A/N Okay, so this is the first chapter that It's me that's writing some of it. The first three paragraphs i wrote a long time ago, so everything after that is what i added on in present time. Every chapter after this will be present day me as well. This is the final chapter i have on Wattpad, so.. oh and i had gotten a few questions about the originality of this story and its AU. To answer those fully, yes i made EVERYTHING in this story up besides the characters of Elsa and Anna.. and yes i do mean everything. The world, the kingdoms, the lore, the people (besides the two aforementioned ones) are all from my head. I do realize that might make some think i'm lying because this does have lore that is pretty complex for one person to create, but if you'd like, you can go to Wattpad and search for 'APersonNamedRiver' and check out my story. It's all there. Anywho! Thank you guys for sticking with this story. Hope you enjoy!
Anna woke up early that morning to the sound of men yelling and horses charging, their hooves beating the ground like war drums on the march. She quickly got up into her overlook on the small hill, wiping the sleep from her eyes. A group of soldiers, she couldn't see any crests or flags marking them, were approaching the house with torches and swords drawn. The back door flung open and the woman in the blue dress from yesterday ran out with the children whom Anna had read about and two other women behind them. The group of soldiers approached the house and each dismounted their horses.
They were talking to a large muscular man who had walked out of the house, followed by a smaller, but equally muscular, man. They talked for several moments until the soldier who was speaking dismounted, followed by the rest of his men, and stepped forward to the two. He raised his sword above his head and the group began to surround the two. The larger man was quick while he grabbed the hand that was raising the sword and head butted the soldier, sending him to the ground. The other soldiers, about eleven or twelve in all, rushed toward the two men who drew their swords in defense. At first it looked dire for the two, but after the first five went down in a bloody mess, the others grew hesitant and stood a safe distance away. The leader spoke something and then Anna saw a light on the path toward the house. Out of the woods came twenty or so more soldiers all rushing towards the two men. Anna knew they wouldn't last long and there was no way that she could save them. Poor bastards. The women and children, however, she could do something about.
The Wolf quickly packed up her blanket and bag on her horse and ran down the cliff side towards where the women and children had gone. Come on, come on, come on! She couldn't see them when she got to where they were, though, but knew that they had to be nearby. Running through the dark and foggy forest in the direction she saw them going, Anna searched until just before she got into a clearing. She squinted through the brush and trees and sure enough, on the other side of the meadow were the women and children she was looking for. Thank the heavens.
The blonde lady that was leading the group with two children holding her hands had stopped them and were now crouched out of sight to anyone that would come this way. She sat down on her knees, shushing one of the children as the other two women that were accompanying her looked around, paranoid and jumping slightly at every sound the forest made. Anna began crouch-walking over to them, using the foliage for cover to not be seen by them. She didn't want to spook them away because they had never seen her before. And yet...
"You. In the bushes. Come out now, hands where I can see them." Anna heard one of the women say. She felt as though she were a child sneaking cookies from the jar as she peeked just over a branch of the shrub she was behind, hoping that they weren't talking to her. But when she saw piercing cyan eyes looking straight at her, she knew she had been caught.
So much for my sneaking abilities..
She stood up and walked out into the open, making sure her hands were open, showing that she wasn't holding any weapons. A breeze blew in, making the leaves ruffle and shake and also several strands that had come loose from her pigtails during her sleep blew in the wind. The blonde's eyes were locked onto her the entire time and, for the first time in forever, she felt almost intimidated by a simple stare.
"You aren't wearing any crest I recognize. Who are you?" the blonde asked in a hushed tone.
"M-My name is Anna." she said, stuttering when their eyes met and a feeling of unwarranted nervousness overtook her. Their eyes were locked, staring into each other and what neither woman wanted to admit were the emotions both felt at the same time and yet, repressed them due to the situation. The blonde's eyes broke from their gaze and moved down Anna's armored body. She felt them go down to her chest and slim stomach, across her core and then down to her thighs where her mark was hung from half her belt. Anna swore she heard a gulp from the blonde. Anna saw her blink a few times and then her eyes moved back to Anna's.
"Well, don't just stand there in the open!" She said, waving Anna over to where they were. Does she trust me? No way, we just met. Anna thought as she awkwardly fumbled over to beside the blonde. "Im Elsa. Queen Elsa of Arendelle."
Anna looked at her like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. I can't believe what I'm hearing! "Really? I was informed that you were Nahti," Anna looked at her, confusion dominating her facial features.
"Who in the world told you I was one of those.. those.. murderers?"
A King "It's nothing." Anna deadpanned. That lying old grouch tricked me into assassinating the Queen of a neutral kingdom.. That smug pig!
"No, tell me. I would like to know who is spreading such dastardly misinformation about me." Elsa said, frustration mounting in her voice.
"Okay, I will. But not yet. Let's get ou-" Anna was interrupted by a twig snapping in the direction of the house they had come from. Anna put her hand out, palm facing down, signaling the group to stay low. As she looked over the brush, she saw a small group of men, all of which held swords and were moving slowly and deliberately towards the edge of the forest where they were hid. They had little time before the soldiers were upon them.
Anna rose to a low standing position, "Come on!" Anna whispered as she started moving to a pile of brush just feet away. She stopped there, allowing them to catch up and looked forward for an escape route. At the other side of the meadow was a river where erosion had carved out a nice slope for them to escape behind. That'll do. Anna thought. But how the hell are we gonna get over there without being seen by these men?!
She looked over the brush again to check on the soldiers positions and almost panicked when she saw they were just coming into the clearing. She swiftly turned around to face Elsa, "You take them," she motioned towards the group with a slight head tilt, "and skirt along the tree line as close as you can until you get to the riverbed. When you get spotted, and you will get spotted, start running. I'll take care of the rest, okay?"
The Queen nodded 'yes' and turned to the four children first. "Okay younglings, we're going to play a game. You all have to follow me and we're going to stay in the trees until we get to the water over there-"
"Uhm," She started to panic, adrenaline quickly setting into her veins. "Elsa; I mean Queen Elsa. You've gotta go now!" Anna interrupted, whispering loudly.
"I am! Just be patient. Now follow me, little ones. When we get there, you win the game! just follow me though, okay?" The three oldest nodded, but the youngest, a little girl with raven black hair and cyan eyes stared at Elsa with wet eyes and her lip quivering.
"Hey," Anna said, kneeling beside her. "Everythings gonna be okay. Just follow blondie over here-" She received a glare from Elsa and a small crooked smile from the girl, "-and you'll be just fine! I promise." She smiled, reassuring the young girl, about five or six years old, that everything would be okay. The girl nodded and moved to beside Elsa.
"On three. Ready?"
A quick and determined nod from Elsa followed.
"One,"
Another stick snapped from mere yards away.
"Two,"
The shine of a sword could be seen in the forest from where they were.
"Three!" The entire group stood up and bolted into the forest a few steps and then turned left slightly, heading for the riverbed. Anna, however, stayed behind and watched them move. The soldiers had just ran out into the open and looked around when they heard the leaves ruffling like footsteps, but when they got out into the clearing the wind picked up, making the trees ruffle their leaves. The sound reverberated throughout the meadow, confusing the soldiers from the noise they had just heard.
"It's just the bloody wind, you oaf!" one of the soldiers said, followed by a clank of metal on metal.
"I'm sorry! It really did sound like footsteps, though!" said another.
"Well, we might as we-"
"Oof!" a small noise came from Anna's right, where she presumed Elsa and the others were by now. She looked a little closer and saw that the girl with the raven black hair had fallen on one of the bushes that shielded the inner forest from view. Oh no. Anna thought as she looked out towards the soldiers who had seen the girl, too. No.. no no no.. She thought as she watched them start towards the girl.
Anna stood up and sprinted out of the foliage she was hiding in and stopped between the soldiers and the girl. She looked back over her shoulder and saw that she had already gotten up and ran along with the rest of the group. Phew!... Alright, She pulled out her sword and stood in a defensive stance with it in front of her. Time to see what these guys are made of. In front of her stood the five or six soldiers that had gone against the two men outside of the house just earlier and all were looking at her as if they knew what was coming. They all either sneered at her or chuckled to themselves as they started to pace towards her.
Instead of waiting for them to come to her, she went at the men, sprinting toward the nearest one who had stopped and contorted his face into a look of confusion. Before he could react, however, Anna had came upon him. He raised his blade and brought it down, only to be blocked by Anna's, sending him back a few steps. She twirled around milliseconds after their blades had connected and brought the grip of the sword up to where it was horizontal and at her chest. As she turned, the entire upper part of the blade became engulfed in flesh and blood when it sliced through the man's body. When Anna came back up, she didn't look back when the soldier fell to his knees as a whole and then fell completely to the ground in two.
She moved on to the next, parrying his blade like the last, but instead brought it up in a stab. She used her steel gauntlet and knocked the blade to the left away from her and pushed the sword forward into his neck. Blood sprayed when she pulled it back out and bent her knees, twirling around half way and turning the blade into a downwards grip. She pushed it back into his stomach and then pulled it out, just to come up and face the other three soldiers that were staring on in stunned silence. They had all stopped and stood together when they saw how she had dealt with their comrades. A new splatter of small blood droplets now matched the light freckles on her face with crimson.
"It can't be.." the one standing to the left said, wide-eyed.
The one to Anna's right whimpered and backed a few steps back. Anna stood still waiting for them to make a move. When none came, she got impatient. A scowl came upon her face as she said ,"Oh, come on. At least make this fun for me."
"You bitch! You killed my brothers at Jasont! I remember your face you monster!" The one in the middle and oldest looking said. His face contorted with anger as he moved forward, bringing his shield up.
"She's one of those Wolves the Nahti Emperor is hunting! Maybe we can turn her head in for a nice bounty." The one on the right said, a devilish grin overtaking his facial features. His comrades seemed to feed off his energy and stood by his side, bringing their swords up to the ready. Anna smiled before she launched into motion.
First, she charged straight at the one in the center, not deviating until the last few steps. She quickly changed to target the soldier on the left by going against the soldiers expectations and swung it into the middle's midsection. She used the recoil of the strike to aid her sudden direction change and brought the sword around with her, plunging it hilt deep into the left's chest. He fell to his knees, the sword still in Anna's grip, but when she saw the soldier who had been on the right moved to strike a blow, she forgot about it and turned around to block the incoming blade with her gauntlets. When she tried to move them from the vertical equal sign that she had blocked the blow with, they didn't budge. The sword had become notched into the two pieces of armor, rendering her near immobile in a low, almost kneeling position.
Instead of giving up, however, Anna did as she was trained; she fought by whatever means necessary. She twisted left, wrenching the blade from the man's hands and she charged him, pushing her upraised arms towards him and the blade that the two remaining soldiers thought unusable to his neck. When his back hit the ground and she had straddled his torso, she moved her arms quickly to the right, effectively slashing the man's throat open. Blood spewed up, splattering over her face. When she stood, she could hear the final soldier breathing heavily behind his shield with his broadsword raised into a defensive stance. Anna's frustration boiled over as she stood up off the body and forcefully parted her arms, feeling the metal vibrate as the blade came free.
She grabbed the hilt of her sword that was still stuck through the dead soldier's body and kicked his carcass back, pulling it out free from his flesh and bone. She flicked the small string of blood that dripped off its end and started pacing towards the only remaining man that stood against her. He stood still, not moving. He instead only shook in fear as the woman with two blades in her hands approached.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stopped a few feet in front of him. "Wh-.. Aren't you gonna finish me off?!"
She didn't speak, but only stared at him in contempt. Instead, she turned the claimed sword in her hands upside down and plunged it into the ground and walked away, leaving the lone soldier to his thoughts. What the hell.. He thought while she walked away towards a river with rushing water that's sound was just reaching his ears.
A/N There are also a few stories on there that I'm looking forward to posting like this one. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes, huh? Oh! I am glad to announce that a new chapter is soon coming to The Nuclear Winter! I'm going to start making it's chapters longer so you guys don't have to wait for content as long as you do.. thank you for your patience with me! As always, fav if you liked it, follow if you wanna get notified when I update, and please please oh please leave a review! haha I always love reviews, bad or good. Hope you guys n gals enjoyed it!
