Chapter 5:
It all clicked once she saw the creature set the sticks on fire. A large lizard, wings, fire-breath…this was a dragon. A real dragon.
She knew about dragons…at least, she knew a little. During her years shut in the castle, she'd taken up reading to pass the time. According to the books on Arendelle's history, dragons had once roamed the land that would eventually be Arendelle. But they'd all been driven out long before her great-grandparents were born. Many considered dragons to only be myths.
Yet here one was, sitting in the Enchanted Forest. She couldn't help but smile a little as Bruni, on fire, ran up and down the dragon's back. He wasn't moving, clearly trying not to hurt the Fire Spirit. Gale, evidently not wanting to be left out of the fun, blew Bruni off of the dragon and spun him through the air. The dragon let out a warbling noise that almost sounded like laughter.
Her smile faded a bit. How would people react if they learned there was a dragon here? How did a dragon even get here? He seemed friendly enough; he had clearly been as afraid of her as she was of him. But the Northuldra and the people of Arendelle wouldn't know that. What if they hurt him? What if he got scared and hurt them?
She noticed that a small flurry was developing over her, and took a breath, dissipating it. She knew of one person who could help. Only the Trolls would know the answers to her questions. But getting to the Trolls' home with the dragon would be a problem. He could fly, yes, but he was still weak from his injury. She doubted that the Nokk could get them both there (the Water Spirit wasn't fond of rock climbing), and while she was on friendly terms with the Earth Giants, she doubted that she could convince one of them to take her and the dragon all the way to the North Mountain.
Besides, what if the dragon didn't even want to stay in the Enchanted Forest? After all, he had crashed here. Maybe there was somewhere else he needed to be? If that was the case, then there would be no reason to go to the Trolls at all…
She decided that the best course of action would be to wait until the dragon was strong enough to fly again. When that time came, she'd give him the choice. In the meantime, he needed food and rest….and a shelter.
She stepped on the ground, covering the dirt under her and the dragon in ice. The dragon looked around, surprised. She smiled and created a round ice tent over him. He tensed up before he realized what she was doing. Once the tent was complete, he sniffed at it before looking at her and warbling.
"You're welcome." Her smile grew wider. "I'll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, rest up. Gale–" She turned to where the Wind Spirit was playing with a few leaves "-if he needs anything, come and get me. Okay?"
The leaves swirled up and down; Gale's way of saying yes. She nodded before turning to take one more look at the dragon.
At first, he'd been utterly terrifying. But looking at him now, with his big eyes and surprisingly gentle nature…he was actually kind of cute. She watched as he sniffed at the bandages and flapped his wings a little to stretch them. That's when she noticed that he had gray patches of color along the bottoms of his wings. To her, the patches almost looked like frost.
Gale twirled her hair around, and she realized that she'd been staring. She shook herself and waved goodbye to the dragon. "I'll be back tomorrow." she said again before looking at Bruni. "Are you coming, or do you want to stay awhile?"
The Fire Spirit squeaked, then ran over to the dragon. The dragon leaned his head down, allowing Bruni to climb up and sit right between his new friend's eyes. Elsa couldn't help but grin. They were adorable.
"Okay, I'll see you later." With that, she left, her now empty basket tucked under her arm. Gale messed with her hair a bit before disappearing, leaving her with only her thoughts as she walked.
She thought of what a strange morning she'd had….although, to be fair, she was a winter spirit living in a magic forest with a sentient gust of wind, a salamander, a Nokk, and a race of giants. A dragon really shouldn't have surprised her that much.