being in disharmony, but we had many rituals to help with such afflictions."

"Wait, what's going to happen to Snowflake?" Elsa inquired, becoming very concerned for her partner.

"All she would need to do is drink a special tea of my making," the shaman went on. "It would essentially put her into a dreamlike state...at least, in theory. That way, she might be able to recover some of her lost memories."

Snowflake then nodded. "Do it. If it helps me, I'm willing to take any chance."

"Snowflake, if you drink whatever this tea is, it could make your condition worse," Elsa cautioned. "Are you sure you want to try this?"

"I haven't got much to lose, Elsa," she pointed out. "I need to know who I am."

Elsa sighed and then looked at Pocahontas. "Can you guarantee this won't hurt her in any way?"

"I promise," the Native American woman assured Elsa. "The herb will have been ground to a point where its poisons will not affect her."

Elsa's eyebrows shot up. "Wait—poisons?!"

"The herb is rather toxic in nature, often resulting in rather…vivid hallucinations when consumed," Pocahontas stated. "But don't worry, my people have been using it for centuries. We know how to handle it."

Elsa nodded. "Okay, but the moment I see anything wrong with Snowflake, I'm bringing her out of it."

"Very well," Pocahontas agreed. "I'll go and make the tea. It shouldn't take long, since I harvested a few herbs from my land this morning."

Snowflake giggled, nudging Elsa. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were worried about me."

"I'm not," Elsa denied. "But you are my partner. I can't have you foaming at the mouth because of some stupid tribal tea you decided to drink."

"Awww, you do care about me," Snowflake teased. "Thank you."

"Just...shut up," Elsa muttered, looking away in embarrassment.

A few minutes later, Pocahontas returned with a small bowl of green peyote tea in her hand. She smiled and passed it to Snowflake, being careful not to spill it. "Here you go, my dear."

Snowflake smiled. "Thanks. So, do I drink this now?"

Pocahontas shook her head. "No, I need to begin the ritual chant in order for the drink to fully immerse you in the dream state. I must warn you: the visions can be very powerful."

"I'm prepared," Snowflake replied.

Pocahontas looked over at Elsa. "Elsa, I'll need you to turn away now. This ritual is very sacred to my people, and I can't have outsiders watching in."

"I understand," Elsa said, walking to the other side of the tent. "I'll be standing here if you need me."

Snowflake stretched her arms a bit. "I'm ready when you are, Miss Pocahontas."

Pocahontas closed her hands and started up a fire at the centre of the circle of cushions on the floor. As the flames danced and flickered in front of them, she started to chant in a language neither Elsa nor Snowflake were familiar with.

Snowflake looked at Pocahontas, then at the bowl of tea in her hands. "Do…do I drink now?" she asked.

Pocahontas nodded. "You may drink. May the spirits protect your soul on this journey."

Snowflake closed her eyes, lifting the bowl to her mouth and drinking the tea. It had a very strong, bitter flavour, making her grimace. After she swallowed, nothing happened for a few moments. Then, the world seemed to dissolve into nothingness around her. There was nothing but her, and the cushion she was sitting on.

She looked around at the vast, empty expanse. "What the hell...?"

Suddenly, a person appeared before her: a little girl with the same hair and eye colour as Snowflake herself. "Hiya!" the girl said cheerfully.

Snowflake looked at the child for a moment. She knew that she recognized this little girl, but how? After a moment, she said, "Hi. What's your name?"

The little girl opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, a loud scream echoed from her mouth. It was suddenly cut short, however, when the little girl collapsed, unconscious, to the ground. She then faded away just as suddenly as she had arrived.

Snowflake then saw a number of images flashing before her eyes: needles, gurneys with straps, surgical instruments, a man in a lab coat holding a syringe full of blue liquid in one hand. As this last image appeared, the room suddenly went completely dark, and a distorted voice said, "Do what you're told, Snowflake. You know what will happen if you disobey, don't you?"

Suddenly, electricity began to crackle around her, as if she were inside a stormcloud. The bolts arced out of the blackness surrounding her, zapping and burning her skin. "No!" she screamed in terror and panic, tears streaming down her freckled cheeks. "Please, no! I'm sorry! I'll be good, I promise! Please stop! IT HURTS!"

As Elsa watched, Snowflake began to shake violently, as if the bolts which Anna was seeing in her trance were actually harming her in reality. "What's happening to her?" Elsa demanded.

"This vision must be more powerful than we had expected," Pocahontas replied.

Elsa stood up quickly. "I'm pulling her out!" She crossed over to Snowflake and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Snowflake! Snowflake!" she said loudly. "Can you hear me? Wake up!"

Snowflake's eyes suddenly snapped open as she came out of the trance. She looked around for a moment, panting hard. "Oh, God…." she murmured. "How long was I in there?"

"About five seconds," Elsa said, sitting down beside her. "Did you…see anything in there?"

She shivered. "I...I saw a little girl who looked like me," she answered. "She was gonna tell me her name...but something happened, and she passed out."

Elsa patted Snowflake's shoulder. "Easy, easy, just take a few deep breaths," she said in a comforting tone. She then looked at Pocahontas. "Do you know what that might mean? What she saw?"

"I honestly don't know," the Native American woman answered. "I'm a shaman, not a psychiatrist."

"I...I think that little girl was me," Snowflake said. "Maybe that's why I can't remember anything...because something happened to me when I was a kid."

"Whatever happened to you, my dear," Pocahontas said calmly, "it must have clearly been very traumatic. I've performed that ritual over a dozen times, and not once has anyone screamed like that."

"I just...I felt so afraid," Snowflake said, shivering again. "There was a man in a white coat...I couldn't see his face. He...he had a syringe. He said if I didn't do what he told me to, he was gonna punish me...and then...and then lightning started hitting me…." She clung tightly to Elsa, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Elsa wrapped her arms around the young woman, stroking her hair in an attempt to comfort her. "I'm so sorry, Snowflake."

"It was only a vision," Pocahontas said in a reassuring, almost motherly tone. "He can't harm you."

Elsa sighed, helping Snowflake to her feet. "Come on, Snowflake. Let's get you home. You need a rest, clearly."

Snowflake nodded, before looking at Pocahontas one last time, smiling at her softly. "Thank you for allowing me to see that."

"Good luck out there, my dear," Pocahontas said, bidding them farewell. "May the Great Spirit watch over you on your long journey."

Elsa smiled. "Thank you. We'll probably need it."

xXx

The trip back to Snomar was quiet and long for Elsa and Snowflake. Even if Elsa couldn't see her new friend behind her, she knew that what the girl had seen had clearly shaken her up. She wondered what sort of life Snowflake had led, what had happened to cause such misery to her. The only thing she could do now was hope that Snowflake would recover.

"Hey," Elsa finally said, breaking the silence. "Are you feeling alright?"

Snowflake shrugged. "I...I guess so. Just trying to make sense of that vision, or whatever it was."

"Do you still want to know about your past?" Elsa asked.

"I'm not sure," Snowflake answered. "Part of me still wants to know, but after that vision…, I'm a little scared of what I might find."

"Don't be," Elsa reassured her. "I know I was cold to you before, but I'll be here for you, no matter what. I promise."

Snowflake smiled a little bit. "Thanks, Elsa. You're a good friend."

Elsa smiled. She was starting to like being Snowflake's friend now. Perhaps there was something about the strange girl that was finally clicking in her.

Snowflake sighed. "When will we be back in Snomar?"

"Should be any minute now," Elsa said. "Are you going to head to sleep?"

"Possibly," Snowflake replied. "No point being awake now; the day's work is done."

Elsa thought for a second. She knew she had to cheer Snowflake up somehow. "Hey, didn't you say something about making a snowman on the way here?"

"What about it?"

Elsa smiled. "Let's make one. You and me, right in Kristoff's backyard."

Snowflake's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you serious? Did I actually die there and this is heaven where Elsa is actually a nice girl?"

The courier shrugged. "I'd rather build a snowman than see you all down in the dumps. So, are you in?"

Snowflake grinned. "Yes, please!"

As Elsa then turned to look out of the cockpit through, her eyes widened. "What the…?"

On the horizon was the familiar sight of the town of Snomar, but right away, Elsa could see that everything was off. Rolling down the main street of the town were a group of large, grey, wheeled tanks. They seemed to be of a similar build to her Snowcat, and standing alongside them were groups of soldiers wearing some kind of grey body armour.

Elsa couldn't see if anyone was around, but she definitely saw the sight of a building currently on fire. It was the clinic where Elsa and Snowflake had been the day before.

"My God…." Elsa said, shocked.

Snowflake's eyes widened, something clicking in her mind. "Elsa…it's them."

xXx

Author's note: Howdy folks! It's new chapter time! I hope you all liked this chapter and its sort of revelations about Snowflake. I tried to do the Native American stuff as best as I could so I hope I was accurate in that portrayal. When the next chapter will be out might... vary. I'll try and get the chapters edited soon so stay tuned. Take care!