Despite having nodded off on the cold and hard ground the night before, Elsa awoke crisply warm and happy. This was partly from the fire that had been relit and was crackling merrily nearby, and partly from the tattered coat that had been draped over her slender frame. The article of clothing, though well-worn, was an incredible comfort to Elsa and she gathered it tighter around herself. The smell of Captain Anna that exuded from it mingled with the aroma of the fire. She breathed it in unabashedly, reminded of the night before and all that had occurred.
The Captain in question appeared in her sights, extracting herself from the tangle of forest behind the rock under which they had taken shelter. She held her sword high, and upon it was speared a small, skinned animal - perhaps a rabbit.
"Fine morning," she said cheerily when she neared their camp and noticed Elsa's wakefulness. She crouched and began turning the creature on her blade over the fire she had re-built. The tips of the flames licked the carcass, browning the flesh where they touched. Elsa sat up, bringing the coat along to wear as a cape, and crawled over to the fire. She regarded Anna as she cooked. Her hair had been returned to its usual double braids but her vest was gone and her shirt was unbuttoned to her bust. Elsa traced the line of the opened collar down tanned and freckled skin, unconsciously leaning forward. When she felt heat from the fire on her chin, which signaled that she had gotten too close, she broke out of the abstraction, flushing hotly and tearing her eyes away from the sight. When her gaze met the Captain's and she saw the identical blush on Anna's freckled cheeks, both women looked away, laughing slightly from embarrassment.
Anna stood and blew on the meat, extinguishing the tiny fire that had erupted there. "I surmised that you would be hungry since we haven't had a morsel since our expedition began."
Right then, Elsa's stomach made an incriminating noise, its discontent begging to be heard. It was true; she was ravenous but had not realized until this moment. She had been understandably distracted. "I was, thank you. But you should have woken me, I could have helped."
"You were sleeping so soundly," said the Captain lowly, glancing up at Elsa and then hastily away again. This did not go unnoticed by the merchant's daughter, who had a penchant for visual detail.
Elsa reached over and tore a strip of meat from the cooked animal, not knowing in the slightest what she should say next. This sudden blundering stiffness was the last thing Elsa had expected to happen after finally giving into her passion and kissing her Captain in the night, even falling to sleep beside her. Elsa had thought they would then become immediate intimates, but this hope had been dashed, it would seem.
She needn't worry about starting conversation, however: Captain Anna, after chewing and swallowing precious few bites of breakfast, stood and moved away from the fire, leaving Elsa huddled by the dying flames, chewing on the tasteless meat alone. She watched with a pang of longing as Anna re-buttoned her shirt and donned her vest, successfully hiding the skin that had so captured Elsa's attention.
"Well, now that the sun has again made an appearance and there isn't a storm cloud in sight, we best be off to actually find that trading post."
"Yes," said Elsa, remembering with a sigh the task the pair had initially come to perform. "We must find that trading post…"
Captain Anna, once dressed, approached Elsa and the fire. Elsa's eyes followed her boots as they neared and when the boots stopped, she traced the lines of Anna's body up to her face. Elsa expected to have what transpired in the night be finally brought into words but the Captain merely extended a hand, lips breaking into that painfully familiar, yet insincere smirk reserved only for the confident Pirate Captain persona she kept up. The merchant's daughter took the hand and Captain Anna pulled her up not-so-gently, laughing. "I was merely wanting my coat, but I suppose I can give you a leg up as well."
"Ah." Elsa shrugged the coat off and handed it over, avoiding eye-contact. Now she was befuddled. The Captain had reverted back to her emotionless, pirate exterior. The change was startling but not wholly unexpected. Still, it caused Elsa a bit of discomfort and although the morning was not a brisk one, the loss of the coat around her shoulders sent a chill through her. Perhaps it was the Captain's demeanor that caused such a reaction.
Once the last remnants of the fire had been buried and scattered, Elsa said farewell to the little nook which looked much different in the daylight than it had in the dark and endeavored to accompany Captain Anna in her renewed interest in the quest at hand which, of course, led them back into the dark forest.
Upon entry, Elsa noticed at once the pungent scents of the recent rain and could feel the dampness of the humid air on her cheeks. She followed close behind Anna as she strode unflinchingly into the heart of the forest, as if possessed by a spirit that had an inner compass with which to navigate to their goal.
The tripping was kept to a minimum but once there was a hefty fall by the captain which Elsa anticipated, reaching forward to catch Anna under her arms. In thanks, the Captain pecked a chaste kiss on Elsa's cheek, but was then once more taken under the questing spell and marched onward.
By the time Captain Anna had even caught a trace of the trading post, Elsa's ears were used to the squelching of the wet ground and her toes were painfully numb from the cold water that had seeped its way into her stockings. But find a trace, they did.
"Sailor," Anna said, reaching out an arm to stop Elsa in her tracks. "Do you see that?"
The Captain was staring very intently at a spot in the ground not three feet away from where they stood. Elsa tried to follow the gaze but saw only foliage.
"What should I be seeing?" Elsa asked tentatively, eyes peering intently for the detail Anna seemed to have captured but evaded her own attention.
"Here," said Anna, stepping forward. The slosh of her worn boots on the foliage gave way suddenly to the hollow sound of wood as she came upon a certain point. At the discovery of the sound, the Captain glanced up at Elsa, smirking in triumph. With a few well-chosen swipes of her sword and many rough kicks at the moss and vegetation below her, she eventually revealed what looked to be a hidden trapdoor.
Without further ado, Captain Anna reached down and yanked at the iron handle of the door, ripping out the foliage along its sides as she did so. A cloud of rain residue and dust burst forth from the new opening, forcing Elsa back a few paces in its wake. It did not deter Anna, however - within seconds she was already lowering herself down the rotting wooden ladder and into the darkness below.
Elsa stepped near again, peering in cautiously. Captain Anna would certainly give her a scare if she thought it humorous enough, so Elsa made sure to keep her distance. She could only see faint outlines of roughly-hewn shelves upon which were empty rum bottles. She heard the Captain rummaging around not far from the opening, giving her the impression that the hole was not very large. Perhaps as small as the privy, a room that could only fit one or two people at most.
"Sailor!" called the Captain from below. Elsa answered, hiding the disappointment at the discontinued use of her name.
"Is the flint piece still about?" the Captain asked, coming under the opening so that the light put her freckled face in sharp relief. She blinked from the brightness but stared up at Elsa even so.
"It…" Elsa searched her pockets, hoping that she had indeed grabbed it from their makeshift campsite. It was nowhere to be found on her person. "I'm afraid it was discarded by the fire."
"No matter," said the Captain, waving away Elsa's shame and disappearing back into the shadows. A few minutes and thumps later, she reentered the light and approached the ladder. "Help me get this up,will you?"
She had in her hands a small chest hanging open at its hinges. Its contents were almost spilling from within and included gold pieces, a gem, and a few other trinkets. Elsa crouched down to catch the box as Anna climbed one-handedly up the ladder. It was heavier than it had looked and it very nearly slipped through Elsa's fingers and back onto her Captain's head. Thankfully she tightened her grip in time.
When the chest was safely in Elsa's arms, Anna mounted the last few rungs of the ladder and was no sooner asking for the treasure back. When she had re-aquired it she sank unceremoniously to the ground and began sorting through the trove. Elsa crouched nearby at a healthy distance. She did not want to give the impression that she was interested in the treasure; she, in fact, only gave a care for Captain Anna.
"Is this what you were searching for?" Elsa asked, unable to be distracted by the look of utter joy which had come upon her Captain's features.
"Yes," Anna breathed. She sounded as though she had run a great distance. "Do you see this?"
She was holding the gem - it gleamed a pretty blue. It was roughly the size of her palm and its cuts reflected the light just so.
"I do," said Elsa. "What is it?"
"It's a stone that has only been told of in stories." The Captain appeared dazed in its presence, staring at it with a glazed expression. Her hands cupped it gently.
"How did you know it existed?" Elsa shifted from her crouch and into a sitting position, not caring how wet the forest floor still was.
"My former Captain… he was looking for it when he died. He entrusted the quest to me. I've been searching for three years and I've finally found it."
Elsa wished heartily that the Captain was looking at her with as much affection as she granted the gem. "How did you know it was here?"
"Rumor, speculation. Years of tracing it through many, many hands."
"What is it worth?"
"Its only value to me is sentimental." The Captain would still not look from the pretty blue stone.
"But what of its monetary worth?"
"Probably a great deal. I am certainly not the only one who desired it. Many have killed for it but rest assured, if anyone tries to take it from me, I'll give them one hell of a fight."
Anna pocketed the gold pieces and the gem and held the chest out so Elsa could peruse the remainder of the contents. Elsa waved her hand and backed away, indicating that she wasn't interested. Anna smirked and tossed the chest, trinkets and all, back into the hole before slamming the trapdoor shut. She took no care to cover the door and gestured for Elsa to follow her back to the beach.
"A successful mission, I'd say," Anna said as they walked once more through the trees. "What say you?"
"Yes," said Elsa, thinking only of the night before. "Very successful."
"Are you more sure of your helpfulness?" At this, Anna glanced back and there was that genuine smile once more. Catching a glimpse of it left Elsa feeling as though she were melting from the inside. But because Anna was not looking forward, she ran straight into a branch and was thrown backwards towards Elsa.
"A bit," said Elsa, catching her with ease. Their faces were close; a delicate pink dusted the Captain's cheeks and she brushed her fringe from her eyes as she righted herself.
"Quite clumsy for a pirate captain," Elsa said lightly. She watched closely for a reaction; there was none save a slight twitch in the Captain's shoulders.
"You know not of what you speak," she retorted, matching Elsa's tone albeit more playfully.
By the time they reached the edge of the forest and stumbled onto the sunny beach, Anna had once again morphed entirely into the Pirate Captain. It is just as well, as Kristoff was resting on the sand, waiting for them. The dinghy was bobbing a little offshore, a line secured to a rock keeping it nearby.
"There you are," said the First Mate. He stood with a grunt and dusted sand from the seat of his pants.
Anna immediately broke into her smirk. "We've done it, Kristoff! We've found the gem!"
"You're serious?"
Anna showed it to him proudly. The blue gem glinted even more magnificently in the direct sunlight. Kristoff gave a laugh that was half-astonished and half-ecstatic.
"This is amazing! It was all because of you, Anna!" This was the first time Elsa had heard him discard Anna's title. The informal interaction continued as Kristoff picked the Captain up easily in his muscular arms and spun her around in joy as she let off giggles that were not fitting of a pirate. It was then that Elsa truly saw their deep friendship and connection. It was a connection that she thought she had finally forged with the Captain the night before, a connection that she had only ever felt with her father.
Elsa looked away, an acute misery gripping her. She had tricked herself into thinking she could share the same sort of attachment with the Captain as Anna did with her First Mate. In the moment, Elsa missed her father immensely and Captain Anna now seemed just as distant as he - an ocean and a lifetime away.