Disclaimer: Frozen is copyright of the Disney corporation
Chapter VI: "... and walk around in it."
Elsa burst through the screen door and stormed down the stairs of the deck with heavy, hurried steps, flinging her arm into the air with dismissal, "No freakin' way!"
Anna fell in tow behind her, trying to keep up with the long strides of the blonde woman, "Oh, come on! This will help me understand." Her tone carried frustration. Honestly, she hadn't expected her request to cause a conflict.
"No, Anna! It just isn't done! You have no clue how intensely private it is-"
"You're right, I don't, but I'd like to."
Elsa halted so abruptly that Anna nearly bumped into her, having to flail her arms to catch her balance. The blonde looked over her shoulder with narrowed eyes at the redhead, "Too bad."
The front door slammed again and Kristoff came marching out after the pair, arms swinging at his sides, his fists clenched, "Elsa! You-"
"Elsa, if I'm going to trust you, I can't be afraid of you!" Anna cut in.
The taller woman spun on her heel, stepping in so close to the redhead that they were nearly touching, blue eyes glaring, "You should be."
"Ladies!" The man raised his voice above the argument, taking both by the shoulder to push them apart, "You're both acting crazy! Calm down."
Elsa scoffed and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest defensively and cocking a hip. Anna did much the same, though her pout was more open than the blonde's.
Kristoff gulped around a lump in his throat and looked to his cousin, "I think she's right."
Elsa's head whipped around and she gawked at him, "Just whose side are you on!?"
"But, Anna," the man looked to the redhead, "I need to talk to you before you do this."
The blonde woman opened her mouth to argue, but Kristoff interjected again, "Elsa, if she doesn't see it for herself now that she's been told what she's been told, she'll always wonder if she what she actually saw that night was real."
Anna said nothing, continuing to pout.
With a grim frown, Elsa finally relented. "Fine. Tonight." She sighed in exasperation.
"But-" the redhead started again.
"No. Shut up." Kristoff told her poignantly, pointing a stern finger at her.
It took the trio a while to cool off, Kristoff heading around back to vent to Sven, Elsa going for a walk, and Anna sitting on the steps of the porch. She waited an hour before the man came walking back around the corner of the house with Sven at his heel, hands shoved into his pockets and eyes on the ground.
The redhead decided to let him take the reigns on the conversation, seeing as he had been so grave about the whole thing.
"There are some things you need to know before you and Elsa do this," he began, "First thing being, Elsa is not kidding about it being private. Weres with the change do not shift in front of others. Not even other weres."
Anna exercised caution for once as she prodded for more information, "Why not?"
Kristoff licked his lips, lifting his hands up near his head as he shifted his weight, "Just imagine your most personal secret, and having to actually wear it where everyone could see it. It's not pretty. Changing without the moon's aid is painful and disturbing, and most with the change do not want to expose others to-" he hesitated, "to such a deep wound."
Anna's gaze dropped to her shoes as she wrapped her arms around her knees, and the man continued, "Which leads to my second point."
"And that is?"
"Weres do not take on the change during day."
Anna rested her cheek atop her knees, head turned to eye the man, "Like a vampire?"
Kristoff groaned and slapped a hand against his face. Sven snorted from behind the man's legs. "No, not like a vampire," he said in a huff, "Think about it. What kind of chaos would it cause if someone saw a werewolf in broad daylight?"
The redhead pursed her lips, but nodded, muttering to herself, "That makes sense."
"Last thing; no matter how good her intentions are, remember that Elsa is a monster. A beast. So, no matter what you see, do not run. You'll want to, but you can't, or she could kill you."
That stone cold fact sent a shiver racing up Anna's spine, and she gnawed her lower lip in trepidation, eyes closed. The pair lingered in an uneasy silence until Anna broke it, "You sure it's not a curse?"
Kristoff looked to the ground sadly. "No. I guess not."
Elsa didn't return until the sun was setting, and didn't speak to either Kristoff or Anna until it was time to go a few hours after dark. The redhead was sitting on the steps with Sven, Kristoff perched on the rail above her. They had taken the opportunity of having time that afternoon to get to know each other a bit, and for Anna to finally really meet Sven. It seemed a little bizarre at first, having Kristoff speak for the... "dog?" but she grew used to it.
The blonde woman wasn't usually the type to eavesdrop, but couldn't resist stopping for a moment just inside the door to listen.
"You know, Kristoff," Anna paused, "You played it up like you were some kind of idiot when we met, but you're not. Why the big facade?"
"Ahh. That's why ken don't grow up in the caern. Even when you first met Elsa, she was pretty scary, right?"
Elsa heard nothing, but assumed the girl had given Kristoff some form of affirmation, "Well, even when a were looks like a human, they give actual humans bad vibes. Ken grow up among humans in order to know how they act and how to play as a kind of distraction. Hard to be scared of the were when you can't get close to them because there's a big bumbling fool in the way."
A beat. "You were protecting Elsa?"
The blonde woman heard the hesitation in his voice, "Something like that."
With that, Elsa scoffed, opened the door, and stepped out onto the porch, letting the screen slam behind her, interrupting before the pair could continue their conversation, "Alright, kids. Time to go."
Kristoff dropped from the railing and stretched his arms over his head, arching his back, "Yeah, I better go feed Anna's animals."
Anna jumped. She had nearly forgotten the livestock, "Oh! Th-"
The man waved a dismissive hand before she could thank him, "Don't worry about it." He flashed a tired, but genuine smile, hopping down the steps and walking off in the direction of Anna's home.
Elsa and Anna watched quietly as he disappeared, silent. After a while, the redhead felt a gentle nudge against her lower back, and tilted her head up to see Elsa standing directly behind her, presumably lowering the foot she'd budged Anna with. She leaned forward just so, tilting her head to look directly down at the girl sitting by her feet, "We should go too."
The light from the waning moon and crystal clear stars provided plenty to see by as the two began to make their way around the back of the house, and toward the treeline of the forest in the distance. Elsa's silence gave Anna a chance to reflect on the things Kristoff had told her to remember.
It wasn't until they breached the woods that Anna finally spoke up, "Kristoff called the change a 'deep wound'."
"Did he?" Elsa's tone was callous. There was a lull, and she sighed, shaking her head as if it would dispel her currently dour attitude, "That's... what it is. A deep wound."
The blonde's steps didn't falter, and Anna hugged her arms around herself as the foliage grew thicker, and the light from the sky above faded under the shadows of the treetops.
"In the caern, a 'deep wound' means a scar on a persons spirit or soul; it's a hurt so deep that it defines the person." The woman ran her tongue over her lips, swallowing dryly, "It's what makes us a monster."
They were quiet for a long time after that, until finally, Anna stopped, straining to see Elsa's face when she turned to look at the girl. Disregarding Kristoff's warning, Anna confessed, "I don't think you're a monster."
Elsa's expression fell pitiably, once again turning away to continue walking. She gave no response, and the redhead came back into step with her. A while later they hit a gap in the brush, and Elsa stopped to look around; plenty of space between the trees here.
Anna must have been lost in thought, because she bumped into Elsa's back with an "umph" and had to grab onto the woman in order to avoid falling back onto her butt.
Elsa tensed, head whipping around to eye the girl clinging to her jacket, who had the good sense to look embarrassed, muttering a quick, "Sorry!" as she released her hold on the woman and backpedaled.
The blonde had to look away to smother the smile that threatened to crack her moody frontage, "It's fine." She returned her attention to looking about, "This seems as good a place as any."
Anna began to wring her hands, peering up at the back of Elsa's head nervously, "So, what happens now?"
Elsa took a steadying breath, slowly turning to face the girl. She nodded a bit to the left and behind her, "Move back."
Anna obeyed, watching where she stepped. When she looked up again, the woman had slipped out of her shoes and was sliding her jacket down her arms, letting it fall to the ground unceremoniously before lifting the hem of her button-down to undo her belt. The redhead's eyes bugged, "What are you doing!?"
Elsa looked up, unabashed, "Stripping. I don't want to ruin my clothes."
Anna felt her cheeks scorch, looking off to the side and pushing her hands into her pockets with hunched shoulders,"Oh."
The blonde returned her attention to her clothes, undoing her jeans to push them down her legs and kick them aside. Anna's heart started pounding noisily against her ribcage, putting up a tumultuous fight not to look.
That lasted until Elsa discarded her button up and was blinded by pulling the pristine white A-shirt underneath over her head.
"Just a peek. Not gay."
The redhead peered at the blonde from the corner of her eye.
"Okay, maybe a little gay." A nervous giggle slipped past her defenses, and she slapped a hand over her mouth as she turned her back to the woman, burning to the tips of her ears. She really hoped Elsa hadn't caught that. But...
"But those legs, though." Anna bit her lower lip, trying to cool her jets until the woman cleared her throat. The redhead cautiously turned back around to look at the woman.
Elsa had her arms wrapped over her chest, turned slightly to the side in a very small attempt to hide her modesty, more for Anna's sake than her own. "Are you ready?"
The younger woman hesitated, taking a deep breath as she noticed the dozens of scars just barely noticeable against the blonde's pale skin, some jagged and long, others circular and webbed, like the mark from the silver bullet. Suddenly the uncouth line of thought her mind had run away with vanished, and she came back down to Earth. She hugged herself, nodding to the woman.
With some hesitation, Elsa moved toward the girl, holding out a hand, palm up, out to her, "Don't be afraid."
"She could kill you." Kristoff's warning rang in Anna's head. Aqua eyes locked with sapphire, and the redhead slowly released the breath she'd been holding. Folding her left arm across her stomach as she extended the other, she gingerly slipped her hand into Elsa's until the tips of her fingers kissed the heel of the woman's hand. It was a display of trust; she wasn't afraid.
Elsa lowered her lids, breathing deeply. All at once the atmosphere around the pair changed. The blonde's eyes snapped open and she gasped sharply, irises a glowing hue of gold. She arched back rigidly, staggering away from Anna. With her jaw clenched, she bared her teeth, revealing jagged, carnivorous, and elongated canines, her body jerking roughly forward as the first of many breathless, piercing screams tore her throat and echoed through the air.
The jarring change caused the hairs along Anna's arms and at the back of her neck stand on end, suddenly yanking her hand away and taking a single step back, not having expected the agonized cries. Elsa was thrown to the ground, hands digging into the Earth as her muscles spasmed, the sound of bone crunching thrumming underneath. Unaware of herself, the redhead had stumbled several more feet until her back was pressed firmly against a large oak.
As Elsa trembled in the dirt, Anna took in the sight of her limbs elongating in jerky, snapping twitches, the shape of her ribcage and spine bulging and cracking. The girl suddenly felt sick, and had to cover her mouth to keep from up-chucking, shaking so hard her knees knocked together painfully.
Elsa rose to her knees, still appearing as if she were still screaming though no sound came forth. With her upper arms tucked in tightly against her body to the point of horrendous strain, she lifted her hands to stare at them as they reshaped, blood dripping from around her nails as the keratin dug deeper into her fingers, thickening, reforming into razor like claws. With jaw swollen and face misshapen, when the scream came again, it wasn't a scream, but a bloody gargle tainted with monstrous snarls, stretched thin in a way that gave the impression of multiple voices.
If Anna could have run, she probably would have. As it was, her motor skills were gone, having dropped to the ground, hands pressed firmly over her mouth to keep from crying out herself. Her horror mounted as pale wires of fur began to consume the previously bare woman.
Among all the fear came pity when the "monster" curled into a ball, covering it's head with it's gnarled paws and pressing it's face into the Earth and rotting leaves. At long last, the cries halted, and laying there in the dirt was a beast of enormous proportions, each ragged exhale accompanied by a rumbling grunt. After a moment, Anna cautiously lowered her hands from over her lips to whisper, voice rattling, "Elsa?"
With a flick of long, upright ears, Elsa slowly uncovered her head, golden eyes piercing with a predatory gleam. Her appearance wasn't exactly what Anna was expecting. The creature was, indeed, wolf-like. However, rather than looking like a hybrid of wolf and human, she seemed to be more like a common point between a great ape and a wolf, with long arms and hands. The legs were certainly dog-like, but short, proportionately. It was as if the anatomy could go in either direction, and as Elsa began to creep into a standing posture, she could see the woman was balanced on her knuckles; with hunching shoulders, she could be mistaken for a gorilla or a very large chimp (facial features and short tail aside). Even so, the beasts body had to be at least seven feet in length; a behemoth compared to the redhead.
The beast was at an angle to Anna, and had to peer past it's shoulder to look at the girl. The low hum of a growl thrummed through the ground until Anna could feel it's pulse through her entire body. She closed her eyes when she saw it whirl to face her, closing the distance between them with an incredible speed.
The redhead flinched, ducking back into the trunk of the tree and raising her hands to guard herself, eyes cinched shut and head turned away. Elsa stopped, baring down on the girl from above with bristled hackles and lip drawn back in a snarl. Anna didn't budge an inch, and after a moment, could actually feel a shift in the air as the beast relaxed. Another few seconds ticked by, and the girl nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt the warm breath of the animal huffing against her hair, sniffing in a thorough investigation.
The beast lowered and cocked it's head, ears flicking with curiosity reflecting in it's eyes. Anna lowered her hands slowly, worried that any sudden movement would cause the creature to bite. She had been taught not to look a wild animal in the eye when under such a threat, but couldn't help herself. Rather than reacting like an animal though, the creature tipped it's head the other way, oculars flickering blue. The monster sat, much like a dog.
With one fist clenched tightly at her collar bone, Anna carefully lifted her other hand to brush her fingers over the top of the beasts cranium. Elsa whined in response, closing her eyes and pushing her head forward and into the girls palm. Tears prickled at the redheads eyes as she smiled somberly, scratching a werewolf behind the ear as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Kristoff hadn't meant that a were didn't want another to see their "deep wound"; he meant that a were didn't want to cause a deep wound for another. And now? Elsa and Anna were both scarred souls.